The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2394: Chapter 2369: Ambition

Zhou Lichong privately encouraged Zhou Wulang, "Fifth Uncle, you are very familiar with the procurement in the capital. Why not try to take on the imperial estate’s procurement? If you do well, you might even be able to supply some vegetables, meat, and eggs to the imperial palace."

Zhou Wulang scratched his head, "Actually, I’ve always wondered, doesn’t the Emperor himself have a pretty large imperial estate? Don’t they raise chickens and ducks or pigs on their lands? Why do they still need to buy so much from outside?"

Zhou Lichong was also puzzled and, after thinking for a moment, hesitated, "Could it be because there are too many people in the palace and they consume a lot, so they can’t provide enough?"

"That’s unlikely," Zhou Wulang said, "I seem to remember Manbao mentioning that the Emperor has two imperial estates in the capital, and there’s another big piece of land in Yongzhou, which is even planned to be Princess Mingda’s dowry."

The uncle and nephew, unable to figure it out, decided to consult Bai Shan.

Bai Shan hadn’t thought about this issue before and was momentarily stunned when asked, then replied, "It should be that they can’t supply enough. It seems there are not many people raising these on the imperial estates."

He paused and said, "The workers on the imperial estates include tenant farmers, but mainly consist of families of punished officials and criminals sentenced to servitude for various reasons. What to plant or raise is instructed by the overseers."

"However, if you want to undertake procurement for the palace, it’s not difficult," Bai Shan said, "Actually, a few of the medicinal herbs currently purchased from outside by the Medical Office are consistently supplied by Fourth Brother Zhou. Through Fourth Brother Zhou’s connections and the opportunity from this supply to the imperial estate, you can try to get in touch with the procurement side of the palace."

Bai Shan smiled and said, "You don’t have to take on too much at once, just start by supplying one or two things, like eggs or duck eggs. They can be stored for a long time, and you just need to be careful during transport. Once you get familiar with the business rules of dealing with the palace and know most of the people involved, it will be easier to take on procurement work later."

Zhou Wulang caught on to his implication and asked, "Do you think taking on procurement needs for the palace is not good?"

Bai Shan slowly shook his head and said, "It’s not that it’s bad, but once you take on business with the palace, you have to be extra attentive and careful."

"But where there are disadvantages, there are also advantages. Supplying the palace with procurement might not be very profitable, but having that title means doing other business outside becomes much smoother. In other matters, people will also treat you with more courtesy," Bai Shan said. "Most businesses supplying the palace, except for things like cloth, tea, and salt, don’t make much money. They make their profits from outside deals."

Zhou Lichong pondered, "Just like our family, people know that the yam slices and privet fruits we cultivate are supplied to the Medical Office. Many pharmacies outside now place orders with our family. In the past, we had to deal with several pharmacies to get a fair price for our medicinal materials. Now, once we bring them to the capital, people rush to buy them, even at a slightly higher price than from others."

Bai Shan nodded, "That’s exactly the logic."

He said, "If the eggs from your estate are supplied to the palace, later when you sell them outside, you can charge an extra penny per egg compared to others."

Zhou Wulang said, "So it’s normal for them to buy eggs at five or six pennies each?"

Bai Shan: "...No, your eggs can fetch that extra penny because you supply the palace, making them appear more prestigious than others. But aside from a few households, who would pay a higher price for an egg just because it’s from the same batch supplied to the palace?"

He said, "If you were to buy eggs on the street, all good ones, would you buy an egg for two pennies, or spend three pennies for one rumored to be eaten by the Emperor too?"

The uncle and nephew said in unison, "Of course, buy the two-penny ones."

Zhou Wulang finally understood, "So, we can’t raise the price with the palace, and possibly not even outside, but some people want to eat what the Emperor eats, so they might pay a bit more. Even if there aren’t such people, if we sell two-penny eggs and I laud them as eggs the Emperor has eaten, they will definitely sell better."

Bai Shan nodded with a smile, "That’s the advantage of being an imperial merchant."

Zhou Wulang felt ambitious, thinking this business could be done. Later, he would send some of the rice, noodles, chickens, ducks, fish, and meat produced on the estate to the palace. Regardless of whether the Emperor eats them or not, he will have sent them to the palace. When it comes to the New Year, with a bit of boasting, won’t they sell out?

There are lots from the estate, so although they sell quite a lot, there are also many left unsold, which they end up taking back home to eat themselves.

However, their family is large, and they also run a restaurant, so they’re not worried, but Manbao has been promoted again. Last year, due to going to Xiazhou to treat smallpox, she received official farmland, which needs to be cultivated this year. After the autumn, the land for her promotion to fourth-rank editor also needs to be allocated...

Zhou Wulang calculated, then turned to Zhou Lichong and said, "If the palace is willing to take our goods, in the future you can plant and raise as many chickens and ducks as you like on the newly allocated estates. If they don’t sell in the capital, they can be taken to Yongzhou and other places. Just say they are chickens and ducks eaten by the Emperor, and if prices are the same as others, I’m sure people will buy."

Bai Shan: ...Then in the future, there might be too many foods said to be eaten by the Emperor outside, like flowers blooming everywhere.

The uncle and nephew of the Zhou family rubbed their hands together, ready to make a big move.

So, the next day, when fresh vegetables and eggs were delivered from Yongzhou, they personally delivered them to the imperial estate and had a pleasant conversation with the new overseer there.

A few days later, Zhou Wulang took on two more procurement tasks from the overseer. But what they had on the estate was not good enough, so he personally went to the market to procure. Due to the large quantity, he was able to lower the price a bit, and then sold it at the market price to the imperial estate.

This part earned him just enough to cover the transportation costs, but he indeed made contact with the procurement side of the palace through the overseer.

Zhou Wulang was overjoyed, knowing there was beef for sale in the market, he bought two large pieces of beef, sending one to the Bai Family and keeping the other for his own family’s celebration in the evening.

Old Madam Liu saw the beef and smiled, "Make it into minced beef sauce. It’s still cold, and the sauce can be kept for a few days. Having sauce noodles in the morning is nice, and hasn’t Shanbao and Erlang been craving it?"

Aunt Rong, hearing this, immediately took the beef to Junior Ms. Qian. The Zhou Family had cured bamboo shoots, and Junior Ms. Qian was indeed the best at making that sauce.

Junior Ms. Qian was just pondering when she saw her coming with the meat and said she wanted to make the sauce, she smiled, "I was just fretting. I wanted to make beef slices, but also wanted to make some sauce for the young master and Manbao. This one piece is not enough."

Aunt Rong also laughed and said, "Our Old Madam says that the young masters have been craving it lately. With the cold spring, waking up in the morning and reading makes them want something warm to eat. Make the sauce and keep it, so every morning they can have noodles with it. Also, send some to Miss Man, so she can eat better inside."