When Han Du was brought to a shop selling charcoal, he suddenly realized that perhaps Zhu Biao's pursuit of him had nothing to do with Princess Anqing.
Han Du entered the door and saw Zhu Biao sitting in the backyard.
"Your Majesty, Han Du, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao raised his eyes and quickly put down the teacup in his hand. "Are you here? Come on, come on," he stood up and pulled Han Du to sit down.
Seeing Zhu Biao's irritated look, Han Du asked casually, "What's going on, Your Highness? Is there any result in my request for your help?"
Zhu Biao, who was originally anxious, couldn't help but pause after hearing Han Du's words, and the embarrassment flashed across his face.
Han Du saw it clearly and knew that you were not looking for me because of my affairs.
Since Zhu Biao was not looking for him because of Princess Anqing's affairs, Han Du naturally lost interest and asked nonchalantly: "Since Your Highness has no aide to ask, why did you call him here in such a hurry?"
Zhu Biao was speechless for a moment, a little embarrassed to face Han Du, but this matter was also urgent at the moment, so he simply pointed in the distance and said, "Come here."
In the distance, the eunuch left Xiaobu and ran over, "Your Highness."
Zhu Biao pointed his finger at Han Du and told the eunuch: "Tell him what's going on."
This eunuch is not young. He looks to be in his thirties. He looks very wealthy. He always has a smile that makes people feel like spring breeze. He does not despise Han Du because he is only an eighth-grade official.
, cupped his hands and said: "My lord, this is it. Our coal has just started to be sold, and it has been suppressed. Until now, not a pound has been sold."
oh?
"Suppression? Who is suppressing?" Han Du asked in confusion.
Don’t you know this is Donggong’s business? You actually dare to suppress it. Who the hell dares to go against Donggong?
"The one who takes the lead is Fuqi Trading Company. I don't know if there are others. Our twelve shops have not officially opened yet, and the face of Fuqi Trading Company has appeared across the street."
Fuqi Trading Company?
Han Du recalled it and determined that he didn't know him.
Could it be that the other party is also selling pebbles, but this is impossible. Around the capital, only I have pebbles in my hands.
The eunuch seemed to understand Han Du's doubts and sighed: "What the other party sells is not pebbles, but charcoal. But they kept the price very low, three hundred coins and one hundred catties."
This price! The pressure is really fierce. According to what Han Du knows, the price of charcoal in Beijing should be around 400 yuan. This is a direct sale at a 25% discount.
"Moreover," the fat eunuch continued: "Sir, you also know that although our charcoal is cheap, it also has many shortcomings. For example, it is not easy to ignite, and charcoal is needed for ignition. There is also ignited charcoal.
If you want to extinguish it, you have to put it out with water, and once the charcoal gets wet, you have to dry it in the sun before you can use it again. These are the places where charcoal is inferior to charcoal."
So, is this the reason why coal cannot be sold?
Han Du also understands that after all, he is a common people. The cheaper the better when buying things, but that is when the two things are about the same. Now the advantages of charcoal over coal are too obvious, and Fuqi Trading Company has given the price to
Naturally, no common people would choose charcoal when they reached three hundred coins. Although charcoal is more than twice as expensive as charcoal, it is still a lot cheaper than the original price, and they can afford it.
Han Du frowned. When the price was originally set, it was to avoid conflict with the charcoal. Why is it still happening now?
"Even so, it's not like we can't sell even a little bit."
The eunuch nodded and sighed: "Originally, this was not the case. But they also said that people who buy their charcoal now will sell their charcoal at this price in the future. People who don't buy it now, even if they buy it in the future,
No matter how high the price is, we will not sell charcoal to him. Sir, if this is the case, who will buy our charcoal?"
"I have inquired about this Fuqi Trading Company. Its main business is selling charcoal. It has shops all over the capital. Although it does not monopolize the charcoal trading in the entire capital, it ranks first among the charcoal trading companies.
If you say this, even people who originally wanted to buy our charcoal will not buy it. After all, if you have charcoal, you need charcoal to light a fire. If you can't buy charcoal, it will be more difficult to use the charcoal.
.”
No one will do anything thankless.
Han Du understood clearly that Fuqi Trading Company was here to destroy the coal industry.
Looking at Zhu Biao, he asked: "What do you think, Your Highness?"
Zhu Biao raised his eyes and glanced at Han Du, but said nothing.
Yes, it seems that the prince is at his wits' end. That's right, if he had his way, he wouldn't have found him in such a hurry.
Competing with the people for profit is not a good idea.
Let alone a prince like Zhu Biao, even ordinary officials are not willing to be associated with these words.
Even if it was to be run, it would be arranged for relatives or nephews to come forward, just like Zhu Biao's shop, it was also arranged for eunuchs to come forward.
Although everyone knew what was going on, they all understood it tacitly.
In this case, if anyone jumps from behind the scenes to the front desk, rolls up his sleeves and wants to make a big splash, then he will lose.
Han Du picked up the tea cup and took a slow sip without saying anything.
As time passed, Zhu Biao couldn't wait any longer and asked quickly: "Is there anything you can do? Don't just drink tea and say nothing."
Han Du smiled, put down the tea cup, and said: "Facing this situation, there is only one way. That is to lower the price. If others lower the price, we will also lower the price."
After Han Du finished speaking, everyone present had different expressions.
The fat eunuch's body bulged with fat, like a fat rooster that was ready to try, as if he was already hungry and thirsty.
But Zhu Biao frowned and asked in confusion: "But didn't you say that the price of charcoal cannot be too low? What if we lower the price and the other side continues to lower the price? This is a matter of relationship.
The livelihood of tens of thousands of people is on the line, so don’t do whatever you want.”
When the fat eunuch heard His Highness the Crown Prince's words, his fat body felt like a deflated rubber ball, and he immediately became speechless.
"It's happening now and then," Han Du looked into Zhu Biao's eyes and explained: "At the beginning, I was unwilling to sell charcoal too low all of a sudden. It was indeed to give the charcoal industry a buffer. But now the situation has changed.
The other side is going to fight us to the death. The current selling price of the opposite side is low, but it does not mean that its purchase price is also low. Of course, even if it sells for three hundred Wen and one hundred catties, the opposite side will still make money."