Chapter 23: Pitfall

"Your Highness, can you teach us the art of brewing wine like the art of making ice? We are willing to pay a high price for it. Read"

The reception hall of the palace.

A group of wealthy families filled the small house.

After Zhao Xu arrived, he exchanged a few pleasantries, and a wealthy family couldn't help asking.

They knew everything. Compared with the art of making ice, the wine brewing art of King Yan was the real business that could make a lot of money.

Zhao Xu's eyes swept over everyone.

Most of the wealthy families who participated in the ice making art last time were there, and there were also some unfamiliar merchants.

Even the Zhang family, the Huang family and the Du family shamelessly mixed in.

Although the question was asked by a small wealthy family, Zhao Xu knew in his heart that there might be a big wealthy family behind the scenes.

"You are all well-informed. I just asked someone to distribute the wine, and you all knew it." Zhao Xu had a faint smile on his face.

Although the wealthy families' property is basically in the countryside.

But they all have houses and servants in the city, and they usually live in the city.

Especially after Zhao Xu learned the art of ice making, they needed to supervise the Chamber of Commerce and spent more time in Yancheng.

"The wine brewed by your highness is fragrant and we can smell it at home." A noble family flattered him.

Everyone laughed and nodded.

At this time, their attitude towards Zhao Xu was completely different from the first time.

In the eyes of some noble families, the Prince of Yan's Mansion had established a personal army.

Now that he has mastered the county soldiers and controlled Yancheng, he is already a true Prince of Yan.

They dare not despise Zhao Xu as before, but are more afraid.

Zhao Xu laughed with the nobles and said lightly: "I'm afraid you will be disappointed. This time, I will not sell the art of brewing wine, but I can sell wine."

Zhang Qian and Huang Du, who were mixed in the crowd, looked at each other with ugly expressions. They really guessed it right.

The other noble families were still happy.

For them, it was good enough that the Prince's Mansion could sell wine to them.

Dong An noticed the expressions of Zhang Qian and others, and felt happy.

They had been bullied by the Zhang family for many years, and finally they saw them in pain.

For a moment, they felt that their father was wise and chose the King of Yan in time.

"It is said that the best Xiao Zuixian in the imperial city sells for twelve taels of silver per jar. I wonder how much silver your highness plans to sell for one jar." Someone else asked anxiously.

For them, as long as they can get the wine from the palace and transport it out for resale, they will definitely make a lot of money.

Zhao Xu thought about it after hearing this.

A jar of wine in Dasong is basically about one catty.

And he needs more than three jars of green ant wine to distill a jar of new wine.

In Dasong, ordinary green ant wine also costs three qian of silver.

This means that the cost of his wine is one tael of silver.

Thinking of this, he said: "The wine from the palace is 15 taels per jar. I don't care how much you sell it for."

"15 taels."

"It's worth the price. This wine is much better than Xiao Zuixian."

"Yes, it can definitely be sold for 20 taels in Jinling City. It is common for the masters in the capital to spend thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver on a banquet."

"That's right. They don't care about money. What they want is appearance."

"..."

The nobles were very satisfied with Zhao Xu's pricing. There was profit in it.

Someone said: "Your Highness, I want 500 jars."

"I want 2,000 jars."

"I want 800 jars."

"..."

Zhao Xu sat in the main seat, and the numbers shouted by the nobles made him secretly happy.

The effect of this free wine tasting was fully realized.

The nobles who tasted the fine wine in person now have no doubt about the wine of the palace.

There is no doubt.

This distilled wine will become an important source of income for the palace in the future.

After all, in addition to Dasong, the drinking culture of the surrounding countries is also very prosperous.

It is said that the Beidi people on the grassland are more addicted to alcohol.

In the past, when the relationship between Dasong and Beidi was stable and they exchanged what they had.

The Beidi people often exchanged cattle, sheep and horses for the fine wine of Dasong.

However, although the nobles were very enthusiastic, there was a fact in front of them.

He did not have so much wine.

So he spread his hands, "I understand your feelings, but I just brewed this fine wine and cannot provide it to you."

"This, this is too bad." A noble sighed.

Dasong is poor in the north and rich in the south.

Although the nobles in the north have land, they do not have much silver in their hands.

So in order to make up for this, they often do business in the south.

Of course, there are also bold ones who trade with Beidi regardless of the court's ban.

Although they make a lot of money, if they are caught by the court, they will be beheaded.

"But..."

Some nobles were disappointed, and Zhao Xu could see it.

But he really couldn't take out so much wine for a while.

However, since he intended to attract the wealthy families, he would not let them go.

He was well aware of the cunning of modern business, and he had a way to make these people pay without seeing the goods.

"But what, please tell me clearly, Your Highness."

Zhao Xu seemed to have a hidden meaning, and the wealthy families had hope in their hearts.

"But the wine is made very quickly, and it won't take long to supply you. But before that, if you want to get the goods from the palace, you need to pay a deposit." Zhao Xu said seriously.

"Deposit?" The wealthy families looked at Zhao Xu.

"That's right, whoever pays the deposit first will be supplied first after the wine comes out. After all, this wine is very precious. The palace will produce as much wine as you want, and it can't be produced randomly." Zhao Xu continued.

The wealthy families discussed again.

Naturally, they felt unhappy if they were given money without seeing anything.

Dong An wanted to cooperate with Zhao Xu, so he shouted: "My Dong family is willing to pay a deposit and ask your highness to be the first to serve wine to the Dong family."

Someone stood out, and other wealthy families suddenly became uneasy.

They all understand the principle of eating meat first, soup second, and ashes third.

As a result, more wealthy families shouted, "I will also pay a deposit."

"I'll go back and get the money right now."

"..."

Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction.

He was not afraid that the wealthy people would refuse to pay the deposit.

This time his business is open to the entire Dasong.

If they don’t buy it, of course someone will.

After all, he is engaged in an exclusive monopoly business. He is the only one and has no other branches.

The reason why he attracted the wealthy families of Yan County was just to get a sum of money as soon as possible.

At the same time, it only weakens their financial resources.

The decision was made.

Zhao Xu called Qin's accountant over and asked them to calculate the needs of the wealthy family.

before dark.

The wealthy families sent large sums of money, land deeds and food just like when they made ice.

They were busy until the moonlight reached the willow branches, and Qin's accountant delivered the account book to Zhao Xu.

"Your Highness, the wealthy people have ordered a total of 40,000 jars of wine for a total of 600,000 taels of silver. Based on the 30% deposit required by the palace, they should pay 180,000 taels of silver. However, like last time, they took part of the land deed. In exchange for grain, Xiao received a total of 110,000 taels of cash, a land deed worth 60,000 taels and 10,000 taels of grain."

Zhao Xu was having dinner, and Feng'er and Luan'er were standing aside.

Feng'er and Luan'er were not surprised when they heard this number.

After all, the ice-making technique last time cost much more money than this.

Zhao Xu smiled and said nothing.

This wine business has just begun.

As the reputation spreads, more and more merchants will come to Prince Yan's Mansion to buy wine.

At that time, the income of Wangfu Distilled Liquor will be one million taels.

However, in this case, he had to build a winery immediately to expand production.

This ensures continued supply.