Chapter 6: Making a Fortune
Yan County Zhang Mansion.
Zhang Qian was shocked after hearing the news from the servant.
"Did he really turn water into ice?"
"Master, it's true. I saw it with my own eyes. He came into the room less than a quarter of an hour later and brought out a basin of ice." The young servant still couldn't believe it.
Zhang Qian was stunned and forgot that he was still holding a teacup in his hand.
He didn't come back to his senses until the teacup tilted and the tea scalded his hand.
Then, he jumped up from the chair like a spring, "Let's go to Yan Wang Mansion."
As the first wealthy family in Yan County, Zhang Qian was able to make the family business passed down by his ancestors so big, so he was naturally not a fool.
Ice is as valuable as gold.
In Jiangnan, the richest place in Dasong, this thing is exactly what is lacking.
If there is a constant supply of ice, it will be a constant supply of silver.
He hated Yan Wang Mansion in his heart, and he hated Zhang Han's arrest even more. After all, Zhang Han and his Zhang family had many secret transactions.
If the Prince of Yan moved Zhang Han, it would be like slapping him in the face, so he was just thinking about how to put the Prince of Yan's Mansion to death.
But now he decided to slow down for the time being.
Besides, the people sent by the Dong family, the Yang family, and the Lu family were either the head of the family or the eldest son.
These three families have always been at odds with him.
Naturally, he couldn't let them take this good thing, otherwise he would not be able to sit firmly on the chair of the first noble family in Yan County.
At that time, the positions of important officials in Yan County would also have to be given up by their families.
So, even if he was pretending today, he had to pretend to be close to the Prince of Yan's Mansion. As for how to deal with the Prince of Yan's Mansion in the future, he would first get the ice-making technique.
"Master, do you want to call the Huang family and the Du family?" asked the servant.
"Do you still need to call? They must run faster than us." Zhang Qian ran away.
When he arrived at the Prince of Yan's Mansion, Huang Yu, the head of the Huang family, and Du Ming, the head of the Du family, were indeed there.
And not only the eldest sons of the Dong family, the Lu family, and the Yang family were there, but the heads of the families also came.
"Oh, isn't Mr. Zhang feeling unwell?" Liu Fu looked up and saw Zhang Qian coming, and deliberately made a sarcastic remark.
Zhang Qian was furious. He had never been humiliated by a servant before, but although he was annoyed, he smiled, "I felt a little unwell in the morning, but I got better in the afternoon and rushed here. After all, who dares not obey the order of the King of Yan?"
He looked at Huang Yu and Du Ming. The two old guys shook their heads at him at the same time. Obviously, they were also ridiculed by Liu Fu.
So he thought to himself, for the sake of the ice-making technique, let your Yanwang Mansion be proud for a few days, and then I will make you cry in the future.
Liu Fu sneered in his heart, and he saw the viciousness flashing in Zhang Qian's eyes.
But he was not a coward, otherwise he would not risk his life to save the King of Yan.
Turning around, he came to Zhao Xu and said: "Your Highness, the heads of the thirty-eight big and small noble families in Yan County are here."
Zhao Xu nodded.
Just now, he did not reply to the person who asked how much silver the ice-making technique was worth, just to wait for everyone to arrive.
He did not refuse the Zhang family who had a bad attitude towards the palace.
Emperor Zhao Heng sent him to Yan County, which was actually not much different from exile.
He was not given generous money like other princes, and there were many arrangements in the fiefdom.
Therefore, he could only rely on himself to earn money and food to build his own foundation.
He knew that the Zhang family had a bad attitude towards him, but he did not need to be at odds with silver.
After all, if he refused the Zhang family to participate, he would not be able to take out the people's fat and blood that the Zhang family had extorted, and the Zhang family would definitely do everything possible to obstruct, and even try to steal the ice-making method.
The ice-making method is very simple and easy to leak, which would be a loss.
After thinking this through, he said, "For three years, I have been crazy and stupid. I haven't met you since I came to Yan County. But last night, I met a master in my dream. He not only woke me up, but also taught me many skills, and this ice-making technique is one of them."
The ancients were very superstitious because they lacked scientific literacy.
When contemporary history books record the birth of emperors, they will write some strange phenomena of heaven and earth, the purpose is to make people believe that the emperor is the chosen one.
It is the same in this world, so he deliberately said this to make them unable to distinguish between the true and the false, and to shock them.
To make them afraid when they target the Prince of Yan's Mansion.
Sure enough, as soon as he said this, everyone talked about it, and many people showed surprised expressions.
He continued, "Of course, this king asked you to come here not to talk about this matter, but for the ice-making technique. Now the king can tell how much silver this ice-making method sells for."
When it came to the key part, everyone pricked up their ears.
Zhao Xu said slowly: "One million taels."
"One million taels!" Everyone gasped.
"Your Highness, this... this is too expensive. We can't even get this much even if we turn over all our assets." A wealthy family shouted.
"Yes, even if we learn the art of making ice, it will take several years to make it back." Someone else said.
Zhao Xu had expected this to happen.
One million taels is indeed a large sum.
After all, the tax revenue of Dasong is said to be only 60 to 70 million taels a year.
However, taxes are taxes, and he knows very well that most of Dasong's wealth lies in these wealthy families.
After all, they extremely exploit the people and concentrate the wealth of society in their own hands.
It can be said that each of them is equivalent to a modern billionaire, a billionaire, or a 10 billionaire.
Even richer than them, because the land and trade of Yan County are almost monopolized by these thirty-eight families.
Yan County is equivalent to a prefecture-level city in modern times.
Imagine a situation in which the land, minerals, transportation, and various commercial operations of a prefecture-level city in modern times are monopolized by thirty-eight companies.
In addition, they control the officialdom of Yan County and basically do not pay taxes, so they are definitely rich.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable for him to ask for this price.
It is to take back the wealth belonging to Yan County from them.
"In Jinling City, one catty of ice sells for one penny of silver. In a summer, it is common to consume hundreds of thousands of catties of ice. Looking at the entire Jiangnan, it is more than millions of catties. If you are lucky, you can earn it back in two or three years." Zhao Xu said lightly.
In Dasong, one tael of silver can buy one stone of rice, which is about 120 catties.
If compared with the current rice price, one tael of silver is equivalent to more than 300 yuan.
One penny of silver is only about 30 yuan, and ice is not very expensive, so it is definitely in the market.
Zhao Xu calculated the account so clearly that the voices of the wealthy families became smaller.
However, although they have a lot of property, they are not able to take out so much cash at once.
Because their assets are mostly in the form of food, cloth, land, minerals, etc.
Even so, using so much property to fight for this business is also a big risk.
They are still very unhappy.
Zhao Xu has been observing the expressions of the wealthy families.
He had expected this, so he said: "This king understands that it is not easy to ask one family to take out a million taels, so I called all 38 of you to come and make a fortune together."
"Please explain clearly, Your Highness?" Dong Yuan, the head of the Dong family, bowed.