The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#253 - Raise your hand

“Manager Gu, if I remember correctly, you are not a member of my Qian Yuan Chamber of Commerce, are you? What's this? Are you also interested in congratulating me on my birthday?” Jiang Yuanmao said lightly.

Gu Caiwei heard this and stood up from her seat, respectfully saying, “I often heard people in the capital mention Head Jiang's great name when I was young, and I admired him very much. It's a pity that I never had the chance to meet Head Jiang. Now that Head Jiang is celebrating his birthday, I can't miss this opportunity.”

“That sounds nice,” Jiang Yuanmao snorted. “Isn't it all for that batch of goods? I heard that you spent a lot of money to buy that batch of charcoal from the Luo Shi Kingdom outside of the Northern Frontier, wanting to use it for the craftsmen in your charcoal kiln to research.

To develop a new type of charcoal that can rival Red Luo Charcoal but only costs a quarter of the raw materials. Am I right?”

“That's right.”

Gu Caiwei admitted it very simply. She knew that the Qian Yuan Chamber of Commerce's connections and influence in the capital were extraordinary.

Before, she was worried about being discovered by Jiang Yuanmao, so she didn't send that batch of goods to the main branch, but instead placed it in the Longjin Bridge branch, which, in theory, shouldn't have been chosen. Gu Caiwei's intention was to do the opposite; the most dangerous place is the safest.

But in the end, she still couldn't hide it from Jiang Yuanmao's eyes.

That batch of charcoal was very important for her future development. As early as a year ago, she sent someone on the road to buy charcoal. However, Luo Shi Kingdom was remote and far away, and the charcoal was only bought back today. If she did it again, she would have to wait another year.

Moreover, that batch of charcoal was secondary. The key was actually the person Gu Caiwei sent to buy the charcoal.

Gu Caiwei sent him not only to buy charcoal, but also to have him learn the Luo Shi people's method of burning charcoal in the kiln, at least to learn the general steps, so that it would be easier to explore when he came back.

As a result, he was also detained by those few constables when he delivered the charcoal.

So Gu Caiwei's bottom line tonight was not to get the charcoal, but to get the person back.

Moreover, this person had to be brought back as soon as possible. Although he was a trusted old servant of Gu Caiwei's family, if he was imprisoned for a long time, coupled with the jailers' tricks, it was hard to guarantee that he would not reveal the method of making new charcoal.

At that time, Gu Caiwei would not only fail to burn new charcoal, but also the market that Red Luo Charcoal had worked so hard to occupy would probably have to be given up, which would undoubtedly be the worst situation for her.

Of course, Gu Caiwei couldn't say this clearly, otherwise Jiang Yuanmao's shrewdness would definitely detect the trick.

So Gu Caiwei could only say, “I hope Head Jiang can be merciful.”

“What? Does Manager Gu think that I am deliberately making things difficult for you?”

Gu Caiwei didn't speak, but silence was an answer in itself.

So Jiang Yuanmao also nodded, “Okay, in that case, I'll just say it directly.

Because of Manager Gu's appearance, the business of several firewood and charcoal shops in the city has become increasingly difficult. Cui's Firewood and Charcoal Shop even lost the inner court's business because of your Red Luo Charcoal, losing 100,000 taels of silver a year, and is getting worse and worse, even having to sell the shop on the west side of Longjin Bridge to you.

“And Cui Zhenghua, the owner behind Cui's Firewood and Charcoal Shop, is a member of my Qian Yuan Chamber of Commerce. As the head of the Qian Yuan Chamber of Commerce, I can't just watch the people in the chamber suffer losses and do nothing, right? Otherwise, would these friends in the chamber still recognize me as the head?”

Jiang Yuanmao's words actually sounded very unreasonable.

The reason why he wanted to make things difficult for Gu Caiwei was because Gu Caiwei's firewood and charcoal shop business was doing too well. It sounded somewhat domineering. In Lu Jing's previous life, an unfair competition could not escape.

However, from the perspective of the Chamber of Commerce's interests, his approach didn't seem to have any problems.

Even many people in the restaurant applauded. The people who came to attend the birthday banquet tonight were mainly merchants from the Qian Yuan Chamber of Commerce. In addition to facilitating communication and finding opportunities to make money, they also joined the Chamber of Commerce to unite and use the Chamber of Commerce's power to suppress competitors when their interests were threatened.

And Gu Caiwei frowned when she heard Jiang Yuanmao's words. She didn't expect Jiang Yuanmao to come up with such a seemingly legitimate excuse.

Jiang Yuanmao's first half of the sentence was not wrong. After all, the population of the capital is limited. Although the demand for charcoal will change with the price, there is also a range. With the emergence of new competitors, the business of those old shops will naturally be affected.

In fact, not only firewood and charcoal, but also other businesses in the city are like this.

However, the matter of Cui's Firewood and Charcoal Shop was not as simple as Jiang Yuanmao said. Cui Zhenghua's business had actually been declining before Gu Caiwei returned to the capital, barely maintained by supplying the inner court with gold-thread charcoal.

However, his competitors had long been eyeing him. Even without Gu Caiwei's Red Luo Charcoal, Cui Zhenghua's gold-thread charcoal would probably be replaced by other competitors.

As for the shop on the west side of Longjin Bridge, it had been losing money for years, and Cui Zhenghua had long wanted to sell it.

Moreover, even so, Gu Caiwei took over at a price 20% higher than the market price. If this is also considered competition, then the pancake seller at Cui Zhenghua's door is also his competitor.

As for Jiang Yuanmao's so-called act of standing up for him, it was even more ridiculous. Cui's Firewood and Charcoal Shop's business has been bad for more than three or five years, but Jiang Yuanmao, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, had never given him a helping hand before.

But Gu Caiwei also knew that there was no point in arguing about this kind of thing at this time.

So she took a deep breath and said, “Gu is rude first, but it is better to resolve enmity than to结仇. Gu is willing to apologize to Head Jiang and all the colleagues of the Qian Yuan Chamber of Commerce.”

“Does Manager Gu think that this matter can be dismissed with a verbal apology? There is no such good thing in the world,” Jiang Yuanmao said coldly.

“Since Gu is going to apologize, it is naturally not just a verbal apology.” Gu Caiwei closed her folding fan and said, “Last month, Grand Master of Gold Purple Guanglu, Qi, was raided for treason, and a garden of the Qi family in the southeast is also going to be sold by the public in exchange for silver to support the war in the northwest. I heard that Head Jiang is interested in that garden? But as far as I know, there are quite a few people eyeing that garden.”

Jiang Yuanmao's heart moved, “What? Do you have a way for me to get that garden?”

“I wouldn't dare say for sure, but I can always increase Head Jiang's chances of success.” Gu Caiwei said.

“Is Manager Gu going to ask Princess Fu'an to take action?” Jiang Yuanmao narrowed his eyes.

“Princess Fu'an will not interfere in this kind of thing,” Gu Caiwei shook her head. “This is my own relationship.”

Jiang Yuanmao was indeed a little tempted when he heard this. Although he already had a garden in the south, it was too luxurious and lacked a bit of scholarly atmosphere. The Qi family was a scholarly family, and the garden they built must be elegant enough.