Chapter 70 Meeting: We plan to open a shop in your Ningzhou.
Weaving workshop.
The employees stared at the mountains of white cotton quilts piled up in the warehouse, each one soft and fluffy, like a giant cloud.
They cheered proudly.
"Yay! Let everyone see our new products from the weaving workshop!"
"Following the sweater, we will once again open the eyes of the entire Anling County!"
"I think a cotton quilt is more useful than a sweater."
"You can't say that. A quilt is for sleeping, but a sweater can be worn outside."
"If we make cotton-padded clothes and trousers... oh wait, Sister Su, will the cotton-padded clothes and trousers be made by the embroidery workshop or our weaving workshop?"
The person in charge, Su Yuhuan, replied with a smile, "Our weaving workshop does the work of weaving cotton into cloth, while their embroidery workshop does the work of sewing cotton clothes and trousers from the cloth and cotton."
After acquiring a large quantity of wool, a temporary weaving workshop was set up, and Qin Dongkui's capable assistant, Su Yuhuan, was appointed as its head.
The weaving workshop is specifically responsible for turning wool into yarn, and then weaving the yarn into sweaters, wool pants, wool hats, and scarves.
Later, the first batch of cotton in Anling County was harvested.
After discussing it, everyone decided to make cotton quilts first and sell them to the people to get through the winter. Later, when cotton production increased, they would make cotton clothes and trousers.
Considering the workload at the embroidery workshop, all the cotton was given to the weaving workshop.
Su Yuhuan patted a cotton quilt, thinking that once the improved version of the mixing machine and spinning machine are produced, our weaving workshop will only weave cloth, linen, cotton, and silk.
As for wool and cotton products, given the huge demand from the people, they will mostly need to be manufactured in separate factories.
She said with a smile, "Everyone get ready, the shop owners will be coming to us to buy goods soon."
Didn't some people from Ningzhou come to talk business with us recently?
Perfect, let them see our warm quilts perfect for winter.
There are also various styles of beautiful sweaters.
However, we cannot sell quilts and sweaters to them, because we in Anling don't even have enough for ourselves.
It can make them drool, hehehe.
Oh, Ningzhou?
Su Yuhuan suddenly remembered that although Ningzhou's climate was not suitable for growing cotton, they seemed to have... kapok trees?
She quickly called over a young girl, "I can't leave right now, go find Minister Yun and tell him something for me."
The little girl replied energetically, "Okay!"
Administrative Office.
Zhu Yunwei: "Our idea in Ningzhou is to purchase paper and books from Anling."
"We want to buy a lot of books, and we hope you can lower the price."
"Similarly, if you want to buy any goods from Ningzhou, we will consider lowering the price within a certain range."
After stating her demands, Zhu Yunwei looked at the people from Anling County sitting opposite her.
The Ningzhou delegation was quite shocked when they first met Yun Youning.
They never expected that the finance minister they had waited several days for would turn out to be a young woman.
Indeed, there are quite a few women in the Executive Office, both young and old. They've seen many of them in the past few days.
However, they thought it was only because there were not many talented people available in Anling County that they selected some educated women who knew arithmetic to do the work.
As a minister...
The finance minister, whose opinion should be considered when discussing business between the two regions...
How could this be...?
Zhu Yunwei looked at Minister Yun with curiosity.
Her eyebrows were like crescent moons, and her eyes were like peach blossoms. Her face was very beautiful, and her eyes and expression were quite intelligent and resilient.
It's obvious that they won't do a perfunctory job.
“Considering the transportation costs of the goods, we propose that we open a store directly in your Ningzhou.”
Yun Youning placed her hands on the table, a shrewd smile on her beautiful face. "A bag of white sugar would only cost thirty coins to sell in our Anling. But if it takes several months to transport it to your Ningzhou capital, it will cost nearly one hundred coins."
“But if sugarcane is planted on a large scale in your Ningzhou, our people can go there to open shops, buy sugarcane to make white sugar and rock sugar, and then sell them in your Ningzhou for thirty coins.”
"Firstly, the price of sugar can be reduced; secondly, your local people can make money by growing sugarcane; and thirdly, our sugar shop will have to pay taxes to Ningzhou."
Yun Youning's sharp gaze swept over each member of the Ningzhou delegation.
Her expression turned serious. "Of course, to complete this cooperation, we need Governor Cao and Madam Ye of Ningzhou to agree to protect every shop we open."
"They will not steal our technology, they will not oppress our employees, they will not arbitrarily raise taxes, and they will not engage in underhanded tactics from time to time."
"Of course, if we can reach a cooperation agreement, all of these things need to be discussed and written into the contract."
Zhu Yunwei and the others looked at Yun Youning in surprise.
Yun Youning returned the same questioning look.
She raised an eyebrow: What's so surprising about that? Why do you think I was able to become the Minister of Finance? Because I'm good-looking and catch the goddess's eye?
Zhu Youchuan coughed a few times to bring everyone's attention back.
Cheng Hui asked with a smile, "What are the opinions of the envoys from Anling?" Although he said this, he was looking at Zhu Yunwei.
“We came here on orders, originally just to discuss business with you. Now that you’ve proposed opening a shop in Ningzhou…” Zhu Yunwei paused here, then continued, “We can’t make that decision ourselves. We need to ask the governor and his wife before we can give you an answer.”
The other members of the delegation nodded in agreement.
"That's right, that's right, we can't make that decision."
"Please allow us to write back to Ningzhou first."
"Who would have thought you'd actually consider opening a shop in Ningzhou? It's really..."
"But the idea of opening a shop is quite interesting. Could we do it in Ningzhou too...?"
Anling was not surprised by Zhu Yunwei and the others' answers.
They were just there to discuss business, wanting to purchase the goods they needed in large quantities at low prices from Anling.
Even if Zhu Yunwei held a high position in Ningzhou and enjoyed the trust of Cao Ruheng and Ye Hui, she would not have dared to agree to Yun Youning's sudden proposal to open a shop in Ningzhou without their approval.
But that doesn't stop us from talking first.
Yun Youning smiled and said, "Let's continue our discussion. We'll present our opinions, and you can present yours. After you go back, please relay our opinions to your leader, and we'll relay yours to our Goddess after we're done."
"After we receive new instructions from our respective leaders, let's hold another meeting and discuss it again, shall we?"
Zhu Yunwei looked at the other members of the delegation, and they all agreed that it would be fine for now.
He then looked at Yun Youning and said, "Okay."
Ningzhou should not refuse Anling's request to open a shop and plant crops.
Similarly, some shops in Ningzhou also want to open in Anling.
The two sides then held a meeting for more than an hour.
Each side presented its demands comprehensively, making it easier for the other to report back to their superiors.
After the meeting, Yun Youning, with a smile on her face, accompanied Cheng Hui and others to see the Ningzhou delegation out of the administrative hall.
I watched them gradually walk away until they disappeared from sight.
Yun Youning: "..."
She breathed a sigh of relief, her body went limp as she leaned against Gan Tang.
Gan Tang reached out and patted Yun Youning's shoulder, a kind smile on her face that seemed beyond her years, and said softly, "Minister, you've worked hard."
The minister rushed back overnight to hold this meeting.
They even wrote proposals on horse-drawn carriages.
Upon returning, I immediately held a brief meeting with everyone in the administration office.
Then, he tensed up and participated in the meeting between the Anling and Ningzhou delegations.
Yun Youning closed her eyes. "It's okay. I'll go back to my office and lie down for a while. I'll go report to the Goddess after I wake up."
"Tell everyone who came back with us to go home and rest first. We're all exhausted this time."
"The meeting will be held tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM."
Upon hearing this, Gan Tang also felt very tired, raised her hand to cover her mouth and yawned.
"Alright, Minister, you can go back to your office. I'll go tell everyone to get some rest and be well-rested for tomorrow morning's meeting."
Yun Youning released Gan Tang and said lazily, "Thank you for your help."
She turned around and exchanged a glance with Zhu Youchuan.
The young woman blinked her right eye and walked towards her office.
Zhu Youchuan: "..." He shook his head with a smile.
East Market.
After sending letters to Cao Ruheng and Ye Hui, Zhu Yunwei and the others continued to stroll around the East Market, trying the local delicacies, browsing their favorite books, and picking out interesting items.
"I really like this chair. It's made of bamboo and wood, and it's very comfortable to sit on. I'll go back and have someone make a few more like it."
"This paper is very good; it doesn't bleed ink much. I'll buy a few more sheets to take back with me."
"I want to bring some candy for my family, young and old. The white sugar and rock sugar from Anling are very sweet, and I think the elderly and children will like them!"
"For me, I'd buy tea."
"I love the wine from Anling; it's absolutely delicious."
"You people, of course you should buy books! There are far more kinds of books here than they sell in Ningzhou."
"That's right, that's right, it has all the books from the various schools of thought, if my teacher were here..."
"After I got back, I had someone copy the book and send it to my father."
"I really wish I could stay here longer; there's no place I like more than the Anling Library!"
As the group walked, they came to the entrance of a clothing store.
They stared in disbelief at the long queue stretching from inside the store to the outside, wondering: What kind of clothes are they selling that are so popular?
One of the men from the delegation walked over, tiptoed, and tilted his head, trying to see what good things the shop was selling.
The people queuing next to him glanced at him and suddenly raised their voices, "What are you doing? Trying to cut in line?"
Before the man could react, he was met with fierce stares from all directions.
He quickly apologized, his attitude very sincere, "I'm so sorry, I was just curious about what you were buying."
Most of the people stopped looking at him after hearing this.
A small group watched warily, fearing he might secretly disrupt the order.
Man: "..." Is it really that serious?
He randomly picked someone and asked, "What kind of clothes are you buying?"
The other person looked at him and said mysteriously, "It's not clothes, it's a quilt."
The man exclaimed in confusion, "A quilt?!"
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Author's note: I'm sleepy, goodnight everyone [pity]
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