Ganli originally came today to inspect the newly made tables and chairs. While chatting with Wang the carpenter, she heard the news that the price of saltpeter had skyrocketed recently because the method of making ice had become more widespread. She immediately thought of the batch of goods that Lao Sun had.
However, after inquiring, I didn't hear any news about Baifulai selling saltpeter. Could it be that Old Sun wanted to hoard it out of curiosity?
Ganli frowned as she thought about this.
Merchants all have their own methods of doing business. She shouldn't have meddled in such matters, but she had also stockpiled two thousand taels of silver worth of goods here. If something went wrong, she wouldn't be able to escape responsibility either.
Although she had warned Lao Sun before, she wasn't sure if he would remember the huge profit he was so tempted by.
She thought for a moment and then had Gan Mingyi drive the car to Baifulai.
Upon meeting, she subtly inquired about the matter.
Old Sun was a seasoned businessman; he understood her purpose as soon as he heard her voice and smiled:
"Don't worry, Manager Gan. I remember what you said before. The reason we didn't sell earlier was simply because the timing wasn't right."
Was the timing wrong? Gan Li was momentarily puzzled.
Old Sun chuckled, a sly glint in his eyes:
“Previously, all the major pharmacies were selling off their stock, and I found out that most of them had raised prices. If I sell at a low price now, wouldn’t I be cutting off their source of income?”
The owners of these pharmacies are all acquaintances, and we'll be seeing them again in the future, so it's not good to be too harsh.
Gan Li suddenly realized, and her gaze towards Old Sun changed to one of admiration: "Old ginger is indeed spicier. I originally thought..."
"You think I'm trying to take this opportunity to raise prices?"
Old Sun smiled knowingly, and then said:
"The imperial court is promoting ice-making methods at this time so that the people can have cheap ice. If I raise the price of ice-making materials now, wouldn't that go against His Majesty's wishes?"
The court may not bother with minor squabbles, but with so much of my goods, selling them at high prices would be too conspicuous. If I anger the court, forget about making money; I might even lose all my assets.
Seeing that he understood, Gan Li breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Uncle Sun, you've thought things through."
"Alas, it's all thanks to Manager Gan's reminder. I had considered this idea before... but after thinking about your words, I thought about it more and came up with this idea."
After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Gan Mingyi laughed heartily:
"To be honest, you're all smart! I'm the only one who doesn't know anything. I'll just do whatever my little sister tells me to do."
Old Sun laughed heartily upon hearing this and said, "Sometimes, being able to listen to what others have to say is a great wisdom."
However, he didn't continue to be modest.
Ganli understood what Lao Sun meant and was relieved. She then asked him when he planned to start shipping the goods.
Old Sun said, "Tomorrow."
He paused, then asked Gan Li with a slightly mysterious air, "Manager Gan, have you heard the news that the head of Wanshun Restaurant has come out?"
Ganli shook her head: "So fast?"
"Heh, I didn't think it would be that quick either, but the other day his daughter made such a big fuss selling off her belongings that I had someone inquire about it and that's how I found out..."
Old Sun paused here, then raised his hand and made a five-point gesture towards Gan Li: "This number—enough to rescue the person."
Gan Li raised her eyebrows slightly upon hearing the news, somewhat surprised.
But upon closer reflection, I realized that things weren't that simple.
County Magistrate Lu Yuancai used this as leverage to report to the Emperor, who punished the corrupt county magistrate. At this critical juncture, even if he had to pretend, he had to pretend to be honest. How could he accept bribes so quickly?
There must be something fishy going on here.
But Old Sun was concerned about something else entirely.
"After this ordeal, the Zhao family has been reduced to selling off their possessions to raise money, and they are probably severely weakened. How can Master Zhao, with his high aspirations, tolerate this?"
He's most likely trying to use those saltpeter stones to make a comeback, but people are prone to making mistakes when they're anxious... Let's wait and see. If he doesn't get greedy, that's fine. But if he does, the Zhao family is probably finished this time.
Although that's what they said, the other two of the three people present, except for Gan Mingyi, knew in their hearts that Master Zhao would never sell his saltpeter at a low price.
After all, in order to snatch the goods, Lao Sun secretly raised the price, and with other costs added, the price of Zhao's saltpeter simply couldn't be lowered.
If it were sold at cost price, Master Zhao would certainly not be willing to accept it.
But if it's sold at a high price, and word gets out, it will most likely bring trouble.
In short, this matter is a dilemma, and it all depends on what Master Zhao thinks.
Thinking of this, Old Sun looked at Gan Li with undisguised admiration:
"Now I understand why Manager Gan made me compete with the Zhao family in the first place. He must have foreseen this day coming. He thought three steps ahead for every one step he took. I truly admire him!"
Gan Li smiled without saying a word: "How could I be so magical?"
It was simply a gamble on human nature. Master Zhao was driven by profit, and Gan Li had already figured out his ruthless nature to do anything for profit, which is why she set up this scheme.
At this time, Master Zhao was unaware that a huge crisis was waiting for him ahead, and he was still dreaming of successfully turning the tables before going to sleep.
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Early in the morning, Master Zhao got up and called Steward Zhao to ask about the saltpeter.
Steward Zhao hurriedly said, "Everything is ready. Our people spread the word yesterday that we will be selling saltpeter at Wanshun Restaurant today. Saltpeter is in short supply recently, so I'm sure there are already long queues outside Wanshun Restaurant."
"Good, good, good!" Master Zhao was overjoyed and wanted to go and see for himself.
The carriage took him to Wanshunlou, only to find that it had already started operating. There were indeed many people gathered at the entrance, but business was not as booming as he had imagined.
What's going on?
Just as he was wondering, he heard many people in the crowd complaining.
"This saltpeter is too expensive. A few days ago, it was already an exorbitant price of 100 coins per catty at the pharmacy. Well, now it's 150 coins per catty?"
"That's right! Saltpeter usually only costs fifty coins a pound, but this price has increased several times over!"
"We thought that once the ice-making method was popularized, we could finally use cheap ice. But it turns out we still can't afford it. It's so miserable for us poor people!"
"You really know how heartless Master Zhao is! I heard he was even released. Why didn't the magistrate lock him up for a few more years?"
Master Zhao came here hoping to see a thriving business, but instead of a booming business, someone cursed him to go to jail.
He was so angry he almost choked, and with a dark face, he called over Steward Zhao:
"Go tell them that 150 coins a catty is already cheap. If they still complain, we'll sell it for 200 coins a catty!"
Since there's nothing else like it, what's he afraid of? He wants to see whether these people will die of heatstroke or spend money!
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