Meng Zhao had only been home for two days when people wanting to see her started coming to her door one after another. Xu Yunrong thought about how hard she had worked and wanted to stop them, but Meng Zhao was someone who couldn't stay idle and immediately threw herself back into her work.

The most important thing right now is the shop on Zhuque Street that we are going to open as a medicine shop. The shop was originally rented to a silk shop, but business has been lukewarm. The lease expires at the end of the year.

When Meng Zhao transferred the property, the shopkeeper didn't even show his face, presumably because he planned to move out when the lease expired.

Unexpectedly, after the news of the new city gate came out in the spring, the shopkeeper immediately changed his mind and hurriedly came to renew the contract. Coincidentally, Meng Zhao was already preparing for the establishment of a medicinal herb shop, and this shop was the key part of the plan.

When Meng Zhao said she wouldn't renew the contract, the shopkeeper was naturally very unhappy. After all, he had finally found hope, but now he was being asked to move out. Wasn't that bullying? Meng Zhao was also in a difficult position because she not only couldn't renew the contract, but she also had to ask him to move out early. If he insisted on delaying until the end of the year when the lease expired, her plans for the herbal medicine shop would be delayed for a whole year, which was absolutely unacceptable.

She went to great lengths to persuade him, and even rented him another empty shop on Zhuque Street, offering a huge discount on the rent for the first three years, before he finally agreed to vacate the shop by the end of July, giving the herbal medicine shop enough time to prepare.

With the shop ready, the next big thing was the government. Meng Zhao personally wrote a lengthy proposal, jointly initiated by Meng Zhao and thirteen time-honored pharmacies in the capital, to establish a medicinal herb market in the capital.

This move would not only promote the prosperity of commerce between the capital and the local areas and enhance the prestige, but also enrich the government's tax revenue, invite merchants from the Western Regions to the capital, and demonstrate the court's benevolent governance. Finally, it was specially noted that each pharmacy was willing to use a portion of its profits for charitable causes such as repairing official roads and supporting orphanages.

Of course, no matter how well the proposal was written, it was still necessary to spend money to win over the relevant officials. Qiao Yanhe hosted several banquets in the name of the medicinal herb merchants' association, and during the banquets, she paid special attention to several officials in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. After Meng Zhao returned to the capital, he also went to Lord Song's house with gifts. A lot of money was spent, but hard work pays off, and they finally obtained the imperial approval.

At the same time, the government not only approved the opening of the medicinal herb shops, but also specially instructed that notices could be posted in post stations in various places to promote the business. They promised to send soldiers to maintain order on site after the market opened, and to open special channels for merchants at the city gates to provide convenience.

During her two months in Huainan, Meng Zhao did not forget this matter. While with Xiao Youzhi and Lu Yusheng, she met several well-known local medicine merchants. During the meeting, she earnestly invited them to come to Beijing in August to participate in the opening ceremony of the medicinal herb market.

In addition, they seized the opportunities of major festivals and temple fairs in the capital to hire people to distribute leaflets and hang banners in crowded places, spreading the news of the herbal medicine business throughout the streets and alleys.

During this period, they made full preparations in every aspect, from government officials to merchants, from transportation to publicity. Everything was ready, and they were just waiting for the market to open.

In the golden autumn of August, with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms filling the air, it was the time for the first annual Hundred Herbs Festival in the capital. This grand event lasted for a month and not only attracted major pharmacies in the capital to participate, but also drew merchants from all over the country to come from afar. Zhuque Street was bustling with people and carriages.

The grand event kicked off with a "medicine competition." The Li family pharmacy brought out a top-grade Ganoderma lucidum, its color as red as cinnabar, its cap full, and its patterns like clouds. As soon as it appeared, it caused an uproar in the hall. Several veteran medicine merchants couldn't help but step forward to examine it closely, praising it repeatedly: "A Ganoderma lucidum of this quality is probably hard to come by even once in ten years!"

Just as Manager Li was feeling quite pleased with himself, the various pharmacies began to reveal their most prized possessions, including a He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) that was beginning to take human form and rare medicinal herbs such as the Jade Lotus from the Snowy Mountains of the Western Regions. Manager Li was taken aback; he had truly underestimated them.

In the end, Yanshan Hall emerged victorious. Qiao Yanhe took out a brocade box, and when it was opened, it revealed a wild ginseng with complete roots and whiskers. Several imperial physicians and renowned herbalists present stepped forward to assess it, saying that the ginseng was of excellent quality and at least a hundred years old. With these words, the outcome was immediately decided.

Even Manager Li had to admit defeat, after all, Yanshan Hall had recruited many talented people over the years, some of whom could venture into the coldest places and others could climb to the highest peaks, otherwise they would not have been able to find such a rare find.

After the medicine competition ended, news of the century-old ginseng and top-grade Ganoderma lucidum spread throughout the capital. Soon after, a high-profile auction was held in the backyard of the herbal medicine shop, and those who could attend were all well-known wealthy merchants and dignitaries in the capital.

When the century-old ginseng was unveiled, bidding erupted one after another, and it was eventually sold for a sky-high price of two thousand taels. Although Qiao Yanhe smiled and congratulated her, her heart was breaking. After all, this thing was really rare. If she had kept it a little longer, it might have been sold for an even higher price if she had found a more suitable buyer. But now, in order to make Yanshan Hall famous, she had no choice but to part with it.

However, the He Shou Wu plant belonging to Manager Qin, even though it had already begun to take on a human shape, was still quite young, as experts could tell. It was only worth about sixty or seventy taels of silver. Unexpectedly, it was driven up by several bidders who had lost out on ginseng and lingzhi, and was eventually sold for a high price of two hundred taels of silver.

Shopkeeper Qin was overjoyed and stopped complaining to Meng Zhao about the poor location of the stall. After all, he had almost earned back the rent of the Hundred Herbs Festival just from this one He Shou Wu. In his excitement, he spent another fifty taels of silver to buy an advertising space in the lobby on the first floor.

Yes, even if you choose a bad location for your shop at the beginning, you can still change your fate by setting up an advertising sign in the lobby of the Hundred Herbs Festival. As for the price, it is naturally up to the highest bidder. So, within a few days of the Hundred Herbs Festival opening, Meng Zhao collected several hundred taels of silver just for advertising fees. Even though there were many complaints, the effect was indeed good, and the merchants had no choice but to pay up.

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