Chapter 358 Return
Shen Qingtan called Liu Yue in to reply, "Have you found out about the tea leaves?"
"I had the tea leaves examined by the palace doctor, who confirmed that there was nothing wrong with them. I will follow your instructions and ask Lieutenant General Sun to arrange for someone to go to the tea shop to buy some tea."
Liu Yue said solemnly, "The owner of the tea shop said that it's New Year's Day and all the tea has been sold. If we want to buy some tea, we can pay first to order new tea for next year."
Shen Qingtan frowned: "Pay the money first?"
"The shopkeeper requires full payment," Liu Yue said. "Because their tea is of high quality and scarce, regular customers who can't buy tea will pay a deposit to reserve next year's tea. When the new tea is delivered next year, they will pay the remaining money to the tea shop."
"Because there were so many people making reservations, the owner of the tea shop changed the rules. Anyone who wants to buy next year's new tea must pay the full amount."
"Despite this rule, there are still many old customers who are willing to pay in advance just to buy tea."
At this point, Liu Yue asked, "Princess, do we have to pay for the tea?"
Shen Qingtan fell into deep thought.
Zhao Yi said thoughtfully, "Since we can reserve the new tea for next year, it wouldn't hurt to pay the full amount in advance."
Shen Qingtan raised his eyes and looked at Zhao Yi.
"If the Lin family were selling illicit tea and hadn't been caught for so many years, they would have been very cautious. Suddenly, someone buying a large amount of tea would definitely make them suspicious. They would rather not do this business than put themselves in danger."
Zhao Yi took out a letter and handed it to Shen Qingtan: "We will follow the tea shop's rules and pay the full amount to order new tea for early spring next year. This will also dispel the Lin family's suspicion and make them willing to order a large quantity of tea from us."
Shen Qingtan took the letter, read the contents at a glance, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Suddenly, she understood Zhao Yi's intention: "You mean... not only should we pay the money to order the tea, but we should also order the new tea for next year? After we get the tea order contract, we can find a way to force the Lin family to hand over the tea?"
Zhao Yi nodded slightly.
Shen Qingtan smiled, sorted out his thoughts, and instructed Liu Yue: "Tell Vice General Sun to arrange more people to order tea, preferably from foreign countries, to drive up the price. The higher the better."
Liu Yue was stunned. Without asking Shen Qingtan the reason, she just did what she said.
Sure enough, this time when they went to order tea, the owner of the tea shop relaxed his vigilance and ordered new tea for next year, but with a limit on the quantity.
They were willing to spend more money to buy tea, but the shopkeeper was only willing to give them an extra ten pounds.
Over the next two weeks, people who came to pay for tea found that the price of tea kept getting higher and higher, until finally, the price of tea had increased several times.
Liu Yue got the news from Deputy General Sun and hurried back to Lanxue Garden to report to Shen Qingtan.
"Princess, our people have successfully ordered tea." Liu Yue sighed, "The price of tea has increased several times, but there are still many people going to the tea shop to order tea, as if it were free."
Shen Qingtan asked, "Have Uncle Qin and Uncle Qin transported all the tea to the capital?"
Liu Yue replied, "The transport arrived yesterday, and I cleaned up the shop overnight, just waiting for your order to open it."
Shen Qingtan calmed down. Uncle Qin and his uncle had tea permits. They were both businessmen with extensive connections. They bought tea from other tea merchants and transported it all to the capital.
"New Year's Day is only six or seven days away, so we can open our tea shop now." Shen Qingtan ordered, "This afternoon, have Lieutenant General Sun return the Lin family's tea."
When they bought the tea, they signed a contract, which included a clause that the buyer would have to pay a 20% penalty if he breached the contract.
Liu Yue agreed and hurried to find Deputy General Sun.
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Lin family.
The tea shop owner took the account book to Mrs. Lin and announced the good news: "Tea is very popular this year, and many foreigners come to buy tea."
He smiled and said, "It's probably because of the trade between several countries and the tax reduction. Merchants from other countries come here to buy tea, and then ship it back and sell it at a high price."
Mrs. Lin took the account book and looked through it. The price of tea this year was several times higher than in previous years, and the profit was also several times higher than in previous years.
She began to doubt.
But after hearing what the shopkeeper said, I felt it was common sense.
After all, in previous years only the dignitaries in the capital bought tea, but now that several countries are trading with each other, many merchants from other countries come to Northern Qi to do business, so it is reasonable for them to buy tea in large quantities.
As the saying goes, "The smell of meat cannot be digested without tea. The heat of barley cannot be relieved without tea."
They would rather go without food for three days than go without tea for one day.
This shows the importance of tea to foreign countries.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Lin dispelled her doubts.
This was the first good news the Lin family had heard of in several months, and a slight smile appeared on Old Madam Lin's face.
"Our Lin family's fortunes are about to change." Old Madam Lin closed the account book and asked: "Is this money in the bank?"
"I received all the silver and gave it all out." The shopkeeper gestured, "It's probably New Year's Day, so many people need silver, so the interest rate has gone up a bit."
The smile on Mrs. Lin's face deepened. Their shop had received the full payment for the new tea for the next year, and they had lent it all out at high interest rates, earning high interest from it.
She smiled and said, "You've done a great job. I'll give you 10% of the tea shop's profits. Have a good New Year this year."
The shopkeeper quickly expressed his gratitude.
Old Madam Lin invited the shopkeeper to have dinner at her house.
The shopkeeper declined, saying, "New Year's Day is still seven days away. Business is booming and the two of us are too busy to handle it. I have to go back and take care of it."
Madam Lin nodded.
The shopkeeper prepared to leave.
At this time, the anxious voice of the Lin family's steward sounded at the door: "Old lady, something happened in the tea shop."
Old Lady Lin and the shopkeeper's expressions changed simultaneously.
"Come in." Mrs. Lin waited for the steward to come in and said in a deep voice, "What happened in the tea shop?"
The manager said in a panic, "A regular customer who ordered tea from the tea shop this year has gone to the tea shop to cancel the order."
"What did you say?" Old Mrs. Lin looked astonished. "We've been running this tea shop for years, and this isn't the first year we've done this. We've never had any orders returned, so why did something unexpected happen this time?"
The steward shook his head: "I don't know the details."
Old Mrs. Lin realized the seriousness of the situation. The regular customers of the tea shop were either rich or noble. If the Lin family refused to cancel the order, they would offend half of the powerful people in the capital.
She couldn't sit still any longer and said coldly, "I'll go to the tea shop myself and take a look."
The steward broke out in cold sweat and followed Old Lady Lin to the tea shop with a pale face.
The carriage stopped at the door of the tea shop. Old Mrs. Lin lifted the curtain of the carriage window and saw the scene at the door of the shop. The expression on her face froze.
PS: My dears, happy National Day. The remaining chapters will be updated in the evening.
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