The deputy general defending the city had just managed to calm the situation when he was immediately thrown into disarray by Li Jun's attack. In the firelight, the first thing they saw was a battle flag embroidered with a purple-red dragon, followed by Li Jun wearing a dragon-headed helmet under the flag.
"Who?" The lieutenant rushed over with his sword, asking as he swung it at Li Jun, showing no intention of listening to Li Jun's answer.
"I am Li Jun!" Li Jun's voice, like a thunderclap in a clear sky, made the soldiers' eardrums ring. He thrust out his iron halberd like a venomous snake, then raised it high, impaling the lieutenant on it. Blood and his blade fell from the air.
With Li Jun's skills at this time, he had already reached the first-class level in the Divine Continent. In the vast Yu Province, there would definitely be no more than three people who could be at the same level as him, and this should also include Meng Yuan, the deputy general who could not even withstand a single move from him.
Witnessing his valiant resistance, the courage of the defenders vanished along with the blood of their lieutenant. When Li Jun, riding a black horse, approached them with a single-armed iron halberd, his own commander impaled on the halberd, all they could do was surrender.
If Li Jun had followed his idea, it would have been best to massacre all the surrendered soldiers to prevent future troubles. However, considering that the Peace Army had not done anything so cruel since entering Yuzhou, and that Tonghai City would become the Peace Army's base, they should try to avoid leaving a bad impression on the people. Therefore, the Peace Army simply drove these surrendered soldiers out of the city overnight.
In less than an hour and a half, Gangcheng Tonghai was completely under Li Jun's control.
The residents of Tonghai City, who had not been able to sleep all night, were awakened early the next morning by the shouts of soldiers along the street. The soldiers did not look as fierce as they had imagined; on the contrary, they were all smiling. Although their words were somewhat vulgar, everyone understood that the eldest son of the Hua family and the Peace Army had recaptured the port city and that everyone should go and read the notice to reassure the people.
Upon learning that Hua Xuan, the eldest son of the Hua family, had stormed into the city, the residents felt somewhat relieved. The city had originally been under the jurisdiction of Leiming City, and the residents were not hostile to the Hua family. Some of the older residents even welcomed Hua Xuan's arrival.
Jia Tong, a wealthy merchant in Tonghai City, also had a sleepless night. The more money a person has, the more vulnerable they are to being harmed in such a war. Although he had a few bodyguards at home, they could only scare off thieves; using them against the army was wishful thinking.
When he finally managed to stay awake until dawn and decided to go out and check on his shop, the steward walked in, looking ashen-faced.
"Boss, something terrible has happened..."
Jia Tongxin's heart sank. He wondered what bad news the butler would bring him. He asked anxiously, "Speak quickly if you have something to say!"
"A group of mercenaries are blocking our door." The butler's words raised some doubts in him. The fact that the mercenaries were blocking the door instead of rushing in meant that the other party did not want to use force for the time being, which seemed to be different from what he had imagined.
"Don't say unlucky things so early in the morning!" Although he had some doubts, he still didn't forget to reprimand the butler. As a typical businessman in China, he was very careful about saying auspicious things, and his family members would be scolded if they said anything unlucky first thing in the morning.
When he rushed to the door, he found things were even stranger than he had imagined. There were as many as ten mercenaries standing guard in front of his door, more like they were there to stand watch than to knock.
"Gentlemen..." Jia Tong asked with a forced smile, looking puzzled, "What brings you to my humble abode?"
"You must be Boss Jia," a mercenary said with a smile, his expression calm, but the way he looked at Jia Tong made Jia Tong a little nervous. He wanted to verify Jia Tong's identity before making a move.
"No, no, I am Jia Tong." Clearly unable to deny it, Jia Tong answered while calculating.
"Oh, Mr. Jia, I have an invitation for you inside." The mercenary pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it over. Jia Tong wiped the sweat from his forehead and felt much more relaxed. This time, he noticed that the mercenary used polite language.
"Thank you, gentlemen, you've worked hard. Please come inside and have some tea..." Jia Tong said insincerely, though inwardly he was somewhat afraid that these soldiers would actually enter his home.
"No, our commander has strictly ordered that we are not allowed to enter any civilian residences. Anyone who violates this order will be punished with thirty strokes of the military rod. Boss Jia, you don't need to entertain us." The mercenary's smile remained unchanged. Jia Tong seemed to see something from that smile and hurriedly said, "Steward."
The steward understood immediately and came out of the courtyard carrying a small money bag. Jia Tong stuffed the money bag into the mercenary's arms and said, "It's just a small token, consider it as buying a pair of shoes for you gentlemen."
The mercenaries' faces changed. They threw the money bag back to Jia Tong and said, "Boss Jia, please don't harm me. We are here to protect you. If we take your money, we're all finished."
No matter how Jia Tong tried to persuade him, even offering two more money bags, the mercenary still refused to accept the money. Left with no other option, Jia Tong returned to his room.
"What a strange thing! Not only do the soldiers refuse to come inside, but they also refuse to pay!" The butler clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Boss, don't you think these mercenaries are pretty good?"
"Bullshit, what's so great about it!" Jia Tong looked at the invitation with a gloomy face. It was jointly signed by Hua Xuan and Li Jun.
"What does the boss mean?"
"These soldiers don't accept small bribes, which means we'll have to pay a lot. Look, this invitation is clearly a debt collection notice. Those maids are ostensibly here to protect us, but they're definitely here to keep an eye on us."
Jia Tong's words startled the butler, who also looked distressed and said, "What should we do? Why did they come to you, boss, instead of someone else?"
Jia Tong grinned smugly. "Hmph, I bet every wealthy family in the city has a bunch of guys like this standing in front of their door. Whatever, they have no money, but they'll take your life!"
Despite saying this, when the banquet was about to start, Jia Tong still led his steward to Li Jun's camp. As he expected, all the big merchants in the city were there, all sixteen of them. For a moment, everyone greeted each other with wry smiles.
"Young Master Hua and Commander Li invite you all to enter the tent."
The sentry's call meant that something they were about to face was about to happen. All sixteen wealthy merchants entered the camp.
By this time, everyone had come to terms with it; the knife was in someone else's hands, and they could only do what that person wanted. But the arrangement of the tent still surprised everyone. Two large round tables, specially used for dining, were placed in the center of the tent, with identical chairs around them, and several people standing beside each table.
"How is business, everyone? Please sit down, please sit down." A man who looked like a foreigner invited everyone to sit down. The merchants politely declined each other's seats. A young mercenary leader said, "There's no need for such formalities. The reason we used this large round table is precisely to ensure that everyone is treated equally, so we can have a proper discussion."
Jia Tong paused for a moment, then sat down first. Once everyone was seated, the foreigner said, "Let me introduce you. This is Young Master Hua Xuan, this is Commander Li Jun, this is Mr. Yu Sheng, and I am Jiang Tang, the finance officer of the Peace Army."
Jia Tong snorted coldly in his heart. Just as expected, even the finance officer came. What else could he be doing besides collecting money from everyone?
"I've invited everyone here because I have something to discuss with you all," Hua Xuan said loudly after several soldiers served tea. Once everyone had quieted down, he glanced at Li Jun.
"This Young Master Hua is just a front; the one who truly holds the reins is this greenhorn." Merchants are adept at reading people's expressions, and they could tell just by looking at them.
“First of all, we would like to know what we can do for you all.” Li Jun’s voice was not loud, but everyone heard him clearly.
"..." He was met with silence from the merchants.
Li Jun smiled and said, "I know that you all have some doubts about inviting everyone here. However, my Peace Army is here at the request of Young Master Hua to recapture Tonghai, and we really want to do something for you all."
"...How about this, we hire the Peace Army to guard Tonghai, and the remuneration will be shared by all the merchants. What do you think, Commander Li?" The money shop owner Zhuang Heng made a suggestion, and the other merchants also thought that Li Jun was just looking for an excuse to collect money, so they all agreed, hoping to pay money to avoid trouble.
“Gentlemen, you have misunderstood.” Li Jun stood up and gestured for everyone to be quiet. Then he said, “As Young Master Hua has agreed, Tonghai City will henceforth serve as the base of the Peace Army. From now on, you and the Peace Army will be closely connected and share weal and woe. The reason I invited you here today is not to ask for your help, but to ask how the Peace Army can help you. Whether it’s with funds, information, or personnel, please feel free to ask.”
The merchants were shocked by his statement. They did not believe that Li Junzhen would help them. What surprised them was that they would be tied to the Peace Army mercenary group from then on.
“For example,” the barbarian who claimed to be the finance officer of the Peace Army said, “as you all know, the key reason why business in Tonghai City cannot grow is that there is a dragon spirit overseas. Our Commander Li has decided to get rid of the dragon spirit for you all!”
This statement had a greater impact on the merchants than Li Jun's words. They all knew that if Tonghai City were to become a good port again, the business opportunities it would create would be virtually limitless. Although Tonghai City itself had no special products, the silver from Leiming City, the livestock from the Rong people, the silk from Yujiang City, and the lacquerware from Chen Kingdom would all be transported out through Tonghai Port.
"To show the Peace Army's sincerity in cooperating with you all, we'll let you do another good deal. The ban on salt and wine in Tonghai City will be lifted, and you can all trade salt and wine!" Jiang Tang threw out another topic that surprised the merchants. For a moment, the entire camp was filled with the sound of merchants whispering among themselves.
In order to expand their wealth, all the countries in Shenzhou have implemented a salt and wine monopoly system, and those who smuggle these two commodities are severely punished. Jiang Tang actually targeted these two commodities that are related to people's livelihoods, which greatly excited the merchants present. The income from salt and wine is extremely tempting for profit-driven merchants.