Chapter 650 Merchants of Yangzhou
The food festival in Dahe Town was a great success, and the news spread like wildfire.
The news spread from Dahe Town to Ping'an County, to Hekou County, to Nanyang City, and to the entire Qingzhou Prefecture. With Cheng Wanwan's deliberate arrangement, the news quickly reached Yangzhou, the most prosperous place in the Dayu Kingdom.
"Have you heard? Dahe Town... the Dahe Town where Sui Gongren lives, is holding some kind of food festival. You can taste all kinds of fresh food for free. It is said that many of the foods were cultivated by Sui Gongren."
"Last year, the Kingdom of Laji presented many new species as tribute, which seemed to be given to the Suigong people for breeding and raising. I wonder what they are. If I had known about the food festival earlier, I should have gone to take a look."
"I heard there's a second phase of the food festival, on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month. If we set off then, we can arrive two days earlier. I wonder if Mr. He would be interested in going to check it out?"
The man known as Old Man He is the vice president of the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce. He has no interest in food, only in doing business.
Since these novel delicacies at the food festival were tributes from the Kingdom of Laji, they will surely be presented to the court by the Sui Gong people after they are cultivated. In order to maintain the relationship between the Kingdom of Dayu and the Kingdom of Laji, even if the food is just so-so, the emperor and empress will spare no effort to praise it. In this way, these novelties will definitely be praised by the nobles and wealthy people of the Kingdom of Dayu.
The capital city is full of nobles, while Yangzhou city is full of wealthy people.
If you can control these delicacies, you're sure to make a fortune.
Although Mr. He was already one of the top merchants in Yangzhou, what merchant would complain about making too much money?
He stroked his beard and asked, "Someone, go and find out the details of the Dahe Town Food Festival."
Cheng Wanwan's people had already infiltrated Yangzhou, making it incredibly easy to gather information. That very evening, the servant relayed all the information he had gathered to Old Master He.
"This food festival was spearheaded by Sui Gongren. The first phase, held at the end of July, has already concluded successfully. It's said that over 50,000 people visited Dahe Town that day, making it an incredibly grand event. There were more than twenty kinds of exotic delicacies, but the most talked-about was a seafood dish called crayfish, prepared in four different ways, each one so delicious you'd want to swallow your tongue..."
As the waiter spoke, he began to drool. Although he had never seen a crayfish before, he couldn't control his drooling just thinking about the descriptions given by people who had experienced the food festival.
He quickly wiped his drool and continued, "I specifically asked where I could buy crayfish, and the person said that during the second food festival, the Sui Gong people will arrange a second investment promotion conference to find food agents."
Old He put down his teacup: "Investment promotion meeting? Agent?"
He had lived for over sixty years and this was the first time he had ever heard those two words, though he seemed to vaguely understand what they meant.
"It's said that a month ago, Lady Sui held her first business fair, allowing merchants to bid for the operating rights of shops in Dahe Town's market. The bidding fees alone amounted to more than 60,000 taels of silver." The servant said in disbelief, "Dahe Town used to be a village. After it was changed to a town, a market was established. The operating rights of twenty shops are actually worth so much silver?"
With over 60,000 taels of silver, one could buy a luxurious five-courtyard mansion and several shops on the main street in Yangzhou. He really couldn't understand why those merchants would fight tooth and nail to compete for the right to operate a shop in a new town. Was it to curry favor with Lady Sui?
Old He stroked his beard in thought, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Brilliant, truly brilliant! I originally thought that Lady Sui had reached her current position because of her beauty, but it seems that Lady Sui is indeed intelligent and capable, otherwise the Emperor would not value a woman so highly."
The servant scratched his chin: "It's said that Dahe Town is building a canal, connecting Nanyang to the west and Qingzhou to the south. The third phase is to build a long canal to connect Yangzhou and Huzhou by water. This Lady Sui's ambition is truly great..."
"Without ambition, how can one secure the position of Lady Sui?" Old He's face showed great interest. "Make arrangements to set off for Dahe Town in Huzhou today. I need to go and see what's going on at this food festival."
What he was more interested in seeing was how many other strange tricks this Lady Sui had up her sleeve.
Yangzhou became a commercial capital because of its geographical location. It is located on the coast and by the river, with extremely developed water transportation. Whether traveling north or south, or going by land or even going to sea, it is extremely convenient. Therefore, Yangzhou's commerce is undoubtedly the king of the Great Yu Kingdom.
However, Dahe Town... a newly built town that was just converted from a village, a poor and remote place with extremely inconvenient transportation, was able to attract more than 50,000 people to gather because of a food festival... If the Grand Canal were to be opened and with Sui Gongren in charge, Dahe Town's commerce would be greatly enhanced, and in time, it would probably be comparable to Yangzhou.
Early the next morning, Mr. He set off for Huzhou.
Mr. He is the vice president of the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce. Given his position, if he went, what reason do others have not to go?
As a result, Yangzhou merchants dropped everything and rushed to Huzhou.
Merchants from many areas near Yangzhou, upon hearing that Yangzhou merchants had all gone to Huzhou, could no longer resist and hurried on their way.
As the eighth day of the eighth lunar month approaches, more and more merchants from other places are coming to Huzhou.
The docks in Hekou County began to be congested, and the inns in the surrounding towns and counties were overcrowded. In short, the people of Huzhou had never seen such a scene before.
Everyone in Dahe Town is preparing for the second phase of the food festival. Delicious food is essential, and the service and logistics must also be perfect. This is the first time Dahe Town has stepped out of Huzhou and the first time it has welcomed countless merchants from other places. Therefore, it is necessary to give people a perfect first impression so that people will praise Dahe Town when they mention it in the future.
Cheng Wanwan was reviewing the agenda for the investment promotion conference. Although she had written it herself, she still had to double-check all the details.
While she was busy, there was a knock on the study door. She looked up and said, "Come in."
The person who came in was Zhao Tiezhu. As soon as he entered, he said, "Auntie, the Yangzhou businessmen have arrived. The one leading them is surnamed He. He claims to be the vice president of the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce. He wants to meet with you before the investment promotion conference. I wonder if you have time?"
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "I didn't expect the Yangzhou businessman to arrive so quickly. Since he is the vice president, we should naturally meet him. Go to Jiangyue Restaurant and book a table. I will be there shortly."
Jiangyue Restaurant is a restaurant that the Jiang family applied to open after winning the bid for the operation of Shop No. 7. If Lao Zhao's Dahe Restaurant is aimed at low- and middle-end customers, then Jiangyue Restaurant is dedicated to serving high-end customers. Its decoration and furnishings are extremely exquisite. The Jiang family has put a lot of effort into establishing a foothold in Dahe Town.
Mr. He and his group were led to the new market and headed towards Jiangyue Restaurant.
This new market has only just started to develop, and all the shops have opened within the past month. There are money exchanges, pawnshops, restaurants, teahouses, inns, security escort agencies... you name it, there are all kinds of shops. It's a little smaller than Yangzhou City, but given time, who knows what the future holds?
"Mr. He, esteemed owners and managers, please come in." Zhao Tiezhu said with a warm smile. "Please have a seat for a moment, Lady Sui will be here shortly."
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