Yu Xingjian stood up and bowed:
"Hey, Brother Chaofeng, sister-in-law, please take a seat!"
The ones who came in were Wang Chaofeng and Zhang Qiyue from Wofeng City.
The two of them were not polite. Zhang Qiyue said with a smile, "What brings you here so early, gentlemen?"
"What else could we be doing? Waiting for news about Ding'an and Emperor Dezong's grand court meeting."
"Haha, we are the same. We can't sleep, so we might as well come out early and have breakfast."
We had all met in Wofeng City and were not strangers to each other. Naturally, we were even happier when we met again in this foreign country.
"Brother Wang, you and your sister-in-law arrived in Wu Dynasty a long time ago. Where did you go?" Zhong Jitang asked curiously.
"I'll shock you if I tell you this!" Wang Chaofeng grinned. "Qiyue and I... left Wofeng City in September and entered the Wu Dynasty at the end of October. Over the past two months, we've been to Ruoxi Prefecture and Jinghua Prefecture in the Southern Seven Provinces. The silk cocoons in these two places are also extremely famous, comparable to Qingzhou in Wofeng Dao."
Yu Xingjian's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Hahaha, Brother Wang, Xingjian's family also has a textile business. Now that you've told him this business secret, aren't you afraid that the Linzi Yu family will come in in force?" Wang Sun Wuya said with a smile.
"What's there to be afraid of in such a huge market? Let me tell you another piece of news. The textile technology of the entire Wu Dynasty cannot compare to our Yu Dynasty. Our workshop has a higher output, and the quality of the silk and satin we weave is at least 20% better than that of the Wu Dynasty..."
Wang Chaofeng held up two fingers and said, "If we really want to seize the market, once our weaving comes in, we will sell it at the market price. We will soon be able to put the Wu Dynasty's weaving factories in a state of panic."
"The result will be either they'll be annexed by us, or... they'll be able to improve their looms and craftsmanship. So, Brother Xingjian, this is truly a lucrative opportunity. Don't be too late to act. By the way, guess who I met in Jinghua Province?"
Wang Chaofeng kept it a secret, but Lu Xihui answered immediately, "It must be Sima Tao from the Sima family of Yingqiu!"
"Is this even a foregone conclusion? It really is Sima Tao! This guy has placed his main base in Jinghua Prefecture, expanding into the three counties under its jurisdiction. Seeing that he's already occupied the three counties with the best silkworm cocoon production, I had no choice but to retreat and settle in the two counties under Ruoxi Prefecture."
"You guys are doing this too fast! You didn't even leave me a sip of soup!" Yu Xingjian complained bitterly, but Zhong Jintang squinted at him. "You still want to stay in Xinzhou to tinker with salt? By the time you buy salt, I'm afraid the entire Wu Dynasty's business layout will have been taken over by others!"
This statement is of course too exaggerated. After all, the Wu Dynasty has a vast territory, the largest population, and a pretty good economy, so the demand is naturally stronger than that of other countries.
However, when it comes to business, whoever enters the market earlier will have the greater advantage. This is why Wang Chaofeng and Zhang Qiuyue came to Wu Dynasty last year.
Wang Chaofeng added, "But... Sima Tao is incredibly courageous for choosing Jinghua Prefecture as his location. Jinghua Prefecture is home to the Wu Dynasty's Han clan, one of the seven millennia-old Han clans. The Han clan's weaving basically monopolizes the Wu Dynasty's silk market. If Sima Tao goes there, he's going to have to fight a local tyrant!"
"Hehe, Sima Che of the Sima family is now a member of the Wu Dynasty's harem. I think Sima Tao must have some considerations before he dares to set up a plan in his lair."
Wang Chaofeng thought...could it be that Fu Xiaoguan did this on purpose?
Zhong Jitang spoke up: "He has ascended the throne, which is a great advantage in the eyes of merchants. More merchants will surely flock to the Wu Dynasty. I am quite interested in the trade in the border town. After this matter is settled, I must go to the border town to take a look."
"What do you think... Is Border Town stable?" Wang Sun Wuya asked. Lu Xihui stopped him with a look and whispered, "If Xinzhou is stable, Border Town will naturally be stable too. Don't forget, he is the son-in-law of our Emperor Xuan after all!"
Wang Sun Wuya nodded, "Then... next we have to wait and see what Emperor Dezong's policy will be?"
"Of course, there should be a policy out today."
The waiter brought all the food and the six of them grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and started to eat with relish.
Zhang Qiyue gently bit open a crystal bag, but in her heart she was thinking about the young man whom she had met several times in Wofeng City.
In the blink of an eye, he had actually destroyed the Huang Kingdom and occupied a large piece of land in the Yi Kingdom, and now he had become the master of this vast territory... All this seemed like a dream, making it hard for her to believe.
It will be difficult to see him again from now on, and even seeing his wives again... I'm afraid it will be impossible.
Just as she was thinking this, Wang Chaofeng spoke in a very low voice: "My father wrote to say that the investment in Wofengdao this year has decreased by 70% to 80%. I think the focus of the family will have to be on Ruoxi Prefecture in the Wu Dynasty from now on. Brothers, I have something to say here that should not be said..."
He pondered for three breaths. "This gentleman is no simple matter. I've heard some of the things going on in the Yu Dynasty. I'm afraid things will be difficult in the future. Take the salt, for example. Why would he give up such a large profit margin to sell it at the same price as the green salt?"
The others put down their chopsticks and looked at Wang Chaofeng. Wang Chaofeng turned around and looked around. No one had come in yet, so he said, "I don't think it's that simple. I'm afraid he's trying to destroy the salt merchants of the Yu Dynasty and the Yi Kingdom, and in other words, destroy the salt tax of the two countries!"
"Just wait and see. Within a year, these two countries will have major tax problems, and don't even mention his other tactics!"
Wang Chaofeng's words resonated like a huge bell in the ears of the four young men. They were startled and looked at each other. Wang Sun Wuya gasped, "Isn't it just salt? How could it be so powerful?"
"The method of refining white salt is only known to the Muyang Salt Works. They must have a way to prevent it from being leaked. Then other countries' salt works will not be able to refine white salt. This white salt is much better than green salt. Don't look at the huge profits from selling it domestically now, but they don't need salt permits!"
"This way, we can sell it on a large scale. The market is so small. Once white salt invades the market, the share of green salt will naturally shrink. The speed of this decline is related to the daily output of the Muyang Salt Field. But in the end, I'm afraid that white salt will occupy 90% of the market share!"
"When white salt completely dominates the markets of both countries, I ask you, will the salt fields of both countries still be able to survive? The result will be bankruptcy. At that time, the tax revenues of both countries will plummet. What will they do?"
"What if we increase taxes on these salt merchants?" Yu Xingjian asked.
"It's only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. It's even very likely to lead to dissatisfaction among the people back home. Besides... I thought he had a backup plan, I just didn't see it. Besides, the five-year plan he set for the autonomous prefecture has been announced to the world. Once those workshops flourish, their products will be unique, and they'll have no competition in the market."
"Since he's in charge of three trading locations, it's to pave the way for these goods. Next... I predict that business tactics will become increasingly sophisticated. This is why I'm optimistic about the Wu Dynasty. After all, for us merchants, the business environment here will only get better and better!"
After a conversation, everyone was silent.
The four of them frowned in thought; even this delicious food didn't seem to interest them.
Wang Chaofeng smiled and said, "This is my guess. He never plays by the rules, and his plans are so subtle that it's hard to find any clues. Let's just wait and see what he decides."
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