bookbashuk Chapter 2742 Family Gathering
Chapter 2742 Family Gathering
Du Chuke left, carrying the orders Li Tai had given him, but he was still taken aback by Li Tai's words as he left.
The Du family has fallen on hard times and no longer enjoys its former glory.
The Du family, located south of the city and about 15 feet from the sky, was one of the six prominent families in Guanzhong during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.
At that time, the Du family was extremely prestigious. Although they were not as prominent as the Five Clans and Seven Families, they were still respected by other prominent families in Guanzhong.
He was as famous as the Wei family that day, and everyone in Guanzhong knew him.
But now, the Wei family is rising rapidly, reaching new heights, while the Du family is gradually declining.
The prosperity of a family depends on whether each generation has a leader.
The previous generation's leader of the Du family was his elder brother, Du Ruhui, while the current generation's heir to the title is Du Ruhui's eldest son, Du Gou.
Unfortunately, Du Gou's Achilles tendon was severed by a fish-mouthed creature during a bandit suppression campaign in his early years, leaving him with a limp. Now, he only holds a mid-ranking official position in the court and is unable to lead the Du family to further rise to prominence.
The enormous Du family didn't have a single capable leader.
It seems I need to tell my clan members when I get back that we shouldn't be enemies with the Prince Ji's family anymore. Even if we can't be friends, we shouldn't be enemies.
Li Tai declined the invitation from the aristocratic families and did not attend their discussions.
But that doesn’t prevent the families from gathering together.
Right there in the Cui family mansion, representatives of the five surnames were all present, not only the aristocratic families, but also representatives of the Shandong gentry.
Li Yifu, the chief secretary of the Prince of Jin's residence, was also among them, and his appearance should represent Li Zhi's arrival.
"Everyone, everyone is here, so let's begin." As the host, Choi In-ji spoke first.
"Brother Cui, there must still be some people who haven't arrived yet, and no one from the Prince of Wei's residence has come either."
Someone immediately asked.
This is different from the number of invitations they sent out.
"It's past noon, so I doubt the Xue, Lu, and Pei families will be coming."
The Prince of Wei's residence just sent someone to inform us that His Highness is unwell and unable to travel.
Choi In-ji began to explain with a stern face.
These families clearly did not want to associate with them anymore, and the King of Wei was even more obviously refusing.
It's not like he has to come in person. What does it matter if he's unwell? Just send someone. The Prince of Jin's residence has already sent Li Yifu.
This is disrespecting their aristocratic families.
"Since that's the case, then let's begin, Censor Cui. What exactly is your purpose in summoning us here today?"
The representative of the Li family of Longxi spoke directly, without any politeness.
The reason I came here today is because we are all from the same of the five surnames, and I am giving the Cui family face.
The Li family of Longxi were imperial relatives and had long since stopped participating in the power struggles among aristocratic families; they only cared about their own interests.
The Li family of Zhao County was the same; they came this time because they heard it wasn't about any infighting.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten involved with these powerful families.
Things are different now. The Cui family, which was once the head of the five surnames, no longer exists. The Li family is now the head of the five surnames.
Together, Zhao County and Longxi County are fully capable of resisting any other provocations.
"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point. I've invited you all here today for the sake of spices."
As you may have noticed, over the past year, for reasons unknown, the supply of spices has drastically decreased, and prices have continued to soar.
It is comparable to that of the early Tang Dynasty, and the price is three times that of that time.
I imagine you all have quite a few spices on hand, don't you?"
Choi In-ji looked around as she finished speaking, waiting for everyone's response.
“Indeed, we do have some spices, but we don’t know what the Cui family’s intentions are?” Zheng Jingsi, the representative of the Zheng family, asked.
Although the others didn't speak, it was clear what they meant; they did indeed have some spices in their hands.
But not that much. A lot has been used this past year, with only expenditures and no gains.
Choi In-ji had a big smile on her face:
"Gentlemen, I know that you all have some spices on hand, some for your families to consume."
Some people hoard them to make a lot of money.
Spices were originally used as a substitute for silk in barter, and there was a new term for it called currency.
Yes, currency means money or wealth; this term originated from the Prince Ji's residence.
"Nowadays, in our Great Tang Dynasty, besides copper coins and gold, the only other currency is silk, and spices can also be used as a substitute for currency."
“Censor Cui, please speak frankly. We don’t understand what you mean by this.”
Are you trying to tell us that we can use spices when buying things in the future?
After Choi In-ji spoke at length, someone below asked impatiently.
Choi In-ji wasn't angry; she still explained with a smile:
“That’s right, that’s exactly what I meant. But it’s not that I want you to use spices to buy things, but rather that I want to tell you about the value of spices.”
"What do you mean?" Many people below frowned and looked at Choi In-ji. Did you really need to tell us the price of these spices?
"Gentlemen, what Brother Cui means is that the value of these spices is not fixed. They can continue to rise in price, or they may plummet to the level they were two years ago."
At this moment, a member of the Wang clan stood up and explained to Cui Renzhi.
It's obvious they had already discussed it beforehand.
"Just say what you want to say," the Li clan member urged impatiently.
"Then I'll get straight to the point." Choi In-ji nodded. He had originally wanted to stir up the emotions of the people present, but he hadn't expected that they wouldn't listen to him.
Having no other option, Choi In-ji could only say:
"Gentlemen, I believe everyone is familiar with the phrase 'rare goods are worth hoarding,' and understands its meaning."
Nowadays, the spices we all possess account for the majority of the spices in Chang'an City. How much these spices sell for is entirely up to us.
We could easily sell it for a higher price.
"And then what? Buy it back?" No sooner had Cui Renzhi finished speaking than someone stood up to refute him. This person was a steward of the Du family.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, the manager remained calm and continued:
“Ci Shi, what you just said does make some sense. We can raise the price and then sell it.”
But have you ever thought about what happens after we sell them? Which household in our family doesn't need spices?
Do we have to buy it back at a high price later?
Putting aside the price issue for now, given the current market situation, whether you could even buy it back then was a question.
If we want to make money, the first thing we need to solve is the supply of goods. Otherwise, once we sell out, we'll have to keep buying them back.
If we sell it and others don't use it, and then they resell it to us at a higher price after we've used it up, wouldn't we be shooting ourselves in the foot?
After finishing his speech, the steward of the Du family cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and then sat down.
However, what he said made sense to everyone: the premise of having a lot of things that others don't have is that you can sell them for a high price.
But they didn't have that many spices to begin with, only a few hundred thousand strings of cash. How much money could they make if they sold them?
(Sleeping for thirteen hours straight, isn't that amazing?)