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

Two million catties?

The total annual net cotton production of the entire Songjiang Prefecture is only about 15 to 16 million catties. After the disaster this year, the production has dropped even further to less than 10 million catties.

Sujin Pavilion alone consumes 30% of Songjiang Prefecture's cotton production?!

Still 20,000 taels of silver... still five times the price... how is that possible?!

Even those who were usually very composed shook their heads in disapproval. If this person hadn't been one of Dou Yuan's men, they probably would have shouted out angry curses like "utter nonsense."

Chen Yangxuan, the owner of Nanjing's No. 1 Cloth Shop, also frowned.

As a cloth merchant, the usual practice is to buy yarn and sell cloth. Buying two million catties of cotton in one go is quite a large undertaking, but not impossible.

Especially this year, due to the disaster, a large amount of cotton was lost in the water, and a lot of cloth has not yet been spun. Sujin Pavilion can only make large-scale purchases in a short period of time.

But buying cotton and turning it into cloth... that's another problem. Even if Sujin Pavilion had two weaving workshops in Suzhou, spinning day and night, they still couldn't possibly keep up with the demand.

So, he was actually waiting for Sujin Pavilion to come and beg Chen Ji to sell them the finished woven cloth so they could deliver it to the imperial merchants and make a fortune.

But unexpectedly, this Ning Dongjia was so ruthless, directly raising the price of cotton five times!

Chen Yangxuan's eyes suddenly darkened. Chen's Company was still negotiating with some major cotton merchants as quickly as possible... such as the major cotton merchant from Suzhou Prefecture present here. The price increase they were currently accepting was only about 50% to 80%. A month later, the price they were accepting would be about double or triple. By the end of this month, they would have completely purchased all the cotton they needed. In this way, no matter how much the price of cotton increased two months later, Chen's Company would be in a comfortable position.

But if the price is indeed five times higher... then after all this commotion in Ningnan, all cotton merchants' minds will probably be set on something much sooner rather than later.

Chen Yangxuan glanced at Meng Shichen, a major cotton merchant in Suzhou Prefecture, and found that the old man's face indeed showed a look of interest.

Dou Yuan narrowed his eyes and said solemnly, "Old Jiang, are you joking with us?"

"I dare not," Old Jiang said, his face pale as he swallowed hard, facing the tense gazes of everyone in the private room. "The 20,000 taels of silver that Ning Nan spent was not used to pay for the cotton purchase in full, but only to pay the deposit."

Deposit?

Everyone's expression froze.

Oh... Generally speaking, the deposit from the cloth shop is 30% or 40%. If you only pay a deposit and then pay the full amount when the cotton is delivered two months later, that would be quite reasonable.

At that time... everyone's eyes flickered... where would Sujin Pavilion get so much money to pay for all the purchases?

If they were to buy on credit, with nine installments and thirteen returns, the interest alone would be enough to bankrupt Sujin Pavilion in a year.

"Wait a minute," someone frowned and said that it still didn't make sense. If it was a 30% deposit, he could only use it as 60,000 taels of silver, which could buy at most 600,000 catties of cotton. How could he possibly buy 2 million catties?

"That's right." Everyone nodded in agreement.

In their excitement, the group had been momentarily distracted, but now that they came to their senses, they realized that they could indeed only buy 600,000 jin.

Manager Jiang's face showed a look of despair, as if he couldn't figure out why that person would do such a thing, no matter how hard he tried.

He shook his head, his voice hoarse, "Gentlemen, Ning Nan... he didn't give thirty percent as a deposit... he, he, he..." Steward Jiang struggled to organize his thoughts, "...he only gave ten percent!"

Um? ? ? ! ! !

One-tenth?!

Everyone's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

"What do you mean by a 10% deposit?" Dou Yuan's eyes widened, and his voice sharpened. "Are those cotton merchants dead? How could they agree to pay a 10% deposit to buy their cotton?!" His words were somewhat out of line, but once spoken, there was no going back. Dou Yuan regretted his words, and his gaze even turned fierce.

The absurdity of the situation truly exceeded his expectations.

10% deposit...

He paid a 10% deposit to buy cotton at five times the price, and two months later, he had to repay the cotton merchants a total of 200,000 taels of silver!

If the money cannot be repaid, the interest will be charged day by day, and the interest will be exorbitant. Sujin Pavilion will be doomed!

Manager Jiang looked grave and shook his head.

"He...he summoned the Imperial Guards."

Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Everyone was taken aback.

"That Ning Nan has summoned the Embroidered Uniform Guard," Jiang Heng said. "For each transaction, he gives the Embroidered Uniform Guard a 5% cut, and the transaction is jointly stamped by the cotton merchant, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Su Jin Ge... If he can't come up with the money, the interest will still be paid. If he can't even pay the interest, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will confiscate his property and auction it off to pay off the debt..."

"Well……"

The crowd froze, and after understanding the meaning of these words, they all gasped in shock.

Ning Nan is actually so ruthless?!

The lamp in the private room went out, and a servant tiptoed in to add oil to the lamp.

The warm, dim light instantly filled the room again.

"What...what did you say?" Dou Yuan clenched his fists and frowned.

Has he...has he gone mad?

……

……

"Are you crazy?" Qin Yuanyao's eyebrows shot up as she slammed her hand on the stack of contracts on the square table and said fiercely.

Ning Nan blew on the ink off the last contract in his hand and said with a smile, "No, don't worry."

"Where will you get the money to give to these cotton merchants two months from now?!" the female commander shouted sternly.

"There's always a way," said the notorious rogue from Li Family Village.

"A solution, a solution, a solution..." The female commander repeated the word several times through gritted teeth.

Two hundred thousand taels!

A full two hundred thousand taels!

Your solution is to have His Majesty and His Highness fill it out for you?!

She gritted her teeth, turned her head, and glared angrily at Shangguan Xiu beside her: "And you! How could you join him in this nonsense!"

Hmm… Shangguan Xiu’s eyes narrowed. He had clearly performed meritorious service last time and was now wearing the red flying fish robe, making him a commander of the Imperial Guard of the same rank as the other woman. But seeing the woman’s angry expression, he was still a little scared.

"He must have a way!" Shangguan Xiu said, her courage hardening.

"Fuck you my foot!" Qin Yuanyao cursed angrily.

When she heard that Ning Nan had invited Shangguan Xiu here, she thought that the other party wanted to use the power of the Marquis of Zhenguo and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to suppress these cotton merchants.

This was somewhat taboo; accusations of "oppressing the good" and "competing with the people for profit" would certainly be leveled against her. After much deliberation at the Imperial Guard Commander's residence, she decided to come and see for herself, at least to prevent the two from going too far.

But I never expected it.

The other party was actually here to make a fortune with the Imperial Guards and these cotton merchants!

They emptied His Majesty's private treasury to enrich themselves!

Qin Yuanyao felt a pang of sadness, and her eyes welled up with tears. She felt deeply sorry for His Highness and His Majesty.

Buying cotton at five times the price?

Even if you tripled the price, His Majesty might not have been so upset! Cotton merchants raising prices? Let them raise prices then! After they do, the court will arrest a bunch of hoarders as a warning to others. Why are you proactively raising prices five times so early?!

"Return a 10% deposit... return it in two months... Isn't this tantamount to kidnapping Prince Xin?" Her eyes were bloodshot as she looked at the man in front of her. She even suspected that this man had guessed Prince Xin's identity, which was why he was so fearless.

"Ah, Manager Chen, goodbye!" Ning Nan waved and greeted the last cotton merchant to leave with a smile.

"Hey! Goodbye, Young Master Ning!"

Manager Chen, who could barely suppress his smile, finally managed to crack a grin while greeting everyone... Hehe... Haha... Locking in five times the price in advance... So what if all the cotton in the field is sold out?!

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, a cool breeze blows through the autumn nights.

Ning Nan hummed a little tune as he returned home. His wife, Cuicui, was still sitting in the flower hall reading a book.

Upon seeing him return, Cui Cui's wife instructed the cook, Xu, to bring over the warm dishes and rice that were still in the pot.

"You haven't eaten, have you?" she asked.

"Hmm, I haven't eaten." Ning Nan sat down next to his wife and noticed that she was reading "Discourses on Salt and Iron" by Sang Hongyang. He rubbed his sore neck and said with a smile, "Oh, you have good taste."

His wife left him quite a lavish spread of food.

Three dishes and one soup.

He flicked his chopsticks. He'd expended a lot of energy today, and now that he was calm, he could finally enjoy a proper meal. The cook's skills were so-so, but perhaps because he was so hungry, the food tasted exceptionally delicious; the mutton in his mouth was as fresh as if live sheep were running on the grasslands.

As Cui Cui read her book, she secretly glanced at her husband.

For a few moments, her pink lips moved as if she wanted to ask a question, but after a pause, she pursed them again.

"Take a shower and go to bed early," she said.

Ning Nan took the hot towel handed to him by the maid Chun Yu, wiped his face, and nodded.

Early the next morning.

Zhu Cuiwei had just ridden out of the Ning Mansion.

A slightly overweight middle-aged man came over, his clothes slightly damp, indicating that he had been waiting there for a long time, and his body was covered in dew.

Chen Ruhai, the major owner of Changqing Trading Company, said in a low voice, "Miss."

Zhu Cuiwei knew what he wanted to ask.

In the biting wind, she remained silent for a short while before finally speaking.

"No matter how much your son-in-law asks to borrow, lend it to him," she said.

"Yes," Chen Ruhai said, bowing his head.

……

The second quarter of the hour of Chen.

The doors of Fu Lai Tavern were wide open.

While Chen Ruhai was organizing account books in the backyard, a servant came to report that Young Master Ning had come to visit.

"call……"

Chen Ruhai rubbed his sore eyes and sighed.

"They really came to borrow money..." He put down the ledger, his heart sinking slightly.