delicious little cook

Chapter 493 Business Planning

When Bai Kou walked into the dragon tent with her tea set box, a group of palace maids came in with food boxes, and spread a table of sweet baked snacks on the table in front of the imperial court, waiting for them to leave in an orderly manner. After alighting, the sage came out from behind the screen neatly dressed and sat down.

After saluting, Bai Kou went to the tea table to boil water. First, he made a cup of clear tea to quench the saint's thirst. Then he sorted out the desserts on the table and sorted them according to their sweetness. Then he went back to make milk tea.

The saint didn't care at all that Bai Kou had randomly moved the snacks on the table. He was drinking tea and chatting softly with his chief eunuch.

When Bai Kou brought the first cup of milk tea to the table, he happened to hear the sage chatting with Eunuch Xi about Gu Yun's fox hunting.

"Gu Yun's group of boys are planning to hunt down all the foxes in this mountain forest. What are they trying to do? Has anyone found out?"

"No, Gu Shizi and his group of young masters are very strict with their mouths. I don't know why they hunt so many foxes, and they still have to live. These days, they are good at setting traps."

Bai Kou pretended not to hear what they were saying, put down the cup and turned to leave, when Eunuch Xi laughed lightly and continued.

"Your Majesty, we don't know what Gu Shizi is doing to hunt foxes, but isn't there someone who knows right in front of us?"

Bai Kou paused and stood up obediently.

"Well, it's true, this little girl knows best about Gu Yun's affairs." The saint put down his teacup, leaned on the cushion and sat on the dragon chair, "Tell me, little girl, what does Gu Yun want so many foxes for?"

"Go back to Your Majesty, do fox breeding, and sell fur in the future."

"Hey, he has opened up his business, and he knows everything?"

"That's it."

"He does this fox business by himself?"

"Those young masters all have a share, and each of them contributes a little money."

"No wonder, no wonder they're so excited about hunting foxes. Who started it?"

"Our son."

"Well, it's okay, don't eat alone. But breeding foxes belongs to farmers, and the business he is running now belongs to workers. How can it be so wide? Who gave him the idea?"

"During the chat, I mentioned that winter furs have always been popular, but the source of furs is not stable. It is better to raise foxes by myself. I have a stable supply of [-] or [-] furs every year. Except for my own use, the rest can be sold for income."

"Foxes are not ordinary domestic animals. Fur merchants must have thought about raising foxes themselves, but they have never heard of anyone who has succeeded in raising them. Otherwise, they would be able to provide a stable supply of fur every year, which would be very profitable. "

"I got into this business because I saw that I could make money."

"Is it really sure to make money?"

"If you can continue to persist after losing money for several years in a row, you can really make money."

"The boys are willing to do such a high-risk thing? I can't see that they are all adventurous."

"The family background of these young masters are all military meritorious titles, influenced by the family tradition, they still have this adventurous spirit, not to mention that they have all reached the age of starting a family, I am sorry to ask the family for money every time, and invest money to raise foxes together , and also meant to earn money for myself."

"Gu Yun came up with the idea, he started it, so this business will be based on his opinion in the future?"

"Probably yes, he seems to be the major shareholder and invested the most money."

"He has money to spend because you have earned him a lot this year, so he has spare money to invest in raising foxes. He has the confidence to do things boldly."

The saint sat upright, staring at Bai Kou who bowed his head and said nothing.

"Why did I never know that your old Bai family has the talent for doing business?"

"It's all forced by life." Bai Kou bowed slightly, "Your son is also tight on money. After entering the school, the expenses increase, and the poor want to change. It is only natural to want to make money. Since the servants serve him, why not It is the duty of a servant to share his worries."

"Your words sound nice, but looking at it now, the errands are done beautifully. I bought [-] acres of land to build a new factory in one go. Is it really a factory?"

"It is indeed a workshop."

"It takes a factory of [-] mu of land to produce soap and transparent glass?"

"The prince wants to monopolize the business in the capital and Zhili, so he really needs a workshop of [-] mu."

"Monopoly?! Do you know what the word monopoly means?"

"It means taxes." Bai Kou raised his eyes and looked straight at Shengyan bravely, "Even if the son has a reputation and can reduce or exempt taxes, as long as he monopolizes the capital, it is enough to pay 3 to [-] taels to the treasury every year." silver tax."

Monopoly means many things, controlling the market and manipulating prices, but the sage didn't expect Bai Kou to mention taxes, and he was stunned for a moment. Eunuch Xi also shrugged his eyebrows in surprise, and restrained himself for a moment. expression.

"Just relying on your business of making soap and transparent glass living utensils? Can you pay tens of thousands of taels of tax every year?"

"With a workshop of [-] acres of land, it can be done."

"But you don't want to think about it. If you really achieve a monopoly, what will happen to those people whose livelihoods are squeezed out in the process? They also have to support their families."

"Those people whose skills are inferior to others and lose their livelihood, Your Majesty, I dare to ask, what is the total amount of taxes they pay every year?"

"This..." The sage naturally couldn't answer such a specific number. He felt that even if the Secretary of the Household Department was called now, he would have to go back and make a clear calculation before answering.

Bai Kou saw that he had stopped the saint, fearing that he would become angry from embarrassment, bowed to salute, and wanted to leave, and didn't want to make the milk tea later.

"Wait a minute, where do you want to go without saying a word? Stand honestly."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Bai Kou clasped her hands in front of her body with an obedient appearance.

"Well, even after the monopoly, the tax paid by your family can offset the total tax paid by a group of them, but for the imperial court, a large group of jobless people who have lost their livelihoods is very scary."

"So, Your Majesty, this requires a monopoly even more, so that they can be saved better."

"How to say?"

"Although the small workshops with inferior skills have closed down, our workshop is happy to accept those skilled masters, and will give them different wages according to their skill level. With money, they can support their families and will not become wanderers. street hooligans."

"It's easy to say, do you think the world will go as smoothly as you expected?"

"Your Majesty, soap making and glazed soap are the two most familiar businesses for slaves. Don't worry, there will be no social chaos."

"I don't worry about it, I don't worry about it at all, unless you tell me clearly what you want to do! The land of the East Palace in the imperial palace is only about [-] acres. You can buy [-] acres of land in one go, which is equivalent to four Donggong. What kind of factory do you want to build that requires [-] acres of land? If you don’t explain it clearly to me today, you don’t want to go out, and you’ll be considered abstaining from today’s competition, let alone win any prizes!”

The saint tapped on the table with his fingers, looking like he was losing patience.

(End of this chapter)