What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 325 The Eldest Princess is extremely satisfied with Su Mo
As Su Mo finished speaking.

The curtain of the four-wheeled carriage was lifted to one side, revealing a pretty face.

Su Mo was slightly taken aback.

Clearly, the woman with the pretty face behind the curtain was Princess Jinling, the Empress's older sister.

Princess Jinling bore a striking resemblance to Empress Leng Liuxi, sharing a similar beauty and appearing to be in her early thirties.

Of course, one's actual age cannot be discerned from a person's appearance.

If one had to point out a difference, Princess Jinling was more mature than the Empress, with an incomparably dignified demeanor that made people feel ashamed of their own appearance and dared only to admire her from afar, not daring to disrespect her!
Su Mo was not stunned by Princess Jinling's solemnity, dignity, and inviolability.

As is well known, Princess Jinling was the eldest legitimate daughter of the late emperor and was greatly favored by him. From a young age, she took Empress Dowager Zhang as her role model, learning from her empress dowager's virtues and caring for her younger siblings. It is only natural that she was so dignified and beautiful.

To Su Mo's surprise, Princess Jinling, like the Empress, had an unhealthy pale complexion.

Do they all have congenital heart disease?

Could it be a hereditary heart disease?

Princess Jinling was also sizing up Su Mo, but her expression remained indifferent, revealing nothing.

After sizing up Su Mo, she said calmly, "Lord Su, could we find a quiet place to talk?"

Su Mo was slightly stunned.

He then came to his senses and quickly said, "Your Highness, please follow me."

Despite the fact that the Empress had seized the throne after massacring her three elder brothers at Xuanwu Gate, Princess Jinling, who had always doted on and loved the Empress, severed ties with her and lived in the Princess's residence, rarely venturing out.

But no one dared to underestimate Princess Jinling's influence.

Because the Empress was raised by Princess Jinling since she was a child!

The Empress's feelings for Princess Jinling were even stronger than her feelings for Empress Dowager Zhang!
Su Mo led Princess Jinling's carriage to the outside of the inner city villa, while secretly trying to figure out the other party's intentions.

They didn't look like they were there to interrogate someone.

But why did Princess Jinling, who rarely left the Princess's residence, suddenly come to her own Lonely Peak Mountain?
Princess Jinling slowly stepped down from the carriage, and upon seeing Su Mo's uniquely styled villa, a look of surprise clearly appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Su Mo didn't make any attempt to avoid suspicion.

He had been alone with the Empress more than once or twice, so adding the Eldest Princess wouldn't make much difference.

If you have a lot of lice, you won't feel itchy anymore.

As instructed by Princess Jinling, Su Mo invited her into the villa's reception room.

He summoned a maid and served tea to Princess Jinling.

Princess Jinling didn't rush to drink tea, but instead took a closer look at the furnishings and layout of the living room.

Finally, my gaze fell upon the translucent stained glass.

Her voice was soft and gentle: "Lord Su's residence has a unique style, giving me a refreshing feeling, just like Lord Su himself gives me."

As she spoke, she waved for the maid to leave, then looked at Su Mo and asked, "Lord Su, may I also have my maid leave?"

Su Mo hesitated slightly, somewhat unsure of where the other party came from.

He originally intended for the maid to stay to avoid suspicion, but judging from the other person's demeanor, it seemed as if she had something private to say to him, so he had no choice but to let the maid leave the living room.

Only Su Mo and Princess Jinling remained in the large living room.

Princess Jinling slowly spoke: "I presume that Lord Su thinks I have come to interrogate you."

Just as Su Mo was about to say she dared not, Princess Jinling suddenly pulled on the rope around her neck, untied her cloak, and revealed a novel light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) underneath.

Su Mo narrowed his eyes.

A wool skirt made by Lirenfang!
"I have great respect for Lord Su for having such a secret method to turn waste into treasure, which can weave useless wool into excellent warm clothing."

"I hope to cooperate with Lord Su in this wool trade."

A sharp glint flashed in Su Mo's eyes.

As expected, the visitors were up to no good!
The other party was actually after wool sweaters!
That's quite an appetite!
It should be noted that the market for wool sweaters has been opened up, and the annual profit will certainly not be less than a million taels!
Isn't she afraid of choking?
Su Mo fell silent.

Princess Jinling did not urge Su Mo to reply, but simply looked at him quietly.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Mo finally spoke.

“Your Highness, this sweater business is not solely my responsibility.”

"This humble official is truly unable to make the decision."

He paused slightly, then continued, "If Your Highness's household is short of funds, I may try to request His Majesty to allocate an additional sum of money for the Princess's household."

Unexpectedly, Princess Jinling waved her hand and said, "Lord Su has misunderstood me."

"What I want to do with Lord Su is not the sale of sweaters, but the sale of wool."

Su Mo was slightly taken aback: "Wool trading?"

Princess Jinling nodded: "That's right!"

"I can transport wool from the northern frontier and sell it to Lord Su."

Su Mo fell silent again.

The profit from buying and selling wool is naturally enormous.

Originally, in Su Mo and Princess Baicheng's plan, the wool was to be managed by Duke Ningguo Zhang Lie, who was stationed in the northern frontier, and the profits would be used to supplement the military expenses of the northern frontier army.

Before wool degreasing technology is fully liberalized, Su Mo does not intend to cede the profits from wool trading to merchants.

However, to implement the "sheep eat man" tactic, it is ultimately necessary to involve a large number of merchants.

Since other merchants will benefit anyway, we might as well benefit the princess first.

Furthermore, Princess Jinling's first sentence pointed out that she was not there to interrogate Su Mo, implying that she was aware of Su Mo's connection to the Su Nu Palace.

Once the deal is done, there's no need to hold anyone accountable.

If it doesn't work out, then it's hard to say.

After pondering for a long time, Su Mo turned his gaze to Princess Jinling and stared at her directly, seemingly quite presumptuously.

Seeing that Su Mo dared to look her in the eye, which was quite rude, Princess Jinling frowned slightly but said nothing.

Su Mo said in a deep voice, "To be honest, Your Highness, this wool trade was originally the responsibility of the Duke of Ningguo..."

"Of course, if Your Highness has a channel to transport wool back from the Northern Frontier, I would also be willing to accept it."

Princess Jinling was secretly startled upon hearing this.

No wonder Zhang Zong refused to give Zhang Shouning his name at all in the Dali Temple, insisting on protecting Su Mo.

So that's how important the relationship is.

She pondered for a moment, then said, "Then I thank Lord Su in advance."

"I would like to know how much wool Lord Su can ask for, and at what price?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "As long as the price is right, the more the better."

Princess Jinling immediately pressed on, "What constitutes a reasonable price?"

Su Mo replied without hesitation, "One tael of silver per stone."

Upon hearing this, Princess Jinling frowned slightly again: "Isn't one tael of silver per shi a bit too little?"

He paused, then continued, "Although wool is not valuable, purchasing it in large quantities from herders in the northern border regions will certainly cost a lot of money."

"In addition, it would take half a month to transport wool from the northern frontier, thousands of miles away. The cost of food for the people and horses would also be enormous."

"If it's only one or two taels of silver, the profit will probably be less than half."

She paused slightly: "The wool skirt I'm wearing weighs less than three pounds, yet it costs twenty taels of silver. The difference is enormous."

"Doesn't Lord Su think the price of wool is too low?"

Su Mo was taken aback upon hearing this.

He couldn't help but take another look at Princess Jinling.

Who would have thought that as the eldest princess, she would also know the ways of doing business?
He seems quite proficient.

No wonder seeing the hot sales of wool sweaters immediately made me think of the benefits of wool.

He thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "Your Highness is mistaken."

There is no necessary connection between raw materials and finished products.

"The costs are more intangible, such as technology, promotion, and clothing design."

"Take a hundred-times-forged weapon for example. The cost of the iron material is less than one tael, but the selling price can be as high as several hundred taels of silver. You can't use the cost of the iron material to measure the value of a hundred-times-forged weapon!"

Princess Jinling looked at Su Mo expressionlessly: "No matter what, the price is still too low!"

"If anything goes wrong on the way, there will be almost no profit to be made."

Su Mo shook her head: "You can't say that."

"It should be understood that with transportation, the larger the volume, the lower the cost per unit."

“The wool purchased from the herdsmen in northern Xinjiang should not cost more than one qian per jin, or one hundred qian per shi.”

"If Your Highness transports back thousands of dan of wool at a time, the cost can definitely be controlled below five hundred taels of silver, and the profit will be half."

"Just one trip, a round trip of one month, can earn several hundred taels of silver, which is quite a lot."

Su Mo noticed that Princess Jinling was frowning and deep in thought.

They're clearly calculating the potential benefits.

He then added, "If we can transport tens of thousands of shi of wool at once, the profit will be no less than six thousand taels of silver!"

Upon hearing Su Mo's words, Princess Jinling gasped in shock and looked at him in astonishment. His tone was far too arrogant.

She originally thought that Su Mo would need to buy about a thousand shi of wool each month.

Even under pressure, he would only receive a share of two or three hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) at most.

At this price and with this market share, there's not much profit to be made.

However, sending thirty to fifty people to do this business brought the Princess's residence an extra hundred taels of silver a month, which actually made her quite satisfied.

After all, the princess's monthly expenses were only about two hundred taels of silver.

Princess Jinling never expected that the other party would ask for thousands of shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain! Tens of thousands of shi!

She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Even if it were tens of thousands of bushels of wool, Lord Su could still take it all?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "Ten thousand shi isn't actually that much."

"As long as Your Highness can bring it back, what does 100,000 shi matter?"

Anyway, in this era, this thing can be used as a strategic resource. If stored properly, it can last for ten years!

Once wool sweaters become more widespread, their price will definitely increase several times or even tenfold.

Su Mo would prefer as many as possible.

Princess Jinling was speechless.

Finally, she could only smile bitterly and say, "Lord Su is joking. How could I possibly have the ability to transport back 100,000 shi of wool? Even 10,000 shi would be almost impossible!"

She thought for a moment and then said, "However, if it's two or three thousand shi (a unit of grain), I should be able to find a way."

Even for two or three thousand shi of wool, three or four hundred people would be needed, which was the limit of manpower that Princess Jinling could mobilize.

Su Mo frowned and pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Two or three thousand shi is a bit too little; there's really no profit to be made."

Upon hearing this, Princess Jinling, fearing that Su Mo would look down on her business, hurriedly said, "The profit is already quite substantial."

"This only requires three hundred people. The expenses on the road, plus the cost of transportation, should not exceed one thousand taels, and the profit should be more than one thousand taels."

Su Mo...

The dignified Princess of the Great Wu Kingdom seems to be planning to use her power to threaten me.

Is this the result?

Is a profit of a thousand taels of silver enough?

Isn't that making myself seem too cheap?
This is like a princess hiring someone to kidnap you and then threatening you that you must pay a thousand taels of silver to ransom you, or she will kill you!
Su Mo pondered for a moment and said, "One thousand taels of silver is a bit too little."

"How about this……"

"If Your Highness brings back wool, the price will be increased by 20% above one tael of silver for every 10,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

"However, Your Highness, please do not tell anyone, otherwise it will be difficult for me to pay a price when purchasing wool from other merchants in the future."

Princess Jinling's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.

If the price increases by 20%, one thousand shi of wool can generate an extra two hundred taels of silver in profit!
If three thousand shi (a unit of dry measure) are transported back at once, after deducting the cost of one thousand taels of silver, the profit will be as high as two thousand six hundred taels!
Thinking of this number, Princess Jinling couldn't help but swallow hard!

If you make ten trips a year, that's an income of 26,000!

If we could transport 10,000 shi...

Princess Jinling dared not continue calculating!
The princess's residence is short-staffed.

But there were a great many displaced people in the capital!

As long as the princess's residence provides two hundred guards and hires a thousand refugees, transporting five thousand shi of wool at once should not be a problem!
There are bandits and robbers on the road, and you might lose everything.
Who has the audacity to rob the Princess's caravan?

In an instant.

Princess Jinling found Su Mo much more agreeable.

No wonder those sons of noble families like Zhang Xuzu followed his lead.

Despite his young age, his way of dealing with people and situations is truly admirable!
Yes, he is also exceptionally handsome. Facing the Great Wu Princess, he maintained a humble yet dignified attitude, which is truly rare.

Compared to his own son-in-law...

Princess Jinling suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

However, she quickly composed herself and nodded slightly to Su Mo: "In that case, I thank you, Lord Su."

Su Mo smiled and said, "Your Highness is too kind."

"I'm merely speaking from a business perspective. In any transaction, both parties must ultimately profit for it to last!"

Princess Jinling chuckled lightly: "It is said that Lord Su is well-versed in the art of making a living. After seeing him today, I can confirm that the rumors are indeed true."

She paused, then said, "It's inconvenient for me to come out, so I won't disturb Lord Su any longer."

Su Mo quickly stood up: "This humble official will see Your Highness off!"

Princess Jinling stood up, looked at the official's hat chair she was sitting in, and suddenly said, "Lord Su, this chair has a unique style that I have never seen before. It is quite comfortable to sit in."

"May I ask, Lord Su, where did you purchase this desk and chair?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "I am not used to ordinary tables and chairs. This chair was made by my servants. I was thinking that if others could accept it, I would sell it to make some money."

"If Your Highness the Princess likes it, I will have someone send a set to the Princess's residence."

Princess Jinling nodded: "Alright."

"But whatever the price is, that's the price. If Lord Su doesn't accept it, I won't take it."

Su Mo smiled and said, "Of course."

Princess Jinling then slowly walked out of the hall.

Looking at her back, Su Mo almost thought the Empress had returned.

Regardless of her figure, appearance, or even height, she was not much different from the Empress.

They look almost like twins.

Princess Jinling called her maid and left the villa.

Su Mo originally intended to follow the carriage to the foot of the mountain, but Princess Jinling smiled and waved her hand, telling him that he did not need to see her off.

He then had the driver drive him away in a hurry.

Just as Su Mo looked away, Lin Moyin suddenly appeared.

"Mo Lang, what brings you here, Your Highness the Princess?"

She frowned slightly: "Is it related to the disciples of the Su Nu Palace?"

Su Mo shook her head: "Not really."

"She wants to do wool trading with my husband."

Lin Moyin was slightly taken aback: "Wool trading?"

Su Mo hummed in agreement, then asked curiously, "Is the Princess's residence very poor?"

Lin Moyin nodded and said, "Indeed... I'm a little embarrassed."

He paused, then explained, "A princess is not like a prince; she has no territory of her own."

"The expenses of the household are covered by the imperial court's appropriations, but the court is also poor and can't allocate much silver. In addition, there are subsidies from the princess's husband's family... However, the princess's husband's family is also of ordinary means..."

Before she could finish speaking, Su Mo suddenly said, "Wait!"

Su Mo looked at Lin Moyin suspiciously: "Mo'er, did you misunderstand? What do you mean by the prince consort's family?"

Lin Moyin was taken aback: "I am not wrong. The prince consort is a member of the royal family, so he is naturally from the bride's family."

Su Mo...

Do all princes have to marry into the family?

If I were to marry the Empress in the future...

Cough!

I'd rather marry Leng Xixi; I'd rather die than marry Leng Liuxi!

Su Mo quickly shook his head to dispel the terrible thought, then changed the subject, his expression becoming serious: "Where did Xiao Yuan go?"

Compared to Princess Jinling, who has always kept a low profile, never leaving her palace and almost invisible.

Clearly, Xiao Yuan needs Su Mo's attention more.

Who knows what that old fox is up to!
This is the current Grand Secretary, who is second only to the emperor and holds the most power in the Great Wu Dynasty!

In his presence, Zhang Shouning, the emperor's brother-in-law, was not even worth mentioning. Even powerful figures like the Second Grand Secretary Wang Hao from the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families would have to give him some leeway!
It's impossible to overemphasize Su Mo's importance.

Hearing Su Mo's inquiry.

Lin Moyin's expression suddenly turned strange and suspicious. She then said in a low voice, "Chief Minister Xiao went to the homes of those villagers and talked to them quite a bit. I shouldn't have eavesdropped."

Before she could finish speaking, a guard rushed in with a frantic expression to report.

"Your Honor!"

"Captain Chen instructed me to report that the man surnamed Xiao..."

Su Mo glared at him fiercely: "That's Elder Xiao!"

The guard hurriedly said, "Grand Secretary Xiao is going to Shenma Rock to see Lord Ye!"

"Captain Chen asked, 'Should we send Elder Xiao to Shenma Rock?'"

Upon hearing this, Su Mo's brows furrowed instantly!
(End of this chapter)