In the days while waiting for the verdict, Shen Qing went to Nanxun again to visit all the silk farmers and calculate the amount of silver needed to purchase a year's worth of raw silk.
Nanxun Town can produce about 50,000 bales of raw silk a year. Each bale is priced at 100 taels and given to the silk farmers. To buy all the raw silk in Nanxun Town in a year, it would cost at least 5 million taels.
When Shen Qing calculated this amount, his scalp tingled.
She could only come up with a maximum of 300,000 taels of silver, and that was after emptying all her savings.
Three hundred thousand taels is not even enough to cover a fraction of five million taels.
This number left Shen Qing feeling defeated.
If things continue like this, even if Qi Zhenheng determines that the agreement between the silk farmers and the compradors is invalid, she still won't have the ability to accept all the raw silk in Nanxun.
"Young Madam," Chunju asked Shen Qing, holding up a dress, "do you think this dress is pretty?"
Shen Qing glanced at it briefly and casually said, "It looks good."
Chunju knew she was just making excuses, and pouted, saying, "Life's pretty good now! We've paid off our debts and kept the house, so why are you still looking so downcast?"
Shen Qing sighed: "Do you think things are over once the debt is paid off? If I don't go out and earn money, what will the Gao family of over ten people eat? And where will you and Su Lan get your dowries when you get married?"
Chunju blushed instantly and held her arm tightly: "Who said I was going to get married... I want to serve you for the rest of my life, I won't get married..."
Shen Qing smiled, said nothing, and took her arm as they walked forward.
The two were heading to the shop.
After walking a few steps, Chunju blushed and asked softly, "If I were to get married, how much dowry would you be planning to give me?"
Shen Qing glanced at her: "How many do you want?"
"...One hundred taels?"
Shen Qing laughed heartily and tapped her forehead with his hand: "You silly girl! You are my personal maid. If I don't prepare a dowry of tens of thousands of taels for you when you get married, wouldn't that be beneath my dignity?"
Chunju immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you, young mistress!"
Tens of thousands of taels of silver—that's more money than she could earn in ten lifetimes without eating or drinking. She really didn't dare to even dream of it.
But Shen Qing couldn't laugh.
Marrying Chunju and Sulan would cost at least 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver, and she also planned to start a girls' school, which would be another considerable investment.
We only have 300,000 taels of silver on hand, which is simply not enough to accomplish so much.
Moreover, they also need to acquire raw silk.
Five million taels!
Shen Qing felt depressed whenever she thought about that number.
Looking dejectedly at the bustling streets, he asked Chunju, "Chunju, where should I go to earn five million taels of silver?"
Upon hearing this, Chunju's eyes widened in shock: "You worked hard for a whole year to earn those 100,000 taels to pay off your debts, you were exhausted. How could you possibly earn 5 million taels!"
Shen Qing chuckled.
Yes, it was so hard to earn 100,000 taels back then, and she almost lost her life several times. To earn 5 million taels, isn't she just dreaming?
Upon arriving at the shop, the shopkeeper greeted her with a smile: "Young Madam, you've arrived! Boss Tong was just here earlier. Congratulations to the Gao family for securing another share from the Imperial Textile Bureau this year!"
Shen Qing casually asked, "Who is Boss Tong?"
"He's one of the owners of several silk shops that regularly supply silk to the Imperial Silk Manufacturing Bureau. Besides this Mr. Tong, there's Mr. Hu, Mr. Zhuang, Mr. Wu..."
Shen Qing counted and found that there were currently ten merchants in the Jiangzhe region who had obtained royal quotas and supplied silk to the Imperial Silk Manufacturing Bureau, including the Gao family.
She thought to herself: Besides her, the other nine merchants are probably also worried about not being able to buy top-quality raw silk.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed in her mind, and Shen Qing immediately lifted her skirt and ran out of the shop again.
She ran all the way back to the Gao family home and climbed onto the carriage: "Old Xu! To the Imperial Textile Bureau!"
Old Xu exclaimed "Hey!" and quickly pulled on the reins.
Jiang Shen asked from outside the curtain, "Are you going to see Lord Qi?"
Shen Qing hummed in agreement and smiled, "I think I have a way to deal with those five million taels!"
The carriage sped to the textile factory. The guards at the gate, seeing it was her, didn't stop her at all, and even joked with a smile, "Boss Shen, here to see Lord Qi again?"
Shen Qing smiled and nodded to them, then walked straight into the textile manufacturing office, went directly to the study, and knocked on the door.
The clerk opened the door, saw it was her, and quickly invited her in. Then he closed the door and stood guard at the entrance on either side of Jiang Shen.
The two looked at each other but didn't say anything.
Qi Zhenheng, dressed in his official robes, quickly stood up and came down from behind his desk when he saw Shen Qing: "What urgent matter has happened? Come, sit down and tell me."
He led Shen Qing to sit down in the armchair.
Shen Qing asked anxiously, "What's the status of the agreement between the silk farmers and the compradors?"
Qi Zhenheng said, "The evidence is complete. The agreement will be declared invalid tomorrow."
Shen Qingsong exclaimed in relief, "That's great!"
After speaking, he looked at Qi Zhenheng and asked, "Do you know any other merchants who supply silk to the Imperial Silk Manufacturing Bureau? Besides me, are there nine other merchants?"
Qi Zhenheng nodded: "You want to see them? I'll have them come over right away!"
"Yes, I want to see them! I want to join forces with them to buy up all the raw silk in Nanxun!"
Qi Zhenheng called his advisor into the study and ordered him to immediately summon the other nine merchants to the textile manufacturing office.
The advisor should hurry and get on with it.
The study door closed, and Qi Zhenheng sat down again, looking at Shen Qing: "Join forces with them?"
In fact, he didn't even know what Shen Qing wanted to do, but since Shen Qing wanted to meet other silk merchants, he used the name of the Weaving Bureau to help her summon them all.
He instinctively believed in her and supported every decision she made.
Shen Qing explained, "I've done the calculations carefully. If we were to contract all the raw silk in Nanxun for a year, it would require at least five million taels of silver. My financial resources are limited, and I simply cannot come up with that much money. The only solution is to join forces with other silk merchants and pool our resources to protect the interests of raw silk and the Chinese people!"
Qi Zhenheng listened and nodded, "I agree!"
After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about this, I will issue an order in the name of the Imperial Textile Bureau to establish a private raw silk merchants' association, and you will be the president. At that time, you will be able to legitimately call on all merchants to control raw silk."
Shen Qing smiled and pointed to herself: "Me, the president? I'm confident I can do it, but I'm afraid that people will look down on me because I'm a woman, and they won't vote for me!"
This is a feudal society.
“Those men must be cursing me in their hearts when they see a woman like me not staying at home to take care of her husband and children, but out doing business. How could they possibly accept me as the chairman?”
Qi Zhenheng frowned, trying to think of a solution.
Shen Qing is right.
The other nine merchants are all men; it would be impossible for them to obey the management of a woman like her.
The only solution is to appoint a chairman in the name of the Weaving Bureau.
But there is a risk in doing so. Others might suspect that he has an improper relationship with Shen Qing, which is why he appointed her, a woman who is only twenty years old, as the president.
This approach will actually harm Shen Qing and the establishment of the Raw Silk Merchants Association.
How can we get Shen Qing to become the president of the association, and make the other nine merchants willing to obey her?
Qi Zhenheng was in a dilemma.
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