latelenovela Chapter 267 A Grand Project of 5 Jin of Raw Silk (1)
Chapter 267 A Grand Project of 5 Jin of Raw Silk (1)
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Su Mingkang couldn't help but grumble inwardly. With such a relationship and a personal letter from the prefect, why didn't they bring it out sooner? It's so embarrassing that he was so arrogant at first and then so obsequious.
Despite his inner grumbling, he still had to give him the respect he deserved, so he put on a smiling face: "So, General, we're in the same business. What business are we talking about? Are you looking to buy raw silk? You can discuss that with my manager. It's the same price throughout Suzhou: 80 taels for 100 catties of good quality silk, and 100 taels for 100 catties of Huzhou silk. No cheating, young or old." In his eyes, this was just another junior relying on his elders' connections to make money, a scaled-down version of Chang Wei, who would be lucky to buy several thousand or tens of thousands of catties of raw silk.
Liu Ye maintained his smile: "I'm not talking about small businesses of a hundred or a thousand kilograms; I'm afraid your managers can't make that decision."
Su Mingkang then took it seriously and looked Liu Ye up and down. He asked suspiciously, "Do you, a military officer from Qiongzhou Prefecture, have such a large amount of capital?" The raw silk business is extremely capital-intensive, with great financial pressure and a long turnover time, which is not something that ordinary people can afford.
Liu Ye didn't answer him directly, but instead asked, "If I buy 500,000 catties of raw silk, can I get a discount on the price?"
Su Mingkang narrowed his eyes, staring at him without saying a word for a long time.
Liu Ye asked in surprise, "What? Even the esteemed head of the Suzhou guild can't make a decision on this matter?"
Su Mingkang said coldly, "So you've already inquired about me and come prepared. First Chang Wei came, and now this Qiongzhou military commander... 500,000 catties? You actually dare to dream of that! Let me tell you honestly, Prefect Chen's face isn't even worth 500,000 catties of raw silk!"
Liu Ye was somewhat confused and asked, "Who is Chang Wei? I asked the prefect to introduce me; it's not like I'm getting something for nothing..."
"Hmph, asking for 500,000 jin? I've never seen such a grand gesture before. I can count the capable people in Jiangnan on my fingers, but none of them dare to make such a boast." Su Mingkang didn't believe that a mere military officer could have such audacity and strength.
After understanding his meaning, Liu Ye felt somewhat helpless. But it's understandable; ancient merchants were always cautious and had a strong sense of risk prevention. It would be hard for anyone to believe that a newcomer who had never been involved in the raw silk trade would suddenly ask for 500,000 catties of raw silk.
Seeing that the other party had become defensive, Liu Ye knew that he wouldn't believe him anytime soon, so he tried to indirect the question from the side: "Master Su, may I ask who this Chang Wei is?"
Su Mingkang snorted: "It's fine to tell you. He's the adopted son of the eunuch in charge of Nanjing and has close ties with the Earl of Jiading." He briefly explained Chang Wei's intention to buy raw silk at a low price, and added at the end, "He has a powerful backer and also has official documents. Go buy raw silk from him. In the future, we old folks probably won't have anything to do with raw silk in Suzhou Prefecture."
"Hehe, as the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Even if Chang Wei has a strong backer, he probably won't be able to achieve much in Suzhou without your approval, right?" Liu Ye flattered him.
Su Mingkang was quite pleased with what he heard, thinking that although this man was boastful, talking about 500,000 catties of raw silk, he was quite accurate in judging people and situations. Indeed, without their consent, no matter how capable Chang Wei was, he couldn't obtain silkworm cocoons and raw silk. Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice; what would he sell to others? However, this would inevitably offend two powerful figures, and they had to weigh the pros and cons.
Seeing his expression soften, Liu Ye seized the opportunity to ask, "May I ask, Master Su, the profits from selling raw silk to Southeast Asia or Japan far exceed those from selling it locally? Why don't you organize a fleet to go to sea?" Li Fei had once explained the reason, and Liu Ye wanted to get confirmation from Su Mingkang.
Perhaps his flattery had an effect. Su Mingkang thought about it and realized it wasn't a secret, so he satisfied his curiosity: "Everyone knows what you're saying, but knowing is one thing, and being able to do it is another. Not to mention the cost and effort of building and buying ships, you also have to gather manpower. Just preparing enough cargo for a 200-ton ship would cost more than 10,000 taels of silver, and a round trip would take more than half a year. The risks at sea are too great; a slight mistake could result in losing everything. These days, anyone who dares to be a seafarer is either incredibly daring or has a lot of money. We old folks are better off staying in Suzhou and earning some stable money."
So that's how it is; it's exactly what Li Fei said. Liu Ye summarized it in his mind, and the reasons were nothing more than two points: First, the risk was too great; if something unexpected happened, they would lose everything, and most businessmen were unwilling to take such a big risk; second, the cycle was too long. Investing tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan in principal would only yield returns after a year or two, and businessmen with weak foundations would quickly run out of cash.
Liu Ye pressed further, "Where exactly does this risk come from? Is it the threat of pirates, or the danger of storms?"
“The sea is rough and the waves are high, unlike inland rivers. Going out to sea is inherently risky, but the biggest risk is pirates. Not to mention big and small pirates, even merchant ships will attack ships weaker than themselves,” Su Mingkang said helplessly.
Liu Ye nodded, understanding that the sea is different from the inland; there are no legal or moral constraints, and the law of the jungle prevails—might makes right.
He had a basic understanding of the attitudes of merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang towards maritime trade: they coveted the enormous profits from trade with Japan, but feared the risks, so most adopted a wait-and-see attitude. However, the problems they worried about were not problems for him: in the East China Sea, the Dutch and Liu Xiang had already been defeated in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, and apart from the Zheng family, he feared no one, let alone merchant ships that acted as piracy; in terms of capital, he had the 600,000 taels of real gold and silver from Tiannan Bank as capital, making him virtually unstoppable. Most importantly, he had the "Far Voyage," which swept across all seagoing vessels in the 17th century, taking others half a year to make a round trip, while he could do it in just one month.
Liu Ye became even more determined in his initial idea: to leverage the asymmetric advantages of the "Voyage" and its enormous cash reserves to monopolize Suzhou's raw silk exports. As for how to persuade the Suzhou guild, well, naturally, it would be a simple and brutal price war.
Having made up his mind, he said with a smile, "I have thought of a way to solve the problem for Master Su, but I don't know if I should say it?"
Su Mingkang was skeptical. Although this person seemed unreliable, he believed that listening to both sides would bring clarity and that believing only one side would lead to darkness, so he nodded and said, "Why don't you tell me?"
"The Suzhou guild is unwilling to lower the price of raw silk, but Chang Wei, whom you mentioned, insists on buying it at a price 20% lower. You also don't want to offend the powerful figures behind him. This is the dilemma faced by the Suzhou guild and other silk merchants."
Su Mingkang nodded: "That's true, please continue."