The Prodigal Son

On August 11th, officials gathered outside Changping City.

Compared to a few days ago, there were far fewer merchants crowding the market to buy pepper.

The main reason is that people from Daning keep bringing pepper to sell.

It ranges from a few hundred shi to one or two thousand shi.

At first, everyone was scrambling to grab it.

But as more and more pepper was shipped in, the pockets of small and medium-sized merchants were already emptied.

Large buyers are still snapping up goods, but their enthusiasm is waning rapidly.

Many people think that if they consume all the goods today and there are no more goods tomorrow, they can resell them and make a fortune.

However, the market still saw large quantities of pepper the next day.

No matter how much you sweep, you can never sweep up all the pepper in the market.

Gradually, the skyrocketing price of pepper began to decline.

Today, several large merchants are still wandering around the market, and they all have a lot of goods on hand.

They're not here to buy anything today; they just want to see if any more pepper has arrived.

As they waited expectantly, a long queue came into view.

There were both mule-drawn carts and human-powered handcarts.

All the vehicles were loaded with goods.

Before the convoy even reached the market, Jiang Bai, leading the way, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Pepper! Top-quality pepper! First come, first served!"

black pepper?

Upon hearing Jiang Bai's shout, several large merchants from the Yan Kingdom felt a sudden unease.

Such a long convoy?

Is it possible that everything shipped in is pepper?

Filled with unease, a short, stout merchant from Yan hurried forward, "Brother, how much pepper do you have?"

Jiang Bai held up his hand to form the number eight, and said with his nostrils flared, "Eight thousand shi!"

"Eight...eight thousand koku?"

The short, stout merchant's expression changed drastically.

The combined total of these large merchants was less than two thousand shi of pepper!

This time it's eight thousand shi?

Jiang Bai revealed a shrewd businessman's expression, looking at the short, stout merchant with some impatience, "Brother, if you have enough silver on hand, we can negotiate a price! If you don't have any silver, don't block my path to wealth."

"OK!"

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The short, stout merchant didn't waste any time. "Same as always, inspect the goods first, then discuss the price!"

"no problem!"

Jiang Bai readily agreed and immediately had two sacks of pepper unloaded and opened.

The short, stout merchant carefully inspected the goods, and the people around him also gathered around to inspect them.

Ah!

The quality is pretty good!

A few days ago, this would have been a hot commodity.

After inspecting the goods, the short, stout merchant directly grasped Jiang Bai's hand.

Both men concealed their hands within their sleeves, silently negotiating the price using hand gestures.

This is a bargaining method that has only recently started appearing at this market.

The main reason was that everyone was scrambling for pepper, driving up prices, which made the Ning people very wealthy, while their own costs increased significantly.

Therefore, the merchants from the Yan state unified their approach and began negotiating prices using this new method.

"I want ten bushels!"

The short, stout customer had no intention of buying any more goods, so he gave a symbolic quote and planned to deliberately lower the price during the negotiation.

In this way, even if the other party agrees, he won't need to spend too much money.

The two men hid their hands in their sleeves, and the short, stout merchant made the first offer.

Twenty taels!

However, Jiang Bai didn't haggle with him at all and agreed immediately.

The short, stout merchant's expression changed. They'd agreed to that?

You should know that in many parts of Yan, the price of pepper has already risen to 37 or 38 taels per catty!

He sells goods even at 20 taels per catty?

Haven't you ever seen silver before?

"readily!"

The short, stout merchant felt bitter inside, but forced a smile onto his face.

In front of so many people, it's not easy to go back on your word.

After all, we're all regulars here, so reputation is very important.

"Pack!"

The short, stout merchant forced out a single word, already understanding the situation.

This person agreed to such a low price!

This means that a large amount of pepper will be transported over after the initial 8,000 shi of pepper!

He must know that if he doesn't sell now, the price will only go lower and lower!

That's why we were in such a hurry to act!

Oh no, the price of pepper is going to plummet!

We need to quickly throw all the peppercorns out of our hands!

He's no longer hoping to make a fortune; breaking even is enough for him!

The deal was quickly reached between the two parties.

Seeing that the situation was not good, other merchants also stepped forward to negotiate prices.

Most people only want three to five stones, just to inquire about the price.

And the prices they quoted were all different.

The highest price was no more than 25 taels per catty.

Those who were just there for the fun of it even quoted a price of fifteen taels per catty.

However, no matter what price they quoted, Jiang Bai would sell.

They give the impression that they're afraid their goods won't sell.

At this moment, everyone understood what was going on.

Without saying much, they quickly completed the transaction and left with the goods.

Most people simply had their servants and attendants transport the goods while they went back ahead to unload them.

Before the news of a large influx of pepper into the market spreads, hurry up and dump your stock!

If we don't get rid of these goods soon, they'll all be stuck with us!

At the same time, large quantities of pepper from Yanzhou also flowed into the neighboring Pangzhou.

There's nothing we can do; there's just too much pepper in Yanzhou, and the price is starting to drop.

Many people are thinking about selling their pepper as soon as possible in Pangzhou, where pepper prices haven't dropped much yet, and selling as much as they can!

Meanwhile, Jiang Bai's men in the neighboring states also began dumping large quantities of goods.

For a time, pepper vendors appeared on the streets and alleys of Pangzhou.

Some sell for seven or eight jin, while others sell for dozens or even hundreds of shi.

Things are rare.

Pepper, which was once so hard to buy even with money, has now become readily available everywhere.

This caused the price of pepper to collapse.

In just one day, the price of pepper, which was approaching the 40 mark, was halved.

In front of a restaurant in Pangzhou Prefecture, the restaurant manager also began to sell off his goods.

However, the pepper, which was originally in high demand, is now rarely inquired about.

Even if someone occasionally asks about the price, it's ridiculously low.

"Fifteen taels? Go find somewhere cool to stay!"

The restaurant owner waved his hand irritably, "At this price, I might as well keep it for my own restaurant!"

You can't negotiate a price like this!

The average price of his batch of goods was about 25 taels per catty, but the other party quoted him a price of 15 taels per catty.

So you want him to lose money?

"Take it or leave it!"

The person who inquired about the price didn't bother to say anything more, turned around and left without lingering.

"Go away, go away!"

The restaurant owner waved his hand impatiently and started shouting again, "Pepper, the finest pepper!"

In the past, as long as someone shouted this, a large crowd would flock to the scene.

But today, he shouted himself hoarse before someone finally came over.

He secretly made up his mind that as long as the other party offered a price higher than his average price, he would make a move immediately!

"Shopkeeper, do you buy pepper?"

While he was lost in thought, the other person spoke first and placed their basket in front of him.

The shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat, and he tentatively asked, "At what price do you want to sell it?"

The other party chuckled and said, "Take a look at the quality of the goods first, and see what price you can offer."

As he spoke, the other party opened the bag inside the basket for him to inspect the goods.

The shopkeeper glanced at it and casually quoted a price: "Twelve taels per catty, how about that?"

"Okay, no problem!"

The other party readily agreed, as if they had gotten a great deal.

Upon seeing this, the shopkeeper's face turned deathly pale.

It's over. All my years of hard work are going to be wasted on pepper...