Yingchuan County.
Xinzheng.
As the capital of the old Han Dynasty, it had been wiped out by Great Qin's cavalry during the rebellion a few years ago, and even Han Wangan had been executed because of it.
However, those mansions with high gates and courtyards were still crowded with people. It was just that a new batch of owners had changed.
"Everyone, what do you think of the immortal salt that suddenly appeared in Xingyang recently?”
Zheng Chang, the head of the Zheng family, stared at the small pile of refined salt on the table with thick dark circles under his eyes and said in a hoarse voice.
"What else can we think?"
"The quality of this salt is even better than the best green salt, but the price is only 10%. It's even lower than coarse salt.”
"Now, the commoners of the surrounding counties have all gone to Sanchuan Prefecture to buy this new salt. The business of each salt workshop has been greatly affected because of this!”
"If that King of Qin sells the new salt directly to Yingchuan, I'm afraid we'll have to close down!”
The other middle-aged men in luxurious clothes also had ugly expressions on their faces.
Since ancient times, selling salt had been one of the most profitable channels. They had all relied on this to become rich. Who knew that such a big competitor would suddenly appear?
"Can you figure out the method to make this new salt?”
Zheng Chang asked.
"No clue!"
"We've already gathered all the salt experts from various families, but we haven't been able to figure out the way to this new salt!”
"What's even more infuriating is that the price of this new salt is about the same as the cost of our crude salt!”
"Could it be that this Immortal Salt really fell from the sky and landed in Bolangsha, which was picked up by that tyrant?”
"Who knows!"
"We've already sent quite a few batches of people to Bo Lang Sha to search for that immortal treasure land. However, that place has long been surrounded by Qin soldiers, so we can't go in at all!”
The salt merchants who were usually arrogant and bossy looked at each other, but they could not come up with a solution.
Just as everyone was frowning, Zheng Chang's butler suddenly said hesitantly,"Patriarch, some time ago, someone saw Zhang Liang near Bo Langsha. Could it be related to him?”
"That grandson of Zhang Kai Di, Zhang Zifang?”
"He has a blood feud with that tyrant, how could he help Ying Zheng!”
"Moreover, if he had the ability to make immortal salt, he would have made a fortune long ago. He wouldn't have to hide like this!”
The salt merchant Yang Dian said with disdain,
As new dignitaries, they did not have a good impression of Han Zhang and the other old aristocratic families. They had helped to add fuel to the fire.
In fact, the residence that Zheng Chang was currently residing in used to be a side courtyard belonging to the Zhang Clan.
"There are only two ways to solve this problem!”
Zheng Chang sighed after pondering for a long time.
"Please speak!"
All the salt merchants 'gazes instantly focused on him.
They acknowledged Zheng Chang's judgment.
"The first method is to bet that the Qin people can't have an endless supply of immortal salt. We have to think of a way to buy all of their stock. As long as we don't get a large amount of it into the hands of the commoners, it won't affect our business too much. At most, we'll lower the price a little, and everyone will still make a profit!”
Zheng Chang said slowly.
"But the Qin people seem to have taken precautions in advance. One person can only buy one catty a day. It's not good to buy in large quantities!”
Liu Yu frowned.
"Isn't that simple? Every household has a lot of servants. No matter what, they can gather up to tens of thousands of people. Every day, they surround the Qin people's salt workshop and take turns to buy.”
"Judging from the fact that the Qin people are only in Xingyang and the surrounding areas, it won't be easy to mine this immortal salt.”
Yang Dian's eyes lit up as he shouted.
"That's right. Such good salt is only sold for ten copper coins. There's no need to be afraid of keeping it in your hands.”
Liu Yu also reacted very quickly.
"But what if the Qin people really have enough immortal salt?”
"This Qin King was able to sweep through the Six Directions in a short period of time. He is not a person without foresight!”
Zheng Chang said slowly.
"Does Patriarch Zheng mean that you have high hopes for this King Qin?”
Yang Dian didn't think much of it.
"That's right!"
"Don't forget that the King of Qin has millions of convicts under his command. Even if he has to use a pile of human lives, he can still empty the salt mountain for you!”
"Moreover, he has soldiers. If you really anger him, he will mobilize an army and directly seal you up. Do you think our thin arms can win against him?”
Zheng Chang tightly gripped a silk cloth full of words in his long sleeve as he spoke with a slightly nervous voice.
"Ying Zheng is indeed impressive, but only in Old Qin and Sanchuan Prefecture. He may not be the one to make the final decision in New Zheng!”
"Like Zhang Liang and the others, they were just short of clearly plotting against us, but weren't they still very carefree!”
Yang Dian retorted, but he was not confident enough.
The other salt merchants also had different expressions.
Zhang Liang had indeed not been captured by Great Qin, but that was because he had abandoned all of his family businesses and had often changed his name and gone into hiding.
They didn't want to live such a life.
"We've been friends for many years. Brother Zheng, be straightforward. What's the other way?”
After staring at each other for a long time, Liu Yu, who had always been the most convinced of Zheng Chang, spoke first.
"It's very simple. If the Qin people want to sell their immortal salt to various places, other than the salt itself, they also need more salt workshops and manpower, and we happen to have these!”
"I've already probed with the governor of Yingchuan County. As long as we're willing to cooperate, he can give us a price of eight wen, which is two wen per 500 grams of profit!”
Zheng Chang replied.
"Two coins, isn't that too little?”
"In the past, we could earn seven or eight wen per catty of coarse salt!”
The group of salt merchants immediately began to clamor.
"You're already a person of status. Can't you be a little more patient?”
Zheng Chang waved his hand to signal for everyone to stop before slowly saying,""Although two copper coins is not much, it is already a good sign. As long as we do a good job, there will definitely be room for further discussion!”
"Moreover, you have to consider one point. In the past, salt was expensive, and the people were not willing to buy more. Now that the price has gone down, the sales will naturally increase, and there will still be profits!”
"In the past, when we sold goods everywhere, we had to pay a commission to the local dignitaries. Now that we're working for the imperial court, we can save a large sum of money and get the goods on the spot without shipping.”
Zheng Chang's expression became more and more solemn, and his tone also became much higher.
"That's true!"
"But if that's the case, won't we become the claws and fangs of that tyrant?”
"Come on, the Han Wangan of the past was much worse than that Ying Zheng!”
"As long as there's money to be earned, I'll give it to anyone.”
The salt merchants argued for a long time. In the end, only a few people left, and most of them stayed.
All these changes were sent to the County Governor's Office in Yingchuan as soon as possible, and they were all sent to Xingyang Palace.
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