Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 536 - 114: Human Nerves Can’t Be Tense

Whether a person is truly wealthy can be seen from the way he spends money.

Does the President have money? The answer is definitely yes, not just wealthy, but quite rich.

At the inception of the Qilin Army, the Imperial Court did not allocate a penny for military expenses; he relied solely on his own efforts to raise it.

Now, less than two years after the establishment of the new government, the national tax revenue figures were actually not particularly impressive, yet she still managed to maintain the establishment of twenty legions without any plans to reduce the numbers.

You would say she was recklessly militaristic with no issue, but beneath the surface of recklessness, there necessarily hid a robust and powerful logistical support.

What did the President rely on to support the army? Real estate investment?

You must be joking, even smoking is more reliable than that.

Wang Yunxiao was not very clear about other trades, but he knew at least one thing—that the dozen or so textile factories in the North, which were almost monopolized by the Qianjin Church, used to be the President’s private properties.

Veronica told him this.

As for the real estate developed by the Shen Family, when Wang Yunxiao was investigating legal documents at the law firm, he noticed a detail—the Shen Family had very few cases related to demolition disputes when they were building.

The case where they dug up skeletons in the basement was an exception. It could be seen from the report that the lawyer lacked experience at the time, and the entire process was somewhat chaotic.

On the other hand, cases like a family of seven disappearing without a trace were more common.

After all, back then, the Seaside District was all wild fields, swamps, and large grasslands. It would have been impossible to develop without the market demand brought by a large influx of immigrants.

And these immigrants didn’t actually have much money.

In other words, real estate development back then wasn’t profitable.

Only by settling these foreigners properly and letting them utilize their skills at work, could a positive return be generated.

In the legal documents of the last few years, cases of economic disputes were gradually increasing, and the content was almost invariably the same—the property prices in the Seaside District only began to rise after the war had ended. Some people borrowed loans to buy houses, and for various reasons couldn’t pay the loans back, resulting in their houses being confiscated and then resold by Shen Zhidong at a very low price.

His nickname, "Half-City Shen," doesn’t imply that his fortune was half of a city’s worth, but that he held extensive property.

Long-term possession has tremendous potential for appreciation, but it is difficult to liquidate in the short term.

This didn’t quite match the President’s investment philosophy, who wanted immediate returns that could be directly invested into the military industry to enhance combat capacity.

As for her personal hobbies... The President has been guarding Tianmen for twenty years, and the Tianmen people knew all sorts of details about her life very well, even the popcorn-popping elderly man on the street knew that the President’s biggest hobby was buying cannons.

And using cannons to bomb people.

On the matter of food, clothing, and other necessities, she had no special requirements.

Thus, the notion that the Shen Family, as the President’s white gloves and private purse, amassed wealth for the President, held doubts in Wang Yunxiao’s heart.

You claim you are amassing wealth for the President, but where has the wealth gone?

Oh, you didn’t say, you just hope everyone thinks so. But when it comes time to use the money, like when Principal Zhou was setting up a school, you instead refuse to pay.

"Youtiao, how did the Shen Family manage to make the President believe in their innocence, and yet also make others believe they are not innocent? Appearing to be without money usually, but able to pull out large sums of cash when needed?"

"Borrow money!"

Youtiao was quick-witted and quickly figured out the answer to the question.

"That’s right, the Shen Family holds a large amount of property as collateral, able to borrow large sums of cash at any time. And those who have the closest dealings with their family are the ones right here—"

Wang Yunxiao pointed across the street to the Weimar Business Association using the popsicle stick he was holding in his mouth.

"Do you think borrowing money is illegal?"

"Of course not."

"Is driving someone to death because they can’t repay a loan illegal?"

"Uh, that should be..."

"It isn’t, because you have no actual evidence to prove a direct connection between the death and the debt,"

"Is it illegal to evict someone who can’t pay rent, letting them end up on the streets and jeopardizing public safety?"

"Of course..."

"It still isn’t, because there’s no actual evidence that proves a necessary connection between the landlord raising rent and the tenant committing crimes on the streets."

Wang Yunxiao explained to Youtiao, "A part of modern law is designed to prevent crime, while another part clarifies responsibility or, you could say, facilitates escaping responsibility. I’m not a professional lawyer, so I might not be precisely correct. But the real professionals are right across from us. As I was eating my popsicle, I kept thinking about where to start to breach their invisible iron walls."

If it weren’t for the uncertainty of how to proceed, given Wang Yunxiao’s temperament, he would have long since grabbed a weapon and charged forward rather than sitting on the curb with his brothers eating popsicles.

Rushing in and killing haphazardly would only serve to vent their feelings and solve nothing.

"Do you know what characteristic foreigners have?"

Wang Yunxiao pointed to his head, "Their thought processes are generally more straightforward, and they don’t understand subtlety. I’m betting that they think because we don’t act, we’re apprehensive, afraid to make a move."

"Then what?"

"Then they feel courageous to resist, they have time to gather support. If they chose nonviolence and allowed us free rein to investigate, that would actually complicate things."

Wang Yunxiao glanced at the clock in the shop behind him: "It’s about time, brothers, let’s move!"

The guards across the street weren’t blind and could clearly see their movements. They’d been on edge the whole time. But since Wang Yunxiao and his group were sitting quite far away, they had no reason to interfere.

Now seeing Wang Yunxiao and others stand up, ready their weapons, and start heading towards them, they immediately raised their guns and fired into the air as a warning.

At the sound of that gun, Wang Yunxiao knew the matter was settled.

"Guozi!"

Guozi raised his hand and aimed at the guards, firing a shot.

Bang—!

No one knew where the bullet flew off to.

Guozi’s shooting accuracy was quite emotional, and he had little interest in practicing, but that didn’t matter.

After these two shots, the situation escalated uncontrollably.

Suddenly, over a dozen rifles were extended out from the business association building’s windows and the triggers were pulled towards Wang Yunxiao and his group.

For a moment, gunfire roared, and bullets flew wildly.

Prepared, Wang Yunxiao quickly pulled Youtiao behind him and ducked into a corner on the sidewalk, his face breaking into an excited smile.

He’d bet correctly; the Weimar Business Association obviously had major issues, the kind they couldn’t afford to let others see.