Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 198
Booming Business
It was a common folk saying that you relied on your parents at home and your friends when going out.
Zhangqi and Liuba were both people who went out for business frequently, and they were both conversationalists and sociable. They only realised after Mo Yan’s reminder that their document was a goldmine which could easily allow them to earn money.
With it in hand, as long as there were people importing and exporting goods from both sides of the border, all they had to do was allow them to pass between the border. That was basically earning money just by sitting there, and was significantly easier than travelling distances to export goods.
After finishing their meal, Mo Yan went to take a look at their wares. The two removed the oil tarp covering one of their carriages, and inside were bamboo baskets filled with tea leaves and bags filled with bundles of silk.
Zhangqi said, “We travelled far this trip, all the way to Linan, and these tea leaves and silk bundles are all from Linan and high-quality. They’re guaranteed to sell well in the capital.”
Mo Yan uncovered one of the bamboo baskets to take a look, and inside was high-quality Longjing tea leaves, with leaves as thin as spears and thin hairs on them. Then, she checked the silk bundles, which had good craftsmanship. They had brilliant colours and intricate patterns.
“We’ll take all of these goods! In the future, we’ll take as many of these kinds of high-quality goods as you have. Aside from these, we’ll also take pottery from famous potters, embroidery from reputable workshops, the four treasures of the study, and even grains. Basically, we’ll take any quality goods. The two of you will no longer have to look for buyers anymore, so all we’re asking for is a slight discount.” [1]
Zhangqi and Liuba looked at each other with wide eyes, like they had just encountered a mountain of gold.
The four of them continued talking, and without them knowing it, it was dark already. So, they called for some wine and food from some employees, and sat down to continue talking.
As they were going to be doing a business transaction, they needed to sign a contract. Spoken words weren’t reliable, but written words could be used as proof.
Mo Yan borrowed paper and a brush from an employee and went to the side to finalise the contract’s details. Inkblots were liberally splattered on the piece of paper, with black circles on the left and a plethora of crosses on the right. The words that were legible were incredibly wonky and a travesty to behold.
After seeing that she hadn’t written down the contract after messing around for so long, Lu Junming went over to take a look, and couldn’t help but laugh when he saw it.
Mo Yan flipped the piece of paper over and covered it, “If you continue laughing, scram!”
Lu Junming stopped laughing and took the brush from her hand, “How about I be your scribe, and you dictate what I write.”
The key details of a business contract was the agreed-upon price and amount, as well as when the goods should be delivered and penalties if the conditions of the contract weren’t fulfilled. After the business contract was written, and Zhangqi and Liuba agreed to it after reading through it, both parties signed the contract.
Lu Junming and Mo Yan couldn’t stay here forever, but there needed to be proof of identity when someone else purchased the goods in their stead in the future. According to common convention, both parties should exchange seals, but as neither of them had seals, they used their signatures as proof instead.
Hengfu Inn ended up as the place where they would meet up to receive goods and send each other letters.
Lu Junming didn’t have much money on him, and only had a paltry sum left after buying these two carriages of goods. The next day, they hired a carriage to carry the goods, then returned to Qianshui Town.
The goods only occupied a small amount of space in their newly-built storefronts, and weren’t anywhere enough to fill them. Besides, these high-quality goods were initially intended to be shipped to the capital, could they really be sold out here?
Mo Yan thought for a while before saying, “Chuzi, sell these goods for cheap, and if you sell a lot at a time, you can add 10% to the cost. Try to make back the cost as quickly as possible, then buy millet or flour to export to the south.”
Lu Junming said, “I’ll take some samples to the Upper Valley, they might sell better there.”
Mo Yan knew he wanted to learn about his father’s current situation, so didn’t stop him.
He had only seen Lu Hong’s main wife Mrs. Liu once or twice, and hadn’t even had a proper conversation with her before. If he directly went to ask her, even if she knew anything, she wouldn’t necessarily tell Lu Junming.
After thinking for a while, he decided it would be better to find Lu Hong’s father-in-law, governing official of the Upper Valley Liu Yishan.
Hearing that Lu Junming was requesting an audience, Liu Yishan immediately let him enter. He cupped his hands and greeted Liu Yishan, “Greeting governing official Liu.”
Liu Yishan raised his hand, allowing Lu Junming to stand upright, “Are you here because of your father?”
“Yes, does your esteemed self have any news on my father?”
“I have asked people to gather information at the capital long ago, but strangely, I wasn’t able to learn anything.”
“How could it be, wasn’t he taken in by the inquisitor from the capital for questioning about his crimes?”
“Speaking about that, not being able to receive any information is good news of a kind. It means that he hasn’t been sentenced for a crime, and it also means that he didn’t commit a major crime either.”
“Who is the inquisitor of the capital?”
“Thousand-hailed Prince Yi, Wang Ziyi, the emperor’s blood-related young brother.” [2]
Why would the emperor’s blood-related brother go to the border to become a lowly inquisitor? What were they doing?
A strange and uneasy premonition entered Lu Junming’s heart. There must be a secret no one should know about in Jizhou, and Lu Junming was determined to get to the heart of the matter.
After returning to QIanshui Town, Lu Junming borrowed some money from his mother and then went to Jizhou again.
He stayed at Henfu Inn again, and coincidentally encountered Zhangqi and Liuba again. Once again, the two came after him, but looked like they were watching him the entire time. When he entered the inn, the two followed, and they again had two carriages of goods.
This time, when Lu Junming said he didn’t have money to buy the two carriages worth of goods, the two said, “Don’t worry, you can sell the goods first and then repay us later.”
“Are you Lu Hong’s men?”
The two froze before saying, “Young sir indeed has a sharp mind, you even managed to figure this out!”
“What is he doing?”
“The general is doing something big, and has ordered us not to inform the young sir.”
“Is he alright right now?”
“The general is of course all right, young master, don’t worry and just focus on your business.”
Silk, tea leaves, pottery, and rice from the south was continuously shipped over from the south, and Lu Junming continuously sent over cotton, millet, miscellaneous grains and raincoats from their workshops from the north.
Mo Yan’s storefronts had high-quality goods and fair prices, and quickly earned themselves a reputation in the surrounding towns, and people from the Yi City even used them as suppliers. They were naturally able to earn money, but were unable to learn any news about Lu Hong.
The grain shop next door naturally emulated their example and converted its alleyway into multiple small storefronts before hiring chefs which specialised in various foods. They were made and sold instantly, and became very popular.
The rice and sticky rice Mo Yan imported from the south were all sold in the grain shop, so Manager Ho’s relationship with them improved massively very quickly.
The small alleyway was full of smoke and fire, and it was bustling from the morning to late at night every day. In the summer, people would walk around the alleyway in the shade, and even the people who lived around there visited every day.
The alleyway’s massive popularity drew the envy of all of the other stores along the main road, who all wanted to emulate their mode of business. Unfortunately, all of their storefronts belonged to the government. As the government was unwilling to spend the money and the business owners were unwilling to spend the manpower to refurbish their stores, they could only forget about it.
Mo Zenian’s storefront sold small toys and trinkets. It wasn’t incredibly popular, but had a steady income.
In the blink of an eye, it was already autumn, and the chinese foxgloves in the fields could be harvested. As their family now had livestock, they didn’t need to harvest the herbs by hand. Mo Feng harvested the herbs with their family’s donkey, and Ms. Liang picked up the chinese foxgloves that he harvested.
There were quite a few acres of land, so it would take several days to harvest. The chinese foxgloves also needed to be dried after being harvested, but fortunately, the foundations on the south of the courtyard had almost been completed, so they could be dried there.
P.S. I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas! Here’s a (very delayed) Christmas gift! Please forgive me I had mocks to revise for orz
[1] The four treasures of the study are the brush, ink, paper and inkstone.
[2] The emperor is hailed ten thousand times, so a prince would be hailed a thousand times. Sometimes, princes are hailed nine thousand times, which shows they’re treasured by the emperor and have an even higher position than most princes.