Chapter 575: Fishing in Troubled Waters (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Smuggled salt was already incredibly profitable, not to mention that Shen Tang was supplying only the finest refined salt, making the profits incomparable to coarse salt, with the owner also receiving 40% of it. Even a powerful family like the Xu family couldn't remain completely unmoved...
Both morally and logically, he should personally step forward.
However, although Xu Jie was the head of the Xu family, he was also the governor of Heyin County, and Heyin and Longwu were far apart. Unless absolutely necessary, he could not easily leave his territory, and the Xu family's businesses were no exception. As he took office, many of the clan's businesses were gradually delegated to trusted confidants or clan assistants. He entrusted Shen Tang's private salt business to his trusted attendant.
The attendant replied, "I will certainly not disappoint my parents' high expectations."
Xu Jie instructed, "Yes, do it well."
If the attendant can do this job well, he can confidently entrust him with more business and cultivate him into a right-hand man.
"Remember to treat Mr. Shen with utmost respect."
"Do not offend Shen Jun's subordinates."
The attendants remembered everything.
This attendant had grown up with Xu Jie, and Xu Jie trusted him as much as he trusted himself. Furthermore, because the attendant knew of Xu Jie's admiration and gratitude towards Shen Tang, he wouldn't be rash or offend anyone when receiving Long Wu. Xu Jie was completely at ease.
While Wu Xian was making preparations for war, Xu Jie's entourage led a lightly equipped merchant caravan to Longwu County to purchase goods. After obtaining the goods, they distributed the smuggled salt to various places according to the clan's orders, settled the payments, and the business was considered complete.
As for spending time and effort finding sales channels and buyers?
Not at all.
Because demand exceeds supply in this business.
Salt is an essential commodity in daily life. If people don't eat salt, they will become weak, tired, sluggish, and lack energy over time. How can ordinary people work in the fields without the strength? So even though the price of salt has skyrocketed, people still have to grit their teeth and buy some low-quality coarse salt to eat.
Before Xu Jie took office, the Xu family's private salt business had a very small market share. Since he followed Wu Xian and obtained the right to sell private salt from Wu's Ikeda, the private salt business became competitive, and over the years he has vigorously expanded related channels.
In short—
I'm not afraid of having too much private salt; I'm only afraid it's not enough.
By the time the attendants led the caravan into Longwu County, summer was already in the air, and the salt fields were producing high-quality refined salt, with the number of salt wells increasing to over five hundred. Salt workers worked day and night, taking turns boiling and shoveling salt, and the finished salt blocks were weighed and stored.
The four transactions were conducted by salt merchants who imported ten into Wu.
The five transactions were handled by Xu Jie and sold within the pass.
The remaining ten percent was placed in Ruyao Department Store.
Shen Tang also opened a general store in Longwu County. The salt and grain business on his own territory should rightfully belong to the government; how could outsiders have a piece of the pie? The public treasury still had some money, so he didn't need to use IOUs to alleviate cash flow pressure like he did in Fugu City.
As long as you are a commoner from Longwu County, you can buy refined salt at Ruyao Department Store for a price that is slightly higher than coarse salt!
Of course, to prevent scalpers from reselling, this item is limited in quantity.
To make it easier for ordinary people to purchase daily necessities, Shen Tang also plans to open branches of general stores in other counties and towns under the jurisdiction of Longwu County, with the store managers selected from among the wounded and retired soldiers. This move can be seen as a way of treating those who risked their lives for her with kindness.
Furthermore, it is because it cannot compete with the people for profit.
Therefore, product pricing follows the market.
The only advantage is that department stores and general stores have a relatively complete range of goods, so ordinary people can buy what they need in one visit.
When the attendants arrived, Ruyao's capital was already bustling with activity, and many people could be seen on the streets and alleys. Although the common people's clothes were still covered with glaring patches, their expressions had lost their previous numbness, and their eyes had regained some sparkle.
The layout of Ruyao City is very similar to that of Fugu.
The attendant almost thought he had gone the wrong way.
He brought the contract to the government office to see Shen Tang.
Fortunately, Shen Tang did not go out today.
The contract was handwritten by Xu Jie beforehand, bearing the Xu family patriarch's seal. Only the signature and the weight of the smuggled salt at the end were left blank, for Shen Tang to fill in. In a normal business transaction, the contract should be in triplicate: one for the buyer, one for the seller, and one for the local government. Giving the contract to the government was for the convenience of paying market and salt taxes. But—otherwise, why would it be considered smuggled salt?
Paying taxes properly can still be called smuggling.
Therefore, there are two copies of the contract this time.
Shen Tang read it quickly, taking ten lines at a glance.
The contents of the contract vaguely suggest that they are in favor of Shen Tang's side.
She looked up and asked the respectful attendant, "How much cargo will you be able to take this time? How many carts, horses, and people are in the caravan?"
The attendants answered each question in turn.
Because it was the first trip, Xu Jie was unsure about the production volume of Shen Tang's side, so the size of the caravan he sent was relatively conservative.
I thought Shen Tang would hesitate.
To everyone's surprise, she nodded and picked up her pen to write.
Finally, take out Wenxin's monogram, sign, and stamp it.
He wrote another note to his attendant.
"Take this to the salt depot to pick up the goods. Talk to your parents about it later, and they can ask for a bigger amount next time. There's plenty of salt."
The attendant glanced at the number and his pupils dilated in shock.
He then said hesitantly, "This, this—"
Shen Tang asked gently, "Is there a problem?"
The attendant whispered, "The deposit wasn't enough..."
It's almost half as bad.
Shen Tang thought it was something serious and laughed, "What's the problem if the deposit is insufficient? With my relationship with your parents, what's wrong with bringing the deposit or even coming empty-handed? In business, reputation is what truly matters."
Please translate this.
Xu Jie's reputation was worth a fortune to her.
Upon hearing this, the attendant felt a surge of warmth in his heart.
He began to understand why the parents praised Shen Jun so highly. This man was open-minded and cheerful, seemingly an anomaly in the cutthroat business world, but this trust was truly touching. He immediately accepted the note given to him by Shen Tang with both hands and respectfully took his leave.
The person in charge of the salt depot had a dignified face.
Although his face was old, he exuded a murderous aura.
If it weren't for his ordinary aura, one would mistake him for a seasoned veteran. Upon seeing the letter, Lord Yang verified it, then waved his hand to order the goods to be moved. Midway through, one could hear him muttering, "Everyone says the Xu family is wealthy, powerful, and greedy, but how come they're so delicate..."
The goods sold in Shiwu are worth three times that of this batch.
That salt merchant was truly outrageous; he looked thin, but his appetite was like that of a glutton.
He'll have to talk to Shen Jun about it later...
Her family's salt storage facility should be expanded.
The attendant was filled with unease.
It took some subtle questioning to uncover the truth.
His lips twitched involuntarily.
He forced a smile, practically patting his chest and promising to buy four or five times more goods next time.
However, were the smuggled salts sold to Shiwu?
Aren't you afraid of raising a tiger that will become a threat?
Because this matter was semi-public information within a small circle, Yang Gong wasn't worried about it being leaked. At the same time, he also wanted to appropriately increase Xu Jie's sense of crisis. So, he lifted his eyelids and said calmly, "Although Shi Wu was scared after being beaten last time, we can't keep holding them by the throat forever. We need to be wary of them resorting to desperate measures. They have money, we have salt, it's a mutually agreeable arrangement, isn't it perfect?"
The attendant nodded in agreement: "That's true."
He didn't think that Longwu County and Heyin County had a good relationship, and that the former's private salt business should be contracted out to the latter.
In business, only interests matter, not feelings.
However, there is a limit to the amount of privately produced salt in a given area.
The Shiwu side gets more, while our side gets less.
The attendant began to plot in his mind, thinking about going back to talk to the master and sending a few more merchant caravans to trade at the same time.
If you have the ability to buy all the goods...
That's also part of the Xu family's skill.
A month before his attendant arrived in Ruyao, the experienced salt merchant had already led his men and goods through Yonggu Pass to Shiwu. Since there was no shortage of goods, he didn't need to travel to the more impoverished and remote western border of Shiwu to seek maximum profit. Pursuing efficiency, he went directly to the nearest tribe, Tatamur, with whom he had some connections, to make a quick buck first!
_
By the way, how much weight do you gain in a week during the third trimester of pregnancy?
I feel like my weight has actually decreased over the past three weeks... by about half a pound... I guess it's because the water retention from a while ago is starting to go down? ??
(End of this chapter)
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