Manager Yu stood there stunned, not expecting Steward Xie to be so impatient. After realizing what was happening, he smiled and followed Chief Secretary Xie into the council hall.
Gu Yuzhi was practicing calligraphy in his study when he heard a servant report that he had tidied up and gone to the council hall. He sat quietly behind the screen and waited. After a while, he heard someone come in.
Chief Secretary Xie chuckled and invited Manager Yu to sit down: "Manager Yu, since Chief Escort Geng said before he left that you would be handing things over to us, why don't we start discussing the details now?"
There's no time like the present; since we've decided to buy, we should catch Li Ji Trading Company off guard.
Now that the conversation had come to this point, Manager Yu stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "Since Steward Xie knows Prefect Qi, he should know the predicament that our Longchang Escort Agency is currently facing." Seeing Chief Secretary Xie nod, he continued, "Li Ji Trading Company is a trading company that started in the northern desert twelve years ago. It started as a rice company, and because the quality of its rice was good and the price was lower than other trading companies, it quickly gained a foothold in the northern desert."
"But this also disrupted the rice price in Mobei. Many rice merchants in Mobei united to target Li Ji Trading Company, but unexpectedly, many rice merchants in Mobei went bankrupt. It was at that time that everyone realized that the people behind Li Ji Trading Company were not as simple as they thought."
As Manager Yu spoke, Wen Xiuzhu explained to Gu Yuzhi, "Generally speaking, in order to maintain balance, the prices of rice of the same quality in a local rice shop will not differ too much. As a newcomer, Li Ji Trading Company has started a price war right from the beginning. This means that it must either have huge financial backing or new procurement channels, so that it can always maintain the upper hand in the price war."
Under Gu Yuzhi's bewildered gaze, Wen Xiuzhu continued, "But no matter which one it is, the person behind Li Ji Trading Company must have great power."
Based on what Manager Yu said, Gu Yuzhi quickly understood the meaning of the price war. Just as he was about to speak, Manager Yu continued, "After Li Ji Trading Company won the battle against the enemy, it quickly acquired many rice shops in Mobei. After that, Li Ji Trading Company dictated the price of rice in Mobei."
"Those bankrupt millet shops, as well as many nobles from the northern desert, have made trouble for the prefect, but..."
Manager Yu gave a sarcastic smile and did not continue speaking, but Chief Secretary Xie already understood that these prefects must also be afraid of the people behind Li's Trading Company.
Since this concerned people's livelihood, Chief Secretary Xie's expression became particularly grim: "The purchasing department of the prefecture mentioned before that the price of rice in the northern desert was very high, and that it was mostly unpolished rice. I thought it was because the northern desert did not produce rice and transportation was difficult. Now it seems that someone is manipulating things behind the scenes."
Xie Changshi tightened his grip on his hand hidden in his sleeve, and the image of that person involuntarily came to mind.
"Damn it!" Shu Xiaohan couldn't help but swear, then quickly spat three times. "Your Highness, you mustn't follow my example. I was just expressing my opinion that Li Ji Trading Company is engaging in monopolistic practices."
Gu Yuzhi was about to ask what monopoly meant when Shu Xiaohan continued, "This Li Ji Trading Company is simply sucking the blood of the people of the Northern Desert. The people of the Northern Desert are really unlucky to have encountered this Li Ji Trading Company. It is already a barren land, and they are constantly threatened by the Northern Di. Life is already very difficult, and they are being schemed against like this."
Shu Xiaohan cursed through gritted teeth for a while, then suddenly turned to look at Wen Xiuzhu: "Manager Wen, are you confident that you can compete with this Li Ji Trading Company?"
Wen Xiuzhu didn't speak, but his disdainful look fully revealed his arrogance.
But the next second, Wen Xiuzhu felt his face slapped. Manager Yu smiled bitterly and said, "After occupying the rice market, Li Ji Trading Company quickly conquered other markets. Subsequently, restaurants, textile dyeing, brewing and other aspects were quickly occupied by him. Most importantly, Li Ji Trading Company was able to obtain a large number of salt permits."
Upon hearing this, Xie Changshi's eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing this, Gu Yuzhi quickly looked at Manager Wen and asked, "What is a salt certificate?"
Wen Xiuzhu's face was extremely grim, clearly not expecting the merchant system's task to be so difficult: "Merchants who want to sell salt must purchase salt permits from the government. Salt permits are divided into long permits and short permits, and the quantity and price of different permits are different. As long as Li Ji Trading Company obtains enough salt permits and sells them at different prices according to the length of time and quantity, it will be a huge fortune."
Gu Yuzhi's mouth gaped open, and she quickly covered it to keep herself from making a sound: "Manager Wen, is this Li Ji Trading Company so powerful that it's an imperial merchant?"
Manager Wen shook his head: "It shouldn't be, otherwise Manager Yu wouldn't have said that. Your Highness, if they were just ordinary nobles, they couldn't possibly control the salt permits so effectively. I suspect that the owner behind Li's Trading Company is a prince."
If that's really what he thinks, then things are in trouble.
Shu Xiaohan's eyes darted around: "Manager Wen, the owner of Li's Trading Company might be a prince. Are you afraid?"
"How could that be?" Wen Xiuzhu knew perfectly well that Shu Xiaohan was trying to provoke him, and glared at her fiercely. "How could I be afraid? I, a royal merchant, have fought my way up through countless bloodless battlefields. The owner of Li's Trading Company is a prince, so isn't our Highness a prince too?"
Wen Xiuzhu swung open his folding fan: "I think Prefect Qi has guessed His Highness's intentions. He is willing to take Chief Secretary Xie to Longchang Escort Agency, probably because he wants to use His Highness to deal with this Li Ji Trading Company."
Whether the people live well or not is closely related to the prefect. Since Prefect Qi cannot touch Li's Trading Company, he naturally needs to find a powerful external ally.
What Wen Xiuzhu thought of, Xie Changshi naturally thought of as well.
He remained silent for a long while with a somber face. Manager Yu thought he was scared, so he gave a wry smile and said, "It's alright if Steward Xie goes back on his word, after all, we haven't officially signed the contract yet." He felt a tightness in his chest and let out a long breath before continuing, "In the end, we still have to thank Steward Xie for being willing to trust our Longchang Escort Agency. Although this escort mission cannot solve our agency's predicament, it is already a timely help."
Butler Xie smiled and shook his head: "What are you saying, Manager Yu? I said before that my young master's decision to open a security escort agency was not a spur-of-the-moment thing, but a well-thought-out plan. How could he back down just because of a little setback or difficulty?"
Gu Yuzhi nodded repeatedly. Xie Changshi was right. He couldn't back down, or he wouldn't get any money!
Just like Manager Wen said, who cares which prince is behind Li's Trading Company? Isn't everyone a prince?
Teacher Shu said that Li Ji Trading Company is sucking the blood of the people of Mobei. Mobei is his fiefdom, and he will not allow others to harm the people of his fiefdom!
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