Chapter 203 Competition and Strife
The owner of Xinglin Pavilion walked around in the study like a trapped beast. He slammed the ledger on the pear wood desk, and snarled at the steward under his hand: "What's going on? The sales in the past two months have dropped sharply, and it's not as good as half of what it used to be. Who can explain it to me?"
Xinglin Pavilion has a total of 12 branches in the country. If you want to talk about the branches in a certain city, due to unavoidable reasons, the sales will decrease. The sales of each of these twelve branches actually decreased by 40% to 50%, and individual sales decreased even more. There's definitely something tricky about this. However, these stewards have been with him for more than ten years, and they can all be trusted. Even if they make some money privately, it is impossible for them to cut their way out of the bottom line like this.
"Father!" His son Chang Qingsong couldn't wait to speak, "Baicaotang is too much. It runs on our Xinglintang everywhere, and maliciously lowers the price of medicines. It often provides free clinics for the poor, and attracts a large number of customers."
"Lower the price? Are we still afraid of his surname Zhao? If the price is lowered, I don't believe it. Their Zhao family can still reduce the price to the cost!" Patriarch Chang stared at a pair of turbid old eyes and gasped heavily in his nostrils. Xinglin Pavilion and Baicaotang are competitors.
The shopkeeper Wu under his command hurriedly said: "Patriarch, you can't do it! Price wars have always hurt the enemy by one thousand and lost eight hundred. In the end, both loses. Sweet medicines...what are they called 'granules', they are sold in limited quantities every month. The old man made the calculations in private, and the sales of these two medicines in Pingzhou's Baicaotang alone are tens of thousands of taels a month!"
"What kind of granules, what the hell is that?" Patriarch Chang was obsessed with beauty on weekdays, neglected to manage the family industry, and the news was lagging behind, he frowned and said impatiently, "Your news has too much water! Don't say it! Baicaotang is Tongrentang, and the branch outside may not be able to sell 10,000 taels of pills in a month. Besides, the cooperation between Baili Pharmacist and Tongrentang will not expire until next year, where can Zhao Zidan get the pills?"
"Father! My son has been asked to inquire about it, and this is indeed the case! The Baicaotang in Wuzhou sells nearly 50 pills a month, especially the 'Liuwei Dihuang Pill', which is the most popular for men's problems. They've all been fired for a thousand taels!" Chang Qingsong was so anxious that several fire sores burst out of his mouth, and the pain was so painful that he couldn't sleep all night!
Patriarch Chang's eyes lit up, and he said, "What? Is it good for men? Can you still buy it..."
Chang Patriarch's wife and concubines add up to 20 or 30, and they have excessive sexual intercourse. As they grow older, they gradually feel powerless. Drinking tonic, eating medicated diet, are not very effective.
"Father! Now is the time to pay attention to this? If you don't think about it, Xinglin Pavilion will collapse!" Over the years, if it wasn't for Chang Qingsong's support, Xinglin Pavilion would have been defeated by such a patriarch.
"Cough! What Liuwei Dihuang Pills, I've never heard of it! Could it be a fake medicine made by someone impersonating Baili Great Pharmacist?" Patriarch Chang said with a frown.
Shopkeeper Wu sighed and said, "It would be great if it was a counterfeit medicine! Liuwei Dihuang Wan has a remarkable effect, more and more people repurchase, and the price keeps rising. The effect of the decoction is even better, pulling away a large number of middle-level and upper-level customers. There is no way to deal with it, I am afraid that Xinglin Pavilion will not last for half a year..."
"What?" Patriarch Chang took it seriously. Just now he talked about free clinics for the poor and selling medicines at low prices, but he didn't take it seriously. Dealing with those poor people is cumbersome and less oily. It is not a pity that these customers are lost. The middle and high-level customers, but their food and clothing parents, if they are all taken away, Xinglin Pavilion will be destroyed.
"Then what should we do!" Patriarch Chang was so anxious that he lost his mind for a while!
Shopkeeper Wu thought for a while and said, "This time, Baicaotang seems to be targeting us on purpose, Patriarch, we haven't offended them recently!"
"No!" Clan Master Chang just got a concubine, and he is hot, how can he have time to provoke Zhao? Who knows what's going on with this surnamed Zhao!
"The Pharmaceutical Merchants Association stipulates that it is not allowed to maliciously suppress colleagues for no reason! Patriarch, go to Zhao's house and ask the reason. If it doesn't work, let's report it to the Pharmaceutical Merchants Association! Baicaotang sells pills and competes with Tongrentang for the market. How could President Fang cover up and tolerate him?" Manager Wu has worked in the industry for nearly 40 years and is a veteran of Xinglintang, and he knows the rules of the pharmaceutical business well.
Chang Qingsong continued: "There is also Jimintang, which launched the same pills and granules as Baicaotang, and at the same time lowered the price to grab business with us. The Peizhou branch that Baer is in charge of, the customer was pulled away by Jimintang. A lot!"
"What? That little pharmacy in Jimintang dares to run wild on us! When Lao Tzu was in charge of Xinglintang, that boy from the Bai family didn't even know how to pee and play with mud there! He wants to destroy our Xinglin. There is no way to replace it with Tang! For a century-old family like Baicaotang, our Chang family is not afraid of him, and how can we still be overshadowed by the ignorant descendants of Jimintang? Since they are not benevolent, don’t blame us for being unjust!”
At the beginning of the establishment of Jimintang, Xinglin Pavilion installed some staff. Although these two decades, don't clean up some, there are still some hidden deep. What is the most taboo thing for pharmacists? Fake medicine! poison! If someone ate Jimintang's pills or died of shock, would anyone dare to buy new medicine from his house? Without this income, what capital would he have to fight against the Chang family?
Patriarch Chang's obese face showed a gloomy smile.
Unfortunately, he will be disappointed after all! Two months later, it wasn't news that Jimintang's medicine had eaten to death, but the trial of the Pharmaceutical Merchant Association - Xinglinge sent someone to poison Jimintang, was caught on the spot, and confessed! Xinglin Pavilion compensated Jimintang for the loss of 30,000 taels of silver, and publicly apologized to Patriarch Bai!
Xinglin Pavilion played a sly trick, but in the end he was swayed by himself. It really hurts others instead of hurting himself! The news spread quickly, and Xinglin Pavilion's reputation plummeted. Coupled with the malicious competition between Baicaotang and Jimintang, Xinglin Pavilion suffered heavy losses and had to give up some branches to concentrate on fighting against the conflict between Baicaotang and Jimintang. The branches of Xinglin Pavilion have shrunk from twelve to five, lingering on!
Patriarch Chang went to the Zhao family's door and asked him why he was targeting Xinglin Pavilion. Patriarch Zhao stroked his long beard and sighed softly: "Patriarch Chang, have you forgotten the lesson of the 'Zhengde Hall' thirty years ago? Why do you repeat the same mistakes?"