"The Weaving Bureau can acquire all of them, but there are conditions." Li Qing added.
Hearing this, the faces of these silk merchants froze with joy, and they knelt down and kowtowed.
"Sir, we have almost lost all our money this time, and we really can't stand the trouble!"
"Yes, sir, just keep going, okay, we can't hold it any longer!"
Xiao Liuzi slammed the table and said in a sharp voice: "Please be quiet. If you don't want to sell raw silk, get out immediately."
Everyone immediately shut up and looked at Li Qing anxiously.
Li Qing smiled and said: "Don't worry, I won't embarrass you, the conditions are very simple;
Within the next three years, half of your raw silk will be sold to the imperial court, and the price will be the current price. If you are willing, we will trade tonight, and there will be silver in the Weaving Bureau. "
After a pause, "Of course, if you don't want to, I won't force you. You can sell it to those big silk merchants. As for the price they offer... Haha, it's a voluntary transaction. Although I am an imperial envoy, I can't do it." Very interfering.”
"Sir, I am willing."
"The grassroots are also willing."
…
In previous years, the big silk merchants refused to accept the raw silk that was priced at 70%. Who knows how low they would lower the price of raw silk.
If Raw Silk didn't act quickly, they would not only go bankrupt, but also face jail time. They had no choice at all.
At the same price next year, they will suffer a bit of a loss, but compared to those big silk merchants, the imperial court has been extremely benevolent, so they have nothing to hesitate.
No one refused.
Li Qing raised his chin and said, "Father-in-law."
Xiao Liuzi cupped his hands and took out the documents that he had prepared. "Sign your name and fingerprint, and we will trade tonight. As soon as the goods arrive, I will give you money immediately."
A group of people took the document and read it back and forth several times. After confirming that it was OK, they signed and stamped it.
"You go and wait outside first. An official will meet you later." Li Qing waved his hand, "Go ahead."
"Yes, sir." A group of people huffed and retreated.
Li Qing stood up and said, "Father, let the brothers of Jinyiwei work harder tonight. It is best to transport all the raw silk back before dawn. Tell them that they will be rewarded with two taels of silver each for their good work tonight."
"Don't worry, sir. The workers under those people are old and young, plus our Jinyiwei brothers, this long night will be enough." Xiao Liuzi patted his chest and promised, "Sir, please have a good rest. We promise not to leave one or two pieces of raw silk. .”
"Well, my father-in-law has always done things safely, but that imperial envoy was just lazy." Li Qing said with a smile.
Jinyiwei was under the control of Dongchang, and Dongchang was under the supervision of Si Li. Let Xiao Liuzi mobilize Jinyiwei, which was more effective than Li Qing himself.
Of course he knew that Xiao Liuzi wanted to get some profit from it, but that was not important.
It is not advisable to ask people to do things and not take any money from them.
~
"Brothers, work hard tonight, and you will be rewarded with one tael of silver each." Xiao Liuzi rolled up his arms and rolled up his sleeves, "But if anyone cheats, hey, don't blame our family for being unkind."
"Don't worry, father-in-law."
…
Li Qing sits in the warehouse of the Weaving Bureau, guarding the gold and silver, waiting for raw silk.
At Haishi, raw silk began to arrive, and then, one cart after another.
A large amount of raw silk was stored in the warehouse, and by late night, the entire warehouse was full.
Fortunately, Li Qing had made preparations beforehand, freeing up a dyeing workshop and a grocery store, but even so, it was still difficult to stock up. By dawn, these places were crowded with raw silk. gòйЪ.ōΓg
Due to Li Qing's previous price hikes, these large sericulture farmers concentrated all the raw silk in Jinling, and even dozens of miles outside Jinling, into their own hands.
The amount of raw silk is huge, nearly 50% more than in previous years.
Naturally, the more Li Qing, the merrier. If the warehouse is not enough, they are piled up in the backyard corridor of the Weaving Bureau, in the rooms... Any place that can be sheltered from wind and rain is used to store raw silk.
This is just a temporary measure. After this incident, he will take these raw silks to the Weaving Bureau in Suhang.
After this incident, the raw silk production in Suhang will be tense. The same method may not work the second time, but Li Qing is already satisfied.
These silks can be used by the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau until at least June and July next year. Together with half of the raw silk produced by major silkworm farmers next year, it will be enough to last until the end of the year.
As for the future... After getting through this beginning, things will be easier to say in the future.
~
Shen Mansion Courtyard.
A great opera was being sung on the stage; the wealthy gentry below the stage shook their heads in triumph.
From time to time, a wealthy gentry would throw in a handful of broken silver, which would make the actors on the stage look at him with affection.
In this era, almost all the opera singers were men, but the actors in the opera troupe were put on makeup and red clothes, with their orchid fingers raised and flirtatious eyes, their figures were more feminine than women.
The wealthy gentry are extremely extravagant. They have no shortage of women. Sometimes they get tired of it and will change their tastes.
This is the case now. Several wealthy gentry have taken a fancy to the pillars of the theater troupe and are vying to be the top one.
The money was scattered.
Shen Xin is not good at this. He is more concerned about raw silk. Today is already the ninth day and tomorrow is the deadline.
The day after tomorrow is the day of reckoning, and he believes that those people will take the initiative to come to the door in the afternoon at the latest.
This was also the reason why he called all the wealthy gentry to watch the show at his house. The previous agreement was one thing, but when it came time to harvest raw silk, it was inevitable that no one would want to eat more.
He took a sip of tea with a faint smile on his lips. Today's tea was especially delicious.
At this moment, the housekeeper ran over in a hurry and said, "Master, something happened."
Seeing many wealthy gentry looking over, Shen Xin smiled and said: "It's okay, everyone, go on, there is something going on at home, Shen, please excuse me."
"Master, it's not our family's business," the housekeeper said urgently, "It's all your masters' business."
Shen Xin's brows jumped and he asked urgently: "What's the matter?"
"Raw silk, all the raw silk has gone into the Weaving Bureau!" the housekeeper said tremblingly, "I sent someone to investigate. They started last night and haven't stopped. It is said that now there is no raw silk left in the Weaving Bureau. "
"What?"
Shen Xin, who had always been calm, changed his face in shock, "How is this possible? How come the Weaving Bureau still has money?"
The expressions of other people also changed drastically, including several wealthy gentry who were vying for the top spot. They also lost their mood and their expressions turned extremely ugly.
"Then the imperial envoy should have allocated money from the Ministry of Household Affairs again, right?"
"Impossible, he didn't ask for a penny." A wealthy gentleman denied.
"Is it the money he appropriated from the imperial court?"
"Probably not. There are people watching on both land and water. If that were the case, no one would have notified us."
Shen Xin woke up from the shock and asked urgently: "At what price did he charge it?"
"I haven't found out about this little one yet," the steward said, "but it doesn't matter anymore. The Weaving Bureau has almost finished collecting the raw silk. Even if you want to stop it now, it's too late."
"Plop~" Shen Xin sat down on the chair, then stood up again, and said in surprise: "Quick, hurry up and buy raw silk, buy it at the original price, not twice the price, as much as you can grab, hurry up .”
When the others saw this situation, they also came to their senses and rushed out as if their buttocks were on fire.
They bought a lot of raw silk from Suzhou and Hangzhou, but it was far from enough for the workshop. The main reason was that they expected that the raw silk from Jinling would fall into their hands.
But now that this has happened, if they don't rush to buy raw silk, their workshops will have to stop working before the Chinese New Year.
No one cared about watching the opera anymore. The lively courtyard suddenly became deserted, leaving only the actors singing.
Shen Xin walked out in a hurry, "Prepare the sedan, no, prepare the horse, I'm going to see Boss Zhang."
Yesterday, he ignored Boss Zhang who begged him to sell him raw silk, but today he felt a little too high for him.
"Butler, go to the backyard and bring Mrs. Ninth here. Go quickly."
…
At the same time, the same drama was played out among other wealthy gentry.
Gifts were given, money was given, and a group of wealthy gentry, either in sedans or on horses, rushed to the home of their former partners.
They were already fast enough, but they were still a step too late. By the time they arrived, the big sericulture farmers had already sold out all the raw silk, leaving not even a tael.
Mainly because the official's words about hoarding scared them.
"Hey...ah!" Shen Xin gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, "Damn it, I was fucked!"
He made a quick decision, "Steward, you immediately send someone to Suzhou and Hangzhou to purchase raw silk. Remember, as long as it does not exceed three times the price, it will be whatever you can collect."
"Master, with such a high price, we don't have much to earn!"
"Bullshit, don't I know better than you?" Shen Xin scolded, "It doesn't matter if you don't make money, but if the workshop stops and the workers leave, what will happen next year? Go to your mother and ask the young master to approve the money."
"Yes, yes, I'll go right away, little one." The housekeeper hurriedly agreed and left in a hurry.
Shen Xin took a deep breath, got on his horse, and said, "Go to the Weaving Bureau."
"Master, what should I do with my concubine?" Mrs. Ninth shouted after her.
"Go home."
