Chapter 446: Forcing the Table
Ji Guangkuan said, "This incident happened too suddenly. Everyone is at a disadvantage. What can we do? We can only try our best to minimize the losses. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, the superiors can decide the life and death of the people below with just a thought." Qi Shaoguang said dejectedly.
"Boss Qi, be careful with your words." Ji Guangkuan reminded him.
Qi Shaoguang came back to his senses and said lazily, "Okay, I'll give you the goods in my warehouse as collateral." The interest on the money they borrowed before was high, so it would be nice to use the goods in the warehouse to offset the debt now. Otherwise, the interest would increase day by day, which would be annoying.
"Just buy it at the current price. I won't charge you the interest on the previous payment." Ji Guangkuan said.
"Shopkeeper Ji is very generous."
"It's settled then. I'll have someone pick up the goods later."
Shopkeeper Ji left Qi's house, looked at the road, and went to the next house as planned, with the main action of "taking goods to settle accounts, no interest required".
Xie Zhan had always asked people to keep an eye on the Jincheng branch of Ji's Money House. Almost as soon as Ji Guangkuan made a move, their people would receive the news, not to mention that Ji Guangkuan's movements were quite big.
The person who was following them quickly reported the news, "Master Xie, the Jincheng branch of the Ji's Bank is also receiving the goods."
Xie Zhan sighed in his heart, and finally Lu Songli reacted.
It is obvious that at this critical moment, the other party obviously wants to force his way to the table and eat, so that others can have a share of the pie.
He was helpless against Ji Guangkuan's actions, but he was forced to accept them. Just like back in Nanyang, when Lu Songli knew he was following them to pick up the spoils, he was helpless. Otherwise, could he have overturned the entire banquet that had been prepared?
In this case, the people on our side will not be able to eat even though they have paid so much.
Now the competition is about who can eat more food faster.
Fortunately, they started eating early. However, the Jincheng branch of the Ji's Bank was a creditor of the Jin merchants in Shucheng, so it had a natural advantage in receiving the goods.
Only then did Qiao Xitong realize how arrogant his previous words were.
Afterwards, both sides worked hard to speed up the pace of acquisition. Before long, all the low-priced Shu brocade, silk cocoons, and raw silk sold on the Shu market were collected by others.
Among them, the gang headed by Xie Zhan took eight to nine out of ten, while Ji's Money House took one to two out of ten.
Soon after, in response to the confusion surrounding the title of tribute brocade from Shu, the imperial court announced: "The new emperor has said that his will will remain unchanged for three years after his father's death. Shu brocade will remain this year's tribute brocade! As for who will receive the title of tribute brocade in the next three years, we will have to wait and see."
But all knowledgeable people understand that in the next three years, the title of tribute brocade will never be Shu brocade.
As soon as this news came out, countless brocade merchants in Shu beat their chests and stamped their feet, hating themselves for not holding on a little longer. Some also realized immediately that they had fallen into a trap.
What were they to do now? The imperial court would undoubtedly ask them for tribute brocade when the time came, but they had already sold all the finished products, along with the raw materials! If they couldn't produce the tribute brocade, they would be held accountable.
They had no other choice but to find Qiao Xi and others to buy back the goods and raw materials. Even if the other party offered a price two or three times higher than the market price, they had no choice but to accept it.
It wasn't that they couldn't buy raw materials like silk cocoons and raw silk from other places, but the silk cocoons used for each type of brocade had subtle differences. If they used raw materials from other places and the quality of their Shu brocade didn't meet their standards, it would be a serious sin.
They can only sell off their property or assets and sell everything they have to raise money.
Then Qiao Xi and others came out and said that there was no need to go through so much trouble, and they could just directly mortgage their property to them.
This behavior completely confirmed the suspicion that they were the masterminds behind the plot, but the Shu brocade merchants were completely helpless. Once they entered the game, they could only let others manipulate them.
When making the appraisal, Qiao Xi and others made a normal appraisal and did not deliberately lower the price.
This made the Shu brocade merchants, who were already holding their breath, feel a little relieved.
At this time, Qi Shaoguang and others also came to the Jincheng branch of Ji's Money House.
After hearing their purpose, Ji Guangkuan readily agreed to sell the goods back to them at a price only twice the market price, which was half the price offered by Xie Zhan.
This also made Qi Shaoguang and others feel grateful.
"Manager Ji, have you known for a long time that this is a trap?" Qi Shaoguang asked.
"Yes, Shopkeeper Ji, you are not kind."
Of course, Shopkeeper Ji couldn't admit it. He smiled bitterly and said, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have bought so much goods. If I had known earlier, I would definitely buy some of the goods on the market."
Qi Shaoguang and the others thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. All the goods in Shopkeeper Ji's hands belonged to these creditors.
"I took a big risk by doing this. I didn't expect to hit upon something by accident. Sigh."
Upon hearing this, the resentment in Qi Shaoguang and others' hearts suddenly disappeared.
He wasn't the one who set up the scheme. He was just lucky and accidentally got a taste of the soup.
In addition, his previous actions were also very kind. He had not charged them interest before, and now he sold the goods back to them at a price lower than that of Qiao Xi and others of the same level. It was really unreasonable for them to resent Ji.
After both parties completed the handover, Ji Guangkuan sent them out and comforted them, "After this incident, don't think too much about it. Just think of it as spending money to ward off disaster. If you do business well in the future, you will definitely be able to make back this wealth. If you have any financial difficulties or any other difficulties, you can come to me, Old Ji."
For Qi Shaoshao and others, no matter how much sincerity there was in Ji Guangkuan's words, they said it beautifully and made them feel better.
"Boss, why are you still so polite to them?" The bank's waiter was puzzled. After this incident, these people had lost most of their wealth. If they wanted to return to their former glory, they would probably have to work hard for many years. And their boss had helped the bank make a lot of money this time.
Ji Guangkuan glanced at him and said, "Being polite to others, what's the risk of killing you? You should just pay more attention and learn more."
As he said this, he walked past the waiter and went back to the bank.
What Ji Guangkuan didn't say was that he himself was a little dizzy at this time, but he always kept in mind what his cousin said: the most taboo thing for people is to be arrogant when they are proud.
Xie Zhan and others were also calculating the proceeds.
"These Shu merchants are really rich." Qiao Xitong said with shining eyes.
Hu Jiangyi laughed and said, "Of course, Shu brocade has been the tribute brocade for so many years, and the merchants in Shu have made a lot of money." They are like fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
Gu Huaisheng was sorting out the accounts. Although he didn't say anything, he was very excited.
"Master Xie, according to preliminary calculations, we have earned a total of 18 million taels this time!" Liao Xuewang's voice was full of excitement.
Xie Zhan nodded. If a wolf travels thousands of miles to eat meat but doesn't make money, why would he set up this trap?
Shu and Gusu were both wealthy places, and a total of more than 20 million taels were taken away.
This round cleaned up the big brocade merchants in Shu. Gusu was better off, but it just suffered a loss.
“So much money!”
Qiao Xi and the others were silently calculating in their minds: 30% would be handed over to the nobles in Chang'an, and the remaining 70% would be shared among them. Based on the dividends from their investment, they would also be able to get a lot of money this time.
Xie Zhan said, "How about giving it to the noble lady in Chang'an, rounding it up to six million taels?"
"Let's do as Patriarch Xie says." Everyone else agreed. Even if they split the remaining 12 million, it would still be a generous return.
"It's a pity that Ji's Bank intervened later, otherwise we could have earned more." Qiao Xitong said unwillingly.
According to their calculations, Ji's Money House probably took away three to four million taels.
Xie Zhan was more open-minded. "There's nothing we can do about it. Things have come to this point. There's no need to dwell on it."
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