Chapter 565: Ripping off the Northern Kingdom (II)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
See, didn’t I manage to find a loophole even in the well-guarded treasure house and obtain information crucial to the treasure house’s survival? The head of the comrcial firm thought.
The face of the manager of the treasure house looked gray and defeated. The head of the comrcial firm patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t be discouraged, good days are coming. Based on what we have previously discussed, steal the Colored Glass of the Heavenly Palace and sell it to at 30% of the original price, and all the money will be yours...”
The manager of the treasure house was sowhat hesitant. “After betraying my boss this ti round, he probably won’t put up with my existence anymore... Only 30%...”
The head of the comrcial firm said, “There still are almost two thousand pieces of the Colored Glass of the Heavenly Palace with Gu Xin. Do you know what a huge sum of money you will get by selling them at 30% of the original price? Other than my comrcial firm, who can buy all of it in one go? The money you will receive is far more than the money Gu Xin has earned. All the money will be yours in the future! It’s like you alone are getting a free lunch, and you will have more wealth than a nation has in the future!”
The manager of the treasure house was convinced. Hesitation and then intense greed flashed across his face, making the head of the comrcial firm very satisfied.
After a while, the manager gritted his teeth and said, “Alright, I agree. However, despite having so much money, I probably won’t have the chance to enjoy it before I die...”
The head of the comrcial firm smiled and said, “Well, I can lend you so n and escort you out of the northern kingdom safely. But it won’t do if you want to buy slaves and horses. Recently, the two businesses have been strictly supervised by the higher-ups. Slaves and horses can only be sold to the citizens of the northern kingdom and no foreigner may purchase them.”
The manager replied, “Then — can you buy sheepskin for ?”
The head of the comrcial firm had heard that Gu Xin often acquired sheepskin from each rchant, and while not many were bought each ti, the total number was very large when added up.
He asked with fake puzzlent, “Sheepskin slls too strong and it can’t be made into clothes, how can you profit from it?”
The manager snickered and replied, “Gu Xin sold the sheepskin at a high price to the people of Nansheng and the barbarians of the four factions of Nanman. With the sheepskin, he made a huge amount of money last winter... Such an animal that engages in war profiteering is truly despicable.”
The head of the comrcial firm raised an eyebrow and snickered. “Business is business, it’s good business as long as you can earn money from it, who cares if it’s war profiteering...”
The manager of the treasure house was convinced by the head of the comrcial firm, and nodded with a defeated expression.
The head of the comrcial firm said, “You can rest assured about the sheepskin, I will arrange it properly for you. Every household has sothing like 100 pieces of sheepskin saved up and we can obtain tens of thousands of pieces easily. Let’s set a ti and I’ll pass you everything then, as many as you want.”
The people in the northern kingdom reared horses and sheep and every household had quite a lot of cattle, sheep, and horses. The sheep’s fleece grew at a crazy rate in the winter and the trimd wool was useless. It was too slly to even be used as fuel.
With soone buying it at the mont, even though the price was very low, it was better than nothing. It could be considered to be creating side inco for the people of the northern kingdom, albeit barely.
To counter the foreign businesses, the royal court of the northern kingdom established various comrcial firms according to the suggestion of the “wise n”. The comrcial firms then ford alliances with each other. A single firm was incapable of swallowing up the Colored Glass of the Heavenly Palace in the hands of Gu Xin in one go, as it couldn’t possibly have so much money. Therefore, he must unite the firms to purchase the goods together.
The land in the northern kingdom was not suitable for farming, but it was rich in mineral resources. It produced various gemstones, gold, silver, jade, and spices. The value of the goods was less than half of that in Dongqing. In comparison, copper and iron were more valued than gold and silver jewelry.
If we exchange the Colored Glass of the Heavenly Kingdom for gold and silver jewelry, the comrcial firms of the northern kingdom will make a big profit and the final profit will be more than nine tis the sum invested! The head of the firm thought.
With such great temptation in mind, he naturally wanted the transaction done sooner rather than later.
Seizing the opportunity while Guxin traveled to other countries for business purposes and was unable to oversee his business in the northern kingdom, the manager of the treasure house stole the Colored Glass of the Heavenly Kingdom in batches. He sold them to the comrcial firms of the northern kingdom at a low price of 30% of the original price, in exchange for a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, sheepskin, and wool.
The manager of the treasure house was also a cautious person and he made sure that nothing was out of place. The head of the comrcial firm couldn’t help but lant that the manager Gu Xin had trained was indeed competent and had a similar working style... It’s a pity that the man betrayed him, I wonder if Guxin will vomit blood out of anger upon seeing the empty treasure house when he cos back.
Thinking of the wonderful scene, the head of the firm couldn’t help but smile so wide that he squinted his eyes.
In the end, the manager of the treasure house faked Gu Xin’s personal order and closed the treasure house down along with its other branches in the northern kingdom. He left the northern kingdom with the old employees of the treasure house, heading to Nansheng, bringing the gold and silver jewelry he had exchanged for the glass, as well as hundreds of thousands of sheepskins and wool with him.
Before leaving, the manager of the treasure house asked the head of the comrcial firm privately about whether he could secretly sell so horses to him.
The head of the firm said, “Haven’t I said it before, the higher-ups are closely supervising business in this aspect, I can’t sell you horses.”
The manager said, “You also said that business is business, you can earn money from the transaction, so why not do it?”
The head of the firm just smiled and said nothing.
The manager did not give up. He persistently asked about the purebred horses the northern kingdom was famous for, and the head of the firm was getting impatient.
The head of the firm said, “If you want to buy horses, you can ask the horse rchants of Shalan. They just presented a dozen Ferghana horses to the royal court. I heard that the horses are very precious and they are better than even the best horses of the northern kingdom. But it’s a pity that four of them died on the way here... The horses they sell are expensive alright, but they are truly rare horses of a legendary quality...”
The manager asked in surprise, “Where is Shalan?”
The head of the firm said, “I don’t know either, but it is far, far away. I heard that they only have spring and sumr all year round and the weather is very dry and hot. The people there are so tanned they looked like black charcoal. After the sun sets, you can’t see them. I heard that they are slow-witted and dumb but physically strong.”
The manager acknowledged his words and seed interested.
The head of the firm didn’t mind acting as a go-between for the two parties either. The manager took the opportunity to go take a look at the Ferghana horses from Shalan, and they were indeed extraordinary.
It was just that...
“Why... do they look sowhat low-spirited...” the manager asked.
With an indifferent expression, the head of the firm said, “I heard that they have been on the road for more than six months. Even people can’t stand it, not to ntion horses. They’ll be fine after resting for a while. If you want to buy horses, you can talk to the head of the rchants of Shalan. If the price is alright, maybe he can sell you one.”
Humans also face problems acclimatizing to a new environnt, and the sa goes for horses. They just need so rest. Such was the case in the past, so the head of the firm did not really care.
The manager of the treasure house asked about the price and was imdiately dissuaded. The horses were of a high quality, but a high quality Ferghana horse cost five or six hundred thousand strings of coins, who could possibly afford it?
Every year, the northern kingdom would buy horses from Shalan. Naturally, the horses were not for people to ride. The motive behind the purchase was to breed the Ferghana horses of Shalan with the local horses of excellent quality in order to cultivate war horses of better quality. With such a consideration in mind, the price was actually reasonable as high-quality stallions were not easy to find.
Seeing that the manager was dissuaded by the price, the head of the firm secretly laughed. “How is money still a concern for you? It is not easy to get a Ferghana horse of excellent quality. You might not have the opportunity another ti.”
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