The Crown Prince's tutor did not hold an official title, and his letters could only be sent through private postal stations, not official ones; otherwise, Sun Jian would not have had to go through such trouble.

After everything was arranged, Lao Jiang and Lao Cao returned to their residence.

The first thing they did upon returning was to report the situation to Sun Jian.

Sun Jian learned from Lao Jiang that the fine salt had been snapped up by the wealthy gentry of the capital as soon as it hit the market, earning more than 200 taels of silver in just one day.

“Sun Jian, you don’t know, when our shops first opened, many neighbors looked down on us and thought we were petty thieves.”

"But as soon as the first batch of refined salt arrived in the afternoon, it wasn't long before our shop was packed with people coming to buy it. Those well-dressed people were all scrambling to get some. In the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, all two hundred catties of our refined salt were sold out! Hahaha!"

Old Jiang and Old Cao were beaming with joy and extremely excited.

"Um."

Sun Jian did not show much surprise.

All of this was within his expectations.

The fine salt he developed was on a completely different level from the fine salt consumed by the high-ranking officials and nobles of that era.

Such products don't need advertising, because the product itself is king. Sun Jian estimates that it won't be long before they become popular all over the country, and demand will exceed supply.

Fortunately, the shop is located in Kyoto. If it were located in one of those border cities, people might not come to buy things, but to rob the shop every day.

"Sun Jian, I, Old Jiang, have never seen so much money in my entire life! A full two hundred and fifteen taels! It's heavy enough to carry around!"

"How should we allocate this money?"

Old Jiang asked Sun Jian for his opinion.

"Keep the cost price of the goods and everyone's wages, and invest the rest in the branch stores!"

Without a second thought, Sun Jian told Lao Jiang his plan.

"Huh? In that case, we'll basically have to throw them all out. Shouldn't we keep some for ourselves?"

Old Jiang was confused by Sun Jian's words.

Perhaps because he was terrified of poverty, he still harbored those conservative ideas deep down.

"Oh, why hold on? If you invest today, you'll make it back tomorrow, right? Sun Jian's idea is to expand the Kyoto branch as soon as possible, so we can make more money!"

Old Cao snatched the silver pouch from Old Jiang's hand and looked at him with disdain.

Sun Jian smiled and said, "Old Cao is right. Kyoto is a big city. Opening twenty branches is no problem. Once our branches are all over Kyoto, we can make a steady stream of money."

"But before that, Lao Cao, you need to do one more thing!"

Old Cao asked excitedly, "What is it? Please tell me!"

"Based on today's revenue, we could open 20 branches in Kyoto in less than a month. But our workshop is still too small. Even if everyone works in two shifts, day and night, we still can't supply such a large volume."

"I want to build the market outside, and then the backyard of the mansion will only be used for research and development, not for production."

"I understand. I'll look for a place nearby these next few days. How big should the new market town be? Would ten acres be enough?"

Old Cao asked.

Sun Jian shook his head. "No, you don't need to find the land."

"Need not?"

Old Jiang and Old Cao looked at each other, neither of them understanding what Sun Jian meant.

"Yes, people die for money and birds die for food. Think about it, our business is so profitable. If we do it in secret, the market might be burned down one day."

"Human nature is too evil. If we don't know how to cooperate, not only will we be harmed by our enemies, but we might even be betrayed by our own people."

As soon as Sun Jian finished speaking, Lao Jiang and Lao Cao fell into deep thought. After a long while, they nodded deeply in agreement.

Sun Jian was right. As the saying goes, people are afraid of becoming famous, just as pigs are afraid of getting fat. Such a lucrative business is bound to attract the envy of many.

There will be quite a few people who will stab you in the back then.

"So, when it comes to choosing a location, I have better people to help with this."

Sun Jian had already planned this person's selection.

"Sun Jian, is the person you found reliable? Can he protect us?"

"There are people like this? Could it be Governor Yao?"

Old Jiang and Old Cao began to make bold guesses.

It's unlikely that the Crown Prince would agree, since they are unaware of the relationship between Sun Jian and Li Gancheng. In their eyes, even though Sun Jian is the Crown Prince's tutor, he shouldn't be dragging the Crown Prince into this scheme.

Therefore, in their view, the most suitable person to protect their workshop was Governor Yao.

"No, Yao Tianzheng isn't enough. I have a much bigger shield in this matter. His status is far greater than Governor Yao's!"

Sun Jian stretched out his finger and waved it.

"Bigger than Governor Yao? Much bigger?"

Old Jiang was dumbfounded. He looked at Old Cao beside him, and the two of them thought of one person: the current emperor, Emperor Qianwu, Li Shilong!

Thinking of this, both Lao Cao and Lao Jiang swallowed hard.

Sun Jian patted Cao Cao on the shoulder and said, "Stop making wild guesses. There's no rush to find a scapegoat. We're just getting started, and it's not time to look for one yet. We'll deal with that later."

"You can start taking over the new shops tomorrow. I estimate that the production capacity of our backyard can keep up before we have five shops."

"yes!"

Old Cao nodded seriously and continued to ask, "But Sun Jian, we don't have enough manpower either. If it's really one shop a day, we need to add people to our workshop, more people to escort goods and bring in materials, and more people to manage the new shops and their staff."

"I had already considered this issue beforehand."

"Old Jiang, these next few days you'll be looking for a group of people inside and outside the city to work as laborers for us. Beggars and starving people are best. You're smart, so remember to always check their character first when choosing people!"

"good!"

"Alright, everything's been arranged. You can all get back to your work now."

"Remember, for every branch we open, we need to find a trustworthy employee to be the manager, and we must keep the financial power firmly in our hands."

"Okay."

After hearing Sun Jian's instructions, Lao Cao and Lao Jiang turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to ask Sun Jian, "By the way, Sun Jian, the wine we developed will produce about 100 jin tonight. The purple gourds for holding the wine are all ready, each gourd contains exactly one jin of wine. The price has been set, but we don't have a name yet. Why don't you give us one?"

"A name?"

Sun Jian pondered for a moment, then casually said, "Forget-Worry Valley!"

"Valley of Forgetfulness?"

When Lao Jiang and Lao Cao heard the name, they both frowned.

Having never been to school, they naturally didn't understand the meaning behind the name.

Sun Jian explained, "When I sing in my drunken state, you harmonize with me; when I fall into a stupor, you must help me up. Only wine can make me forget my worries."

"The meaning of Forget-Worries Valley, simply put, is that by drinking our wine, you can forget all the troubles of the world. Do you understand now?"

"Understood!"

The two nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"If you understand, stop standing there and get to work!"