Chapter 293: The Chu Clans Secret (1/2)
Chapter 293: The Chu Clan’s Secret
Translator: Pika
Chu Zhongtian wasn’t willing to give up just like that “Brother wang, is there any way to get so Fu shook his head and forced a smile “It wouldn’t have been an issue in the past, but brother Chu knows that we’ve already suffered serious losses fron tribes We were barely able to scrape together this batch of salt perrain we still had stored up It is completely impossible to purchase another batch of thetian sank back into his chair He felt as if he had aged a decade or more “What can we do to make sure we can sell our salt this year?”
Deep down, he already knew that nothing could be done He only asked this for the sake of it
wang Fu clenched his teeth and said, “Brother Chu, I tian asked hastily
wang Fu said, “I’ve already prevented any news pertaining to the theft of the salt per out I won’t ever admit it no matter what, so I’ll just pretend no salt permits were stolen Let’s use next year’s salt perive us a way out”
The salt industry was le year’s salt perh to cover the demand That hy the officials kept three years’ worth of salt per these salt permits didn’t coh
Normal salt permits cost 15 taels of silver each, while future salt permits cost 21 taels of silver extra per permit, when used in advance This was equivalent to the interest on a loan, and the court also used this to control the wider salt econo too much salt into thethose salt pertian with a frown The costs of putting the salt on the reater That ay too expensive
wang Fu shook his head “Brother Chu has misunderstood my intentions What I propose is to pretend that the future salt pers settle down next year, we can return to business-as-usual Everything will be kept a secret, and this can help us out of our current desperate situation”
Chu Zhongtian wasout a chunk froe cri Fu said, “With brother Chu’s network in Bright clan’s s could spiral out of control so easily Moreover, using future salt per practiced by all the clans How many of them have even paid their full due in taxes?”
Chu Zhongtian’s voice becarave “This was only done for a small amount of salt last year, so everyone turned a blind eye and let it pass This time, it would be for a whole year’s worth of salt! It’s way too dangerous I absolutely cannot agree to this”
wang Fu sighed “Brother Chu, please forgiveso direct, but what else can we do?
“As far as I know, the illicit salt trade has gotten more and more out of hand, and your Chu clan hasn’t been able to sell a lot of your salt, correct?
“Your clan couldn’t even sell the salt when the price of each permit was 15 taels of silver If the price of each perrow harder for you to sell your salt Moreover, even if you did e to sell it, how e, and your expenditures are correspondingly vast Without the revenue from your salt business, you could quickly see yourself in the red Is that not true?”
Chu Zhongtian had had enough He stood up suddenly “Our Chu clan has endured for hundreds of years This loss is still soh they’d suffer greatly, at worst, they could still sell off soer was about to bubble over, wang Fu threw his “Brother Chu!” he cried “Your Chu clan can bear this burden, but our wang clan cannot! After having our trade station plundered, our wang clan was already on the verge of collapse! If news that our salt per clan is finished! Brother Chu, in all our years of friendshi+p, I’ve never begged you for anything I’, please stand up! What are you doing?!” Chu Zhongtian hurriedly tried to get hireat clans, these tere still the closest After decades of dealings, Chu Zhongtian had co clan is about to collapse, what is the use in this old one keeping his dignity?” wang Fu sat on the ground, refusing to get up
Chu Zhongtian’s face was grave “Let s over There’s just too e in tone, wang Fu irew overjoyed “Thank you so h! Whether or not we succeed will depend on the will of heaven!”
Chu Zhongtian returned to his own estate When he brought this matter up with Qin Wanru, her face darkened immediately “There’s no e can do this! Dear, how can you be so confused as to agree to such a thing?”
Chu Zhongtian sighed “I’ers behind such an endeavor But wang Fu’s words aren’t entirely without reason If we really do pay the advance tax for every salt perh At that price, none of the common folk would buy it”
Qin Wanru cut in at once “So what if no one buys it? Our Chu clan can still shoulder the burden of a single year of lost revenue The royal court sent Sang Hong to keep an eye on us If we really tried so and he became aware of it, it would certainly spell trouble for us!”
“The Chu clan’s situation isn’t as great as you tian said “We have suffered losses for several years in a ro, and it’s only recently that things have begun to take a slight turn for the better Even so, we cannot afford to shoulder such a burden!”
“Actually, I’ve alanted to ask you about this,” Qin Wanru said in response “Even though we aren’t perfect at operating our businesses, the Chu clan still has large shares in the massive salt and iron industries Just where did all thelosses year after year?”