Law of the Devil

A clapping applause resonated in the room. Still expressionless, governor Bohan only gave Longbottom a meaningful gaze as he stood up: “This must be the infamous General Longbottom of the Northwest, right? I’ve heard your name before. Your reputation precedes you.”

Longbottom flicked a look at the Governor without answering; instead, he took a few steps backward and stood behind Du Wei: “This is our house’s master, the Duke.”

Governor Bohan acted like he only just noticed Du Wei, his courteous smile unique to those in the political circle: “Turns out to be Duke Tulip. I’ve been plagued with work that I couldn’t find time to receive your lordship, please forgive my lack of manners.”

With that, his face suddenly went dark as he turned to speak with those standing: “Didn’t I tell you to entertain his lordship, what were you guys doing?”

“Governor Bohan.” Du Wei spoke in a relaxed way: “Do not blame them for it is I that insisted to come meet you.” Then with a faint smile, he peered straight into the governor’s eye: “I will soon enter my domain, Desa Province, so of course I will need to personally thank the one that had spent so much time looking after my land till now.”

Bohan repeatedly replied with idle words but Du Wei did not beat around the bush: “Also, since I’m about to take over the Desa Province, there are many administrative things that needs to be done. That’s why, I must at least make this trip.”

Though the two shared a laugh but inwardly, both are dishonest to the core.

Bohan had his people bring up some tea and the broken table in the room is already cleared up by the servants. Inviting both Du Wei and Longbottom to sit down, he openly laughed as he spoke his next words: “I received word of your lordships coming two months ago, so I’ve already made preparation. Since the Desa Province is now your land, i made adjustments and pulled out all the garrison soldiers. This way around, your private army can easily take over. Aside from this, all documents and procedures have already been handled. All you have to do is send your people to take over and they can immediately come back to my place.”

Du Wei was smiling when he suddenly said this, “Then the finances?”

Bohan’s eyelids made a little jump, but his smile remains unchanged: “the financial aspect is all accounted for and the treasury has been sealed. You can have a check at any time.”

“Oh.” Du Wei quietly picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip. With an orange and yellow shade, the liquid carried a nectary sweetness that left one at ease: “This must be the Northwest’s specialty, desert honey, right? The taste is not bad.”

Then he put the cup, his tone sounded casual: “Your excellency, how much supplies and money does my Desa Province retain?”

Governor Bohan started to frown, but Du Wei didn’t give him a chance to speak: “I’ve long heard your lordship is a financial genius. Instead of taking a look at those boring books myself, why don’t you just give me a summary? This is kind of embarrassing, but I hate reading books the most.”

The moment his words came out, Longbottom nearly spurted the tea out of his mouth.

Giving Du Wei an odd glance, this chubby general inwardly thought: “You are afraid of reading?”

In god’s name, Longbottom have never seen anyone in this world that liked to read books more than this young master. Back when they were still living in the temporary Duke’s manor, the majority of the Duke’s time was spent reading books. Seeing the mountains worth of books, even Longbottom was spinning with dizziness by the scene. Also, on one occasion, the old housekeeper Marde secretly revealed to him that the longest record Du Wei spent reading books was a full month. Without taking a single step out of the door, this inhuman being could devour three rooms worth of books in one sitting.

Governor Bohan clearly doesn’t want such an outcome. What he wants is to send this Duke along the way as quickly as possible so that Du Wei can rummage through the records himself. However, Du Wei clearly isn’t taking the bait and he even forced a “financial genius” title onto him: “Your Dukeship is making fun of me.”

Pondering for a moment, Governor Bohan finally gave in with a sigh: “From the summer fiscal statistics, the Desa Province should have the equivalent of 210,000 Gold coins – this includes the money in the treasury and food supplies.”

Du Wei was furious inside but his facial expression became even more pleasant.

Summer quarter only amounts to 210,000 gold? It’s a province! 210,000 in the first quarter? Perhaps in year the revenue won’t even amount to 1 million! Who is he trying to cheat?!

This Bohan must have emptied the coffers before handing the place to him!

However, Du Wei is not surprised at this kind of thing…… If he was in their shoes, he would probably do the same.

“Governor Bohan, then what is the total number within the treasury? I want to first understand how much funding I can call upon for my territory.”

“This……” Governor Bohan hesitated. In the face of the young Duke, he was starting to wonder if he went a bit too far.

Du Wei guessed right because Bohan did in fact empty the warehouses before he arrived. In his view, this money was all managed by him, so why should he give it away to this kid? In addition, he deliberately avoided Du Wei when he arrived, but who would have ever thought this kid would directly force his way in.

“If I’m not mistaken, Desa Province’s warehouse should still have……” At this point, he suddenly turned around and walked behind the desk. Pretending to pull out a book, he opened it and made a small laugh:

“Hmm, here: Weapons, armor, and cavalry armor – 140 sets, infantry equipment-1000, crossbows – 300 arrows – 8,000. Food supply is about three months, and…… The treasury should have 190,000 gold coins that can be used……”

Though Du Wei is already prepared for this, but such figures really made him want to swear at people!

This Governor Bohan sure is ruthless!

These figures may seem a lot from the surface…… But don’t forget, were talking about a whole province! He only left him this little bit?!

Du Wei face looked a little ugly. Frowning, he looked at Governor Bohan: “Did you make a mistake?”

“This…… Can’t be wrong.” Governor Bohan closed the book, his face looking earnestly helpless as he walked over to Du Wei’s side: “Desa Province is too barren. It’s hard enough to make ends meet, so it’s normal that there is so little in the treasury.”

Du Wei questioned: “I don’t think it makes sense. A single summer season brings in more than 200,000 gold coins, so a year should be around a million gold coins. After so many years, there should be hundreds of thousands of hold coins in the treasury.”

Bohan face turned somewhat ugly: “Your lordship, are you suspecting I embezzled the funds?”

Du Wei smiled: “Of course not, I heard so much about the Governor’s reputation. In the Northwest, you save and cut costs anywhere you can. Just seeing your place here is the proof that you are a governor with high integrity, so how can I doubt you?”

After a pause, Du Wei continues: “However, I’ve heard that before I came here, Desa Province’s revenue was not delivered to the capital, but rather, it was sent over to Mulan City under your command. Am I right?”

Bohan knew it was useless to say any more polite words. With a cold snort, he stopped dodging the problem and came up front: “Oh! So the Duke is here for money today!”

Du Wei shook his head: “This saying is incorrect. It should be ‘collecting’ what is mine.”

“As a member of Imperial officials, I have the order to supervise the treasury of the Desa Province.” Governor Bohan said this coldly without a shred of holding back.

“Supervise does not amount to annexation.” Du Wei laughed coldly: “You used the revenue of both provinces to support one province. You nearly emptied my Desa Province, so how do you expect me to keep it in order? Governor Bohan, you should at least give me this much face.”