hsntnovel Chapter 2671 Half-finished
Chapter 2671 Half-finished
The two had already inspected the place while they were waiting, and every item in the main hall was extremely valuable.
The price ranged from a few hundred strings of cash to a thousand strings of cash, and the pearls and corals were rare and precious treasures, which were displayed openly in the Prince Ji's mansion.
They had no doubt about Li Shen's words. Even the cat that Li Shen was holding in his arms was bought from the emperor for 500,000 strings of cash.
You'd think any decent person would spend 500,000 strings of cash to buy two cats; Prince Ji must be out of his mind.
If you liked raccoons, you should have said so earlier. We could have sent you ten thousand without costing you five hundred thousand strings of cash.
Then think about themselves. Apart from the Prince's mansion, they really don't have anything of value. Although what Prince Ji said was indeed a bit of an underestimation of them, it was also the truth.
They really had nothing to be fooled by Prince Ji.
Having figured this out, the two felt somewhat better.
“Prince Ji, please don’t misunderstand. We’re not worried that you’re deceiving us. We’re just worried that we might not do this well and end up delaying your important business.”
Li Boyi began to explain.
"I have already thought of this for you two uncles. You can just say to the outside world that the spices were purchased for His Majesty."
Li Shen's expression remained unchanged, with a smile on his face.
"Acquiring it for His Majesty? Prince Ji, you absolutely cannot say that! How dare you misappropriate His Majesty's name?"
If His Majesty were to find out, it would be a grave offense of disrespect, punishable by imprisonment.
Li Shen spoke lightly, but it terrified Li Boyi and Li Fengci.
Good heavens, this spendthrift child is too audacious! He actually dares to use His Majesty's name. This is too rebellious.
You are indeed favored by Heaven, but the other two are not.
"My two uncles, don't panic. How could I possibly harm you? My acquisition of spices is different from that of these aristocratic families. I don't buy them for hoarding, but for my own use."
The spices used in the palace were supplied by me; you can verify this with my father in the palace.
Hmm... The ones from the Eastern Palace were also like that, but they weren't sent directly by my Prince Ji's residence. Instead, the Crown Prince demanded them from the palace, which was extremely malicious and shameless.
So what my nephew just said wasn't nonsense; the first thing we do with the acquired spices is send them to the palace.
Seeing their flustered state, Li Shen had no choice but to explain to them that perhaps he himself lacked respect for imperial authority.
"This...this really will work?" Li Fengci asked hesitantly. This was a big deal, and he was a little worried.
"Don't worry, I will take responsibility for you if anything happens. When my father asks, just say it was my idea and put all the blame on me."
Li Shen immediately patted his chest and assured them, to dispel their doubts.
Seeing Li Shen's unwavering assurance, the two finally felt relieved.
"Well... alright then, but if His Majesty really asks, Prince Ji, you must explain for us."
Li Boyi said.
"Don't worry, I always keep my word and never cheat anyone."
In the business world, the three words that define the Ji Prince's Mansion are reputation and credibility. There is nothing the Ji Prince's Mansion cannot do if it says so.
"As long as you say as I have, I believe no one will be foolish enough to cause you trouble. If anyone does, they are traitors, and I will immediately behead them."
Li Shen said with a righteous expression.
"Okay, we believe you." In the end, the two looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"Haha, that's great! Come, let me offer you two Uncles tea instead of wine, and wish us success."
Li Shen laughed heartily, picked up his teacup, and the two men also showed joy, drinking it all down with him.
"By the way, how much reward will Prince Ji give us?"
After putting down their teacups, the two finally remembered to discuss payment. Weren't they both so eager to get their hands on those few taels of silver?
"My two uncles, you are not outsiders, so I will tell you the truth. My Ji Prince's Mansion uses a lot of spices. The palace, the Ji Prince's Mansion, and the restaurant all need a lot of spices."
If we only acquire a small amount, we'll use it ourselves and won't sell it to others, so we won't make a profit.
But we can't let our two uncles work for nothing..." Li Shen said, closing his eyes in thought for a long time before opening them again:
"Here's what we'll do: no matter how much spice you two uncles buy, I'll give you half a percent of the purchase price as commission."
"You can split it equally then. What does Uncle Wang think?"
"Half a commission?" The two frowned upon hearing this. This Prince Ji was far too stingy, offering only half a commission to the two of them.
However, considering that the other party is not selling it for money but only using it themselves, it is reasonable to give so much.
"Then how much does Prince Ji plan to acquire?" Li Boyi suddenly asked.
Li Shen thought for a moment, then realized he didn't know either, so he waved his hand at the stone beside him.
Upon seeing this, Stone immediately understood and stepped forward to reply:
"Your Highness, in the past, 200,000 strings of cash worth of spices were enough to meet the needs of the palace, the prince's residence, and the gourmet restaurants."
However, the price of spices has skyrocketed since last year. After our inventory ran out this year, Manager Wang spent six or seven hundred thousand strings of cash just to buy enough for a few months.
Manager Wang said that at the current rate, the Prince's mansion would probably need to spend over two million strings of cash next year to buy spices to meet its annual expenses.
"How many did you say?"
Before Li Boyi and Li Fengci could even react in surprise, Li Shen had already sat up straight and roared.
"Your Highness, it's at least 2.5 million strings of cash. That's Manager Wang's estimate. He said that the price of spices has now increased tenfold, and some special spices have increased fifteenfold."
He predicted that if the shortage wasn't this severe next year, the price of spices would rise to more than twenty times, perhaps even thirty times.
Stone bowed and explained.
Li Shen's brows furrowed, his expression grave.
"How could this happen? Thirty times the price? How can we afford that?"
“Your Highness, spices were actually very expensive in the early days, and the price was only slightly lower than it is now.”
However, the price later plummeted for some unknown reason. Some speculated that it was because too many merchants from the Western Regions came to sell spices.
Prices have been rising steadily, and although they are quite high, this has happened before.
Legend has it that at the end of the Sui Dynasty, spices were even more expensive than they are now.
For some inexplicable reason, Li Fengci began to comfort Li Shen.
They weren't shocked by the price of the spices; they were shocked by the amount used by the Prince Ji's household.
More than two million strings of cash worth of spices were used; how many people would that feed?
“Prince Ji, although spices are expensive, they shouldn’t require more than two million strings of cash. Even if the palace and restaurants use them, it’s still too much.”
Li Boyi asked, puzzled.
"Yes, Prince Ji, there are many kinds of spices, and we don't need a large part of them. I wonder why Prince Ji's mansion uses so many spices?"
Even with a large number of people in the palace, this amount is still excessive.
Li Fengci also became puzzled. Only a little of this stuff is needed; does Prince Ji really use spices for bathing?