Chapter 138: Welcome
“The Pingjiang Prefectural Yamen wouldn’t dare, but the Silk Guild has money, people, and influence. Can you handle it?” Gu Yan exhaled the breath he had been holding and asked irritably.
“I think I can.” Li Xiaonan thought of Eldest Sister’s instructions and didn’t dare to be too confident.
Gu Yan glanced sideways at Li Xiaonan, and after a moment, he sighed, “You’re like a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger.”
“I’m going to be the richest person in the world. The richest person means I’m the best at doing business in the whole world. If I can’t even deal with one Pingjiang Prefecture Silk Guild, how can I be the richest person?” Li Xiaonan looked at Gu Yan and asked seriously.
Gu Yan looked at Li Xiaonan, blinked a few times, tapped her with his folding fan, and though he didn’t speak, he chuckled.
Li Xiaonan picked up another scallion oil pastry and ate it while watching Gu Yan laugh.
“Do you think they’ll resort to dirty tricks? Like beating me up, beating up Eldest Sister, finding people to cause trouble at our shop, and forcing Sister-in-law Yin to not partner with us?” Li Xiaonan asked after finishing the scallion oil pastry.
“If they can force you out through legitimate business practices, they certainly won’t. After all, you’re with me all the time.
“But you are Li the Richest, so if they get desperate, they might. However~” Gu Yan drew out his words, “You have A Wu by your side. Although A Wu isn’t very clever, her kung fu is excellent. She can protect you, and her cousin is also a formidable person.
“As for your Eldest Sister, it’s like capturing the king. If you’re fine, they hurting your Eldest Sister would only enrage you. They are all smart people; they wouldn’t use such a foolish tactic.
“If that Sister-in-law Yin can be forced out, then she’s not worth relying on. You can just find another shopkeeper,” Gu Yan analyzed point by point.
Li Xiaonan nodded as she listened.
Gu Yan looked at Li Xiaonan, “Have you considered what you’ll do if they follow suit and also start a business of selling looms on credit and collecting fine cloth?”
“Then let them do it!”
Li Xiaonan’s tone was cheerful.
“Right now, we’re the only ones doing it. Even if we just manage to get one dobby loom into every household in Pingjiang Prefecture, how many years would that take? How much silver? Sigh, perhaps it will never be achieved, and I don’t have that much silver.
“If they are willing to follow suit and everyone pushes dobby looms to the villages and households together, then it will be very fast, won’t it? Perhaps in one or two years, or even half a year, Pingjiang Prefecture might have fine cloth woven in every household. How wonderful!”
Li Xiaonan’s eyes sparkled.
“If that happens, even if it’s just in Pingjiang Prefecture, with every household having a dobby loom and every household able to weave fine cloth, one loom, with a skilled hand, can produce a bolt of cloth in a day and a half. How much fine cloth would be produced in a day!”
“Pingjiang Prefecture has over 158,700 registered households,” Gu Yan added slowly.
“You know so much! Then let’s assume one in ten households has one. That’s over ten thousand bolts of fine cloth a day.”
Li Xiaonan rested her chin on her hands, a look of longing on her face.
“Over ten thousand bolts! In a day! If that’s the case, I’ll only need to think about how to collect more cloth, how to make everyone weave better cloth, how to have what others don’t, and how to be superior when others have it.
“Sigh, I wish they would follow suit.”
Gu Yan listened carefully, his eyebrows rising and then furrowing slightly. After a moment of silence, he looked at Li Xiaonan and said, “If that happens, the imperial court cannot just let it be; they will have to collect taxes.”
“Mm! I’ve already thought of that. My cloth is only 20% cheaper than the fine cloth from the Silk Guild. Logically, it should be half price and still profitable,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“What’s your gross profit now? And your net profit?” Gu Yan asked.
“It’s only about 20% profit now. I haven’t calculated the gross and net profit yet; I can’t calculate it precisely yet.
“First, the looms are bought individually, so the price is high. We bear the cost of delivery for the looms, which is quite a bit of copper coins. A Wu runs around to collect fine cloth; A Wu is expensive, and so is her horse, which eats a peck of fine feed and black beans a day.
“We don’t even know how long it will take to recoup the cost of the looms sold on credit. There’s also the thread for weaving; they buy it individually from cloth shops. Eldest Uncle says it’s at least 30% more expensive than from the Yangzhou Yarn Mill, which is too uneconomical. Eldest Uncle also said that the yarn from Yangzhou is very expensive in terms of transportation. When the volume increases, we can talk to the Yangzhou Yarn Mill about opening a yarn mill in Pingjiang City.”
Li Xiaonan rested her chin on her hands and sighed.
“There are many, many other things, like how to calculate the cost of loom maintenance and repair when there are more looms in the future, how to calculate the cost of threading. There aren’t many people who can do threading, and right now, they’re helping for free without needing copper coins, which definitely can’t continue. Perhaps there are other expenses; I don’t know, I’m learning as I go.”
Gu Yan listened intently and hummed, “If your business truly becomes as you described, not necessarily every household having a loom, but even one loom for every ten households, at that volume, the imperial court will need to have regulations. I’ll write a letter back to tell Father, so you can be prepared.”
“I’ll budget for 20% tax,” Li Xiaonan replied. “I want to do a business with high volume and low profit.”
“High volume, low profit,” Gu Yan repeated softly, his expression unreadable. After a moment of stunned silence, he looked at Li Xiaonan and smiled, “Perhaps your business can recreate the prosperous scene of every household in Jiangnan having the sound of looms. If so, I will bow deeply to thank you.”
“Ooh! Your grandfather~” Li Xiaonan drew out her words, “Did he regret it later?”
“Your little bit of cleverness!” Gu Yan snorted. “It’s not that he regretted it. At that time, the output of silk and fine cloth in Jiangnan was enormous, yet the imperial court received almost no tax silver. As a result, when there was a severe drought in Hebei, the court couldn’t even gather enough silver for disaster relief.
“Also, the Jiangnan Weaving Workshops of that year all imitated the apprentice system of the Meng family in Yangzhou, but they became increasingly harsh and inhumane, leading to a large number of women being confined within the workshops like slaves. In Jiangnan, some were extremely rich, and others extremely poor, with farmland lying fallow and people struggling to survive.
“Grandfather didn’t regret it; he only regretted not being able to revitalize Jiangnan.”
Li Xiaonan sighed, “Human nature is driven by profit. You should think carefully about this regulation; I think it’s quite difficult.”
“When I was young, I was very arrogant and often said this was easy, that was easy. Father and the Emperor would teach me, saying that when you think something is easy, you have already made a big mistake.”
Gu Yan paused, lowered his eyelids, picked up his cup, and drank tea.
In the past, he thought nothing in the world was difficult.
“The Emperor also taught you? The Emperor?” Li Xiaonan drew out her words, sounding hesitant.
“What do you want to ask?” Gu Yan looked up at Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan rested her arms on the table, leaned forward, and asked, “What is the Emperor like? Does he look like he’s not an ordinary person at first glance?”
Gu Yan raised his eyebrows, wanting to laugh but holding back. He coughed and said, “Of course, he’s not an ordinary person. He’s the Son of Heaven, the true dragon; he has horns on his head.”
Li Xiaonan glanced sideways at Gu Yan.
She couldn’t ask directly, but him treating her like a fool like this was too much.
“In autumn, the Crown Prince will be on a tour of the south and pass through Pingjiang Prefecture. I’ll take you to see him then. Although he’s not the Son of Heaven yet, he will be in the future. When he ascends the throne, he will grow horns on his head,” Gu Yan said, raising his finger to his head and gesturing.
“That!” Li Xiaonan stopped immediately before she could finish her sentence.
“What do you want to say?”
“People don’t grow horns,” Li Xiaonan said slowly.
What she wanted to ask was whether the Crown Prince would definitely ascend the throne smoothly, but it was best not to ask that.
Gu Yan chuckled.
