Junior Ms. Qian repeated these words verbatim to her husband and son. Zhou Dalang was still looking at the fabric on the table, but Zhou Lichong already said, "I know. I’ve talked privately with Second Sister and Second Brother. Although doing business makes a lot of money, it’s also difficult."
"Anyone who runs business outside and achieves so success is either extrely smart, has a wealthy family, or has a backing. Otherwise, they can’t go far." He said, "Honestly, aside from our little aunt, there’s no one particularly smart in our family. Even Third Brother, although he studies better than us siblings, often needs to read late at night to match others. So unless Little Aunt takes charge, our family purely by skills can’t achieve much."
"Then we can only seek a backing," Zhou Lichong lowered his voice slightly when talking about these secrets and said, "Fourth Uncle has always wanted to collaborate in business with Princess Changyu, not because of big ambitions or the desire to expand the business greatly, but actually just to avoid being bullied when going out."
Upon hearing Zhou Dalang imdiately asked, "You get bullied outside?"
Zhou Lichong said, "It’s impossible not to suffer any grievances. The first ti I went out with Fourth Uncle, right on the grasslands, we were invited by a horse gang to their village as guests. At that ti, even though Fourth Uncle and I were ’invited,’ we didn’t even have a seat. The one speaking at the forefront was the steward of a caravan traveling with us..."
If they were robbed, Zhou SiLang and the others didn’t even have the face to walk to the front of the robbers, which shows how small they were.
Later, they managed to leave thanks to the Bald Hair Tribe who took them into the grassland and couldn’t reason with the horse gang, so they took two bags of tea Zhou Silang privately gave and invited people from nearby tribes to help them, and then t Xiang Mingxue who had so connections on the grassland, and that’s how they ca out safely, albeit losing so wealth.
Initially, he and Fourth Uncle were very aggrieved and wanted to tell their little aunt once they returned, but after entering the grassland and teaming up with Xiang Mingxue, they learned that the grievances they faced were really nothing.
Compared to Xiang Mingxue, they were already considered lucky. Xiang Mingxue’s past business on the grassland involved putting his head on the line.
But at the ti, with a heart set on revenge, he fought through obstacles, ard with intelligence, carving a bloody path.
Moreover, after going back and forth twice, Zhou Lichong and Fourth Uncle vaguely learned so things, respecting Xiang Mingxue even more, and were eager to seek a backing.
He said, "Now, when our family enters and exits the grassland, encountering so villages and horse gangs, just giving a few things allows us to pass. That’s because of our alliances with tribes on the grassland and the good relationship with Brother Xiang."
"But in fact, both of these relationships are not stable. The Bald Hair Tribe is opportunistic. We are currently good because we buy dicinal herbs and cattle from them, selling them silk and tea. If soone offers higher prices or cheaper goods in the future, they’d kick us aside."
"Over at Brother Xiang’s, it’s unstable too. He currently lacks capital, coupled with so special ties between our two families willing to cooperate. But actually, in this cooperation, our family is benefiting."
Xiang Mingxue may lack capital, but it’s not difficult for him to acquire it, even if it might not co from the cleanest sources.
But connections, routes, these cannot be bought with money alone.
Last year, their entry into the grassland went a lot smoother, all due to Xiang Mingxue’s presence, along with a noticeable profit increase.
Zhou Lichong said, "Such advantage-taking is fine once or twice, but frequent occurrences could breed resentnt. Moreover, Fourth Uncle ntioned that relying on sentints is less stable than interests. It’s better to negotiate openly rather than maintain old favors."
"That’s why we all want to do business with Princess Changyu. If she gets involved in our family business, we make money for her, and in the future, we can openly use her na when conducting business." Zhou Lichong said, "Many people without a foundation want to grow their business this way. There’s no other choice. Forget about officials and nobles; even when transporting goods through a place where the local gentry are strong, if they insist on coercive buying, we must bite the bullet and accept like the Luo Family in Gu County, Liangzhou did."
Zhou Dalang and Junior Ms. Qian had heard about Zhou SiLang leading Fourth Brother’s wife and children through Gu County when they were coercively bought, nearly leading to accidents.
"Even back then, Little Aunt was quite famous, yet the county magistrate in Gu County didn’t side with Fourth Uncle. Even if he wanted to, he probably couldn’t. So local gentry are more authoritative than the county magistrate, ignoring the County Governntal Office entirely." Zhou Lichong said, "It’s not just local gentry, even those within trade caravans, among themselves there’s comparison, a hierarchy privately ranked. Like families like ours, the business isn’t large, the foundation is shallow, yet considered middle-upper tier."
Initially, it wasn’t that ideal, but over these past two years, Little Aunt’s fa grew, favored increasingly within the palace, especially after the Crown Prince had a son, their na carried weight more effectively.
This ti going out with Zhou Lijun, they carefully inquired about the backgrounds of various caravans, discovering so small secrets.
"In these caravans, aside from the top business houses, prominent families and nobles must not be offended, like the Cui Family, Lu Family, Wang Family... even the Bai Family of Little Uncle’s is among them, rely benefiting from the Bai Family’s status. These families are generally left alone unless necessary; it’s best to avoid them. Also, the Guanlong aristocrats like State Duke Zhao and State Duke Su cannot be offended, dealing in business requires caution around them. Then there are families with court officials, due to Little Aunt, our family barely counts here."
"But that’s because of Little Aunt’s growing reputation, Little Uncle’s na spreading, everyone knows Little Aunt plans to marry into the Longzhou Bai Family, and Little Uncle’s scholarly ability is renowned, still the Crown Prince’s companion, promising a worry-free future." Zhou Lichong said, "And within our family, Third Brother and Fourth Brother are studying, though not yet notable, they’re clearly set on academic pursuits leading to officialdom, outsiders dare not bully us recklessly, not knowing what our family’s future holds."
"Hence, our family must have land, having land combined with education turns us from farrs to a cultivated family, sounding far better, sotis traveling relies on montum and reputation."
Why else do people in business prefer boasting?
Because boasting not only deters others but also facilitates success.
After Zhou Lichong rattled off all these, Zhou Dalang and Junior Ms. Qian finally understood, and they imdiately said, "Then let’s buy! Buy land!"
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