Chapter 586: Ambition

Editor: Atlas Studios

Mu Yangling met Zhu Liang passionately and instructed him about the details of the opening of the grain store. Then, she went back to look for Fan Zijin.

Mu Yangling looked for Fan Zijin to express her apology. She planned to take over the grain store business and invest with her dowry, so she could not work with him. Secondly, she shamelessly asked him for manpower since he had always been in charge of the trade caravans in the north and south. Mu Yangling had men to deal with the transportation of the grains, but she still needed someone to lead the way. Hence, she asked Fan Zijin for someone who knew the way.

When Fan Zijin saw Mu Yangling’s guilty expression, the corners of his lips twitched. He said nonchalantly, “It’s fine if you want to do the grain store business yourself. I’ll prepare the people for you. However, how many grain stores do you plan to open in Lin’an City?”

“One.” Mu Yangling said, “We’ve just started, so we naturally have to open one first.”

Fan Zijin opened his mouth and wanted to ask, “Then why do you think that I will snatch the grain store’s business from you?”

It was not that Fan Zijin wanted to boast, but he had countless businesses under him at present. Even if all the grain store businesses in Lin’an City were given to him, he would hesitate to accept it, let alone a single grain store.

Previously, Fan Zijin only did not object to Mu Yangling’s suggestion to set up grain stores mostly because of their friendship. Otherwise, he would not have gotten involved.

Grain was a commodity that produced low profits but quick turnover. Each unit sold did not earn the seller much money, but it cost a lot of effort. Furthermore, one had to have a backer to be in the grain business. If one wanted to earn a lot of money selling grains, they had to stock up on grains during the disaster years. Of course, considering it was the war era now, grains were also very expensive. If it was still the Great Zhou era, Fan Zijin might want to dabble in the grain business. However, now that it was the Great Qj era, if Fan Zijin still participated, wouldn’t he be doing his eldest cousin a disservice?

Now, he was involved in the wood, silk, tea, salt, and even iron business. By now, the meat processing business only took up a very, very small portion of his business empire. Even the restaurants that raked in a high revenue every day did not take up a large portion of his entire business empire. It could be seen how much he looked down on Mu Yangling’s grain store business.

Originally, he had planned to assign a steward to manage the grain store on account of his ties with Mu Yangling. Since she now requested to handle it alone, he couldn’t ask for more.

However, he asked out of curiosity. One had to know that Mu Yangling would always send someone to tell him what business ideas she had. If it was viable, he would then allocate funds and manpower to manage it. In the end, the profits would be distributed according to their respective share (although the dividends had never been distributed and had all been contributed to the Great Qi army). This was why he was surprised that Mu Yangling wanted to take over the grain store business for herself.

Of course, Mu Yangling couldn’t say what she was thinking, so she only said, “I think this grain store business will gain me both fame and fortune in the end, so I plan to monopolize it.”

It would be strange if Fan Zijin believed her. With a wave of his hand, ire said, “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. If you don’t have enough money, just come to me.” Fan Zijin paused before continuing, “Have you gathered enough manpower? It’s quite a long journey from the north to the south.”

“There’s no shortage of people. The people escorting the trade caravan can be chosen from the retired soldiers at Haoran’s side. I’ll hand the shop over to Wang Quan to manage first. As long as there’s a guide, it’ll be fine.”

Wang Quan was Mama Wang’s son, and he had just followed Steward Zhu over from Jingzhao Prefecture. He had assisted in the shop before, so Mu Yangling was very assured to deploy him.

“Eldest Cousin is also letting me manage the Imperial Plantation now. I’ll get someone to keep the more precious rice like jade rice for you, but the rest have to be sold to other grain stores as usual. When your grain store develops to a certain scale one day, I don’t mind signing the contract with you instead.”

Stunned, Mu Yangling quickly waved her hand and said, “No need, no need. I’m not intending to sell those expensive rice. I’m only selling some coarse grains.”

Fan Zijin was displeased. “How much can coarse grains which only sell for a few copper coins a catty fetch? You can’t very well raise the price of grains, right?”

Mu Yangling’s original intention was not to sell grains, but to sell grain seeds so that the seeds they cultivated could be planted all over the country. Moreover, a little added up to a lot. Considering commoners made up the bulk of the population, the small profits could add up to a considerable amount.

Mu Yangling briefly explained her grand ambition, but Fan Zijin did not finish listening to what sire had to say. He only heard her say that the main job of the grain store was to promote grain seeds before he waved his hand and said, “Most people like to keep their own seeds to sow. If you transport corn seeds from the north to the south, you may earn a lot of money in the first year, but it will be difficult to earn more in the second year. You have to know that the wealthy families in Jiangnan all have corn seeds. When they see you start selling them, they will definitely not hide them anymore. Once the competition heats up, you won’t be able to earn much money.”

Mu Yangling said, “It’s not my intention to earn money from these corn seeds. When the time comes, such seeds will still be sold for 12 copper coins per catty…”

Fan Zijin felt a headache coming on. “At this price, you will only be able to cover the traveling expenses. Did you go through so much trouble to open this grain store just to do charity?”

Mu Yangling said blankly, “No, I’ll still be earning money. But the commoners are so poor that they won’t be able to afford it if the price is set too high…”

Fan Zijin rejoiced. “Luckily you asked to take over this business. Otherwise, my reputation would have been ruined. Alright, go back quickly. Don’t ask me for money. Come see me again when you close the grain store.”

How was this doing business? It was simply doing charity.

Mu Yangling was furious. When she went home at night, she complained to Qi Haoran, “Zijin didn’t even hear me out. I’ve already done the calculations. It’s not a loss to sell it for 12 copper coins per catty. The corn we bought in the north only costs eight copper coins per catty. Although it costs a lot to transport it here, as long as we do it on a large scale, I can still earn 1.5 copper coins per catty. A little adds up to a lot.”

Qj Haoran nodded repeatedly and did some calculations in his heart. 1.5 copper coins per catty would mean one tael 500 copper coins per 1,000 catties…

Qj Haoran looked at his wife, who was chattering non-stop, and opened his mouth. He really wanted to say that Zijin would be able to earn a tael of silver just by selling a tael of tea leaves. No wonder Zijin looked down on this business.

However, Qi Haoran was by and large not one to be obsessed with money. Although he was very stingy now, he had always been generous with the money he should spend. Hence, he did not think that it was a big deal if the grain store did not make money. He would just treat it as Mu Yangling doing a good deed.

Seeing that Qi Haoran was listening attentively, Mu Yangling was happy and said smugly, “I’ve already planned it. When the time comes, I’ll sell the corn seeds at 12 copper coins per catty. If anyone can’t afford it, I’ll have them sign a contract with us. At that time, we’ll provide the seeds for free first. At harvest, they just have to return the seeds and sell to us the corn they planted. I’ve even set the price—eight copper coins per catty.”

Qi Haoran was stunned. “So you’re not just earning less, but you’re even making a loss!”

Mu Yangling declared, “I’m not making a loss. I’m just casting a long line to catch a big fish.”

Seeing Mu Yangling’s ambitious look, Qi Haoran could not help but nod. He said helplessly, “Yes, you’re casting a long line to catch a big fish.”

Qi Haoran thought that he should ask Zijin for some money for emergencies. He didn’t want the family’s money to be totally tied up in the grain store business.

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