Chapter 6: Making a Big Profit

Zhang Mansion in Yan Commandery.

After hearing the news passed back by the servant, Zhang Qian revealed a look of shock.

"He really turned water into ice?"

"Master, it is absolutely true. I saw it with my own eyes. He was in the room for less than a quarter of an hour before he brought out a basin of ice cubes." The young manservant still could not believe it.

Zhang Qian froze, forgetting that he was still holding a teacup in his hand.

It was not until the teacup tilted and the tea scalded his hand that he came back to his senses.

Then, he sprang up from his chair like a spring, "Go, to the Yan Prince Mansion."

As the number one Rich Clan in Yan Commandery, Zhang Qian was naturally no fool to have built the family business passed down by his ancestors to such a scale.

Ice is worth as much as gold.

In Jiangnan, the most prosperous place in Great Song, this is exactly what is lacking.

If one had a constant supply of ice, that would mean a constant supply of Silver.

He loathed the Yan Prince Mansion in his heart, and with Zhang Han arrested, he loathed it even more; after all, Zhang Han had many secret dealings with his Zhang Family.

The Yan Wang moving against Zhang Han was equivalent to slapping him in the face, so he had just been pondering how to put the Yan Prince Mansion to death.

But now, he decided to hold off for a while.

Moreover, the Dong Family, the Yang Family, and the Lu Family had sent either their Head of the Family or their eldest son.

These three families had always been at odds with him, appearing compliant while secretly defying him.

He naturally could not let them take this good opportunity, otherwise, his seat as the number one Rich Clan in Yan Commandery would not be secure.

When that time came, those families would also have to force him to give up the important official positions in Yan Commandery.

Therefore, even if he had to pretend, he had to put on a show of being close to the Yan Prince Mansion today; as for how to deal with the Yan Prince Mansion later, he would wait until he had obtained the Ice-making Technique.

"Master, should we call the Huang Family and the Du Family?" the manservant asked.

"Do we need to call them? They will definitely run faster than us." Zhang Qian set off immediately.

Arriving at the Yan Prince Mansion, sure enough, Huang Yu, Head of the Huang Family, and Du Ming, Head of the Du Family, were both there.

And as for the Dong Family, the Lu Family, and the Yang Family, not only were their eldest sons present, but their Heads of the Family had also rushed over.

"Oh, isn't Member of the Gentry Zhang feeling unwell?" Liu Fu raised his eyes, saw Zhang Qian arrive, and deliberately spoke with sarcasm.

Zhang Qian was furious inside; he had never been humiliated by a servant before, but although annoyed, he wore a fawning smile on his face, "I was a bit unwell this morning, but I felt better in the afternoon so I rushed over. After all, who dares to disobey the order of the Yan Wang?"

He looked toward Huang Yu and Du Ming; these two old fellows shook their heads at him simultaneously, clearly having also been mocked by Liu Fu.

Thus, he thought to himself, for the sake of the Ice-making Technique, I will let your Yan Prince Mansion be smug for a few days; later, I will make you cry.

Liu Fu sneered in his heart; he had seen the flash of malice in the depths of Zhang Qian's eyes.

But he was no coward, otherwise, he would not have risked his life to save the Yan Wang.

Turning around, he came before Zhao Xu and said, "Your Highness, the heads of the thirty-eight large and small Rich Clans with status in Yan Commandery have all arrived."

Zhao Xu nodded.

He had not answered the person who asked how much Silver the Ice-making Technique was worth earlier precisely to wait for everyone to arrive.

And he had not rejected the Zhang Family, despite their poor attitude toward the Prince Mansion.

The Emperor Zhao Heng sending him to Yan Commandery was actually no different from exile.

He had not been granted abundant wealth like other Imperial Princes, nor were there many arrangements made for his fief.

Therefore, he could only rely on himself to earn money and grain to build his own foundation.

He was well aware of the poor attitude of the likes of the Zhang Family toward him, but there was no need for him to go against Silver.

After all, if he refused to let the Zhang Family participate, he would not be able to extract the wealth the Zhang Family had squeezed from the people, and the Zhang Family would certainly try every possible way to obstruct him, or even find ways to steal the Ice-making Technique.

And the Ice-making Technique was very simple and easily leaked, which would be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Having thought this through, he said: "For three years, this Prince was mad and foolish, and since arriving in Yan Commandery, I have not met with you all. However, last night, I happened to meet a master in a dream,

and he not only enlightened this Prince but also taught me many skills, and this Ice-making Technique is one of them."

Because the ancients lacked scientific literacy, they were very superstitious.

Contemporary history books record that when emperors are born, they always write about celestial phenomena, the purpose of which is to make people believe that the Emperor is the chosen one of heaven.

It is the same in this world, so he said this deliberately to make them unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, and also to intimidate them.

To make them have misgivings when targeting the Yan Prince Mansion.

Sure enough, as soon as he said this, the crowd began to whisper, and many revealed looks of surprise.

He continued, "Of course, this Prince did not have you all come here to talk about this, but for the Ice-making Technique. Now, this Prince can say how much Silver the method for making ice will be sold for."

Reaching the main point, everyone pricked up their ears.

Zhao Xu said slowly: "One million taels."

"One million taels!" Everyone gasped.

"Your Highness, this... this is too expensive. Even if we emptied out all our family assets, we wouldn't have that much," one Rich Clan shouted.

"That's right, even if we learned this Ice-making Technique, how many years would it take to earn it back?" another said.

Zhao Xu had long expected this situation.

One million taels was indeed not a small amount.

After all, it is said that the annual tax revenue of the Great Song is only sixty or seventy million taels.

However, tax is tax; he was very clear that the vast majority of the wealth of the Great Song was in the hands of these Rich Clans.

After all, they extremely exploited the common people, gathering the wealth of society into their own hands.

It could be said that each of them was equivalent to a billionaire, a multi-billionaire, or a deca-billionaire of the modern era.

They were even wealthier than that, because the land and commerce of an entire Yan Commandery were almost monopolized by these thirty-eight families.

Yan Commandery is equivalent to a modern prefecture-level city.

Imagine a situation where the land, mineral resources, transportation, and all kinds of commercial operations of a contemporary prefecture-level city are monopolized by thirty-eight families.

Add to that the fact that they control the officialdom of Yan Commandery and basically pay no taxes, and they are absolutely dripping with wealth.

Therefore, there is a reason for the price he is asking.

It is precisely to take back the wealth that belongs to Yan Commandery from them.

"In Jinling City, one jin of ice sells for one qian of Silver; in a single summer, it is common to consume hundreds of thousands of jin of ice. Looking across the entire Jiangnan, it is far more than millions of jin. With good luck, one can earn back the investment in two or three years," Zhao Xu said indifferently.

In the Great Song, one tael of Silver can buy one shi of rice, which is about one hundred and twenty jin.

If one compares it with contemporary rice prices, one tael of Silver is equivalent to about three hundred yuan.

One qian of Silver is only about thirty yuan; the ice is not being sold very expensively, so it definitely has a great market.

Zhao Xu calculated the accounts so clearly that the voices of the Rich Clans quieted down.

However, although they have many family assets, they do not have the ability to produce that much cash at once.

This is because their assets mostly exist in the form of grain, cloth, land, mineral resources, and so on.

Even so, using so many family assets to gamble on this business requires taking a great risk.

They were still very unwilling in their hearts.

Zhao Xu had been observing the expressions of the Rich Clans.

He had already anticipated this point, so he said, "This Prince understands; it is not easy for one family to produce one million taels, which is why I called you thirty-eight families here to get rich together."

"May I ask the Prince to clarify?" Dong Yuan, the Head of the Family of the Dong Family, cupped his hands.

"You can establish a Merchant Association and operate it collectively. Of this one million taels, this Prince only requires you to provide six hundred thousand taels. The remaining four hundred thousand taels will count as my capital contribution to the Merchant Association. Of course, I will also take a cut of the Merchant Association's profits," Zhao Xu said with a serious expression.

Now everyone understood; the meaning of Yan Wang was that they would pool the remaining six hundred thousand taels together.

They would divide the profits in the future according to the proportion of their investment; in this way, the risk they bore would be smaller.

"I am willing to contribute twenty thousand taels."

"My family will contribute five thousand taels."

"..."

The Rich Clans clamored one after another; in a business with low risk and high profit, would one be a fool not to participate?

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and let out a soft sigh of relief.

His scheme could be considered a success.

In fact, one million taels was a high price he had intentionally called out; his original intention was merely six hundred thousand taels.

Asking for these extra four hundred thousand taels was merely to serve as a nominal value to claim a cut of the Merchant Association.

Now, it is equivalent to him earning six hundred thousand taels just by providing a technique, and there will be dividends in the future.

However, since the Ice-making Technique is so lucrative, it was a helpless choice not to monopolize it but to share the profits with the Rich Clans.

After all, the Ice-making Technique is very simple.

If the Yan Prince Mansion operated it alone, not to mention the lack of startup capital, he also has no influence in Jiangnan, and the technique would easily be stolen or seized by force.

In the end, he might not earn any Silver and would instead lose his capital.

But using this to lure the Rich Clans of Yan Commandery onto the boat is different.

Once he has the Silver of the Rich Clans, he is guaranteed to make a profit without any loss.

Moreover, in order to make money, the Rich Clans of Yan Commandery will also expend a great deal of energy to ensure the technique does not leak, which also guarantees his subsequent profit potential.

Of course, he did not open his mouth like a lion and let the Rich Clans cough up too much Silver.

It is not that he is kind-hearted, but that asking for too much would easily make them take risks and play dirty tricks to obtain the Ice-making Technique.

But with the Silver spread out, they have no need to take that risk.