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

"I see, I see, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful..."

Dou Yuan murmured to himself for a long time.

He had been thinking about how to generate new income for the Prince Qi's mansion, but he had been struggling to come up with a solution.

There aren't many fabric businesses that can compare to Sujin Pavilion's. While there are some, their expansion is too slow; it would take three to five years to achieve full success.

It wasn't until he saw the quiet and deserted Baiyufang today that his eyes finally lit up and his gloomy mood vanished.

"Middleman fee!"

So that's what Leng Leng Qing was planning!

After sending someone to Baiyufang to spend half a day copying down every price on the black wooden board, he was even more shocked by what he saw.

In just over an hour, nearly a hundred transactions were completed!

In other words, Baiyufang only needed the manpower of a few accountants and some paper to easily earn one hundred taels of silver!

There is neither cost nor pressure.

What kind of business is this?

Dou Yuan meticulously listed these records, even ignoring the price fluctuations.

The price of cotton is no longer important.

Whether it's high or low, it doesn't matter; what matters is the transaction.

Each transaction adds one tael of silver to Baiyufang's income.

"No wonder, no wonder the transaction process is so complicated... If, if the Prince's Mansion had this Jade Workshop..."

Dou Yuan was deeply moved and dared not delay. He wrote a letter to the King of Qi explaining the advantages and disadvantages, and sent people to buy up the cotton futures contracts from various people.

Taking over Baiyufang from Leng Lengqing will not be easy; it will probably require some cooperation with the Ministry of Revenue. Rather than that, it would be better to borrow resources first.

"This commodity is bound to skyrocket in price!" he excitedly told the King of Qi in his letter. "Trading this commodity is far too convenient, and there's no need for the hassle of stockpiling and transporting cotton. With cotton prices about to rise, the entire city will surely be eager to buy this commodity tenfold, not just cloth merchants..."

"If we can stop the cotton from the Northern Dynasty from crossing the river, the price of this coupon could reach at least two hundred coins! Or even three hundred coins!"

"Furthermore, Your Highness, please listen to what I have to say. The most wonderful thing about this thing is probably hard to understand even in a cold and quiet environment!"

"That's the cloth shop in the city... they absolutely must buy this issue's coupons... they have no choice but to buy them..."

After explaining the implications, Dou Yuan urgently wrote in his letter, "Your Highness, rest assured! If we only need to secure 30% of these bonds, we can earn a net profit of 50,000 taels this year!"

An hour later, the King of Qi did not disappoint him. He not only approved of the matter but also handed over the royal treasury to him.

By late afternoon, the price of the promissory note had indeed risen to two hundred cash! The whole city was astonished!

Fortunately, Dou Yuan acted quickly, learning from the old trick of being cold and aloof. He ordered his managers to buy up promissory notes at Baiyufang for two hundred coins each, which allowed him to acquire nearly one hundred and fifty promissory notes in one day!

However, after sunset, the White Jade Shop closed its doors, and trading could no longer continue.

Although it cost nearly 30,000 taels of silver, it only needs to raise the price of this issue ticket to 300 cash tomorrow.

That one day and night was a pure profit of ten thousand taels!

After giving instructions to the stewards, Dou Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Not long after.

He then got up and went out the door.

……

South of the city.

Chen's Cloth Shop.

Chen Yangxuan's eyes darkened, and he asked, leaning on his cane, "How much did you buy?"

His eldest son said, "Don't worry, Father, we've already bought eighty tickets."

"Too little!" Chen Yangxuan shouted. "Too little!"

The eldest son, Chen Kang, frowned and said, "Dad, the price has reached two hundred coins. Should we still buy it?"

The second son, Chen Shutao, also expressed his dissatisfaction: "Father, we know a lot of people are talking about this now. They say cotton prices will rise, and buying this stuff might make us some money. But we're old cloth merchants, isn't buying this a waste of our proper business? Besides, if cotton prices rise, will it really benefit us? Why buy this? Especially with cash."

"Hmph! Two idiots!" Chen Yangxuan paused with his cane and sneered disdainfully.

The two brothers immediately looked embarrassed.

"It is precisely because we are cloth merchants, and we need to buy cotton, that we have to buy this!"

"I ask you," Chen Yangxuan roared, "how much silver did we spend on eighty promissory notes we bought today?"

"We've already spent almost 20,000 taels," the eldest son grumbled discontentedly.

"What if it goes up later?"

The second son said, "So what if it's gone up? Even if it doubles, the price of cotton still goes up, doesn't it? Our family buys cotton, we don't sell it!"

"Will the price not go up if we don't buy?" Chen Yangxuan retorted to his two foolish sons.

Huh?! The two sons were immediately taken aback.

"what?"

Chen Yangxuan glanced at his two sons, his eyes filled with helplessness. He sighed and explained to them, "We have this promissory note in hand. If the price of cotton continues to rise, we can sell it later. The profit can then be used to buy cotton at a higher price!"

"If this coupon price falls instead of rising, it means cotton prices have also fallen, so we have even less to worry about. Because—"

The old man pointed his cane at his second son and cursed viciously, "Our family sells cotton!"

Chen Kang and Chen Shutao were stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a long time, they were shocked!

Buy a promissory note, and then wait.

When it's time for them to buy cotton, if the price of cotton has risen sharply, they will sell the promissory notes.

Since the price of promissory notes has increased anyway, there's a surplus, which can significantly reduce costs.

If cotton prices fall, it doesn't matter, because we need cotton anyway, and we can buy it at a low price.

The two weren't truly fools; after their father's explanation, they naturally understood the crux of the matter. But precisely because they understood, the shock in their eyes intensified—could such a thing really exist in this world?

Do you know what I hate right now?

The old man sighed.

"I now hate that my son is not living a cold and lonely life!"

"On the contrary, you two are the real idiots!"

"Second regret—" Chen Yangxuan slammed his cane on the ground, "Why didn't that bastard sell more cotton?!"

At that very moment.

A servant came to report.

It is said that someone has come to the door requesting an audience with the master.

Chen Yangxuan frowned. Who could it be so late?

He took the visiting card and squinted at it.

His old eyes widened instantly.

The name card contained only six characters.

"Ningfu in the capital, Ningnan."

……

One hour later.

"Mr. Ning, I am so sorry for not greeting you properly! Please forgive me! Please forgive me!!"

As night fell, but outside the brightly lit restaurant, Meng Shichen, a wealthy cotton merchant from Suzhou, smiled and bowed as he helped Ning Nan out of the car.

Ning Nan jumped off the carriage, carrying a pile of contracts signed with several cloth merchants in the city, including Chen Ji's.

Around noon, I went out and started running around the city.

My lower back and back are aching right now.

He looked at the kind-looking middle-aged man in front of him and smiled, "Hello, Uncle Meng..."

"Oh, no, no, Mr. Ning, you're too kind. We're just friends, we're just friends."

A few days ago, when I went to buy cotton from him, he addressed me as "my dear nephew" repeatedly. Today, he's treating me like an equal.

"Hehe, then I've met you, brother." Ning Nan gave an awkward, shy smile, seemingly embarrassed and having gotten the better deal.

"Oh, no, I'm honored to meet you, Mr. Ning."

After exchanging pleasantries, Meng Shichen led him to the private room that had been arranged.

There wasn't much politeness involved.

Ning Nan placed the purchase contract in his hand in front of Meng Shichen.

"Brother Meng," the head of Baiyufang smiled and said, "this is the purchase contract I signed this afternoon with the top five cloth merchants in the city. The price is between eighty and one hundred coins. The selling price is not yet determined, but each merchant will receive no less than five hundred thousand catties. In exchange..."

Ning Nan laughed,

"They promised that within two months, they would not cooperate with other cotton merchants and would not place any deposits with you. Remember, no deposits, not even for tens of thousands of kilograms."

"Whether cotton prices rise or fall, you won't have any impact."

"Don't even think about persuading Old Chen... well... that is, Chen Yangxuan, and Qili Jin and the others. I gave them shares in Baiyufang."

"No one can stand these conditions; they have no choice."

"Because I really hate negotiation, I don't like giving others a choice."

"Next, you have no choice."

"Hmm... I know, I know all of this. You've been selling cotton all along, but only in small quantities, around tens of thousands of kilograms."

"I know. Because you also need money, you also have difficulties, and you are also suffering."

"You need money to go to the countryside to buy cotton, you need money to hire people to harvest cotton, you need money to clear roads, and later you need money to do this and that. You need to smooth things over and so on... But now, all of that is gone, and you won't even get orders for tens of thousands of kilograms. Of course, there are still some small cloth merchants in the city. If you trust them, you can accept their deposits and then transport cotton for them."

"but--"

Ning Nan shrugged and said,

"Ning also kindly reminded everyone that the cotton shortage in the Jiangnan region is a reality that cannot be changed."

"A large group of cloth merchants are going to die because they can't even afford to hire textile workers if they deliver at most half of their cloth. They're doomed. This is called industry liquidation. There's nothing I can do about it. If this hadn't happened at Sujin Pavilion, but at a small cloth merchant, I, Ning, would have been like a skilled cook without rice to cook."

"Natural disasters are like that; every natural disaster is a good time to combine them."

"The same applies to land and industry."

"The rich live, the poor die."

"When you earn money and go back to the countryside to buy land from those bankrupt farmers, you will surely understand this point."

"Now, with Sujinge included, at least the top six cloth shops in the capital, which means us, want to live, to live together."

"Of course, if a large number of cloth merchants are going to go bankrupt, a large number of cotton merchants will also go bankrupt, because there is only a deposit and no final payment."

"However, given Brother Meng's abilities and vision, I feel that... he is not included in this category."

As Ning Nan spoke, Meng Shichen's pupils contracted sharply!

His face turned uncontrollably pale.

The other party had only paid a 10% deposit beforehand, so the funds on hand were already stretched thin.

They've actually come up with this now?!

And... so fast... in just one day, he persuaded five cloth shops in the city and even signed contracts... Even that old bastard Chen Yangxuan couldn't do it, but this kid did it so quickly.

That old man not only couldn't do it himself, but he even betrayed what he said this morning about never making a private agreement with Leng Leng Qingqing!

Grass!

"What does Brother Ning mean?" Meng Shichen asked, taking a breath.

Ning Nan made a gesture, smiled, and said, "Brother Meng," his voice gentle as jade, "I'll give you six times the price to sell the cotton to me."

Six times?

Meng Shichen's expression froze.

"Oh," Ning Nan added with a smile, "I have money this time, so I'll give you 30% as a deposit and won't take advantage of you by a single penny."