From the moment Shen Yu'an entered the room, all his words were specially trained by Xie Changshi and Liu Dianyi.
Shen Yu'an always handled the shopkeepers' reactions and knew exactly what to say at what time very well.
He still looked harmless, and his dimples made him very approachable, but his words carried the unquestionable tone of someone in a superior position.
This was taught to him by Liu Dianyi; it was a slight initial probe.
The Wen family does have powerful backers who can help them buy salt permits, but it remains to be seen whether these business owners will follow their orders and readily agree to deal with Li Ji or other matters in the future.
However, judging from the current situation, the desire for salt permits has led these shopkeepers to compromise.
Shen Yu'an's smile deepened, and only then did he continue from what Zhang, the manager of the cloth shop, had said: "The reason I agreed to Dingzhou's request is because the prefect of Dingzhou approached us. Although the Wen family mainly operates in Changzhou, who can guarantee that we won't go to Dingzhou to make money in the future?"
"The local official's willingness to protect us is entirely beneficial to the Wen family's business operations in Dingzhou..."
The two shopkeepers in Qizhou exchanged a glance, but they weren't particularly surprised.
In business, harmony is the key to making money, but the ultimate reason for being able to maintain harmony is having a strong background. Otherwise, like those businesses that have already closed down, all they can do is go back to farming.
But is it too hasty to give away one-third of the profits for this reason?
Shen Yu'an looked around and took in the reactions of all the shopkeepers: "That's only one thing. Secondly, the result of our negotiations with the prefect of Dingzhou is that Dingzhou is willing to use 10% of the salt certificate price to buy our Wen Family Escort Agency to escort grain for Dingzhou for a year."
Wen's Escort Agency has been open for over a year, with business spanning the northern desert. Coupled with the recent collapse of Li's Escort Agency, their business can be described as supply falling short of demand.
Dingzhou did this to ensure that, whenever they needed it, the Wen Family Escort Agency would definitely provide them with escort.
They're paying money to buy peace of mind!
The two men from Qizhou exchanged a glance, and one of them hesitated before asking, "Since we're buying your escort services, does that mean they don't need to take extra salt?"
As expected of businessmen, no matter what he says, these people are most concerned about their own interests.
Shen Yu'an shook his head slightly: "No."
Upon hearing this, apart from the three shopkeepers from Dingzhou, the other shopkeepers all looked grim and voiced their objections one after another.
It's just a few coins. Which of these business owners isn't richer than the owner in Dingzhou?
"It was agreed before that the salt would be divided equally among the three prefectures, so why are they now saying that the people of Dingzhou should take more salt?"
"That's right! Dingzhou only has so many people, why would they need so much salt? Are they planning to resell it secretly?"
Manager Zhang of the cloth shop was immediately enraged: "Don't make false accusations!"
"You're just angry out of embarrassment! If you didn't have ulterior motives, why would you shout so loudly?"
"Exactly! You people from Dingzhou are really good at scheming. It's just a matter of paying money to buy salt, but you even get the Wen Family Escort Agency to protect you for free!"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Shen Yu'an with a "Are you out of your mind?" expression.
Shen Yu'an...
If he were the real boss, he certainly wouldn't agree to such an absurd request, but the key is that the young prince is the real boss!
Shen Yu'an smiled silently, neither offering any advice nor showing any anger. His attitude was clearly one of "you can argue all you want, I'll just watch quietly and see how long you keep arguing..."
The arguing grew quieter and quieter. The manager of Changzhou Wine Shop, who hadn't participated until now, opened his mouth, about to speak, when the door to the meeting hall was opened. Manager Zhou said with a smile, "Master, you must all be hungry. I'll have someone serve the dishes right away."
Everyone then realized with surprise that the entire morning had passed.
But they didn't come to any conclusions!
Although no agreement has been reached yet, the three from Dingzhou have received definite information from Shen Yu'an, and their expressions are noticeably more relaxed than those of the two from Qizhou.
While the food was being served, the three of them finally huddled together and whispered among themselves.
These three men were clearly not fools. Judging from the prefect's attitude, they could roughly guess what was going on. As soon as the meal was over, Zhang, the manager of the cloth shop, spoke up: "Young Master Wen, our three businesses in Dingzhou have decided that from now on we will follow Young Master Wen's lead."
"That's right, that's right. Since it was Young Master Wen who spearheaded the establishment of the merchant guild, it's only natural that Young Master Wen should be the guild leader."
The other person nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! Putting aside the matter of leading the establishment of the merchant guild, just the matter of leading us small merchants to buy salt permits, who else but Young Master Wen can be the leader of this guild!"
The two members of the Qizhou Chamber of Commerce remained silent for a moment, without immediately echoing the sentiment.
In fact, all of these people understood that the reason Shen Yu'an kept watching them argue was because he wanted this position.
At this moment, when they looked at Shen Yu'an again, their expressions finally became serious. This young and inexperienced boss was gradually revealing his claws to them.
Shen Yu'an smiled slightly and did not refuse. He looked at Qi Zhou and the other man with a smile in his eyes: "Actually, you don't need to worry at all. The extra salt permits they took are our Wen family's share, and it's only for this year. We'll talk about what happens in the future."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Qi Zhou and his companion changed instantly.
This is a threat!
If they don't behave, the Wen family business won't play with them anymore!
Moreover, judging from Young Master Wen's fearless demeanor, he was clearly not afraid that they would go out and complain to Li Ji.
The two men from Qizhou exchanged a glance and naturally understood the reason, because of the prefect.
However, neither of them made a statement, because they felt that Shen Yu'an's goal was not simply to become the leader of the merchant guild.
Neither of the two expressed their opinions, and Shen Yu'an remained silent, gradually creating a somewhat suffocating atmosphere in the conference hall.
Only then did the manager of the Changzhou wine shop finally find an opportunity to speak: "Young Master Wen, could you please explain in detail the purpose of establishing the merchant guild?"
He spread his hands: "It's not like we'll make money when we make money and then we'll all break up when we don't. It's better to just have a simple cooperation. It doesn't matter whether we form a merchant guild or not."
The other five people all nodded slightly.
From the moment he entered, Young Master Wen kept talking about the salt permits, but never mentioned the words "Northern Desert Merchants"!
The three men from Dingzhou said they would follow Young Master Wen's lead, which meant they would definitely lend a helping hand if the Wen family needed assistance in the future.
But perhaps because Qizhou had lived in the shadow of Li's Escort Agency for so many years, even though Li's Escort Agency was gone, the two of them still dared not agree immediately.
Can the Wen family really lead them to completely eradicate Li's Trading Company?
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