Chapter 440: Using People
Chapter 440: Chapter 390: Using People
On Thunder Shock Marsh.
Aboard the Netherworld Ship, on the fifth floor.
This was the top floor of the Tower Ship. The space was not particularly large, but the furnishings were extremely elegant.
The floor was covered with a plush carpet. By the window stood a large desk of zitan wood, upon which, besides an inkstone, brushes, and other writing tools, a censer of sandalwood burned, its fragrant smoke curling gently into the air.
Chen Li sat alone behind the desk, a thick ledger in his hands, carefully flipping through it page by page.
Not far away, Li Sanli stood respectfully, his hands at his sides.
He was no longer wearing his conical hat, revealing a ferocious face covered in a web of crisscrossing scars.
At this moment, however, there was no trace of viciousness on that face.
He still carried the greatsword that resembled a door plank on his back, with two daggers tucked into his belt, but he held himself in an extremely deferential posture.
As Chen Li’s gaze swept across the lines in the ledger, he felt a ripple of surprise.
What surprised him was that Li Sanli and his three Black Market partners actually had some real skill.
He had seen the Black Market’s accounts from the period when the Celestial Sword Sect managed Hidden Emperor Castle.
Back then, Hidden Emperor Castle had a near-monopoly on over seventy percent of Jiangzhou’s underground trade. Its annual turnover was astonishing, with gross income alone exceeding eight million taels of silver.
After deducting operating expenses, the final net profit was merely four to five million taels.
And now, this Netherworld Ship, in Li Sanli’s hands for just a year, was already seeing stable monthly income breaking the three hundred thousand tael mark.
Over the course of a year, the total income approached four million taels!
The Netherworld Ship’s Black Market was newly established, so its various expenses were bound to be far greater than those of the long-stable Hidden Emperor Castle.
But after subtracting all that, the ledgers clearly showed that the net profit for the past year had reached a staggering one million eight hundred thousand taels.
After deducting the shares for the three Black Market merchants and the dividends for the Tuo Long Bang, a full eight hundred thousand taels had landed in Li Sanli’s own pocket.
And this was all accomplished while its foundations were still unstable, many channels had yet to be fully opened, and they had to operate cautiously to avoid prying eyes.
If they could operate without restraint, the profits of the Netherworld Ship’s Black Market could likely double.
“Truly…exorbitant profits!”
Chen Li sighed softly.
Even with his current level of composure, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy upon seeing these numbers.
In the entire past year, the Chen Family’s treasury had only seen an influx of a few tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Compared to the Netherworld Ship, the difference was like night and day.
With such enormous wealth, combined with the Black Market—a channel that gathered people from all walks of life and had no shortage of rare resources—it was no wonder Li Sanli had managed to reach the Void Transformation stage in such a short time.
Thinking of this, Chen Li looked up at the respectfully standing Li Sanli and said with a faint, unreadable smile, “Sanli Gang Leader, your income this past year has been quite substantial. Even I can’t help but feel a little envious looking at these numbers.”
Li Sanli’s scalp tightened. He replied, “Patriarch, you flatter me. It was all just a stroke of luck. To be honest with you, Patriarch, I still have over three hundred thousand taels of the Black Market’s surplus silver. I will arrange to have it all sent to your residence shortly.”
He adopted an extremely deferential posture, correctly guessing that Chen Li was tempted by this enormous profit.
But Chen Li just waved his hand. “Since it’s yours, you should keep it. I’m not going to stoop to snatching that money from you.”
He paused, then continued, meeting the other man’s shocked and uncertain gaze. “As for this Netherworld Ship… from now on, you will continue to manage it. Everything can proceed as before.”
“…”
Li Sanli’s head shot up, the web of scars on his face seeming to freeze in sheer astonishment.
He stared at Chen Li in disbelief, almost suspecting he had misheard.
‘What… what does he mean?’
‘He doesn’t want the tribute of over three hundred thousand taels, nor does he want to take over the Netherworld Ship’s Black Market and its nearly two-million-tael annual profit?!’
‘And he’s letting me continue to run it?’
‘Where on earth could such a good deal exist?’
‘Is this man a Buddha Arhat descended to the mortal realm, here specifically to perform good deeds?’
‘He, Li Sanli, had navigated the Jianghu for half his life, and never had he seen anyone push away a juicy piece of meat that was already at their lips.’
For a moment, a storm of shock, confusion, wariness, and even a sense of absurdity churned within him. He didn’t know how to respond and simply stood there, stunned, completely forgetting to maintain his respectful posture.
In truth, how could Chen Li not be tempted?
With his current power, he was more than capable of taking command of Jiangzhou’s underworld and bringing the Netherworld Ship completely under his control.
Before, Hidden Emperor Castle had been firmly in the grip of the Celestial Sword Sect. Trying to take it then would have been like snatching food from a tiger’s mouth—the slightest misstep could have triggered an all-out war.
But now, the Netherworld Ship was a new enterprise started by Li Sanli and his people, one that had even managed to avoid the Celestial Sword Sect to a certain degree. Bringing it completely under his control would be a perfect opportunity.
However, the time was not yet right.
Killing a man is easy—a single slash and the matter is settled.
But managing people—especially a man like Li Sanli—and keeping them under control was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Chen Li saw this very clearly.
The Li Sanli before him was a man who could bend or stand tall as the situation required. He could read the times and assess circumstances. He had led the Tuo Long Bang to flee to distant lands when cornered, yet seized the opportunity to return to Jiangzhou and take control of the Netherworld Ship. His temperament, his methods, and even his knack for always finding a sliver of hope marked him as a man of formidable, ruthless ambition.
If Chen Li hadn’t utterly crushed him with absolute power, a man of Li Sanli’s temperament and cunning would never have been content to submit.
His current subservience was built on two things: absolute deterrence, and the fact that Chen Li was standing right in front of him.
Once Chen Li left, and some time passed, would a man of Li Sanli’s ruthless ambition remain truly and sincerely loyal?
Chen Li had no confidence of that whatsoever.
Li Sanli might not have the courage for a direct confrontation, but passive resistance, feigning compliance while secretly acting otherwise, quietly cultivating his own forces, deliberately provoking rivals to cause trouble…
For a wily old fox who had navigated the Jianghu for decades, the list of such tricks was endless.
If they wished, they could at any time make this Netherworld Ship, which appeared to be raking in a fortune, show not a single cent of profit on its books—or even report continuous losses.