Royal Gold Magistrate

Seeing the dumbfounded expressions of the two men, Fang Zheng continued to talk cheerfully:

“Come, let me tell you about the art of commerce!”

“If you buy at a hundred taels per jin, once you reach the capital, should you not also sell it for two hundred taels?”

“Never mind if anyone buys it or not, first create the product positioning!”

“We shall say our tea is grown in the best prime locations, with eight hours of sunlight every day! Each mu of land has dedicated caretakers!”

“Next to the tea garden, there is a natural hot spring and a gold mine underground. The girls who pick the tea are as beautiful as fairies and are talented in poetry. They pick the tea leaves with their tongues and recite a poem for each leaf!”

“In addition, it would be best to order another batch of exquisite porcelain boxes from our county. Each box will contain half a tael of tea. Let us come up with a name… for now, let us call it ‘little box tea’!”

“When selling it, simply say that only nobles and officials are qualified to drink this tea. If one does not drink it, are they still considered a person? Do they still wish to socialize in those circles?”

“Do you know what it means to be noble? To be noble is to buy the most expensive of everything, not the best!”

“Therefore, our Taoyuan County’s slogan shall be: We do not strive to be the best! Only to be the most expensive!”

Guo Tianyang covered his face in embarrassment.

He had originally thought that after decades in the palace, he could be considered a schemer of a hundred tricks.

But today, upon meeting Fang Zheng, he realized that he still had much to learn!

The sea of knowledge is indeed boundless!

Emperor Jing fell silent, feeling as if he had turned into a green leek.

Could it be that all the procurement in the palace was conducted this way…?

Seeing the two men deep in thought, Fang Zheng smiled contentedly. He had just spread advanced marketing concepts to a lost sheep, gaining +2 merit points.

Just as the three were about to fall into silence, dishes began to arrive continuously from downstairs.

To show his respect, Zhang Laoliu personally brought the dishes upstairs.

“Hahaha, here comes the chicken soup!”

The chicken soup was served, and steam rose from the pot. It seemed to have been stewed for a while, with tender meat in creamy soup.

“Come, have some soup. It is a pleasure for you two to come to Taoyuan County and enjoy chicken soup!”

Fang Zheng served Emperor Jing a bowl of chicken soup and scooped a piece of chicken leg for him.

Then he served himself a bowl and took a chicken leg.

Finally, he served Guo Tianyang a bowl and took a chicken breast for him.

Guo Tianyang glanced at Fang Zheng resentfully.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng did not care. After all, the person in front of him was the main character. It was good enough for you, a mere follower, to have meat to eat.

“I wonder if you two are interested in this tea? Although the porcelain in our Taoyuan County is good, it is not unique.”

“The profit from selling tea is much higher than porcelain, and it is easy to transport without loss.”

Emperor Jing nodded in satisfaction as he drank the soup.

The soup was delicious, and the chicken was tender. It was a delicacy he had never tasted in the palace.

“Magistrate Fang, do you have a name for this tea?”

Hmm… Fang Zheng had not thought about it yet. The roasted tea had only recently become popular in the county.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Zheng said with a smile:

“Ah, this tea is long-lasting and can strengthen the kidneys, nourish the qi, prolong life. So let us call it… Celestial Immortal Tea! Yes, that is it!”

You must be making this up! Guo Tianyang’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“To be honest, we do not have too much silver on us, so we probably cannot buy much tea.”

“How much do you have?”

“Two thousand taels.”

No wonder he is in the porcelain business. He carries two thousand taels with him! Quite a substantial sum!

Fang Zheng became slightly excited: “No problem! Take as much as you want. We need to open up the market in the early stages, and if it is not enough, you can come to Taoyuan County anytime to buy more!”

“Come, taste our Taoyuan wine again.”

With that, Fang Zheng poured another glass of wine for the two men.

Emperor Jing naturally accepted it, but as soon as the wine entered his mouth, his expression changed drastically: “Peach Blossom Fan?”

Fang Zheng chuckled: “Correct! It is indeed Peach Blossom Fan wine.”

“This wine is the pillar industry of our Taoyuan County. The county has thrived thanks to Peach Blossom Fan wine.”

“The next batch of wine is not ready yet. I am sure it is hard to find a glass of it in the capital right now!”

Emperor Jing’s expression suddenly became uncertain, and Guo Tianyang also looked at him.

Peach Blossom Fan wine was famous for its strength and was extremely popular in the capital.

Emperor Jing even specifically listed this wine as a tribute.

But the most important thing was not about the wine!

Emperor Jing put down his wine glass, his expression calm: “I heard that this wine is the property of the King of Wu. Could it be that there is a connection between Taoyuan County and the Wu state?”

“Not at all, not at all! Peach Blossom Fan wine has always been the property of Taoyuan County, but there have indeed been some trade exchanges with the Wu state.”

“A few years ago, some people from Wu happened to come here and discovered Peach Blossom Fan wine. So we signed an exclusive sales contract with them.”

“Hehe, now the King of Wu is making a fortune with it.”

Fang Zheng laughed heartily.

Originally, he planned to collaborate with the Wu state for the tea as well.

But after thinking it over, he gave up. Taoyuan County’s products should not be monopolized by one party. Opening up sales channels in the future was essential.

Otherwise, it would be like having a throat grabbed.

The sales network of dealers must be expanded as much as possible. The more people Taoyuan County brought in, the more stable his position would be.

Most porcelain businesses in the capital had backgrounds, and he did not care which group Li Long belonged to.

As long as it was not the group behind the King of Wu and the Emperor!

Emperor Jing breathed a sigh of relief. The King of Wu was known as the idle king in the capital.

It turned out he accidentally stumbled upon Taoyuan County, which was why he spent money so lavishly every day…

“I wonder if the King of Wu has ever been to Taoyuan County?”

Fang Zheng waved his hand dismissively, a hint of disdain on his face: “Never. It has always been his steward who comes for trading.”

This was also the second reason why he did not want to cooperate with the King of Wu. This person lacked ambition and had no drive.

If Taoyuan County had not been short of money and manpower early on, he would not have cooperated with such a person.

Later, Fang Zheng even sent someone to the capital to investigate the market.

The sales of Peach Blossom Fan wine were mainly driven by word of mouth, and there was little effort from the King of Wu’s side in marketing and promotion.

If it were not for Peach Blossom Fan being a monopolistic product with excellent quality, it might have failed outright.

Back then, he was foolishly trying to find a big supporter, but he did not expect to end up with a waste!

He even signed an exclusive agreement, losing out on his own business.

But even so, Peach Blossom Fan provided an annual profit of fifty thousand taels, more than enough to make the whole county prosperous.

But now, Taoyuan County’s life was getting better and better, and the increasing material needs of the people pushed Fang Zheng to continue expanding his sales channels.

This tea! It was the second item that needed to be sold prominently, and it was definitely not exclusive.

“So it seems that Taoyuan County is indeed powerful! It looks like I must cooperate with Magistrate Fang!” Emperor Jing smiled, “I wonder where the tea garden is. Tomorrow, we should go and take a look before making a decision.”

Fang Zheng smiled shyly: “Trade secret, no comment!”

Look? What was there to look at!

Where was there a tea garden! It was all fresh tea brought in from Hengjiang Prefecture, four catties per coin of cheap tea leaves, mixed with some cheap medicinal herbs, stir-fried together, and no one could tell the difference.

It was just that people were used to drinking fresh tea and had never had stir-fried tea before!

Seeing Fang Zheng’s firm attitude, Emperor Jing did not dwell on it any longer. He raised his wine glass and said, “Alright, I shall take a batch of this tea to the capital for trial sales. In the future, I shall rely on Magistrate Fang to take care of it!”

“No problem, no problem!”