CHAPTER 465: CHAPTER 465: UNCONVENTIONAL BARGAINING

Li Shuhua, under the guidance of Li Chenggong, has learned a lot.

Now Li Chenggong has gradually handed over the authority he holds to Li Shuhua.

Li Shuhua has also slowly become a Manager Li who can stand alone.

If another Sun Wen were to come, she could not only easily handle him but also wouldn’t squander the family fortune.

Li Shuhua said, "Manager Pei, if you want cloth, why not contact me? I can even give you a discount."

Pei Shu’er replied, "How much for a bolt."

Li Shuhua said, "Our selling price for this cotton cloth is 900 wen, but we only charge you 400 wen."

As soon as these words were spoken, those other cloth shops planning to quote fell silent immediately.

They knew better than anyone that at this price, there wouldn’t be much profit.

If they offered this price, it would be akin to doing charity.

Pei Shu’er smiled at Li Shuhua.

Of course, she understood Li Shuhua’s intent. After Li Shuhua quoted the base price, other Jingzhou merchants wanting to earn from Pei Shu’er had to think carefully.

Of course, Pei Shu’er wouldn’t settle with Li Shuhua at such a price, otherwise, Li Shuhua might end up losing money.

The others hadn’t spoken for a long time.

Firstly, this order indeed is substantial, and if won, could really turn things around for the future.

But, this price...

Some gritted their teeth.

"Manager Pei, if it’s 700 wen, we can still do it."

Pei Shu’er raised her eyelids, pondered for a while.

Then suddenly opened her mouth, but she was speaking to Li Shuhua.

"The quantity I need here is a bit large, how long will it take you to deliver a hundred thousand bolts of cotton cloth?"

Li Shuhua covered her mouth and laughed, "It would take about twenty days."

Upon hearing this number, the other merchants gasped.

A hundred thousand bolts!

They finally realized that the orders Pei Shu’er previously gave were just support for those small cloth shops.

Only orders for five thousand bolts were given to those people.

So much so that it wouldn’t be impossible to raise their shops to one of the top in Jingzhou City.

Some people were teary-eyed.

"650 wen! This is already the lowest price."

"600 wen, choose us, Manager Pei, look at our sample cloth."

"550 wen."

Pei Shu’er still ignored them and continued to converse with Li Shuhua.

Finally, a man with the surname Zhao shouted, "Alright, 500 wen, Manager Pei, it really can’t be any less."

This was the Shopkeeper of Zhao’s Cloth Shop, who had just inherited the family business and lacked much experience.

Pei Shu’er smiled immediately and then nodded.

"Alright, but show me the sample cloth."

This person realized he might have been impulsive when he shouted 500 wen and now felt a bit regretful.

Yet thinking that they could earn 100 wen per bolt, a hundred thousand bolts would be ten thousand liang of silver.

They never thought they could earn so much money.

Pei Shu’er said, "I also need fifty thousand bolts of muslin; how much for the muslin?"

Again, it was Li Shuhua who first quoted the price.

"I can offer you 200 wen per bolt."

Muslin weaving is simpler than cotton cloth, using fewer materials.

The others literally hated Li Shuhua, but this woman was highly regarded in Jingzhou City and had an iron-fisted approach, so no one dared to confront her head-on.

It was still the same Zhao Xing who set the price of muslin at 250 wen.

Their profit was too low, all because of Li Shuhua who didn’t play by the rules.

Pei Shu’er didn’t haggle over the price anymore; she would pay everyone the same as she would pay Li Shuhua.

Pei Shu’er said, "I need the cotton cloth and muslin in ten days; how much can you deliver separately?"

If she remembered correctly, the battle would start in half a month.

Everyone was stunned, first looking at each other, and then frowning; the time was too tight.

"We can only deliver ten thousand bolts."

"My family can also deliver ten thousand bolts."

Li Shuhua smiled, "My family can deliver fifty thousand bolts."

Zhao Xing, who offered 500 wen, gritted his teeth, "I can do thirty thousand bolts."

This load of a hundred thousand bolts was quickly claimed.

Pei Shu’er looked at the sample cloths and found them of good quality.

As for muslin, Li Shuhua and Zhao Xing equally shared the amount.

Pei Shu’er signed an agreement on the spot and paid each family a 20% deposit first.

While signing the agreement, the quality of the goods was stipulated.

If the goods didn’t meet the standards, couldn’t be delivered, or if they changed their minds, a refund would be issued immediately, plus a five-fold compensation.

Of course, Pei Shu’er also had to pay on time.

This was actually a bit challenging for Pei Shu’er.

After all, it was a payment of 60,000 liang, and this was just one of the orders; she also had to buy medicinal materials and salt.

Pei Shu’er bought salt in large quantities.

However, the price of salt was much higher than that of cotton cloth.

It’s enough to imagine how expensive salt is; some families couldn’t afford salt and used substitutes.

And with so many people in the Gulan Military Camp, a little salt would surely not suffice.

wen per jin of salt was already extremely expensive among food items.

But without salt, how could those soldiers have the strength to fight?

She had plenty of salt in her inventory, but with so many people, there would surely come a day when it would all be consumed.

Instead of this, it would be better to teach Tang Zan how to make salt.

When sending Tang Zan off, Pei Shu’er slipped a recipe into his hand.

Tang Zan was startled, "What is this?"

Pei Shu’er smiled without speaking.

Tang Zan, half laughing and half crying, opened the paper, then his eyes lit up involuntarily.

It was a method to make salt!

And one that didn’t require boiling with fuel, just manpower and resources.

But the Gulan Military Camp, what it lacked the least was people!

It was known that salt was expensive in Dayan because there were no salt-producing areas near Dayan, and it all depended on being shipped by the Great Shang Country.

The salt that came from the Great Shang was also boiled, and with transport costs, it naturally couldn’t be cheap.

And Dayan had no explicit salt laws, so Tang Zan and Pei Shu’er could exploit this loophole.

However, Tang Zan said, "There are no salt lakes or salt wells within Dayan’s borders."

So even if the method was good, it might not succeed.

Pei Shu’er had actually thought about this.

"I know a place with a salt lake."

Tang Zan was taken aback, then involuntarily laughed.

"You seem to know everything."

Pei Shu’er laughed, "Do you remember when we were on the way to the Dazi border? There was a lake; I once tested it—it’s a saltwater lake."

The best part was, even the Dazi hadn’t discovered it.

Because the land within Dazi was too vast, many areas were uninhabited.

Moreover, the terrain was quite unique, making it difficult to find.

Besides, if we make salt there, we only need to send a few half-breeds who look like the Dazi.

There would be no risk of the Dayan people making a fuss over it.