My younger sister insisted on marrying me and made me the Marquis' wife.

Chapter 279 How Much Will It Take to Be Satisfied
This was exactly what Qin Yuan was very concerned about, so he asked, "How much is a pound of pepper now?"

"Forty-two taels per pound."

"Oh."

Shen Changle asked: "Madam, how much do you think it will drop to?"

Qin Yuan stretched out three fingers.

"Thirty taels?"

Qin Yuan nodded.

Shen Changle hesitated and said, "This is too much of a drop."

Qin Yuan said: "The prices in the surrounding provinces will only fall further. By then, I will have you travel to other places. The faster the price falls, the better. You can think of a solution."

Shen Changle understood that this was to ask him to find a way to spread the message, and then he would be sent to other places to collect pepper.

"I will do whatever Madam orders me to do, but do you think the price of pepper will definitely go up?"

Qin Yuan nodded.

Shen Changle did not ask any more questions. He said something else and then said, "I still have to go to the Sixth Master to pay my respects."

Qin Yuan nodded: "Go ahead."

As Shen Changle walked out of Wutong Garden, he bumped into Manager Wu.

Shopkeeper Wu brought a servant with him, carrying boxes of different sizes. Seeing him, he smiled, stroked his beard, and asked, "Shopkeeper Shen, are you here to see your wife for something?"

Shopkeeper Wu is the old shopkeeper, who was originally retained by Cui; while Shen Changle is the newcomer and is Qin Yuan's companion.

Both sides were secretly trying to show off their abilities.

Shen Changle nodded and said, "Yes, speaking of the poetry collection, it may need to be reprinted. I have to ask Master Liu again."

Shopkeeper Wu's eyes darkened.

"The more capable you are, the more work you will do. This is also what Manager Shen appreciates."

"It's just the master's trust. We servants have to think of ways to help the master solve his problems. If you take the master's affairs to heart, the master will naturally appreciate it."

Shopkeeper Wu said, "Shopkeeper Shen is right. That's the truth, but not many people can do it."

Shen Changle cupped his hands and said, "I'm going to look for Master Liu now. We'll talk later."

The two said goodbye.

When Qin Yuan heard the maid report that Shopkeeper Wu had arrived, she smiled and said, "It's really busy today, one after another. Let them go to the hall first, I'll come over later."

Cui Ming asked: "You sent the account book so soon?"

Qin Yuan said: "Maybe there is something else. I heard from Shen Changle that those shopkeepers want to change their business."

This time, Shopkeeper Wu not only brought the account books for the past few months, but also a few fashionable gadgets, all packed in exquisite boxes, which looked very valuable.

Qin Yuan asked Cui Ming to collect the account book and asked curiously, "Why did you send these?"

Shopkeeper Wu said with a smile, "These are things that our assistants brought back from the south. Recently, the rich young men in Nanjing and Suzhou have taken a liking to the aluminum kettles of the local Qiu family, the fans of the Lian family, the screens of the Zhou family... and some earthenware. For some reason, the prices are several times higher than those in the surrounding areas, and you have to queue up to buy them. The assistants thought they were new, so they bought them and presented them to their masters to play with."

After Qin Yuan looked at them one by one, he nodded and smiled, "That's thoughtful."

She knew that in her previous life, there were many hangers-on who had studied but failed to pass the imperial examinations. They teamed up to coax rich young men into spending money, wrote many good articles, spread a lot of good words, and boasted that the objects made by some craftsmen were unique, as if using these things would make one have extraordinary taste.

I guess these are what Manager Wu sent.

When she and Lin Ziqi were in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they heard that there was a salt merchant in Yangzhou whose son was not ambitious. After he became impoverished, he pawned the things he had bought when he was rich, but the pawnshop said they were just a pile of junk.

The money I spent on buying them could have been used to buy several gold coins. Shopkeeper Wu asked tentatively, "These things have become popular in the south recently, and the local young masters are very fond of them. It seems that this trend is about to spread to the capital. The capital has always liked to pursue things from the south. Can we make these too?"

Qin Yuan neither confirmed nor denied it, and said, "Let me think about it."

As he was speaking, someone came to report that the shopkeeper Leng from Ranxiangju had arrived.

Qin Yuanxi said happily: "Please come in and have a seat, Manager Leng."

Cui Ming then asked someone to come and prepare tea.

Shopkeeper Wu felt a little awkward because he ran a small shop which could not be compared with the many famous spice shops in the capital.

When Shopkeeper Leng came in, he was also stunned, obviously not expecting there to be any guests here.

Qin Yuan greeted him and introduced them to each other.

Shopkeeper Leng and Shopkeeper Wu greeted each other and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Qin Yuan did not avoid others and discussed the sale of incense pills with Shopkeeper Leng.

The more Shopkeeper Wu listened, the more shocked he became, and he realized how powerful his boss was.

Compared with incense pills, the businesses he mentioned required higher capital, lower profits and higher risks, so he couldn't help but feel like quitting.

Qin Yuan showed these things to Manager Leng and asked, "This is what I bought from the south. I heard that this is very popular in the south. If I do this business in the capital, how would it go?"

Because of the matter of buying pepper, Qin Yuan knew that Shopkeeper Leng was a man who spoke his mind.

As expected, Shopkeeper Leng did not shirk his responsibility and said, "These things are well made, ingeniously designed, and more elegant than similar ones, but..."

"Just what?"

"But this is all deliberately hyped up by someone. Not only is the price far higher than the quality, but it's also easy to fall behind. Just like the ladies' fashionable makeup and hair accessories, they are popular today, but out of fashion tomorrow. If you keep up, you can make a profit, but if you can't, you will lose everything. The risk is really too great. Madam, you are not in a hurry to use the money, so it's better to do some stable business. Over time, you can make more money and lose less, and the amount will be considerable."

Shopkeeper Wu nodded.

Qin Yuan said, "There's no one in my shop who's good at dealing with these things, so forget it."

Shopkeeper Wu looked ashamed and said, "Shopkeeper Leng is absolutely right. Listening to your words is worth ten years of study. I still have a lot to learn, and I hope Shopkeeper Leng will be willing to teach me."

Shopkeeper Leng said, "Okay, okay, we are all doing things for the Madam, no need to be polite."

When these words were spoken, Shopkeeper Wu was very excited.

For small shop owners like them, the opportunity to deal with big shop owners like Shopkeeper Leng is very rare.

If no one introduces them, they will never have the chance to say a few words in their lives.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Manager Leng is too modest. How can you say that you are working for me? You are working for the Marquis' Mansion."

"The Marquis' Mansion is now managed by the Madam, and I am not wrong." Shopkeeper Leng replied with a smile.

Shopkeeper Wu was standing nearby, looking shocked.

The last time he came, he could see that the Marquis's wife was highly valued in the Marquis's Mansion, and at that time she was still Madam Gu Liu's housekeeper.

How long has it been?

The marquis' wife actually took control of the entire mansion.

Shopkeeper Leng saw his expression and knew that he was out of touch with the news and had not received any letter yet, so he raised his teacup and took a sip.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "I just took over, so I don't know anything. The business of Ranxiangju is supported by Manager Leng, so there is no need for me to ask about it. As for the big and small matters in this mansion, they are all supported by the stewards and steward mothers left behind by the old lady and my sixth brother's wife, and there are several stewards above them. I am really a hands-off manager. It's good that others don't look down on me because I'm young and ignorant."

(End of this chapter)