Chuxiu Palace
Sun Miaoqing flipped through the account book that had just been sent to the palace, still warm from the dust. She counted the large numbers on her fingers over and over again.
His mouth practically stretched to the back of his ears in a wide grin. That radiant smile hadn't stopped for a moment ever since he saw the ledger.
How come I never noticed in my past life that she was a business genius? This kind of overwhelming advantage is truly satisfying; she earned tens of thousands of taels of silver in just one day of opening.
Sure enough, the vast majority of wealth is concentrated at the top of the pyramid. Through layers of exploitation, the lower classes have long been plundered to the point of destitution, with no one having enough to eat or wear.
To put it bluntly, no matter how hard you try to squeeze it into the pot, you won't be able to extract even two ounces of oil.
Tens of thousands of taels of silver are enough for several thousand families to live comfortably with plenty of food and clothing for a year. But for the powerful and wealthy in the capital, it's just a snack to enjoy over tea.
But it doesn't matter. When she becomes the richest woman in the Qing Dynasty, the lives of most of them will improve.
Linglan exclaimed happily, "This is what you call a great start! I never expected candy to sell so well. We sold over 40,000 taels in just one day. Imagine how much silver that will be in a year!"
Sun Miaoqing said, "This isn't just for one day; it also includes orders for the next two weeks."
"After all, it has just opened and is very popular. The guests are here to try something new, and also to give me face because of the concubines in the palace."
"Once the initial enthusiasm fades, business will be much worse. We'll be lucky to sell 200 jin a day."
“Those well-off families would buy a tael or two to taste it, and if they wanted to eat it again, they would mostly make it themselves. After all, 10 taels of silver per catty was not cheap for them.”
Upon hearing Sun Miaoqing say that business would decline significantly once the initial excitement of opening the business wore off, Liuli and Linglan couldn't help but turn from joy to worry.
Liuli asked, "Your Highness, since you know that business won't be as good as it is now, and two hundred catties a day is enough for the shop to sell, why do you still need to raise so many cattle?"
"If we were to use milk produced on the estate from now on, that would be fine, but Your Majesty insisted on signing three-year contracts with those farmers."
"What if we can't sell the candy we make?"
Sun Miaoqing said, "Is that too much? I think it's not enough!"
"If we're going to do business, how can we only operate one shop in the capital? I want Honey Candy Shop to flourish all over the Qing Dynasty."
"In the future, every county should have at least one branch of Honey Candy Shop. Every citizen can easily buy a few pieces to try whenever they want."
Liuli and Linglan thought about the scene, but they really couldn't imagine it. The idea of opening a Honey Shop in every county town, while sounding far-fetched, wasn't entirely impossible.
Other places can't compare to the prosperity of the capital. Besides sugar, you can also add other things to sell.
But ordinary people could easily buy a few whenever they wanted to eat them. Liuli and Linglan simply couldn't believe it, nor dared to believe it.
It's not just because milk candy is too expensive; it's simply not something ordinary people can easily afford.
Furthermore, maltose, the main ingredient, requires a large amount of glutinous rice and wheat to make, resulting in significant waste.
Every year, some places suffer from famine, especially during the lean season when food is scarce. Even though the imperial court provides relief, many people still starve to death.
The amount of grain in the world is finite. Even with bumper harvests every year, there wouldn't be enough grain to make sugar.
Furthermore, if we want most people in the world to be able to eat it whenever they want, how much milk would that require!
Even if all the cows in the Qing Dynasty were to become pregnant and give birth at the same time, they probably couldn't produce this many.
Linglan said in a daze, "How much grain, how many cows would that take...?"
Sun Miaoqing said, "It's too early to talk about these things now, there's no need to rush."
"Everyone has worked so hard for so long, they deserve a reward. Everyone in Chuxiu Palace will receive three months' worth of monthly allowance."
"At Honey Shop and the estate, everyone involved in this matter will receive an extra three months' wages."
"As for the farmers who provide milk, each family will be given a bag of brown sugar and a bag of grain to nourish their cattle."
Linglan replied, "Yes, Your Highness is truly kind. Milk is not worth much to begin with, but the price Your Highness offers means that a cow can earn an extra tael of silver per year."
"With brown sugar and a bag of grain, if someone in the family has just given birth, they can have a proper postpartum recovery period."
Sun Miaoqing said, "I made the lion's share, so they should get a piece of the pie too. There's no end to how much money you can make."
*
Imperial Garden
A large, fat orange tree was followed by a string of eunuchs, strolling leisurely through the garden.
These days, Sun Miaoqing is busy with other things and has no time to pay attention to him, but she still has people send Hongzhou to the Hall of Mental Cultivation every day.
For the first two days, the chubby orange cat patiently tried to amuse its son, but soon became annoyed.
Why not take advantage of the time to go outside for a walk and enjoy the bright spring sunshine?
"Su Peisheng, don't you think the sunshine is exceptionally nice and the place is so quiet today?"
"Winter is long in the Forbidden City, and you can't hear birdsong or insect chirps for months. It sounds especially pleasant now."
Su Peisheng, head down, followed a step behind Big Fat Orange, and joked with a smile.
"Your Majesty is right. The sounds of birds and insects are much more pleasant than Consort Cheng's rouge tiger roar."
The chubby orange cat was in a good mood, so it smiled with its eyes narrowed and didn't mind.
"How's Consort Cheng's shop going? I heard she's been pestering everyone in the harem to send a box of milk candy to each of the concubines' families."
"From the Empress to the palace maids, Consort Cheng didn't spare a single one. Judging from her hard work, business should be pretty good on opening day."
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