Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 546 A Strong Backer

After Qin Zhao saw Zhang Yanling come out, he returned to the carriage, where his capable general Xu Gong was waiting.

"gone."

Qin Zhao greeted.

Xu Gong asked: "Boss, have you mentioned the cloth business to the second son of the Zhang family? Winter is coming, and the weather is getting colder day by day. Now our Huizhou merchants, as well as major business groups such as Shanxi merchants, are desperately hoarding cloth. The current cloth market price is more than twice as high as in previous years. What do you think about this matter..."

Qin Zhao's face was grim.

When she met Zhang Yanling before, the reason why Zhang Yanling showed her the loom and explained the broad prospects brought by the loom to her was because she took the initiative to bring up the current wave of cloth boom and predicted that there would be another wave of price increases before the end of the year.

"Hurry up and sell the goods on hand."

Qin Zhao ordered.

"what?"

Xu Gong was startled at first, then his eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief, and then he retorted: "Master, this is not okay... Cloth is a necessity of life. From high-ranking officials to ordinary people, everyone needs to wear more clothes to keep warm, and it is normal for people to update their clothes during the Spring Festival.

"Whether it's cotton, linen or raw silk products, business is very good this year. Now is the time to make a fortune. How can we sell the goods so easily?"

Qin Zhao rolled her eyes at Xu Gong and said in a delicate voice, "Just go out if I tell you to. Why do you have so many doubts?"

"I……"

Xu Gong was speechless.

Businessmen pursue profits!

With the premise of making money as the main purpose, it stands to reason that no one would refrain from hoarding goods just for the sake of so-called sentimentality.

Especially the current imperial court has very little control over business. If rice and other things involve the most basic people's livelihood issues, the government will take the initiative to inquire about the market price and prevent it from rising too much. As for things like cloth, the government basically won't care, and even the sea will take the initiative to participate in this business and share the profits.

Qin Zhao saw the puzzled look on Xu Gong's face and shook his head: "We Hui merchants, even if we make money from business, we must have a clear conscience."

Xu Gong disagreed and shook his head, saying, "It has been a long time since the beginning of winter that fabric prices have increased. We did not deliberately hold back the stock, nor did we bully the market. Isn't it okay to do this?
"If ordinary people really want to buy new clothes for their families, they should buy them around the beginning of summer when fabrics are the cheapest... You know, fabrics will definitely drop in price after the New Year, and you might end up with nothing."

"Then I'll tell you why now!"

Qin Zhao said coldly: "Before the end of the year, the second son of the Zhang family will probably have a large amount of cloth to sell. By then, the price of cloth on the market may be so low that you can't afford it."

"What? The Second Young Master wants to weave cloth?"

Xu Gong was quite surprised, and then he said in confusion: "Isn't weaving a woman's job? I can understand that he deals with soda ash, glass and the like, but weaving... is he good at it?"

Qin Zhao smiled and said, "He doesn't need to know much about the business. He just needs to build a loom with brand new technology and find a group of people to weave cloth for him, and the price of cloth will plummet."

"Can just one person... move the entire cloth market in the capital?"

Xu Gong shook his head and said, "Boss, how big a production scale would that require? Can he do it alone, or even with the power of the entire Zhang family? I'm afraid it's impossible!"

"What if we rely on the power of the palace?"

At this point, Qin Zhao's face showed a look of horror.

That is a terrifying and huge energy!

When others do business and bully others in the market, they are considered very powerful. Their main method is to collude with local officials and suppress their peers... They can even monopolize a regional business and manipulate the price of a certain commodity in that area in the next few years.

When the Zhang family does business, they have the emperor's support.

The money earned will be used to help the emperor repair the river... Can ordinary merchants, or even the largest business groups, compare?

"Relying on the power of the palace?"

Xu Gong looked puzzled.

"The second young master has invented a loom that is very efficient in spinning and weaving. Just turn the wheel with your hands, and you don't even need to step on it. A female worker can weave the cloth. In the past, weaving three to five feet of cloth a day was considered a lot, and you had to work day and night. With his machine, you can weave three to five feet in half an hour. How can you compare?"

Qin Zhao sounded very weak when he said this. "Half an hour? Does that mean... one person can replace ten people?"

Xu Gong was even more shocked.

"What's worse, the Second Young Master proposed to use the idle palace maids and eunuchs, or the women exiled to the laundry bureau in the capital, to weave cloth. This means that he can have an endless supply of people to weave cloth for him. And these people... there are at least several thousand or even tens of thousands of people in the capital. How much cloth do you think he can weave in a year?"

When Qin Zhao said this, he began to secretly rejoice in his heart.

Fortunately, we are friends with the Zhang family, not enemies.

Otherwise, how will you survive in the future?
"Ah! This..."

Xu Gong hesitated and said, "Will the palace... listen to the Second Young Master? He is at best just the emperor's uncle, and at his age..."

"You don't know how much the current emperor favors the Zhang family. Now your majesty doesn't even have a concubine. Everything in the six palaces is decided by Empress Zhang."

Qin Zhao became more and more excited as he spoke. "The Yellow River's diversion was such a big thing, and it was actually done by Zhang Guozhang, and the former powerful official Li Zisheng also helped him behind the scenes. Do you know how strong the power behind the Zhang family is?"

"That is……"

When Xu Gong heard this, he couldn't help but feel frightened.

"Don't think that we are doing business in partnership with the Zhang family. The Zhang family is a business family. They are essentially scholars, the most powerful among the powerful. The father-in-law Zhang Luan is a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty and is highly valued by His Majesty. I think the second son of the Zhang family will be the same in a few years."

Qin Zhao said, "The Second Young Master proposed weaving this time in order to make a profit and raise funds for the Yellow River project. The Second Young Master is helping Your Majesty to solve problems, so Your Majesty has no reason to disagree."

Having said that, Qin Zhao got into the carriage.

Xu Gong was so excited that he quickly climbed onto the carriage's armrest, pushed the driver aside, and drove the carriage himself, still talking non-stop:
“Master, even if the Second Young Master is capable and can build a loom and has sufficient manpower, it will still take time, right?

"It's winter now, and the cloth market is booming. If we want to ship in large quantities, should we wait until the price is the highest before the New Year? He probably won't move that fast..."

Qin Zhao sighed and said, "The fact that the Second Young Master has only told me now does not mean that he has just started to raise funds... and since he has told me, if I still refuse to change my mind, then I am tantamount to opposing him.

"Even if I make money from this deal, I will lose his trust. For the sake of a small profit from cloth, I lost a powerful backer. Do you think I am crazy or ignorant of the world?"

"Master, you are right."

Xu Gong immediately admitted his mistake and said, "Then I will have someone ship the goods when I get back."

"Ah."

Qin Zhao's voice came from the carriage with the curtains closed. "We not only need to ship goods, but also help him purchase goods. Weaving requires a lot of cotton and linen. We have to prepare a large amount of cheap cotton and linen for him in advance, and then find craftsmen from the capital to make looms for him to help him get things done as soon as possible."

Xu Gong waved his whip and said with a smile: "Boss, you are really a capable assistant... Since you are helping me so unreservedly, can you give us some of the money you earn?"

Qin Zhao said solemnly: "Even if we go bankrupt to help him now, if he reveals a little to us later, it will be enough for us to benefit from it for the rest of our lives. Why did the Second Young Master tell me this and not tell anyone else?"

"Because he trusts you."

Xu Gong suddenly realized.

"Yes, he also needs help." Qin Zhao said, "A man cannot stand without integrity. Although I didn't do everything perfectly in front of him before, at least I never lost my integrity. When doing business, you must know the limits and know when to advance and retreat. I can advance and retreat. He needs me to raise everything for him."

Xu Gong sighed, "Then our family's future business will have to rely on our maternal relatives, the Zhang family?"

“That’s not bad.”

Qin Zhao said, "In the past, we could hardly raise our heads in front of the big merchants or officials in Huizhou, and we had to walk on thin ice. But... look at us now, do we need to take them seriously? Even if the governor of Huizhou took office, wouldn't he pay a visit to him obediently?"

Xu Gong smiled and said, "With different backers, your perspectives will naturally be different."

"Yes, in the past, what kind of business was there to make money? When would it be my turn as a woman to run a business? But now, what good business is there? If those big merchants don't call me, how can they do business well? So, we can't forget who brought the food to us after we have already eaten it..."

Qin Zhao's voice sounded unusually firm, "Therefore, if your majesty wants to repair the river, our Qin family absolutely cannot stand idly by. We will go back to find the Huizhou merchants in Beijing to discuss contributing money and manpower.

"We just want to make it clear that we can take care of our business and our country."

(End of this chapter)