The price of Artemisia annua is so high now that anyone who wants to enter the market will need even more capital.
From this we can see that the Qiao family is indeed rich enough to rival a country, and this kind of business nowadays is really not something that ordinary people can get involved in.
Soon Mr. Lai delivered Mr. Qiao Si's letter to the Qiao family. The old man of the Qiao family looked at the letter in his hand, compared it with the information he had received during this period, and was a little undecided for a moment.
The Qiao family is not just his Qiao family. The amount of funds mobilized this time is really huge. If they make money, everyone will be happy, but if they lose money, it will be troublesome. There are so many mouths in the family waiting to be fed.
So the old man of the Qiao family sighed and said, "Call everyone back and go to the ancestral hall!"
Soon, the core members of the Qiao family gathered in the Qiao family ancestral hall. Old Master Qiao sat at the head of the table and said, "This is what's going on. You guys should make up your mind. Should our family get involved in this business?"
"We definitely have to get involved, Father. It's all over the place now. Artemisia annua can indeed treat malaria. With the malaria outbreak so severe in the Four Cities right now, it's a good time to raise the price."
"Yes, and even if the epidemic in the four cities is over, will there be no malaria in other places in the future? Let me tell you, Artemisia annua will be like Saint-Endan in the future, and it will definitely be hard currency."
"There's no possibility for our family to get involved with something like Saint's End, but we can still consider Artemisia annua."
Seeing the whole family so excited, Old Master Qiao pondered for a while and said, "But I heard that the court is planning to release another batch of Artemisia annua. Have you ever considered what to do if the court has a large amount of Artemisia annua in its hands?"
"Father, have you ever considered that we're not the only family in the entire Great Qi trying to drive up the price of Artemisia annua? Even if the imperial court holds a certain amount of Artemisia annua, it can't withstand so many merchants acting in concert."
Old Master Qiao pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, "The Third Elder is right. This time, at least one-third of the merchants in Da Qi have begun to target this business. The amount of funds mobilized has reached an extremely terrifying level."
The eldest brother of the Qiao family said anxiously, "So, now while there is still Artemisia annua on the market, our family must hurry to buy it. If we are late, I am afraid that no matter how much money we spend, we won't be able to get it."
Even so, the old man of the Qiao family was still a little hesitant. He didn't know what he was hesitating about, but years of experience told him that there was probably a problem here.
At this moment, a servant of the Qiao family suddenly ran in. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Old Master, I just received news that Lu Chen has already issued an order in Yangzhou. Merchants in the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce are not allowed to drive up the price of Artemisia annua, otherwise they will be expelled from the Chamber of Commerce!"
Upon hearing this, Master Qiao's heart was relieved. A smile appeared on his face and he said, "That's enough. It seems that the price of Artemisia annua is indeed out of control. Otherwise, Lu Chen wouldn't be so unreasonable and use his power to bully others."
Although Mr. Qiao couldn't say that only the news denied by the official was credible, his years of experience told him that once the official system began to intervene in the market through government decrees, it meant that the official really had no better way.
So he finally made the decision and said, "Okay, that's settled. Boss, go to the accounting office and see how much money our family can take out now."
The eldest son of the Qiao family hurried to the accounting office, then hurried back and said, "Father, the cash we can take out now is only 1.8 million taels."
"It's not enough. If we want to take the initiative in the artemisia annua market, 800,000 taels is definitely not enough! Go out and ask if there are any banks that will accept land as collateral. If we don't do anything, it's fine. But if we do, we must let everyone know."
At this time, the third son of the Qiao family spoke up, "I heard a few days ago that there's a new money shop on the market. The owner's surname is Ding, and he had dinner with me a while ago. If your family needs to borrow money, you can contact him."
The Qiao family's grandfather frowned and said, "Is this person reliable? The amount of money we need is huge, we need to raise at least three million taels."
The third son of the Qiao family hurriedly stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go talk to him right away!"
At this moment, the shopkeeper Ding, as the third son of the Qiao family had mentioned, was extremely busy. He held a wine glass in his hand and said to the group of merchants around him with great pride, "You all should know that I'm from the capital. I have some noble people standing behind me. You may not be aware of how powerful those noble people are."
"Let me put it this way. I know you all borrowed money from me because you wanted to take advantage of the high price of Artemisia annua and make a killing. Especially since the government is planning to release a batch of Artemisia annua to stabilize the market price, everyone's keeping an eye on this batch, right?"
"The reason why our bank dares to expand its business is because we have the confidence to speak to the government, and our banknotes are officially recognized."
"If you want to borrow money from me, you don't need to bring cash with you. You just need to take the banknotes to the officials and they will sell you the Artemisia annua. That's what skill is."
"You can go and ask around. How many banks in the entire Great Qi dare to say such things? How many of their banknotes are recognized by the imperial court?"
After hearing what Shopkeeper Ding said so miraculously, the eyes of many merchants present became brighter and brighter.
In this era, carrying a large amount of silver when going out is indeed very inconvenient and quite dangerous.
It would be great if the problem could really be solved with a few light silver bills.
However, this was the first time the two parties had cooperated, and there was no trust between them, so some people still had concerns.
At this time, Shopkeeper Ding spoke again: "I know you all have concerns, so I called Lord Liao over today to help us be a witness. I think with Lord Liao as a guarantor, you don't need to worry."
After saying this, Shopkeeper Ding changed the subject and said, "Of course, since we can provide so many conveniences, we must be stricter than others in approving loan qualifications. Moreover, the number of places is limited, so you should hurry up!"
After the banquet was over, the shopkeeper Ding, who had been so powerful at the banquet, came to Lu Chen and said honestly, "Master, the matter has been settled."
Lu Chen drank his wine and spoke without hesitation: "How many people took banknotes from us today? Have all the Artemisia annua we stockpiled been transported here?"
"At least fifty merchants have borrowed money from us. I've checked the collateral and there's nothing wrong with it. As for the Artemisia annua, it's all on the way and should be delivered in three days."
"What about the Qiao family?"
"We've already borrowed money, and most of their land has been mortgaged to us."
"Very good, then prepare to close the net!"
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