Protect Our Patriarch

Chapter 17 – Take it or leave it

 “Spot refers to goods which can be delivered on the spot, and futures are for goods to be delivered on a specified date. Brother Qian, didn’t you say that you need to transfer the pesticides from other branches, and you can only deliver the 3,000 bags after 10 days?” Wang Shouzhe casually shared his knowledge.

“That makes sense, I understand the difference now.” Master Qian’s spirits lifted, and he looked at Wang Shouzhe perceptively, “Ah, brother Shouzhe, these 5,000 bags of insecticides are certainly not for your own use. Could it be that you have found a new business opportunity?”

“Hehe, well, as brother Qian said, it’s a new business opportunity.” Wang Shouzhe smiled as he sipped his tea, “I’m helping your firm to clear its inventory, and I’m also making a small profit from it. Together, it is a win-win situation. Brother Qian, give me a good price.”

“Hahaha, a win-win situation. Brother Shouzhe’s words are really interesting. Then, I won’t ask anymore. In that case, I’ll give you a 10% discount on these 5,000 bags of pesticides, for a total of 4,500 pieces of Qian gold.”

“4,000!”

“4,200 is the lowest, brother.”

“4,200 is 4,200, but I want to use the reputation of the Ping’an Wang family to pay for this shipment.” Wang Shouzhe said calmly, “In a month’s time, I will deliver every cent of the 4,200 pieces of Qian gold.”

Master Qian was taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled and said, “This is feasible, but we have to sign a contract. If the payment is not made when the time comes, our merchant house has the right to use any means to recover the money.”

Even if the Wang family is in dire straits, it is still an aristocratic family, and still has family properties accumulated over decades. Fenggu Farm alone would fetch some 10,000 pieces of Qian gold, if sold. As long as the two parties have a contract, the powerful Qian merchant firm has plenty of ways to recover the debt.

“I will draw up a contract even if elder brother Qian didn’t say anything about this.” Wang Shouzhe said with a straight face, “I have already contacted the merchant ships. In three days, I will send someone to your warehouse to collect the 2,000 bags of insecticides, and in 10 days’ time, the second batch. If your firm defaults on the delivery of the goods or fails to deliver them, you will have to pay us a penalty of three times the purchase price.”

“Brother, please rest assured, credibility is the foundation of our Qian merchant firm for hundreds of years.” Master Qian’s face was very solemn as he said, “No matter what, we will deliver the quantity of goods ordered on time.”

“I trust your firm’s reputation, but this deal is of great importance to our little Ping’an Wang clan.” Wang Shouzhe replied solemnly, ” I can rest assured once the contract is made in black and white.”

“In that case, let’s write it down.” Master Qian didn’t think his side had any reasons to breach the contract, and the transaction was only for a trifling amount of a couple thousand pieces of Qian gold.

It took a full hour for the two of them to clearly write down all the terms of the contract under Wang Shouzhe’s critical attitude.

By the time both parties had signed the contract, Master Qian was already sweating profusely.

He wiped his sweat and smiled bitterly, “I have been a businessman for 20 years, but this is the first time I have seen such detailed terms and conditions and meticulous wordings. But then again, such detailed terms and conditions will prevent unnecessary disputes in the future, which has widened my vision and helped me learn.”

Hehe~

Wang Shouzhe just smiled, what is this contract? Some complex business contracts on earth are a hundred times more complicated than this kind of crude contract. To the layman, those business contracts are all Greek.

When Wang Shouzhe finally received the signed contract, he felt extremely relieved.

Although, with his knowledge of the Qian merchant house, even if the contract was not that detailed, they would not have violated their contract. A reputation that has been built up over hundreds of years is the most valuable thing for a merchant house.

It would be even more unlikely for them to send expert to exterminate the family and so on for this small amount of money.

Although our own ancestor Longyan might not live long, she is, after all, a Lingtai ancestor from the Zifu Academy. No one knows what trump cards are hidden in her hands. If she goes all out in a battle without any concerns for her own survival, she might eliminate a Lingtai cultivator.

It was only after weighing all these reasons that Wang Shouzhe’s decision to take a risk was made. He had no choice. The Wang family was too poor, so poor that they had to calculate even a single ” Xiao Pei Yuan Dan”. If this continues, they will only fall into a vicious circle.

He feels very apologetic towards Master Qian.

The middle-aged Master Qian was only a shopkeeper of a branch in a remote area, and obviously was of rather lowly birth in the well-established and flourishing Qian clan. It is highly likely that the head of the branch will let him take the blame for this money-losing transaction.

“Brother Qian, it was a pleasure to cooperate with you.” Wang Shouzhe rose and excused himself, then said whispered, “If nothing unexpected happens, I will give you a great gift in the near future.”

Master Qian was stunned and immediately laughed, “Thank you for your kind words, I’ll see brother Shouzhe off.” As they talked and laughed, Master Qian sent Wang Shouzhe out.

After leaving the merchant house, Wang Shouzhe’s mood instantly lifted. In three days, in just three days, he would be able to substantially ease the Wang clan’s financial crisis.

“Patriarch.”

The two family generals who had been guarding the door came over with their horses and greeted him respectfully.

“Wang Zhong, Wang Yong.” Wang Shouzhe smiled, “I haven’t been out for a long time. Accompany me for a stroll around the city.”

“Yes, Patriarch.” Both generals replied respectfully, led their horses, and accompanied Wang Shouzhe as he strolled around casually.

When ancestor Zhouxuan was alive, there were 47 generals at the peak of the Wang clan’s power, and the one with the highest cultivation level reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining realm.

Today, however, there are only nine generals, and the highest cultivation level is only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining realm.

Household generals differed from household servants in that they were no longer slaves but vassals, but they also differed from contracted non-native officials.

Most of the generals are confidants cultivated within the family. They have high status and treatment within the family, but do not have the freedom to come and go as they please. They are born as generals and will die as generals.

Their fates, their lives and deaths, are firmly tied to the master’s house, and they prosper or perish together. It is precisely because of this that some families would intermarry their kinsmen’s or concubines’ children with the families of exceptional generals. This achieves two objectives, cementing the relationships and improving the family’s bloodline.

The nine generals of the Wang clan today, whose ancestors were all personally trained by ancestor Zhouxuan, have descended from generations of extremely loyal generals.

“Wang Zhong, I recalled that your youngest son is seven or eight years old?” Wang Shouzhe asked casually, “Has he achieved any Xuanwu qualifications?”

Wang Zhong hastily took two steps forward and replied, “I am grateful for the family head’s concern for my son. That boy took the qualification test this spring and the result was a lower grade C. He has now entered the clan school for enlightenment and has begun the stage of warming his meridians.”

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth curled up in a slight smile. He was clearly very pleased with his son’s qualifications.

The Xuanwu qualification is divided into the first grade and the second grade. The ability to make the grade is extremely important and represents the potential for cultivation. The lower grades are divided into four classes: A, B, C and D. To be rated as a lower grade C is already considered to be the second grade and worthy to be trained by the family.

“Like father, like son.” Wang Shouzhe praised, “Teach him well and he will be better than you in the future.

“Thank you for your kind words, family head.” Wang Zhong smiled, and the corners of his eyes crinkled.

He was 36 years old and has two sons, both of whom had entered the Xuanwu qualification class. The eldest son is already 15 years old. In another year, he will be considered an adult and will be able to serve the family as a general. The younger son has even reached the lower grade C talent level and has entered the priority training list.

On the other hand, Wang Yong, the other general next to him, looked slightly embarrassed. He was about the same age as Wang Zhong and had married a Wang clan’s kinsman’s daughter and had a son and a daughter.

His son failed the Xuanwu qualification test and so, he can only study literature. He is currently 17 years old and working at the silkworm farm.

His daughter is only six years old and yet to be tested. But even if she has Xuanwu qualifications, she was just a girl after all.

“Wang Yong, you should seize these last few years of opportunity and work harder with your wife and try to have another one.” Wang Zhong smiled and teased, “Maybe things will turn around and your wife will give birth to lower grade B boy.”

“Get lost,” Wang Yong waved his hand impatiently as he was slightly unhappy when this topic was raised.

The three of them wandered through the city, and Wang Shouzhe’s memory of the city gradually became clear. The entire city had a permanent population of about 150,000 to 160,000. There were several old aristocratic families living in the city, and the Changning Xu clan was the closer one to the Ping’an Wang clan.

But in the end, they were only relatively close. The gap between the two families have increasingly widen and they were no longer on the same level. Therefore, Wang Shouzhe had no intentions of visiting the Xu clan’s Patriarch.

In addition to running traditional farms, the Xu clan’s unique and special industries are focused on silk and cloth workshops.

The cotton and linen cocoons grown and produced in the entire Changning’wei area were supplied to the Xu clan’s several workshops. They produced cloth and silk which were sold throughout the county, making the family a fortune.

At the same time, the cocoons produced by the Xinmao silkworm farm, one of the pillar industries of the Ping’an Wang clan, were supplied to the Xu clan.