Chapter 10: Get up where you fell
The old lady left the rice shop, and Zhu Niang's face turned pale.
Zhu Niang called Aunt Li over and told her the rules that the old lady had set before she left. Aunt Li did not realize the seriousness of the problem: "Madam, if we only pay 40 taels a month, we will have a lot of surplus on the books."
Zhu Niang said with a bitter face: "That was in the past. Now our shop's reputation is not as good as before. We have less business in the neighborhood. We have offended the state and county government offices, and even the governor's family... Who among the restaurants and inns in the city dares to take the huge risk of offending the government and continue to do business with us? It's all over now..."
"Mom, you worry too much. Others won't do business with us, but that Su Dongzhu will definitely not do so. We just need to continue trading with him."
Zhu Hao looked relaxed.
Zhu Niang looked at her son in confusion: "Xiaohao, what are you talking about? When Su Dongzhu was doing business with us yesterday, he was arrested by the government and got very angry. Will he continue to do business with us?"
Zhu Hao said: "How can we know if we don't try? The most important thing now is to find out where he is staying so that we can pay him a visit."
"Master Su, he should still be in prison, right?" Zhu Niang was not sure.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Grandmother went to the county government office in person, and my second uncle was not detained, which means that Lord Su chose to compromise. As long as we find out where he is, mother and I will go to visit him... If mother has something unclear, I will talk to him in detail."
Zhu Niang and Aunt Li looked at each other, both somewhat puzzled.
Zhu Hao's eyes were firm: "Don't worry, mother. I know my limits. This time I'm going to discuss business... Even if the deal doesn't work out, we still have friendship. He's not a formal official, so he needs to consider his authority. Businessmen put profit first... Even if 's to apologize, we have to go, right?"
Zhu Niang was at a loss at the moment and could only obey her son's arrangements and try her best to save the situation.
…
…
Zhu Hao said Su Xigui would not blame them, how is that possible?
When Su Xigui went to the "calming banquet" hosted by the Changshou County Magistrate, he found out what had happened yesterday after a few questions.
Involving the internal strife of the Zhu family, the old man wants to fight for the property of the widow and daughter-in-law?
You want to fight, and you use any means necessary, but I became cannon fodder? In the end, the old lady of the Zhu family even came to threaten me and forced me to reconcile?
This is a humiliating feeling that I cannot swallow.
Just when Su Xigui returned to the posthouse and was about to take a short rest before leaving with the salt, his attendant came to report that Zhu Niang came to ask for a meeting.
"She still has the nerve to come?"
Su Xigui was immediately furious.
The attendant inquired: "Then... not seen?"
Su Xigui said: "Of course we have to meet. The old ones are tough, and the young ones should be submissive, right? The women of the Zhu family are really interesting..."
Zhu Niang, who was waiting for the meeting outside the inn, did not expect that she would get what she wanted after a simple message.
I thought the other party would choose to avoid me.
Then she took her son into the inn and came to the flower hall where Su Xigui was drinking tea.
Su Xigui did not stand up to greet him. He held the tea bowl with a half-smile on his face. "Madam, your Zhu family is really clever. I did business with you, but I was caught by your family members and officials... Are you in cahoots with them and deliberately tricked me?"
Zhu Niang said sternly, "Please forgive me, Lord Su, I didn't know anything about it, otherwise I wouldn't have been imprisoned in the county jail with you... I'm here to apologize."
Su Xigui said: "Apology? You should make amends. I was frightened tonight..."
Just as he was speaking, he suddenly found a boy coming out from behind Zhu Niang.
Su Xigui was shocked.
Zhu Hao grinned and said, "Master Su, my mother and I came here specially to apologize and brought you a gift."
"you……"
Su Xigui glared at the follower beside him, as if questioning why two were allowed in at once?
The followers were helpless. It was you who let the people in, but you didn't make it clear in advance who should you blame?
"No need to apologize, just send the gift."
When Su Xigui said this, he suddenly realized that the problem was not that simple, and asked curiously: "What gift?"
Zhu Hao: "A bag of salt."
Su Xigui was so angry that he almost couldn't breathe.
I sell salt. Why do you bring a bag of salt to apologize to me?
You are really making fun of me!
Su Xigui glared at Zhu Niang: "Madam, is this your attitude towards apologizing?"
Zhu Niang was also confused by her son's behavior.
Zhu Hao seemed to be completely unaware of the other party's dislike for him, and continued with a stern face: "Master Su, I have a salt sifting technique that can make official salt into high-quality snowflake salt. But we are small merchants after all, and we don't know much about it. I would like to ask Master Su, is this snowflake salt qualified as tribute salt? Or can it be sold to the provincial capital, Shuntian Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, can it get a good price?"
Su Xigui sneered: "People in small places really look at the world from a narrow perspective."
Zhu Hao took off the small bag on his back without any hurry. He spread out the bag on the table in front of Su Xigui, reached out and grabbed a handful of salt. In the sunlight shining through the window, the salt was crystal clear and sparkling. As soon as he let go, the white salt grains fell slowly like snowflakes.
"Master Su, it is precisely because we are so narrow-minded that we ask you, a knowledgeable person, to help us take a look... This is a sample. There is also a sack outside. Would you like to take a look?"
Su Xigui started to think about it.
"Boss, look..."
The attendant beside him was most familiar with his style. He understood what he meant and gave Su Xigui a way out.
Su Xigui looked unhappy: "Have someone carry it in."
Zhu Hao then walked to the door and greeted him, and Yu San came in carrying a sack of salt, weighing 50 kilograms.
Su Xigui stood up from his seat, walked to the salt bag, opened it himself, spread out his hands, put his five fingers together, and plunged them into the salt bag. He grabbed a handful of salt from the deep, and looked at it for a long time in the sunlight. The more he looked surprised he was. It was a long time before he put the salt back into the bag.
"Did you really screen this?" Su Xigui wondered.
Zhu Hao said: "Yes, we screened it."
There is only one word difference between "sieve" and "dry", and they sound similar. Zhu Hao is an honest man. Even if Su Xigui finds out later, he can't say that I lied to you.
Who told you not to even think about drying salt?
"The salt is good, but it's still far from tribute salt..." Having said that, Su Xigui picked up a few grains of salt and put them in his mouth, smacking them a few times, without any change in his expression.
" If you can tell me the method of sifting salt, perhaps I can continue to do business with you." Su Xigui's old face turned red when he said this, as if he felt that his intentions were too obvious.
"Master Su, we are frogs in a well, but you are not. You covet our recipe before we even start the transaction... This is even more cruel than what our family has done to us."
Zhu Hao said: "Let me put it this way. If Su Dongzhu is willing to cooperate with us, he can provide us with official salt. We can help you filter it and sell it to you. Then Su Dongzhu can use it as tribute salt or sell it in big cities. It has nothing to do with us!"
When Su Xigui heard this, he became furious.
In the morning, I met the old gangster of the Zhu family who was full of witty words but cruel and ruthless. Now I meet the younger one who is also sharp-tongued.
"Mr. Zhu, your last name is Zhu, right? You are really good at talking. You think I will listen to you just by talking a few words?"
Su Xigui said this almost with his upper and lower teeth clenched together.
It looks ferocious, but it's only enough to scare children.
Zhu Hao is a child?
joke!
In terms of mental age, Zhu Hao can be Su Xigui's teacher.
Zhu Hao's face was full of regret: "Before I came here, I thought this deal would be easy to negotiate, but I didn't expect that Su Dongzhu was too concerned about his reputation... Actually, there is no need to worry about it. What is more important than making money? If Su Dongzhu is not interested in cooperation, then we have to find another salt merchant...
"Oh, I told my mother before that Prime Minister Su Dong is very generous. In the future, our transaction volume will increase and our income will increase!"
At this point, Zhu Hao pulled Zhu Niang, who had been watching the show, and said, "Mom, let's go."
Su Xigui was angry but had no place to vent.
Seeing that Zhu Niang and her son were about to leave, he could have forced them to stay, but he had just been "taught a lesson" by Zhu Jiashi, and now he was making things difficult for the chaste woman and her son. If this reputation got out...
"etc!"
Su Xigui returned to his businessman nature.
Zhu Hao turned around and said with a smile: "Master Su, have you come to your senses?"
Seeing Zhu Hao's smug little expression, Su Xigui glared back angrily, but felt calm in his heart.
Isn't it the last resort to take the attitude of "no cooperation, no cooperation" in business? After all, you are just a child... you have no experience. Even if you are proud, can't you show it after you go back?
"I bought your snowflake salt, so you don't sell it locally anymore?" Su Xigui asked.
Zhu Hao said: "Of course, if we have a market, why should we sell it to locals? Besides, ordinary people can't afford snowflake salt... We get the official salt from Su Dongzhu, sell some of it for retail, and give all the good salt to Su Dongzhu. After all, Su Dongzhu is rich and has connections."
“Hehehe!”
Su Xigui did not comment.
Zhu Hao struck while the iron was hot: "And we have thought it through. With our abilities, we are not qualified to do this business for a long time. As long as we cooperate with Su Dongzhu for a period of time and let us support our family business, I can sell you the secret method of sifting salt... In this way, it won't be long before Su Dongzhu can monopolize the Ming Dynasty snowflake salt market."
"Master Su, you have no reason to refuse, right?"
Su Xigui is a businessman who never cheats anyone.
As long as it is profitable, anything can be negotiated.
Under Zhu Hao's leadership, the supply and receipt agreement was quickly negotiated, and then Zhu Hao said, "Boss Su, before the transaction begins, we have to borrow some money from you for turnover."
Su Xigui sneered: "You want to borrow money from me? Why?"
Zhu Hao said, "To be honest, my grandmother came to my house this morning and asked her to pay 40 taels of silver to the family every month. If she fails to pay, the shop and the recipe will be taken away by her. We are not borrowing for free. We use the land and house contract as collateral and borrow 200 taels of silver at a time... It should be no problem, right?"
Su Xigui pondered carefully for a while, then nodded: "I have inquired about your family's situation. It is not a problem to sell the land and houses for 1,800 taels, and borrowing 200 taels is no problem... Come here, withdraw 220 taels of silver. 200 taels are for mortgage, and 20 taels are for free..."
"Boss, this... isn't good, is it?"
The accountant who rushed over after hearing the news raised objections.
When borrowing money, one should pay nine out of ten and return thirty. How can you just give it away for free?
Even Zhu Niang was surprised.
Before coming, Zhu Hao mentioned that the next step is to expand the business in order to cope with the increasingly stringent pressure from the family, and the more sufficient the capital, the better. The Zhu family will not reason with you. Since it is agreed that you will pay 40 taels per month, it is impossible for them not to come to collect this month's payment as it is the end of May.
With the land and houses as collateral, it was impossible for Su Xigui to refuse the loan, but she could not imagine having to pay more.
"Master Su is really open-minded. Then we will leave the land and house contracts and take the silver away. I also wish you a prosperous business."
