My eunuch godfather

Jinchun Courtyard.

Chen Jizong hummed a little tune as he entered the room, when the singing foreign woman pounced on him and threw herself into his arms, saying in a sweet voice:

"Sir, do you have any dried mushrooms? I'll take as many as you have!"

"What's wrong? The fifty silver whiskers and thirty catties of broken cloud that I gave you before, sold out so quickly?"

Hearing the foreign singer say this, Chen Jizong was very surprised:

A pack contains ten boxes, and with the cuts from the dry tobacco and the commissions from Chen Jizong and the singing foreigner, these dry tobaccos would sell for over three hundred taels.

To my surprise, it sold out in less than three days!

"They're selling even better at Hongxiulou! I sold them all the dozen or so strips and a few pounds that were left over from yesterday!"

The strutting foreign woman asked Chen Jizong smugly, "Guess how much I increased their prices?"

"You, you're selling counterfeit goods, that's against the rules!"

Chen Jizong, with a stern face, scolded the foreign woman singing, "I'm going to punish you!"

"Oh dear, oh dear, how shall you punish me, my lord?"

The voluptuous woman, singing, pressed herself tightly against Chen Jizong and said in a coquettish voice, "Do I have to be punished with a full night tonight?"

"Let's not talk about that now."

Chen Jizong suddenly felt a soreness in his lower back and quickly changed the subject to the singing foreign woman:

"Alright then, I'll redeem you from Jinchun Courtyard. From now on, you can specialize in this!"

"I keep many maids in my courtyard."

The foreign singer, somewhat reluctant, having already stepped one foot into the ranks of madam, asked Chen Jizong:

"What if these maids are bullied after I leave?"

"Idiot! You're doing so well for yourself outside, even the head of the household has to watch his back!"

Chen Jizong reached out and pinched the soft flesh of the singing foreign woman, laughing and scolding:

"I'll go ask Brother Zhang for favors and get you another batch of dried mushrooms."

Not only Chen Jizong, but also Xu Bengao's brother-in-law, Zhang Guotai, Zhou Zhong and others obtained a lot of goods from Zhang Kun.

By simply passing through one hand, one can reap huge profits of tens or even hundreds of percent!

A top-quality gold-thread cigarette that costs one tael of silver to produce can be sold for two or three taels of silver in the market!

......

The courtyard of the Niangniang Temple in Majuqiao.

"You heartless bastard, you ingrate!"

The beautiful woman in the fur robe had a resentful look in her eyes. With her left hand, she held a sliver of menthol cigarette between two pure gold tongs, while her right hand pinched Zhang Kun's waist. She complained:

"I bought and sold land in Liulichang, and you got a 30% stake! You didn't do anything, but you never missed out on your dividends!"

"You have such a great business, and you won't even let me get a piece of the action?!"

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

Zhang Kun, wincing in pain from the fur-robed beauty's pinching, rolled over and begged for mercy:

"Sister, I never expected that tampons would suddenly sell so well..."

How popular is tampoo in Beijing?

In just over twenty days, Sun Jing has sold more than 8,400 jin of the 10,000 jin of raw bamboo shoots he bought from the south!

Even if we calculate all the profits based on the lowest profit margin of Broken Cloud Smoke, without considering the markup, the profit would still be five thousand taels of silver!

In fact, the Jin Yun ship's profit has exceeded 50000 taels!

Isn't it said that people are slow to accept new things these days? How come they're all getting addicted to smoking so quickly?!

"...Your business is too profitable; you're probably already being watched. Be careful!"

After listening to Zhang Kun's words, the woman in the fur robe fell silent. After a long while, she sighed and reminded Zhang Kun.

"Thank you for reminding me, sister. I'm starting to prepare..."

After the sudden popularity of tampons, Zhang Kun immediately began to adjust his original strategy, preparing to deal with all sorts of unsavory characters and schemes that followed:

First, the production and manufacturing department of tampons was separated from Jin Yun and transferred to the newly established Li Min.

Jin Yunhao specializes in sales, and Zhang Kun's 40% stake was transferred to Sun Jing's name, to be held by Sun Jing on his behalf.

Let Sun Jing take the lead and draw attention and some of the firepower.

Secondly, immediately give the eunuch godfather a bonus of 18000 taels of silver, plus an additional 10% share, so that the eunuch godfather can also help deal with the situation.

Now, when various deities want to obtain goods, Zhang Kun asks them to get approval from their eunuch godfather.

The imperial court and the palace were already aware of the fire at Tambagu.

Zhang Kun needs his eunuch godfather to quickly reach a cooperation agreement with the latter, namely the Wanli Emperor, to turn Jinyunhao into a royal business.

In this way, the imperial court would be unable to collect heavy taxes, and the eunuch godfather would gain more trust from the emperor.

Even if the greedy Wanli Emperor took 70%, tampang would still be an extremely profitable business!

As for the imperial court, after failing to collect much tax revenue, officials would often submit memorials to the emperor, extolling the dangers of tampoo.

Zhang Kun had already started hiring storytellers and opera singers to promote danbagu (a type of medicinal herb) everywhere, claiming it was a medicinal material introduced from overseas.

It is pungent and warm, and can dispel pathogenic factors, relieve dampness and cold, refresh the mind when tired, and relieve depression when irritable.

Of course, there are also reminders, such as not to inhale too much, and that children, pregnant women, and people with weak lungs should not inhale it, which makes it seem fair and objective.

Finally, Zhang Kun planned to open a dozen more stores selling tampons in addition to Jin Yun Hao, and sell his shares in them.

Limin Company supplied these businesses with raw materials and designed and produced various tampoo products.

Currently, due to shortages, the price of tampoo is increasing at each level after it is sold, and the price of one tael of silver at the factory can be sold for two or three taels.

Even if production capacity increases later and the market novelty wears off, it won't be a problem to sell a one-tael silver for one-tael silver and two- or three-tael silver.

Zhang Kun didn't intend to make money from this; instead, he wanted to use it to feed some of the demons and monsters, thus reducing the number of enemies he would face.

"...Sister, I'm planning to open another business, named Qingxia."

After explaining his thoughts, Zhang Kun pointed to the menthol cigarette tucked into the cigarette holder of the woman in the fur robe and said with a smile:

"We specialize in selling this kind of women's menthol cigarettes. How about you get 30% of the profits?"

"Hmph, at least you have some conscience left."

The woman in the fur robe was overjoyed. She reached out and touched Zhang Kun's chin, asking with a charming smile:

"But I can't just take it for free. I'll give you 1,200 taels of silver first, and you can keep the rest as a debt, okay?"

"Of course, then my sister still owes me 1,800 taels."

After resting for so long, Zhang Kun had regained his strength and was full of energy again. He grinned mischievously at the beautiful woman in the fur robe and asked:

"I wonder how you plan to repay me, sister? Would you accept it as payment in kind?"

The woman in the fur robe rolled her eyes at Zhang Kun, stubbed out her menthol cigarette in the ashtray by the bedside, and removed the cigarette clip.

She reached for the hair tie from the bedside table, tied her long hair up, placed a pillow under her knees, and knelt up...

......

Li Cheng's private residence.

Upon seeing the profit figures for the Jin Yun ship calculated by the accounting department, Li Cheng immediately became excited.

Old Sixty-Six, Old Sixty-Six, I never imagined you were so capable of causing trouble, and even managing to build such a large business!

Once this number spreads throughout the capital, thousands of eyes will be watching you, wanting to devour you alive!

You are indeed capable, but you don't know what it means to conceal your talents!

If you just stay in the river work camp and accumulate seniority, with five thousand river workers as your protector, your brother really can't do anything to you.

But you just can't resist showing off your abilities everywhere, so I won't be polite!

Do you know how many dukes, marquises, earls, and ministers there are in the capital? How many eunuchs and high-ranking officials are there? Even your godfather can't protect you!

A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be felled by the wind, let alone one that grows too fast and has too weak a trunk!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Thinking that the opportunity for revenge was right in front of him, Li Cheng couldn't help but laugh wildly.