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

Chapter 225 Has the price of Xishan Glazed Glass plummeted?
"Xishan." Xu Fan looked troubled, his eyes darting around.

Upon seeing this, Xu Jie slammed his fist on the table, looking furious and glaring.

"Just say it, why are you beating around the bush and stammering?"

"But... Father," Xu Fan sighed, kneeling before the bed, "I told you, you must stay calm."

Upon hearing this, there was no need for further explanation. Xu Jie, lying on the bed, suddenly twitched at the corner of his eye, and his withered fingers gripped the edge of the blankets tightly.

"You damned wretch, look at you!"

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Jie broke into a violent cough.

Seeing Xu Fan trembling with fear, and realizing that if he kept her in suspense any longer, his father would skin him alive, he would be terrified.

"I hope Father can calm down."

He said with a sigh.

"Just as Father predicted, I inquired with the officials in the capital and with our spies planted throughout the capital. After a rough estimate, I believe that the Western Hills glass artifacts..."

Before the other party could explain, Xu Jie frowned and said, "How many glass items has Zhang Shiyuan sold in the past month? And how many of those so-called ancient sage glass statues are there in Xishan?"

Xu Fan hesitated, looking very embarrassed, “The glass products from Xishan are all produced through auctions, so there are probably only a few hundred pieces. As for the statues of sages, there probably aren’t many either.”

But"

Xu Jie's expression relaxed a little, then he shook the other man's waist and slapped his eldest son on the head, saying, "Say it all in one breath!"

Despite his advanced age, Xu Fan, who had been beaten, dared not utter a word of complaint and covered his head as he spoke.

"However, after much investigation, we discovered that the glass artifacts stored in Xishan were not just a few hundred pieces, as can be seen from some of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts."

Now it seems that Xishan will be able to produce a continuous supply of glass.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jie gritted his teeth and pulled his eldest son's clothes.

"Whether it's true or false, what about the Ministry of Revenue? Can they find any clues?"

Xu Fan looked bitter: "Father, you are making things difficult for me. For more than ten years, Zhang Jiangling has been eliminating dissidents in the capital. It is already difficult for us to get any information. If we want to investigate further, it is really impossible."

"Hmph! It's all because I gave birth to a bunch of idiots!" Xu Jie shoved his eldest son away, his eyes almost bleeding.

He had suspected beforehand that something was amiss.

Everyone knows that those glass artifacts are exquisitely crafted.

The profits from auctioning goods in Xishan and transporting them to Southern Zhili are far more than just a few thousand taels of silver.
But Zhang Yunxiu neither handed over such a treasure to the emperor nor kept it to sell himself; instead, he held an auction.

The auction prices may seem staggering, but ultimately, they still reflect a price difference compared to those outside the market.

Driven by greed, most people, despite knowing Zhang Yunxiu was "cunning," still harbored wishful thinking, believing they could profit by reselling Xishan glass.

But don't they consider what Zhang Yunxiu is after? Does he really think he's giving back to the "people"?
The answer is now obvious: this kid is reaping the benefits of scholars from all over the world!

They claimed that glassware was an extremely precious item, often made of celestial iron.

In fact, it's hard to say for sure; his warehouse is already overflowing with such glass products!

Thinking of this, Xu Jie's body trembled violently, and he said in a somewhat urgent voice.

"Where is my precious glass statue of Confucius? And where is the glass statue that unfilial son bought? Where did they go?!"

Xu Fan quickly replied, "Father, when you saw those ancient sages' glass statues last time, you were so angry that you were on the verge of a breakdown. Later, you strictly ordered that no one was allowed to touch these two glass statues. Right now, the glass statues are in the storeroom."

Excluding”

He carefully observed his father's expression.

“Except for the one you broke, Father.”

"Sell them!" Xu Jie shouted, slamming his fist on the bed. "Sell them all! And quickly! Not just that glass statue, but all the glass items in the house. Sell them all at 80% of the original price, or even half a percent if necessary!"

Xu Fan was somewhat surprised, wondering if his father was getting senile. These glass items were worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. Selling them at half price would result in a huge loss.
He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Father, please rest assured, I have already contacted someone to help sell them. I think we can sell them overseas and make a profit by selling them to foreigners."

Xu Fan chuckled again.

"If all else fails, we'll sell them to the border regions; the Tatars really love glassware!"

"idiot!"

Xu Jie could no longer bear it and slapped his bloated eldest son across the face, who miraculously got out of bed.

He then proceeded to punch and kick his eldest son.

"Do you intend to ruin my Xu family? You're so clever! You're the only one who would think of selling us to Westerners or Tartars?"

His collection of glass artifacts in Xishan is so vast that you could sell them to someone from Xishan.

"You beast!"

"My child. My child."

Xu Fan covered his face; he was over fifty years old, yet he was now weeping bitterly.

"Ai--"

Xu Jie's chest heaved, his breathing labored like a bellows. He kicked his eldest son to the ground and scolded him.

"Go quickly!"

"I'll go right away! I'll go right away!"

Xu Fan covered his head and fled the room in a disheveled state.

Watching his eldest son leave, Xu Jie slumped onto the bed, a fierce glint gradually forming in his eyes.

"Zhang Shiyuan!"

Inside a residence in Datong Prefecture, Shanxi Province.

Li Mingxing, Fan Yongdou, and Wang Dengku, the three largest forces among Shanxi merchants, have gathered together again today.

Fan Yongdou took a sip of tea and spoke first: "Recently, we have been trading with the Tatars in Zhangjiakou Fort and have sold a lot of briquettes. The Tatars like this fuel very much. I think we can make a lot of money by trading it back and forth between China and other countries."

With a stockpile of dried briquettes, it seems we can clear out quite a bit of it.

At this point, he sighed.

"It wasn't easy, but things have finally taken a turn for the better."

“No,” Wang Dengku shook his head. “From the capital to Datong, and then to Zhangjiakou Fort, it takes a lot of carriages and horses. The Tatars are not fools; they are all very shrewd. They will try to drive down the price of some of the less desirable items.”

We suffered heavy losses this time.

Fan Yongdou was somewhat annoyed, feeling that this person was making sarcastic remarks, and he retorted.

"So what? You've already suffered so much damage, this is quite a bit better. If you still think it's not good enough, why don't you go back to the capital and have a go at Zhang Shiyuan?!"

Since the briquettes incident, these people have often been on the verge of anger during their conversations.

Wang Dengku, however, remained unperturbed. “I don’t know who it was, but last time they asked someone to buy Xishan glass again. This time, Xishan glass is coming in continuously, and the price of glass on the market has plummeted. All that money has gone to Zhang Shiyuan again.”

With a loud bang, Fan Yongdou slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He was clearly hit where it hurt, and he pointed at the other person with trembling fingers.

"Wang Dengkuer, don't go too far! Without me, how could you possibly sell your briquettes?"

Wang Dengku responded: "Wasn't it all thanks to me mediating things?"

The two of them argued back and forth, getting into a huge fight.

"All right!"

Li Mingxing, with his white hair, looked more than ten years older than himself. He hunched over and spoke angrily.

"What's the use of all you making a racket here? Do you think you can kill Zhang Yunxiu?"

These words silenced the two once more, though their eyes still held a tense, almost hostile, look.

Li Mingxing spoke up again, saying, "Let's put aside the matter of ore for now. We've suffered losses in the past, but we'll surely be able to make a comeback in the future. Among us merchants, how many of us have never suffered losses?"

As for the matter of the Western Mountain Glazed Tile, in my opinion, it is not a disaster, but rather a good thing.”

Wang Dengku seemed rather unconvinced.

"Old Li, Xishan has been making huge profits through the auction house. He's probably earned over a million taels of silver these past few days!"

Speaking of this, he was filled with rage.

What's even more infuriating is that Zhang Yunxiu has monopolized this excellent way of making money.

If it weren't for the previous setback, I might be the one making money in the capital right now.

"Humph--"

Li Mingxing said with a cold smile.

"You all see that Xishan Liuli is making money, but whose money is it? It's nothing but merchants and gentry, nothing but court officials and nobles."

Merchants are easy to bully, but the officials and nobles in the court are all formidable.

Among them were even some of Zhang Jiangling's cronies and those who were on good terms with him, Zhang Shiyuan.

Previously, no one had realized what was happening, but now everyone understood that Zhang Yunxiu's glass was a deception.

What do you think they'll do?

Fan Yongdou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening.

"Good! Great good!"

He clapped his hands and said with a smile.

"Old Li is truly insightful; Zhang Shiyuan has another way to bring about his own death!"

Why did he say "again"? Realizing he had misspoke, he quickly corrected himself.

"Zhang Shiyuan insists on being a tyrant, and he will surely be despised by the world!"

Li Mingxing narrowed his eyes: "Things in this world are never that easy. Why is it that Zhang Shiyuan is all the same? Young people always have to stumble and learn from their mistakes."

"What does Elder Li mean?" Fan Yongdou had another idea. "Can we just give it a push?"

"How much support do you have left in the capital? The Capital Daily must keep up, as well as the Prince of Lu's Mansion and all those who have trouble with Zhang Shiyuan. Gather them all together, just to make him unhappy."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Li."

The two were having a lively discussion, but Wang Dengku, sitting to the side, was secretly wondering about it.

Just like Fan Yongdou's use of the word "again," the others had discussed it in the same way, and they also believed that "the advantage was in our hands," but what happened in the end?

They were still utterly defeated by Zhang Yunxiu.
After thinking about it, Wang Dengku had a different idea.

British government.

Zhang Rong sat imposingly in the main hall, gritting his teeth, and leaned down to ask the steward below, "How's the price list for glass?"

The butler was prostrate on the ground, his speech stammering.

"Price List for Crystal Glass". Crystal Glass

"It's gone down again?"

"Perhaps the price has dropped a bit. There are many glass beads on the market now, and they can be seen everywhere. In the past, a single glass bead from the West could sell for three or four taels of silver, and a better quality one, like the one from Xishan, could sell for five taels of silver."

But now, even three taels of silver are unwanted.

Zhang Rong looked heartbroken: "Just how much glass did Xishan sell!"

The butler was terrified and immediately knelt down and said...

"I am ignorant, I truly am ignorant."

Zhang Rong suppressed his anger and subconsciously looked at the statue of Guan Yu in the main hall. It was a full 30,000 taels of silver!
What's most infuriating is that it wasn't just Guan Shengdijun; a few days ago, Zhang Rong was deeply involved in the "debauchery" of the Xishan Auction.

I bought several dozen glass items, though not hundreds.

In total, the losses were almost astronomical!
Even if he had some shares in Xishan, the amount he could get would only be tens of thousands of taels of silver. After all that, it wouldn't even cover the hole!

Not to mention, if the glass were to fall like this, who knows how much the glass in the room would be worth!

Zhang Rong's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "What on earth is that brat Zhang Shiyuan doing?"

The butler, of course, could not answer the question and could only stand trembling on the ground, looking as if he were afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

Zhang Rong calmed his anger and looked at the steward again, saying, "A few months ago, I asked you to sell all the glass items in the house. Did you do it?"

As early as when the Xishan workshop was gaining momentum, Zhang Rong received news that Zhang Yunxiu was going to make glass.

At the time, although I didn't quite believe it, I still instructed my servants to take the necessary measures.

The steward's heart skipped a beat. He finally remembered, and thankfully he hadn't made a mistake earlier. He had followed Zhang Rong's instructions and taken care of all the glasswork.

A look of joy appeared on his face, and he smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Oh my! Your Excellency is truly insightful! All the glasswork in the house has already been sold out, except for..."

After glancing at the Guan Gong statue and ignoring the exquisite glass artifacts in Zhang Rong's room, the butler smiled and said...

"Thanks to your foresight, Your Excellency, otherwise the losses would have been even greater."

The steward tried to flatter Zhang Rong, but it backfired, and Zhang Rong's face grew increasingly red.

He wouldn't take his anger out on the butler, he said with a wave of his hand.

"Prepare the carriages and horses! I'm going to Xishan to find Zhang Shiyuan and have a proper talk with him!"

(End of this chapter)