I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 372 A thousand pieces of gold

Tian San was overjoyed and grabbed Ahua's mother's wrist, urging, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and tell the shopkeeper!"

Ah Hua's mother's wrist was gripped so tightly it hurt. She tried to pull it away but couldn't. She could only endure the pain and whisper, "No, I signed a confidentiality agreement. If the tea-making recipe is leaked, the manager will send me to the authorities."

"Who knew it was you who leaked it!" Tian San's mind worked incredibly fast. "Even if we suspect you, you can just deny it to the death!"

Ahua's mother looked frightened. "The tea-frying workshop operates on a system of collective punishment. If the recipe is leaked, all the workers in the tea-frying workshop will face legal trouble."

Tian San wanted to curse, but remembering Tang Zhao's status, he could only vent his anger on Ahua's mother, raising his hand to slap her across the face. "You dare to sign such a heartless contract behind my back? You've got some nerve! I'll beat you to death!"

Ahua's mother wanted to clarify that she hadn't dared to make the decision when the contract was signed and had consulted her family members. Tian San was the first to agree, but her years of experience being beaten told her that explaining would only make Tian San hit her harder. So she raised her hand to protect her head and let Tian San punch and kick her.

Yang Kang sat in his chair and coldly observed for a while before saying, "Since you're unwilling, men, sell Tian San to the mine!"

The thugs stepped forward and dragged Tian San away.

Tian San's feet left a deep mark on the ground as he begged for mercy and cursed, "You wretched woman, are you really going to just watch me die?"

Tears streamed down her swollen cheeks as Ahua's mother kowtowed to Yang Kang, pleading, "Sir, please spare us! We will definitely pay back the money we owe you!"

Seeing that Ahua's mother would not change her mind, Yang Kang lost his patience and said, "Go and bring that girl here."

The thugs quickly brought Tianhua over. Ahua's mother opened her swollen eyes to look at her daughter, who was wearing revealing clothes and alluring makeup, which attracted the thugs in the room to lewdly stare at her.

Yang Kang raised his chin and said, "I'll reward you."

The thugs chuckled as they surrounded Tianhua and groped her all over, tearing her already scantily clad clothes to shreds.

"Get away! Don't touch me!" Tears streamed down Tianhua's face as she cried out in terror, "Mother, save me!"

"You beasts, let go of my daughter!" Ah Hua's mother rushed forward and pushed with all her might, but to no avail.

"I'll tell you! I'll give you the tea-frying recipe, and you release my daughter!"

Yang Kang waved his hand, and the thugs immediately retreated. "Why didn't you do this earlier? You had to refuse a toast only to suffer the consequences!"

Ahua's mother took off her own clothes and covered her daughter with them, then hugged her tightly in her arms. The two embraced and wept bitterly.

Inside the Wuqi Immortal Mountain Farm, Cuilan frowned as she looked at the woman, "You mean Yu Niang is quitting?"

"Yes, Yu Niang told me to return the advance payment to the manager."

"Do you know where Yu Niang went?"

"When we went to the prefectural city, Yu Niang said that her husband had made a lot of money and rented a courtyard in the prefectural city. She wanted to take them there to enjoy a life of luxury."

Cuilan didn't believe it. Tian San's idleness was well-known throughout Tianjia Village. How could he possibly make money? He might have been tricked!

"No, I have to tell the princess right away!"

Cuilan hurried to the manor, but was stopped by Chunfeng. Cuilan said anxiously, "Miss Chunfeng, I have something important to report to the princess."

Chunfeng shook her head. "The princess has important matters to attend to."

Seeing Chunfeng's slightly furrowed brow, Cuilan's heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong?"

“Tea merchants from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan and Hubei have joined forces and are not selling tea to us,” Chunfeng sighed slightly. “We don’t have much tea left. If this continues, Qiancha Baihui will not be able to continue operating.”

Cuilan gasped in shock, "Such a thing actually happened!"

Inside the room, the shopkeepers of Qiancha Baihui looked at Tang Zhao with hopeful eyes, "Your Highness, do you have a solution?"

Tang Zhao nodded as expected.

The shopkeepers were delighted and listened attentively.

Tang Zhaodao said, "Reduce the supply of Qiancha Baihui and stop taking reservations." The shopkeepers gaped, "How...how can that be?"

Qiancha Baihui receives thousands of kilograms of tea orders every day. If they stop taking orders, how much money will they lose every day?

Tang Zhao: "Have you ever heard of scarcity marketing?"

The shopkeepers shook their heads.

"It's a case of supply falling short of demand," Tang Zhao said, stretching out his sleeves. "We accepted pre-orders before to make Qiancha Baihui's tea popular in Jiangnan and renowned throughout the world. Now that we've achieved that goal, we naturally have to change our strategy."

The shopkeepers, bewildered but impressed, asked, "Please instruct us, Your Highness."

"From now on, Qiancha Baihui will only supply ten catties of various teas per day, until they are sold out!"

The shopkeepers, having received their instructions, left happily.

Spring Breeze came in to report, "Miss, Cuilan has arrived."

"Let her in."

Cuilan entered and bowed respectfully. "Princess, Yu Niang has run away."

Tang Zhao paused, "What do you mean by 'ran away'?"

Cuilan told Yu Niang's story in detail.

Tang Zhao chuckled, "Finally, you've made your move. I thought it would take much longer."

Cuilan asked in surprise, "Did the princess already know?"

Tang Zhao: "I have bullied the four great families so badly. If they do nothing again, I will be worried."

Cuilan worried, "What if the recipe for frying tea is leaked?"

"There is no secret recipe that can be kept in this world. The more people know about it, the more likely it is to be so. If I really want to keep the secret recipe for tea making, wouldn't it be more reliable to transfer people from the capital or buy servants with life-long contracts from human traffickers?"

Cuilan suddenly realized that she finally knew what was wrong with her!
The invaluable tea-making recipe was so easily given to the women they recruited, with the only restriction being that they had to sign a so-called joint liability agreement.

Based on Cuilan's understanding of the princess, she knew the princess would never send innocent workers to prison.

In other words, that contract was practically no different from a piece of waste paper!
"Did the princess do this on purpose?"

Tang Zhao closed his eyes. "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub."

Cuilan understood and quietly waited for the four major families to make their move.

In Fuzhou, wealthy people jostle and shove each other while queuing in front of the Thousand Tea House, arguing endlessly about who should go first and who should go last.

The shopkeeper had no choice but to step in and mediate, but the wealthy household wouldn't listen.

That sounds nice, but what will they drink if they can't buy tea?
It all comes down to Qiancha Baihui. Why did they cancel the reservations and have to do this limited-quantity sale? It made them get up before dawn to queue up!

The waiter handed the last packet of tea to the customer and said with a forced smile to the customers waiting in line behind him, "We're sold out of tea today, please go home!"

The wealthy man, who had been queuing all morning, had no choice but to stop the customer who had just bought the last bag of tea. "I'm willing to pay three times the price for the tea you have. Would you be willing to part with it?"

The customer hesitated, saying that three times the price was quite a lot, but he couldn't live without the tea!
"Five times!" the wealthy household demanded.

The guest handed over the tea.

The servant handed over the money.

The wealthy man took the tea leaves and hummed a little tune as he walked home.