Chapter 163 Cotton Merchants Collusion
"Master Zhang, are you serious?" Hao Zhao was excited. He stood up opposite Zhang Quan with a gleam in his eyes.
Zhang Quan didn't say anything. He just slowly held the tea in one hand, opened the lid of the teacup with the other hand, and gently blew the floating tea leaves on the surface of the cup, as if he didn't hear what Hao Zhao said.
But when Hao Zhao saw Zhang Quan like this, he understood everything, everything was self-explanatory!
At this moment, he could no longer see anything else in his eyes. The way he looked at Zhang Quan was more like he was looking at a mountain of silver.
Six thousand kilograms of cotton, two hundred coins per kilogram, a transaction worth more than one thousand taels of silver, this is definitely a big deal for Hao Zhao's shop.
The most important thing is that Zhang Quan just made it clear that the transaction is real gold and silver, not treasure banknotes, which makes it even more tempting.
In the entire Yingtian Prefecture, it can be said that apart from the government and wealthy families, there is no other shop that can claim to have more than one thousand taels of liquid funds on its books. If there is any, it can only be banknotes, and it can never be real gold and silver!
"Okay, I've had my tea and delivered my message." Zhang Quan saw that Hao Zhao hadn't said anything for a long time, so he stood up without getting anxious. "It seems that Shopkeeper Hao really doesn't have it. Then I'll go ask somewhere else."
"No." Hao Zhao became anxious upon hearing this and quickly stepped forward to stop Zhang Quan. However, seeing Zhang Quan's surprised look, he knew that he had just said too much and couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"Master Zhang, look at this. We are old acquaintances. Let me think of a solution. It will take at most one day. I will give you the final word by this time tomorrow. I will go to the Treasury and Banknotes Administration Office in person and give you the news. What do you think?"
"That would be the best." Zhang Quan nodded. "I'm afraid of trouble, and my husband hates it even more. Shopkeeper Hao, opportunities only come to those who are prepared. I hope you won't let me down!"
After saying that, Zhang Quan patted Hao Zhao on the shoulder and left.
After Zhang Quan left for a while, the clerk in the front yard came in curiously to see his shopkeeper. He was surprised to find Hao Zhao still standing in the room in a daze. He couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Shopkeeper, what are you doing..."
"Zhang Quan is gone?" Hao Zhao reacted immediately after hearing the waiter's voice.
"He left a long time ago. He said he came to discuss important business with you. I think he's here to cause trouble again..."
"What?" Hao Zhao frowned, then immediately came to his senses. Without waiting for any explanation, he raised his hand and slapped the waiter in the face. He shouted at him in a stern voice, "What did I teach you? Who taught you to look down on others? Who the hell do you think you are?"
The clerk was slapped for no apparent reason. After hearing Hao Zhao's outburst, he was filled with disbelief. He covered his face and cried, "Boss, I was wrong. I didn't..."
"This is just the first time. Next time, you'll have to pack up and get out of here. I can't tolerate fools like you in my shop!" Hao Zhao suddenly lost the desire to talk to the clerk and directly kicked him out.
After driving the shop assistant away, Hao Zhao went out without stopping, found his own capable men, and began to frantically purchase cotton on the market.
Originally, Hao Zhao was going to ask the shop assistant to do this, but the shop assistant revealed that he looked down on Zhang Quan, which benefited Hao Zhao's own people.
I wonder if the clerk would beat his chest if he knew that because of his contempt for others, he not only lost the trust of the shopkeeper, but also lost an opportunity to make a fortune!
What Hao Zhao didn't know was that not long after Zhang Quan left his place, news about the Baochao Tizhusi began to spread in Yingtian Prefecture.
The Baochao Tizhusi wants to purchase 10,000 jin of cotton at a price of 200 wen per jin. On-site purchases will begin from today until the quantity is purchased.
Upon hearing the news, the entire Yingtian Prefecture was in an uproar. The merchants who had just sold cotton to Hao Zhao at the lowest price immediately regretted it, and more people reacted and began to rush out of the city, hoping to take advantage of the time difference and quickly buy the cotton.
The largest group of cotton merchants in Yingtian Prefecture united together and sat in a private room of a luxurious restaurant to discuss countermeasures.
"Lao Cheng, what do you think about this? Ten thousand kilograms of cotton is more than any of us can eat. This business is so big, how should we consume it? Shouldn't we brothers discuss it?"
A fat man in fancy clothes asked the middle-aged man in plain clothes sitting opposite him.
"Hey, it's just 10,000 kilograms of cotton. Why are you so impatient, Old Zhang? Isn't Mr. Cheng thinking of a solution?"
"That's right, Old Zhang, if you can't sit still, we won't keep you here. You can just go out of town and do some shopping like those people. There's no need to waste time with us!"
The fat man in fancy clothes called Lao Zhang flushed red in the face when he heard the teasing from his companions. He pointed at the two people who had just spoken and snorted coldly.
"Qi Dacheng, Su Wenzhe, stop making sarcastic remarks. Aren't you jealous of such a big deal?"
"You bully me on ordinary days, but today, in front of so many people, you still want to bully the boss? You have people behind you, and I, Zhang Dongyue, am not just a bunch of idlers. If you have the guts, let's draw a line and fight, and see who can knock down the other first!"
Cotton merchants are competitors to each other and their relationship is usually tense. This time they sat together only because of the interests, but this cannot prevent cotton merchants from slandering each other.
Cheng Jitang glanced at the tense group of people and couldn't help coughing. "Alright, stop arguing. We're all here for business. What are you doing here?"
After hearing Cheng Jitang's words, several people finally stopped fighting, but still glared at each other.
Zhang Dongyue snorted heavily and looked at Cheng Jitang, "Old Cheng, I listen to you. Just give me the idea. We'll do whatever you say!"
No one at the scene objected to Zhang Dongyue's words. Everyone looked at Cheng Jitang, waiting for the old man to speak.
Despite being stared at by so many people, Cheng Jitang remained calm because he was used to such looks. After all, his shop was the best among the cotton merchants in Yingtian Prefecture, and the power behind it was the strongest among all.
"Actually, this is easy to do. I'll just say hello and prevent those who want to share a piece of the pie from coming in. That'll be it."
Cheng Jitang's eyes flashed with a gleam, and he looked at the people around him, "However, I can only control the general direction. For other directions, I will need your help."
After hearing Cheng Jitang's words, Zhang Dongyue and others' eyes lit up and they all understood what the other party meant.
There are actually only a few roads leading to the Baochao Tizhusi from the outer city to the inner city. Cheng Jitang said that he could control the general direction, which are the main roads. Except for them, no other cotton merchants could enter the inner city.
As for the cotton merchants in the inner city, Zhang Dongyue and his men were responsible for dealing with them.
In a nutshell, apart from the few people in the private room today, no one else can do this business of the Baochao Tizhusi!
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