The farmers' anger towards the herbal medicine merchants was hard to quell, and Emperor Kangxi felt it necessary to investigate carefully.
Kangxi then inquired about the current purchase price of various medicinal herbs. Although he did not have a specific understanding of the market price of medicinal herbs, he knew that it was difficult for ordinary people to afford medicine, and that even a slight illness could bankrupt a family.
The price of the medicine can be described as expensive.
According to the herb farmer, the purchase price of these medicinal herbs can be considered quite low.
Emperor Kangxi did a quick calculation and concluded that if the herb farmer wasn't lying, he really wouldn't be farming if he were growing these medicinal herbs.
"Actually, it's not surprising. The purchase price of medicinal herbs wasn't this low before. It's only in the last two years that the county set up a joint trading company to uniformly purchase medicinal herbs. The price is set by the trading company, and then the medicinal herbs are notified to get their share from the trading company. That's why the price of medicinal herbs has been getting lower year by year."
There was only one business in the entire county, which was composed of many members who were medicinal herb merchants. In order to maximize profits, they naturally tried their best to drive prices down.
That's how we ended up in the current situation.
Upon hearing this, Kangxi and Youqing understood: this was a monopoly.
With a monopolized market, if the medicinal herbs aren't sold, they'll just be stuck with the stock, so they can only sell them at low prices, which is incredibly frustrating.
Emperor Kangxi didn't ask any more questions after that. He figured that the establishment of this business must have been due to the support of someone behind it, and he would definitely investigate it later.
This situation is not conducive to market development.
The price of medicinal herbs is low, and farmers can't sell them at a good price. They can endure it for one or two years, but it will definitely not work for three or four years. At that time, they will definitely have to grow crops.
However, the medicinal herb market has always been in short supply, which will definitely have a negative impact on the medicinal herb market in the long run.
I asked the herb farmers a lot of questions. After they finished eating, they had to get back to work in the fields. With the price of medicinal herbs so low, they couldn't just leave the herbs in the fields unattended.
The two went back and ate, then began their journey. In the afternoon, the group finally entered the county town.
Upon entering the county town, they found an inn to stay at. Kangxi immediately sent people to inquire about the business, as he couldn't possibly rely on only one side of the story.
"Want to go out for a walk?"
The two of them were busy most of the time during the journey. Traveling was tiring, and Kangxi himself didn't feel anything, but he was afraid that Youqing would suffer.
"Alright."
Qiaoxian County is not particularly developed, but it is not particularly backward either. It has everything it needs. However, it was already afternoon, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter, so there weren't many people on the streets.
As the two walked, they came to a street. They didn't know what the street was called, but they could smell the medicinal herbs from a distance.
Taking a deep breath, Youqing thought it smelled quite nice.
Emperor Kangxi found it somewhat difficult to accept.
The smell of medicinal herbs is something that some people find pleasant, while others find it unbearable; the couple didn't seem to have much in common on this point.
Kangxi said, "Shall we go in and take a look?"
Knowing that Emperor Kangxi disliked the taste of medicinal herbs, Youqing asked in surprise, "If you don't like it, then don't go in."
"Let's go in and take a look. We can see how medicinal herbs are bought and sold here."
Youqing nodded: "Okay!"
The street was lined with shops related to medicinal herbs all day long. Most of them were wholesalers of processed medicinal herbs, while others were traders of medicinal herbs, but there weren't many of them. Moreover, they only bought wild medicinal herbs, the more precious kind, and did small-scale business.
As we went inside, the number of people gradually increased. Each shop had medicinal herbs displayed at its entrance, many of which were packed in burlap sacks, and it was impossible to tell them apart.
When Kangxi and Youqing entered, they attracted the attention of many merchants. The two were dressed as ordinary merchants and looked unfamiliar. They easily associated the two with the merchants who had just come to buy medicinal herbs and thought they must be gods of wealth.
However, despite walking around and asking many questions, Emperor Kangxi showed no intention of buying anything. This puzzled the shopkeepers of the medicinal herb shops. It was strange that he would only ask questions but not sell anything.
"Sir, take a look at our medicinal herbs. They are all new stock, prepared by experienced craftsmen."
Emperor Kangxi asked the price: "How much are these medicinal herbs?"
The shopkeeper quoted a price, and Kangxi frowned: "Isn't this a bit expensive?"
“It’s not expensive. You can make a profit all over the country at this price. This gentleman wouldn’t say that.”
The shopkeeper meant that even after deducting the expenses on the road, there would still be some profit to be made.
That's true. It is indeed a wholesale price, and there is still a profit to be made at this price. However, this price is far from the purchase price that Kangxi found out.
Compared to the purchase price, the wholesale price is nearly fifteen times higher, which is due to the additional processing step.
Even the best craftsmanship shouldn't be like this.
The high price difference is also related to the low acquisition price.
"I asked a few herb farmers before I came, and this price doesn't match the price they paid last quarter."
The shopkeeper was clearly surprised that someone would come to buy medicinal herbs and inquire about the purchase price so clearly. He was stunned for a moment.
Kangxi rendered him speechless and continued, "If the price is half, I can accept it. Otherwise, I might as well wait for the new medicinal herbs to come down and buy them directly from the herb farmers. Then I can have the best doctor process them and it won't cost this much."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper said, "This gentleman hasn't been here long, has he?"
Kangxi nodded: "Just arrived."
"It's not our fault that the price is so high. There's always demand for medicinal herbs, so the price naturally won't come down. We don't set these prices arbitrarily. Actually, the price I'm offering you is no different from previous years. The purchase price isn't something we small merchants can decide."
You only know that buying from herb farmers is cheap, but you don't know that we don't buy these herbs directly from them. All the herbs on this street are bought from herb merchants and processed, and the prices are no different from buying directly from the herb farmers.
We're just making a meager living. Last year, there were other smart people who had the same idea as you, but they all failed to make a business. This business has powerful backing and a solid foundation. If they find out someone is trying to steal their money, losing money is a small matter compared to losing our lives.
Upon hearing this, Kangxi feigned shock: "They're so blatantly disregarding human life, and the government just stands by and watches?"
The shopkeeper whispered, "Didn't I already say? They have powerful connections, so the county government naturally can't do anything about it, or rather, it doesn't need to."
As for why, there's no need to care. I got involved myself, so what if they arrest me?
"What about the prefectural city? Medicinal herbs are crucial to the livelihood of the people in the county. There must be some news about it in the prefectural city!"
The shopkeeper's voice became even softer: "How can the prefectural city manage this? The county magistrate's wife is the daughter of the prefect. How can this be managed? I heard that this prefect has some connections in the capital, so naturally no one dares to interfere. If they don't lose out on the medicinal herbs, ordinary people can't get anything out of it, so it's just been like this."
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