Chapter 337 Think Long-Term

As soon as Aunt Xin finished speaking, Qian Qingqing, who had been accompanying Old Madam Shen, also spoke up.

"Actually, this happens in almost every household."

My family had originally partnered with someone to run a small trading caravan.

At the time, I was thinking that my relatives and friends had a lot of businesses, so I might be able to make more money by setting up a caravan.

After all, if every household relied on their salary to make a living, life would certainly be difficult.

However, the small caravan that the family ran was always suppressed by some of the larger caravans.

Intentionally lowering prices or raising prices, etc.

When you add it all up in a year, it seems like you don't make much money.

Fortunately, they eventually stopped operating caravans, but the family business still relied on large caravans for sustenance.

Shen Qingming immediately wrote it down as well.

This should be considered malicious competition within the same industry.

Ultimately, the big caravans are the ones who benefit from this vicious competition.

By suppressing smaller caravans, large caravans can monopolize the market.

Back then, they had complete control over the prices of goods...

This is a very important issue, and we must get it reported.

Shen Qingming remembered very carefully, and everyone else also spoke enthusiastically.

Even Madam Shen expressed her opinion.

"There are a lot of things sitting idle at home that I can't sell."

Sometimes the price changes every day, and it's hard to tell which one is accurate.

"I have so many big items piled up in my warehouse, I don't even know when to sell them."

Shen Qingming also wrote down what Old Madam Shen said.

Lack of price transparency and high randomness do indeed hinder the healthy development of the market...

Shen Qing remembered a lot and thought a lot.

His mind was suddenly flooded with a lot of information.

Many problems may seem minor, but they are actually the most fundamental issues.

The current commercial situation in Chongqing looks prosperous, but in reality, the government doesn't have much money.

Does that mean all the money went to those big merchants?

Not entirely.

Unless you're like Boss Ye, with connections and influence that allow you to make a fortune, most people only make a little money.

The real profits lie at the checkpoints along the way, in the hands of all the officials who accepted bribes...

Developing commerce in Chongqing will not be easy.

Shen Qingming became more and more excited as he thought about it.

If all the problems I just wrote down are solved, wouldn't the commerce of Dayu be able to reach a new level?

“Mother! Don’t worry, I think I know how to talk to His Majesty.”

In fact, if these problems were solved, the Ministry of Revenue could collect a lot more silver every year!

Previously, traveling merchants would only pay a token amount of silver.

They preferred to spend large sums of money bribing noble families rather than paying taxes to the imperial court.

Once everything is in order and all the previous problems are resolved, the imperial court's tax revenue will increase significantly.

Ah, those nobles really are...

While rambling on, Shen Qingming continued to write down the questions that came to mind on the paper.

Shangguan Jin...

You brat, have you forgotten that the Shen family is also a noble family in the Great Yu Dynasty?

He is currently the most prominent nobleman in the Great Yu Dynasty...

Of course, the merchants also received a considerable share.

For example, the caravan share given by Boss Ye...

Shangguan Jin remained silent, simply staring at Shen Qingming.

As for Shen Qingming, after talking to himself, he was a little surprised to see everyone looking at him.

Why are you all staring at me? Is there something good...?

He suddenly realized that he had just brought up his own household affairs as well.

He remembered that Boss Ye, the biggest merchant in Chongqing, would come to Shenfu every few months...

"Um...actually, there are also some good nobles."

For example, in our mansion..."

"Alright! No need for patching! You should think about how to persuade His Majesty to continue this project in the long term."

Instead of closing down like the old border market, which used to do so all the time. Shangguan Jin interrupted Shen Qingming.

Shen Qingming was taken aback.

What does Mother mean by this?

That old border market?

Oh, it was established by the founding emperor to facilitate trade between merchants from Dayu and Beihu.

The original intention was good, but whenever the market started to do well, something would always happen.

Then tensions rose between the two sides, and war broke out.

After the fighting was over, neither side could win anymore, and neither side could afford to fight again, so a ceasefire agreement was signed.

Then the market remained open.

Then came another war, the border markets closed and reopened...

That border market has been closed and reopened at least three times!

And isn't the current border town just a large-scale border market?

“Mother, if we do business well on both sides, we can increase our income by so much each year. His Majesty will definitely not want to shut it down,” Shen Qingming said with a smile.

"That's what you think."

From a business perspective, no one would be willing to shut it down.

But Your Majesty is the emperor of the Great Yu, and there are many factors to consider.

You need to make His Majesty feel from another perspective that the opening of this official trade channel is not just a simple matter of making money.

"He can accomplish great things here that he's never been able to do before," Shangguan Jin reminded him.

Shen Qingming frowned.

Your Majesty doesn't love money? Then what does he love?

The thing that my cousin, the emperor, most wanted to do was...

Well, what all the emperors of Dayu wanted to do most was to wipe out the Northern Hu and make them never be able to cause any trouble again, right?

Shouldn't this be the responsibility of the Weiyuan Army?

What does this have to do with people who want to do business...?

"Mother, do you mean I should make empty promises to His Majesty?" Shen Qingming asked subconsciously.

Shangguan Jin...

Although the words were unpleasant, the meaning was correct.

"What does 'drawing a cake' mean? A cake that you can actually eat isn't something you can just draw."

Ming-ge, you must remember that if you want a business to last, it's not enough for just one person to work hard.

It requires the joint efforts of both sides to achieve this.

Also, your mother tells you something: always remember, those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose.

When a person has a lot, he or she will be afraid of losing it.

Everyone is like that.

The more he has, the more cautious he will be when making any decision.

"In fact, every decision he makes is an effort to preserve what he already has," Shangguan Jin said calmly.

Shen Qingming...

That makes sense. He needs to go back to his room and think it over carefully. What exactly is his mother implying with those words...?