Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 764 A "Good" Deal with a Price but No Market

After leaving the villa, Zhang Yanling sent Chang Shun to the place agreed upon with the Sun family to inform them, and then went to the place Zhang Yanling specified to discuss matters.

For no other reason than that Zhang Yanling was not entirely at ease with the Sun family. As the future de facto head of the Ming Dynasty's finances, he had already begun to consider his own safety... As for whether the Sun family should participate in the business system he was planning... in Zhang Yanling's view, it was irrelevant.

The Sun family's business acumen, their extensive network of connections, and their audacity in certain areas... are indeed not something to be proud of.

In particular, Sun You also has a daughter who is ambitious but incompetent and likes to meddle in the family business.

Sun You was probably too embarrassed to talk to the younger generation of the Zhang family and wanted to maintain appearances and save face for the elders, so he had Sun Chengying talk to Zhang Yanling directly.

When Zhang Yanling saw Sun Chengying, dressed in men's clothing and looking dashing, appear before him, he was somewhat disappointed in the Sun family... They had already humbled themselves and begged Zhang Luan for a way out, yet they didn't know how to seize the opportunity? They just sent their daughter to deal with it?
"My father is unwell and unable to come. I hope Mr. Zhang will understand."

Sun Chengying was not rude to Zhang Yanling; on the contrary, she was quite restrained.

It's as if they're saying, "I've come to see you in a humble position, so the Zhang family needs to show some sincerity."

Zhang Yanling waved his hand and said, "Please sit down and talk... My father has already relayed the relevant information. You want to take over a coal mine in Xishan, right? My father's idea is for me to give you a chance... Originally, taking over a coal mine would require at least 10,000 taels of silver, but you... will give me 5,000 taels."

Sun Chengying was taken aback and asked, "Five thousand taels of silver?"

"if not?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Could it be five thousand taels of refined copper? What, the Sun family isn't planning to pay?"

Sun Chengying was clearly taken aback by Zhang Yanling's tone, and frowned as she asked, "How could those merchants possibly come up with ten thousand taels of silver at once? This price is obviously inflated."

"Oh."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "That's right. The auction hasn't officially started yet, so it's really hard to say how much silver it will fetch in the end. How about this, why don't you come to the auction in a few days and observe from the sidelines?"

"what for?"

Sun Chengying asked.

Zhang Yanling said, "Here's the situation. If a coal mine costs 10,000 taels of silver and is eventually sold, then your family can easily contribute 5,000 taels, right? I'll reserve one for you first! Anyway, I have plenty of resources here. If your Sun family doesn't want it, there are plenty of people eager to take it. It'll be easy to transfer it to them for 10,000 taels."

"you……"

Sun Chengying clearly hadn't expected that the Zhang family across the street was no longer a small, insignificant household in Xingji.

Not only did they gain status and position, but their money was no longer measured in tens or hundreds of taels; they were now being paid in thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Zhang Yanling glanced at Sun Chengying and sighed, "Miss Sun, I must remind you that those who want to take on this business are all big players among the Shanxi and Anhui merchants, and even some meritorious officials from the capital and officials and merchants who rely on them. They are all exceptionally generous, and the price of five thousand taels of silver is already quite reasonable."

"After you go back, have a good talk with your father and come up with a result as soon as possible. Let's meet again in Xishan next time! That's all, goodbye!"

……

……

Sun Chengying had met Zhang Yanling, and she didn't feel much grief or indignation, just a sense of grievance and even some self-blame.

In her view, if she had been chosen as the Crown Princess back then, the Zhang family would not have had the right to be so arrogant today. Now, she is the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, and her family will be honored because of her.

Unfortunately, it was all just a dream.

When she returned to her family's shop and saw her elderly father sitting at the counter, calculating with a worried expression, she almost burst into tears.

"Father!"

Sun Chengying suppressed her grief and quickly gathered her thoughts.

Faced with Sun You's urgent inquiries, she could only briefly tell her father the conditions listed by Zhang Yanling.

"What? Five thousand taels of silver?"

Sun You was also frightened by Zhang Yanling's tone.

Sun Chengying nodded and said, "That's how it is. He also said that it was because of the family friendship between the two families. He also said that if other merchants came to buy it, they wouldn't be able to buy it even if they offered ten thousand taels of silver. Why hold an auction? As I understand it, it's just about finding a public place to bid and let the highest bidder win."

Sun You sighed, "In this situation, merchants from all over the country, in order to curry favor with the Zhang family, might really be willing to pay at least ten thousand taels of silver, just as he said."

"but……"

Sun Chengying finally lost her temper, almost gritting her teeth as she said, "Those merchants are currying favor with them in order to trade in government salt. I don't believe that so many people can actually come up with that much silver at once. Do they really think that all merchants in the world are brainless?"

Sun You was at a loss for words.

Sun Chengying advised, "How about... Father, we stop relying on the Zhang family? They're ungrateful and not worth investing our feelings in. Why don't we go back to our hometown of Xingji and reorganize the business?"

“My child, if all else fails, I will go to Lai Zhan again and have a proper talk with him,” Sun You said with a bitter expression. “I have to make it clear to him that our family really can’t afford that much money.”

Sun Chengying said helplessly, "Father, why are you still pinning your hopes on Zhang Guozhang? Can't you see that he's just giving you the runaround? If it were possible, he would have agreed to it directly. Why bother sending his son? Going to him again wouldn't change anything, would it?"

"What can I say to you, child?"

Sun You was somewhat at a loss for how to explain to his daughter, but he still suppressed his frustration and said, "Do you know how many people in the court want to pay their respects to him but can't? He has been recuperating at home since the New Year, and he was also recovering from his injuries before the New Year. Since he entered the court, there are very few people in Xingji who have been able to see him. I heard that even members of the Zhang family were turned away when they went to see him."

Sun Chengying said, "This just proves that he is arrogant and disdainful of others."

Sun Youdao said, "But when I went, they made an exception and granted me an audience. They even had their son come to greet us... I've also heard that this young master of the Zhang family is very capable. He's even in charge of the weaving of cloth in the palace. It's said that the amount of cloth distributed from the palace in winter is staggering, not to mention that a large number of woven cloths are sent directly to the Northwest front for use by the soldiers of various military garrisons."

"What does that have to do with us?"

Sun Chengying asked, looking aggrieved.

"Ugh!"

Sun You suddenly sat down, looking slightly dejected, and said, "But what the young master of the Zhang family said is right. Favors are favors, but business is business... Perhaps others really can't buy it even if they want to pay five thousand taels of silver!"

Sun Chengying asked in surprise, "Father, you don't really intend to spend five thousand taels of silver to buy a coal mine that has never been mined and whose output is still unknown, do you?"

Sun You said, "Think about it this way: others can't buy this coal mine even for ten thousand taels of silver. If we buy it and resell it, we can make a net profit of five thousand taels, right?"

"what?"

Sun Chengying was frightened by her father's business acumen.

“Our family doesn’t have that much money,” Sun You sighed. “But we can use other people’s money to buy things for them, which is equivalent to us becoming a government-merchant for a time.”

Sun Chengying asked hesitantly, "So, you mean we're just selling off our relationship with the Zhang family like this?"

Sun You nodded helplessly: "If that's how you see it, then so be it. I also hope to earn five thousand taels of silver... but... I just don't know if the Zhang family will agree to us reselling it?"

"Furthermore, some people want to establish a close relationship with the Zhang family, who are related to the maternal relatives, by purchasing coal mines. If they buy them from us, can we maintain this relationship?"

"So that means even if we wanted to sell it for ten thousand taels of silver, there's no guarantee anyone would be willing to buy it?"

Sun Chengying was speechless.

The old father may be facing real difficulties now. As the saying goes, you don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Because of several failed investments, the Sun family has unknowingly fallen into a huge quagmire, and the culprit behind all this can even be said to be her unmarried daughter.

Sun You pondered for a long time, then suddenly remembered something and looked at his daughter: "How about this, daughter, go find Master Qin and ask for her opinion."

“You have a good relationship with her, I believe she will meet with you. If she is willing to let us take action... then... we can decisively get involved in this matter.”

"So, Father wants me to shamelessly go to Master Qin and try to sell my relationship with the Zhang family for a good price?" Sun Chengying asked.

Sun You waved his hand, looking somewhat impatient: "Our family has fallen to this state, what's the point of caring about face? Keeping the family business going is more important than anything else. If you don't want to go, go for your father's sake!"

"no need."

Sun Chengying seemed resigned to her fate, her voice low, "I will go then."

……

……

Sun Chengying visited Qin Zhao that very day.

Qin Zhao indeed gave him face and granted him a meeting immediately.

Originally, Manager Qin was busy recruiting Huizhou merchants scattered throughout the country to come to the capital to "participate in the grand event," but recently she has been mainly maintaining relationships with all parties. As for the Sun family... because of their background in Xingji, and the fact that Sun You can even meet Zhang Luan directly as an old friend, this is a very good political resource for Qin Zhao.

Of course, she might not need to spend a lot of money to maintain her relationship with the Sun family, since it wasn't complicated for her to meet Zhang Yanling.

When Sun Chengying met Qin Zhao, she seemed very ashamed and didn't even want to speak directly.

Under Qin Zhao's persistent questioning, Sun Chengying truthfully explained her purpose for coming.

"Five thousand taels..."

Qin Zhao seemed quite surprised. "The relationship between the Sun family and Zhang Guozhang's family is indeed extraordinary. This price is probably less than 20% of the final price."

Sun Chengying was still troubled.

Upon hearing this, she looked back at Qin Zhao with a shocked expression.

While she never truly respected her father's business acumen and insight, she held Qin Zhao, who traveled the world as a daughter, in the highest esteem.

Or rather, in her eyes, her family members were nothing, while Qin Zhao was her idol and mentor, which perfectly matched her psychological characteristics of being both insecure and blindly arrogant.

Sun Chengying asked in astonishment, "So that means... a single mine can sell for more than 25,000 taels of silver outside? Is that... even possible?"

Qin Zhao nodded and said, "It sounds incredible, doesn't it? But you should know that this time, the participants in the auction include meritorious officials, officials and merchants, as well as merchants from all over the country, including Shanxi merchants, Anhui merchants, Shandong merchants, and even big merchants from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian who came after hearing the news. The competition is extremely fierce."

Sun Chengying asked, "Then, Master Qin, do you want my family to... set up this coal mine for you?"

"Do not."

Qin Zhao shook his head decisively.

Sun Chengying was a little confused for a moment.

You told me it was very valuable, but you didn't buy it yourself, preventing our family from having the opportunity to make money for free. What does that mean?
It's either high in price but no market for it?
"Why?"

Sun Chengying asked the question directly.

Qin Zhao smiled and said, "Does my sister have to ask so many questions? Actually, if you just asked the Second Young Master, he would have told you the truth."

"what?"

Sun Chengying frowned.

I thought to myself, "You actually want me to ask the seller, and you expect him to tell me the truth?"

Qin Zhao said, "To put it this way, the coal produced by this coal mine can be worth at least three thousand taels of silver a year. In better mines, after deducting costs, you can even make a net profit of five thousand to ten thousand taels. The risk is not great."

"What? No risk?"

Sun Chengying was somewhat surprised.

This was the first time she had ever heard of a business that offered no risk and could generate huge profits.

“That’s right. With your initial investment of five thousand taels of silver, you can basically break even in a year,” Qin Zhao said. “Such a good business is practically a gift from the Second Young Master to your household. How could I possibly take over such a lucrative opportunity?”

Sun Chengying felt very uncomfortable after hearing this.

After hesitating for a long time, she sighed and said, "To be honest, my family simply can't raise that much silver. Besides... we'll need to invest more in mining later, which will require even more money. Even if the risk is small, what if... the market is sluggish, or there's a natural disaster or man-made calamity?"

"understood."

Qin Zhao said, "For many wealthy merchants, what is a little risk when they take out a large sum of money to do business? But for the Sun family, such a big business is likely to gamble on the future. It would be more practical to convert it into silver all at once."

"Ah."

Upon hearing this, Sun Chengying seemed to see hope again.

That means they're trying to scam unsuspecting people to get out of trouble.

She would never believe it if you told her that the coal mine was worth 25,000 taels of silver.

She felt that Zhang Yanling was asking for an exorbitant sum of five thousand taels.

Qin Zhao said, "Actually, I think that given the relationship between your two families, sometimes it's not necessary to solve things with money, is it?"

"what?"

Sun Chengying was very puzzled and asked, "The Zhang family asked for five thousand taels right off the bat. How can there be a way to solve the problem without money?"

“When I met with your father before, he mentioned that he wanted to marry you into the Zhang family. If it goes through, wouldn’t that coal mine be considered as your betrothal gift?”

Qin Zhao said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chengying appeared very angry: "How could my younger sister marry into the Zhang family so easily? Besides..."

“My dear sister, it’s good that you’re proud and ambitious, but sometimes you have to succumb to reality,” Qin Zhao advised gently. “Of course, your father only mentioned this casually. As an outsider, I shouldn’t comment.”

While saying this, Qin Zhao was thinking to himself.

How arrogant and conceited must you be to think that marrying into the Zhang family is not a good thing?
Besides, you can't just marry whenever you want, can you?
If Zhang Guozhang really wants you to be his daughter-in-law, it can only be said to be to repay your family's "repayment of the broken engagement" back then. Otherwise, given your family background, why would you be qualified to marry into the Zhang family?

Of course, the eldest son of the Zhang family... certainly wasn't a good match.

Even so, opportunities aren't something you can just get by wishing for them.

Qin Zhao said, "Let me put it this way: tell your father that this deal is guaranteed to be profitable. If there are any difficulties in raising funds, he can come and tell me, and I will do my best to help."

(End of this chapter)