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

Tea room in the backyard of Baiyufang.

Shangguan Xiu placed both hands on the table, leaned forward, and said with a burning gaze.

"If you sell three million catties, you'll receive 180,000 taels of silver. If you sell all five million catties—you'll immediately receive three hundred thousand taels of silver!"

Three hundred thousand taels!

The newly appointed commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had bloodshot eyes.

His voice trembled uncontrollably.

He didn't even mind that the other party called him "Xiuxiu Qianhu".

Last night, the other side sent someone to the Imperial Guard Commander's residence, saying that they were going to make a big cotton transaction today and needed the Embroidered Uniform Guard to send people to maintain order and deter the villains.

In return, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will make another fortune.

"Get rich?!"

"Get rich?!"

"Get rich quick, my foot! He's already owing 500,000 taels! How much more does he want to make?!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Yuanyao, the dark-skinned woman, bristled with fur and cursed like a lioness with her mane standing on end.

It seems she was still angry.

Bang! The lioness slammed the door shut and charged forward, ready to devour someone. Shangguan Xiu quickly followed.

Upon arriving at Baiyufang, the man said he was there to sell cotton. The lioness's menacing, predatory gaze softened slightly.

But upon hearing that three million catties were to be sold in one go, the lion's mane bristled again, and he waved his arms and launched into a tirade of curses.

"Don't you know how to do business?" "The price of cotton has finally increased fivefold, and we're about to make up for some of the losses. Are you feeling uncomfortable?" "How can you sell three million catties in one go and still sell it for more than one hundred coins?!" "I'm going to lose money, I'm going to lose money, I won't feel comfortable until I lose money to death..." The lioness's eyes were bloodshot, and spittle flew everywhere.

The man shrugged and said he wasn't planning to make any money anyway, and would sell it for sixty coins a pound.

Upon hearing this, not only Qin Yuanyao was shocked, but Shangguan Xiu was also shocked. He loosened his grip, no longer intending to break up the fight, and let the dark-skinned woman beat this person to death.

The dark-skinned woman stared at the other person with a look of utter despair, then stopped cursing and took a step forward.

Fortunately, after the dark-skinned woman took that step, the man realized he was scared and quickly took a step back, saying he wanted the full amount in cash.

Full payment?

Cash?

The two were taken aback, then frowned, and it took them quite a while to finally understand what the man meant. He and the dark-skinned woman then looked at each other with strange expressions.

Using 180,000 taels of silver to buy cotton that doesn't even exist?

Where did such a fool come from?

Qin Yuanyao opened her mouth and cursed, "Ning Baixuan, have you gone mad from losing money?"

"The cloth merchants were already strapped for cash, practically begging to beg the cotton sellers for their money. Where would they find the silver to buy goods that cost 180,000 taels of silver!"

result……

Shangguan Xiu's eyes were filled with complex emotions, and he sighed inwardly.

Last night, this person simply said, "They can't afford it... so I'll divide it into a thousand portions to sell..." After that, the other party ended the conversation.

He and the dark-skinned woman obviously didn't understand each other's meaning.

But this morning, after witnessing the grand occasion at Baiyufang, the dark-skinned woman was speechless.

Hearing Xiuxiu's ambitious words, Ning Nan picked up the palm-sized "promissory note" between two fingers, pursed his lips, and said, "No rush."

Xiuxiu thought for a moment, then frowned again: "It's a pity you set the price too low. I think you could have sold it even if you had set it at four times the price." His tone was somewhat sighing.

This statement is not without basis.

I spent some time in the lobby this morning, and in a short period of time, my anxiety turned into regret and remorse.

"Ning Baixuan..."

Shangguan Xiu cried out in his heart,

"Are you out of your mind?! How can you sell it for such a low price?!"

One promissory note is worth 180 taels, representing 3,000 catties of cotton, to be delivered two months later.

But Baiyufang was crowded with people in the morning, probably several hundred people came one after another.

People came because they saw the news in the newspaper and came to check it out and learn about the market.

They originally knew nothing about cotton and didn't care about it.

But these past few days, I've been seeing and hearing almost everyone around me saying that cotton prices are going to rise, and I'm really itching to get some. Everyone knows that at this time of year, whoever has cotton in their hands is in high demand and will make a fortune in a few months!

Twelve times!

Even if the imperial court beheaded eighteen people, it wouldn't lower the price!

Pointing solemnly to the August 5th newspaper, they sighed and said that it was only because they encountered an upright official like Judge Bao that the people of Jiangnan would have truly suffered. They wondered if such an upright official would appear this year.

After sighing.

Then a thought popped into my head: how wonderful it would be if my family could buy some cotton too.

But it's just something to think about.

After all, in this era of limited information, it's like being in a completely different world. You probably have to ask countless people to find out that you have to go to a cotton shop to buy large amounts of cotton.

Yesterday I saw in the newspaper that a new flower shop had opened in Baiyufang on Datong Street, where cotton could be bought and sold. My eyes lit up immediately.

That's why I came over to take a look!

But when I arrived, it was completely different from what I expected.

The people in Baiyufang said they weren't selling cotton directly, but something new called cotton "promissory notes"...

In the morning, Shangguan Xiu watched as everyone learned a thing or two about these promissory notes and then started frantically buying them.

Prices are clearly marked.

Don't negotiate prices with cotton merchants.

The price is low; you can buy it for sixty coins per pound and pay in two months.

The market price of cotton has now reached one hundred coins!

How much will I get after two months?!

Moreover, and most importantly... these promissory notes can be bought and sold... Although the buying and selling process seemed complicated at first, and everyone was a little apprehensive, once a buyer was found, the promissory notes could be resold without any further worries, and double the money would be in hand!

The price of cotton is now 100 coins. If I grab these 60-coin promissory notes and sell them directly, I'll make a profit of 40 coins!

Moreover, a single ticket costs only 180 taels. If you want to buy real cotton at some flower shop, you won't even be able to see a cotton merchant without having tens of thousands of taels of silver in hand!

Even if you do meet them, you'll have to engage in a lot of back-and-forth negotiations, and since you're not an expert yourself, you'll need to hire one to avoid being scammed by the cotton merchants. It's incredibly troublesome.

Of course, the most important aspects of this ticket, besides being cheap, are also its security.

Each promissory note has a number, something like "One Three Three Four".

Everyone who buys a promissory note also has to open an account at Baiyufang.

The accounts also have serial numbers, such as "0234", and you have to leave your fingerprints to record your name, address, and physical characteristics.

After it's all done, they'll give you a piece of paper with a blue anti-counterfeiting pattern, like a banknote, called a "customer's note".

When Baiyufang was issuing promissory notes.

When you buy a promissory note, Baiyufang needs to record your customer service number and promissory note number to ensure they match one by one.

Two months later, when you come to pick up the goods with the promissory note, you will need to bring the customer's invitation.

The goods can only be picked up after the customer's invitation, promissory note, and fingerprint all match.

If you want to sell your promissory notes to someone else, you can't just give them away like you would banknotes.

Instead, we should go to Baiyufang.

Baiyufang has twelve compartments called "counter counters," where buyers and sellers need to go to the counters to transfer the promissory note numbers.

The counter staff will record in the ledger that on a certain day, month, and year, at a certain time, customer card number A transferred promissory note number A to customer card number B for a certain price.

trouble.

It was particularly troublesome. After the people from Baiyufang demonstrated it once, everyone was somewhat discouraged.

But when the people from Baiyufang said that this was for safety, that if the promissory note was stolen, no one could take your goods, and that the safety was guaranteed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, everyone felt much more at ease.

Especially after hearing that the transfer of promissory notes required paying one tael of silver to Baiyufang as a middleman's fee for each transaction, with 30% going to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, everyone felt even more at ease.

"So meticulous, so safe!" A wealthy man exclaimed, his eyes lighting up as he clutched his stomach.

I'm not afraid of you taking my money.