The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

Shen He was taken aback, and hesitated before saying, "Mr. Chen, if we do this, how will we make money?"

"Since you're inviting people to drink but not charging them, what if they drink three jars and you end up giving them a hundred strings of cash for free? Wouldn't that be a loss?"

Without turning his head, Chen Huai'an said, "I'm not letting you keep doing this indefinitely. Each stall will be provided with a fixed amount of fifty jars of wine every day. Once they're all gone, it's over. Each person only has one chance to take on the challenge."

"Then we told everyone that this event would only last for ten days, and it would be discontinued after that."

"At the same time, we quickly contacted major wine merchants, restaurants, taverns, and even merchants from foreign lands in Chang'an, and sold the wine directly to them. No matter how much they set the price, we only sold it for two hundred coins per jar."

Shen He hesitated for a moment, then forced herself to say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, it's not that I doubt you, but this deal is mostly funded by the powerful people behind me, as you are surely aware of."

"I need to understand your purpose in doing this, otherwise I'll have a hard time explaining myself to this important person..."

At this point, she seemed to realize that her words had been a bit too blunt, and quickly added, "Besides, we don't have much money left. If we want to set up several stalls in Chang'an as you said, that means we'll need to set up at least several hundred strings of cash."

"For this part of the money... I need to ask the benefactor behind me for help."

Hearing this, Chen Huai'an turned around and stared at her for a couple of moments, then said with a smile, "I thought you were just a tool who only knew how to do things and didn't care about anything else. Now it seems that you still ask questions when you encounter something you don't understand."

Shen He: "..."

Chen Huai'an pointed with his chin at the sealed wine in the distance: "Miss Shen, in business, you have to give up something to gain something. If you want to make big money, you have to be prepared to lose big money first."

"The reason I did this is to quickly make our wine famous. With fame and good wine, many merchants will come begging to buy our wine without you even having to contact them."

"What's the point of having the best wine if we don't do this? Just wait for word of mouth to spread?"

"That's too slow!"

"I will amass the greatest wealth in the shortest time possible, so that the saying 'Even heroes cannot resist the charms of a beautiful woman' will resound throughout the entire Tang Dynasty!"

Shen He was not stupid; otherwise, she would not have been qualified to be sent by Empress Dowager Changsun to contact Chen Huai'an. Now, after hearing the explanation, she understood the purpose of this action and said admiringly, "Sir, you have foresight. I was presumptuous."

Chen Huai'an raised an eyebrow and said, "Now that you understand, hurry back and ask the Crown Princess for money. You need to set up at least four stalls in Chang'an, which means you'll need at least four hundred strings of cash."

"You can tell the Crown Princess directly. She can rest assured. There's no one in this world who can drink three jars of wine on the spot and still stand up!"

Shen He pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping over the pile of wine, and she couldn't help but agree.

As the person most deeply involved in this business, she certainly knew just how strong the liquor was.

If you drank three jars on the spot, would you still be able to stand up?

Okay, I admit you're someone important. I'll gladly give you a hundred strings of cash.

Shen He left.

Chen Huai'an watched for a while, then Yunyan reminded him, "Sir, it's almost noon, shall we go home for lunch?"

"Okay." Chen Huai'an agreed, then suddenly remembered something and took out a blueprint from his pocket: "Never mind, I won't go back yet. Give this blueprint to the craftsman and have him make two plows for me."

"Tell them that money is not an issue; if they do a good job, they'll be richly rewarded!"

Yunyan nodded obediently, took the blueprint, and said without asking any questions, "Sir, you may have to wait for me for a while. I will be back later to cook for you."

"No need, you go ahead with your work. While you're at it, urge those craftsmen to finish making the rest of the stills. As for me... that country bumpkin Wei Zheng still owes me a meal. I'll go find him."

Yunyan: "..."

.......

In the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, Empress Dowager Changsun listened quietly to Shen He's report and Chen Huai'an's request, without making any comment.

I only asked one question: "Why do you think Mr. Chen is in such a hurry?"

"He could easily open his own shop, whether it's a restaurant or a tavern, and he'd have no shortage of buyers for wine priced at two or three hundred coins."

"He could have done it himself and made more money in the long run, but he chose to supply wine to other merchants and restaurants and charge a fixed fee of two hundred coins, regardless of their selling price."

"This approach isn't bad, but it's ultimately not as good as the former."

Shen He pondered for a moment and said, "This servant dares not ask too many questions. Perhaps... Mr. Chen does not want to offend anyone, so he chooses to share a portion of the profits and only act as a supplier of wine."

Empress Zhangsun remained noncommittal, then asked Li Chengqian, who was reading a book not far away, "Chengqian, do you think Mr. Chen is afraid of offending people?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian put down his book and said with certainty, "No, even a fool can understand that the profit from this deal will be astronomical. That's why Mr. Chen not only gave us the lion's share but also brought Chu Mo and the others along."

"Just the Duke of Su behind Chu Mo is someone few in the world dare to offend, not to mention the forces behind Li Zhen and Tang Heshang."

Empress Zhangsun turned her gaze to Shen He.

After a moment's thought, the latter cautiously asked, "Could it be because... Mr. Chen wants to monopolize the liquor industry?"

"Everyone knows that the people of the Tang Dynasty are addicted to alcohol. If Mr. Chen wants to monopolize it, he'll offend far too many people..."

"If a portion of the profits were distributed, there would be no such concern."

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhangsun shook her head again: "Although doing this will indeed offend a large number of people, what does it matter?"

"From the very beginning, Chen Huai'an found the biggest backer. He doesn't actually need to pay attention to these issues. He just needs to slow down a little, and sooner or later he can maximize his benefits."

"But now he has chosen to share some of the profits."

"This method has one advantage!"

Li Chengqian looked up: "Mother, what are the benefits?"

Empress Changsun asserted, "He's in a very hurry to amass such a massive amount of wealth in such a short time!"

Why is he in such a hurry?

Li Chengqian suddenly froze.

He remembered a question Chen Huai'an had asked him before.

Empress Zhangsun didn't notice her son's expression. After thinking for a moment, she sighed and said, "Never mind, the way these smart people do things is always incomprehensible."

"Alright, Shen He, take a look at what other jewelry I have left. Pawn it if you can, and send it all to Mr. Chen."

"..."

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