"Brother Ershu, is Guzhuang in Donghai County the village where the Yongning County Lord resides?"
The old man, Yu Shanhai, who had just washed his hands with soap, asked with some curiosity.
If he remembered correctly, the legendary peasant girl county princess came from Gu Village in Donghai Town.
However, she was only a teenager and had never even seen the emperor before being granted titles and honors.
She is truly an extraordinary woman.
"Oh right, I was wondering why that sounded so familiar. My home is about 70 or 80 miles from Jiangbei Prefecture. Back when the plague was raging, it was thanks to the methods of the Princess of Yongning that my whole family was safe!"
Everyone looks at Princess Yongning with admiration.
Many of them had been merchants for decades, and they were the most well-informed.
Seeing everyone mention their anxious niece, Li Ershu's face was filled with pride.
"To be honest, the Princess Yongning you all are talking about is my niece, and this soap was also made by her!" Li Ershu said, unconsciously puffing out his chest.
When everyone heard that the soap was made by the Princess of Yongning County, their eyes widened involuntarily.
None of them doubted that Li Ershu was lying. After all, Gu Lili's intelligence was praised even by the Emperor, so it was strange that she could make something like soap.
Yu Shanhai stood up excitedly, trembling as he asked, "Is what you're saying true? Brother Ershu, are you really the uncle of Princess Yongning?"
Li Ershu smiled and nodded.
"It's the real deal. If you don't believe me, you can come to Gu Village and find out for yourselves!"
The group exchanged glances and all decided to make a trip to Donghai Town.
This way, they could both meet the county princess personally appointed by the current emperor and bring soap back.
Seeing that everyone expressed a desire to go to Donghai Town, Li Ershu pressed on, saying, "Gentlemen, since we're going to order soap, let's sign a contract first!"
This so-called contract was something Gu Lili taught him last night.
"Brother Ershu, what is a contract?" Yu Shanhai asked curiously.
Having traveled all over the country for so many years, he had never heard of any contract.
Li Ershu explained with a smile, "The contract is simply an agreement between you and me on how much soap you want. We'll write it down on paper, and you'll have priority to get the soap based on the contract. We'll reserve the soap for you."
If there's no contract, then you have to wait, because making soap is a complicated process; it takes about two months of back-and-forth to make a single bar.
Gu Lili said last night that if anyone wants to order soap, they should have them sign a contract.
"Young man Ershu, do you need a deposit?"
Someone asked curiously.
Li Ershu nodded and said, "We're all meeting for the first time, and we haven't established any trust between us. You can give the deposit or not, it's fine with you!"
Li Ershu was telling the truth; they had only met on the street that day.
Not only do they distrust Li Ershu, but Li Ershu also distrusts them.
“If a deposit has been paid, the soap will be reserved for that person. If no deposit has been paid, other merchants will be given priority to purchase it,” Li Ershu continued.
After Li Ershu finished speaking, he picked up the tea in front of him and slowly began to drink it.
Having said what he had to say, the remaining time was left for everyone present to consider.
There were also many acquaintances in the room, and they sat together to discuss the matter.
Yu Shanhai considered it for less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, then slammed his hand on the table and directly took out a hundred-tael silver note and placed it on the table.
"I'll place an order with you for five hundred bars of soap! Is a deposit of one hundred taels acceptable?"
Li Ershu glanced at the hundred-tael silver note on the table, smiled, and placed the teacup he was holding on the table.
“Of course it’s feasible!” Li Ershu said, taking out the contract that Gu Lili had already prepared from her bosom.
Last night, Gu Lili was worried that Li Ershu wouldn't be able to write much, so she prepared the contract in advance.
If Li Ershu manages to recruit someone today, he can simply sign his name and the amount of the deposit for them.
Fortunately, Li Ershu was also a studious person. Since he started selling sugar figurines, he had broadened his horizons and began to learn to read.
Li Ershu could write down the amount of the banknote, his own name, and even the names of the Li family and Gu Lili's siblings.
Li Ershu handed the contract to Yu Shanhai and said with a smile, "Please take a look and see if you have any objections to what is written here. If you don't have any objections, we'll sign it."
Yu Shanhai didn't hesitate. He took the contract from Li Ershu and began to read it carefully.
After confirming that there were no problems with the contract, Yu Shanhai picked up the pen and ink that Li Ershu had prepared for the waiter and wrote his name on it.
Li Ershu also wrote his name, the amount of the deposit, and the quantity of soap on the two contracts respectively.
After they finished writing the contract and carefully checked it to make sure there were no errors, they each put away a copy carefully.
Among these people, some gritted their teeth after seeing Yu Shanhai sign the contract, and also took out their banknotes to sign with Li Ershu.
Some people are more conservative and choose not to pay a deposit, but only make a verbal reservation.
Li Ershu had no objections, but simply blacked out the blank space containing the amount with ink to prevent any unforeseen complications.
Of course, some people choose not to sign and plan to wait and see.
If this is true, since we already know where the soap comes from, we can just go there when the time comes.
After everyone signed the contract, they gradually dispersed.
Only Yu Shanhai remained sitting there drinking tea. Among these people, Yu Shanhai had given the most deposit.
Others gave less, only ten or twenty taels.
They were probably gambling to some extent. If Li Ershu was a fake, losing ten or twenty taels of silver wouldn't be a big deal.
If that's true, then they won't lose anything; on the contrary, they'll get the soap before those who didn't pay a deposit.
It's not like they would travel all the way to Donghai Town only to find nothing there.
It's not surprising that Yu Shanhai was left until the end.
Anyone would feel uneasy giving a hundred taels of silver to a stranger.
Staying until the end must mean they want to confirm something.
"Uncle Shan Hai, how about I return this deposit to you, you give me a smaller amount, and we sign a new contract?" Li Ershu said seriously.
Yu Shanhai shook his head repeatedly after hearing this, indicating that he did not mean it that way.
"Young Master Ershu, do you think your uncle is such a petty person? A mere hundred taels is nothing to worry me about," Yu Shanhai said with a smile after taking a sip of tea.
Li Ershu was puzzled. If it wasn't about money, then why was Yu Shanhai left until the end?
Yu Shanhai put down his teacup, sighed, and said, "Alas! I shamelessly stayed until the end because I have a difficult matter to ask the county princess for help!"
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