Chapter 63: The Model

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"Li Qiao, Gao Jian, Sun Yi, and others cheated, so their qualifications are cancelled. The rest are ranked according to the quantity delivered during this period. First place, Yang He; second place, Dong An..."

"Second place? Your Highness, this... this must be wrong, how could I be in second place?"

After Xu Ke and the others exposed the intelligence they had gathered, Zhao Xu immediately announced the rankings for this selection.

Upon hearing this, the smug smile on Dong An's face vanished, replaced by surprise.

Other children of Rich Clans who were accused of cheating were also somewhat dissatisfied and argued, "Your Highness, we worked hard and did not cheat..."

Zhao Xu sneered, "Li Qiao, you colluded with merchants in private, having them sell to you at a low price first, and then paying the difference at a high price after the selection. Do you mean to say this did not happen?"

A child of a Rich Clan standing in the back wilted immediately upon hearing this.

He was terrified in his heart, wondering how Yan Wang had found out about this.

Recalling that there seemed to have been people watching him vaguely these past few days, he dared not raise his head to meet Yan Wang's gaze even more.

The other children of Rich Clans had also pondered this, and those who had cheated dared not speak again.

Dong An knew he had not cheated, so he said with dissatisfaction, "Your Highness, I am not convinced."

Yang He was overcome with ecstasy upon learning he was in first place.

For these past ten days, he had not eaten well or slept well, searching all over Yan Commandery for merchants selling ore, accompanying them to eat and drink, and even begging them with humility.

It had caused him, once the Wuji eldest son of the Yang Family, to lose all face.

Now, his efforts had finally paid off.

Zhao Xu shook his head, "For this matter, you will know once you go back and ask your father."

Dong An was stunned, and a flash of doubt suddenly crossed his mind; specifically, there had been a merchant who took the initiative to come to him and give him a large batch of ore.

Now that Yan Wang said this, he had roughly understood.

"Father, you are not loving your son, you are ruining him." Dong An stomped his feet in anger, then said dejectedly, "I am willing to accept the loss."

Zhao Xu nodded.

"You are not to be blamed for not knowing about this matter. Based on the quantity, you are second. For this Merchant Association, Yang He shall be the Chief Manager, and you shall be the Deputy Manager. The rest of the personnel shall be clerks of the Merchant Association in order."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Everyone bowed and saluted, and the children of the Rich Clans who were selected were all beaming with joy.

Zhao Xu continued, "Since you are now officials of the Prince's Mansion, you must think of the Prince's Mansion in everything you do from now on. You cannot prioritize the private interests of your respective families. You must abandon the interests of the small family for the strength of the great family. Only then can Yan Commandery flourish. Otherwise, I will certainly not be lenient with those who use their power for personal gain."

"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

Although they were happy to have obtained official positions from this competition, a string in their hearts had tightened at the same time.

For these ten days, their every move had been under the surveillance of Yan Wang, which showed that the Prince's Mansion had already planted many eyes and ears within the city.

Therefore, Yan Wang was definitely not joking.

If they dared to use the Merchant Association to seek personal gain, they would truly be dead.

Letting the other children return first, Zhao Xu kept only Dong An and Yang He behind.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "During this period, the Merchant Association has generally been developing in a wild manner. Now that Yan Commandery is entirely under the jurisdiction of the Prince's Mansion, the Merchant Association, which is extremely important to the finances of the Prince's Mansion, must naturally become formalized. At the same time, it must earn the greatest profit for the Prince's Mansion. Now, I am letting you take charge of the Merchant Association; how do you intend to maximize the profits of the Merchant Association?"

Yang He put away his frivolous smile and said solemnly, "Your Highness, this subordinate believes that we should currently prohibit the sale of the Prince's Mansion's Fine Wine to other merchants. If they want to buy it, they must pay a sum of Silver to the Merchant Association to become subordinate merchants of the Merchant Association. At the same time, we should require them to sign contracts with the Merchant Association, strictly regulating the scope and price of their sales."

After a brief pause, he continued, "At the same time, the Merchant Association must keep the most prosperous Jingshi and several cities in Jiangnan in its own hands for direct sales. In this way, we can reap the greatest profit."

Zhao Xu nodded as he listened, his gaze toward Yang He changing slightly.

Although this kid was frivolous in his behavior, he still had some ability.

What he said was exactly what he was thinking.

Previously, he did not have enough manpower, so he could only sell to local Rich Clans and merchants, letting them act as retailers.

But now that he had mastered Yan Commandery and could spare the effort to develop the Merchant Association, the issue was different.

By controlling the source of goods himself, he naturally had to maximize profits and master the final pricing power.

Especially in places like Jingshi, the Merchant Association should keep it in its own hands and set up an exclusive dealership, just like a modern specialty store.

As for other places with thin profits, they could be sold to other merchants as Yang He said, letting them handle the exclusive sales.

And the Merchant Association could control them through the supply of goods, making them unable to disobey.

After Yang He finished speaking, Dong An added, "Your Highness, Yang He is right, but we should treat the sales rights for the Prince's Mansion's goods as a commodity to be sold. This way, the Prince's Mansion can avoid disputes between merchants. Take Yan Commandery as an example; the Prince's Mansion can draft an exclusive sales document. Only those who purchase the document can exclusively sell the Prince's Mansion's Fine Wine. As for whether the merchants resell it to others after buying the exclusive sales document, the Merchant Association will not interfere; we will only recognize the exclusive sales document."

Zhao Xu nodded slowly.

Although Dong An lost this time, he still had talent for business.

His idea coincided with his own.

It was just like a modern agent; the company only defines the scope, and after others buy it, they can naturally resell the agency rights.

It is the same principle now: the Prince's Mansion only recognizes the exclusive sales documents issued by the Prince's Mansion. Those with documents can get the goods; nothing else is recognized.

In this way, chaos can be avoided, and at the same time, involvement in the disputes of subordinate merchants can be avoided.

After all, the merchant who first obtains the exclusive sales document may not necessarily be able to succeed locally.

At that time, it would be inevitable to resell the exclusive sales document.

"Hmm, your words have won my heart. After you go back, you shall draft the documents and gather the merchants coming to Yan Commandery to the Merchant Association. From now on, only merchants who bring the exclusive sales document will be able to get goods from the Prince's Mansion."

"Yes, Your Highness." The two responded in unison.

Zhao Xu nodded; the operation model for the Merchant Association was officially born.

In the future, other commodities would also follow this path, because this was a model that had been practiced in modern society and maximized profits.

And most importantly, it was also feasible in ancient times.

The wealthy in ancient times all used cities as gathering points.

When selling Wine, one only needed to list these cities one by one.

If they dared to sell beyond this scope, the Merchant Association would send people to investigate, and once verified, their exclusive rights would be cancelled.

This point would be added to their exclusive sales documents to strengthen the authority of the documents.

"Right, since you all agree to let the merchant firm take control of Jingshi and several wealthy cities in Jiangnan, then who will go to Jingshi to hold the fort and oversee this matter?" Zhao Xu remembered there was still this issue.

Yan Commandery is indeed the headquarters of the merchant firm, but Jingshi also needs a merchant firm headquarters to facilitate coordination between the north and south.

Moreover, in the future, there might be a need to sell goods from Jiangnan, which makes it even more necessary to have someone in Jingshi.

"This subordinate is willing to go." Before Yang He could speak, Dong An cut in, "My father cheated this time, yet Your Highness still trusts this subordinate, which makes this subordinate feel very ashamed. This subordinate is willing to manage Jingshi to repay Your Highness's kindness."

Yang He reminded him: "Dong An, Jingshi is not like Yan Commandery; I fear there will be many difficulties, and you might even lose your life."

Dong An smiled dashingly, "I just don't want to work under you; it's too embarrassing. I must accomplish something big to prove that I am better than you."

Yang He rolled his eyes.

Zhao Xu did not speak; in fact, he could see that Dong An was very competitive.

He was not reconciled to his loss this time; after all, if he had known in advance that his father was cheating, he would certainly have found a way to buy more to make up for the ores his father provided.

His trip to the south this time is likely partly out of spite toward his father, blaming him for the dirty business he did in private.

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