"Wait a minute! The chef and the waiter are not familiar with each other and don't cooperate well. Take it slow! What about Ronghuazhai? How much did they earn today?" Li Sihong asked.
"Today, Ronghuazhai has a total of 1,328 taels, and those noble ladies are rushing to place orders. But we don't bring much this time, and it will last for at most 10 days before we run out of stock." Jinbao said.
"It's okay! No rush! It's better to let those ladies and young ladies worry for a while. What my husband said about hunger marketing really works. We just sell those goods every day. Let them worry to death!" Li Sihong said with a smile.
Jinbao also smiled and said, "Madam is right! But the other cosmetics shops are a little jealous. I heard someone went to the pawnshop. They said they would sue us for competing with the people for profits."
Li Sihong's face darkened upon hearing this. She said, "Let them sue. Tomorrow, you should also send a letter to the brokerage firm and tell them who this business is. Let them take a closer look!"
At this moment, Fang Xinyu's concubine, Ning, suddenly walked in from outside and said, "Madam! Something bad has happened. Ronghuazhai in Nanjing City has been surrounded."
"Why are you panicking? Let's get the escorts from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency in Nanjing to maintain order, and ask the Nanjing prefect to come out. We'll see who dares to touch us!" Li Sihong said domineeringly. Because she was confident, she had both money and status. And the escorts from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, whose managers were Jinyiwei. So who could she be afraid of?
"Madam, it was the people from the pleasure boat and the brothel who sent people to block Ronghuazhai. They said that the things we made were not good. The girls used them, but not only did they have no effect on their faces, they also got a lot of pimples. They asked us to pay compensation!" said Ning.
"Nonsense! We never do business with brothels or pleasure boats. Where did they buy it from?" Li Sihong asked. She had become a good woman and was very reluctant to have anything to do with brothels or pleasure boats anymore.
"Yes! I also heard from other sources that since we sold these cosmetics to those noble ladies, their brothels and pleasure boats have seen a lot less business. There are even scholars who wrote poems mocking those girls as vulgar and painted to look like ghosts." Ning covered her mouth and laughed.
"I understand. Does this mean that we have cut off their source of income?" Li Sihong said.
"Yes, madam! Then what should we do? Even if we make them retreat for the time being, they will still cause trouble for us in the future." Ning said.
"Let Wu open another shop outside Nanjing. The more remote the better, so that people from brothels and pleasure boats can go there to buy. You go out and tell the owners of those brothels and pleasure boats about this." Li Sihong said.
"Yes, Madam!" After saying that, Ning hurried out to do her work.
"I'm tired, you go down too! Ask the kitchen to make some chicken soup tonight!" Li Sihong ordered.
Jinbao agreed and left.
Arriving in Nanjing, Li Sihong first went to the city to visit Hu Xian, the son of Imperial Physician Hu. Hu Xian had previously helped Zhao Xiaofei purchase four or five shops, and upon his arrival, Li Sihong immediately brought over the land deeds and property titles. He chose two shops in well-located locations and opened a Ronghuazhai (a cosmetics shop) and a Liuli imitation restaurant, serving meals on glassware. He also removed the original paper windows and replaced them with glass. This restaurant instantly felt more upscale than the others. It felt exceptionally high-end. This was especially true of the second floor, where, even in winter, one could still see the Yangtze River without opening the windows.
Therefore, the business here is surprisingly good. If you want to eat here, you have to make a reservation in advance. And they only serve officials, wealthy businessmen, and Jiangnan gentry. Ordinary people are absolutely not allowed to enter. Even if Li Sihong set such a high threshold, she still lost several glasses!
After Ronghuazhai opened, she used the name of the Princess's Mansion to befriend the wives and daughters of Jiangnan's nobility. She sent them a large number of trial products. Within two days, business at Ronghuazhai was booming. Especially for those middle-aged noble ladies, who were willing to spend money to keep their masters' men, they were even more attractive after applying makeup than women of eighteen or nineteen. This caused business at brothels and pleasure boats to plummet.
If it weren't for the fact that these businesses had the backing of officials and nobles, Li Sihong wouldn't have dared to offend them. She wouldn't have let Wu open more shops to sell to them! The two shops' monthly net profit reached over two billion yuan, making them a lucrative business. If it weren't for the princess's name, the nobles in Nanjing would have been left with nothing. So, Li Sihong understood the principle of sharing the profits equally.
However, those rouge shops had no background, so she was not afraid of offending them.
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