After Shen Qing finished giving instructions in a low voice, Jiang Shen immediately went out and soon led a dozen or so middle-aged men into the weaving hall.
Qi Zhenheng glanced at Shen Qing, becoming even more curious about what she was going to do next.
He had his servants bring in chairs and invited the men to sit down.
Shen Qing stood up and introduced, "These are all silk farmers from Nanxun Town. The top-quality raw silk you want all comes from their silk factories."
One merchant said sarcastically, "Boss Shen moved all the silk farmers here to show that the silk farmers support you, so that we merchants can force you to elect him as the chairman, right?"
After saying that, he looked at Qi Zhenheng and said, "Lord Qi, how is Boss Shen's behavior any different from that of those foreign compradors?"
Qi Zhenheng didn't say anything, but looked at Shen Qing, signaling her to continue.
Shen Qing asked Jiang Shen to bring the things in.
A wooden box was moved into the weaving workshop.
Jiang Shen opened the box, inside were neatly stacked silver notes.
Shen Qing casually grabbed a stack of silver notes and waved them around, laughing, "This box of silver notes, totaling one million taels, is a deposit for the next year's worth of raw silk that I will purchase from all the silk farmers in Nanxun Town."
After speaking, he instructed Jiang Shen to distribute the corresponding silver notes to the silk farmers according to the list. Each person received hundreds of thousands of taels of silver notes and was very satisfied.
With real money in hand, they were finally more certain about Shen Qing's plan to buy up the raw silk for the next ten years.
Shen Qing took another stack of agreements from Jiang Shen, walked up to the eight merchants, and said, "I have the right to purchase raw silk in Nanxun Town for the next ten years. If you want to buy raw silk in Nanxun in the future, you can only buy it from me."
The silk farmers all voiced their support for Shen Qing:
"Yes! From now on, our raw silk will only be supplied to Boss Shen!"
"That's right! We won't give any to anyone else, we'll give them all to Boss Shen!"
The eight merchants looked grim.
Shen Qing raised an eyebrow at them: "But I won't sell to you. I'd rather sell to foreigners at a low price than sell to you."
One merchant asked on the spot, "Why would you rather sell raw silk to foreigners than to us?"
Shen Qing laughed: "Why should I sell to you? What makes me think I should?"
"We're all business owners..."
Before he could finish speaking, she interrupted him coldly: "We are all merchants, but do you have the ability, the courage, and the financial resources to buy back the raw silk? Without me, this raw silk would still be in the hands of foreigners, and you still wouldn't be able to buy it."
Merchant: "We know you have a way, so we'll let you do it."
Shen Qing: "Now you admit I have a solution? So the position of president of the Raw Silk Merchants Association should rightfully belong to me, the one with the solution, shouldn't it?"
Everyone was speechless, their faces full of resentment, yet they couldn't utter a word.
Some merchants quietly raised their hands.
Qi Zhenheng saw it and nodded: "Go ahead and speak."
"I accept Mr. Shen as the president of the Raw Silk Merchants Association..."
Mr. Wu immediately glared at him fiercely.
Everyone shook their heads and sighed, having clearly seen the situation.
Shen Qing will control the supply of top-quality raw silk for the next ten years. If she is not made president, people will not be able to buy good raw silk, and if the Empress Dowager blames her, she could lose her head.
Compared to losing one's head, making Shen Qing the president doesn't seem so difficult.
People began to express their support and recommend Shen Qing for the position of president.
Of the nine votes, Shen Qing received six, more than half, and Qi Zhenheng announced that she would become the president of the Raw Silk Merchants Association.
One merchant who supported Mr. Wu objected, shouting, "I disagree! I want to withdraw from the raw silk chamber of commerce!"
Qi Zhenheng smiled and said, "Okay, you can withdraw from the Raw Silk Merchants Association. At the same time, your share will be taken back by the Weaving Bureau and distributed equally among other merchants."
The other six merchants chuckled to themselves.
They'd love for someone to leave so they could get a larger share and more profit.
Upon hearing this, the man completely deflated.
If the silk wasn't exported to the Qing court, and people relied on locals to buy it, they would starve.
Helpless, he raised his hand and whispered, "I also agree that Mr. Shen should be elected as the president."
Mr. Wu also raised his hand.
The matter has finally been settled.
Shen Qing instructed Jiang Shen to take the silk farmers back, leaving only Qi Zhenheng and members of the raw silk merchants' association at the scene.
As the president, Shen Qing stood up and said, "It will cost about five million taels to book all the top-grade raw silk in Nanxun for the next year. I will personally pay a deposit of one million taels first, and each of you will contribute 500,000 taels for the remaining four million taels."
No one said a word.
Although everyone could come up with 500,000 taels, no one was willing to do so at this moment.
Seeing this, Shen Qing explained, "The 500,000 taels each person pays, after deducting the amount you need to pay for the goods, will be returned to you at the end of the year. In other words, you are only paying in advance for a year's worth of goods."
One merchant asked, "We can't use up five million taels of raw silk in a year. What should we do with the rest?"
Shen Qing laughed: "Sell it to the foreigners at a high price! We'll split the profits equally!"
How much?
"Ten times! Even a hundred times!"
All eight merchants understood and showed satisfied expressions, promising to hand over 500,000 taels to the Chamber of Commerce within three days.
The crowd filed out of the weaving workshop to go home and get their money.
Shen Qingxin slumped into a chair, exhausted.
Qi Zhenheng poured a cup of hot tea and placed it beside her, then sat down next to her and looked at her with a smile.
After watching for a while, he gave her a thumbs up: "After driving those people to the brink of desperation, you throw them substantial benefits. You use both soft and hard tactics. Who else would you admire but yourself?"
Shen Qing patted his heart, still shaken, and said, "Actually, all my assets total only a little over one million taels. I've practically put all my savings into the silk farmers' deposits. If these merchants are unwilling to join or accept the 500,000 taels investment, I might go bankrupt because I won't have the money to pay the remaining three or four million taels for the raw silk."
Qi Zhenheng nodded: "Yes, it was indeed a risky move, but you have a lot of courage!"
Shen Qing sighed repeatedly.
"It's not easy for a woman like me to struggle and make a living here. It's really not easy."
One wrong step and you'll be shattered to pieces.
She is grateful for her status as the young mistress of the Gao family.
Without the Gao family's name, without the Gao family's warehouse full of silk, shops, spacious factories, and those Gao family relatives who invested in her.
She couldn't have grown the business to this size.
When she transmigrated, she had nothing. If the original owner of this body had lost her husband and had no children, she would have left the Gao family and started her own household.
In this feudal society that preyed on women, if she was lucky, she could do some manual labor to support herself; if she was unlucky, she might be trafficked or murdered.
A wise person knows when to yield. It doesn't matter if she has a feudal label on her head; she can use it to her advantage.
“Qing’er…” Qi Zhenheng grasped her hand that was on the table.
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