"Dealer?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Wang, what is a dealer?"
"Yes, please tell us, Captain Wang."
When the merchants in Guanzhong heard this word, they were very confused and looked at Wang Zhong to ask him to explain.
Wang Zhong smiled faintly: "Distributors mean that the goods are resold through the hands of some merchants. Merchants don't need to care about the cost or the price, they only need to care about the spread!"
"So you mean middleman?" a businessman asked.
"Yes and no." Wang Zhong then explained in detail according to Chongzhen's meaning.
"First of all, the Zhenfu Division will not set up any business in Guanzhong. All soaps will be sold by dealers, which means it is a monopoly."
"Secondly, distributors have annual sales targets. Those who complete the targets will receive rebates, while those who fail to do so will not only receive no rewards, but will also have their soap supply cut for the following year."
"The third and most important point is that the price is uniform! That is to say, no matter whose store you buy soap from, the price is the same. Unauthorized price increases or decreases are strictly prohibited."
After listening to Wang Zhong's explanation, the merchants felt itchy but also a little hesitant.
The itching is because soap is indeed a good thing and it will definitely sell well if the price is right.
You can imagine the profits brought by products that are never in short supply.
The reason for hesitation is very simple, the other party is the Pacification Division!
It’s hard to hide from them on weekdays, let alone deal with them.
Seeing that everyone was hesitant, Wang Zhong used his trump card again: "The price of soap given to you by the Zhenfu Division is fifteen taels of silver per piece, and the price you sell it to others is twenty taels per piece."
"That means... a bar of soap can earn you five taels of silver!"
After these words were spoken, several businessmen were stunned.
This price was a huge surprise to them!
What was the price of soap before?
One piece could be bought for sixty, seventy or even a hundred taels of silver, and only high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen could afford it.
What's the price now?
Twenty taels!
Twenty taels of silver is indeed a huge sum of money in the eyes of ordinary people, but in the eyes of the rich who live in extravagance, it is just a drop in the bucket.
After all, at that time, the amount of silver spent by rich people to host a banquet (not just one table) could even reach four figures!
The most important thing is that they can earn five taels of silver for every bar of soap sold!
The temptation is too great!
"Captain Wang, I would like to be the distributor of this soap!" As the businessman Chen Caiyi spoke, he stood up and raised his glass to toast Wang Zhong.
Without waiting for Wang Zhong to speak, the other four businessmen stood up one after another and pushed Chen Caiyi back.
"Old Chen, what do you mean? Do you want to abandon us and eat all by yourself?"
"Yeah, we agreed to share the donations equally, why did it change when it came to making money?"
"Captain Wang, I also want to be a dealer. I wonder if you can help me?" A businessman named Zhao came over with his glass raised.
Other businessmen followed suit, raised their glasses, and came up to Wang Zhong to express their opinions.
Wang Zhong did not accept the toast, but smiled and asked them to sit back down, "Everyone, please wait, I still have one thing to say."
"Captain Wang, please speak."
"You have to pay first to buy goods from the Zhenfusi. After the silver is sent to the capital, the Zhenfusi in the capital will transport the soap to Guanzhong. The disadvantage is that it will occupy your payment for the goods, but the advantage is that the loss incurred during transportation will be charged to the Zhenfusi and has nothing to do with you."
After a brief silence, Chen Caiyi was the first to stand up: "Captain Wang, I think it's okay and I'm willing to be a distributor."
Chen Caiyi's intention was not to make money from the soap business, as long as he didn't lose too much money.
His purpose was twofold.
One reason was that he wanted to make friends with people in the Zhenfu Division through this matter.
The second reason is to save lives.
The Pacification Office seemed to give them the right to choose, but in fact they had no choice at all.
If you don't become a dealer today, you may be confiscated and charged with disrespecting God by the Pacification Office tomorrow just because you sneezed at the sky.
No matter how important money is, it is not as important as life!
Businessmen are all shrewd people. After hesitating for a moment, the others also stood up and expressed their willingness to become dealers.
Wang Zhong was very happy. He picked up his glass and drank with the businessmen.
Next, Wang Zhong began to explain the details of the cooperation and other precautions to everyone.
Five days later, the two parties signed the contract.
Half a month later, the original contract and boxes of silver were shipped from Xi'an to the capital.
At the end of December in the nineteenth year of Chongzhen, the contracts and silver sent by the Jinyiwei from all over the country piled up in the imperial treasury.
"Your Majesty, the first batch of 10,000 bars of soap has been shipped to all parts of the country, and 150,000 taels of silver have also been deposited. Here is the account book." Inside the Qianqing Palace, Wang Chengen walked up to Chongzhen and said.
"Well," Chongzhen took the account book and took a look at it: "Have you calculated the cost of making soap in the inner court?"
"I've calculated that the cost of each bar of soap is no more than one or two taels of silver," Wang Chengen replied.
"How much?" Chongzhen raised his head, his eyes full of disbelief, "You didn't calculate it wrong, did you?"
"That's right!" Wang Chengen answered seriously, "The price of a pig in the capital is about 15 taels of silver. Each pig can make 15 to 20 bars of soap depending on how fat or thin it is."
"Because only fat and lard are used to make soap, there is still a lot of meat left, so the overall cost of making soap is not high."
"There are two factors that limit the production of soap. One is the number of pigs near the capital, and the other is the manpower in the palace."
"Hmm..." Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction and paid more attention to this business.
He took it seriously for two reasons.
One aspect is economic.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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