Chapter 90: Ways to Make Money
Jing Hong originally regarded Zhu Hao as a competitor, but after seeing Zhu Hao's talent, he was greatly impressed. This time he thought he was speaking for Zhu Hao out of loyalty, but to Zhu Youluo and Yuan Zonggao, his words were too naive and childish.
"Okay, you go back first."
Yuan Zonggao waved his hand and asked Jinghong to leave.
After Jing Hong left, Yuan Zonggao looked at Zhu Youju and asked, "What does Prince Xing think?"
Zhu Youju stood up from his seat, looking confused: "But does Tang Yin really have such ability? He cultivated Zhu Hao for only ten months and made his talent soar to the level of a scholar or a juren?"
Yuan Zonggao said: "Prince Ning is showing his rebellious side. If Tang Yin is really as talented as the legend says, he will not stay in Nanchang for long. The palace may take this opportunity to recruit him... Even if he is only allowed to be the prince's tutor, it will be something worth celebrating for the palace."
The two had discussed Tang Yin's talent before and thought about recruiting him for their own benefit, but after all, Tang Yin did not take the initiative to contact the Prince Xing's Mansion, and the Prince Xing's Mansion never extended an olive branch.
"Yuan Changshi, you can handle it as appropriate. The position of the royal palace instructor must be appointed to a capable person." The implication was that Zhu Youqiu entrusted the task of recruiting Tang Yin to Yuan Zonggao.
It was just an idea before, but now I have to put it into action and try to get in touch with Tang Yin to see if he has any plans to join the Prince Xing's Mansion.
Yuan Zonggao bowed respectfully and said, "I will arrange it right away."
…
…
After meeting Prince Xing and Yuan Zonggao, Jing Hong returned with a heavy heart.
When he saw Zhu Hao in the afternoon, he didn't dare to face him directly, for fear that Zhu Hao would be driven out of Prince Xing's Mansion and he would become a shameful accomplice.
"Zhu Hao, Xiao Si and I have shown our faces in front of our father today. It's all because of your teaching... Of course, Mr. Gongsun also deserves credit. He entrusted the teaching to you. This is his smartest thing."
When Zhu San arrived at the school, his smile was exceptionally bright.
In front of her father, she praised Gongsun Yi for his excellent teaching quality. In fact, she was pretending to be ignorant and did it on purpose.
Zhu Size said: "It's a pity that I didn't ask my father for a reward, otherwise it would be nice to go out of the palace to watch a play."
Ever since watching "The Monkey King 3: The End" with Zhu Hao, Zhu Si has been thinking about the scenes on the stage from time to time. His studies seem to be improving rapidly, but that is mainly due to Zhu Hao's proper teaching method. In fact, he does not put all his attention on studying.
Zhu Houcong was very talented, but he couldn't concentrate on his studies. Like his sister, he was too playful.
Zhu Hao's eyes fell on Jing Hong and asked, "It seems that Yuan Changshi also called you over. What did he say to you?"
"No...nothing."
Jing Hong's inner worries were all written on his face.
But he still wanted to pretend that nothing had happened and didn't dare to confront Zhu Hao directly.
Zhu Hao secretly speculated that it was impossible for the royal palace not to know Gongsun Yi's ability. Once they found that Zhu San and Zhu Si's learning progress was accelerated, they would definitely suspect that there was some other reason.
Calling Jinghong over for questioning would mostly be about what happened in class.
Zhu Hao was not very worried that he would be targeted by the palace. I helped you teach the prince, but you didn't thank me and drove me away? What's the logic?
If you really think that I have ulterior motives and am deliberately targeting you, then there is no point in me staying in the palace. Anyway, Zhu Houcong and I already know each other. After I get out, I will find a place to study again. Isn't it better to fish for three days and dry the net for two days than to stay in Prince Xing's Palace and go to class every day?
At this time, Zhu Hao no longer cared so much about whether he stayed in the palace. He was a little tired of the role of a study companion.
He had to go over things he already knew by heart again in class, which was extremely boring. He now wanted to go out and explore the different places in Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, age was always a big problem. Besides, he had no achievements now, so it was inconvenient for him to go out of town.
Just as he was thinking about something, Gongsun Yi appeared at the door of the school with a radiant face. He did not bring a lesson plan with him, but only a copy of Mencius to teach. When he got to the podium, he looked at Zhu Hao with a smile, knowing that he had taken a big advantage of Zhu Hao.
"It's time to start the lecture. Let me read it to you first. You should memorize the chapters and notes. When it's almost done... let Zhu Hao tell you his thoughts. Let's begin!"
Zhu San stuck out his tongue when he heard this.
This teacher really didn't treat Zhu Hao as an outsider. This class became Zhu Hao's stage. Then why did you, Gongsun Yi, come here? Just to be a vase and look good?
…
…
The days in the palace passed one by one.
In the blink of an eye, it is the twelfth lunar month.
As the temperature dropped to freezing point, the salt drying stalls outside the city basically stopped, and large-scale salt production would have to wait until next year. However, Su Xigui's demand for refined salt did not stop.
At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Su Xigui went to Anlu in person to talk to Zhu Niang about why the "salt screening" had stopped recently . Could it be that your salt screening was also affected by weather and seasonal changes? Or maybe it was not salt screening at all, but refined salt made by other methods?
After learning about Su Xigui's intention, Zhu Niang did not dare to face him and kept claiming to be ill and not going out.
On the afternoon of the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, after Zhu Hao returned home, Zhu Niang took Zhu Hao to meet Su Xigui in a teahouse next to the inn where he was staying.
"Mrs. Zhu, you really made me wait so long. I have been here for three days before I finally saw you. This refined salt business has been going on for half a year, and now the supply has suddenly decreased by a lot. Have you found a better buyer and are planning to part ways with me, Su? Don't forget who helped you when you were in trouble!"
Su Xigui started to make trouble as soon as he came up.
Su Xigui actually also wanted to know how Zhu Niang got so much refined salt.
Through his information channels, he found out that Zhu Niang was still selling salt secretly. He thought that Zhu Niang was selling refined salt, but after careful investigation, he found out that Zhu Niang was reselling the salt he gave her.
When the two parties were cooperating happily, Su Xigui naturally turned a blind eye, but now that Zhu Niang's salt supply was insufficient, of course he was going to cause trouble.
Zhu Niang wanted to apologize, but unexpectedly Zhu Hao beside her interrupted with a smile: "Master Su, you must have made a lot of money in the past six months, right?"
Su Xigui squinted his eyes and looked at Zhu Hao.
There was something else in his eyes, and after a while he said, "Master Zhu, I haven't seen you for half a year, and you are still as sharp-tongued as ever. Don't you think about how much salt you have supplied? This little bit of salt...at most it can sustain the daily consumption of those wealthy families and make a name for yourself. As for making money...haha, it's just a drop in the bucket."
Zhu Hao said, "From what Master Su said, you want to take our recipe back and make a lot of money? With the manpower and resources you have, it would be easier to make money... right?"
Su Xigui smiled, no longer hiding the truth, and nodded, saying, "If there really is such a recipe, the price is negotiable."
Simple and crude!
How much salt can I sift out of the recipe in the hands of you small-time people? Why not sell the recipe to me and I will find more people to do it. Wouldn't that be more efficient than you?
Zhu Niang said hurriedly: "We won't sell our son."
When Su Xigui heard this, his face suddenly darkened.
Zhu Hao said, "It's not that we can't give you the recipe. After all, we can't make a lot of money. But this will make Su Dongzhu a lot of money... But I'm afraid that when we want to ask for benefits, Su Dongzhu will turn his face against us!"
Su Xigui frowned: "Am I the kind of person who would cross the river and then destroy the bridge, being ungrateful?"
"We naturally believe in Su Dongzhu's character, but the problem is that the interests involved are too great. What's more, if Huang Fantai reports this recipe to the court, it may bring revolutionary changes to the salt industry of the Ming Dynasty and greatly help Huang Fantai's career. This back and forth..."
Zhu Hao meant that it was not that the recipe could not be sold, but it depended on its value.
Su Xigui looked at Zhu Hao eagerly: "Name your price."
Zhu Hao was about to say something when Zhu Niang quickly grabbed her son's hand... It was clearly a profitable business, so why would he give the secret recipe to others?
Zhu Hao smiled at Zhu Niang in a comforting way, then turned to Su Xigui with a firm look, "Ten thousand taels, plus 10% of the profits from the refined salt business of Su Dongzhu in the future."
"What!?"
Su Xigui immediately stood up and looked at Zhu Hao coldly, "You really want too much, ten thousand taels... why don't you go and rob it?"
Even Zhu Niang was extremely shocked. What happened to her son today?
We agreed that he was only here to explain the reason why we couldn't supply salt and to discuss the next year's salt drying process. Why did my son start talking about selling secret recipes right away?
Zhu Hao said, "Boss Su, you are a smart man. Don't you know how big the interests behind this business are? You should have investigated that our salt is not sifted from the salt you provided, but made by ourselves. Don't you want to know how we, an orphan and a widow, can make so much high-quality snowflake salt?"
Zhu Niang hurriedly stood up and pulled her son: "Master Su, please forgive me. We will not discuss business matters today."
“No, no!”
Who is Su Xigui?
Ten thousand taels...
To Zhu Niang, that was an astronomical figure. She had made a lot of money in the past six months of doing business, but after deducting the part she gave to the Zhu family, her income was only three or four hundred taels. This was mainly because the salt-drying business depended on the weather. It was very difficult to make salt in Anlu after the autumn. In addition, the bitter brine that naturally seeped out of the ground in the surrounding areas was becoming less and less, the resources were insufficient, and the output was greatly limited.
But for Su Xigui...the price is very fair.
It's just that he didn't want to give a portion of the profits to Zhu Niang and her son. If the deal was successful, the annual revenue would be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels. If he gave only 10% to Zhu Niang, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Zhu Hao said, "Mom, after all, we are not a wealthy family. We really don't have the ability to make a long-term business of this recipe. It's better to sell it to Su Dongzhu than to others... Isn't this the day we thought about when we first started working with Su Dongzhu?"
Zhu Niang would never sell the salt-drying recipe, but after hearing what Zhu Hao said, she felt it made sense.
I have made a lot of money in the past six months, but I have been living in fear from beginning to end. My son is now studying in the palace and has a promising future. If I continue to do the business of drying and selling salt illegally, the consequences will be unimaginable if something goes wrong.
Isn't it great to earn ten thousand taels of silver steadily?
Su Xigui smiled and said, "Master Zhu is smart. It's good to hold this business in your own hands, but no matter how secretive the recipe is, there will be a day when it is known by outsiders. By then, it will be worthless. It's better to make a fortune while no one knows about it. This is the way to make money!"
