Chapter 2489 Agree
Zhou Lijun said, "The merchants that Fourth Uncle and I are looking for have all used our ointments and creams before and know that they are good. However, if we don't have a shop or a workshop registered with the court, they wouldn't dare to buy in large quantities."
"I figured if we were going to do it, we had to do it well," she said. "Our ointments and creams aren't cheap, and we're targeting people with modest means. So, we can't just find any place for this shop. There's a street in the East Quarter of the Inner City that specializes in rouge, powder, and silk. There are also silver shops and bookstores there. It's arguably the most profitable shop in all of Dajin. The one I chose isn't expensive. I've asked around, and more expensive shops might cost 20 million."
Old Zhou felt his heart pounding and asked, "How much is 20 million?"
Manbao said, "That's twenty thousand taels."
Zhou Lijun nodded and said, "Because I said we have silver, we agreed to buy this shop. If the price is less than nine million copper coins, they won't sell it to you."
There is still little silver, and even less gold. The former can still circulate, but the latter is not circulated among the people at all and only exists in particularly large-scale transactions.
Silver is easier to transport, so it is particularly popular among merchants. This is also one of the reasons why the exchange rate of copper coins for silver is always high.
Moreover, silver can be used to make jewelry, which is even less valuable.
In fact, the Zhou family had quite a few copper coins, but more of them were silver. This was all thanks to Zhou Lijun. She always told Zhou Silang that as long as there was a chance to exchange them for silver at a low price, he would do so.
When doing business, never use copper coins if you can settle with silver.
In addition, she often stayed in the capital, so she could always pay attention to the silver exchange rate in places like silver shops, pawnshops and government offices. As long as the silver price was slightly lower, she would use the copper coins at home to exchange for silver.
Not only is it easy to store, but now when she needs silver, she can take it out quickly.
Of course, the largest amount distributed to each household through her hands was silver.
Old Zhou was not very good at math. He originally thought that the shop that cost more than 8,000 taels was too expensive. Now that it was converted into a shop worth 9 million coins, he felt it was even more expensive, so he didn't say anything.
Qian looked at them and asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhou Lijun said first, "My aunt has already agreed to take a 10% share. What I mean is that each of the other families will also take a 10% share. However, except for my aunt, everyone else, including me, will have to pay 13% of the 10% share, which is considered to be a share of the 20% of the public share. The recipe belongs to my aunt, so she doesn't have to pay for it."
Everyone agreed with this, so Zhou Liwei raised his hand and asked, "We can only recognize each room one by one. Can I recognize myself alone?"
"No," Zhou Lijun said seriously, "Even if the other rooms don't want it, it must be divided equally among the rooms. If there are rooms that the head of the room doesn't want, then we can divide it again. It can only be divided room by room."
Zhou Liwei thought about it for a moment and objected to his sister, "Then how can you subscribe to it alone? You are also from our second branch."
Zhou Lizhong coughed lightly, "You want to fight with Second Sister?"
Zhou Lijun said: "I am married."
"That aunt..."
Zhou Lijun said, "I manage at least half of the family business. I can't do it for nothing. I won't accept just being paid. I want the right to subscribe."
Manbao nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, I'm working for you for free."
Zhou Liwei nodded, "Okay."
Qian remained silent until they finished speaking, then she looked at her sons and daughters-in-law present and asked, "What do you mean?"
Fang pondered for a moment and then said, "Before he left, the child's father said that if the family wanted to buy a shop, we would just follow."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang had no objection either. They had known this since they were little when they took Manbao and Zhou Lijun and their siblings to play.
The smartest person in the family is Manbao, followed by the fourth brother and Lijun. Fourth brother is not worth mentioning, as he is the most cunning. But Lijun is the master at accounting and is more steady than the fourth brother. At least it is difficult to lose money if you follow her.
Qian nodded. Zhou Liwei from the second house and Zhou Ligu from the third house also said that there was no problem. Her eyes fell on Zhou Dalang.
Zhou Dalang said, "I have no objection."
That's how it was settled.
Zhou Lijun was in high spirits and said, "In that case, each family should pool their money together. I'll pay the deposit tomorrow, and by the 16th, I'll have enough money to buy the shop. We'll try to open it before Double Ninth Festival."
The crowd dispersed.
Qian called Zhou Dalang and asked him to stay and talk.
After everyone left, she asked him, "How much private money do you and your wife have?"
Zhou Dalang scratched his head and said, "More than 800."
Qian sighed, "That's still a long way off. I've been keeping the Third Brother's money, and it's only a little over 800. I figured Datou spent quite a bit on marrying his wife, so you guys should be short of a lot too. What are you going to do with this little money?"
Zhou Dalang said, "Manbao came to see the child's mother last night and asked her to lend us the five hundred taels we were short of."
Qian frowned slightly, "Manbao is getting married, and she needs to prepare her dowry."
She couldn't help but turn around and ask Old Zhou, "Do you know how much money Manbao has?"
Old Zhou shook his head, "I don't know, but Li Jun probably knows."
Qian pondered for a moment and then said, "Forget it. Since she wants to lend it to you, then you should keep it."
Zhou Dalang nodded and retreated.
After her son left, Qian said to Old Zhou, "Don't save the money anymore. Give it to Manbao to buy a dowry."
Old Zhou glanced at her and said, "I've already made preparations. Do you really want to lend them our private property?"
Qian pinched him and said, "Why are you so jealous? What am I fighting for? Isn't it all about this family? If we don't treat everyone equally, this family will fall apart sooner or later."
She said, "Didn't you hear what the second girl said? This shop is making a lot of money. You don't feel anything when you take the money now, but when the money is made in the future, if one of the families is shortchanged, they will definitely feel resentful when they think back on what happened today. No matter whether they are right or wrong, resentment will easily lead to quarrels. If quarrels continue, people will feel hurt, and if people feel hurt, the family will fall apart. Otherwise, why do you think the second girl doesn't let everyone claim their share?"
"If we can get someone to recognize him, Manbao can take everything they don't want in one go. With Silang, Lijun, and Liwei, even Wulang and Liulang will have enough to spare. Then the first and third branches will be weakened. The bigger the shop's business gets in the future, the bigger the gap will be. Not to mention the next generation, I'm afraid this generation will start arguing."
So she wanted to be equal. At least, the first and third wives should have the same shares as the other wives. Especially the first wives, they will be in charge of the family in the future, so they cannot be weaker than their younger brothers and sisters, otherwise what they say will be ignored.
Feelings are very important. The Zhou brothers all have good relationships, but interests must also be properly considered.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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