Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 235: Registered in the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Jia Cong replied, "To atone for our mistakes, I and Qu are willing to present Xiuniang's incense shop and the secret recipe to His Majesty to enrich the treasury and bring benefits to the country."

After hearing this, Emperor Jia Zhao's expression softened slightly and he said, "I heard that your secret recipe for making incense is very unique, and Xiuniang's incense shop makes a profit of 50,000 taels of silver a year.

This is already a huge business for middle-class families. Your willingness to contribute to it can be regarded as a sincere atonement.

It's just that this incense shop is extraordinary in your eyes, but ordinary in my eyes, so what's the point of me coming here?"

The implication of Emperor Jiazhao's words was that he still looked down upon the incense-making business, which was actually within reason.

The Imperial Household Department of the Great Zhou was in charge of state-owned industries such as copper, iron, salt, tea and horses, silver casting, and silk, and it governed imperial merchants from all over the country. According to records from generations ago, the annual silver turnover of each business was in the hundreds of thousands.

A shop with an annual silver income of only 50,000 taels would indeed not be taken seriously by Emperor Jiazhao.

Jia Cong was not discouraged and continued, "Your Majesty, I understand clearly that although Xiuniang's incense shop only makes 50,000 taels of silver a year, the incense-making business has great prospects.

Most of the incense used in the Central Plains is burned. The production process is labor-intensive and costly, with little profit. It also often uses open flames, which often poses a risk of fire.

The incense-making technique that I have developed is based on the Western barbarian method of studying things. It extracts the essence from natural aromatic substances, which evaporate naturally when used. It does not involve open flames, so there is no worry about fire hazards. This is one of the reasons.

Moreover, the method of extracting essence mostly involves the use of external objects, which consumes little manpower but has huge profit margins. Currently, there is only one store in Shenjing, so the profit is limited.

Looking at the rich areas of Liangzhe in the Great Zhou Dynasty, their silver flow is even richer than that of the capital. Several states in the south of the Yangtze River value light luxury and exquisiteness, so perfumes must be very popular in the world.

If Your Majesty uses the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to open branches of incense shops in wealthy cities in the south of the Yangtze River, his profits will be several times greater. This is the second point.

Your Majesty is far-sighted and established Maritime Customs Offices in Jinling, Ningbo, Fuzhou and other places several years ago to expand maritime trade.

In recent years, the people's livelihood in the towns and cities surrounding these three places has become increasingly prosperous, and they have become places where the incense industry has flourished.

And as far as I know, the use of spices first became popular among the Western Barbarians. The body and hair of the Western Barbarians are very different from those of the people in the Central Plains. Their dependence on and use of spices is far greater than that of the people in the Central Plains.

For example, by using maritime trade and shipping to export perfumes to various Western countries, the profits can be several times more than those in the Central Plains. This is the third point.

With the above three things, if there is a proper and thorough method, and the trade route is paved in three years, according to my rough estimate, the profit of Xiuniang Incense Shop should be more than ten times what it is now! "

……

After listening to Jia Cong's detailed and well-reasoned analysis, Emperor Jia Zhao was already 80% convinced. When he heard his final assertion, his eyes lit up.

He murmured, "More than ten times, wouldn't it be an annual silver flow of 500,000 taels?"

Guo Lin, who was standing aside, was also shocked when he heard the number 500,000 taels. This was such a huge sum of money that it was hard for him to imagine.

The Ning and Rong families were top-level noble families, with assets accumulated over seventy years, and were considered wealthy among the nobles of the Great Zhou.

The two mansions have not yet declined. Even so, the combined annual income from their farms and shops is only about 50,000 taels. This is why Xiuniang's perfume shop is coveted by Jia Zhen.

From this, we can see that an annual profit of 500,000 taels is a huge fortune. Even the emperor Jia Zhao was moved.

There are dozens of imperial merchants listed in the Imperial Household Department of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but only a few of them have annual profits exceeding 500,000, and that is the accumulation of several generations of operations.

But Jia Cong said that as long as they spent a few years to build trade routes, they could do it...

Not to mention several years, even if it took ten years to support an imperial merchant that could earn an annual profit of 500,000 taels of silver, Emperor Jiazhao would feel that it was an extremely cost-effective matter.

Emperor Jia Zhao knew very well that although Jia Cong was young, he was quite shrewd and prudent in his dealings. When he mentioned the amount of 500,000 taels, he was probably leaving some room for him.

Nowadays, many old imperial merchants in the Imperial Household Department are in a state of exhaustion. After several generations, the talent has declined and the situation has gone from bad to worse, such as the Xue family, which was once known as one of the four great families in Jinling.

If there is an opportunity to reform the old and create the new, it would be a good thing in the emperor's view.

For Emperor Jiazhao, governing the country cannot rely solely on normal income such as land tax, salt tax, and commercial tax. The interest on imperial merchants from the Imperial Household Department is an extremely important part.

Today, the Great Zhou is relatively peaceful and prosperous. Although there have been constant natural disasters and small-scale civil unrest in recent years, these are just minor problems and are not enough to shake the foundation of the Great Zhou.

Emperor Jia Zhao was most concerned about border troubles. There were the Jurchens in the north, the remnants of the Mongols in the west, and the eastern Guangdong was often invaded by the countries along the western sea, while the Japanese pirates on the coast of the East China Sea were difficult to quell. The reason why Emperor Jia Zhao adopted Jia Cong's suggestion and vigorously developed the firearms industry was to protect the country and strengthen the army, and to prepare for possible border troubles in the future.

But whether it is firearms, strengthening the army, or maintaining border security, large amounts of silver are indispensable.

Now Jia Cong told him that he could build a business with an annual profit of 500,000 taels of silver in a few years. How could he not be interested?

He didn't expect that by blackmailing Jia Cong, he accidentally found a way for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make money, and he couldn't help feeling a little pleasantly surprised.

Emperor Jiazhao firmly believed that in order to gain the loyalty of his subjects, he also had to treat them with gentleness.

So he softened his expression and said, "After all, this secret recipe for making incense and Xiuniang's incense shop are the businesses created by you and Qu. I can't take the profits away from the people and completely take them over."

Suddenly he asked again, "Xiuniang's perfume shop is run by Qu's family after all. Can you be her boss?"

Jia Cong was slightly stunned: "Your Majesty, the Qu family will obey me."

This question and answer was a bit strange, but it completely relaxed the slightly tense atmosphere. Emperor Jia Zhao smiled slightly and said, "I don't care about your romantic accounts. Just get the job done."

In the eyes of Emperor Jia Zhao, the saying that disciples who have not left the palace should not accumulate private property is just an excuse. Even the female owner is his, so who does this incense shop belong to? Is there any need to tell him.

He continued, "I will send an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to discuss the plan with you and Qu. If what you say is feasible, I will accept Xiuniang's incense shop into the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

And set up an incense-making bureau in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You are now observing government affairs in the government office, so it is not appropriate for you to directly participate in business. You can let Qu be the agent, and you will take the lead in planning. All operations and profit sharing will be the same as the usual practices for imperial merchants.

The term is three years. If you can really do as you said, I will certainly reward you generously! "

After hearing these words, Jia Cong felt relieved. He showed weakness to the emperor, making him think that he was being controlled just to take advantage of him.

This planning finally paid off.

But his face showed an expression of gratitude and excitement, and he immediately kowtowed to thank the emperor for his great grace.

……

After Jia Cong left the palace, he went directly to Qu Hongxiu's residence on Xinchun Street and told her what had happened in the palace today.

Qu Hongxiu was completely stunned after hearing this. It was too unbelievable that he, a remnant of the Hidden Sect, could become an imperial merchant.

A pair of bright eyes stared at him blankly: "What's wrong with the brains of scholars? You can fool them with this. If you sell me out one day, I might even help you count the money."

Jia Cong smiled at her smugly: "I can't bear to sell you."

Qu Hongxiu rolled her eyes at him coquettishly, but in recent years she had gotten used to letting Jia Cong make decisions. Since he thought this was a good thing, she naturally had no problem with it.

……

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Ever since he learned about the entanglement between Jia Rong and Prince Zhongshun, Jia Zhen quickly sent two groups of people to inquire about Jia Rong's whereabouts. Fortunately, they soon got accurate news.

It is said that when Prince Zhongshun was escorting Jia Rong back to the city, he learned that Zhang Shouan had confessed that Jia Rong was the mastermind, so he escorted him directly to the Dali Temple.

Upon hearing the news, Jia Zhen's face turned pale. If Jia Rong confessed in the Dali Temple that he was the mastermind, he would not be able to escape.

Now they were just waiting for Jia Cong to come back from the palace so that Grandmother Jia could mediate and have Jia Cong go to the Dali Temple to explain the reason, saying that Xiuniang's perfume shop was Jia family's private property, so that Jia Rong and himself could get away.

But no matter how long he waited, Jia Cong still didn't return home, and he couldn't help but become as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Jia's mother, Jia Zheng, Mrs. Wang and others also knew that the matter was urgent, so they had to accompany them.

It was not until the moon was above the willows that a maid came to report that Master Cong had entered the second gate. Grandmother Jia immediately sent someone to call him to Rongqing Hall for questioning.

(End of this chapter)