Ouchi Taming the Cat, starting with the Ten Tiger Forms!

Chapter 479 Back to the old business

The business that Li Xuan wanted to do was naturally not to gamble in the casino.

But in order to make preparations, he planned to liquidate the assets of these money gangs to see if there was any place where they could be used.

Just as the Fourth Prince can take advantage of Boss Qian's connections and assets, Princess Ankang naturally has no reason to give up the advantage of the Money Gang.

As long as their capital is still the 10,000 taels of silver and they can make the business look legal, then no matter how much profit they make in the end, it will comply with the rules of the competition.

Arriving outside the Sihai Casino, Li Xuan asked Xu Lang to find the person in charge here.

After revealing their identities, they soon met the person in charge of the gambling house.

Now, due to the shortage of staff in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the person in charge of this gambling house is simply a eunuch in flowery clothes.

However, the flowery eunuch in front of them was wearing casual clothes. Apart from his special temperament and youthful-looking face, he did not seem out of place in the gambling house.

"Your Highness, my Lord."

Arriving at the private room behind the gambling house, the eunuch in flowery clothes in charge of the place respectfully saluted Princess Ankang and Li Xuan.

Princess Ankang looked at Li Xuan in her arms with some surprise.

She had found it a little strange before. It was normal for the palace eunuchs in flowery clothes to salute her, but why did they never forget to salute respectfully when they saw their own kitten?

"Could it be the care of the two stewards?"

Princess Ankang just thought about this question in her mind and did not ask it out loud. After all, they had important things to do right now.

Xu Lang also went straight to the point and questioned the person in charge directly according to Li Xuan's instructions.

According to Xu Lang, the eunuch in flowery clothes in front of them was in charge of managing all the Jinqian Gang's industries that they had recently taken over, and was directly under the management of Zhao Feng.

If it weren't for this relationship, Xu Lang wouldn't have recognized this person.

The eunuchs in flowery clothes in the Imperial Household Department were divided into two groups according to the affairs inside and outside the palace.

We don't interact with each other very often on a daily basis, and sometimes we don't even know each other.

But because this person reported directly to Zhao Feng, Xu Lang knew his information.

"I am Zhu Shimin, and I am indeed responsible for taking over the business of the Jinqian Gang, but I don't know why Your Highness is here today..."

Zhu Shimin looked to be in his twenties, with a fair complexion and no beard. His physique was exactly the same as Xu Lang's, strong and slender.

Although he was mainly responsible for affairs outside the palace, he also knew the content of the competition among the princes and princesses this month, so he was a little worried that Princess Ankang was here to take advantage of him.

Although these properties were ostensibly under the name of Princess Ankang, Zhu Shimin was reporting to Zhao Feng, and it was impossible for him to allow Princess Ankang to use these properties at will without Zhao Feng's consent.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not me who wants to find you."

Princess Ankang was very smart and understood Zhu Shimin's concerns. She immediately held Li Xuan in her arms and brought him to her side.

"If you want to ask, just ask him."

Looking at Li Xuan in front of him, Zhu Shimin blinked.

He is in charge of the business of the Jinqian Gang and is one of Zhao Feng's trusted confidants. He is naturally aware of Li Xuan's existence, otherwise he would not have saluted so respectfully before.

"I wonder what Master Xuan wants me to do?"

Zhao Feng had instructed them before that no matter what the circumstances, they should do their best to cooperate and meet Li Xuan's requests and not be negligent.

Li Xuan patted him with his tail and wrote:
"You don't have to be too nervous. I'm just here to do business with you. At most I can lend you some manpower and money."

When Zhu Shimin heard this, his face turned bitter.

"Well, it's still the same."

But he couldn't directly refuse Li Xuan's request. He could only delay time and let Zhao Feng make the decision.

Just as he was thinking about what to say, he saw Li Xuan continue writing:

"Don't worry, I will only lend you some manpower first. As for whether to lend you money later, you can decide for yourself. There will also be enough time for you to report to the higher-ups. I won't make things difficult for you."

"If you don't want to borrow from me, it doesn't matter if I don't want to borrow from you later."

"I just want to bring you to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to earn some pocket money."

Li Xuan's tone was quite loud, but the fact that he did not force him made Zhu Shimin feel relieved.

"In that case, I will follow your orders, sir."

Zhu Shimin answered respectfully and thought to himself, "As long as it's not a loan, everything is fine."

Li Xuan looked at Zhu Shimin and understood his thoughts clearly.

But as he said before, he really didn't come here to take advantage today.

"Do you know anything about the Taobao stall business in Xishi?" Li Xuan went straight to the point.

Zhu Shimin smiled helplessly, but still replied:
"Of course I know. The Money Gang was previously responsible for managing that area. The stall fees and management fees of those stall owners were all collected by the Money Gang. Although it was not much, it was a stable income."

The three little ones were stunned. They didn't expect there was such a relationship.

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs has no plans to move these relatively stable businesses, so they will remain as they are for the time being."

"But this business is not reliable. It is just a way for antique shops in Xishi to deal with their overstocked inventory. There are very few real things mixed in with Taobao stalls for sale."

Zhu Shimin thought that Li Xuan wanted to make money from the Taobao stall, so he quickly tried to persuade him.

But after hearing what Zhu Shimin said, Li Xuan didn't take it seriously and continued to ask:

"So, you should be very familiar with Taobao stalls."

"Well, help me check their supply channels and the inventory on the market, and focus on the batch of goods worth fifty taels of silver."

After hearing Li Xuan's request, Zhu Shimin thought for a moment and said:

"My Lord, this is not difficult. I can find someone familiar to explain it to you right now."

"As for the exact number, I'm afraid we'll have to wait two days."

Li Xuan nodded and signaled Zhu Shimin to do it now.

Zhu Shimin said without further ado: "Please sit here for a while. I will be back soon."

Zhu Shimin was a decisive man and he brought the person over quickly.

This was an old accountant with white hair and beard. He walked in tremblingly, bowed to the people in the room, and said respectfully:

"I have met several adults!"

Mr. Zhang Fang had obviously received Zhu Shimin's suggestion, so he presented such a generous gift right at the beginning.

Princess Ankang quickly signaled Xu Lang to help the man up.

It's not easy for this old man at his age, as he actually makes a living in an underground gang like the Money Gang.

"Mr. Tao is the accountant who is responsible for managing the income and expenditure of Taobao stalls. He knows the situation there best."

At that moment, Li Xuan wrote on the back of Princess Ankang's hand, and then she asked questions.

"Mr. Tao, I wonder where those antiques on Taobao come from. Can you check the source?"

"As far as I know, these are all the overstocked goods from antique shops in Beijing. Some of them cannot be sold, and some are damaged during storage and transportation. They are sold to the Taobao stall owners at low prices."

"In addition, there are people who specialize in counterfeiting and making antiques look old. These people are not skilled enough to imitate more valuable antiques, so they can only do these rough and tiring jobs, and the profit is not great."

“Most of the antiques sold at Taobao stalls for less than 20 taels come from this.”

Mr. Tao tells you everything he knows and his attitude is honest.

"Where are those fifty-tael antiques?" Princess Ankang asked.

"Most of these are genuine antiques, but they can't be sold for various reasons, such as the age of origin cannot be confirmed, or they lack commemorative significance. In short, they are all dead stock that have been determined to be loss-making, so they are sold to Taobao stall owners out of helplessness. Therefore, the purchase price is also high, so they are sold at a high price of fifty taels."

"But as far as I know, antiques at this price point are the hardest to sell on Taobao. After all, fifty taels is enough to buy a real antique."

Tao Lao endured a sentence and didn't say: "How can there be so many fools in this world?"

But then, Princess Ankang's question made Old Tao's eyes widen.

"If I were to buy all the antiques sold at 50 taels in Beijing from Taobao stalls, how much would it cost?"

"This, this..." Old Tao looked at Zhu Shimin at a loss, not knowing how to answer.

Zhu Shimin said coldly: "Answer whatever I ask you!"

"I have never calculated this carefully, so I dare not speak nonsense." Old Tao said this, but he looked thoughtful, and it was obvious that he was doing mental calculations.

"If we make a rough calculation, it would cost at least tens of thousands of taels of silver, at most a few hundred thousand taels, and it would be hard to exceed two hundred thousand taels."

Mr. Tao was very experienced and he calculated a rough result in just a few breaths.

When Li Xuan heard this, he smiled playfully.

"That's fine, don't be too greedy."

At this time, except for Li Xuan, no one else knew the purpose of his asking these questions.

After asking Mr. Tao questions, I let him go.

Li Xuan emerged from Princess Ankang's arms, stood on the table and said to Zhu Shimin:
"Xiaominzi, please do me a favor."

Zhu Shimin quickly responded, "Just give your orders, sir."

"Send people to buy antiques from the Taobao stalls that are worth fifty taels of silver. Remember, only buy those that are priced at fifty taels. Don't buy any other items that are inferior and pass off as good ones. Let them choose carefully. Even if they can't, at least pretend to be choosing."

"Today I will give you 10,000 taels to buy 200 pieces."

"By the way, remember to send more money to help the original gang members."

Zhu Shimin glanced at Li Xuan, but then immediately took the order and left without asking any further questions.

"It must be said, these flowery eunuchs are really useful."

Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Then, he took out ten thousand taels of silver directly from the Dihong bone ring, only to find that Zhu Shimin had already gone out to instruct someone to do something.

"Hey, why are you doing the work without getting paid?" Princess Ankang asked curiously.

When other people heard Princess Ankang imitating Li Xuan and calling Zhu Shimin "Little Minzi", they didn't think anything of it. However, Xu Lang's expression changed slightly and he looked a little unnatural, but he quickly concealed it.

"Ah Xuan, are you planning to sell these antiques?"

"But didn't Mr. Tao just say that even on Taobao, these fifty-liang antiques are hard to sell?"

Princess Ankang still hasn't figured out the business that Li Xuan wants to do.

Li Xuan shook his head and replied:

“No, we don’t sell antiques, we sell a story.”

"story?"

The expression on Princess Ankang's face was even more puzzling.

After a while, Zhu Shimin came back after explaining his affairs. Li Xuan handed the silver note to him, and Zhu Shimin did not refuse and accepted it directly.

This detail of doing things first and getting paid later made Li Xuan feel quite favorable towards Zhu Shimin.

"No wonder Old Zhao asked me to be in charge of the affairs of the Money Gang."

After Zhu Shimin accepted the banknote, he asked Li Xuan:
"Do you have any other instructions, sir?"

"No more, go and get busy." Li Xuan replied, waving his tail casually.

"Then I will take my leave first. If you have anything else, please let me know."

After Zhu Shimin left, Princess Ankang couldn't help but ask, "Ah Xuan, what should we do next?"

"Play!"

"what?"

……

In the next few days, Li Xuan continued to provide funds to allow Zhu Shimin to buy goods on the market.

Ten thousand taels, thirty thousand taels, fifty thousand taels…

Li Xuan gradually asked Zhu Shimin to increase his shopping efforts.

Thanks to the support of Zhou's mother's inheritance, the money was no burden to them.

Princess Ankang's capital of 12,000 taels had already been included in the calculation.

However, although the business of Taobao stalls is not illegal, it is not regulated by the government. Only the Jinqian Gang is responsible for managing the stalls.

Therefore, Princess Ankang's business was naturally exempt from any taxes generated by the transactions.

After all, Jinqianbang only charges management fees from Taobao stall owners and does not charge any fees from buyers.

And from the first day, Taobao stalls actually responded.

I don't know where this stupid rich man came from, but he actually bought antiques worth fifty taels of silver in large quantities at a Taobao stall.

Although many people came forward to buy them in batches, it was quite unusual to sell 200 pieces in one day.

Especially since the Taobao stall business circle is not large, it attracted the attention of many stall owners on the first day.

But when the buying spree continued to intensify on the second and third days, the stall owners realized that something was wrong.

Some stall owners rushed to purchase goods, intending to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.

Some stall owners quietly put away their goods and planned to wait and see what happens.

On the third day, when Li Xuan invested 50,000 taels, antiques priced at 50 taels were rarely seen on Taobao stalls in the market.

The news that antiques priced at fifty taels were in short supply spread quickly in the West Market, and more and more people involved in the antique business began to pay attention.

……

In the east of the city, Songbaizhai.

Boss Qian handed over a hundred thousand taels of silver with trembling hands and bought back the goods that originally belonged to him from the Fourth Prince.

He knew that once all his banknotes were handed over, the goods that belonged to him would become less and less until he had nothing left.

"Boss Qian, take it easy."

“You spend money now to make money in the future.”

The Fourth Prince casually said a few words of comfort and prepared to leave.

If it weren't for making the business look legal, he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble and pretend to do business back and forth.

But at least, the bulging banknotes in his arms told him that it was all worth it.

In just three days, thirty thousand taels turned into one hundred thousand taels, an unknown number of times more.

But the Fourth Prince also knew that once Boss Qian’s assets were emptied, this good business would be over.

But just as the Fourth Prince was about to leave, Boss Qian suddenly called him.

"Fourth Master, wait a minute!"

"Ok?"

The Fourth Prince couldn't help but frown, his face turned cold.

It is far from the time for Boss Qian to beg for mercy, which makes the Fourth Prince very dissatisfied.

According to his estimation, Boss Qian's assets were enough to support his business for a few days. Begging for mercy now made the Fourth Prince feel that Boss Qian was too confused about himself.

When I was making money with myself in the past, I should have had the awareness I have today.

But Boss Qian's performance disappointed the Fourth Prince.

Seeing the Fourth Prince's expression, Boss Qian shuddered with fear and quickly explained:

"Fourth Master, it's like this."

"There have been rumors in the West Market lately that someone is buying antiques at Taobao stalls, buying antiques at the price of only fifty taels. They have been buying for several days and have spent a lot of money."

"Some people say that this batch of antiques is mixed with relics from the ancient underground city in the Western Regions."

"These relics seem to hold clues to the remains of the underground city."

The Fourth Prince could not help but sneer at Boss Qian's words and shook his head in disdain.

"Why do you think I'm here tossing with you now?"

"It's a competition, and my brothers and sisters are trying to make money with me."

"It's a bit too naive to just want to make money with this little trick."

The Fourth Prince couldn't help but find it funny and burst into laughter.

"But Fourth Master, even if this is a lie, we still have a chance to make money."

"Some of the Taobao stall owners have already taken the goods for private transactions. The antiques that originally cost 50 taels can now be sold for 80 taels."

"I have quite a few antiques of this quality here."

As Boss Qian spoke, he turned around and looked at the antiques he had "bought" today.

After hearing this, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but ask, "Why don't those stall owners sell directly, but trade privately?"

In his opinion, these were all proof of the rumors.

"Fourth Master, you don't know."

"There are rules for Taobao stalls. You can't bargain. The prices are fixed at a few levels. If you change the prices arbitrarily, the managers of the Money Gang will kick the stall owner out, and the Taobao stall will no longer be able to do business."

"If the market wasn't so big this time, those stall owners wouldn't dare to trade privately."

The Fourth Prince showed no sign of being tempted by Boss Qian's strong persuasion.

"Don't I know how much money they have?"

"Boss Qian, you should just focus on doing business with me."

The fourth prince said with a hint of warning.

The other princes and princesses only have 10,000 taels of silver each. No matter how you try to steal from them, it is impossible to earn all the silver they have.

But the Fourth Prince had already made a profit of 70,000 taels of silver from Boss Qian, so there was no need for him to get involved in this matter.

But Boss Qian was still unwilling to give in. He grabbed the Fourth Prince's sleeve and tried to continue persuading him.

The fourth prince couldn't stand it anymore and was about to slap the boss.

He felt that he was too polite today and gave too much face to his boss, causing him to forget the hierarchy.

But before the slap landed on Boss Qian's face, the Fourth Prince suddenly stopped moving.

"One hundred thousand taels!"

Boss Qian faced the slap without blinking and uttered these three words firmly.

When the Fourth Prince heard this number, he was stunned for a moment and didn't even bother to hit anyone.

"Fourth Master, they have spent no less than 100,000 taels on shopping these days. There must be some profit to be made!"

Boss Qian tried desperately to persuade as if he had grabbed the last straw.

"One hundred thousand taels?"

The Fourth Prince's expression also changed, and he quietly withdrew his palm.

"Could it be Lao Ba?"

"He tricked those little guys into forming an alliance again?"

(End of this chapter)