Chapter 41- Official Merchants
Those two aristocratic families not only collected all the profits from selling sugar in independent markets across the country but also from all the merchants who were authorized to sell sugar- the goods and resources in their hands also became the source of goods for those two aristocratic families.
Because his family lacked the sugar formula, the resources they had originally obtained were collected by these two families. Even if their family resources were not lacking, a lot of their independent resources, such as the merchant, were swallowed up by these two families- their family lost a lot of benefits due to the fact that they lacked a way to make sugar.
If they had a formula for making sugar, the other parties would not be able to compete with them.
These two powerful families strictly controlled the production method of sugar and only merchants they approved could sell them. He wasn’t aware which imperial power was behind these two families but Yun Chengfeng knew that these two families were enemies of his.
After hearing this, Wei Cheng’s expression became serious.
Yun Chengfeng told him, “You can sell the formula to me. No one will know about this transaction, and no one will be able to guess that you have the formula for making sugar. If you do this, you will not be able to make sugar on your own for the time being but I can give you the exclusive authorization of selling rights to the county and the prefecture city.”
If his family obtains the sugar-making formula, it will be able to compete with those two families for resources, not only the resources that were robbed from them at the beginning but also other resources.
He didn’t expect to come here and find such an important thing. Apart from being shocked, it was a complete surprise.
Wei Cheng frowned and remained silent.
Seeing his hesitation, Yun Chengfeng thought that Wei Cheng was unwilling- he could have threatened and forced him but he chose not to do that- at the very least, the two of them could be regarded as partners in business and half a step into friendship, he wouldn’t do something so drastic to him.
Wei Cheng knew that things could still be discussed.
Wei Cheng replied, “I can give you the recipe for sugar, but it won’t be for sale, it would be for cooperation, just like cooperation with a sauce factory.”
Yun Chengfeng didn’t expect Wei Cheng to say that. Yun Chengfeng knew he couldn’t get Wei Cheng involved in this- there were aristocrats and multiple nobles involved, how could an ordinary person get involved? It’s not a matter of production, rather it is a matter of resources. To put it bluntly, Wei Cheng’s current status does not deserve to be involved in making sugar which would be bringing in more resources in the future.
Yun Chengfeng was momentarily taken aback by Wei Cheng’s proposal
Yun Chengfeng wanted to laugh at first but when he met Wei Cheng’s deep and serious eyes, he always felt that he was facing something similar to his elder brother’s aura so he merely shook his head when he said, “Wei Cheng, it may not work this time, sugar production is too important, its not something you can intervene in.”
He also has no right to call the shots as this involves powerful forces and dividing the resources of the two great families.
“I can raise the price of buying the formula to the highest possible amount so that you won’t suffer.”
Wei Cheng glanced at him, didn’t mention the cooperation again, but asked casually, “I know that the white sugar sold in the market is coarse-grained white sugar, and the color is yellowish and not white enough, but I don’t know if you have ever seen white sugar that looks like flour. White sugar as fine as sand?”
With one sentence, he managed to throw in bait. Indeed, he couldn’t intervene because the chip he gave was not big enough.
Yun Chengfeng had never seen such sugar, “What are you talking about?” He wasn’t sure what he meant.
Wei Cheng didn’t answer but asked his wife to take out the salt jar and sugar jar at home. After Zhou Yuan took out the two jars, Wei Cheng poured the contents of the salt jar and sugar jar into piles.
Yun Chengfeng, Yan Yi, and Zhou Yuan showed doubt on their faces.
Wei Cheng looked at the salt on the table- this salt was considered coarse salt. Although it was finer than coarse white sugar, it was still not the effect he wanted. He glanced around and saw a small pile of sand under the corner of the wall. He got up and took a handful back.
Zhou Yuan: “…”
Yun Chengfeng: “…”
Yan Yi: “…”
Yun Chengfeng was stimulated, he wanted to play with the sand!!
Wei Cheng put the fine sand on the table, patted the remaining sand off his palms, and smiled at the three of them looking as if he was out of his mind.
Zhou Yuan looked worried, “Husband…”
Wei Cheng’s broad palm squeezed his soft hand to comfort his wife.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Since there is no finished product to show off, he can only demonstrate and play tricks, the most important thing is to secure himself and his family.
Whether he can make white and fine sugar, the other party has never seen the real thing, and can’t find out the truth of his words but the other party will also not force him. Forcing him is undoubtedly letting those opposing families know of the sugar-making formula in his hands.
Yun Chengfeng and Yan Yi immediately understood Wei Cheng’s words.
Yun Chengfeng pondered for a moment, “If you can really make it as fine as fine sand and as white as salt then I can promise you to share 20% of the profit.” If he can really make better quality white sugar, they will not only be able to compete with the two great families for sale but the sugar market can even be monopolized.
Giving Wei Cheng 20% of the profit is not a big deal if he can monopolize the resources behind it.
“Giving you 20% is also conditional. You will only have dividends and no management rights.”
“A very beneficial cooperation, I agree, but…” Wei Cheng said, “I want exclusive authorization from the prefecture and county.”
Yun Chengfeng smiled and said, “If that’s all then that’s no problem.”
Yun Chengfeng heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Wei Cheng didn’t make more excessive demands- he is a person who is shrewd but not greedy. He has his own way of life and Yun Chengfeng can rest assured when cooperating with this kind of person.
Power and wealth can inflate a person’s ambitions, but few people can grasp the scale and be able to do things clearly, and see clearly.
Yun Chengfeng was puzzled, “Why do you have to have exclusive authorization in the prefecture and county every time we cooperate?”
Wei Cheng replied simply, “Oh, for resource integration.”
Yun Chengfeng was startled, “What is resource integration?”
Wei Cheng, “It’s too complicated to explain, but you will know about it later.”
Yun Chengfeng: “…”
He was being perfunctory.
Yun Chengfeng asked suddenly, “Wei Cheng, do you know about official merchants?”
“Official merchants?” Wei Cheng said, “No, I don’t know much about them.”
Adhering to the cooperative relationship, Wei Cheng will sell sugar in the county and the prefecture in the future, and he will come into contact with the government and various business affairs. Yun Chengfeng explained the government and business affairs in detail.
Official merchants are merchants under the imperial court. From the establishment of overseas trade exchanges and economic development, the imperial court established official merchants, and the status of merchants has also been greatly improved.
Official merchants have grades, but no official rights like scholars.
There are county-level officials and merchants, government-level officials and merchants, provincial-level officials and merchants, and finally imperial merchants. County-level officials and merchants are ranked seventh to sixth, government-level officials and merchants are ranked fifth, provincial-level officials and merchants are ranked fourth, and imperial merchants are ranked third to first.
Official merchants and officials with real power are incomparable.
There are well-known official merchants, and the commodities under the control of the imperial court, such as salt, tea, official porcelain, silk, and a large number of overseas commercial transactions, can be sold by them directly as they only need to register with the county government.
Official merchants also have convenient authority that private businesses do not have. With this authority, they will not be excluded when buying and selling legal goods. They can also get exclusive resources in the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce must also support them.
The Chamber of Commerce was also established after the status of the merchants improved. The Chamber of Commerce is organized by the government and the private sector. The government and the official merchants are responsible for its management.
Yun Chengfeng continued, “If you can make sugar like you said then maybe you can get the title of an official merchant.”
Wei Cheng replied, “Absolutely no problem.”
If he really had the title of official merchant, it would indeed make things convenient, and he would not be attacked and excluded by other businessmen behind his back.
*
Once the important matters were discussed, Yun Chengfeng started to be picky, “Wei Cheng, you are not short of money, why is your house so dilapidated and don’t you want to repair it?”
Wei Cheng replied back, “I’m giving you the genuine experience of being in a dilapidated farmhouse, do you know how many people like you can experience it? Why are you so picky?”
“You really have a thick skin.”
Didn’t Wei Cheng see that he disliked it?
Wei Cheng replied, “Thank you.”
Yun Chengfeng then snorted and responded, “I find that you are becoming more and more impolite when talking to me.”
“Our identities are very different, but you are currently a guest in my house. Since you are a guest then you are not a young master who is here to show off your status. How much respect do you need when I speak to you? Respect is beyond the gate, if you put on a show though then maybe I will show a little respect. For now, you are my guest so I will treat you as my guest.”
Yun Chengfeng rolled his eyes, this man really dared to say such things- wherever he went in the past, people who approached him were either flattering or extremely respectful.
“You are not afraid that I will be dissatisfied with your attitude and withdraw the cooperation.”
Wei Cheng just smiled and said nothing.
Yun Chengfeng rolled his eyes again.
The two men had a tacit understanding. They are both people who act according to their nature. Sometimes being friends is born from the contact of words and deeds, and there becomes no difference in status.
“By the way, what is resource integration?”
Wei Cheng: “…”
“Resource integration gathering the resources in the hands of merchants traveling from the north and the south, regardless of whether they are good or bad, and collate them all in one place.”
“There is a shipping dock in the county, and we are very close to Fucheng. Fucheng is the place where travelers from all over the world gather. The county relies on Fucheng, no matter whether it goes south or north, west or east, the county occupies an advantageous location and is a gathering place for travelers. The resources that these traveling merchants hold are no worse than those of merchants in Fucheng.
“Fucheng is where powerful people live, and the distribution of resources has long been fixed so it is difficult to get involved with them, and even offend people. The county has two waterways, and the resources of the merchants that gather here can be integrated and gathered in the county. The future development of the county will not be worse than that of Fucheng.”
“Except for the resources in the hands of aristocratic families, the resources in the hands of merchants all over the world are scattered and not concentrated which is why I want exclusive authorization so that I will also have to have my own products. These commodities will become chips to attract other merchants, and integrate their products into one of my resources.”
Yun Chengfeng said directly, “I have decided to buy wasteland. I want to build a store and integrate the resources I have on hand to trade with other merchants.”
Wei Cheng’s ability to come up with the formula for making sugar means that this person definitely has something good in his hands.
Yun Chengfeng didn’t stay for dinner, took the sugar formula, and rushed back to deliver the message to his family.
—
In a mansion in the imperial city.
The tall and majestic man received a letter from his younger brother. Seeing that it was a secret message, he looked a little serious. After reading the letter, the serious expression appeared excited.
It turned out to be a formula for making sugar.
A countryman has such an ability. With this formula, their current situation has to be changed.
The man wrote a letter and shouted into the air- a man in black appeared in front of him. The man in black knelt on one knee, waiting for orders.
The man handed over the written letter to the secret guard, and the man in black immediately went away.
The man then sat on his desk, writing another letter to his brother.
The mansion spans across the courtyard to the east. A dignifiedly dressed young woman was facing the mirror, unloading her pearls and hairpins, and was about to go to bed when her confidant maid hurriedly walked over.
“Eldest Mistress, the concubine Xiyuan is going to the Eldest Young Master’s study.”
The dignified woman paused while continuing to remove her hair accessories and asked, “When did it happen?”
“Just now.”
The dignified woman hummed and put the pearl hairpin on the dressing table back into her bun.
The servant girl stepped forward to take over, helped her master wear the pearl hairpin, and muttered, “Young Mistress, that new concubine really has no sense of the rules, she relied on the Young Master’s pampering and didn’t even come to greet you, and now she is trying to disturb the Young Master’s work. Are you going to the study to quarrel with the young master?”
The dignified woman smiled and said softly, “Don’t worry, she won’t have this chance in the future.”
The maid turned her head, puzzled.
“Have you forgotten the rules of the mansion? The study is a forbidden place, she is looking for death.” After being spoiled for two days by virtue of her beauty, she became too self-confident and even forgot the rules before entering the door.
However, the other party wants to harm herself and she will not stop her.
The confidant maid knows the rules in the mansion, no matter who it is, no one has the consent of the young master, except for the other young masters in the mansion, to enter his study. Even if her lady is the young wife of the mansion, the young master’s official wife, she must notify the young master before entering the study.
The others can’t even take a step close to the study.
The rules in the mansion are strictly upheld, the young master is fierce and majestic and no one in the mansion dares to disobey him. This is the first time someone dared to go against the family rules.
At this time, the servant girl outside the door reported that the young master’s attendants had arrived, and the young master asked the young lady to go to the study.
“Let’s go.”
The dignified woman got up, led a few servant girls over, and entered the study courtyard, her confidant servant followed her in, while the other servant girls waited outside, not daring to take a step beyond.
After the dignified woman entered, she saw the glamorous concubine with her messy hair as she was slumped on the ground, rubbing her throat with her hands. She just glanced at the man standing at the door of the study and said, “Husband.” The servant girl behind her bowed on her knees and saluted.
The man asked coldly, “She entered my study, does she not know the rules of the mansion?”
He was referring to the beautiful concubine who was kneeling on the ground.
The dignified woman said, “Your dutiful wife has told everyone that anyone who enters the mansion, whether it is a concubine or a servant, the first thing to do is to learn the rules, there are no exceptions.”
The man looked at the woman on the ground coldly, “What else do you have to say?”
Xiyan cried as best as she could, trying to win sympathy with her tender look, “Master, this concubine will not do it again, so I will forgive me this time. The concubine only thought of coming to serve you when she saw you enter your study. My Lord, I will never dare do so again.”
The dignified woman’s eyes suddenly felt a bit clogged.
The man ignored her, leaving the matter in the backyard to the dignified woman, and turned back to the study.
The dignified woman took the concubine back to her yard and asked the servants to drag her back to where she came from. The dignified woman sat in a chair, listening to the person being dragged away crying, her expression was unclear.
The confidant maid muttered, “Miss, you obviously like the young master very much, but the young master has a cold face and never cares about your feelings, are you not angry?”
She felt that the young master was unworthy of her young lady.
If the young master had her young lady in his heart, he wouldn’t take a concubine at will, and let people climb on her young lady’s head to show off. The dignified woman’s eyes were gentle, with nostalgia in her eyes, “You don’t understand, I am already very lucky to be able to marry the person I like. Which man in a powerful family does not have three wives and four concubines, although he has no love such as the one a husband has for his wife for me, as long as he stays by my side then I am satisfied.”
The marriage of the two is one arranged by their families so she never expected anything extravagant in his affection, as long as her husband puts her first then no matter how many women he has, her status will never change.
She also has a son, her son inherited his father’s wisdom and is valued by the family. With her son, she will always be the main wife of this family.
The young lady’s expression was suddenly enlightened, “Do you think there is really a single-minded person in this world who doesn’t take concubines?”
The confidant maid said, “Miss, why do you ask such a question?”
The young lady came back to her senses and said nothing. How many people, in the face of wealth and honor, will devote themselves to one person, maybe there are, but only the lucky ones have it.
Thank You for the new chapter (๑ơ ₃ ơ)♥
Ah yes girly, the lucky one is called Zhou Yuan 🤭
Finally, a woman with brains and a good personality‼️ 😫