Xiao Qin'er followed Princess Huyang into the palace to meet the Queen.
Gu Jiu knew exactly why the two of them came.
"Please invite Huyang and Princess Duan in."
The palace maid obeyed the order.
Xiao Qin'er was a little nervous.
Princess Huyang rolled her eyes at her. "You and the Empress are sisters-in-law, and you used to live under the same roof. What's there to be nervous about?"
"Things are different now. We are asking for help from others. How can we not be nervous?" Xiao Qin'er defended herself.
Princess Huyang pursed her lips and smiled. "When you were young, you were straightforward and honest, and you were adorable back then. But now that you're older, you've developed the habit of overthinking. That's not good, not good."
Xiao Qin'er disagreed. "If I hadn't been more thoughtful, I would have been eaten alive by those women in the palace's backyard. Not everyone can live as carefree as my aunt."
Princess Huyang smiled and said, "I have suffered a lot to be as carefree as I am today. You should stop envying me."
The palace maid invited the two into Chang'an Palace and brought them into the study.
As soon as they met, Hu Yang shouted, "Greetings to the Queen. The Queen's Chang'an Palace is still well-maintained, comfortable and free."
"Aunt is here, please take a seat. Sister-in-law should also take a seat."
"Greetings to the Queen!" Xiao Qin'er saluted and then sat down next to Hu Yang.
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "What brings you here today? Especially Aunt, you are a rare guest. Normally, you would not come to the palace even if I invited you."
Princess Huyang laughed heartily. "Excuse me, Her Majesty. We were blown here today by a northwest wind."
Gu Jiu smiled knowingly, "Aunt also wants to take advantage of the northwest wind to make a fortune."
Princess Huyang slapped her thigh and spoke loudly, "The Empress is always so straightforward. As you said, we hope to take advantage of this northwest wind and make a fortune in the west. However, none of us have ever been to the northwest, and we know nothing about the situation in Xiliang. We are even confused about what goods to purchase. If we rashly bring goods into Xiliang, I'm afraid we will lose everything."
Gu Jiu smiled but said nothing.
Princess Huyang had no choice but to continue, "But this is such a rare opportunity. If I miss it, I'm afraid I'll vomit to death. So, I've come to you, Your Majesty, to beg you to organize us. We'll pay the money, and you'll do the work. You'll take the lion's share of the profits, and we'll just have some soup."
Gu Jiu greeted, "Aunt, my sister-in-law, have some tea."
Princess Huyang picked up the teacup and took a sip casually, but didn't understand anything.
She was a little anxious and asked, "What do you think, Madam?"
Gu Jiu looked at Xiao Qin'er.
Xiao Qin'er immediately put down her teacup. "It's like this. The women of the royal family came to me. They've saved some money, but don't know how to manage it. Thinking of the recent gold rush in Xiliang, they wanted to seize this opportunity to make a fortune. So they asked me to go to the palace and ask if we can raise funds. Your Majesty will send people to explore the western trade routes. Everything is at your command, and everyone has no objection."
"Yes, yes, how to do business and how to distribute profits are all up to your Majesty's orders, and we all have no objection." Princess Huyang chimed in.
Gu Jiu put down the teacup and smiled, "Everyone is eager to make money, I understand."
Princess Huyang immediately responded, "The prices in the capital are extremely high, especially for real estate and farmland, which fluctuate year by year. As parents, all we want is to save some money for our children. I hope Your Majesty can understand this."
Gu Jiu pursed her lips and smiled, "Aunt, don't be nervous. I'm not angry."
Princess Huyang secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this.
She was really afraid that Gu Jiu would be angry, afraid that Gu Jiu would despise them for being vulgar and obsessed with money.
Fortunately, nothing I worried about happened.
Gu Jiu said, "You want to go to Xiliang to pan for gold, and I support you. But I want to ask, how much money can you raise?"
Hu Yang and Xiao Qin'er exchanged glances.
Hu Yang considered and said, "A caravan, is that okay with you, Madam?"
Gu Jiu raised an eyebrow. "The value of a caravan's goods can be large or small. The starting price is 300,000 taels, and there's no upper limit. One million taels, ten million taels, etc. are all fine. Please give me the exact amount, aunt."
When he heard the numbers one million or ten million taels, Hu Yang was so shocked that he opened his mouth and couldn't close it.
"Are there still one million or ten million taels?" She asked from the depths of her soul.
She thought it was already a great achievement to be able to collect goods worth 300,000 taels.
You know, going to Xiliang is very far away, and it takes a year to go back and forth.
This means that the goods turnover time is one year.
With a turnover period of one year, it’s difficult to buy on credit!
A caravan could carry three hundred thousand taels of goods, most of which had to be purchased with cash.
Even the top merchants cannot come up with so much working capital to purchase goods at once.
Old customers may be able to buy on credit or with collateral.
Merchants are reluctant to sell on credit to a caravan like Huyang's, which is formed temporarily, even if they are of noble status.
Even suppliers are afraid of a year’s turnover!
For fear of accidents or people not being able to come back, who would dare to easily buy goods worth thousands or tens of thousands of taels on credit?
Therefore, in Huyang's view, it is already very remarkable to be able to form a caravan on his own, transport 300,000 taels of goods, and not rely on Sanhe Express to gather people.
It was unthinkable to transport goods worth millions of taels to Xiliang.
It is estimated that only the Four Seas and the Shaofu in the whole world have such power.
Gu Ji pursed his lips and smiled. Hu Yang really underestimated the wealthy merchants in the world.
Not to mention the wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, even the wealthy merchants in the north alone can lead an entire caravan.
Of course, there was no need for Gu Jiu to tell Hu Yang about this matter.
"According to my aunt, can you raise three hundred thousand taels on your own?"
Hu Yang smiled awkwardly, "It's still a little short. If your Majesty agrees, I will find a way to raise some money to ensure that I can set up a caravan."
Xiao Qin'er also said: "I can find someone to chip in some money."
Gu Jiu smiled and tapped the table lightly with his fingers.
Hu Yang and Xiao Qin'er were both very nervous, afraid of being rejected.
"Your Majesty, are you dissatisfied with the fact that we don't have enough money?" Hu Yang asked cautiously.
Gu Jiu waved her hand. "Aunt, you misunderstood. I don't mind your lack of money. It's just that the situation in Xiliang is unstable right now. Going to Xiliang now would be riskier than before. You might lose everything. Are you sure you're okay?"
Xiao Qin'er's face turned pale. "Will the caravans from all over the world also lose everything?"
Gu Jiu said softly, "Si Hai's trip to Xiliang is not risk-free just because it's my property. All caravans face the same risk, but I can afford the loss and am able to withstand the risk. What about you? You've worked so hard to scrape together the money to purchase goods and travel to Xiliang. Are you sure you can handle the risk? I think you can only accept making money, not losing money."
"This, this, this... Your Majesty means that we should not participate in this wave of popularity in Xiliang?" Hu Yang's face was full of regret.
Gu Jiu waved her hand. "If you want to run to Xiliang, I can help you. I can even promise to protect your capital. But the profit will only be double the purchase price. Do you accept that?"
"Only one time? It is said that the profit from trading in Xiliang is at least ten times." Hu Yang had some small opinions.
Gu Jiu smiled lightly, "Then there's nothing to talk about."
Princess Huyang was dumbfounded.
Xiao Qin'er quickly came up with an idea. "Your Majesty, can we change the way we cooperate? We won't form a caravan. We'll invest money, the Xiliang trade line. We won't interfere with anything else. We'll just take the dividends at the end of each year."
"Yes, we can raise funds to invest in the Xiliang Trade Route." Hu Yang slapped his thigh, very excited.
Gu Jiu reminded the two, "Eating dividends will definitely not bring as much profit as personally organizing a caravan to Xiliang."
"It doesn't matter. We don't care. As long as there's a chance to earn dividends, we're satisfied. To be honest, I've been feeling uneasy since I heard about going to Xiliang. Xiliang is so far away, and a round trip would take at least a year. The risk is too great. Earning dividends is more stable."
The older Princess Huyang gets, the less courageous she becomes.
I am not a merchant and have never traveled far and wide, so how could I have traveled to Xiliang, which is thousands of miles away?
Even if he had people, none of them had ever been to Xiliang, and he didn't have any ready-made caravans heading west.
Unlike the Zhu family of Cheng'enbo Mansion, which has been engaged in business for generations, the men in the family have been traveling all over the country since they were young.
Relying on the savings and foundation accumulated by several generations, the Zhu family can of course form their own caravan, hire Sanhe Express for escort, and then set off.
When we arrived in Xiliang, we knew from experience how to sell goods, how to get high prices, and how to build good relationships with local tyrants.
For a trade route like this that takes at least a year to go back and forth, experience is very important.
Experience not only sells goods, but also saves lives.
Princess Huyang felt overwhelmed when she thought about raising money to set up a caravan and worrying about so many things.
She fully supports the opportunity to share in the dividends and be a hands-off boss.
Gu Jiu asked again: "Are you sure you want to take the dividends and not form a caravan?"
The two nodded in unison, "Just eat the dividends. Is this money invested in the world?"
Gu Jiu shook his head. "A new trading company called Xitong has recently been established, specializing in western trade. If you want to get dividends, you can invest your money in Xitong Trading Company and get shares."
"Okay, okay!"
No matter whether it is Xitong or Sihai, as long as I can get dividends, it’s fine.
Xiao Qin'er hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, I have a question, but I don't know if I should ask it or not."
"Ask." Gu Jiu encouraged her with a smile.
Xiao Qin'er asked cautiously, "Xitong Trading Company, from what Your Majesty has said, specializes in business in the west. What about business in the south, and also maritime trade? Could there be a Nantong Trading Company?"
Hu Yang was shocked when she heard this. She had actually forgotten about this. Business in the south was more profitable.
Gu Jiu pursed his lips and smiled, "My sister-in-law guessed correctly. There is indeed a trading company that specializes in business in the south, but it is not called Nantong. It is called Haitong Trading Company."
"I'll invest, I'll invest." Hu Yang was extremely excited. "This Haitong, I'll invest and get dividends too. Queen, you must give me this opportunity."
Gu Jiu said, "The business in the south is being integrated and we are not accepting external capital for the time being. When we need to expand shares or increase capital, I will notify you as soon as possible."
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