Chapter 164: Trading Caravan

Yan Commandery.

The trading firm.

Yang He suddenly sneezed.

Sniffling, he muttered, "That brat Dong An must be cursing me."

Then he looked at Yan Wang, who was sitting before him, and asked, "Your Highness, what is a trademark?"

"It is an identifier, something to make it easy for people to remember. From now on, all goods from the Prince Mansion shall be marked with this trademark," Zhao Xu said.

The shortage of silver forced him to focus his efforts on the trading firm.

Some time ago, facing an imminent survival crisis, he had devoted the vast majority of his attention to the war.

Now, he felt it was time to let the trading firm move toward standardization.

He could not let the trading firm continue to grow wild like this.

"But wouldn't that increase costs?" Yang He looked puzzled.

Today, Yan Wang had come to the trading firm and produced a drawing, ordering that this thing be printed on all future goods from the Prince Mansion.

It was a circle with the character 'Yan' inside, and beneath the 'Yan' was a mountain, representing Yanshan.

On both sides of the 'Yan' character were peacocks.

"I will teach you another term: brand effect," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

In contemporary commerce, once a brand becomes well-known.

Many derivative products under this brand will also receive a boost in brand recognition.

For example, many major luxury brands started with just one item that was good.

Once the brand became famous, they listed other products and gained profits from the brand effect.

For customers who frequently use this brand, they will invisibly form a certain psychological dependence and trust in it, and pay to purchase it.

Zhao Xu was doing the same thing.

He wanted to use the Prince Mansion's Fine Wine, which was already popular among the Song People, or the Perfume that was about to be sold, to put a label on all future goods from the Prince Mansion.

Anything produced by the Yan Prince Mansion must be a high-quality product.

He wanted the Song People to trust this logo unconditionally the moment they saw it.

In this way, when the Prince Mansion launched new items, they would be more inclined to purchase and use them.

"Brand effect?" Yang He scratched his head.

Being with Yan Wang, he only felt that he was as stupid as a pig.

Seeing Yang He's bewildered expression, Zhao Xu said, "Whose vinegar is the best in Yan Commandery?"

"Of course it is our Yang Family's. As long as the people of Yan Commandery buy vinegar, they only recognize our Yang Family," Yang He said with a hint of pride.

"If, in the shop where you sell vinegar, you were to sell soy sauce made by the Yang Family, do you think the people would choose yours first, or an unknown soy sauce?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Of course it is..." Yang He froze.

Zhao Xu said, "This is the brand effect. Of course, the people are not stupid. If your soy sauce is very good, it will make your shop's reputation even louder, but if the soy sauce is bad, in the future, people will only buy the vinegar and not the soy sauce."

"This trademark is born for this purpose. Seeing this trademark, it must be a product of the Prince Mansion. If everyone among the Song People is familiar with this mark, in the future, when the Prince Mansion launches commercial goods, there will be no need to expend great effort on promotion, and people will flock to buy them," Zhao Xu said.

Yang He nodded, a sense of admiration rising in his heart.

Yan Wang understood government affairs, military affairs, and various crafts, and now he even had such novel ideas about trade.

"This subordinate will notify the Workshop that supplies the Porcelain Bottle later,

to have this trademark fired onto them," Yang He said.

Zhao Xu nodded and continued, "Also, change the name of the Prince Mansion's Wine. Previously, my fief only included Yan Commandery, so it was called Yan Dream. Now that I also have Shanggu Commandery, let's change it to a more lasting name: Ten Mile Fragrance."

"Ten Mile Fragrance? That is a good name," Yang He was delighted, "Just like the Prince Mansion's Fine Wine, opening the jar makes it fragrant for ten miles."

Remembering something, he added, "Your Highness, then what should this Perfume be called?"

Since seeing the Perfume, he felt it would definitely sell well.

Because the Perfume outclassed all other spices.

Moreover, it was very simple to use, and the effect was quite good.

"Brewed from the fragrance of a hundred flowers, let's call it Flower Language," Zhao Xu said calmly.

"Your Highness is highly talented," Yang He praised again and wrote down the name.

After discussing the trademark and the names, Zhao Xu said, "These two are just minor details. What follows is a major matter concerning the future of the trading firm."

Seeing Zhao Xu's serious expression, Yang He braced himself.

"You must know about the shipbuilding in Yunhai County, right?" Zhao Xu asked.

Yang He nodded, "Your Highness wants to open up a trade route on the sea as well."

Gazing at Yang He, Zhao Xu said, "It is not just for a trade route, but also in preparation for the merchant fleet that is about to be established."

There was no doubt that outside of the Song, the Age of Discovery had likely already begun.

The only uncertainty was whether this era was in its early stages or its twilight.

The characteristic of the Age of Discovery was colonization, and the essence of colonization was the struggle for overseas markets.

Therefore, many state-backed trading companies were born during this period.

For example, the notorious East India Company.

This company, authorized by the British Queen Elizabeth I, held a twenty-one-year trade monopoly in the East India region.

It was both a company and a tentacle of British colonization; the state dispatched generals, armies, and Warship to serve as the claws for this company, seizing every region they deemed profitable.

And the massive profits this state company brought to Britain allowed Britain to dominate for three hundred years.

For Zhao Xu, although his current territory was small.

His ambition was not small at all.

His goods were highly profitable in Great Song, so he had made money.

But the money earned was the Silver of the Song People, which was just like modern internet companies killing each other domestically—it was internal involution.

Initial accumulation was feasible, but continuing like this in the future would only be detrimental to the overall national strength of Great Song.

Therefore, in this great era of the Age of Discovery, where national will was directed toward plundering wealth abroad to support one's own country, he could not be absent.

Since the monarchs and ministers of Great Song did not understand, he understood, so he had to do it.

Moreover, he had the ability to do it.

Most importantly, the rich profits brought by doing so would nourish the construction of his fief like nutrients.

"A merchant fleet?" Yang He's eyes lit up.

Currently, the goods of the Prince's Mansion mainly relied on being sold to merchants coming to Yan Commandery, who would then transport them out for sale.

But these merchants were not under the control of the Prince's Mansion, so their efficiency was hard to describe.

In his heart, he had long had this vague idea.

Now that Yan Wang had proposed it, he was immediately overjoyed.

"Yes, a merchant fleet established in the name of a Merchant Association; this merchant fleet will have its own fleet and its own merchant guards. Its primary duty is to sell goods to countries outside of Great Song and occupy their markets, and its secondary duty is to protect the Prince's Mansion's business within Great Song and strike down bandits on the trade routes," Zhao Xu said slowly.

He could not directly say that the merchant fleet would have its own army, as that was somewhat taboo and easily used by others to make an issue of it in the imperial court.

Calling them guards was safer.

Of course, these guards would not be handed over to the direct command of the Merchant Association.

Otherwise, a Merchant Association that was both wealthy and possessed an army would be like an unbridled wild horse, impossible to control.

These guards would receive training in the military and be loyal to the Prince's Mansion.

They would simply serve the merchant fleet exclusively.