The other nine silk merchants received a notice and will travel overnight from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the Weaving Bureau, expected to arrive early tomorrow morning.
It would take Shen Qing two or three hours to get back to Jiangzhou, and he would have to set off again in the middle of the night to make it in time to meet the other merchants early the next morning.
After much deliberation, he decided not to return to Jiangzhou and instead rested at an inn near the Imperial Textile Bureau.
She spent the whole night thinking about Qi Zhenheng's suggestion.
Qi Zhenheng is right. Only if she becomes the president of the Raw Silk Chamber of Commerce can the Raw Silk Project be more cohesive.
Although other merchants also worried about not being able to buy top-quality raw silk, they were not as aware of the conspiracy of exporting raw silk as she was, and they were also less likely to stop it with the same strong nationalistic sentiment she had.
Without the support of strong national sentiment, the driving force is not strong enough, and it is easy to back down because of the slightest obstacle.
If the raw silk merchants' association is not strong or courageous enough, how can it confront foreign compradors and the foreign merchants behind them?
Shen Qing became increasingly certain that he had to be elected president of the Raw Silk Merchants Association.
But how can I take the chairmanship from those nine old men who have been in the silk industry for decades?
Shen Qing felt that Lao Xu, being a middle-aged man in feudal society, might have some ideas about this matter.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing asked the waiter for a jar of good wine and poured a cup for Old Xu.
Old Xu repeatedly declined, saying, "This is absolutely impossible, Boss Shen!"
Shen Qing smiled and poured Jiang Shen a glass as well: "What's the big deal? Let's have a drink and have a good chat."
Jiang Shen glanced at the baijiu in his and Lao Xu's glasses and said, "Mr. Cheng doesn't allow us to drink while on duty."
Shen Qing laughed: "Aren't you all supposed to be resting? It's okay, I'll pay you your wages now, I'm your boss, and I allow you to drink! Drink up!"
Neither of them dared to touch the glass of wine.
They were all thinking about the same thing—if they messed things up because they were drunk and something happened to Shen Qing, they would be killed by Cheng Zhiwen.
The thought of the gloomy and cold-hearted Cheng Zhiwen made both of them tense.
Shen Qing took a small sip and asked Lao Xu, "Let me give you an example. For instance, Lao Xu, you're doing business in the vegetable market, and there are other young female stall owners like me in the same market. Now the market needs to elect a leader to manage the market. How would you get that female stall owner to obey you?"
After a few seconds of reaction, Old Xu laughed and said, "She can obey, but she has to be convincing!"
How can she convince you?
"For example—either everyone supports her and she has that appeal, then I can trust her. Or her stall is indeed profitable, she is indeed more successful than us, and she can lead us to make money, then I can also trust her."
Shen Qing pondered these words in his heart.
With everyone's support, you'll be more successful than others and make money together.
These three conditions, when applied to the raw silk merchants' association, become—
She needed the support of other silk merchants.
She needs to have enough financial resources to demonstrate her success, and of the five million taels of silver she needs to raise, she must contribute at least 20-30%.
And she needs to find a way to make money for everyone.
In reality, men will only trust those who have connections and can bring them benefits.
Even if the other party is a woman, as long as she is stronger and richer than them, they can still be convinced.
But what she lacks now is precisely these things.
The other merchants are all men, so how could they support her?
She also has funds. She currently has 300,000 taels of silver on hand, while the other nine merchants are all incredibly wealthy. Her 300,000 taels of silver is nothing to them.
Shen Qing was powerless.
The situation has reached another dead end.
Despite having no other options and lacking confidence, Shen Qing still went to the textile bureau as promised the next day.
When she led Jiang Shen inside, Qi Zhenheng and several other merchants had already arrived and were sitting in the reception room drinking tea.
Seeing her enter, he immediately put down his teacup, stood up with a smile, and said warmly, "Mr. Shen, you've arrived? Please come in and sit down, everyone is waiting for you."
He stopped calling her "Shen Qing" or "Qing'er," and Shen Qing knew that he was deliberately pretending that the two were not familiar with each other in front of other merchants.
She also put aside her casualness and was about to exchange a few polite words with him when several merchants stood up to greet Jiang Shen and extended their hands to him: "Mr. Shen, we've heard so much about you."
Jiang Shen immediately stepped behind Shen Qing and said, "This is Boss Shen."
Everyone was stunned and looked at Shen Qing in disbelief.
No one could believe that the woman in front of them, who looked no more than twenty years old, was the head of a silk merchant.
Shen Qing smiled and cupped his hands in greeting to everyone, saying in a humble yet assertive manner, "I am Shen Qing, the head of Gao's Silk Shop. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
No one said anything, they just chuckled and sat back down.
Shen Qing knew that these people looked down on him.
She had mistakenly thought Jiang Shen was the boss and greeted him warmly, but when she heard that she was the boss, her expression immediately changed and she didn't even bother to greet him.
Shen Qing was mentally prepared, so she wasn't angry.
That's just how this era is.
But one day she will make these men willingly obey her.
Shen Qing smiled and took a seat, looking at Qi Zhenheng.
Qi Zhenheng stared at her with his bright eyes for a moment, his gaze as always containing a man's hidden possessiveness.
She noticed, looked away, coughed lightly, and sat up straight.
Qi Zhenheng cleared his throat and said to everyone, "Now that everyone is here, let's begin."
The crowd responded enthusiastically, "Lord Qi, please speak."
Qi Zhenheng looked at everyone seriously: "After I took office at the Imperial Textile Bureau, I found that the quality of the silk you sent in the past two years was not as good as in previous years. What is the reason for this?"
Everyone complained bitterly, blaming the foreign compradors for taking away all the top-grade raw silk from the silk farmers. They could only get second-grade silk, so the quality of the silk was naturally poor.
Qi Zhenheng crossed his arms and frowned, saying, "We can't let the foreigners slaughter us anymore! You must find a way to take back control of the raw silk industry!"
The merchants sighed and shook their heads.
Some people just keep complaining:
"We want to too! But those foreign compradors have foreigners backing them up, and those foreigners have cannons. What can we do?"
"We're more anxious than anyone else about not being able to buy top-quality raw silk!"
Some people also expressed their opinions:
"If there's a way to get the raw silk back right now, I'll do whatever you ask!"
"Yes! Me too!"
Qi Zhenheng had been waiting for these words, and immediately said, "You ten merchants will form a raw silk merchants' association, and together we'll find a way to seize control of the raw silk market! Otherwise..."
Everyone tensed up: "What else can we do?"
"Otherwise, if you send these inferior silks to the court every year, and the Empress Dowager gets angry one day and investigates, she will confiscate all your property and behead you!"
He deliberately created anxiety among these merchants, making everyone feel insecure and realize that the raw silk merchants' association had to be established, so they all nodded in agreement.
Shen Qing smiled and looked at Qi Zhenheng.
I thought his acting was really good; he scared the merchants into submission with just a few words.
Qi Zhenheng continued, "Now that we've decided to establish a chamber of commerce, we need to elect a president. The president will be elected from among these ten merchants!"
Everyone nodded: "That's right! A chamber of commerce needs a president!"
After they finished speaking, they immediately looked each other up and down and whispered among themselves.
Both sides have someone they want to nominate as president.
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