Last year's price was ten taels of gold, and now the market price is about twenty taels of a horse, a difference of nearly double, Lukaz was overjoyed, he was originally going to use 200,000 taels of gold to buy 10,000 horses of Shu brocade, Liu Ze actually proposed to buy porcelain with 100,000 taels of 100,000 taels to buy Shu brocade, which is equivalent to spending the money to buy Shu brocade to get 10,000 pieces of high-quality porcelain in vain, this is not what the pie is falling from the world, he almost can't believe it: "Really? ”

"The gentleman has no jokes." The most important thing for a businessman is reputation, and Liu Ze dare to joke about this.

Lukaz was overjoyed and said loudly: "Deal!" ”

Liu Ze saw that the purpose of the trip had been achieved, so he got up to say goodbye, and Lukaz insisted on setting up a banquet to entertain them, but Liu Ze couldn't refuse, so he had to stay.

The banquet was luxurious and grand, eating roasted whole sheep, drinking Persian wine, and Persian beauties dancing belly dances, pushing cups and changing lamps, and unconsciously it was time to hold the lamp. Seeing that Liu Ze was quite interested in the Roman armor hanging on the wall, Lukaz immediately ordered someone to take it down and give it to Liu Ze. Liu Ze was overjoyed, the Roman armor was exactly what he dreamed of, and he accepted it with a few words of prevarication at the moment.

Liu Ze inquired in detail about the customs, geography and products of the Western Regions, Persia, Rome and other places, chatting and chatting, he thought about Rukaz and asked Rukaz if there was a kind of cinchona tree south of Egypt, and described the shape of this tree to him in detail.

The reason why Liu Ze asked Lukaz about cinchona trees was not a whim, in ancient times, malaria was almost an incurable disease, often outbreaks in large areas, taking countless lives, Liu Ze understood that the only effective medicine that can cure malaria is cinchona cream.

Native to South America, cinchona was first discovered and applied by the Indians until the seventeenth century. Now to South America is undoubtedly a fool's dream, but Liu Ze is not giving up, the cinchona tree has survived on the earth for tens of millions of years, according to Wegener's continental drift theory, Africa and South America are originally connected, the two continents have exactly the same geographical environment, according to the characteristics of the cinchona tree growing in the tropical high sea area, Liu Ze concluded that there must be a distribution in central Africa. It's not realistic to go to Africa now, but Rukaz often goes to Egypt for business, and maybe he has the opportunity to see cinchona trees.

But Rukaz shook his head and said, "Egypt is full of desert, and there are no trees at all. However, it is said that thousands of miles south of Egypt there is no winter in summer, and there are many rainy seasons, and the trees are towering, perhaps the kind of trees you mentioned. ”

"Yes, this is the place I am talking about, and since anyone knows about this place, he must have been there, and when Mr. Rukaz arrives in Egypt, he may as well pay a lot of money for the bark of this tree, and some people must be willing to go south to find it." Liu Ze saw where the hope was, so he naturally asked for it.

"There must be brave men under the heavy reward, the people of the tribe over there are very poor, it is not difficult to find someone who is willing to go south, but the shopkeeper Liu must write the shape, color, smell and other characteristics of this bark, otherwise I don't know, if the goods are not right, it will not cost money in vain."

"This is natural." After taking a pen and paper, Liu Ze not only wrote down the shape of the cinchona tree, but also drew a few drawings and handed them to Lukaz.

On the way back, Jian Yong asked Liu Ze very curiously: "Lord, the market price of Shu brocade is already twenty taels of gold per horse, and the price you give Lukaz is still ten taels and one horses, isn't it 200,000 taels of gold that sold for 10,000 horses of Shu brocade, and wouldn't the 10,000 pieces of porcelain be given away for nothing?" ”

Liu Ze smiled: "Xianhe, do you think this deal is a big loss?" "Jian Yong and Liu Bei are the same age, and they just had a crown ceremony last month, and they took the table word Xianhe.

"I can't see the money there, anyway." Jian Yong couldn't understand Liu Ze's approach.

"On the surface, we lost money on this deal, and it was a big loss, and the porcelain worth 100,000 taels of gold was given away in vain, and you didn't see Lukaz laughing from ear to ear. But do you know why I sell this way when I know it's a loss? ”

"Yong is dull, presumably the lord must have a deep meaning."

"Lukaz is a shrewd merchant, he would never have done this business without a little sweetness, without him we would not have been able to open the Roman market. Shu brocade will not have inventory next year, that is to say, we will have no business to do next year, so we must find new goods to do, which is why I have repeatedly insisted that porcelain does not talk about the price of a penny and Shu brocade let five percent off. There is no Shu brocade to do next year, and Lukaz must be crying and shouting to buy porcelain, are you afraid that there will be no money to make at that time? ”

"Why did the lord conclude that porcelain must be sold in Rome?" Jian Yong wondered why Liu Ze was so sure that these blue and white porcelain would sell well.

Liu Ze laughed in his heart, if the Romans could not look at these porcelain, then China would have to change its name, and it could no longer be called "China". However, this matter could not be told to Jian Yongming, he had to say: "Westerners have an unusual love and obsession with porcelain, especially high-end porcelain, this time Lukaz brought porcelain into Rome, it will definitely cause an uproar among the Roman aristocracy, and the sales of porcelain next year will be amazing." ”

In the next few days, the delivery of Shu brocade and porcelain, and the collection of 200,000 taels of gold, Liu Ze left Luoyang and went north to Quyang.

Before leaving, Liu Ze specially told Jian Yong: "Xianhe, all the inventory of Shu brocade can be shipped, and there is no need to keep the inventory as much as you can." A new batch of porcelain will arrive next month, and you can set up a store near Fuyuanzhuang that specializes in porcelain. As for the sale of coal and stone, it is now the off-season, but it is also necessary to ensure sufficient supply in places such as blacksmith shops and kiln factories, and after the summer, it is necessary to set up cities in the northern states and counties and relatively large counties to sell coal and stone, and strive to cover all counties and counties in the north next year. ”

"As a result, we will inevitably be understaffed." Jian Yong's worries were not unreasonable.

"I have thought about this problem for a long time, we are short of manpower, we can develop agents, set up a franchise in each county, wholesale to them at a price of six to seven discounts, let them do retail, we can only do wholesale business."

Jian Yong was overjoyed and said: "What the lord said is very true, so we don't need enough shops to do business all over the world." ”

Liu Ze nodded and said: "Maximizing profits is not an arbitrary monopoly, giving people and benefits, and letting profits to others, so that the business can become bigger and bigger." Xianhe, remember, for businessmen, must be honest, not greedy for petty profits, so that the business can go wider and wider, otherwise, insatiable, heavy profit forgetfulness, the result can only be into a dead end. ”

The journey was safe and sound, this day to Zhongshan, only half a day's journey from Quyang, it was nearly noon, Liu Ze ordered the team to rest, in a roadside shop, thinking that Quyang could be arrived in the evening.

While eating, there was a sound of horses' hooves outside the store, people were neighing, and there was a faint dust. Liu Ze frowned and said, "Isn't there a horse thief robbing outside?" ”

As soon as he heard that there was a horse thief, Zhang Feiteng stood up and said excitedly: "There is a horse thief? It just so happens that my fist is itchy, and I will go out. He didn't bother to greet Liu Ze and Guan Yu, so he rushed straight out.