Chapter 651 In business, you must seize the initiative.
A dozen or so merchants from Yangzhou came this time; they were all people who were close to Old He.
The group sat down in a private room, and a waiter from Jiangyue Restaurant came up with a menu: "What would you gentlemen like to eat?"
Old He raised his hand and said, "I heard that Dahe Town has crayfish. I'll have one of each of the four flavors."
The waiter scratched his head and said, "Crayfish are not available for the time being and can not be bought anywhere. If you want to eat them, you'll have to wait for the food festival."
Before coming, Mr. He had inquired about this matter, and the situation here does indeed match the information. It seems that Dahe Town has its own plans and arrangements. This second food festival and investment promotion conference should be quite interesting.
He paused for a moment before saying, "Then let's have some local specialties. I've heard that Dahe Town has roast whole lamb, roast duck, braised chicken, sauerkraut fish, and bamboo shoots..."
The waiter wiped the sweat from his brow: "These are specialties of the Great River Banquet, not our Jiangyue Restaurant's specialties..."
Since more and more people from other places started coming, many have specifically requested these dishes from Dahe Banquet, which has caused him a lot of headaches.
He spoke respectfully, “Dahe Banquet is located in Ping’an County, not far from Dahe Town, but reservations are required in advance. Why don’t you gentlemen make do with Jiangyue Restaurant? Our restaurant also has many specialty dishes, such as Chrysanthemum Drunken Crab, tender white-cut chicken, and braised deer tendon…”
Old He nodded and told the waiter to hurry up and serve the dishes.
A group of twelve or thirteen people began to discuss the matter in the private room.
"I didn't expect Dahe Town to be so prosperous. Although the market is not big, it is bustling with people and full of life."
“I saw the river in Dahe Town. If we can really open up waterways in all directions, the future development of Dahe Town will be truly remarkable.”
"Dahe Town has soap, skin care products, and even ice jelly and preserved eggs, plus newly cultivated crayfish, etc. In the future, more and more people will want to do business with Dahe Town, so we shouldn't be too late this time."
Old He nodded. His main purpose in coming here this time was not to do business with Dahe Town, but to see for himself what the investment promotion conference was all about.
If they understand the investment promotion conference, their Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce can also make use of it...
As everyone was discussing, there was a gentle knock on the door of the private room. After Old He said "Please come in," Zhao Tiezhu pushed open the door, turned aside, and let the person behind him in.
Behind him was Cheng Wanwan.
Cheng Wanwan, dressed in a light green dress, walked in with a beaming smile: "You have all come from Yangzhou, which is an honor to my humble abode in Dahe Town. Dahe Town doesn't have much to offer you, so I specially asked my cook to prepare some crayfish for you to enjoy."
Granny Ma came out from behind her, carrying a tray with four plates on it, each plate containing a different flavor of crayfish.
As soon as the dish was brought in, its aroma began to waft through the air, and the Yangzhou merchants, staring at the crayfish, couldn't help but salivate.
"Greetings, Lady Sui." Old He stood up and bowed. "For us humble merchants to be personally received by Lady Sui is a blessing we have accumulated over eight lifetimes. Please, Lady Sui, take a seat."
Cheng Wanwan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down in the seat of honor.
After she arrived, the merchants became reserved. Even though they were attracted by the crayfish, they didn't dare to stare at them for too long, for fear of losing face for Yangzhou.
"Please don't stand on ceremony, everyone. Let's eat first." Cheng Wanwan picked up her chopsticks, took the first bite of a garlic prawn and placed it on her plate. She smiled and said, "In August, prawns are very plump and the meat is extremely tender. Everyone who has tried them says they are delicious."
After she started eating, everyone else at the table followed suit.
The plate was only so big, and there were only about a dozen lobsters of each flavor, which meant that one lobster per person was enough to finish the plate.
Seeing that all twelve or thirteen people were engrossed in eating, it was clear that the people of Yangzhou did not reject the heavy oil and strong flavor of crayfish, and Cheng Wanwan's last worry was relieved.
"These crayfish are indeed delicious..." Old He took a big gulp of water to relieve the spiciness, and after his breathing calmed down, he said, "I heard from people in Dahe Town that you need to participate in the investment promotion conference and bid to obtain the crayfish supply and become... a distributor, is that right?"
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "It's not just crayfish, but also all sorts of other delicacies, such as newly cultivated potatoes and tomatoes, as well as local specialties from Dahe Town like preserved eggs, ice jelly, and bamboo shoots... These delicacies will all be looking for the most suitable agents at the investment promotion conference. However..."
She paused, "These crayfish are seafood; they're only fresh when they're alive. If they're transported to other places, they'll be exhausted from the long journey, and at least half of them will die along the way... Yangzhou is four or five days' journey from Dahe Town, which is quite far. So I don't really recommend that you participate in the crayfish bidding. You could choose some more durable foods, like potatoes..."
The word "potato" sounds similar to "soybean," and even the best soybeans only fetch a so-so price, so Old He had no interest in them whatsoever.
The other businessmen present tasted the crayfish and immediately fell in love with it.
Nowadays, the upper class in Yangzhou mostly eats crab and venison at banquets. These two dishes can fetch high prices in Yangzhou. However, the taste of crayfish is no less than that of crab and venison. Most importantly, crayfish is a newly available product. As long as you are rich, you will be interested in this novelty. If the reputation of crayfish is established, how much it will sell for will be up to them.
"Isn't Dahe Town building a canal?" Old He stroked his beard. "Once the canal is open, it will only take two days to travel from Yangzhou to Dahe Town by water, which is quite close."
Cheng Wanwan looked regretful: "We originally planned to build a waterway to Yangzhou City, but unfortunately, we don't have enough money... so we have to put this on hold for now."
The original budget was 150,000 taels of silver, but after construction started, it was discovered that money was needed everywhere and the budget was simply not enough. She also understood why so many large projects in ancient times were abandoned halfway through, because the money was spent in the middle and there was no money left to continue.
To complete these three phases of the canal project, it would probably cost at least 200,000 taels of silver.
Now that such a fat sheep has been delivered to our door, we might as well slaughter it.
She smiled and said, "It's alright. In three to five years, when Dahe Town has developed and become prosperous, we will definitely be able to raise the funds. Then we can cooperate with the owners in Yangzhou on the crayfish business. It's not too late."
The Yangzhou merchants were in a great hurry.
It's late! How can it not be late!
In business, you have to seize opportunities and be one step ahead. If you are one step ahead in everything, you will earn immeasurable profits.
If we wait a few years, the daylilies will be too late; not only will we not be able to eat meat, but there won't be much soup left either.
Everyone looked at Old He, waiting for him to make a decision.
After pondering for a while, the old man spoke up: "I heard that only merchants who have contributed to the Grand Canal can participate in the first investment promotion conference. If that's the case, we Yangzhou people cannot be an exception. My He family is not a wealthy merchant family, and we can't come up with more money, so we will donate five thousand taels of silver."
Five thousand taels of silver is really not much for Yangzhou merchants.
If Yangzhou City were to build the canal itself, he, as the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, would receive at least ten thousand taels of silver as a starting point. Unfortunately, the main authority is in the hands of Dahe Town in Ping'an County. Since this canal belongs to Dahe Town, he naturally wouldn't contribute too much silver.
With Mr. He taking the lead, other businessmen naturally followed suit.
“My Zhou family donated three thousand taels.”
"Two thousand taels from the Shi family."
The combined donations from twelve or thirteen merchants amounted to a staggering thirty thousand taels of silver.
Cheng Wanwan smiled broadly, stood up, and bowed: "On behalf of all the people of Dahe Town, Ping'an County, I thank you all for your generous donations... Although the canal leading to Yangzhou City is the third phase of the project, in order to facilitate the transportation of crayfish, I will discuss with the county magistrate to advance the construction period. I assure you all that the canal will be successfully opened before the end of the year!"
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