"It depends on how much money you have on hand. Where are the ships? Do you have them? Without them, it's all useless."
"It takes too long to build the ship. You can rent a ship. Official ships don't often go to sea. Before building the ship, you can rent the official ship, right?"
Zong Zeming had already planned it before. Maritime trade was so profitable, how could he let it go?
Xiangsi saw that Zong Zeming was no longer peeling, so she immediately pushed the back of his hand with her paw.
Zong Zeming took the opportunity to scratch Xiangsi's back. Seeing that it was not as resistant as before, the corners of his lips curved up.
This little thing seems to be used to his presence.
Su Yizhao didn't expect that the other party had the same plan as him, "Official ships are not so easy to rent."
"Of course! But don't worry about this, it's just a loss of more money! It's just this quota, are you sure about it? I can give you two million taels of silver, how about it? Are you qualified to cooperate with you?"
Zong Zeming was very mature, and he felt that Su Yizhao would definitely be tempted.
A large merchant ship is simply not cost-effective if it does not carry millions of taels of cargo at a time.
So much? Su Yizhao was very surprised. It seemed that the palace was really rich.
After calculating the money in my hand, I found that there were only seven or eight hundred thousand taels of silver in total. All the previous money was used for turnover and opening a shop.
It seems that I will have to seize the time to prepare more money for next year's sea market.
"We definitely won't be able to use a ship, and we need to find someone reliable to cooperate with. Do you have anyone?"
Zong Zeming thought for a moment and said, "If you mean that the money is not enough, I can still raise about one million taels."
Su Yizhao looked up at him in shock, "You don't want to invest all your family wealth in it, do you?"
"You have to know that the sea market is not a guaranteed profit, it is very risky." Su Yizhao had to remind him that he was still a partner after all.
"Of course I know. It's impossible to invest all your money and just go. Don't worry! It won't hurt your muscles and bones."
Zong Zeming's eyes softened, are you caring about me?
Su Yizhao was silent for a long time, "The palace is really rich, and the national treasury has been tight in recent years!"
Zong Zeming snorted coldly, "This is my own money. I have private property. Border trade has always been the most profitable. Now I am timid and my expression changes when talking about border trade, but I am not afraid."
Su Yizhao's heart skipped a beat. The little money he had in hand was not enough. If there were multiple border trade routes, not to mention the sea market next year, if we could collect 1.2 million taels, there would still be some surplus, right?
"What do you do for a living?" Su Yizhao asked.
Zong Zeming smiled, knowing that Su Yizhao would be moved.
"Sell whatever comes quickly. There are many nomads in those small countries outside the border. They are short of everything, tea, grain, medicinal materials, paper, fur, etc. Except for iron and weapons, we will not trade with them. What I said
Everyone can make money."
Su Yizhao thought for a long time and suddenly thought of a way to make a living.
"They must be very lacking in food, right? For example, fruits and vegetables?"
Zong Zeming nodded, "Of course! So they are very eager for grain and tea. Do you also want to trade with the border? I have connections, so I can help you. But if you want to sell tea and grain, it will be a bit troublesome.
"
Seeing Su Yizhao's silence, Zong Zeming continued: "Grain can be sold, but it is too bulky and inconvenient to transport. Tea is fine. If you want to sell tea, I can give you some shares. But if you
If you want to sell vegetables, it’s definitely not feasible.”
"Vegetables cannot be stored for too long, as they will go bad as long as they are delayed for a few days. In transactions with foreign countries, it is common to be delayed for a few days, or even more than ten days. If they are bad, they will not take them."
Zong Zeming would also transport vegetables there, but he did this business because he had fields at the border and it was easy to pick vegetables.
Su Yizhao nodded immediately, "Of course I know, but what I want to sell is not vegetables, but dried vegetables."
"Dried vegetables?" Zong Zeming didn't know why.
"Do you mean to dry the vegetables and then transport them there? But in this way, the vegetables have lost their moisture and are like old pickles. They have completely lost their original function, and they won't buy it."
Zong Zeming disagrees. Can wilted vegetables still be eaten?
"Of course I can't just dry them in the sun. Such vegetables are completely inedible. I have to dry them completely out of the water and add water to soak them when they are ready to be eaten. This way, although the taste is a little worse than usual vegetables, it is still good.
It can solve their dilemma of not having vegetables.”
Su Yizhao felt that although this method was troublesome, it should be possible to sell it to the border.
"Actually, the principle is the same as roasting tea leaves. If they can accept tea leaves, they can also accept dried vegetables. What's more, there are many varieties of dried vegetables and there are many choices. Isn't it just a good time to get something fresh? In terms of price, it is cheaper than those good teas.
, you shouldn’t have to worry about selling it.”
It's summer now, and there are a lot of vegetables in the fields. Cabbage, potatoes, beans, etc. can all be made into dried vegetables.
Zong Zeming nodded, "If that's the case, it's feasible. But you have to carefully control this technology. If it can't be preserved for a long time, it will be a losing business."
Su Yizhao nodded, "Collect a batch of vegetables and make them first. Test them and make them on a large scale if feasible."
After the two reached a cooperation on this issue, Su Yizhao suddenly thought of the gold ore that Su Wenqing had just mentioned.
Su Wenqing just mentioned that it could be sent to the border for trading. There must be something in it.
"Did you know that there are people at the border who secretly trade gold and silver? I heard rumors that someone stole gold and silver ore, then smuggled it into gold and silver and transported it to the border for trading."
Zong Zeming suddenly frowned, "Gold and silver ores are controlled by the imperial court, but someone actually stole the ores and sold them privately?"
His heart moved. Su Yizhao couldn't have mentioned this for no reason. Could it be that someone sold the gold and silver ore to her?
"The imperial court currently has two mines open, one is smaller in Dexuan Mansion. There is also a large mine in Shunan Mansion."
"Shunan Mansion?" Su Yizhao suddenly thought that Shunan Mansion was close to Shuyuguan.
"They are all gold mines. Where did you get the news?"
"It's my father. Someone sold the gold ore to his head. But I don't know whether it's true or not. I've got some information and I'll talk about it after verification tomorrow."
Su Yizhao thought about the trends between the DPRK and China. The gold mine in Dexuan Prefecture had always been under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry.
This is a small mine that has been mined for more than two years, and now the resources are probably going to be exhausted.
There is also a large mine that has only been mined for more than a year, and it is close to the border. I think there must be a lot of resources.
As for the gold mine in Shunan Mansion, after the prince received the errand this year, it was handed over to him.
"No wonder the prince returned to Beijing recently. I'm afraid something went wrong."
Zong Zeming was well aware of the goings-on in the court. He originally thought it was the queen's birthday that was coming, but was it actually because of this?
It has to be said that the two of them thought about it at the same time.
Su Yizhao and Zong Zeming looked at each other, and it seemed that the situation between North Korea and China was about to change.