Bang!
Wang San'er slammed the door shut and couldn't help but laugh.
Wanting to buy the soap Mother made, and still asking Mother to go see them herself, they really think we are beneath them!
Keep practicing archery.
Xiao Quanzi was left outside with the closed door. Revealing his identity only to be ignored by a country bumpkin, he was so angry his teeth itched.
"Just you wait until the young master teaches you a lesson!"
Returning to the inn, Xiao Quanzi exaggerated and depicted the Li family as vicious villains.
"Young master, your servant being cursed at is nothing," Xiao Quanzi said aggrievedly, "But for a commoner to be so rude and disrespect an official like you, it is truly an unforgivable crime!"
Huang Daoqing had thought he could take a nap at the inn and complete this business trip, but an incident occurred and he was quite angry.
So he immediately went to find Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan to discuss what to do next, but was told they went into town to wander about, not knowing when they'd be back.
Huang Daoqing smacked his forehead, damn it!
What is there to wander about in destitute Baichuan County?
These two must have secretly slipped away to He Wan village to negotiate with Li Yao first.
"Those treacherous merchants!"
"Xiao Quanzi, ready the carriage!"
...
Bang bang bang!
Xiao Quanzi had just stepped out when more people came knocking on the door.
"Excuse me, is this the Li Yao, Lady of He Wan village's home?"
Hearing the visitor speak politely, Wang San'er opened the door a crack, "Who are you? What business do you have with my mother?"
"Oh ho, so it's Young Master Wang," Jia Zhanliang laughed amiably, "We are merchants from the capital here to discuss a business cooperation with Lady Li, please introduce us."
Seeing they spoke politely, Wang San'er opened the door and invited them in.
Just seeing the sprawling estate of the Li family from outside, they already felt it was extraordinary. Now coming inside, they were even more shocked.
The layout of this residence was far grander and more magnificent than any five or seven courtyards mansion, indicating its owner was no common village woman, but someone of great ability.
Meeting Li Yao in person further confirmed their judgment.
As merchants from the capital, they had met countless people, but never anyone as outstanding as Li Yao. The county magistrate's wife sitting beside her was like a dispensable accessory.
"Greetings Lady Li, greetings Lady Song."
"Please sit," Li Yao said. "Xiao Hui, serve tea."
After Jia and Liu sat down, Du Xiao Hui immediately brought over two bowls of hot tea, then carried over a small table and stools from inside the room for their servants to rest on, and also served them tea.
This thoughtful gesture made the two men admire Li Yao even more.
Usually people would just have servants wait by the door. Who would specially prepare tables, chairs and tea for them?
"Lady Li, we..."
"I already know why you're here," Li Yao cut straight to the point, taking out a contract she had prepared in advance. "But to work with me, you'll have to follow my rules. Take a look, if there's no issues we can sign today."
Sign today?
Jia and Liu looked at each other in surprise.
Earlier the county magistrate's wife's letter said this Lady Li was straightforward in her dealings, but they didn't expect her to be this bold.
Yet within this boldness, there seemed to be a hint of despotism.
So the two quickly read through the contract from start to finish, and became even more certain Li Yao was a tyrant.
Such as paying exorbitant deposits, cash before delivery, uniform shop fronts, uniform pricing...this was clearly a bunch of tyrannical terms!
"Lady Li," Jia Zhanliang's face showed difficulty, "I can accept the rest, but this uniform pricing, may I ask why?"
"To swiftly capture market share."
Soap is similar to pancreatin, and not too hard to make. Soon anyone interested could figure it out.
When that time comes, hoarding massive amounts of goods for low price dumping, Li Yao's expensive soap would lose initiative in the market.
So earning more money is unimportant, rapidly seizing the national market, deeply carving the "Li Yao Soap of He Wan Village" brand into people's minds, this was Li Yao's main goal.
"But this price is too low," Liu Yuan said, "100 wen per bar, the difference from before is too great, I'm afraid there would be no profit."
"How many people are there in the whole world?" Li Yao asked.
"Over 30 million."
"Even if each person only used 1 bar of soap per year, and we only made 20 wen profit per bar, how much total profit would that be?"
Jia and Liu could still calculate this.
Over 600,000 taels of silver!
Even for them this was an astronomical sum.
"But can we really sell that much?"
"That's why we need to swiftly capture the market," Li Yao said. "My business is not just one city or prefecture, but the entire world. If you're willing to join, sign the contract. If you feel it won't work, I won't see you out."
Jia and Liu were left speechless by Li Yao's momentum.
How could a woman who had never left the rural countryside of Baichuan County have such vision? She really was an extraordinary person.
"Signed!"
The two swiftly signed the contract.
To celebrate everyone boarding the ship of friendship, Li Yao personally cooked today, slaughtering the lamb Liu Yuan gifted and setting up a temporary stove in the yard to roast a whole lamb.
Then without any distinction between host and guest, everyone gathered around the fire pit, cutting meat with knives while chatting about news from all corners of the world.
Gradually the two realized Li Yao seemed to know more than they did, and couldn't help but sigh in admiration internally.
While the latecoming Huang Daoqing could only eat closed doors, fuming till smoke came out of his seven orifices.
Li Yao's agency contract with Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan had already divided the country into north and south regions, becoming the two major general agents.
If he still wanted to do the soap business, he could only become a subordinate agent, eating others' leftovers.
Traveling thousands of miles yet gaining nothing, Huang Daoqing was extremely annoyed.
"Go to Yi Prefecture to find Prefect Hu!"
"No matter what, we must seize this business!"
