The best county magistrate

Halfway through the hour, Yang Xuanchen and Liu Si had arrived in the private room of Youpeng Pavilion.

"Master, the village has discussed it in the past few days. It is no problem to establish a trading company. I will be the first owner."

Liu Si filled a glass of wine for Yang Xuanchen and continued, "We also have a request. Please take charge of the overall situation of our business."

Yang Xuanchen raised his wine glass and clinked it with Liu Si.

"No problem, I will take care of it for you in the early stage."

"When the business bank gets on the right track, you will run it yourself. If you encounter something that cannot be decided, I will help."

"Have you thought about the name of the trading company?"

Liu Si nodded, "I've thought about it, let's call it Yiyan."

"What do you mean by making salt wholeheartedly?" Yang Xuanchen asked.

Liu Si looked at Yang Xuanchen and said seriously.

"Yes, we in Liujia Village only want to do a good job in drying salt, so we call it a salt shop."

"There are a total of fifty-one households in the village, and all of them agreed to be called this name, and all of them bought shares."

With the participation of all villagers, the future Yiyan Bank will not only be more reasonable in distribution, but also spread everyone's risks.

The name of a salt shop is also well chosen. It seems that Liujiacun still attaches great importance to salt production.

Next, the two chatted about some household matters before inviting the wealthy businessman Ma Fugui to wait.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm here to pay my respects to Mr. Yang, please forgive me." Ma Fugui apologized immediately after entering the door.

It was still quite hot in May. Looking at Ma Fugui, who was wiping his sweaty brow and bowing repeatedly, Yang Xuanchen called him to take a seat quickly.

"I didn't expect that Boss Ma would come to Qingshui County in person. I'm so honored."

"Come, come, let's raise a glass and drink together!"

Yang Xuanchen raised his wine glass and motioned for everyone to have a drink together.

After drinking a glass of wine, Ma Fugui's eyes suddenly widened, "What... what kind of wine is this?"

As he spoke, he poured another glass, smelled the refreshing aroma of the wine, took a small sip, and then raised his head to drink.

"Good! Good wine, with a mellow taste and delicate aftertaste. May I ask Master Yang, who made this wine?"

Yang Xuanchen was very satisfied with his performance and laughed, "Thank you, Boss Ma. This wine was brewed by me and the kitchen girl in the Yamen together."

"If you like it, drink a few more cups. I'll give you a few more jars later."

Ma Fugui didn't show any pretense and thanked him, "Sir, I don't know the recipe and craftsmanship of this wine making..."

A businessman is a businessman. He even thinks about making money while drinking a glass of wine. If such people don't get rich, who else can get rich?

Looking at Ma Fugui with a hopeful look on his face, Yang Xuanchen curled his lips and said, "We'll talk about the wine later. Sir Yan recommended Ma's Trading Company to me, so why don't we talk about the salt first?"

"It's easy to talk, but I don't know who I should talk to?" Ma Fugui first looked at Yang Xuanchen, and then glanced at Liu Si.

"This is Liu Si, the owner of a salt shop!"

"I am currently serving as a business consultant for a salt company. I can make the final decision on all matters."

Yang Xuanchen introduced Liu Si to Ma Fugui and casually talked about business.

What is a consultant? Ma Fugui's eyes showed suspicion.

Dayan law stipulates that officials cannot engage in business, but as the saying goes, there are policies and countermeasures. This Liu Si must be Yang Xuanchen's agent on the surface.

Thinking of this, Ma Fugui, who had been in shopping malls for a long time, rolled his eyes and enthusiastically poured Liu Si several glasses of wine.

"Sir, how is the salt production in Qingshui County?"

Without thinking, Liu Si blurted out, "Currently, only about a hundred acres of land have been cultivated, and each acre of land produces a thousand kilograms of sea salt per day."

"Thanks to His Majesty's grace, 10% of the salt produced in Liujia Village can be reserved for a salt shop initiated by the villagers for external sales." Yang Xuanchen added.

"That means that from a hundred acres of salt field, ten thousand kilograms of salt can be sold in one day?"

"This amount is very considerable. If you have any ideas, please tell me directly."

Ma Fugui thought for a while and showed a look of determination to win.

Seeing Liu Si wanting to speak, Yang Xuanchen gave him a calm look.

"Currently it's only 10,000 kilograms. I roughly estimate that by the autumn harvest, the salt field should be expanded to 3,000 acres."

"By then, Nissan's figures will be astronomical!"

Ma Fugui was shocked by Yang Xuanchen's words. Three thousand acres of land could produce one million kilograms per day.

If he can eat this piece of fat, Ma's Trading Company will definitely become the number one trading firm in Dayan in the future.

His eyes became extremely passionate, looking at Yang Xuanchen and Liu Si in front of him like a prostitute seeing an oiran, his eyes were already filled with desire.

"Currently, the price of salt in various places in Dayan is basically thirty cents per catty. When we purchased it from the imperial court, it was twenty-two cents per catty."

"Excluding the cost of transportation, storage, and labor, we only have a profit of two cents per pound."

"I wonder what price your Lord will give us?"

Yang Xuanchen smiled and shook his head.

After communicating with Yan Chenghai, I also communicated with Master Liu Qingshan via letters.

In the letter, Master first expressed that the salt produced in the two salt ponds in Dayan was not good in taste and was slightly expensive.

Then he vaguely talked about Emperor Jianwen's intention to stabilize the price of salt after learning about the inexhaustible supply of sea salt.

Therefore, Yang Xuanchen judged that in the next few days, the price of salt in various places in Dayan would drop step by step.

"Based on the current output of Liujiacun, it is estimated that Boss Ma and his family can eat it."

"However, with the increase in daily production, grain merchants like Boss Ma may not be able to eat all the food."

"There are several big salt merchants in Dayan. If I agree to Boss Ma today and the others come to find them, it will be a lot of trouble."

Ma Fugui filled a glass of wine for Yang Xuanchen and raised the glass, "What do you want me to do, sir?"

"It's quite simple. I am ready to cooperate with every trading firm in Dayan that has salt."

Before Yang Xuanchen finished speaking, Ma Fugui became anxious, "No sir, if you do this, what's the difference between selling salt to the court?"

"Of course there is a difference. When selling salt to the imperial court, does the trading house that is close to the salt official get more goods?"

"Are there more bribery and corruption issues?"

"Has Boss Ma never given money to Mr. Wu Guiwu?"

Yang Xuanchen's three consecutive questions made Ma Fugui break into a cold sweat.

If you don't pay respect to the officials when doing business in Dayan, you will encounter obstacles everywhere you go.

When Ma was doing business in various states, of course he would also do some management.

Ma Fugui glanced at Yang Xuanchen and made up his mind. Since he was responsible for selling the salt, this benefit would definitely be for the fortress.

As a financial executive in the 21st century, Yang Xuanchen naturally knew what methods Ma Fugui was going to use to obtain the salt in Liujiacun's hands.

Therefore, he decided to cut off the salt merchants' bribery channels from the beginning.

"I believe that instead of wasting money on collusion between government and businessmen, it would be better to let the salt farmers benefit!"

"I won't hide it from you. The court collects salt at ten cents per catty, so I plan to start with ten cents."

"I'm going to hold an auction, and the highest bidder will get Qingshui County's sea salt quota."

"Master Yan has sent invitations to salt merchants from all over the country and will arrive in Qingshui County soon."

Next, in Ma Fugui's shocked eyes, Yang Xuanchen explained the rules of the auction to him.

The starting price is ten cents per pound, and the delivery cycle is one month.

This will not only ensure that the cost of salt prices is not too high, but also give sufficient profits to salt merchants.

Although this approach will squeeze small-scale salt merchants, at least it is fair and just.

Ma Fugui secretly complained that if he collected salt by auction, his profits would not be much.

Just as his expression kept changing and he was considering whether to fight for a private spot again, Yang Xuanchen spoke again.

"Boss Ma is the richest man in Qingzhou. I heard that during the severe food shortage a few years ago, Ma's Trading Company donated thousands of kilo of food free of charge."

"Of course I will not treat a patriotic businessman like Boss Ma badly."

Yang Xuanchen pointed to the wine on the table and said with a smile: "Of course I will not trade this wine with other merchants, you know."