Chapter 59: The Commodity Order Drives the Three Major Trading Houses into Ecstasy, While Murong Yunqing is Plunged into Despair

Listening to Ye Xun’s words, and seeing the three of them remain silent, Wei Feng swept his gaze across them and mused, "My three family heads, I am not completely ignorant of commerce either, and we are all old friends. You know that these few commodities are entirely monopolized. Even if the price were to be raised further, I imagine the merchants would still break down the threshold of the Prince Qin's Mansion trying to get in."

"Every single second you spend hesitating consumes the trust and sincerity that His Highness Prince Qin has placed in you."

Dealing with these crafty fellows was what Wei Feng did best after all these years in the capital. As the old saying goes: a forced sale is never sweet. Although they had been eyeing the soap for a long time, Wei Feng taking the initiative to seek them out versus them coming here drawn by reputation were certainly two entirely different matters.

Zhao Qingfeng and the other two had traversed the business world for many years and were by no means soft-hearted. Business came first, and personal relations second. However, these few items from the Prince Qin's Mansion truly had no worries regarding sales. This was the foundation of Wei Feng's formidable confidence.

Hearing his words, Zhao Qingfeng wore a ingratiating smile and hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, Lord Cousin, the three of us certainly did not mean that. We are not ungrateful people. If it is according to the price stated by His Highness Prince Qin, this humble one has no objections."

Immediately following that, Chu Liuyun and Li Qingfeng chimed in as well.

"My Liuyun Firm is willing to accept the price stated by Your Highness."
"My Canglan Firm also has no objections."

Since Wei Feng had put it to this point, if they were to haggle any further, it would show a lack of gratitude and tact. This wasn't entirely because Wei Feng held immense personal clout, but primarily because, as he said, there were countless commercial firms competing for these goods.

Seeing that the price had been settled, Ye Xun put down the soap in his hand and said calmly, "Since this is our first cooperation, and you are all friends of my cousin, I cannot be completely devoid of human warmth. How about this: the profit margin for regular soap is too low to change, but I will lower the price of the other two types of soap by five copper coins for you each. How does that sound?"

As his words fell, Zhao Qingfeng and the other two felt a surge of joy in their hearts. They bowed to Ye Xun and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

They had not expected Ye Xun to be so generous, dropping the already finalized price by another five copper coins for each. Do not underestimate these mere five copper coins. Measured against the scale of the entire Great Xia dynasty, once these five copper coins accumulated together, they would amount to a staggering fortune.

Ye Xun nodded slightly. Nowadays, he was growing more and more fond of this cousin of his; having him handle these matters made things run exceptionally smoothly. Wei Feng's ability was beyond doubt. To hold a fourth-rank official post at such a young age was not something that could be easily achieved simply by relying on the connection of being the grandson of the Duke Protecting the State. Wei Feng indeed possessed his own unique brilliance.

Shortly after, Ye Xun picked up the three pots of liquor on the desk and mused, "Now let us look at the second product of today, which are these three pots of liquor. They are respectively named Spring Brew, Sea Brew, and Sky Brew."

"As for the price, we can discuss it after you have tasted them."

The previous distilled liquor of the Immortals' Brew could not be put up for sale. Setting aside the issue of production costs, Great Xia simply did not have that much Immortals' Brew available for him to distill. These three types of liquor were actually the same brew, differing only in the duration of distillation and their purity. Ye Xun divided a single type of liquor into three variations, still corresponding to low, middle, and high tiers.

The recipe for this liquor was something Wei Feng had purchased at a hefty price. However, Zhao Qingfeng and the other two were initially unimpressed. Their primary goal today was the soap. As for liquor, the varieties on the market were countless, each possessing its own merits. Many fine liquors were brewed using ancient methods and possessed profound heritage. They did not believe Ye Xun could produce anything truly extraordinary.

Yet, they could not openly disrespect Ye Xun. Therefore, they each picked up their wine cups and took a light sip.

The moment the Spring Brew entered their throats, all three of them were astounded. The three men, who had never tasted such potent liquor before, stared blankly at the wine in their cups.

How could it be... How could there be such a fierce liquor?

Compared to the distilled liquor of the Immortals' Brew, this Spring Brew had an excess of strength but lacked a certain mellowness. Yet to them, it was already unimaginably rich. After all, this liquor was immeasurably more mellow than any undistilled wine they had ever encountered.

Having tasted the Spring Brew, Zhao Qingfeng and the other three hesitated no longer and successively sampled the Sea Brew and the Sky Brew. The further along the liquor went, the higher the alcohol content and the richer the fragrance became.

The potency, the texture, the mellowness, the aroma... All were of the absolute highest grade.

By this point, the three of them could no longer maintain their composure. The exclusive sales rights for these three types of liquor today—they had to secure them at all costs. Compared to the soap, the sales volume of this liquor would be unimaginably massive. A bar of soap might last several months, but a pot of this liquor might not even suffice for a single meal.

If they could secure the sales rights for this liquor, they believed the scale of their respective firms would ascend to an entirely new height. Standing before these three types of liquor, soap was merely a younger brother.

"Your Highness, this liquor..." Li Qingfeng looked toward Ye Xun, the excitement in his eyes no longer concealable.

Zhao Qingfeng was even more direct. "Your Highness, just name your price. From now on, my Zhao Family Firm will throw its lot in with you and follow your lead implicitly."

"Indeed, Your Highness," Chu Liuyun chimed in eagerly. "Your Highness, we truly came with utmost sincerity today, and we are willing to progress hand in hand with Your Highness."

At this moment, they could no longer care about maintaining their dignity or whether they would be fleeced. Once this liquor was introduced to the market, it would undoubtedly sweep across Great Xia, becoming priceless and hard to come by. Those princes and nobles who were obsessed with alcohol, along with romantic scholars and poets, would all have to obediently offer up their silver, and even then, they would have to depend on whether the merchants were willing to sell to them.

Off to the side, Shangguan Yunqing quietly observed the scene unfolding before her. It seemed she had truly worried needlessly. Ye Xun’s liquor had no trouble selling whatsoever; these three commercial magnates had completely lost their composure over it. It seemed she really knew nothing about liquor; although she knew it was extraordinary, she had never expected it to be contested over with such desperation.

At the same time, she felt a slight sense of disappointment that she hadn't been able to help Ye Xun. Yet, she was also happy for him. If the Prince Qin's Mansion continued to develop along this momentum, its rise would be unstoppable.

Ye Xun took a light sip from his cup and slowly said, "The price of this liquor might be somewhat high."

"No matter!" Li Qingfeng waved his hand grandly, wearing the posture of someone determined to win at all costs. "Good things ought to have a good price. If the price of this liquor were low, this humble one would feel it was an injustice to Your Highness."

"Quite right, Your Highness. Just name it; we can definitely accept it."
"Your Highness, this liquor is truly extraordinary; we will certainly not tarnish its reputation."

Zhao Qingfeng and Chu Liuyun chimed in one after another. They were practically itching to haul the liquor back to their firms immediately.

Wei Feng drank his wine on his own, remaining silent. Today, Ye Xun was taking the lead, and he only needed to play a supporting role. Furthermore, he could see that Ye Xun possessed extraordinary capability, dangling the appetites of these three men to a breathless degree.

The fact that Ye Xun had proactively dropped the price by five copper coins earlier was precisely to lay the groundwork for this moment. Ye Xun had given Zhao Qingfeng and the others face by taking the initiative to lower the price, so even if the subsequent items were extraordinarily expensive, the three of them would feel thoroughly ashamed to haggle over prices again.

Of course, the premise for all this was that the goods were sufficiently good, peerless, and irreplaceable. Everything coming out of the Prince Qin's Mansion met these three criteria. Otherwise, seasoned buyers like the three of them would not have been so anxious as to expose their emotions right before Ye Xun's eyes.

Right now, they only wished to use their utmost sincerity to move Ye Xun.