The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 597 How to Make Her Drink the Punishment

The Zheng family was unwilling to let their expensively stockpiled charcoal go to waste.

After much deliberation, Old Master Zheng decided to seek peace with Tong Huaqiong.

The so-called seeking peace is not about surrendering, but about hoping to work with Tong Huaqiong to control the price of charcoal at a reasonable level.

Both sides can make a fortune from the cold weather.

For example, two taels of silver per load.

This price is acceptable to half the people in Pingchuan. In business, you can't do business with everyone; it's enough if half the people can afford it.

As for the fate of the other half, that was beyond Old Master Zheng's knowledge.

He's not their father; their life or death is none of his business.

Even as they approached the coffin, Old Master Zheng still believed that Tong Huaqiong's price of thirty-five coins for a load of charcoal was a way to compete with the Zheng family. After all, the Zheng family had schemed against Gu Jingzhe back then, and their eldest daughter-in-law, Xu Zaohua, had almost tricked Tong Huaqiong with pesticides.

He felt that Tong Huaqiong had resorted to this drastic measure to take revenge on the Zheng family.

He didn't believe that as a businesswoman, Tong Huaqiong would let such a great opportunity pass her by without making money, and instead allow hatred to blind her.

With Widow Tong's style of prioritizing immediate gains over long-term consequences, setting such low prices initially makes it impossible to raise them later.

She was a country widow with limited experience. She opened a pastry shop and a general store with sheer grit and a bit of luck, but she couldn't seize the opportunity to make a fortune.

Old Master Zheng felt it was his duty to thoroughly analyze the pros and cons of the market for Widow Tong, and he believed that as long as he took the initiative to show goodwill, Widow Tong would not refuse.

Old Master Zheng analyzed Tong Huaqiong from a business and personal grievance perspective, but failed to analyze her from the perspective of social responsibility. Therefore, he was very confident in persuading Tong Huaqiong to raise the price of charcoal.

A few days later, with the charcoal supply in Pingchuan secured, Tong Huaqiong's attention began to shift from the charcoal fire to the cotton cloth.

I was thinking about how to develop a marketing strategy for cotton fabrics.

There's no need to put in any effort now; the cold weather is perfect for promoting cotton fabrics.

Tong Huaqiong ordered her employees to place the cotton cloth produced by the weaving workshop in a prominent position at Jufulai.

Cotton fabric is dense, soft, and has strong cold resistance. More importantly, it has been technologically improved to reduce costs, so it is cheaper than linen.

The cotton fabric was snapped up by customers as soon as it was launched.

If her own weaving workshop hadn't been working at full capacity to take on orders from the border, Tong Huaqiong's cotton cloth could have been distributed throughout Ningcheng this winter.

Although the amount of cotton fabric supplied to Jufulai was small, it did not hinder its reputation.

Just as Tong Huaqiong was pushing the cotton cloth to the market, the Zheng family sent a steward to deliver a formal invitation.

Upon learning that it was Grandpa Zheng who had invited Tong Huaqiong to the restaurant to discuss the price of charcoal, Tong Huaqiong refused outright.

It's obvious that the Zheng family couldn't sit still any longer; they wanted her to revise the price of the charcoal.

She had nothing to negotiate with the Zheng family.

Lu Zhaozhao had already set a trap for the Zheng family on the charcoal fire, leaving Tong Huaqiong with no room for negotiation.

Tong Huaqiong knew that her charcoal prices were indeed very low, but she was not greedy. Compared to the price she would get from stockpiling charcoal, she was already satisfied with earning five or six coins per load.

The extreme cold weather has brought so much disaster to this world. It's already good enough that she can make money from the disasters. She feels that she would be letting down God if she made more.

The Zheng family's current predicament was not caused by Tong Huaqiong, but by the Zheng family's greed.

Lu Zhaozhao sold 200,000 catties of charcoal to the Zheng family at a low price of 80 wen per load. Given the current extremely cold weather, the Zheng family should have sold out of charcoal by adding 10 wen per load. However, they were not satisfied and increased the price of charcoal from one tael of silver to ten taels of silver per load.

The pit they dug buried the entire Zheng family, and they started coming to negotiate with Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong isn't stupid; why would she risk her reputation to play along with the Zheng family?

The Zheng family probably doesn't know that Tong Huaqiong is waiting for the Zheng family's charcoal to be sold off and then acquired.

Tong Huaqiong didn't mind letting Grandpa Zheng know, so he could be mentally prepared.

Tong Huaqiong said to the Zheng family's steward, "I will not cooperate with the Zheng family. If the Zheng family's charcoal cannot be sold, they might as well sell it to me." The Zheng family's steward returned to his original place.

Grandpa Zheng and his second son sat anxiously at home waiting for news.

"how?"

Seeing the housekeeper return, Old Master Zheng stood up with an expectant look on his face.

"Reporting to Master, Manager Tong did not accept this invitation." The steward finished speaking and stood aside with his hands at his sides.

What does it mean if I didn't answer?

Soon, Old Master Zheng realized that Tong Huaqiong was rejecting the cooperation with the Zheng family.

Old Master Zheng was furious.

“Father, since Widow Tong is refusing to listen to reason and is now forced to drink the penalty cup, then we…” said the Second Young Master Zheng.

"Tell me how to make her suffer the consequences?" Old Master Zheng asked.

Young Master Zheng looked distressed.

He had no idea; he was just talking nonsense.

Old Master Zheng sat back down in his chair and said, "Magistrate Liu has already found out that we are behind the high-priced charcoal and has sent someone to warn us. If we try to obstruct things, I'm afraid Magistrate Liu will not let us off the hook."

"I underestimated Widow Tong. It is said that the Lu family and Prefect Yao are also her backers."

Young Master Zheng's eyes were dark and unfathomable.

Even a minor county magistrate can threaten the Zheng family. If he can solidify his relationship with the Fifth Prince, why should he fear Magistrate Liu?

At this moment, the second young master Zheng was preoccupied with the 100,000 taels of silver he had promised to the fifth prince's mother's family.

The Fifth Prince's maternal family has sent people to urge him to come these past few days.

If we can't raise the money, I'm afraid this relationship will be severed.

"Father, what should we do next?" asked the Second Young Master Zheng.

Grandpa Zheng gritted his teeth and said, "Reduce the price of charcoal!"

Soon, the charcoal in Zheng's various shops began to be sold at a reduced price.

However, every household already had charcoal, and even with the price reduction, Zheng's charcoal supply did not drop to thirty-five coins per load. In addition, Zheng's shop had already lost its reputation, and even with the price reduction, no customers came.

The Fifth Prince's maternal family was pressing Zheng Er Gongzi for the 100,000 taels of silver more and more urgently. Zheng Er Gongzi couldn't raise the money in a short period of time, and finally couldn't hold on any longer and told Old Master Zheng.

When Old Master Zheng heard that his youngest son needed 100,000 taels of silver, he was so angry that he almost fainted. But after hearing the reason why his son needed the money, his expression softened.

His son's ascension to the position of prince was also for the sake of the family. Old Master Zheng had to transfer silver from his shops in Ningcheng. With his own wealth, there was still a shortfall of 30,000 taels of silver.

Mr. Zheng decided to use Mrs. Zheng's jewelry again.

If we pool our resources, we can raise 100,000 taels.

"Father, I misappropriated the money from the three shops in Ningcheng to hoard cotton and grain," the second young master Zheng stammered.

Old Master Zheng raised his voice and shouted, "How dare you?"

Young Master Zheng said, "I thought that during the extreme cold weather, not only would the price of charcoal rise, but the prices of cotton and grain would also rise, so I..."

Old Master Zheng slumped into his chair, looking utterly dejected.

"How dare you! Why didn't you consult me ​​before embezzling the money?" Old Master Zheng wanted to beat his youngest son to death. "We're already stuck with the charcoal, are we going to raise the prices of cotton and grain too?"

That was exactly what Young Master Zheng had in mind.

First, they raised the price of charcoal. Those who couldn't afford charcoal would naturally suffer from the cold and need cotton clothing, allowing them to sell their stockpiled cotton. As for grain, they spread rumors that the extreme cold would affect spring planting, causing panic buying among the people. The Zheng family would then raise grain prices to continue making huge profits.

This is practically a perfect closed loop.