Shen Qing was holding the judgment and was about to thank Qi Zhenheng when she suddenly heard a shrill scream from outside the door.
Everyone immediately put down their wine glasses and went out to find out what was going on.
Shen Qing and Qi Zhenheng also went out.
The merchant who had just made a lewd joke to Shen Qing was now bruised and battered, his throat held by Jiang Shen and pressed against the wall.
Everyone recognized that the one who did the beating was the servant who was standing next to Shen Qing, and they immediately became indignant and said to Qi Zhenheng:
"Lord Qi, Boss Shen's thugs assaulted someone in broad daylight. You should arrest them all!"
"Yes! Arrest Boss Shen and her thugs!"
Qi Zhenheng smiled and looked at everyone: "I am just a textile manufacturer, and I have no right to handle this case of injury."
Everyone immediately understood that Qi Zhenheng intended to avenge Shen Qing and would not intervene to help her.
Looking at the merchant again, he was pinned to the wall by Jiang Shen's chokehold, his face flushed red, his eyes rolling back, and he looked like he was about to suffocate.
Everyone was anxious, but they were unwilling to ask Shen Qing for help.
Because she's a woman, a grown man seeking favors from a woman is bound to be in big trouble!
At this moment, a merchant surnamed Wu walked up to Shen Qing, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Boss Shen, he's drunk and talking nonsense. Please be magnanimous and let him go."
Shen Qing glanced at the merchant in Jiang Shen's hand.
He really looked like he was about to die.
However, she trusted Jiang Shen's judgment; without her orders, Jiang Shen wouldn't kill anyone.
Actually, she hadn't originally planned to teach this merchant a lesson, thinking that she would still have to cooperate in the future. However, Jiang Shen couldn't stand it and, after the constables took the man away, directly attacked him to vent her anger.
This move is bound to provoke resentment from other merchants, but things have progressed to this point, so we can only continue down this path.
She would take this opportunity to show these grown men her fighting prowess.
Shen Qing raised an eyebrow at the merchant surnamed Wu and asked coldly, "He spread rumors and ruined my reputation, why should I let him go?"
After saying that, she crossed her arms and looked at the crowd: "What? You all think it's okay to bully me just because I'm a woman?"
No one said a word.
Shen Qing curled her lips in a mocking smile and coldly ordered Jiang Shen, "Break his teeth! As payment for ruining my reputation today!"
The merchant surnamed Wu said anxiously, "We are all merchants. Once this raw silk association is established, we will all have to work together in the future. It would be bad to damage our harmony."
Shen Qing pointed to the merchant's name that Jiang Shen had hung on the wall and asked with a smile, "Wasn't his quota canceled? In that case, what qualifications does he still have to join the Raw Silk Merchants Association?"
After saying that, he looked at Jiang Shen and said sternly, "Make your move!"
Jiang Shen: "Yes!"
He punched the merchant in the mouth, and with a few cracking sounds, the man's mouth was filled with blood. As Jiang Shen released his grip, the man's body went limp and fell to the ground.
Jiang Shen flexed the wrist that had been used to hit Shen Qing and walked to her side.
Shen Qing smiled and cupped his hands in greeting to everyone: "Then I'll take my leave now. See you at the Weaving Bureau in three days."
After saying that, he left with Jiang Shen.
Everyone immediately went to check on the merchant, and someone helped him up: "Are you alright?"
The man immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, and several teeth mixed with blood fell to the ground.
Upon seeing this, everyone turned pale with fright.
Shen Qing returned to the carriage and instructed Lao Xu to go to Nanxun to see Si Nong.
After saying that, he patted Jiang Shen on the shoulder: "Well done, but next time, you can't just hit someone without my orders, or you might mess things up."
Old Xu asked nervously, "What happened?"
Shen Qing recounted what had just happened up there.
Old Xu said angrily, "Wait until he gets out before beating him? That's letting him off easy! Jiang Shen, you should have beaten him to a pulp while he was inside!"
Jiang Shen said calmly, "Lord Qi is inside, so it's inconvenient for him to take action."
"That's right!" Old Xu laughed. "Now all the merchants know how powerful Boss Shen is, right? They'll probably elect him as the chairman."
Jiang Shen remained silent.
Shen Qing said, "Using force will only make them submit superficially; they still won't submit to me in their hearts. We'll have to put in some effort to get these merchants to obey."
We arrived in Nanxun in the evening.
Shen Qing showed the verdict to all the silk farmers, but instead of being as happy as she had imagined, they were all quite worried.
"We used to sell raw silk to those fake foreign devils. Although it was cheap, they took all the raw silk every year, so it was a stable business. Now that we're not doing business with them anymore, will the raw silk become unsaleable in the future?"
For three consecutive years, the compradors have been buying up all the raw silk. Although it's cheap, the supply is stable, so there's no need to worry about sales.
Although Shen Qing has promised to buy back raw silk at three times the price, he has not made it clear how much to buy back each year or for how many years.
Silk farmers recalled that in the past, when they wholesaled raw silk to raw silk merchants, the competition was fierce, and they had to sell at a low price. Every year, some raw silk would go unsold.
Shen Qing had anticipated all of this.
She really wanted to sign an agreement with the silk farmers right now, but the raw silk merchant association had not yet been established, and the five million taels of silver for the first year's purchase of raw silk had not yet been raised. She really didn't dare to sign an agreement with the silk farmers now.
However, without signing this new agreement, the silk farmers would not have confidence, and they would certainly not go to the weaving bureau to support her and stand on the same side as her.
Seeing the doubtful and unconfident looks on the silk farmers' faces, Shen Qing became even more worried.
The decision on the president of the raw silk merchants' association will not be made for another three days. Even if she is elected president, it will probably take some time to persuade everyone to raise money to buy the first year's raw silk.
It's hard to say whether there will be any changes on the silk farmers' side over such a long period of time.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing gritted his teeth and said, "It's okay, don't worry, let's sign the agreement now! For the next ten years, as long as the quality of your raw silk remains unchanged, I will buy it all. The price will be as we agreed before: three times the price of the comprador in the first year, and double every year thereafter."
The silk farmer was finally relieved.
"But there's something I need your cooperation on..."
"Please speak."
...
Shen Qing took out a pen and ink from the car and signed the new agreement on the spot.
Jiang Shen and Lao Xu frowned frequently as they watched from the side.
On the way back to Jiangzhou, Jiang Shen said from outside the curtain:
“Now that we’ve signed the agreement with the silk farmers, they’ll start handing over the raw silk soon, and then we’ll start paying them. We don’t have that much money to give the silk farmers, and we also need a place to store the raw silk.”
Shen Qing stared blankly out the window: "I'll go back and borrow money from a bank."
Jiang Shen: "I heard that it's not so easy to borrow money from banks these days, and even if you do manage to borrow, the interest rates are extremely high."
Shen Qing thought of the deceased Gao family father and son.
Initially, the share of silk entering the Qing court was squeezed out. A large number of pre-made silk could not enter the Qing court and could only be sold in shops. However, there were not many wealthy people in Jiangzhou who could afford to buy silk. In addition, with the impact of foreign cloth, even fewer people bought silk.
This caused the Gao family's cash flow to break down, and the Gao father and son had no choice but to go to a money shop to borrow money. However, the money shop somehow found out that the Gao family's silk quota had been cancelled, that they were no longer imperial merchants, and that they had no imperial grain to eat, so they resolutely refused the Gao family's request to borrow money.
But now that the Gao family's business has improved and they've resumed receiving government funding, surely the money shops will be willing to lend them money again?
Shen Qing thought to herself.
Outside the curtain, Old Xu jokingly said, "If you can't borrow money from the money shop, go to Shanghai! Mr. Cheng has plenty of money; he'll definitely give it to Boss Shen if he needs it!"
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