Chapter 63: Flourishing Business Brings Inevitable Worries

Cao Zhi sent men to rescue Wang Chao and the others from the pack of wild dogs, finding their disheveled appearance rather amusing. Wang Chao had been scratched and bitten by the wild dogs, and his injuries were not insignificant. The guards of the Hanyang Marquis Mansion treated his wounds, but the bacterial infection had already set in. Those wild dogs carried rabies; once scratched or bitten, one could only await their fate.

"There are far too many wild dogs on the mountain, and they are crazier than the last." Wang Chao was extremely annoyed, somewhat regretting bringing men up the mountain to hunt.

"I advised you all beforehand not to go hunting on the mountain, but you wouldn't listen."

Wang Chao cast a cold glance at Jiang Yi, yet found himself unable to refute. At the time, Jiang Yi had brought the Jiang family guards to block them, but several wealthy young masters refused to heed the warning.

"You should hurry to the medical hall in Hanyang City for treatment. Your injuries do not look light." Cao Zhi was concerned that Wang Chao's condition would deteriorate and lead to his death, which would affect the friendly relations between the Wang and Cao families.

"Many thanks for the Marquis's concern, but these minor injuries are of no consequence. The Marquis should refrain from going hunting on the mountain; those beasts are far too rabid."

Cao Zhi instructed the guards of the Hanyang Marquis Mansion to escort them to the medical hall in Hanyang City. Jiang Yi took several Jiang family guards and returned to Funiu Village, leaving a few guards behind to keep watch.

Upon returning to Funiu Village, he saw quite a few merchants queuing up at the warehouse to collect their goods. Anteba and Sun Quan were also present, and the open space around the warehouse was filled with numerous carriages. Shen Rong was leading people to maintain order, watching as the merchants loaded their goods and departed one after another.

Having settled the remaining payments, the merchants happily left with their camel caravans.

"Jiang Yi, we must return now. I hope you will produce more soap and perfume so we can receive our goods in the shortest possible time." Anteba had arrived with his caravan early in the morning and waited near the warehouse for a long time. He had watched Sun Quan lead his men to take goods on a priority basis, and heard that they were people sent from the imperial palace.

"I will do my best to arrange for more production so you won't have to wait so long." After some time, they would build a few more workshops, recruit more workers, and increase the output of soap and perfume.

"My friends have sent word. They will arrive in two months and bring the cotton seeds and corn you requested."

"Whatever amount of cotton seeds and corn your friends bring, I want all of it."

Anteba smiled happily. In the past, small quantities of cotton seeds were sold to Daliang merely to be planted for ornamental purposes. Yet Jiang Yi wanted to purchase cotton seeds in large quantities—doing so was truly a waste of money.

"You must not regret this. Although cotton blossoms are pretty to look at, they are inedible, and the cotton bolls that form in autumn are of little use either."

"Isn't it better for you if there is money to be made?" Jiang Yi naturally could not tell him about the high utilization value of cotton; this was a potential business opportunity.

"I am merely worried that others will call you foolish for buying so many useless cotton seeds."

The cotton harvested every autumn required time and effort to extract the seeds. As for the cotton fluff, it could only be used for fueling fires to cook meals; neither in the Western Regions nor in Daliang was there any technology for spinning cotton yarn.

"Before you return to the Western Regions, I invite you to share a cup of wine."

"Another time when I have the chance, I will invite you to drink. I must leave today, for my travel permit expires in three days."

Applying for a travel permit took a considerable amount of time, and he worried that unforeseen events might occur within Daliang. Anteba longed to drink to his heart's content with Jiang Yi, but little time remained for him to leave Hanzhou.

Anteba bade farewell to Jiang Yi and Shen Rong; his next visit might not be for several months. He departed with his camel caravan, presenting the couple with a piece of white jade each before leaving.

"The merchants of the Western Regions are honest and generous, and rarely haggle over things they like." Shen Rong felt that the merchants of the Western Regions were truly wealthy and brought many wonderful goods. She had also listened to the Western Region merchants recount the customs and cultures of various Western countries, making the Western Regions seem mysterious and rich to her.

"Coming all this way to do business, it truly is not easy for them." Jiang Yi also intended to conduct larger businesses with the Western Region merchants and acquire the good things from over there.

"Husband, come with me. I have something to say to you." A smile graced Shen Rong's face; she was exceptionally happy today.

The two entered the office, and Shen Rong placed her right hand on the ledger book. "Does husband know how much money we made today?"

"It should be several tens of thousands of guan. There were quite a few merchants here today, and we sold a good deal of goods."

A while ago, the manufacturing techniques for perfume and soap had been improved, and their prices had correspondingly increased.

"A piece of soap and a bottle of perfume are each valued at one guan. Today, the sales of perfume and soap reached one hundred thousand guan; Sun Quan paid ten thousand liang of silver, and Anteba paid fifty thousand."

The merchants who came to collect goods today paid partly in copper coins and partly in silver. One liang of silver equaled one guan of money. Shen Rong had supervised the workers in collecting the payments and recorded them in the ledger.

"This is today's revenue ledger; please inspect it, husband." Shen Rong had spent several months learning mathematics from Jiang Yi and had also mastered bookkeeping.

Jiang Yi picked up the ledger and glanced through it; the revenues and expenditures were detailed meticulously. After some mental calculation, they had indeed earned one hundred thousand guan today. Deducting the costs of materials and labor, the profit still amounted to several tens of thousands of guan.

"Do you consider this earning a bucket of gold every day?" Shen Rong could scarcely imagine it; the money earned today far exceeded anything in the past.

"Of course it counts. In the future, the money we earn will be even more." Earning money used to feel extremely difficult, but now it felt quite effortless.

Shen Rong still found it hard to fathom what people often referred to as "earning a bucket of gold daily." The couple had truly achieved this, even if it wasn't an everyday occurrence. The money earned in a single day, if lived frugally, would be enough for the couple to spend for hundreds of years.

"Starting from our earnings last November, it is now March. In just a few short months, we have accumulated over one hundred thousand guan. I am truly so happy!" Shen Rong used to worry about how to secure food and clothing, but now she thought about how to protect the wealth in her hands. Perhaps some people would resort to all sorts of methods to seize the money belonging to the couple, especially those officials.

"As long as you are happy, that is enough. There is even less need to worry about others snatching our money, because we have guards." These guards had undergone military training, and their combat effectiveness was no less than that of elite troops.

Nowadays, an increasing number of merchants were coming to purchase soap and perfume, and it might become impossible to supply the full quantities in the short term. "With more and more merchants coming lately, and the quantities of soap and perfume they purchase growing larger, should we expand the workshop? And perhaps recruit some more people?" Shen Rong felt such a major matter should be discussed with Jiang Yi to utilize the funds in hand rationally.

"I believe there is no need to expand the workshop for now, nor is there any need to recruit people temporarily. Business has its off-seasons and peak seasons; let them continue to collect their goods on schedule." Jiang Yi would not blindly expand the workshop nor hire on a large scale for the time being. There were many places where money needed to be spent, and costs had to be controlled reasonably. The current scale of the workshop and the number of workers were sufficient.

Now that the business had grown large, it was bound to breed jealousy. The quality of the goods must be guaranteed so that customers could use them with peace of mind.

"You must instruct the workers to pay attention to safety during the production of soap and perfume; let there be no fires." Once a major fire broke out, it would not only cause property loss but also casualties.

Temperatures had been rising over the past few days, making the weather somewhat dry and highly prone to fires.

"I have already instructed the guards and workers to be extra vigilant. What I worry about most is someone committing arson." The mere thought of the time when someone tried to set a fire under the cover of night—fortunately caught by patrolling guards—brought relief that they had escaped loss.

"Enhance their awareness of safety precautions; this is taking responsibility for oneself as well as others. I will arrange for more men to patrol." Jiang Yi also felt that the guards were insufficient and had already instructed Pang Xiong to dispatch men for recruitment. Considering that the conflicts with the Wang and Li families were deepening day by day, they might join forces to cause trouble behind the scenes.

"Let's go home." Jiang Yi told Shen Rong to put aside her work and accompany him home. Matters here could be left to others; if anything important arose, someone would report to them.