Chapter 63: Copper is expensive, silver is cheap, just based on personal feelings...
From a personal emotional perspective, Cui Gu did not dislike Yun Qi?. On the contrary, among this group of princesses from Mobei, she naturally had some good feelings towards Yun Qi?. After all, she was a woman like herself.
That day, I received news that the people coming from the north had already arrived outside the city. So I got up quickly and rushed outside the city.
After traveling thousands of miles, they still had to take care of the sheep. Everyone was covered in dust and dirt. Even the clothes that were originally slightly brighter now looked gray.
Among this large group of people who looked like wilted cabbages, Yunqi was the only one who looked energetic and angrily scolded a servant: "Didn't I instruct all camels to put a cotton mat on them? Where is your cotton mat? Was it eaten on the way? Look at the bottom of this camel carrying the cargo. The skin is worn out. If you lose a camel because of this, you will suffer the consequences."
Ever since they reunited, whether it was how to deal with the Mobei sheep that had been driven over, how to raise them, or explaining things to his subordinates and preparing for the opening of the Beilaixian store, every little thing showed Yunqi's cheerfulness and efficiency.
When these sheep were first brought to the capital, some sheep dealers wanted to take the opportunity to lower the price. But Yunqi was not moved at all. He instructed his subordinates to feed the sheep with good grass and good feed for seven days, and waited until Beilaixian opened and the mutton from Mobei became popular before he was willing to sell it. By the way, he also got to know two particularly good sheep dealers and agreed to look for them to distribute the sheep when he transported them to the capital next year.
The specific strategy for the opening of Beilaixian, in addition to the guidelines specifically instructed by the princess, also had many details proposed by Yunqi.
Cui Gu saw it all and admired him secretly in her heart, thinking that he was indeed a capable man under the princess.
But? At this moment, she was really annoyed.
The properties in the capital were favored by the princess and were always entrusted to Cui Gu for supervision. Therefore, after the establishment of Beilaixian, all the accounts collected were also in her hands. She was just waiting for the end of the first month to combine the silver earned from the pawnshop and the rest of the silver earned from selling sheep. Then, according to the princess's instructions, the six-tenths interest was compounded and four-tenths was taken back for disposal.
Everyone was originally in harmony. But now Yunqi suddenly played this trick on her. What did it mean?
She didn't even have the princess's letter, but she was just going to rashly take out all her money to invest in a plan to go overseas, that is, to buy copper from Japan.
How could she act like this? The master hadn't even given the order, but she was the first to give orders.
Cui Gu got angry because of this, glared at Yunqi, and left in anger.
Yunqi and Fan Yuqi were left alone, staring at each other. The hot tea on the table slowly gave off a faint fragrance.
Fan Yuqi followed Yunqi all the way from Mobei. He was very respectful to this housekeeper who was old enough to be his mother. Seeing this, he asked, "So what should we do now?"
He said tentatively, "If it really doesn't work, I'll contact my elders first. Our Fan family has some funds that can be used first."
Yunqi glanced at him, frowning: "Okay, I'll think about it first. We'll talk tomorrow."
After sending the young master of the Fan family away, Yunqi sat down on the chair and touched the teacup - the tea was already cold.
She simply went to fetch water herself, without asking the maid to boil water again to make tea. Doing these trivial things could relax her. She thought about things while making tea.
Going to Japan to purchase copper was a business opportunity that she suddenly figured out not long ago.
It all started with a conversation with a sheep dealer when settling the bill for a sheep transaction.
When we settled the bill that day, the sheep dealer’s smile and bargaining appeared in front of me: “Manager, please forgive me, can we pay in silver?”
"Then? The remaining copper coins..."
"I'll give it to you in full silver," said the sheep dealer.
"That's what I'm wondering. Don't you want to pay more? Why do you have to do this?"
"You haven't been in the capital for a long time, right?"
"Indeed, I am busy herding sheep in Mobei."
The sheep dealer sighed, "The price of copper in the capital has skyrocketed in recent years. Now the exchange rate of copper coins to silver has risen to 900 wen per ounce. Besides, which copper coin in circulation now is not short of weight or mixed with other things? It's more convenient for me to give you silver than a pile of broken copper."
As the saying goes, a storm starts with a tiny ripple. If you are short of copper coins and even don't have the money to buy a sheep, you would rather pay with silver. What about the smaller businesses? Without copper coins, these small businesses will be affected.
This is a chain reaction. Knowing that copper coins are expensive, people will spontaneously collect them and not spend them easily, thus aggravating the money shortage.
If this issue is not resolved, it will definitely harm people's livelihood.
The current emperor has always been known for his virtue and will never ignore this matter.
Yunqi immediately thought that this might be an opportunity. Anyway, she had no relatives in Beijing, and the people she knew before were not in Mobei. Even if they were sent to Ningguta as slaves, she would not need to ask for favors during the New Year. So she concentrated on investigating the situation.
The Rong'an Pawnshop under the princess' name also had exchange business. Yunqi said hello to Cui Gu and was able to look through the detailed account of Rong'an Pawnshop. The account book recorded clearly that from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the trend of copper being more expensive and silver being cheaper became more and more obvious.
She also asked the Fan family and some acquaintances in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to inquire, and they all said that the copper shortage was indeed true.
It was the New Year, so when asking for information, one had to bring some red envelopes to people. Yunqi thought about it and doubled the amount in the red envelope. Together with Fan Yuqi and Cui Gu and her husband, they went to pay New Year's greetings.
After receiving the red envelope and weighing it, the man smiled and hinted that after the New Year, the court would order the Baoquan and Baoyuan bureaus, which specialized in minting coins, to collect scrap copper materials and copper utensils from the people.
"This is a business opportunity," Fan Yuqi said excitedly after finding out the details. "My father and his men have already ordered people to go around to collect scrap copper utensils and broken copper bells. We will buy them at a low price first, and then melt them down and sell them to the Baoquan Bureau! We will make a profit in one go."
Cui Gu and his wife nodded in agreement. Cui Gu was thankful and said, "Fortunately, I saw that the situation was not right and asked them to keep the pawned copperware. Otherwise, they would have been coaxed into selling it several years ago."
She looked at Yunqi and praised sincerely: "Aunt Yunqi's vision is really amazing. You actually saw the clues at a glance. Why didn't I think of it?"
"Those involved in the matter are often confused, while those who are on the sidelines can see things more clearly. After all, I haven't been to the capital for a long time, so I naturally feel it more clearly." Yunqi said.
Cui Gu smiled and said, "When the market opens, I will ask the shop assistants to pay more attention to the copperware, such as copper pots and copper basins. I will buy them all."
"Actually, I thought collecting copperware was just a small business." Yun Qi said, "There is another big business right now."
In the dim light of the setting sun, her face, already full of wrinkles, showed a rare youthfulness.
The face has aged, but the eyes have not.
Cui Gu was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"
Fan Yuqi was also curious: "Yunqi? Does Aunt have any other good ideas?"
Yunqi smiled and said, "If it were me, I would take this opportunity to submit a memorial directly to the Ministry of Internal Affairs or even to His Majesty. I would like to ask to be in charge of the copper business and go overseas to purchase copper to save money for the court."
She was born in Guangdong. She had tinnitus since she was young and had seen merchants going out to sea to seek wealth. Although there was a maritime ban in the early Qing Dynasty, which prohibited private overseas trade, people die for wealth and birds die for food. As long as they could make money, some people would be willing to take risks.
When he was young, Yunqi had some close friends. They were all people from all walks of life, regardless of their background, just looking for like-minded people. Among them was a woman who was a pirate and sailed on the sea. He had a drink with her and talked about these strange things about purchasing goods from overseas.
"There are many copper mines in Japan, and the price of copper there is much lower than here. You can exchange a few pieces of cloth for a lot of copper."
It was just a joke at the time. But now she thought of it. Since the country is short of copper, why not ask the court to allow them to go out and buy copper?
If it were in normal times, it might be rejected for various reasons, but now that copper is in such an urgent need, maybe it will be approved. Once you can get the official permission, you can go out to sea openly. The money you earn will be much higher than fiddling with these scraps of copper and iron.
The idea was good, but it involved real money, and she couldn't grow wings to immediately send a message to Mobei to get the princess's profit. In a hurry, Cui Gu left in anger.
The tea was boiling on a small red clay stove. Yunqi came to his senses and hurriedly picked up the teapot with a thick cloth.
He poured himself a cup of tea and looked at the cup that Cui Gu had used. Yunqi sighed.
There were also some snacks on the table, some peach cakes that Cui Gu had specially asked her maid to prepare for her.
When they came to the capital from Mobei, Fan Yuqi naturally went back to live in the Fan family mansion - they were imperial merchants after all, leading the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and their mansion in the capital was second only to the mansion in their hometown. Yunqi was also alone, and the small house that was originally used as a bondmaid was taken away and given to others to live in.
It was Cui Gu who warmly invited her to live in her home and treated her like a family member. She also insisted on having the New Year's Eve dinner with her.
He is a good man, and he is loyal. It is not wrong for him to be a little bit abiding by the rules. Yunqi picked up the peach cake and ate it with tea, swallowing the emotion and hot tea together.
At night, Yunqi went alone with a candle to look for Cui Gu.
Cui Gu was about to go to bed, but when she heard the maid outside saying that Yun Qi had come, she was not happy about it. So she instructed her husband, Manager Hu, "Go and tell her that I'm already asleep."
Shopkeeper Hu went and came back. Why? "She said if you don't come out, she will break in."
"How could there be such a bandit-like person!" Cui Gu was so angry that her teeth were itching, but she still put on her coat and went out.
Yunqi is a person who really does what he says.
Cui Gu sat down unhappily.
"What's wrong? I've said what I need to say. You can think I'm too rigid or troublesome, but I won't agree to move money at will without the princess's order."
Yunqi? No comment: "I came to apologize to you."
"ah?"
"Maybe I was too anxious just now and didn't make myself clear."
Yunqi originally crossed his legs, but now he put them down and said solemnly: "Cui Gu, you are very important to me, and even more so to the princess. Since we are lucky enough to be colleagues, I don't want any grudges between us. We are both doing this for the princess's good, right?"
Cui Gu nodded slightly: "Of course it is so, and please don't make it difficult for me. That Fan Yuqi can naturally raise money for you."
"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you." Yun Qi said, "Fan Yuqi works for the princess, but he can't command his father. The Fan family still has its own ideas."
She suddenly leaned closer and said, "But the fate of both you and me depends on the princess. We should be closer."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
