Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 175 Internal Strife Among Shanxi Merchants? Are You All Clean?!
From the perspective of Shanxi merchants, the gradual decrease in the production of Xishan briquettes was a certainty.

This can be corroborated not only by ancient books and local chronicles, but also by some long-time merchants who have been in business for decades.

The Xishan Mountains have abundant water resources, so there is no reason for coal mining there to be sustainable.

However, they underestimated the role of winches, carts, and other similar equipment.

In order to lower the guard of the Shanxi merchants over the past month, Zhang Yunxiu secretly ordered that half of the briquettes produced from the kiln each day be withheld.

Truckloads of briquettes that were supposed to be transported to the capital were quietly stockpiled in the underground warehouses of the Xishan workshops, or sent to cargo ships on the canal.

Inside the workshop, the workers mined coal every day, but they had no concept of the overall mining volume. They only felt that the mining was becoming more and more difficult, and the cave that they finally managed to mine would start leaking water as soon as it was opened.

Little did they know that, due to the workers' improved skills and their increasingly proficient use of various tools, Xishan's production efficiency was increasing almost every day.

The water seepage crisis was indeed serious, but the winches and winches could greatly alleviate the pressure.

Until recently, the production capacity of the Xishan coal mine was nearing its limit, and water slowly seeped out. With the addition of manpower to clean it up, the production of briquettes will be affected.

Just before that, "Jiaolong Playing in the Water" finally made its grand debut.

This water-drawing device was designed to solve this problem.

This ten-day buffer period is the best opportunity for Zhang Yunxiu to close the net and extract silver from the Shanxi merchants!
Weren't these Shanxi merchants trying to drive up the market price of briquettes, hoard them due to their scarcity, and make huge profits?
What they were after was that the income from Xishan's production couldn't keep up with the silver consumed, otherwise their own cash flow would break down.

What they didn't expect was that the output of briquettes in the past two months was not the highest value in Xishan, but the lowest value from now on!
Do you like speculating on briquettes and hoarding them?

Then this young master will smash the market for you to see! He can even keep smashing it! He'll make you lose everything, down to your last penny!

The study of "merchantment" has existed since ancient times, but in the context of a small-scale peasant economy, even if the Shanxi merchants were well-versed in the essence of the business philosophy of "buying low and selling high," how could they compare to Zhang Yunxiu, a later generation who was familiar with modern economic laws?
Economics is arguably one of the few fields in ancient times that later generations have been able to surpass.

Five days later.

Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall.

Fan Yongdou frowned as he looked at the newly submitted account books. He glared at the accountant and said with some anger.

"Why has the price of briquettes in and around the capital dropped in the past few days? Didn't I say that the price of briquettes must be kept at around 80 wen? It can't be lower than that!"

The accountant shuddered, not daring to contradict him in the slightest, and stammered.

"Perhaps I miscalculated. Shall we go back and recalculate?"

"How could you make a mistake in such accounts? If you can't do the bookkeeping job, there are plenty of people who can!"

Enraged, Fan Yongdou threw the accounts to the ground.

At that moment, a man slowly walked over, picked up the accounts from the ground, and spoke to the trembling accountant.

"You may leave now."

"Manager Wang! I'll go back and recalculate it!"

The accountant, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, repeatedly bowed in gratitude and fled the study as if his life depended on it.

"There shouldn't be any problems with these accounts."

Wang Dengku slowly opened the accounts, focused on some of the figures, and then did a detailed calculation to verify them.

"How can there be no problems?"

Fan Yongdou's face was as cold as frost.

“We’ve been buying up a lot of coal from Xishan lately; we’ve practically bought up all the coal from inside and outside the capital.”

But why have prices been falling again and again for days? This doesn't make sense!

"Manager Fan is mistaken," Wang Dengku said with a smile, shaking his head. "The price reduction isn't due to a mistake in the accounts. That accountant Lin is a veteran; how could he possibly make a mistake in such ordinary accounts?"

"Why is that so?"

Fan Yongdou's eyes widened, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

"Could it be that the Xishan workshop not only did not reduce production, but actually increased it?"

"No, that's not true."

Wang Dengku chuckled, this time he was full of confidence.

"Manager Fan's words are too far-fetched. Unless Zhang Shiyuan has the ability to suck water from the sky and has the power to reach the heavens, the water seepage in Xishan Coal Mine is an unsolvable problem!"

He could send displaced people to do more work to drain the floodwater, but if this continued, not only would the operating costs of the Xishan workshops increase, but production would also inevitably be affected.

Not to mention that water seepage would inevitably cause the mine to loosen and collapse.

There is absolutely no reason for Xishan Coal Mine to increase production.

"What does Manager Wang mean?" Fan Yongdou asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Inner ghost."

Wang Dengku stated it simply and clearly.

"It is common knowledge that merchants are driven by profit. We have hundreds of Shanxi merchants under our command. If we work together to hoard coal, there will naturally be no problem."

However, it is hard to guarantee that some people, blinded by greed, will sell their stockpiled briquettes ahead of schedule to make a profit.

This kind of thing happens often~

It was common for merchants to stab each other in the back, let alone secretly selling and hoarding briquettes.

Even among groups like the Shanxi merchants, there were bound to be some who harbored ulterior motives.

Upon hearing this, Fan Yongdou immediately realized what was happening and slammed his hand on the table.

"These short-sighted frogs in a well! Can't they even be patient for a moment? They're utterly hopeless!"

Wang Dengku, however, seemed unfazed. He put his hands behind his back, looked content, and shook his head with a smile.

"It's not a big deal. With so many people involved, it's inevitable that some will have ulterior motives. This matter is easy to resolve. We can gather all the merchants together, check their accounts, clarify the pros and cons, and then we can naturally resolve it."

We're all basically related in some way, from the same clan or lineage, what problem can't we solve?

"Humph!"

A ruthless glint appeared in Fan Yongdou's eyes. "If it weren't for the formidable enemy at hand, I would have made these scoundrels bankrupt!"

Three days later.

Fan Yongdou sat upright in his study, slamming his right hand down on the teacup.

With a loud "bang".

Ceramic teacups scattered and exploded on the floor in the middle of the study, causing the merchants gathered in the study to scatter in all directions.

"Who is it!!!"

Fan Yongdou roared hysterically, like a rooster with its feathers standing on end.

"You all have to present your accounts, but you're all hiding things. You all have to work together, but you all talk a good game while secretly using underhanded tactics."

"Alright~ Alright~ I've been too lenient as the president of the chamber of commerce!"

"This plan is not for my own benefit, but for everyone's livelihood!"

“If we do not work together, Zhang Shiyuan will come back and devour us completely!”

"The lessons of Zhang Ziwei and Xu Shuming are still fresh in our minds!"

"You've forgotten everything?!"

In the study, Fan Yongdou's angry outburst actually made the group of merchants who were stirring up trouble outside look like grandsons.

He couldn't help but be furious. Three days ago, the Shanxi Merchants Guild began a thorough internal inspection.

All merchants within the guild were required to submit their accounts to the guild for verification.

This move has almost never been done before.

On the one hand, Fan Yongdou and the other two explained the stakes involved.

On the other hand, it was also because Fan, Wang, Li and others were among the top merchants in Shanxi.

The merchants below all depended on them, so naturally no one dared to resist.

As soon as the accounts were brought up, many clues were immediately discovered.

During the hoarding of briquettes, many merchants did indeed have ulterior motives, secretly buying briquettes at low prices and then reselling them at higher prices.

Buying low and selling high has been a way for merchants to make money since ancient times.

Seeing such a large piece of meat, it's almost impossible for merchants not to be tempted.

The amount last time wasn't very large, so it could still be remedied.

But today...
Wang Dengku sat in the third seat, sighed, and stood up to address the merchants.

"We have already explained the reasoning last time. Everyone is more or less unclean, so we will not punish them because it is their first offense."

But this time it was completely different.

Wang Dengku's face gradually darkened, and he slammed his hand on the desk and said.

"In just three days, the price of briquettes has dropped from eighty coins to sixty coins. Such a large fluctuation, please explain it properly!"

If it were just a slight fluctuation, it wouldn't be a big deal, but a fluctuation of twenty coins, when spread across the entire capital, is a fluctuation of tens of thousands of taels of silver. How could that not be painful?
Losing tens of thousands of taels of silver overnight would make even someone with a fortune envious!
Even if they were brothers, they would probably beat them to a pulp, let alone these merchants.

"No need to say more!"

Fan Yongdou said, his hands behind his back.

"The traitor is in this study! We've bought up almost all the coal in the capital. The price of coal has fluctuated so much because someone is secretly dumping coal for their own selfish gain."

If you do it, then stand up honestly and make up for everyone's shortcomings; then there's still room for reconciliation.

If we find out...

His eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

"Don't blame me, Fan Yongdou, for disregarding our past relationship!"

After saying these words, Fan Yongdou had clearly lost all trust in the people in front of him.

For a time, the merchants were all on edge, and they all looked at each other with hatred, wanting to find the "bad apples".

At this point, someone finally couldn't help but object.

A slightly younger merchant said rather indignantly.

"Manager Fan's words make no sense. We only have so much silver, and the amount of briquettes we can stockpile is only a few hundred thousand catties."

If one were to expect a sharp drop in the market price of briquettes, one would have to hoard hundreds of thousands or even millions of kilograms.

Looking at all the shopkeepers present, only a few possess such substantial wealth.

The young merchant seemed to be implying something.

Immediately, everyone's attention turned to the three people in the upper position.

That's right. How could such a large fluctuation be something that a bunch of small fry like them could have done?

I'm afraid those three people up there aren't clean either!

The room fell silent instantly.

Realizing the implication, Fan Yongdou immediately shouted, "How dare you! Xie Dongbo, do you even want to keep your business running?!"

Xie Dongbai, seemingly resigned to his fate, raised his head and said.

"Manager Fan, we listened to you because of your seniority and ability to bring benefits to Shanxi merchants and help us make money. But what about now?"

The plan was perfectly agreed that everyone would work together to buy briquettes and bring Zhang Shiyuan down with his wealth.

Zhang Shiyuan hasn't fallen yet, and we're already fighting amongst ourselves!
We small merchants may not be entirely clean, but do you big shots have clean hands?!

(End of this chapter)