Mingmen Family

Chapter 257
He pointed to Lu Guanyi: "Just ask General Lu, how difficult their life is at the border. If you give more benefits here, the soldiers at the border will have a better life."

It's not that he pressed down when Ye Chongming said that the price was already at cost, but in fact, dark tea had a great impact on the relationship between Dajin and Dajin.

Grasslands can only graze cattle and sheep, but cannot grow food and vegetables, so grassland people can only eat meat.They lack nutrients such as vitamins.Tea not only contains vitamins and other substances, but also helps digestion.Although they don't understand these things, drinking tea can make them feel better.

Therefore, the grassland people "would rather be without food for three days than without tea for one day".They can even start wars for tea.

Although tea from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan was transported to Dajin, the output was not large, and there were all ethnic groups living together, which was very exclusive and difficult for the imperial court to control.In previous years, because of tea smuggling and taxation there, there were conflicts between officers, soldiers and various ethnic groups.

Now the Ye family has actually produced black tea. The taste of dark tea is better than the tea produced in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, and it is still made by the same family, with a huge output. The most important thing is that this tea is also resistant to storage and will not be like other teas. , Put it in the second year, it will become old tea, the longer this tea is kept, the better it will be.

At that time, the imperial court will transport black tea to the border, and when Dajin's economy is good, the tea price will be raised, and when Dajin's economy is not good, it will be lowered, so as to control Dajin and obtain border security.

Therefore, if the price of black tea can be lowered, the court will have more room to maneuver.

What's more, Ye Chongming said that the cost price of this tea is 380 Wen. In Chen Zhen's view, the cost of dark tea should be reduced by half of this price.

But Ye Chongming was like a stone in a latrine, smelly and hard, making it hard for people to talk about it.Chen Zhen had no choice but to turn his mind on Ye Yaming.

When Ye Yaming's eyes shifted to her, the alarm on Ye Yaming's body was sounded.

At this moment, she was full of panic, as if she was frightened by being called on suddenly in a room full of officials and men from the Ye family.

She stood up and stammered: "Master Chen, I..."

"Sit down, sit down and talk." Chen Zhen pressed his hand down with a friendly face.

Ye Yaming knew not to act too much.In the future, she will have to deal with court officials, and she will have to go to the capital after getting married.Acting too much is easy to collapse the character.When Chen Zhen found out that he had been fooled, the consequences would be disastrous.

She sat down obediently, collected herself, and then said: "You also know that the taste of tea itself is bitter, and the taste of old leaves and old stalks is even more bitter. To transform the bitter old leaves and old stalks into The sweet and mellow black tea, not to mention other processes, but the fermenting of piles, will take two to three months to make, and if you don’t pay attention, the tea will be ruined.”

"Needless to mention the labor involved, even the loss of raw materials is huge. Not to mention the growth, care, and picking of tea leaves, but the wages of the tea workers are not cheap. What my grandfather said is really the cost price If it falls again, we will lose money."

"If we only do this for one year, we will lose money. We are also very happy to contribute to the court. The problem is that this is not a matter of one or two years. Once it is set, it has to be like this every year. This is really not something we can bear. I got it. Mr. Chen, please be sympathetic."

Originally, Chen Zhen thought that Ye Yaming was so young that he could catch the loopholes in her words to lower the price, but he didn't expect Ye Yaming to be so eloquent, and what he said was similar to what Ye Chongming said, and he said it very sincerely, which made Chen Zhen scream tooth.

One or two of the Ye family are so difficult to deal with.

"Besides, if we can't keep our capital, the more we do, the more we will lose. People seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. We may hand in the minimum amount every year. But this tea, the imperial court still hopes that the more the better. Bar?"

These words really hit the nail on the head.

The high and low prices of tea have little effect, after all, the imperial court wants to increase the price and sell it to Dajin.But if the quantity is small, it cannot meet the needs of Dajin, and the strength to handle Dajin will be small.

Chen Zhen was defeated, and said helplessly: "Okay, then 370 Wen per catty, the annual supply is 15 to 25 catties, is that okay?"

370 Wen was the price given by Ye Chongming who did not withstand Chen Zhen's pressure and took a step back.

Hearing this number, he turned his head and looked at his granddaughter with guilt, eyes full of guilt.

This fell into Chen Zhen's eyes, and when he thought of the 380 wen that Ye Chongming killed at the beginning, Chen Zhen knew that 380 wen should be the cost price of Ye's family.

A catty loss of ten Wen, and 25 catties of tea would cost 500 taels of silver. This is nothing to the Ye family who can make money from Longjing and other teas, but this is what he can win for the court from the Ye family. to the greatest benefit.

Since Ye Yaming opened his mouth, he didn't shrink back, and said: "370 Wen is the cost price, and the imperial court can't let us pay the tax again. In addition, our tea will be produced in Lin'an, Huizhou, and Fujian. When you arrive Send someone to pull it over there, we don't cover the transportation, and we don't bear the cost of tea introduction."

If it wasn't for Ye Chongming's guilty look, and Ye Yaming's threat hit the nail on the head, Chen Zhen might have to bargain in this regard.Now that he is sure that the Ye family is in a loss-making business, and there is the threat of Ye Yaming, he naturally can't care about it anymore.

If he really forced the Ye family to live in trouble, cut off the supply of black tea, or the supply was insufficient, he would not only be a hero, but also a criminal.

He said bluntly: "Yes, just do as Miss Ye said."

So the two parties signed the contract.

After signing the contract, Chen Zhen is very willing to sell one to the Ye family.

He said: "Since you are doing business with the imperial court, this tea will still be shipped to Dajin. I will write a letter for you, asking the imperial court to grant you a title of imperial merchant. However, the imperial court will give you a favor, and you must always keep the national interest in mind. You must make the black tea well, and you must not cut corners and fool things. Once the black tea delivered is faulty, it will be a serious crime, and the house will be ransacked and beheaded."

Seeing that Ye Hongchang and others turned pale because of his words, Ye Yaming took a deep look at Chen Zhen.

This Mr. Chen is worthy of being a master negotiator at the national level, and his means of manipulating people's hearts is brilliant.

If he said these words before signing the contract, maybe Ye Chongming, Ye Hongchang and others would hesitate.

Ye Chongming seeks stability all his life and is unwilling to take any risks.This dark tea business doesn't make much money, and the risk is still high.Even with the carrot of "Huang Shang" hanging in front of him, he might not be willing to sign this contract.

Now that the contract has been signed, it cannot be changed. If Chen Zhen says this again, he will be able to frighten Ye Chongming and the others, making them dare not make any mistakes in quality.

Great, really great.

(End of this chapter)