After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Upstream cotton farmers, wanting to make up for their losses, have to manipulate prices.

People will do business that could cost them their lives, but nobody will do business that loses money.

The cotton-buying merchants and traders were eager to make a fortune from the natural disaster, their eyes already red with greed.

Hoarding and speculation are inevitable.

Even if it costs me my head, I'll stockpile it.

This is the situation faced by Sujin Pavilion and all the large and small cloth shops in Jiangnan.

However, as a royal merchant, Sujin Pavilion naturally faces many more difficulties than others.

Inside the elegantly decorated private room, only tea and snacks were served on the three tables.

Liu Xin stood behind Ning Nan.

Before Ning Nan, he was a lowly old man kneeling and kowtowing, but before these people, he was naturally still the upright and dignified head steward of Su Jin Pavilion. Although he seemed like a tiger fallen into the plains, at least these people at these tables didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of him.

Liu Xin had no idea about his new employer, who was so young.

But to be able to quietly acquire Sujin Pavilion in Nanjing, this new owner must have connections to the highest levels. Naturally, the old man wouldn't dare to act arrogantly in front of his new owner.

Seeing that the new owner, though young, was capable and reliable, the old man was even more grateful. He only hoped that the new owner could plead with the person behind the scenes to help Sujin Pavilion overcome this difficulty.

Ning Nan ordered someone to bring over a square table. He stood in front of the table, placed a stack of papers on it, and immediately a dull thud was heard.

"Gentlemen," Ning Nan said with a smile, "I'm sure you've all heard about my identity from Steward Liu. I am the new owner of Sujin Pavilion, and my name is Ning Nan."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with friendly smiles. They clasped their hands in greeting and said polite things like "Hello, Master Ning," "I've long admired your name," and "Master Ning is young and promising." The atmosphere in the private room became noisy and lively.

Ning Nan smiled and gestured with his hand, saying, "You're too kind, everyone... Let's not beat around the bush. The disaster in Jiangnan is a natural disaster. It's only natural that cotton prices would rise... I heard that they've already risen by 20%?" He turned to Liu Xin and asked.

Liu Xin nodded and said, "Yes, boss. But these are all small, scattered orders." As the demand from large cloth merchants is released, the price of cotton will rise sharply.

Currently, various cloth merchants' associations are also negotiating with cotton merchants, using long-term orders for the next few years as leverage to privately negotiate some orders.

But the cotton merchants weren't going to sit idly by. While negotiating these deals, they were also sourcing cotton that was about to be harvested through various channels.

Given Liu Xin's experience, Su Jin Pavilion would naturally be doing similar things. However, to complete this year's delivery target, the cotton shortage will still be at least 70%.

An ordinary farming family would need about three catties of cotton to weave a bolt of cloth. But Sujin Pavilion's cloth was known for its fineness, and a bolt of cloth would require five catties of cotton.

Previously, the price of a pound of cotton was about 20 wen, but now the price of a pound of cotton has risen to 25 wen.

As inventory dwindles, prices will rise, and as prices increase, cotton merchants will become increasingly reluctant to sell, further reducing the amount of cotton circulating in the market.

Ning Nan slapped his palm on the pile of papers on the square table and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, this is why I invited you all here... You are all long-time cotton merchants in our cloth business. Half a year ago, or even a year ago, we signed purchase agreements with you, purchasing a fixed amount of cotton from you at 90% of the market price. Your share has been distributed to you, and we've also placed orders with you..."

Ning Nan's smile faded, and he helplessly spread his hands, saying, "But as everyone has seen, Su Jin Pavilion has encountered a big problem this year..." Ning Nan recalled the past and present, and his voice was mellow yet slightly sad as he played the emotional card.

Liu Xin and the three people who came with him, Tian Gui and Fang Hongcai, remained expressionless.

But his eyes twitched, and he suddenly sighed inwardly: I shouldn't have shown weakness!

These people are all smiling tigers and wolves. Even intimidating them with the imperial court and nobles would be better than showing weakness. In that case, they would have to do something to make a profit, selling a few thousand catties of cotton at a fair price. If the owner shows weakness, wouldn't that be saying that Sujin Pavilion lacks confidence?

A mocking look immediately appeared in the eyes of the crowd below... Ha... They're still young.

In the current situation, if the other party adopts the intimidating manner of a large fabric company, using the purchase volume of the next three to five years as a wager to pressure us, saying that if we don't renegotiate the purchase contract at a certain price, we will never cooperate again, then perhaps we can still negotiate.

After all, Sujin Pavilion might not last another three to five years. But since people don't know who's behind you, they might still give you some face, and you might even be able to survive this ordeal.

For example, we might raise the price by 50%, but forget about the previous purchase volume. One mu of cotton field in Songjiang Prefecture only yields about 80 to 100 jin of clean cotton. Previously, we could sell you 20,000 jin, but now we're being generous by selling you 2,000 jin at this price. The rest of the cotton will be sold at double the price!

But when you start by saying things like "Sujin Pavilion is not easy to come by," and try to get everyone to sell to you at a low price, isn't that just giving away your secrets?

Some people's eyes already showed contempt... How dare a scholar who hasn't even grown his hair yet get involved in business matters that involve tens of thousands of taels of silver?

Go and call your parents over!

"Gentlemen," Ning Nan sniffed, wiped his eyes, and clasped his hands in apology, "I apologize, I lost my composure for a moment."

The crowd immediately cupped their hands in greeting and responded with smiles, saying, "Master Ning is a man of great character. Sujinge is also one of our major clients. We share the same fate, and we share the same fate. Now that Jiangnan has suffered a disaster, Sujinge, as an imperial merchant, bears a heavy responsibility. It is only natural that Master Ning would lose his composure."

Ning Nan gave a grateful smile and said, "I... thank you all very much."

Everyone immediately waved their hands and smiled, their faces beaming with joy.

"In that case," Ning Nan said solemnly, "then, could the previous purchase contracts between Sujin Pavilion and you all be voided? And a new contract with a fixed purchase price be signed?"

Ah, here comes the real show... Everyone sneered inwardly, but smiled warmly on the surface, saying repeatedly, "Of course, of course. We will return the deposits from your company in full, without hurting feelings."

If Ningnan doesn't make purchases from them, the deposit will be kept by the other party.

But if you don't buy from them, and buy from others, the market price is still very high, and with the previous contract, you can get a 90% discount.

However, for the cotton merchants, voiding the contracts at this time would actually be advantageous. They could ignore the 90% discount and hold onto their goods for a longer period, eventually selling them to others at higher prices.

As for this deposit... Su Jin Ge is doomed this time, and might even turn into a mad dog... There's no need to provoke them, it's better to distance ourselves from them sooner rather than later.

"Oh."

The crowd chuckled inwardly, thinking that this pretentious scholar was probably still dreaming of renegotiating the purchase contract so that they could sell him at a bargain price!

Immediately, Ning Nan had the old man Liu, whose face was pale and haggard, take out the previous purchase contracts and compare them one by one with each household. He then hastily signed a new contract to cancel the order.

After the signature was made, many people were already planning an excuse to leave.

Some cotton merchants with weak connections might have to sell a few thousand kilograms at a discounted price to save face. But those with strong connections wouldn't even bother to save face.

"Alright, thank you all," Ning Nan said with a smile, cupping his hands in greeting. Everyone immediately smiled and said that it was only right, and that Ning Dongjia was too kind.

"Next," Ning Nan continued, slapping his hand on the square table, "I'll be discussing the new procurement contract with you all."

Let's talk... Everyone's expressions were calm, and they had already prepared some polite ways to refuse.

Ning Nan smiled and said, "Gentlemen, we're all family here, so I won't stand on ceremony... Let me give you a heads-up, Su Jin Pavilion currently has 50,000 taels of silver in its accounts... I've brought it all with me... I'm known for my straightforwardness... well, I'm willing to pay five times the price... to buy the cotton you all have, at 100 cash per catty..."

"..."

"Um?"

Silence. Everyone in the private room froze, falling into complete silence.

Everyone was the type to keep their emotions hidden, and their expressions were equally unreadable... After a while, someone's eyelids twitched, and someone looked at others... as if they hadn't heard clearly.

"Huh?" One of the shopkeepers seemed to realize what was happening, frowned, and exclaimed, "Master Ning, Master Ning just said..."

"Hmm," Ning Nan nodded, then slammed his fist on the square table and laughed, "Manager Fang, you heard me right. I'm saying I'm willing to renegotiate the purchase contract with you all at five times the price..."

"Of course," Ning Nan added with a smile, "this price... will only last until I've spent all 50,000 taels of silver."

……

……

Inside a private room at Xianyue Tower, Dou Yuan chuckled and waved his fan as he addressed the assembled business leaders.

"Gentlemen," Dou Yuan said with a broad smile, "I've heard that Sujin Pavilion has invited many cotton merchants from Songjiang Prefecture to Fulai Tavern to renegotiate purchase contracts... What do you all think," Dou Yuan said, "this Master Ning—how many kilograms of cotton can he buy from all these cotton merchants?"

Chen Yangxuan, the head of Chen's Cloth Shop, the number one cloth shop in Nanjing, stroked his white goatee and laughed, "Mr. Dou, you're asking a question you already know the answer to... Given the current situation of Sujin Pavilion, if we don't renegotiate the contract, Songjiang Prefecture will still have to pay him this much cotton... But if we renegotiate the contract, I'm afraid we can only gather three thousand catties of cotton tonight, which would already be a favor from the cotton merchants because of your goodwill as their old boss."

The assembled managers immediately smiled and said, "Old Chen, you're too kind. I think if he can buy 500 jin, he'll come to thank Mr. Dou for the kindness he showed us."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Dou Yuan glanced over... Oh... His smile deepened. The visitor was someone he had specially arranged—the manager of Fu Lai Tavern, tasked with gathering information about the place. Ah... news must have arrived... he thought.