Chapter 431: Da Wang Has Gained Income
After capturing Jinhui City, Da Wang started aggressively setting up stalls at night to gather military supplies.
When he was carrying a small bundle and passing Bai Yang's shop, Brother Bai called out to him, 'Da Wang, come in and settle the bill!'
Da Wang took a strategic step back, 'Is that oxygen expensive?' Why so urgent to ask for money?
Bai Yang waved his hand, 'You rich guy coming here, I'm paying for you! The Rhodiola capsules and oxygen bags are just a few thousand; I'm giving them to you, what money do you need~'
Da Wang's face changed dramatically on the spot—there's actually such a good thing?
That guy bounced over all the way, 'How come the fish money for this month is settled so early?'
It's not the fish money from the supermarket; this time we're settling accounts for our high-end seafood brand. Our pollution-free wild sea cucumber has taken off! It's been selling big lately—don't you need money? Since you're fighting and building outposts, I want to settle the earnings for these two months and give them to you first.
Da Wang was delighted, 'How did it suddenly become popular? Isn't business usually slow?'
'Good wine also fears a deep alley, but the sea cucumber inspection report has been out for a long time. However, this market segment already has a leader and top traffic; trying to outsell them is extremely difficult. Selling our quality cheaply would be a waste, but recently there's been a turning point.'
I, relying on the
Da Wang only heard that they'd been snapped up, so he hurriedly asked, 'How much treasure do I have then?'
Bai Yang opened the account for him to see, 'Just the sea cucumber category alone nets you 620,000!'
That much?
We sell dried sea cucumber at 4,800 per 100 grams!
Da Wang: 'Really dark—no, really impressive~'
Bai Yang: 'Where's it dark? Others' farmed ones sell for over a thousand, but ours—no industrial pollution, pure wild, large-sized—I've only multiplied by three, which is already very conscientious! Once our brand stands firm, we'll still have to raise prices! Brother, let me teach you a bit of business sense: the better the product, the cheaper you sell it, the fewer people buy it; the price must match its status. We really don't scam the poor—doesn't our unpolluted seafood also sell to ordinary folks in my supermarket? Premium goods target specific groups, got it?'
Da Wang nodded vigorously, 'Got it!' Just like his Spring River Flower Moon Night, which only cuts the aristocracy.
Besides other income from the high-end brand store, Da Wang received a lump sum of nearly 800,000 in treasure, and his balance became affluent again.
'So much money!' After the joy passed, Da Wang began to mutter, 'But they already have designated uses—building outposts, buying equipment—ah! When will I, the king, be able to save up money?'
Bai Yang didn't laugh this time; he sat opposite Da Wang and sighed, 'I'm no different—our seafood business has grown big, I also need to invest in deep-sea fishing, otherwise over time there'll be loopholes.'
Da Wang: 'Alas!'
Da Wang sighed, Bai Yang bounced back to life, 'What's there to sigh about? Money that should be spent still has to be spent—go back to Youzhou and hurry to catch sea cucumbers, you know? Later I bought a big ship; this investment is huge, we must get our brand listed!'
Da Wang: ……
I'm having a hard time.
As Da Wang was about to leave, he recalled that painting, 'Right, does that painting still have a market?'
'Spring Rain Bamboo Forest?'
'Exactly! As much as you want, as much as you get!'
'... You know that painter? Awesome, I want it!'
'Of course not, this is the king's dedicated homework writing service.'
Bai Yang: ……
'Anyway, Spring Rain Bamboo Forest is highly regarded; I take it out and it's a very well-preserved ancient painting. Experts also say it's strange that this big shot isn't famous. If you still have it, I can help you send it for auction—it might not fetch a master's price, but if we hype it up it could become popular, and just based on the brushwork and age it's not cheap either.'
Da Wang nearly laughed his mouth split, 'Just wait, I'll have him paint some when he's free; when we sell them we'll split the profits 80-20!'
Bai Yang: ……
Huang Shiren, you!
Da Wang has plenty of calligraphy and paintings—some seized by his father, some seized by the Langya Wang Clan; such collectibles are valuable to them, but Da Wang hasn't sold many. However, Xie Tu's paintings are different—he's young and doing well; that painting… isn't it 'as much as you want, as much as you get'?
Xie Tu was busy copying the new household register, sneezing twice in a row, and Zhou Huang said he might have caught a cold, telling him to go rest first.
'It's fine, these are all that's left for today; they'll be sorted out soon.'
After both were busy a while longer before finishing, Zhou Huang stood up, stretched, and said, 'That Zhang Fangtong, Governor Zhang—you say how big his gall is, he actually dares to perfunctorily handle Da Wang's household census! Once Da Wang settles the matter of burning the incumbent, he definitely won't have a good ending.'
'The old files in the Jinhui household registry report are trivial; last year he concealed Jinhui City's distress call and didn't report it to Youzhou—this is something Da Wang cannot overlook.'
That's true.
Upon taking Liangzhou, Da Wang immediately had Tang Qian conduct a population census; at the time Tang Qian was responsible for the areas around Yumen Pass and the newly conquered Shan Yang Commandery, and in Liangzhou any commanderies with governors were assigned to them respectively. As for Zhang Fangtong of Longxi, he probably already knew about the Jinhui Qiang people's movements—he never went back to redo the census, or perhaps he simply colluded with the Qiang.
Anyway, he simply copied the old Jinhui files stored in Longxi Commandery and turned them in.
If someone conscientious checked, they'd see many elderly are missing from those records, and young children aren't recorded at all. So starting today, Jinhui is restarting the household census.
The next day, Da Wang rose early, strolled around the street, then came back and began to sigh repeatedly.
Wei Shen asked him, 'What's wrong? Is the forage in the yellow soil growing poorly?' After saying that, he burst out laughing, finding Da Wang's remark extremely amusing—after all, he's just a child.
Da Wang: ……
Look, he voluntarily said things growing out of the yellow soil, and nobody believed him. Later they'll come up with their own reasonable explanation, while Da Wang is in charge of spreading rumors—he's responsible for the most outrageous claims.
'Don't jinx it, the forage is already halfway there! I, the king, just strolled around the street and in a short while saw plenty of worldly scenes.'
'For example?'
'For example, the family relations in Jinhui are extremely complicated. Many commoners' children…… have Qiang blood. They occupied many Jinhui women; now the Qiang are gone, but the children remain, and these families are also arguing, unable to find peace. The mother can't bear to let go, while others don't want to keep raising them. In short, the children are also pitiful—some can't even speak, and their appearance doesn't differ much from that of us Jin people.'
Wei Shen, how could he not know this? '…There's nothing to be done; this counts as family affairs, you can't manage it either.'
'Then tell me something I can handle—our supplies will arrive this afternoon, though the timing is rushed and the quantity small; you and your older male cousin, take some people out to meet them and bring back what you can.'
'Where exactly?'
Da Wang blinked, 'Just the woods where we previously set up camp.'
Wei Shen was also diligent; upon hearing it didn't sound fake, he immediately stood up to summon the troops to depart, but Da Wang called him back, 'The news from Zhetian will arrive at the earliest by noon—are you going out early to bask in the sun?'
He hasn't let go yet!
End of Chapter
