Tianliangyuan

Chapter 89 How stupid must this person be!

Jiang Ning wanted to stockpile large quantities of cotton fabric, so Xu Zhaozhao directly cut off her supply chain in the upstream market.

Without raw materials, in the dead of winter, are we supposed to transport them all the way from other places?

Moreover, cotton is not suitable for growing in the south, and even the climate in the capital is not the best place to grow cotton.

Jiang Ning hadn't considered other fabrics, so now that there was no cotton, cotton cloth naturally couldn't be woven anymore, and Jiang Ning's efforts to buy cotton cloth had basically come to a standstill.

Xu Zhaozhao wanted to see if Jiang Ning would follow the path she had designed.

If she really leaves, then Xu Zhaozhao will have to think more highly of Jiang Ning.

Sure enough, after only a few days of pause, Jiang Ning began buying cotton cloth from cloth shops in the capital, and she was very generous, paying prices higher than the market rate.

Jiang Ning didn't understand the intricacies of the situation, but he simply told people to go ahead and collect the money. Now, Xu Zhaozhao's undercover agents were embarrassed if they didn't make money.

The shopkeeper looked at the numbers and prices that had been reported and felt his legs go weak.

"How can it be so high?"

Eight copper coins a foot of coarse cotton cloth, what a ridiculous price they're charging!

The errand runner was also helpless, spreading his hands: "We have no choice. It's Miss's order that we get the cloth no matter the cost. The cloth shop is doing well, so they're not willing to do it. This wrangling has naturally driven up the price. And even then, Miss complained that we were too slow."

The shopkeeper didn't suspect his subordinates of taking advantage of the situation to make money. After all, he was there when the young lady made the announcement, and not all cloth was priced at eight coins per foot; some were seven coins per foot.

The shopkeeper can only settle payments and pay money.

After all this fuss, Xu Zhaozhao made a net profit of over a million yuan.

This kind of money that's practically handed to you, you really shouldn't refuse it!

Just then, Xu Zhaozhao took out half of it to buy charcoal.

When Xu Zhaozhao lived in Baiguoyuan, she met many peasant women, some of whom had been disaster victims. Whenever they talked about the past, their faces were full of sorrow. They didn't have enough to eat or wear, and they didn't even have cotton quilts, but paper quilts!

It was at this time that Xu Zhaozhao realized that poor families truly suffered.

Xu Zhaozhao's self-made loom is more efficient and produces better quality cloth. Now she has hired a large number of female workers who start weaving at dawn and work until sunset.

If it weren't for the dim lighting at night, Xu Zhaozhao would have even considered having the weavers take turns working.

The workshop employs only female workers, who live and eat there. To keep the secret of the looms, all workers who come have had their rules explained and have signed contracts.

These people have to work until the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month before they can go home.

If there are no unforeseen circumstances, we should start work on the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Most of those recruited were women from impoverished families. They were happy to be able to stay at home less often because the food here was better than at home. They ate a mix of coarse and fine grains, and could even eat meat every two days. This was a good life that they never dared to dream of during the New Year in the past!

Xu Zhaozhao's weaving workshop was newly opened, and there was no sign outside, so Jiang Ning's people didn't know that they had missed another one.

Xu Zhaozhao brought the cloth from the weaving workshop back to the mansion and then showed it to her father and mother.

"Father, is this cloth thick enough?"

Xu Han nodded: "It is indeed very thick. If more cotton could be stuffed inside, then ordinary people could wear it to get through the winter."

Wang Ruolan also touched it a few times and flipped it open to look at it: "Zhaozhao, are you planning to buy these to make winter clothes for the servants in the mansion?"

Xu Zhaozhao shook her head: "No, this is cloth woven in my weaving workshop. I specifically compared it with some cloths on the market and thought it was pretty good, so I brought it here to show my father."

Xu Han was somewhat surprised. When did his daughter open a weaving workshop again?

This industry changes every single day!

"Zhaozhao, although this is kudzu cloth, it's woven so well, it must be quite expensive, right?"

"Father, the court is currently preparing for the cold season. Don't you think about showing your loyalty to the Emperor?"

Xu Han glared at her: "Little girl, you're talking nonsense again!"

"It's no secret that Prince Zhong and the Second Prince are buying grain everywhere. Even Jiang Ning is purchasing cotton cloth. I heard that her warehouse has already accumulated tens of thousands of bolts. What are they planning to do?"

Xu Han frowned: "I can understand hoarding grain, but what kind of trick is this hoarding of cloth? Even good quality cotton cloth will get damp if stored for a long time, and it may even affect the color. Perhaps after a few months, the cloth will become defective. What is she trying to achieve?"

Xu Zhaozhao chuckled: "Perhaps they think there will be a major disaster this winter, so they're thinking of stockpiling it up and selling it at a higher price later?"

Wang Ruolan curled her lip: "How stupid would someone have to be to come up with such a method? Cotton cloth is not like grain. When people are struggling, they might only buy rice for a month or half a month, but once they buy cotton cloth, they can make clothes that they can wear for several years. Who would buy expensive cotton cloth when they already have winter clothes? They would rather use that money to buy rice."

Xu Zhaozhao chuckled: "Mother is absolutely right. That's why our cloth is relatively cheap now. We sell ramie cloth and cotton cloth at honest prices. Some people even stock up on our cloth because it's cheap, thinking of making new clothes for their whole family."

Xu Han suddenly realized: "I was wondering why I heard someone say that there was a cloth shop in the East and West markets that sold all kinds of cloth at the lowest prices but with the best quality. So it was you who got it?"

“Father, I did ask Mother for permission. Mother is kind and compassionate. With the harsh winter approaching, she couldn’t bear to see the people suffer from the cold, so she specifically instructed that we must not sell at high prices.”

Jiang Ning's shop now sells ordinary cotton cloth for eight or nine coins a foot, and no one is buying it anymore.

Meanwhile, the thick cotton cloth at Xu Zhaozhao's cloth shop only sold for three coins per foot, while the slightly inferior kudzu cloth was two coins per foot. Such prices were naturally welcomed by the common people.

If it were summer, it wouldn't be so bad, but with winter approaching, even the most frugal people need to keep warm.

Xu Han understood his daughter's meaning. In fact, he only occasionally glanced at the accounts of most of the Hou family's properties, since he didn't have the talent in that area, so he had always left it to his wife to manage.

Xu Han was pleased to see that the mother and daughter were not the type to only care about money.

At the same time, a report concerning prices in the capital was presented to the emperor.

After a cursory glance, Emperor Yong'an's face lit up with delight: "Which cloth shop is this that can sell cotton and linen cloth so cheaply?"

Gu Dongyang leaned closer for a look: "Your Majesty, I have investigated and found that both of these cloth shops are owned by the Marquis of Anxin's mansion. Currently, among all the cloth shops in the capital, only they sell at this price, but there is a limit; each person can only buy a maximum of five feet of cloth. Even so, each cloth shop sells over a hundred bolts of cloth every day."