Chapter 86: The Loss Outweighs the Gain
The old lady did not spend the night in the city. After asking Zhu Hao about the situation, she left the city.
It was Zhu Niang who found a carriage to send her back to the farm outside the city. It was obvious that neither she nor the housekeeper Liu had gained the old lady's trust. Before the spy was found, the Zhu family had to be on guard against being spied on again. As a result, although it was the Jinyiwei who were investigating the Prince Xing's Mansion, they were led by the nose.
Zhu Hao thought about it and thought that perhaps Captain Lin did not hide anything from Zhu Jia regarding the issue of Lu Song, but Zhu Jia kept the secret strictly from everyone inside and outside.
A bunch of cunning fellows!
After seeing the old lady off, Zhu Hao unexpectedly discovered that quite a few people came to buy salt that afternoon. In the past few days, there might not be anyone coming to the shop, but Zhu Hao only stayed in the shop for a while at dusk and saw no less than ten customers coming to buy salt.
This has almost returned to the situation when the shop's business was at its peak.
After a customer left, Zhu Hao took the opportunity to ask, "Mom, has our shop been doing much better recently?"
Zhu Niang said with emotion: "I heard that it is very inconvenient to sell salt everywhere recently. The court has increased the tax on salt. Only our shop sells salt at a fair price. Naturally, more neighbors come to buy it."
Aunt Li said, "I don't know why the government would increase taxes for no reason."
Zhu Hao understood the reason.
On the 16th day of the first lunar month in the 9th year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, a fire broke out in the imperial palace, and many palaces including the Qianqing Palace were burned down. The emperor ordered that the palaces must be repaired within one year. The court not only increased taxes at various customs offices, but also levied exorbitant levies on local prefectures and cities, causing widespread resentment among the people.
For a place like Huguang where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, it takes several months for the court's policies to take effect. Now it is the autumn harvest season, when autumn crops are harvested in various places. Government officials at all levels are opening their bloody mouths to reap the wealth of the people. As official salt is a necessity for people's lives, it is natural that they are exploited without mercy.
"Mother, not only has the tax on salt been increased, but I heard that the court has been buying up large amounts of stone and wood in Huguang, Sichuan and other places, and the prices they are paying are much lower than usual, and they are almost all asking the locals to transport them to the capital at their own expense. They should be building palaces and fortifications, and everyone in Prince Xing's palace has been talking about it lately."
Zhu Hao gave out "rumors" and stated the source.
Zhu Niang nodded and her face became heavy.
Aunt Li asked, "Madam, all the salt shops are raising their prices. Should we follow suit?"
Zhu Niang said, "It is a rare opportunity for the neighbors to give us, an orphan and a widow, a chance to start a business again. If we raise the price and make the people eat expensive salt, wouldn't it be a betrayal of the neighbors' trust? We can't do such a thing."
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Mom, it's right to be kind, but you can't abuse it. Su Dongzhu has a strong background, and we get the goods from him, so we are not affected by the tax increase, but it's different for others.
"As for the trust of the neighbors...isn't it because our salt hasn't caused any problems in the past few months? The salt we sell is cheap, so they will buy from us. If it's too cheap, it's not good. Our competitors are our enemies, and those salt sellers outside will try every means to trip us up. It's hard to guard against."
Zhu Hao simply analyzed the reasons why the business was doing well and what to do next.
We can’t just keep the prices the same. We still need to add more, but we can’t go too far.
Aunt Li was still terrified: "Before, the salt sold in our shop was cheaper than that of other shops, which made our business prosperous and brought in a lot of money every month, so the family coveted it... Now that I think about it, isn't this another important reason why we got into trouble with the authorities?"
Zhu Niang said, "Before, it was because the tribe was prejudiced against us, not because of suppression from our peers. We should just sell it as usual. Even if we make less profit... can't we make up for it somewhere else?"
Although Zhu Hao didn't say anything, he was still very worried and decided to have a good talk with his stubborn mother before returning to the palace.
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The next day, Zhu Hao stayed at home to help.
Zhu Niang always asked him to go to the backyard to study, but Zhu Hao went to the backyard to move things around, saying that he needed to relax his mind on his day off and could help with some chores at home.
Yu San was called over afterwards, but it was Zhu Hao who asked Xiao Bai to notify them early in the morning, and he called Yu San directly to the back alley.
"Brother Hao, what's up?"
Yu San was puzzled, why was Zhu Hao so mysterious?
Zhu Hao said, "I want you to help me contact someone to see if you can find a troupe. It's boring to just listen to the story. I want to find someone to act in the play. It would be best if you could just buy the troupe."
"ah?"
Yu Sanyi was shocked.
You are such an ambitious kid!
You made some money from running a theater, but it's only been open for a few days? You can't make that much money now, so you actually want to buy a theater troupe?
Who gave you the courage!
Do you know how much it costs to buy a troupe?
Zhu Hao said: "This time, I plan to ask my mother to invest. Anyway, you can help me find it."
Yu San asked, "Brother Hao, should we tell Madam about this?"
"If anyone wants to say anything, I should be the one to say it. You don't want my mother to know that you are running a bookstore business while helping out in the shop, right? I'm afraid my mother won't use you anymore then..."
Previously, Yu San warned Zhu Hao not to go to listen to storytelling, saying that Zhu Niang knew that the storytelling business was booming and planned to go and take a look.
But Yu San was obviously afraid that Zhu Niang would know that he was the one running the storytelling hall. This was like working two jobs. Zhu Niang paid Yu San according to the standard of a long-term worker, and she would give Yu San a big bonus every time he transported salt, unless Yu San planned to rely on the storytelling hall to make a living in the future.
If the storytelling hall had just opened half a month ago and was making a lot of money, Yu San might have given up his job at the Zhu family and focused on running the storytelling hall.
But now he realized that the bookstore business had no future because there were too many people following the trend, and those people were mean and mean and only made trouble for others.
"Go ahead. I'll go to the theater in the evenings these two days. If you have any news, please inform me in time. I'll start the show as soon as I write a few good plays. Let's see how those theaters compete with me!"
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Zhu Hao wants to create a one-stop cultural service.
Saying that he was looking for Zhu Niang to invest was just a way to reassure Yu San. Everything would be discussed after finding a troupe. Even if he was looking for an investor, Zhu Hao would prefer to look for one in the palace, and the best one would be... of course, Zhu Si.
Whether or not he makes money is not important. What is important is to let Zhu Si get in touch with the affairs of the market and tie them to his own interests. At the same time, let Zhu Si know that he is good at making money, and they can make money together after he ascends the throne in the future.
Before leaving in the afternoon, Zhu Hao pulled Zhu Niang into his room and explained the situation to her alone: "Mom, we can make money now mainly because we dry our salt ourselves. It seems to be blown by the wind. It looks white, but it actually hides dangers... What we are most afraid of is that someone will find out that our salt is not legitimate, right?"
Zhu Niang was silent for a moment.
"If we act differently and sell salt at a low price against the market trend, damaging the interests of the big salt merchants, they will definitely investigate us secretly and find out everything about us. In the end, we will be the only ones who suffer... It's not worth it, mother."
Originally, Zhu Niang wanted to take care of the neighbors wholeheartedly, but after listening to Zhu Hao's words, she suddenly realized that she could do business with the neighbors, but she could not risk her own life and that of her children.
After finally settling down and making a ton of money wholesale snowflake salt, why would you put your family in danger for an insignificant retail business?
Zhu Hao said: "So we usually sell salt at a slightly lower price than the market price, and don't always ask for a higher price when weighing... We want to do long-term business, and understand the principle of gain and loss! At worst, if the neighbors are in trouble in the future, we can lend a hand and donate more in times of disaster."
Zhu Niang was finally persuaded by her son and nodded, saying, "Then I will put up the notice tomorrow morning and raise the price accordingly. Don't worry about the family affairs."
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do not worry?
Easier said than done!
Zhu Hao knew very well that Zhu Niang was only suitable for doing honest neighborhood business and lacked decisiveness in doing big things. For now, he had to make decisions on his own about the salt stall, as only he had the ability to support it.
After returning to the palace, Jinghong did not come back that night.
It was Lu Song who came to find Zhu Hao and brought him some news.
"...I heard that the eunuch Zhang Zhong from the Imperial Horse Administration will arrive in Anlu in a few days...He is coming from Jiangxi and Gan. Given his relationship with the eunuch in charge of the East Factory, I'm afraid he will inquire about the affairs of Prince Xing's Mansion."
The Zhengde Emperor had many treacherous men under his command, and Zhang Zhong, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables, was one of them.
This Zhang Zhong, together with the eunuch Zhang Rui, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, and the eunuch Zhang Xiong, the chief secretary of the Imperial Household Department, were known as the "Three Zhangs". They were the leading eunuchs during the Zhengde period. Even though their status could not be compared with that of Qian Ning and Jiang Bin, it was enough to shake the officialdom.
The eunuch commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot has thousand-households and hundred-households under him. According to the "Ming History Criminal Law", "The Eastern Depot has no dedicated officials. There is one thousand-household in charge of punishment and one hundred-household in charge of punishment, also known as the "Tiexing", all of whom are guard officers. All their servants are provided by the guards..." This means that all the people under the commander-in-chief came from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Generally speaking, the eunuch commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot is parallel to or even higher than the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and has leadership over the general Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Zhu Hao asked, "Did Captain Lin tell you this?"
Lu Song shook his head and said, "The news came from the palace. It is said that Zhang Zhong came here to supervise the transportation of wood and stone."
The imperial palace was being renovated and the court allocated a large amount of money to purchase earth and stones. There was plenty of money and opportunities to take advantage of the situation. The eunuchs were all competing for this lucrative position. The fact that Zhang Zhong was able to get this opportunity to leave the capital showed how much the emperor valued him. This guy first went to Jiangxi to extort some money from Prince Ning. In the year, Prince Ning was restoring his guards, and a group of close ministers around the emperor made a lot of efforts. How could he do without the share given by Zhu Chenhao when he arrived there?
"Lu Dianzhang told me this important news because he wanted me to inform the outside world? Didn't Lu Dianzhang mention this to Captain Lin?"
Zhu Hao asked nonchalantly.
Lu Song said: "I believe the Jinyiwei will get the news soon, so there is no need for us to pass it on. I just want to know whether your Zhu family will receive Zhang Zhong?"
Zhu Hao spread his hands: "Where can I ask? Besides, is this eunuch Zhang very familiar with our Zhu family?"
Lu Song looked over with an expression that said "it's hard to describe".
Zhu Hao could only understand it as: I know the current situation of your Zhu family. For the sake of your eldest son who is held hostage in the capital , you are building relationships everywhere. Now that Zhang Zhong is passing through Anlu, won't the Zhu family take the opportunity to curry favor with him after learning the news?
"Let's take a step back. Even if the Zhu family really wants to curry favor with this eunuch Zhang, the question is what effect will it have on Lu Dianzhang? Could it be that Lu Dianzhang wants to leak this news to let people know that my Zhu family is very close to the treacherous officials in the court, so as to attract the upright officials in the court to criticize my Zhu family and then successfully drive the Zhu family out of Anlu?"
Zhu Hao's words were sharp.
It's not that he has to be straightforward with Lu Song, but the other party has been showing his sharp edge frequently. If he still looks timid and ignorant, he doesn't know how Lu Song will deal with him.
Lu Song said: "I have informed you of the news. What you do is up to you... But since Zhang Zhong has arrived in Anlu, Prince Xing's Mansion cannot ignore it. If you want to send the information out, I may be able to help you."
Zhu Hao smiled and shook his head: "No need, my mission is to study hard in the palace, other things... have nothing to do with me."
