Royal Gold Magistrate - Chapter 69

After a few twists and turns, the morning court returned to normal.

Once the court session concluded, Guo Tianyang approached Fang Zheng with a sly expression, squinting his eyes.

“Wise brother, His Majesty summons you to meet in the Imperial Study.”

“Oh, many thanks, Brother Guo!” Fang Zheng inconspicuously took out a silver banknote and stuffed it into Guo Tianyang’s sleeve.

Guo Tianyang nodded in satisfaction and whispered, “It may be to ask some questions about tea.”

“Gotcha.”

Watching Fang Zheng’s departing figure, Guo Tianyang couldn’t help feeling a bit depressed.

This kid, apart from his loose tongue, was quite sensible. But why was he sometimes so clueless?

Did he really have to personally ask to be taken in as a godson?

…………..

When Fang Zheng entered the Imperial Study, Emperor Jing had already arranged seats inside the room.

Upon seeing Fang Zheng arrive, he said directly, “No need for formalities, sit.”

Seeing this, Fang Zheng’s mood lifted. It seemed there wasn’t any issue today.

Emperor Jing reviewed memorials without looking up. “Tell me, how did you beat up that Zhang Chang?”

“…………….”

“Your Majesty, what do you mean?” Fang Zheng grew alert. Could it be he sent someone to follow me?

Emperor Jing let out a derisive laugh. “Heh, do you think I’m not clear what kind of person you, Fang Zheng, are? A verbal dispute? Anyone who gets into a verbal dispute with you wouldn’t have a good end!”

Fang Zheng chuckled awkwardly… It seemed the bigshot was going to cover for him.

“Your subject is ashamed. It was just a simple sparring match… I didn’t go too hard. After the beating, I even invited him to take a bath.”

Emperor Jing slowly raised his head and pointed his brush at Fang Zheng. “Zhang Chang is the son of the Minister of Revenue. You can’t be unaware of that, right?”

“The capital isn’t the same as Taoyuan County. Don’t act so recklessly in the future, causing a ruckus all day long. What part of you seems like a court official?”

Seeing the bigshot’s concern, Fang Zheng smiled shyly. “What urgent matter did Your Majesty call me for?”

Emperor Jing’s expression turned solemn. “The tea… it’s not selling anymore!”

“The batch of tea brought in from Taoyuan County last time had decent sales, but the sales of subsequent batches have been declining daily.”

“In the last couple of days, it’s practically not moving at all. There are even similar products appearing on the market.”

“So, I want to ask you, how do we solve this problem?”

Hearing this situation, Fang Zheng wasn’t surprised. Those products were low-quality to begin with.

Everyone was just trying it for novelty, chasing a fad. Not to mention, Emperor Jing set the price so high. Even if people had money, they wouldn’t be fools every single day.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, these are all normal circumstances.”

“The quality of Celestial Immortal Tea was never top-notch to start with, and the variety is limited while the price is exorbitant.”

“Solving this problem isn’t difficult. We just need to bring in some other varieties of tea from Taoyuan County and segment the market for repositioning.”

“The teas can be divided into Longevity Tea, Beauty Tea, Weight Gain Tea, Virility Tea… and so on.”

“The packaging must be exquisite, ideally achieving the effect of the case being worth more than the contents. Include a short story inside introducing the tea’s long historical background.”

“The shop’s counters should also be carefully planned with distinct categories. For example, Longevity Tea is best sold by Daoist-looking elders, while Beauty Tea should have many beauties selling it…”

“Virility Tea can be sold by someone like Eunuch Guo. He can tell everyone he’s ‘capable’ again! Just imagine, which man can resist such temptation?”

Recently that old thing Guo Tianyang kept looking at Fang Zheng with strange eyes. He remembered that!

Hearing him tease Guo Tianyang, Emperor Jing originally wanted to laugh but immediately put on a straight face. “Speak properly!”

“Err……”

“Secondly, the current sales model of just selling at the counter is too crude.”

“It would be better to sign long-term cooperation agreements with other restaurants or brothels to supply them in bulk at below retail price and have them promote it.”

“Most importantly is the pricing! Forgive my bluntness, but the price Your Majesty set for the tea is really too high!”

“You have to harvest the leeks wave after wave. If you dig up the whole plot, it’ll be a losing proposition!”

Emperor Jing looked at Fang Zheng with a strange gaze. “But nothing from your Taoyuan County is cheap at all!”

Fang Zheng said awkwardly, “The capital uses a different model from Taoyuan County. Taoyuan County uses a tourist attraction model.”

“Tourist attraction model?”

“Indeed. Few outsiders come to Taoyuan County in the first place, and the merchants who come to purchase goods have no choice but to buy from Taoyuan County, so…… Hehe!”

Emperor Jing laughed despite himself. “What if I hand the tea sales over to you?”

Fang Zheng hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, no, I can’t do it. Instructing the crown prince already leaves me a bit stretched. These days I get headaches just getting out of bed. If I also have to operate the tea business on the side, I’m afraid… it would be counterproductive.”

You must be joking. Sourcing goods from Taoyuan County but doing twice the work for the same money? When has Young Fang ever taken such a loss?

“I’ll give you ten percent of the profit.”

“Deal!”

Fang Zheng blurted it out without thinking and regretted it right after.

Emperor Jing stared at Fang Zheng. “You’re the first one to ever bargain with me. Do you know why I favor you so?”

These words sounded awkward. Fang Zheng’s expression was a bit unnatural. “Because your subject can make money?”

Emperor Jing said slowly, “Indeed. Last year the national treasury’s annual revenue totaled just over 22 million taels. With one method, you alone helped me earn over 100,000 taels. It’s this ability of yours that I value.”

“The treasury is empty now, we’re struggling with each step, short on both grain and money. It’s giving me a headache.”

Fang Zheng nodded. “Actually, it all comes down to lacking grain. With ample food, a large workforce can be freed up. Wealth will naturally be created and circulate.”

“Oh? Interesting. I’ve witnessed your money-making skills. What about… grain production? Do you have any ideas?”

Emperor Jing’s eyes held a glimmer of hope, wishing to hear the desired answer from Fang Zheng’s mouth.

But he was quickly disappointed.

“Your subject has no solution.”

Fang Zheng also felt quite helpless. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn – the people of Jing had never even heard of these things. He had dispatched people to inquire and search for them.

But they came up completely empty-handed. With hope so slim, Fang Zheng didn’t want to waste manpower and money on this and could only call off the search.

In the end, he could only send specialists in Taoyuan County to cultivate the existing main crops, but the scale was too small and progress was minimal.

Some quite efficient farming tools did come out, but in this era, manpower was dirt cheap. In the big picture, these tools seemed insignificant.

Emperor Jing waved his hand in disappointment. “Forget it, I’ve put you in a difficult position. This kind of issue ultimately can’t be solved by one person anyway.”

“Alright, let’s stop here for today. The crown prince is still waiting for you.”

As soon as Emperor Jing finished speaking, Guo Tianyang rushed in.

Drenched in sweat, his expression frightened, he said, “Your Majesty! Doctor Hu says the Fifth Princess can’t hold on. Please go see her!”