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

Chapter 234 Another New Product from Xishan? (One more chapter at 21 PM)
"A market crash?" The Wanli Emperor frowned. "What does this mean?"

Zhang Yunxiu explained to the emperor in a simple and clear manner.

"It's a trick of buying low and selling high."

The phrase "buy low, sell high" immediately made Emperor Wanli understand, and he nodded in agreement.

"That's a vivid and descriptive description."

But he was still somewhat puzzled.

"If we don't buy low and sell high, how will we make money?"

Emperor Wanli's idea was quite simple: since the price of glass had risen, wouldn't it be possible to earn more money by selling all the glass in the warehouse?

In the past, merchants hoarded goods and speculated on prices; wasn't that how they did it?

But Zhang Yunxiu shook his head helplessly: "It seems that His Majesty still hasn't grasped the true wonders of economics."

The Wanli Emperor was somewhat annoyed. He pointed at Zhang Yunxiu, but spoke threateningly like a child.

"Zhang Shiyuan! You have insulted me time and time again. Do you really think I have no temper? If you continue like this, you can forget about marrying the princess!"

Given his status, marrying a princess is not a good thing.

Zhang Yunxiu had no such plans for the time being; it was merely a way for the emperor to save face.

He then went on to explain.

"Your Majesty is unaware that these are two concepts in economics: one is the perfectly competitive market, and the other is the theory of consumer expectations for products."

"What utter nonsense!" Emperor Wanli scratched his head. "It's even more incomprehensible than the lectures given by the Hanlin Academy scholars."

But for the sake of the money, the emperor calmed down and asked, "Tell me more."

Zhang Yunxiu, with his hands behind his back, began giving Emperor Wanli a mini-lesson on economics.

"A perfectly competitive market refers to a market where producers act as 'price takers.' Excessively raising prices will gradually lead to a loss of market share, while malicious price-cutting may trigger vicious competition. Therefore, a market price must be maintained."

Emperor Wanli's veins bulged on his forehead as he spoke irritably.

"speak English."

"Cough cough~"

Zhang Yunxiu coughed twice to ease the awkwardness.

"To put it simply, rather than letting the price of glass fluctuate wildly like it's going up and down, just for a moment of pleasure and to make some quick money, it's better to avoid doing something like that."

It would be better to take a steady, long-term approach, maintaining the overall price of glass and ensuring that glass can continue to generate profits.

"Does Your Majesty not understand the principle of draining the pond to catch all the fish?"

"We must allow the people to rest and recuperate!" Emperor Wanli offered a different interpretation from his perspective.

Zhang Yunxiu nodded: "That's pretty much the idea. In a perfectly competitive market, you have to go with the flow. Over-manipulating prices will backfire."

But Emperor Wanli shook his head and said, "What we are taking is the silver of the gentry, officials and wealthy people. These people are the most despicable. How can they be called the people?"

"I'm not trying to plunder the common people; can't I even squeeze out a few parasites?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu couldn't help but chuckle, but his eyes held a complex expression.

The young emperor's thinking has led him astray. Will he end up drowning again because he wants to harm the interests of the scholar-officials?

Clearing his mind of the jumbled thoughts, Zhang Yunxiu then explained.

"These people are certainly despicable, but the time is not yet ripe, and we cannot condemn them all at once. Just as I once told Your Majesty about the principle of harvesting leeks."

Chives need to be harvested in batches; how can you possibly dig up their roots?

The Wanli Emperor seemed to understand but not quite. He was still thinking, and soon grasped the crux of the matter and asked.

"So how do you control the 'heat' in this process?"

"This is what consumers expect."

Zhang Yunxiu smiled slightly as he spoke.

"This means there is an information asymmetry between producers and consumers. If consumers lack confidence in a product, they will reduce their purchases and demand."

After a barrage of technical terms, Zhang Yunxiu realized that the Wanli Emperor didn't really understand them, but the impressive professional jargon was to be expected.

Then he asked, "Your Majesty, think about it, why do the gentry and merchants collect glass?"

The emperor shook his head and thought for a long time before finally coming up with an answer.

"I suppose it's for display purposes, to be kept at home so that it can benefit future generations. Or perhaps it's for making money?"

Zhang Yunxiu squinted and said, "The former is not very important; the latter is the most important."

"Since we want to make money, this thing can't fluctuate too much, but it can't be stagnant either. Ideally, it should fluctuate between rising and falling, showing an overall upward trend."

Just like constantly growing chives, we need to harvest them, but we can't let them realize that we're harvesting them. Only in this way can we harvest them continuously.

Most importantly, it is necessary to build market confidence so that everyone believes that glass is valuable and that it can appreciate in value.

In business, short-term ups and downs are not a long-term strategy. One must be like spring rain nourishing the earth, steadily and patiently, to maintain stability and prosperity.

"Is this what they mean by letting these merchants and gentry 'die in comfort'?"

After much deliberation, the Wanli Emperor added.

“More or less correct.” Zhang Yunxiu nodded. Emperor Wanli frowned and pondered for a long time, clearly not having fully digested this amount of information, but he could already sense the mystery and complexity of the “economics”.

But one thing the emperor was certain of was that Zhang Yunxiu was up to no good again!

He said with a half-smile.

"It seems Shi Yuan has another wicked scheme?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu's expression froze, and he said with considerable dissatisfaction.

"Why does Your Majesty slander me like this? I am not doing this for my own selfish reasons, but for the sake of the millions of people under Heaven!"

"A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue." The Wanli Emperor looked quite embarrassed.

"There's nothing unusual about it; it's just a change in the business model."

Zhang Yunxiu stated it simply and clearly.

"Your humble servant has decided to launch two concepts: one is scarcity marketing, and the other is customized services!"

"And then there's the exploitation of these people's desire to make quick money!"

There is another press conference in Xishan today.

More than ten days have passed since the explosion at the Xishan Glass Workshop.

However, the gentry and merchants of the capital city remained as enthusiastic as ever about glass products.

Ten days ago, the Xishan Lotus Vase was priced at only 800 taels of silver, but today it has been speculated to a sky-high price of 1,600 taels of silver.

Therefore, today's press conference was even more popular than the last one, and tickets were extremely hard to come by.

There were even absurd scenes of people spending hundreds of taels of silver to buy a single seat.

People are putting in a lot of effort, hoping to get news of "good news" or "interest rate differentials" from Xishan as soon as possible.

Some people even hoped to buy some leftover glass items from Xishan and make a fortune!
The theater was bustling with noise, as Longyou merchants had spent a fortune to create a private area for themselves.

Among the Longyou merchants, Hu Mao burst into tears upon seeing his old friend Tong Pei, almost kneeling down.

"Brother Ziming~ Brother Ziming~ I regret my actions so much!"

"I lost two hundred thousand taels of silver! A whole two hundred thousand taels of pure silver! The glass mountain I bought for four hundred thousand taels last month, I sold it at a loss for three hundred thousand taels the day before yesterday, and now it's worth five hundred thousand taels! I'll have to make dozens of trips on the Grand Canal to earn it back!"

In contrast, Tong Pei, dressed in a brand-new scholar's robe, looked refreshing and neat.

Although it was against etiquette for merchants to wear Confucian robes, the rule during the Wanli era was that "officials would not investigate unless the people complained."

Moreover, given Tong Pei's wealth and connections, who would dare to cause him trouble?
He looked smug and said to his companion.

"Manager Hu is too impatient. A little bit of silver comes and goes naturally, why does it make you so happy or sad? Manager Hu is too tainted by the smell of money."

Hu Mao was furious, but he was powerless to do anything about the other party.

Among merchants, those with money are the bosses. Tong Pei has earned at least 300,000 taels of silver through glass. In this back-and-forth, one gains and the other loses.

Hu Mao's influence among Longyou merchants is now far less than that of his opponent.

He turned to look at Yu Xiangdou on the stage, hoping that the other party would once again reveal some explosive news that would allow him to make a fortune like Tong Pei had before.

On the podium, Yu Xiangdou was still dressed in formal attire. Although he had his usual smile on his face, there was a hint of seriousness in his brows.

Compared to his previous awkwardness, he was much more skilled this time.

"Cough cough~"

Yu Xiangdou gently tapped the sandalwood gavel, and the theater fell silent; everyone stared wide-eyed, waiting for his speech.

Yu Xiangdou smiled slightly and spoke carefully, choosing his words carefully.

"Distinguished guests, the main reason for gathering you here today is to discuss the aftermath of the unexpected incident at Liulichang the other day."

"Firstly, the rumors circulating that the Xishan Glass Workshop was completely destroyed are unfounded. However, the explosion of the workshop's key boiler did indeed deal a heavy blow to the workshop, and its future production capacity will likely be greatly reduced."

When he finished speaking, the audience members who had been holding their breath finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When Yu Xiangdou said it was "pure fabrication," many onlookers couldn't help but rush out to sell their glassware.

However, after saying all this, Yu Xiangdou showed no sign of stopping and took out an exquisite glass cup from under the podium.

The cup shimmered with iridescent light, clearly a top-quality product from Xishan.

After demonstrating, Yu Xiangdou said with a smile.

He showed it to everyone and said with a smile.

"But it is precisely because of this that we have realized the preciousness and rarity of glassmaking. For this reason, Xishan has launched a new and exquisite product called Ningguang Kiln!"

"The name 'Ningguang Kiln' comes from 'Gathering the Light of Heaven,' signifying the beauty of 'colors like rainbows, light reflecting the sun and moon,' which is condensed into each piece of glassware. We also hope you are aware that all Ningguang Kiln products are unique pieces meticulously crafted by artisans, making them even rarer and more expensive than before."

"Furthermore, although the glass workshop encountered setbacks, it also seized this opportunity to open up new horizons!"

"Xishan will utilize the remaining production lines of the Liuli Workshop to launch a customized service for glazed windows and glazed tiles."

After he finished speaking, someone pushed rows of glazed windows and glazed bricks and tiles onto the stage.

"Please look at this 'window of flowing light and shadow'."

(End of this chapter)