Chapter 79 New News In the front garden hall, I smell...
In the flower hall in the front yard, Master Wen was sitting with Young Master Bian Gan.
At that time, there was no custom of serving tea to guests. Wen Zhong was disdainful of what Gongzi Bian did, and he was too disdainful to put in any superficial efforts. He just let the other party sit there, making it clear that he was not welcome.
I don’t know what Gongzi Bian was thinking, but on the surface he kept a gentle smile on his face, as if he was tolerating Wen Zhong’s ignorance.
If it were someone with less cunning, he would probably be irritated by him.
But who is Wen Zhong?
It wasn't that he was ignorant of the ways of the world; he simply disdained them. He could only secretly laugh at Gongzi Bian's little tricks, and in his heart he looked down upon them even more.
Not long after, Elder Mu strode in, smiling broadly, "Young Master, you've arrived at an unfortunate time. The young lady must have been exhausted from the long journey, and she's already gone to bed when I went to inform her."
He and Wen Zhong were of the same mind and did not even show the slightest apology.
Gongzi Bian's face immediately showed regret. He said lamentably, "I am so rude. Please tell the young lady that I will come again tomorrow."
After saying this, he stood up and said goodbye without losing any courtesy.
Wen Zhong stood up to see him off, but he only took him to the Mingtang, and the rest of the journey was taken care of by the family elder.
The reason why he looked down on Gongzi Bian was, firstly, because Gongzi Bian sold bronze tools that could be used as weapons to the Ji clan, who were descended from the Qiang people; secondly, he felt that Gongzi Bian was good at hypocrisy and was not honest at all.
An hour later, Fu Li woke up slowly, feeling refreshed, and all her previous worries disappeared.
Lingzhuzi told him that Gongzi Bian had come to her house and she had refused to see him on her behalf.
Fu Li nodded and said seriously, "It should be so. Not to mention that the Grand Tutor dislikes him, just saying that he is suppressing his peers and trying to establish a monopoly is not good for our Shu shipments."
Although Shu was the sole supplier, it needed more buyers to compete for the product in order to get a higher price. If Gongzi Bian was the only buyer left, wouldn't he get whatever price he said?
Lingzhuzi said: "As long as it didn't ruin your business, I'm glad."
"How could that be?" Fu Li kissed him on the lips and smiled. "You're so smart and your intuition is so accurate. Even if you guess, you can guess about 70% of it."
Lingzhuzi smiled and ruffled her hair, but she slapped her hand away in anger: "Your hair is going to get messed up!"
After she washed up, the two of them went to see Wen Zhong together, and Wen Zhong told him about Gongzi Bian's visit.
Fu Li nodded to show that he understood, and then asked Wen Zhong, who among the nobles of Boyi had the biggest business besides Prince Bian?
"It would be best if someone is both capable and willing to debate with you, young master."
Why are businessmen in later generations called merchants? It is because commerce was very developed during the Shang Dynasty, and nobility were not prohibited from engaging in business.
However, the pros and cons of this approach are particularly obvious. When the Shang clan was still a remote tribe, developed commercial activities naturally brought more benefits than disadvantages to the development of the tribe.
But when the Shang family unified the world and became the common ruler, the benefits suddenly decreased and the disadvantages became more and more obvious.
But they started out with this, and the drawbacks were not obvious when the country was founded. Therefore, the previous monarchs either did not care or felt that it was beyond their control. As long as there were still benefits, they were not in a hurry to change.
By the time changes are forced, the reigning monarch no longer has the prestige of his ancestors, and the interest groups under him are deeply entrenched. Even if he wants to change, he can only sigh helplessly.
This situation began to emerge after Wodin came to power.
But Wodin was the kind of monarch who was obviously not very capable but very conceited. He didn't think that the things passed down by his ancestors would ever leave his hands.
The ministers realized that the monarch's control was insufficient, and naturally became more and more unscrupulous. At that time, the nobles all had fiefs and estates, and they were not afraid of even the King of Shang, let alone Prince Bian.
It must not be difficult to find such a person.
But Wen Zhong never cared about it and was unaware of it. He directly called the family elder and asked him to tell Fu Li.
Mr. Mu mentioned two families, the Xue family and the Han family.
"The Han Clan involved in the Han Clan Rebellion?"
"Yes, it's their family," said Elder Mu. "The Han family has a deep and profound background. Although they were exiled for rebellion, they quickly recovered after being pardoned thanks to their own background and the help of their in-laws. They returned to Boyi and became an important official of the king again."
Each of their families has their own ancestral business practices. It's not that Gongzi Bian hasn't thought about it, but the problem is too hard for him to crack.
Fu Li said, "Please ask Mr. Mu to help me contact these two companies and ask if they are willing to do business in porcelain and refined salt."
She thought for a moment and then said, "It would be best to contact a few more companies that are slightly weaker than them and invite them as well."
We cannot allow middlemen to monopolize the market, even if two companies form a joint monopoly.
Find a few forces that are weaker than theirs. As long as those forces are not stupid, they will automatically unite to form another force that is not solid but strong enough.
When the three parties compete with each other, she, as a supplier, can play the role of a mother and let them be obedient sons.
Mu Lao asked again: "Would you please come over together?"
"Yes, together."
Things like bidding can be manipulated behind the scenes, but the competitors must feel that it is fair and just.
Besides, Fu Li is not familiar with these people, and their initial favorability values are the same, so there is no need to do any behind-the-scenes operations.
Mu Lao nodded in agreement and then asked about the ten loads of refined salt she brought with her: "Are you going to sell it first, or keep it and wait for them to buy it?"
After Wen Zhong took the salt away, he handed it directly to the family elder. These matters were usually handled by the family elder, and this time, there was no time to sell it.
Fu Lixi said, "It hasn't been sold yet. Then don't sell it yet. We have to let them see the samples, right?"
The last batch she brought, except for the one sent to the Grand Tutor's Mansion, was all given to Gongzi Bian. However, Gongzi Bian only presented two loads to the King of Shang, and kept the rest for himself, without selling a single grain to the world.
Even top nobles like the Xue, Han, and Kunwu families had only heard of it but had never seen it.
If it weren't for the history of Fuli smelting iron and firing porcelain, they would even doubt the authenticity of the existence of refined salt.
Fu Li asked Ling Zhuzi to go to Emei again and bring back some of the latest porcelain.
Since the founding of the Shang Dynasty, Mu Lao has lived in Boyi with Wen Zhong and knows all the nobles of Boyi well.
He quickly selected three more suitable candidates according to Fu Li's request, and informed the five noble families including the Xue and Han families of the news on the same day.
With ironware and porcelain as their benchmarks, the mere mention of "refined salt" was enough to impress them. Moreover, this time, Fu Li was also offering the porcelain that had made Gongzi Bian a fortune.
Because Gongzi Bian had gone too far before, the five families were afraid of more trouble, so after receiving the news, they contacted each other and visited together the next day.
Mu Lao attended the meeting with Fu Li and secretly told Fu Li that those who came today were the second sons of various princes, that is, the ones who were specially sent to Boyi by the princely states to assist the king, which was full of sincerity.
Fu Li did not speak empty words to them and directly expressed his hope to deepen cooperation with them and gradually separate himself from Gongzi Bian.
She controlled porcelain and refined salt, two exclusive commodities, and countless people wanted to share in them. However, Gongzi Bian's tendency to keep the goods to himself had long caused dissatisfaction among the people.
The reason why no action was taken before was because Fu Li was not in Boyi all year round and no one knew her feelings. She was afraid that if she rashly visited her, she would end up making things worse.
Now that she had taken the initiative to invite them and expressed her intentions, the nobles were overjoyed. Fearing that she would go back on her word, they quickly expressed their willingness to stand by her side.
Young Master Han was well prepared. He said with a smile, "I heard that you are collecting bronze armor. I have some old things at home. I have brought them to you and placed them in the courtyard. I hope you will not dislike them."
Young Master Xue also smiled and said, "The other day, while inspecting the storehouse, I saw quite a few copper ingots that I'd saved up years ago. Nowadays, everyone uses iron weapons, and copper has no other use except for building coins. I knew my daughter would like them, so I brought them here secretly."
The other three noble families were not as powerful as them and did not get to know the inside story. They could not help but secretly curse them for being cunning and said that they had extra bronze wares that they could give to Fu Li.
This was their sincerity, so Fu Li naturally wouldn't refuse. Instead, he gave them ten loads of refined salt and the porcelain Lingzhuzi had retrieved as a return gift. The parties formed an alliance, vowing to achieve common prosperity.
Although the shelf life of an oath is limited, in this era, the shelf life is still very long.
The actions of both the buyer and the seller were secretive and swift. By the time Gongzi Bian got the news and rushed over, Fu Li had already left Boyi for a long time.
The meat that was already in his mouth and the meat that was about to be eaten were both taken away by someone. Gongzi Bian was naturally dissatisfied.
But the Xue and Han families are not people he can easily touch. Although the other three families are not as powerful as the Xue and Han families, they are not far behind. The three families combined are enough to make Gongzi Bian wary.
No matter how angry he was, he dared not do anything openly, but only took action in secret.
But the power that can be used secretly is even less, and it can't achieve the purpose except to disgust people. Instead, it angers several nobles.
Prince Xue joined forces with Prince Han and secretly gave valuable gifts to several of the king's close ministers, asking them to speak ill of Prince Bian in front of the king.
Prince Bian himself did not hold any official position. The reason he was able to stay in Boyi was because of the favor of King Wo Ding of Shang.
When Woodin's attitude towards him deteriorated, the officials who had been robbed of their interests by him and dared not speak out in the past immediately rose up to attack him.
Three months later, when Fu Li came to Boyi again with a large amount of refined salt and porcelain, Prince Bian had already been driven back to his fiefdom.
When the five noble families she had collaborated with spoke of this incident, they all said it was a great relief. Even Wen Zhong, who had always disliked court infighting, was visibly in a better mood.
Fu Li secretly complained to Ling Zhuzi: "This is too offensive!"
Ling Zhuzi hit the nail on the head: "Excessive greed will bring disaster upon yourself."
If he was not the brother of the King of Shang, it would not be as simple as being driven back to his fiefdom.
But then again, if he was not the King of Shang's brother, he probably wouldn't have the courage to offend so many people.
All I can say is: Blessings often go hand in hand with misfortunes, and misfortunes often go hand in hand with blessings.
Prince Han told her something: "The Di, Rong, and Qiang peoples of Bin all obtained bronze artifacts through Prince Bian's trade routes. Before the advent of iron, Prince Bian only dared to sell them small ingots of copper. After iron gradually replaced copper, he became even more unscrupulous."
Although Fu Li already knew the news, she naturally appreciated the other person's willingness to share it with her.
So, he was given a set of wicker toys with Shu characteristics.
Few people would dislike such a novel and exquisite thing. Mr. Han couldn't put it down and kept playing with a rattan cat figurine.
Fu Li took the opportunity to ask, "Sir, do you think many people would be willing to spend money if I sent these things to Boyi?"
Young Master Han said, "Of course there are many. The world has been at peace for a long time, and the nobles have become increasingly lazy. Fewer people are willing to prepare weapons and armor, and those who are willing to spend time and money on eating, drinking, and having fun will only increase."
He felt a bit of regret when he mentioned this, but this regret was far less than the benefits his family could gain from it.
"By the way, young lady, there is one more thing I think I should tell you."
Fu Li said seriously, "Sir, please speak."
Young Master Han said, "Someone in the court has already proposed using iron instead of copper to build the coins. If you are not in a hurry to use copper, you can wait a little longer."
"It will take at least three or four months, at most a year, for this to happen. If the king truly agrees to replace copper coins with iron, the price of copper will inevitably drop sharply."
Fu Li's eyes lit up, and she stood up and thanked him sincerely: "Thank you for telling me, sir."
This news is very important to her.
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