Chapter 46: United We Stand

  "Boss, what are we going to do? Are we supposed to go somewhere else to buy wood? That would increase the cost, and if all these machines raise their prices, it will affect sales." Er Gou said with some concern. He had been working at Xuji for ten years and had a deep affection for the place. Plus, Xu Feng was not bad to his subordinates, so he naturally didn't want anything to go wrong with Xuji.

  Xu Feng said with a scowl: "This Su Lun is going to cut off my retreat, really ruthless. I have to go and discuss with Old Zhang. Second Dog, you stay and watch the store, I'll be back in at most one day."

  "Yes."

  After a brief handover, Xu Feng hastily boarded the ship and rushed to Xujia Camp.

  The scene at Xujia Camp shocked him, he had been here several years ago, when there were dozens of households relying on the dock for a living, every day was bustling with work on the dock, and at night they would go home to wash and sleep. Now, although there are not many people on the dock, it is still bustling, with several machines that he had never seen before, which can be operated by just a few workers, but the efficiency has increased by several times. The Zhou's Iron Shop by the dock had moved away at some point, replaced by the four characters "Zhang's Technology".

  Xu Feng originally didn't know where Zhang Lei lived, and now he didn't even need to look for it, so he just walked in.

  The original workshop of the Zhou family's iron shop has been transformed into a storefront by Zhang Lei, with several machines on display. In addition to the sewing machine and small single-person loom that Xu Feng had seen before, there was also a strange machine that made wood extremely smooth after being pushed through it, although it did the same work as a plane, but its efficiency was increased by an unknown amount. Next to it, someone fixed a wooden strip that needed to be drilled on the workbench and turned the handle, and a steel cone drilled out a hole in the wood... All of this made Xu Feng unable to move his feet.

  "Ah, Mr. Xu is here? Please sit down, when did you arrive? No one informed me." Zhang Lei happened to be carrying something out of the inner room and saw Xu Feng, slightly stunned for a moment.

  Xu Feng finally came back to his senses and said, "Xu certain did not invite himself, but hopes that Old Man Zhang will not blame him. Just now, he arrived and was immediately captivated by this scene."

  "Haha, Boss Xu is joking, this is just a small disturbance, it can't compare to your Xu's restaurant. Come on in, come sit down." Zhang Lei invited people to make tea and then invited Xu Feng into the inner hall. Unlike the hustle and bustle outside, the inner hall was very quiet, the decoration was not luxurious but very delicate, with a faint fragrance lingering around, making people feel very comfortable.

  Xu Feng exclaimed: "I couldn't tell, how could Boss Zhang enjoy himself, such a refined person."

  Zhang Lei smiled proudly, his greatest wish in his past life was to have a house of his own, but after working hard for over a decade, he couldn't even fulfill this small requirement, and he didn't know who to blame. Reborn in the late Ming Dynasty, Zhang Lei naturally wanted to make up for this regret, but when he learned that an ordinary farmer could build a house of their own with just one year of hard work, he felt sad for the house slaves of later generations.

  "Mr. Xue, don't make fun of me, I just found a temporary place to stay, the old house is really uninhabitable, now it's been renovated by me and turned into a warehouse, with a few people guarding it, so I had to move here."

  Because the old house still stored a large amount of match medicine underground, Zhang Lei didn't dare to be careless at all. Not only did he build solid defensive facilities, but he also made various anti-theft mechanisms. The defense was comparable to the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Moreover, with the villagers who knew the inside and outside story guarding day and night, the safety index reached five stars.

  "Director Xu has come this time because of that young master Su's matter, right?" Zhang Lei said after a while.

  Xu Feng was brewing his words, but Lei himself brought it up, which saved him a lot of trouble. "Yes, the Xu family has blocked my wood procurement channel today, and I have no way to operate. Alas, in just a few days, if Xu's store can't deliver goods and loses its reputation, then it will only be closed for good."

  Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Xu boss, actually from the day I saw your letter, I basically guessed this outcome. Now it seems that indeed, this young master Su is really vengeful and will stop at nothing to retaliate, quite frightening."

  "Boss Zhang, this is a critical situation, stop joking around and think of a solution quickly. I'm at my wit's end. We can't just go to other places to purchase wood, that would increase the cost so much. And the Su family has Guo Yu as their backer,"

  "Overwhelming strength, can't move!" Xu Feng said anxiously.

  Zhang Lei didn't think much of it and asked: "Guo Yu? Who is this person?"

  "He was the deputy commander of the Wei family, from a declining noble family, but in recent years he has been gaining attention and has great potential. He is closely acquainted with the private secretary of Songjiang Prefecture, so...". As soon as Xu Feng mentioned this, he felt a sense of powerlessness. The collusion between officials and merchants was an unspoken rule in the industry, but when it came to himself being taken advantage of, he couldn't help but start complaining about such behavior. It's like some people who scold officials for their corruption and shamelessness, but as soon as they themselves become officials, they immediately scold the common people as being unruly.

  He didn't have much impression of Qian Hu and Zhang Lei, but he seemed to have heard of that Tong Zhi in ancient costume dramas, who was quite powerful, far more than the county magistrate. He nodded and said, "Alright, I know what you mean. You can rest assured that I've already thought of a plan for this matter. For those orders that have been placed, just transport the wood from my place to fulfill them. Although the cost is a bit high, at least our reputation will be preserved. Just don't continue doing it in the future."

  "Not doing it? My Xu family has been carpenters for generations, if I don't do it what can I do? The government has regulations, a merchant household can only be a merchant household." Xu Feng raised an eyebrow, if he doesn't do business in the future, what will he do, let his whole family go hungry?

  Zhang Lei patted his own forehead and explained, "Not not, I naturally know the rules. What I mean is, since he's not giving you wood anymore, then why don't you just stop making wooden objects? If you insist on doing it, I have a way too, it depends on whether you're willing or not."

  "What's the solution? I hope Mr. Zhang won't hesitate to enlighten me." Xu Feng's eyes lit up as soon as he heard that Zhang Lei had a way.

  "Haha, what's the hurry, Mr. Xu? Come on, let's have some tea first." Zhang Lei smiled and started sipping his tea, intentionally keeping others in suspense.

  Xu Feng was getting anxious, and hastily said: "Oh my Zhang boss, just tell me already, if there's a way to save my store, then you'll be like a second set of parents to me."

  "Alright, alright, it's not that serious. Let me ask you, are these items different in every household?" Zhang Lei asked.

  Although he didn't know why Zhang Lei suddenly asked this, he still said: "That's natural, every family wants their things to be better, where is the standard? Besides, who sets the standard?"

  Zhang Lei smiled and said: "I'm just about to do something big. If you're willing to help me, won't the person who sets the standard come out?"

  "Isn't it that Boss Zhang already has an idea?" Xu Feng was shocked, this young man is getting more and more unpredictable.

  "That's natural, if you're willing to follow me, then Su Lun can be as arrogant as he wants, but he'll still have to take a backseat. You've been suppressed by him for so many years, I'm sure you don't want to be a perpetual number two or three either?" Zhang Lei slightly provoked Xu Feng.

  As for the Su family, Xu Feng's hatred was so deep that it would be hard to wash away even if he exhausted all the rivers and lakes. Unfortunately, the other party was too powerful, and no matter how much he hated them, what could he do? Today, Zhang Lei suddenly brought this up, causing a small earthquake in his heart.

  "What did Mr. Zhang say?"

  Zhang Lei smiled and said, "So what if he has a strong background? I'm not going to sabotage his business. As long as you have enough goods to put on the table, then it's up to you to figure out how to make everyone believe that only your stuff is the best. Can't he, Su family, control what others want to buy?"

  "Hmm." Xufeng found his thoughts were completely unable to keep up with Zhang Lei, and could only respond with a murmur.

  "Then, as long as what you produce is better than his and more than his, others will definitely buy yours. Just like this loom, if your stuff wasn't better than his, would he have come to bother you?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Alright, if things go on like this, as long as what you produce is more and better than his, are you afraid of not being able to surpass him? Even if your family can't do it alone, won't you find other fellow craftsmen in Songjiang Prefecture? I believe that among the shops in Songjiang Prefecture who have been cheated by him, yours is not the only one?"

  "Alas, do you think Su Lun's temperament would attract any allies? His idea is to acquire all the shops in Songjiang Prefecture that are in the same industry as his, and have them all operated by his family. Do you think this concept would attract any collaborators?" Xu Feng said with a cold smile.

  Zhang Lei patted his thigh and said, "So he's the tyrannical Qin? If that's the case, what do you have to be afraid of? Since he wants to annex you, just preempt him by forming an alliance before he does."

  "Zhang boss, just say it directly, what's the plan? As long as we can suppress the Su family, I believe many people will be willing to join in." Xu Feng vaguely sensed something, but was not sure.

  "Alright, since that's the case, I'll just say it directly. My intention is to establish the Zhang Clan Merchant Association, with Zhangshi Technology providing technical support. I think you also saw when you came in earlier, most of our work is done by machines, and ten people can do what a hundred people can do, but faster and more accurately. Don't doubt our technological capabilities. Then, go contact those merchants, have them join the association, and sell my products. Make sure everyone understands that only Zhangshi Technology's and Zhangshi Merchant Association's products are the best, cheapest, and most fashionable. If everyone takes pride in using Zhangshi Technology's products, do you think the Su family will still have any tricks up their sleeve?"