Chapter 57: A Win-Win Situation
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At this thought, Ning Chen couldn’t help but sigh. Indeed, toppling the Empress Dowager was no simple matter. But the problem was that the poison within him was running out of time. Now that the Empress Dowager’s scheme had succeeded, she had tightened her control over the regional princes. If things dragged on any longer, even if he commanded the imperial guards or forced the palace coup himself, it might be futile...
With this realization, Ning Chen suddenly sat up. Looking around the empty room, for the first time, a flicker of hesitation appeared on his youthful face. Putting on his clothes, he slowly approached the bedside and gazed up at the solitary moon outside the window. Unconsciously, he found himself lost in thought again.
After an unknown length of time, his gaze regained its firmness. No matter the Empress Dowager’s power, his immediate goal was clear: to accelerate the pace and systematically eliminate her closest allies according to the original plan. Only then, if forced to stage a coup, would he stand a greater chance of success.
Just as he was pondering this, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed. It was Xiao Anzi, who rushed into the room, closing the door behind him, his face flushed with excitement. “Your Majesty, it’s exploded—exploded!”
Ning Chen frowned lightly. “What has you so excited?”
Xiao Anzi’s words spilled out eagerly, “Your Majesty, business has exploded! It’s booming!”
Ning Chen smiled calmly. “You mean the distilled liquor and the Miao Yin House, yes? I am aware.”
He was not surprised. Though he had stayed in the palace recently and had devoted much energy to the Lotus Viewing Festival, he had not slackened in business affairs. He had issued numerous strategies through Xiao Anzi to ensure smooth operations. He was confident that after the festival, the distillery’s renowned “Jade Qiong” liquor, personally named by the famed Prince Yong Ning Xuan Zhi, would sweep across the entire Da Ning. Likewise, the Miao Yin House’s palace dance performances would become a nationwide sensation.
Thus, business booming was inevitable.
Seeing Ning Chen’s composed demeanor, Xiao Anzi was slightly taken aback. “Your Majesty, why do you not seem more excited?”
Ning Chen smiled gently, “What is there to be overly excited about? At any time, good products combined with excellent marketing are bound to flourish in business. This is to be expected.”
Xiao Anzi raised an eyebrow, a little unwilling to accept this, “Your Majesty’s foresight is truly remarkable, as I have seen before.”
“Then tell me, how much have they earned during this period?”
Ning Chen paused, having not calculated this before, and replied casually, “Perhaps several hundred thousand taels?”
Xiao Anzi shook his head, beaming with pride. “Your Majesty has underestimated; haha…”
Ning Chen frowned. “Could it be that they have earned a million taels?”
Even in such a short time, no matter how popular, distilling liquor, perfumes, and soaps require production time, costs, and distribution. One million taels was already the upper limit he could imagine.
Yet Xiao Anzi shook his head again, adopting a mysterious tone, “No, Your Majesty, guess again.”
Ning Chen was completely stunned, looking at Xiao Anzi in disbelief, “More than one million taels?”
Xiao Anzi shook his head once more.
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Seeing this, Ning Chen’s eyes widened involuntarily, and his patience ran out. “Speak quickly! I have no time for riddles!”
Noticing the youthful face no longer calm as before, Xiao Anzi finally seemed satisfied. He held up two fingers and shook them, “This number!”
Ning Chen fixed his gaze and was immediately dumbfounded, frozen in place. “W-What? Eight million taels?”
“Are you sure it’s eight million?”
Xiao Anzi nodded excitedly. “It’s really eight million, Your Majesty. I doubt I’ll ever see so much silver in this life, or the next…”
“How is that possible?”
Ning Chen’s understanding was completely overturned. He knew these revolutionary products could make money, even a great deal. But how could they earn over eight million taels in such a short time?
Even if one pot of liquor sold for a hundred taels, that would mean more than eighty thousand pots! And where would such large production capacity come from in so little time?
“Impossible, absolutely impossible…”
Suddenly, Ning Chen had a thought. “Could it be that they started pre-sales?”
“But even with pre-sales, it’s unlikely they’d have such revenue so soon…” he mused.
Xiao Anzi was puzzled. “What do you mean by pre-sales?”
“Pay a deposit first, then receive the goods once they’re produced,” Ning Chen explained.
Hearing this, Xiao Anzi looked at him with admiration. “Your Majesty, you truly are a seer!”
“That’s right, it’s much like what you described.”
He then elaborated in detail.
Since Ning Chen last visited the trading company, Zhang Shi had devoted himself fully to the production and sale of distilled liquor, perfumes, and soaps, and business had exploded upon launch. After the Lotus Viewing Festival, it became even more wildly successful.
Zhang Shi worked tirelessly day and night to expand production and the company, yet still couldn’t meet demand. Then a man named Hu Wansan, working under Zhang Shi, proposed taking deposits first, fulfilling orders in the sequence deposits were received.
At first, few accepted this model, feeling uneasy. But, unexpectedly, Prince Yong himself came to the company, placing a 100,000 tael deposit. Since “Jade Qiong” liquor bore Yong’s personal naming, the news had spread throughout the capital. Now, with Yong’s large deposit, all wealthy people in the capital scrambled to place orders, with queues stretching endlessly.
In this short time, the company had earned a total of five million taels.
Listening to Xiao Anzi’s description, Ning Chen was thrilled. But soon, a question arose. “Prince Yong? Hasn’t he returned to his fief?”
Xiao Anzi shook his head. “The exact reason is unknown, but he remains in the capital.”
Ning Chen smiled. “Very well. Seems he has helped me once more.”
“Moreover, the purchasing power of the capital’s wealthy truly astonishes me!”
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Little did he realize that from preparing for the Empress Dowager’s birthday, Ning Chen had already grasped the immense wealth of the capital’s elite. But now, his understanding of their affluence had been renewed.
Extravagance and neglect—while the streets had starving bones—Da Ning’s wealth gap was truly vast.
When he ascended the throne, he would have to rectify this. After all, in any dynasty or nation, excessive wealth disparity signals fundamental problems.
With this in mind, Ning Chen continued, “You said eight million taels total. The company earned five million. Could the remaining three million have come from the Miao Yin House?”
“Your Majesty’s insight is sharp as ever,” Xiao Anzi began, but Ning Chen interrupted with a kick, “Since when did you start flattering me?”
“Getting to the point!” Xiao Anzi pouted, muttering, “I’m not flattering. You’re just amazing, guessing everything right!”
“Well, that three million taels comes from Miss Zhou’s Miao Yin House,” he said. “Since the Lotus Viewing Festival, the Miao Yin House’s fame spread quickly. Prince Yong goes there whenever he can.”
“Later, Hu Wansan suggested an auction system for Miss Zhou. Every night, all customers wanting to reserve the house competed, with the highest bidder winning.”
“Fights broke out regularly!”
Ning Chen raised an eyebrow. “Prince Yong is quite the character…”
Suddenly, he recalled, “Hu Wansan again… Seems he’s a rare business genius, inventing both pre-sales and auction models. I must meet him!”
Xiao Anzi nodded. “Yes, Zhang Shi also sees him as a rare talent and has tested his loyalty. He’s definitely trustworthy.”
At this, Xiao Anzi looked mysterious. “Your Majesty, guess how much Minister of Revenue Zhao Siwen spent?”
Ning Chen was puzzled. “Zhao Siwen is involved?”
Xiao Anzi excitedly explained, “Your Majesty, that old dog paid 300,000 taels just to reserve liquor! And to book the entire Miao Yin House, he spent 500,000 taels—more generous than Prince Yong…”
Upon hearing this, a meaningful smile appeared on Ning Chen’s face. “Marvelous, truly marvelous! If Zhao Siwen knew all this money was helping me fulfill the terms of our wager, he’d be furious—dead furious, haha…”
He was genuinely delighted. He had never imagined that the distilled liquor, perfumes, soaps, and Miao Yin House could earn him such a fortune in so short a time. Even better, they had uncovered a business prodigy in Hu Wansan—truly a double blessing.
Most importantly, this meant he wouldn’t have to wait six months for the wager with Zhao Siwen to be fulfilled. Once Zhao Siwen fell, Ning Chen’s plan could advance smoothly to the next stage—bringing him one step closer to toppling the Empress Dowager.
This perfectly accelerated his rhythm.