Chapter 51 Jiang's Soap Shop Opens
The New Year was always busy. On the first day, Jiang Yuyan went to the Qin family to pay respects to her ancestors and celebrate the New Year. On the second day, she went back to the palace with Xie Jingyu to celebrate the New Year. However, Xiao Yuanyan had no relatives, which made Jiang Yuyan feel uneasy.
She acted coquettishly and discussed with Qin Shangyu, and they moved into Jiang Mansion together after the fifth day of the New Year.
Qin Shangyu chose a courtyard near the plum garden, called it Yimeiyuan, with beautiful and elegant scenery.
Jiang Yuyan now had time to count the betrothal gifts sent by the Qin family. In addition to gold, silver, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, clothes and fabrics, there were also many valuable musical instruments.
There are two shops, and Jiang Yuyan designated it as the main store of Jinxiufang in the capital. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, she ordered Qin Shangyu to work. Qin Shangyu naturally smiled and agreed.
The tenth day of the first lunar month was the Queen's birthday, and she planned to invite the noble ladies and ladies of the capital to celebrate at the Pepper Room Palace. Jiang Yuyan also received an invitation.
As she was preparing to open a soap shop, she naturally could not miss this opportunity, and immediately led her servants to make dozens of exquisite gift baskets with the soaps that had already been put into production, as well as silk handkerchiefs, floral dew, etc.
When Empress Hua first saw Jiang Yuyan's birthday gift, she was very surprised. She didn't know what the lump-shaped object was used for.
Jiang Yuyan smiled and gave an explanation on the spot.
"This is a soap that can be used for daily cleaning and bathing, and it also has the effect of beautifying the skin!"
Empress Hua's graceful face also showed a hint of smile, "Is it really that useful?"
"You'll know once you try it, Madam!" Jiang Yuyan said confidently.
The queen was cooperative and immediately ordered someone to bring water.
Jiang Yuyan leaned forward and respectfully washed the queen's hands. She was surprised to see that the soap had been used, and her hands were fresh and not sticky, and there was a pleasant smell. She praised it again and again.
"It's really a good thing! Jiang is thoughtful!"
When the noble ladies saw that the Queen's hands seemed to be whiter after washing, they all whispered to each other, their eyes full of excitement and envy.
However, this item is precious, and there are not many gift boxes brought. Jiang Yuyan was afraid of offending people, so except for the gift boxes specially reserved for Concubine Jia and the third princess, the rest were handed over to Empress Hua for distribution.
Queen Hua understood what he meant and kept two for herself, and gave the rest to the winners of the competitions in music, chess, calligraphy and painting at the meeting.
Before the banquet was over, many ladies asked about the source of the soap.
"Ladies, don't worry! Jiang's Soap Company will have a grand opening on Guanyue Street during the Lantern Festival. All guests of the Queen today who come to watch the ceremony will receive discounts."
Jiang Yuyan advertised vigorously and gave the queen enough face.
Empress Hua sat at the top with a faint smile and said nothing.
Two days before the opening, Jiang Yuyan asked her father-in-law, Prince Wu, to send invitations to the dignitaries in Beijing, and spread the word that production was limited and first come, first served.
With this preparation, as soon as Jiang's Soap Shop opened for business on the Lantern Festival, noble ladies in Beijing flocked to the shop, fearing that they would not be able to buy if they arrived too late. The shop was packed with people and was bustling with activity.
Many neighbors also came to join in the fun and see the new things. Jiang Yuyan had a trial stand set up at the door of the store, and everyone found that this thing was much better than soap. After asking around, they found out that a bar of soap cost one tael of silver, and there were discounts for the opening of the store. They gritted their teeth and could afford it.
Jiang Yuyan was very proud of the grand occasion of people coming to her door. She had considered most of the consumer groups when setting the price.
Soap is expensive. Depending on its ingredients and efficacy, a piece can be sold for three to ten taels of silver. The consumers are mainly the powerful, the wealthy, and those with a little extra money.
The consumer group of soap is even wider. As a daily necessity, it has obvious advantages. Rich families with many people sell it in large quantities, while poorer families advertise its long usage period.
As long as the production capacity can keep up, Jiang Yuyan is confident that the soap industry will become a monopoly industry in Dayue Country in the future.
Inspired by the Queen's birthday banquet, Jiang Yuyan also sold gift baskets, which set off a trend in Beijing to give soap gift boxes to teachers and friends during festivals. As a result, the soaps were often sold out.
A month later, Jiang Yuyan looked at the first month's sales and smiled widely. She gave bonuses to the shop assistants and servants at home.
As a senior businessman, Xie Jingyu was also amazed and felt inferior. In the evening, he hugged Jiang Yuyan and praised her. He said, "Madam, you have worked hard. Your husband will serve you."
But who serves whom in the end remains an unsolved mystery.
After the success in the first month, Jiang Yuyan wanted to expand the scale of production. However, if she wanted to expand the scale of production, she had to recruit more people. With a mixed staff, management was bound to be sloppy. Whether she could keep the formula in the future was a big problem.
A few days ago, patrol guards discovered that a thief broke into Qiuxia Manor in the middle of the night, which made Jiang Yuyan feel quite uneasy.
But there is only a thief who can steal for a thousand days, and there is no way to guard against thieves a thousand miles away. Anyone with insight can see that this is a huge piece of gold, and there are naturally many people who covet it... It would be great if there was a way to solve the problem once and for all...
But before Jiang Yuyan could come up with a good solution, something happened at home again...
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