The gentleman said, "Then you will directly leave 20% of the profits." If you do well, there will be other pieces of cloth that will come to you in the future. Uncle is also a layman in business, but he knows that you don't need to take the capital, you can sell it, it's still safer, right? ”

"Otherwise, the nephew will sell cloth to the second master at a ratio of one to five, right? Twenty percent is high, and Fu Erye still has to earn some. ”

The gentleman said, "Then it's five." The prince is for the emperor to operate, remove the capital, and pay a part of the emperor to the treasury. ”

"Then the nephew still wants a profit."

Wang Ye said: "Young Master Chen will try it at the ratio of one to five, if you make money, the share can be increased." The price list is also given to you. You think about it first, look at the quality of the cloth, and then compare it with the cloth of the Qing Dynasty, and refer to the details in two places, the price of this first sale of cloth is set by Young Master Chen. ”

"I'm scared! Today, Fu Er Ye gave him the opportunity to make money without a foundation in the next place, or it would be very troublesome not to buy goods, so I am grateful. Saying that, he made a gesture to the prince, "You are the next food and clothing parent, thank you for your care." ’”

The prince hurriedly returned the salute: "Young Master Chen is polite, it is Fu who has caused you trouble." ”

Tian Liang said: "The price of the cloth sent this time is converted according to the price in the foreign land. The purpose of doing business is to make money, but you can't ask for a price, and you can't fight a price war with other businesses. Many merchants sell at low prices to run on merchants who operate similar goods, and those who are strict will bankrupt others. ”

"Yes, some people have any tricks in order to make money. We don't have to, it's just fair trade and no bullying of children. Oh, my lord, this price list says that the twist cloth is only sold for thirty wen, which is not good! The cloth of the Great Qing Dynasty is generally 18 Wen 1 foot, and the cloth you bring is 1 and a half times wider than the width of the Great Qing Dynasty cloth, and it will be sold for at least 35 Wen 1 foot. ”

Tian Liang was a little embarrassed: "This ...... The subordinates did not go through the business, so the subordinates told you the price of several fabrics in the foreign land. The retail price of this kind of twist cloth is fifteen yuan per meter, one yuan is equivalent to five to seven Wen in the Qing Dynasty, how much is fifteen yuan? It's about seventy-five to eighty. I'm talking about the price of one meter, where weights and measures are calculated by meters, and one meter is three feet, so that one foot is about twenty-five liters. As a merchant, you still have to make a little money, so the cloud master set a price of thirty wen a foot. ”

"Such a wide format of thirty cents and a foot? Too cheap, right? Just sell it for thirty-five Wen, if the price is too low, people will not take it seriously, and maybe they will squeeze other cloth houses into yellow shops. Second Master Fu, do you believe too much in the next? ”

"Although Fu has not worked with Young Master Chen, Mr.'s character, General Chen's character, and Yun'er's character are all trusted by Fu. You are in the cloth business, and the specifics are unknown to us laymen. ”

"Although you can rest assured, you know that you want to make money, but you can't ask for a sky-high price."

"Rest assured, rest assured, a hundred rest assured. If it sells well, there are other fabrics to trouble Young Master Chen. ”

"Thank you for your trust, and I will do my best. If the second master doesn't dislike it, I'll invite you to have a light meal. ”

"Dinner should also be invited. However, Fu has other things to do today, how about next time? ”

"It's okay or fine."

"Sir, the three of us are waiting for you in the car, and you have anything to say to your nephew."

"Okay, okay, the next official will come soon."

Wang Ye, Tian Liang, and Nalan got into the car first, and Mr. asked Ruiqian: "How are your mother, your daughter-in-law and children?" Have you been to your Yang mother's place lately? ”

"My mother is fine, but Yang's mother and nephew don't dare to go. I want to ask her for a good time during the New Year, and just when I arrived at the door of the house, two wolf dogs were released to pick up my nephew, fortunately the nephew was young and fast, otherwise I wouldn't dare to think about it, at least the meat on the thighs should be a few pieces less. ”

"Your mother-in-law is really unspeakable, forget it, don't talk about her."

"Auntie and Sister Yun are alright? Is it a son? ”

"It's all good, your sister Yun went out for a year and brought back a pair of dragon and phoenix fetuses. It's six months old. ”

"Really? That's great. My sister gave birth to three children to the prince, and this honor ......"

"It's a trivial matter whether you are favored or not, and my uncle sees that the prince trusts you Sister Yun very much."

"Uncle, my nephew has one more thing I want to tell you, I can't understand it in a few words, next time, if the cloth sells well, you will come with the car to deliver the cloth, and the nephew will tell you in detail at that time."

"Okay, the prince is still waiting for his uncle to go back. Manage well, and you won't lose money. ”

"Take care, uncle."

"Okay, you can go back."

Ruiqian sent his uncle to the car, Tian Liang picked up Mr. in the car, and the carriage returned to the palace.

"Shopkeeper, why is the cloth sent by the second master such a big cloth roll? Is it so long? I haven't heard of a horse of 300 feet. "Man, Da Zhang has never seen such a cloth, a large roll of three hundred feet, dead and heavy.

"There's a lot of stuff you haven't heard of. Let's quickly measure the cloth with the method that Tian Guard said, I think his method is better than the method of cutting a hole and then 'hissing' and tearing it apart. Slow is slow, and it won't be skewed. ”

The two guys selling goods on the front of the counter began to practice, and it felt really good to try it, it was not slanted at all, and the stubble that the scissors broke away was particularly neat, and there was no stubble.

"Da Sheng, you go to the backyard storeroom and make a shelf of the wood that is left for the children's desks, and then put up the two planks, and then put the cloth that your uncle and them brought on the shelf, and sell the cloth of twist cloth first."

Mr. Kong, the bookkeeper, came over, touched it for a long time, and said: "The old man has been dealing in fabrics for decades, and he has never seen this, silk is not silk, cloth is not cloth of cloth, is it cotton spinning?" ”

"Tian Guards said what kind of chemical fiber material, called polyester cotton silk, is this kind of polyester cotton silk used to make cotton pants, the other two are cotton, don't get confused. Third uncle, you see, these three kinds of fabrics are all double-width, with a width of four feet five. ”

"Is there still such a wide cloth? It doesn't seem to be produced in our Qing Dynasty. Ruiqian just said that thirty-five wen one foot, then the price is too low, and its double width is wider than the single width of the Qing Dynasty. Why do you have to sell it for forty wen, right? This person called "third uncle" by Ruiqian is the cousin of Ruiqian's mother and the bookkeeper of Buzhuang.

"Isn't forty a little higher? It's still thirty-five, right? ”

"You're the shopkeeper, you have the final say." The bookkeeper who was called the third uncle by Ruiqian was still a little unhappy.

Rui Qian smiled, shook his head, and said to the guy: "I heard that Tian Guard, this kind of cloth has a disadvantage, that is, it is afraid of heat, and it cannot be scalded with boiling water or roasted by fire. When we sell cloth, we must explain to the customer in advance, otherwise he bought a home and went to the winter to warm up around the charcoal fire, and his pants changed from three feet to pants, so he didn't come to scold me for being a liar? ”

"I have to make it clear in advance, that is, to say a few more words, so that the family knows that there is no responsibility for us, in fact, how many people have nothing to do with boiling water and fire? But it must be stated in advance that it is his business whether he buys it or not. Da Zhang agreed with the shopkeeper.

Early the next morning, Ruiqian instructed the guy to lift the finished counter shelf to a prominent position in the center of the store, put the gorgeous board on it, and the guy took the initiative to wipe the gorgeous board with a rag, and then put the twisted cloth that had been disassembled and placed on the new counter to unfold. Both the shopkeeper and the guys are full of confidence in the new wide cloth: although some cloth houses in the Qing Dynasty have appeared in the "foreign cloth" brought by Westerners from across the ocean, they are not as wide as the twist cloth of Yulong Cloth Village. Moreover, those cloth dealers who sell foreign cloth raise the price of foreign cloth to a very high price. Those who can afford these foreign cloths are rich people, and many rich people are very broad, as long as they look good when they wear them, it is worth it even if they are a little expensive. Many of the cloths in the Qing Dynasty were home-woven cloths, also called homespun cloth. There was a weaving bureau in charge of weaving cloth in the Qing Dynasty, and the cloth spun by the loom there was wider than the home weaving cloth and much more delicate, and the common people called fine cloth. The cloth sent by the prince and others obviously belonged to the ranks of fine cloth, which was more delicate than the fine cloth of the Qing Dynasty and more delicate than foreign cloth. Adjacent to Yulong Buzhuang is a company with the name of "Yuxing Buzhuang", the shopkeeper's surname is Zhao, and Master Ruiqian gets along very well, and often comes to do business with Ruiqian. Because he was a few years older than Rui Qian, Rui Qian called him "Brother Zhao". It is said that peers are enemies, and Shopkeeper Zhao and Ruiqian did not become enemies, but lived in harmony. No, as soon as Ruiqian's cloth village opened, the shopkeeper Zhao came over with a purple clay pot: "I said that Shopkeeper Chen, you are not interesting enough, you actually bought a four-and-a-half-foot wide wide cloth, and you didn't say a word to my brother." Although it was a little complaining, it was also full of smiles.

Chen Ruiqian hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted, and apologized a few words: "I'm sorry, Brother Zhao, it's not hiding it in the next place, nor is it quietly buying the goods in the next place, I'm afraid that Brother Zhao will rob the job, this wide cloth is not purchased from somewhere, but is sold by relatives here." ”

"What kind of relative are you, so hand-eyed? You don't have a lot of Qing on the counter! Even the muslin cloth brought by the big nose of the West does not have such a wide face. The shopkeeper Zhao wanted to ask where these fabrics were, but they said that their relatives sold them on their behalf, so they were embarrassed to ask.

Although the façade of Yulong Cloth Village is small, the location is very advantageous. It's not too far from Qianmen Street near Zhengyangmen. This street should be regarded as the most prosperous commercial street in Beijing. This street is the imperial road for the emperor to go out of the city to the Temple of Heaven and the Altar of Mountains and Rivers, so from Zhengyangmen to the south to the intersection of the Tianqiao Road, the street is more than one and a half miles long, and the street is sixty feet wide. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, markets and streets such as Zhushikou and Coal Shikou have appeared on both sides of Qianmen Street, and Beijing's most famous "Dashilar" is also among them. After the Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, guilds were established in both sides of the front door. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, many professional markets were formed on both sides of Qianmen Street, such as fresh fish market, fruit market, meat market, cloth market, grass market, jewelry market, etc. Subsequently, many warehouses, carriage and horse shops, artisan workshops, and theaters appeared, making Qianmen Street more prosperous.

Although Yulong Cloth Village is small, its geographical location is quite advantageous. Before selling cloth to the prince, because the types of goods in the store were relatively simple, only cotton cloth, homespun cloth and a small amount of silk, Chen Ruiqian's business only remained at the level of subsistence and clothing. If it weren't for Qianmen Street, I'm afraid it wouldn't have reached this level. Because there are countless cloth and satin villages with large shops on this street. If it weren't for the fact that Young Master Chen pursued the method of measuring cloth with "one finger outside the ruler" when selling cloth, (that is, giving up one finger outside the measured cloth), he would have been praised by the poor citizens who came to buy cloth. I think that the shopkeeper Chen is benevolent and kind. In fact, it's just a little shrinkage method that Rui Qian let go, and I really can't afford to let it go too much.

Shopkeeper Chen was very confident in the cloth sent by the prince, and the cloth was placed on the counter waiting for the arrival of the first guest. But after waiting for two and a half days, no one bought it, and there were not no people who entered the store, and the flow of customers here was quite large, and there were many people who went to the store to take a look and take a turn. There are also people who look at exotic cloth, but no one dares to buy it, they all think that it is foreign cloth, and there is no need to inquire about the sky-high price, no matter how good the cloth is, the small people of Shengdou can't afford it.

The guy Dazhang was a little restless, and asked Ruiqian very strangely: "I said shopkeeper, how can no one buy such a good cloth?" This thing is not like cabbage and radish and is sold with a shout, and it is sad to death. ”

Ruiqian's eyes lit up, and he said in his heart that he was going to shout and sell. Aren't all the vendors selling cloth shouting and selling? So I hit a square wooden board, wrote a notice on paper, and pasted it on the wooden board, on which were very simple more than 30 words: "A small number of exotic fabrics have been newly imported into the store, with a width of four feet and five inches. ”

The plank was placed on a stool against the wall in the doorway. As soon as it was put away, someone entered the store to take a look: "The shopkeeper, that four-foot-five cloth ......"

Rui Qian greeted him and pointed to the counter placed in the center of the store: "This guest officer, please take a look." ”

"Yo, this is really wide enough."

Ruiqian knew that this was a peer. If you don't look at anything else, just look at the posture of his hand caressing the fabric, and you know that he is a connoisseur.

"How much is a foot?"

"Thirty-five texts."

"Why don't you rob the house, dude?" That means it's too expensive.

Rui Qian was not angry, but smiled: "This brother is laughing, I think you have seen the notice at the door, and you yourself admit that the width is wide enough." How wide is our cloth in the Qing Dynasty? One foot eight, then how many times is four feet five a foot eight? Two and a half times, how much is a foot of our Qing Dynasty's fine cloth, seventeen or eighteen texts, and these kinds of fabrics are only twice the price. It can be seen that this brother is a peer, you must know that when making clothes, wide fabrics can be cut and economical. ”

"Well, can the shopkeeper tell me where it was produced?"

"These pieces of cloth are not purchased in the next place, they are put here by relatives to sell on their behalf, and they are not embarrassed to ask him." The implication is that you shouldn't ask where it comes from.

The guest officer did not have any expression of dissatisfaction, but was greatly interested, and his hands kept stroking the fabric. In the end, he said: "Shopkeeper, can you wrap all this kind of wide-faced cloth for 20 yuan and a foot of it?" ”

The brother joked. I have already said that this is entrusted by relatives to sell it on behalf of the next generation, and the price is also set by the relatives. ”

"I'm sorry, or twenty-five ......"

"You can see it, it can be too expensive, but the price you give is not acceptable. Moreover, even if you want to buy it all at the price of 35 yuan, you will not agree to it. Relatives said that his cloth was brought back from thousands of miles, and the purpose was to benefit the common people in the capital. In addition, I also tell you that this kind of cloth has a weakness that it is afraid of heat, and it is no problem to be exposed to the sun, but it cannot be scalded with boiling water or roasted by fire, otherwise it will be deformed. ”

Rui Qian said this because he was annoyed, but it was also the truth.