On the return trip.
Tang Youde finally couldn't help himself and asked anxiously, "If you guessed wrong, and the silk price didn't fall, even if it remained at the current price, we would have to pay more than 20,000 taels of silver."
There was something he didn't dare say. Except for Zhao Hao, everyone now believed that the price could rise to five or even six taels!
According to what Zhao Hao said, there would be no pound of silk left. If they bought it now, the price of silk would not have to rise to six taels. Five taels would be enough to bankrupt them.
"Old Tang, let me ask you something." Zhao Hao did not tease Tang Youde this time. Instead, he pointed to the endless silk warehouse at the dock in the distance and said word by word:
"The silk here, the silk from the whole Jiangnan area, has risen to five taels of silver. How much is it worth?"
"It must be at least 100 million taels." Tang Youde couldn't really say for sure, he could only make a rough estimate.
"Can the merchants of the Ming Dynasty come up with 100 million taels of silver?" Zhao Hao asked again.
"That's definitely not possible. But don't the Japanese and Westerners have it?" Tang Youde said, "If the sea hadn't been opened, the price of raw silk wouldn't have gone up."
"What if after the fishing season opens, we can only sell a few hundred thousand kilograms overseas each year?" Zhao Hao asked him the last question quietly.
"Then the price will definitely collapse." Tang Youde shuddered and said, "I heard from those silk merchants that they estimate that they can sell at least 5 million kilograms of silk and silk overseas in a year."
"Dream on." Zhao Hao sneered and said, "Don't underestimate the greed of some people. Let me tell you, when Shuangyu in Fujian was still there, the Fujian and Guangdong merchants could make three times the profit by selling raw silk from Jiangnan to Malacca! Later, Zhu Wan destroyed Shuangyu, and Wang Zhi rebuilt the smuggling trade port in Zhoushan. During his monopoly on maritime trade, the profit could be five times the profit by buying raw silk from Jiangnan to Malacca."
After a pause, he added sarcastically, "After Wang Zhi's death, Zhoushan Li Port was destroyed, the maritime ban was tightened, and no ship went to sea. But some people can still transport raw silk to Malacca, and make ten times the profit!"
"Ah, so many?!" Tang Youde was stunned. After a while, he murmured, "Didn't they say that we were blocked by the navy and couldn't go out to sea?"
"We stopped someone else's boat, not those people's boats." Zhao Hao sneered and said, "How can it be more satisfying to let everyone get rich together than to eat alone?"
"Who are they?" Tang Youde felt a chill down his spine. What kind of force could make the imperial navy act like accomplices?
"They are the ones who are preventing the lifting of the sea ban." Zhao Hao said, looked at Tang Youde and said, "Do you understand now?"
"Ah..." Tang Youde slumped in the car. How could he not understand what Zhao Hao meant?
Those people did not allow the sea ban to be lifted in order to have a monopoly on the market. Now that the ban has been lifted due to the situation, the price of silk has immediately soared to the sky! However, the money that has risen now is the profit of those people before!
How could those guys who are used to enjoying huge profits agree to this?
How could they not try every possible means to patch the wound up again?
Although the opening of the sea is a foregone conclusion, I am afraid that the hole will only be opened a little bit as the young master said...
By then, the price of silk will naturally collapse...
Fortunately, I have the young master to lead the way for me, otherwise if I had rashly plunged into it, I would have been crushed to pieces.
When Tang Youde came to his senses, he found that his back was soaked with sweat. He was about to flatter the young master sincerely, but he saw Zhao Hao sitting silently in front of the window. Not only was there no joy on his face, but his brows were slightly frowned, as if there was a deep worry buried in his heart.
Tang Youde couldn't understand, as the big winner of this fight, why would the young master be unhappy?
~~
Fortunately, after returning to Caijia Lane, Zhao Hao had regained his composure.
He was busy outside these two days, so the two students went back to study. Only Gao Wu and Qiaoqiao were left in the yard, which was a rare moment of peace and quiet.
Unfortunately, today is destined to be an unpeaceful day.
He had just separated from Fatty Tang and hadn't even washed his face when he saw Old Man Gao, who was helping out front, running towards him in a panic.
"Old man, what's wrong?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but feel his heart sinking. He had been with Gao the blacksmith for half a year, and he had never seen the old man panic.
"Sir, something bad has happened. Someone is causing trouble in Weijixian!" Gao the blacksmith reported anxiously.
"Hmm?" Zhao Hao frowned and asked coldly, "What does Li Jiutian do for a living?"
After getting Zhao Jin's forgiveness, the detective Li was successfully transferred back to the Caijia Lane area. After returning this time, he had an extremely correct attitude and actively escorted Wei Jixian.
Before and after the store opened every day, Li Jiutian would personally bring people to maintain order, and also arranged two white servants to guard the store door every day to prevent any blind hooligans from causing trouble.
This was not entirely to flatter the Zhao brothers, but also because those who came to eat at Wei Ji Xian were either rich or noble, and even harassing their drivers and attendants would cause trouble for the county. How could Li Jiutian not be cautious?
Therefore, during this period of time, Wei Ji Xian has been doing peacefully, and even the public security in Cai Jia Lane has improved.
"Master Li is in the store, but he can't handle it." Old Man Gao calmed down and quickly explained to Zhao Hao: "The one who came was a servant of Duke Wei's mansion. He grabbed Manager Fang as soon as he entered the door and asked him to pay back the debt!"
"Did your mother borrow money from the Xu family?" Zhao Hao looked at Qiaoqiao in surprise.
"I borrowed it from a loan shark. I never knew it had any connection with the Xu family." Qiaoqiao shook her head, and her ruddy face gradually turned pale.
"The Xu family is known as 'half of Jinling', and countless people lend them money at interest." Old Man Gao answered for Qiaoqiao: "It's not surprising that they lent money to the Xu family. Even if they didn't borrow money from the Xu family in the first place, as long as they got the IOU, they could still be the Fang family's creditor."
After a pause, he sighed hastily, "Besides, debt collection is just a cover. They are just attracted to our Wei Ji Xian..."
Old Man Gao had a look of frustration, obviously frightened by the reputation of the Duke of Wei's Mansion.
Gao Wu and Qiaoqiao were also shocked, with the latter bursting into tears and sobbing, "It was the Xu family who robbed our store last time. We just recovered from the shock, why are they here again?"
Zhao Hao, however, had a calm expression on his face. Ever since he decided to open the store, he knew that this day would come sooner or later.
As the saying goes, a dog will eat shit even if it travels a thousand miles. The powerful people in the world will never change their behavior.
He took out a handkerchief, handed it to Qiaoqiao and said, "It's okay, I'll go and settle this matter, and then I'll come back to play shuttlecock with you."
After saying that, he went straight out of the courtyard.
The Gao family father and son hurriedly followed closely.
Looking at Zhao Hao's back, Qiaoqiao's heart suddenly calmed down.
This time, it is indeed different from last time...
She tightly grasped the handkerchief in her hand, as if the handkerchief could bring her endless confidence.
~~
When Zhao Hao arrived at the door of the restaurant, the diners who had arrived early were already standing outside the door, talking a lot.
"Mr. Zhao, are you in trouble?" The speaker was dressed in a black robe and was Wu Kangyuan, the number one fan of Wei Ji Xian. He actually rented a house in Caijia Lane and studied and ate every day.
"Just a small problem." Zhao Hao was already very familiar with him. Wu Kangyuan was also one of the few people who knew that he was the boss of Weijixian.
"I don't think so." Wu Kangyuan pointed at the brocade-robed slave who was blocking the door of the store and not allowing customers to enter, and whispered, "The brocade-robed slave of the Duke of Wei's mansion."
"They are just a bunch of clowns." Zhao Hao smiled slightly, and bowed to the people who were showing their impatience, saying: "Please wait a moment, our shop will be officially open soon."
The slaves in brocade clothes sneered, looked at Zhao Hao with their noses and said, "If you don't pay the money back today, you can forget about opening the shop!"
"Get out of the way." Zhao Hao raised his eyebrows, and Gao Wu pushed the slaves who were blocking the way to both sides.
Zhao Hao walked into the lobby with a cold face, and saw a middle-aged man dressed as a steward, sitting behind a square table with his legs crossed. Several slaves with bare chests and pectoral hair exposed stood behind him with their hands on weapons.
Wu Yu and two other sturdy men hired to look after the store stood behind Fang De and Yu Jiachang, glaring at the visitors from the Xu family with flaming eyes.
Fang De pointed to the box full of silver on the table and said with an unpleasant expression: "Please take this thousand taels and don't delay our opening."
This money actually belongs to the store, but in order not to affect Wei Ji Xian’s business, he can only borrow it in advance for emergency and then report it to the boss later.
The manager looked at the huge pile of silver and thought that Wei Ji Xian was really as good as its reputation, as it could easily spend so much silver from the account.
But the more he was tempted, the more disdainful he looked. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and said, "Boss Fang is sending away beggars? You want to pay off your debt with just one thousand taels?"
"I am only the shopkeeper of Wei Ji Xian. The owner of this shop is someone else." Fang Deqiang suppressed his anger and said, "Besides, I owe a total of one thousand taels. According to the rule of nine out and thirteen back, the principal and interest will be one thousand eight hundred taels by this month. Before, I have already paid back eight hundred taels. Now I have to pay another one thousand taels. Why can't I settle the debt?"
"That's the calculation of other families, not the calculation of our Duke's Mansion." The steward said arrogantly, "You want to pay the debt? Now give me 20,000 taels. Otherwise, give us Wei Ji Xian as collateral."
"Twenty thousand taels, why don't you just go and rob?!" Upon hearing this, Yu Jiachang was immediately furious.
"So what if we rob people openly? In Nanjing City, our Duke's Mansion has the rules." The manager said condescendingly and fearlessly: "Two ways, choose one."
"No, there is another way." A young voice sounded at the door.
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