Tianliangyuan

Chapter 295 Too Much to Know

After flipping through a few pages, Xu Zhaozhao immediately saw the problem.

"On the surface, there's nothing wrong with the accounts. For example, the profit from tea is about twenty strings of cash a month, after deducting costs such as labor and transportation. But in reality, they earn far more than that."

The account books that Xu Junan brought over were from the year before last. It was precisely because he didn't quite understand them that he came to Xu Zhaozhao for a look.

"How so? A monthly income of twenty strings of cash is already quite good. And that's just from tea alone."

Xu Zhaozhao smiled, knowing that her older brother didn't understand how profound the secrets of tea were.

"Brother, if you go to a tea shop to buy tea, what should you use as the price?"

“Naturally, it should be purchased by weight.”

These tea leaves are all pre-processed and are mostly dry tea. One ounce makes one small packet, which is enough for one person to drink for about half a month.

"Do you know how these tea merchants calculated the price when they purchased tea from Nanzhao?"

Xu Junan was truly stumped by the question: "Press what?"

"It's either sold by the pound or by the bushel; in short, it's very different from what you imagined."

"You mean the tea was cheap to buy, but sold at a high price?"

Xu Zhaozhao nodded.

Xu Junan didn't think there was anything wrong with this; after all, businessmen are naturally profit-driven.

"Even so, I think it's normal. After all, the journey from Nanzhao to the capital will cost a lot of money, and tea leaves are sensitive to water. If it rains, it will be even worse, and there will probably be a lot of losses."

Xu Zhaozhao laughed and said, "Big brother does know about this."

Xu Jun'an raised an eyebrow: "I may not know how to do the tea business, but don't I know the basic expenses?"

“What you say is true, brother, but that’s just your opinion. Let me put it this way: my Osmanthus Black Tea now sells for as much as ten strings of cash per ounce, and people still keep coming to buy it because there’s no better Osmanthus Black Tea on the market. But do you know what my cost is?”

This really stumped Xu Jun'an.

How could he know!

When Xu Zhaozhao announced her cost price and selling price, Xu Jun'an was stunned.

"This...this profit is just too high!"

Xu Zhaozhao smiled smugly: "That's why people say tea merchants make money quickly! Firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea may seem insignificant, but the profits are quite substantial. Tea may not seem to have a large customer base, but in reality, there are many intricacies involved."

Xu Junan had never really thought of this aspect.

"This is the account book from two years ago. According to what's recorded here, the price for buying tea seems normal, but in reality, none of us have seen the actual tea leaves, so it's hard to judge. As for the selling price, it's obvious that it's not right."

"How to say?"

"He buys tea at the price of top-grade tea, but sells it at a mid-range price. There is naturally a price difference. So, where does this difference of money go?"

Xu Junan's eyes darted around a few times, and it really was a possibility.

"For example, the price listed on the website might remain unchanged, but the tea actually purchased is of inferior quality. From this point on, the money is already out of balance. Later, if this inferior tea is then misled and sold to a layperson who doesn't know anything about tea, and even sold at the price of high-quality tea, then there's another layer of price difference. So where does all this money ultimately go?"

The ledger shows that the monthly profit was 20 strings of cash, but in reality, the profit from this item alone may have been as high as 50 strings of cash, or even more.

The Jia family's business was basically all their own, with no outsiders involved.

Since it's a family business, why would they need to falsify accounts?

The answer has already surfaced.

"As expected, my sister has a sharp eye. I was completely unaware of the tricks of the trade and almost got fooled."

“Brother, it’s not that you don’t understand tea, it’s just that you simply didn’t expect that people doing business in the market would be so cunning. Brother, you can arrange for someone to secretly interrogate that accountant, and also bribe a few waiters to ask him questions. That way you’ll probably understand.”

"Okay, thank you Zhaozhao. I'll head back now. If there's anything I don't understand later, I'll come back and ask you for guidance."

Xu Zhaozhao chuckled: "Brother, your serious demeanor makes it seem like I'm putting on airs."

Xu Junan glared at her, then smiled helplessly, shook his head, and left.

With Xu Zhaozhao's reminder, Xu Jun'an had even more ideas.

Sure enough, through this interrogation and questioning, the truth gradually came to light.

To Xu Jun'an's surprise, the income from black tea alone amounted to 40 guan per month, which amounted to 480 guan per year.

In addition to these, there were other sources of income such as tea leaves and tea fragments. Roughly calculated, the Jia family's tea shops in the capital and Yunyang County had concealed a total profit of about one thousand strings of cash per year.

That's not just a thousand coins, it's a thousand strings of cash!

Xu Jun'an said with a serious expression: "Father, there is now solid evidence that at least two thousand strings of cash from the Jia family flowed into the hands of others every year. In addition, there are some cloth and tea, the value of which is hard to estimate, but it is certain that they all flowed into the territory of Prince Qing."

"As you said, that's at least two thousand strings of cash. There's no rush; we need to continue the investigation. Besides, two thousand strings of cash might sound like a lot to ordinary people, but it's nothing to powerful families. When the time comes, Prince Qing can just say that the Jia family has business in his fiefdom and needs his help, and that one sentence will make everything seem reasonable."

Xu Junan nodded: "That's true."

"Moreover, since Prince Qing has this intention, it must involve more than just the Jia family. For now, we can only investigate the Jia family; other matters should be left to His Majesty to arrange. After all, there are some things that are not beneficial for us to know too much about."

Xu Jun'an was somewhat surprised: "You mean, His Majesty will continue to indulge Prince Qing?"

Xu Han shook his head. Who can say for sure about such things?

What if Prince Qing has no intention of rebelling?

What if all of this is just the work of Prince Qing's men?

To put it bluntly, even if Prince Qing did rebel, and the matter was verified and he was eventually executed, would the Emperor necessarily be happy?

No matter what, Prince Qing is his younger brother.

Moreover, the mind of an emperor is unfathomable.

If His Majesty regrets his actions one day, or if someone comes to plead for Prince Qing, where will His Majesty vent his resentment and anger?

Your Majesty is always right, even if you are wrong!

Therefore, the one who makes a mistake can only be the subject.

Xu Han understood these things too well, so there were some things he could know, but he couldn't know too much, at least not enough to make His Majesty think he knew a lot.