Film and Television World Life Record

Many weavers and officials also gathered around to comment and discuss, to take a closer look at the quality of the gauze, and those who were interested discussed cooperation on the spot.

Tonight's gathering is naturally not just about vying for the title of Imperial Merchant. Those who are confident in their own products will also showcase them and use relevant terms to discuss cooperation.

After Qi's family, another medium-sized fabric store took the stage. This store didn't bring out any new fabrics; they just promoted their own. Then came the next store...

After visiting more than a dozen stores, some small and medium-sized merchants with goods had already finished displaying their products.

Then the Xue family appeared. Xue Yanchao smiled and stepped forward with a wooden box. When he showed off a new purple cloth that looked luxurious, the atmosphere became somewhat tense. Many people were watching the Su family's reaction, and even members of the Xue family were casting their gazes toward the Su family.

Li Mu and the others smiled, their expressions remaining blank.

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

"The Su family hasn't responded, so it seems they've prepared better fabrics than the Xue family."

"The Su family has been preparing for several years. Their grand gesture recently must have been a sign that they had made thorough preparations long ago."

“According to past practice, the Wu family should have been the last to appear… This year, the Su family is the last to appear, and it seems that the title of Imperial Merchant will undoubtedly belong to the Su family.”

After a brief discussion, the Xue family finished their presentation, and as usual, the next family took the stage. Wu Chenghou stood up from his seat with a smile, took a brocade box, and stepped forward. Inside was a bright yellow brocade.

The bright yellow color instantly attracted everyone's attention.

When it comes to high-end silks, what could be more suitable for royalty than bright yellow?

After observing for a while, Xue Yan couldn't help but sigh, "The Wu family is really something... a barking dog doesn't bite... but they've pulled out their trump card..."

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly realized something was amiss and looked at his trusted manager beside him: "This...something's not right! I remember the information you bribed the steward of the Su family a few days ago—they spent three years researching and developing this bright yellow dye! That's their biggest advantage in vying for the imperial merchant position. How did it fall to the Wu family..."

Before the shopkeeper could speak, Xue Yan sighed, "The Wu family is indeed ruthless and vicious!"

Chapter 609 Extreme joy leads to sorrow

Ignoring everyone's astonishment, Wu Chenghou picked up the bright yellow cloth and said, "This is the 'Golden Brocade,' made by my Wu family using a special dye formula, and the entire weaving process was overseen by Luo Shenzhen..."

He was introducing the fabric as if no one else was there. The Su family looked at the bright yellow cloth with disbelief on their faces. One of the shopkeepers was so angry that his face turned red. He wanted to stand up and say something, but Su Tan'er stopped him.

At this point, more people realized something. After all, Su Tan'er had been making a big show of competing for the imperial merchant position for the past month, and the same bright yellow cloth had been displayed several times in internal settings.

Although it is required to be kept secret, too many people know about it, so it is impossible to keep it secret.

Now, looking at the fabrics displayed by the Wu family, and then thinking about the fabrics that the Su family displayed some time ago, it is said that the dye formula took three years and countless amounts of money to develop.

It's clearly impossible that the two companies clashed.

In the quiet hall, people's attention began to focus on the Su family and the Wu family. Some people gradually realized something, and then others thought of even more...

"That's not quite right..."

"What's wrong……"

"Isn't this dye formula from the Su family? How did it become the Wu family's..."

"This is a problem, a big problem..."

"It's said that Su Boyong, the head of the Su family's eldest branch, was assassinated in the street some time ago, causing chaos in the branch. Now, the formula they finally managed to develop has also been..."

"Isn't the Wu family too ruthless, using such underhanded methods to do business?"

"So you're saying you're not very knowledgeable. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Wu family is now the largest cloth merchant in Jiangning. They weren't always like that. Do you know the Liu family, who used to be the largest cloth merchant in Jiangning? They've disappeared without a trace. It's said that the Wu family was behind it all."

"Gentlemen, be careful what you say, be careful what you say..."

Thanks to Su Tan'er's publicity stunts some time ago, half the people know that the fuel formula belongs to the Su family. They are now clearly being tricked by the Wu family, and while they feel sympathy, they are also helpless.

For a moment, some people were discussing it animatedly; others remained silent, exchanging only complicated glances, and the atmosphere at the scene was somewhat heavy.

Wu Chenghou, seemingly unperturbed, glanced around before turning to the Su family and saying with a smile, "Gentlemen, this is cloth that my Wu family presented to the royal family. As I've already mentioned, I won't go into further detail. Besides the exceptional color, the weaving skills of Luo Shenzhen are also worth praising. Come, come, everyone, please don't stand on ceremony. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask..."

One of the Su family's managers couldn't help but stand up and say, "Patriarch Wu, isn't this a bit underhanded?"

Wu Chenghou smiled, showing no anger: "Despicable? My Wu family is upright and honorable. Where are we? Is the Su family so stingy with the cloth they prepared that they have to resort to words to get back at us?"

Before the Su family manager could say anything more, He Fang, the official from the Weaving Bureau who was presiding over the meeting, coughed lightly and said, "Enough of this small talk, let's continue the meeting. Next up is today's grand finale: the Su Family Cloth Shop."

All eyes turned to the Su family, but Su Tan'er and Li Mu remained motionless. One of the shopkeepers grew anxious, stood up, clasped his hands in greeting to the crowd, and prepared to step forward with the brocade box, but was stopped by Li Mu.

The shopkeeper grew anxious and looked at Su Tan'er: "Boss, we still have a chance..."

Su Tan'er sat there expressionless and motionless. After a moment, she suddenly sighed, "We... are withdrawing."

The crowd erupted in uproar, seemingly not expecting the Su family to react this way. Without arguing or turning against the Wu family, they simply withdrew.

Indeed, look at today's conference. The Su family, who were not originally expected to be the finalists, were put in last place. The Wu family clearly pulled strings, and the Weaving Bureau was also cooperating with them. What's the point of arguing anymore? The outcome is already set in stone.

For a moment, everyone pointed and whispered, discussing the matter animatedly.

Xue Sheng frowned and sighed to his manager, "A barking dog doesn't bite. The Su family has been making a big show of itself for the imperial merchant position, and everyone knows about it. But the Wu family has been quietly manipulating things behind the scenes... However, their methods are too ruthless. The tripartite balance of power in the Jiangning Textile Bureau will no longer exist, and the Su family is going to decline."

He felt no schadenfreude, only感慨 (a sense of感慨, a feeling of deep emotion) and wariness towards the Wu family. Who would want a colleague or competitor with no scruples?

Several managers from the Su family were still trying to persuade her, but Su Tan'er shook her head and said coldly, "Stop talking, we're leaving!"

After saying that, he suddenly stood up, said no more, and walked downstairs expressionlessly.

Li Mu smiled coldly, casually knocked over the prepared brocade box, and followed.

The other managers and stewards of the Su family stamped their feet anxiously as they watched the two leave. The person who made the decision was gone; what could they do but sigh and follow them downstairs?

The brocade box was overturned and fell downstairs. The lid opened with a whoosh in the air, and a bright yellow glimpse flashed past everyone's eyes. Although the Su family manager who followed behind put it away, everyone could still see clearly that it was the same bright yellow cloth as the Wu family's.

What was previously uncertain has now become certain; the rumors have come true. A flurry of discussion erupted once more. Even the Su family couldn't prove anything; years of hard work had fallen into his hands. What could others say? They could only conclude that the Wu family's methods were superior.

The once-prosperous Su family is likely to decline from now on.

Next, although the pace was interrupted, the imperial merchants have already been determined, and the necessary procedures still need to be followed.

Until the end of the conference, the Wu family undoubtedly emerged victorious, becoming imperial merchants. The bright yellow brocade that won them the last laugh was also used as a sample and would be sent to the palace by fast horse for official purchase.

At the same time, the weaving bureau signed an order for a batch of Canjin brocade with the Wu family on site, with delivery to be completed two months later.

……

In the following days, many changes occurred in the textile industry in Jiangning.

The Wu family, originally the number one cloth merchant in Jiangning, won the imperial merchant award this year, and their momentum was already extremely strong. Now that they are going to continue to expand, their influence will inevitably become even stronger.

As for the Su family, despite their grand efforts, they failed to win the competition for the Imperial Merchant title, wasting a lot of money and reputation, and showing signs of decline. Even their original market is facing a lot of turmoil. Fortunately, they have some resources and can still maintain their position for the time being.

However, while everyone is quick to kick a man when he's down, many are watching coldly. If the Su family really does collapse and the Wu family takes the lion's share, they wouldn't mind taking a bite too.

The business world is like a battlefield; there's not much room for sentimentality.

The Su family is in chaos lately, with the second and third branches causing all sorts of trouble and even starting to distance themselves from Dafang.

Some people said that Su Tan'er was unworthy of her title, insisting on competing for the position of Imperial Merchant, and was ambitious and eager for quick success. Many even said directly that Su Tan'er's abilities were not suitable for leading the Su family, and that the Su family needed to choose a true successor.

And so on and so forth!

It wasn't just the second and third wives who said this; similar remarks also began to appear in the mouths of some elderly members of the Su family.

The power accumulated by the second and third wives over the years was finally unleashed, and they launched a full-scale attack when Su Boyong fell ill and Su Tan'er suffered a setback.

Even Old Master Su could no longer suppress these matters.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the people, Su Tan'er not only did not shrink the business of the main house, but instead used the new weaving technology she had developed to expand weaving workshops in various places.

Many people were shocked and began to wonder why the Su family had built so many weaving workshops if they hadn't won the imperial merchant contract. Without orders, wouldn't it be a waste of money to leave them there?

Some say the Su family is going to have a complete showdown with the Wu family. All those weaving workshops weren't built for nothing; I heard the Su family has adopted new technology, making weaving even cheaper.

Perhaps the Su family will use low prices to disrupt the Wu family's market, causing significant damage to both sides; no one will benefit.

Some people say it's impossible; if the Su family lowers prices on their own, it will not only impact the Wu family's market, but the market of all cloth shops, and may even cause public outrage.

Everyone was talking about it, saying all kinds of things.

Su Tan'er ignored all of this and, despite the immense pressure and huge sums of money, continued to push forward the construction of the new workshop.

Seeing this, the second and third wives were gloating and had no intention of joining the eldest wife's reckless behavior. They all distanced themselves from the eldest wife and even began discussing dividing the family property.

Despite the seemingly chaotic situation and the overwhelming workload everyone else was under, Su Tan'er was actually quite relaxed. The Wu family had already taken the bait; now it was just a matter of how to close the net and maximize their profits.

The eldest son's family has already begun secretly planning for the Wu family's various businesses, and Manager Liao has been sent to Tokyo to tighten the purse strings for the Wu family.

And so, a month passed in the blink of an eye.

As the largest cloth merchant in Jiangning, the Wu family has some advantages. For example, Luo Minzhi, one of the most important elders of the Wu family in Jiangning, is in his early forties and once single-handedly brought the Wu family's weaving skills to their peak.

This time, in addition to the clever manipulation by Wu Qilong and others to obtain the Su family's dyeing formula, another trump card was Luo Minzhi's weaving skills.

After securing the contract with the imperial merchant, he became the most trusted steward of the Wu family, overseeing all the orders for the brocade from the palace.

That day, Luo Minzhi, as usual, went to check on the workshop. His young apprentice, whom he had just taken on last year, came over to report, "Master, the brocade in Qin Minglou's small warehouse looks... a bit faded..."

Luo Minzhi paused slightly: "Qin Minglou's side? I remember that was the first batch, the quality control was probably not very good, um... how many were there?"

The apprentice said, "Not many. The first batch that came out first is all piled up in the corner."

Luo Minzhi nodded, thought for a moment and said, "In the corner... that should be scrap cloth. Hmm, the first batch wasn't handled well, and Manager Chen and I felt it wasn't ideal, so we just threw it there. The corner is damp, so it's inevitable... Hmm, I'll go take a look tomorrow morning."

A month has passed since the competition for the Imperial Merchant, and Canjin Jin has not had any problems during this month. Naturally, he would not think that some discarded cloth fading color means there is a problem with the cloth.

Now, he has even forgotten about the Su family. With such a stable situation, how could there be any problems?

However, out of habit, he still went to the warehouse the next day to take a look. The dyeing material that had faded was the first batch made from the dye formula he had just obtained. He took it to experiment with the weaving method, but was not satisfied with it, so he threw it away.