When night fell, a bright moon rose from the sea. Some people fell asleep while others were still working with torches.
It had been two months since the flood, and all the residential areas had been repaired. Rice, vegetables, and cotton had been planted, and some of the vegetables had grown and were ready to be eaten. The roads in the residential areas were repaired, and people were working at the docks. Some roads leading to the surrounding provinces were also being repaired.
The labourers only rested for eight hours a day, including the time they had to eat. They worked in shifts to build their own homes. While the other provinces were still waiting for the relief food to arrive, Lu Zhou had already sold a lot of goods. He directly traveled from Zhejiang to Hangzhou to Shandong.
Zhang Xiaobao was not stupid enough to sell fish and prawns there. He sold some specialties from the mountains that were not available there, so he bought a lot of food from there. Part of it was reserved for the people, and the rest was sent to the surrounding provinces. He used the food to hire people to build roads and bridges.
The other five provinces were not as kind as the Zhang family. Even though the Provincial Governor of Qin Province was from a big family and had always been in Qin Province, his family would not fork out so much money to build roads or buy food. They were all waiting for the Imperial Court to come to their rescue. Even Xin 'an Province, which was slightly further away, was also affected by the disaster. The Provincial Governor did not fork out his own money either.
Since the Imperial Court did not fork out money, the people had to find their own way. They could not starve to death. Without food, they ate some tree bark, wild vegetables, and other things to get by. The three provinces next to the sea were eating fish. They worked while eating. When they had collected enough specialties from the mountains and caught enough fish, they would form a caravan and come to Lu Zhou to trade for food and daily necessities.
Zhang Zhong did not deliberately lower the price. He traded at the usual market price. It had been two months. Now, the Zhang family had gotten rid of the situation where they could not make ends meet. They began to sell the goods they collected. They also sent ships to deliver the dried salted fish to the capital. In another month, the dried salted fish would be profitable.
It could be said that Lu Zhou had relied on the strength of Zhang Xiaobao's family to prop up the six provinces. He had given the people in the six provinces a way to survive. Once the food was replenished, the other five provinces could take a breather.
For a time, Zhang Zhong's reputation was second to none in the six prefectures. Almost every family had set up a Longevity Shrine for him. The people of the five prefectures had recovered slightly and were able to eat their fill. The mountain products, fish that were salvaged, and the tributes that were offered increased. Only then did the merchants outside and the local merchants begin to purchase them.
They offered the same price as Zhang Zhong. They had considered the cost of transportation and thought the people would sell the goods to them. However, the people had already approved of Lu Zhou's deal. When they had the goods, they formed a caravan and came to trade with the Zhang family.
Zhang Xiaobao checked the accounts. Then, he looked at Wang Juan and said, "This is great. The six provinces are affected by the disaster. All the taxes and taxes this year are waived. The provincial capitals can't collect the goods at all. The people are working harder than before, and the goods are flowing to our province. All the good goods here will be stopped from now on.
Now, the price of goods in the capital and other places should be doubled. The east of Lingnan Circuit is Guangzhou. The east of Jiangnan Circuit is Jiangnan Circuit, which is Zhejiang and Fujian Circuit. When our fleet came and went, we also bought a lot of coastal specialties. Fortunately, we sold some of the goods. Otherwise, we wouldn't have a single copper coin.
Let's see how many times the goods will increase this winter. You said that my family is stupid. Let's see who's the fool when the time comes. As long as the family has money, we'll stock up on the goods. If we don't earn five times the money, it'll be intolerable. "
Wang Juan knew Zhang Xiaobao had been waiting for this day ever since the flood. After losing so much money, it was not Zhang Xiaobao's character to not think of a way to earn it back.
When she thought about the things in the warehouse that were about to become very valuable, she was very happy. She said to Zhang Xiaobao, "Should we ship them to more remote places like the Turks and Tufan?"
"No, those places aren't suitable for us. We'll sell them to some people and let them sell the goods there. The price will be higher, and we can't sell too much. We'll just sell them a portion of the goods. We'll spread the news that there's a lot of goods here. We'll ask the people from those two places to bring their local specialties to trade.
When they come, we'll do our best to push down the price of their goods. We'll raise the price to a level that is slightly lower than the price that those people sold to the Turks and Tufan. This way, the people from those two places will be able to earn money, but they won't be able to earn much.
In order to get more benefits, they will continue to raise the price when they return. We can use a higher price to sell to those people who sold the goods from the Turks and Tufan. We'll bring the goods from the Turks and Tufan to the coastal area to sell. This way, we won't have to bear the risks when we go to those places. Others won't scold us for the high price of the goods. After all, the price will follow the market. "
Zhang Xiaobao explained the plan as if he was talking about a tongue twister. Wang Juan was not stupid. She understood. It was to use a small amount of precious goods to increase their own value. It would give people the impression that the goods they sold would follow the market price, but in reality, it was them who pushed the price up.
When others were risking their lives to sell back and forth, the ones who earned the most were the suppliers and not the middlemen. They used the selling price in other places to increase the price of the local goods, especially when there were many tribes competing with each other. This reminded Wang Juan of the time when they bought iron mines in China.
Zhang Xiaobao knew that such a thing would happen. Therefore, he gathered all the goods in Zhuangzi and negotiated with the merchants outside at the same price. The reason was that it was a transaction. If they weren't willing to do it, then forget it. They could just look for merchants themselves.
Wang Juan felt that this method was indeed good. Just as she was about to say something else, she suddenly reacted. She turned Zhang Xiaobao's face around and looked into his eyes. She asked, "Xiao Bao, is this your entire plan?"
Zhang Xiaobao blinked his eyes. "Of course not. It's not like you don't understand me. How can it be so simple? Our goods and the two places are not a transaction of money, but a transaction of goods. When the goods are shipped here, we can try to make it popular. You don't have to ask anymore. I will continue.
This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that after the value of the goods by the sea increases, the goods here will also increase. I plan to tell this news to the people in the surrounding prefectures. At the same time, I will increase the purchasing price and force the merchants in the surrounding areas to increase their prices.
This way, the local people can earn more money. Those merchants who didn't help us in the past hate us, so let them hate us. What do you think will happen in the end? "
"The result will be that our purchasing price will offend many merchants, and the people will earn money." Wang Juan added. At the same time, she also felt that this was the case. This was the Zhang Xiaobao she knew. As long as he had a plan, it would never be as simple as it seemed.
"It's not that simple. Think about it in the future. We are not afraid of offending people, but some merchants. We are also merchants. Why should we be afraid of them? When the people have money in their hands, they will naturally want to buy things. The goods shipped from Tubo and Tujue can be sold at a higher price. "
Zhang Xiaobao did not hide anything this time and told them about his plan.
"You can do that? Then, Xiaobao, tell me more. What's next? There must be more. Just like when you pushed Sanshui County to become a Shang County and joined the seven counties to become a prefecture. Tell me quickly. How else are you going to calculate? I like to see you here plotting against others."
Wang Juan's biggest hobby was to find out Zhang Xiaobao's plan. Compared to Zhang Xiaobao's plan, other people's plan of killing two birds with one stone was too simple. Zhang Xiaobao always made a move when others were confused. As long as he made a move, it would be the end.
Zhang Xiaobao did not do this on purpose. It was mainly because when he was thinking about things, he would unnaturally combine things that could easily cause problems and things that were related to each other. It was just a habit.
After hearing Wang Juan's question, he could only say, "There is one more thing. Being enemies is not our goal. Instead of making enemies, it is better to make friends. When the time comes, I will reduce the amount of goods we buy and give a portion of the profits to other merchants. We will cooperate with them to do business in Tubo and Tujue. We have common interests outside, so we can reduce our conflicts here.
As long as the profits from these two places are sufficient, they will definitely compromise and give in to us. My father's development will be much smoother, and we can even get them to invest. They have money, for example, the Ning Clan of Ginkou is only stronger than us, not weaker than us. It's just that their foresight for investment is lacking. "
Zhang Xiaobao wrote a few names on the paper. Wang Juan understood. These were all merchants in the form of clans. Any one of them could compete with Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family in terms of wealth and power. The difference was that they had developed for a long time, while Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family had just risen.
These clans were seeking stability. They were not as good as Zhang Xiaobao. Zhang Xiaobao used cash flow. If Zhang Xiaobao was given 100 strings of cash, he would dare to use the money as leverage. If he grasped the slightest opportunity, it would be a fulcrum. He could leverage a few hundred strings of cash.
At this time, he was already restrained enough. He still knew how to develop his business. If it was in the past, he would have cheated all the way. No, he would have invested all the way.
Wang Juan didn't want to admit it, but she had no choice but to admit that when Zhang Xiaobao came up with the plan, the way he moved the world with a wave of his hand and the light smile on his face was very charming. Perhaps the best thing that Li Longji did was to send Zhang Zhong here, so that when disaster struck, six provinces were saved.
Perhaps the worst thing that Li Longji did was to send Zhang Zhong here. The main reason was that Zhang Xiaobao came along. The sky was high and the emperor was far away. The sea was vast. Who would look after Zhang Xiaobao? Wherever he pointed, the sea and sky would change.
Thinking of this, Wang Juan said to Zhang Xiaobao, "Xiao Bao, you are a good person, right? You have extreme nationalistic thoughts, right? "
"Cuckoo, do you think that I will betray the country? Don't worry, I won't. I am indeed a little nationalistic. But my people are not a single race. Just like our leader's guards, they are a big family. Actually, I really have a backup plan. I will let these merchants be roped in and become spies for the Turks and Tibetans. "
Zhang Xiaobao said with a smile.
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