Chapter Fourteen: The Bigger the Business, the Better

  Wu Kai stared fixedly at the bowl of liquor in front of him, his face looking very unsightly. Since Gao Yuan had poured this bowl of liquor in front of him, he had been like this for a small moment already.

  "Old road, what does it mean?" He finally raised his head.

  Lu Hong waved his hand and said, "I didn't mean anything, this wine recipe was concocted by my nephew."

  "Are you also going to get into the wine business on this old road?" Wu Kai's face looked ugly, Lu Hong was not a big shot, but he had a governor behind him, that was a huge entity.

  "If I really wanted to do wine business, I wouldn't have called you Old Wu!" Lu Hong chuckled, Wu Kai was the local snake head in Fufeng County, compared to him, he was also good, and even the postal inspector Huo Zhuang was also good, they could only be considered outsiders. Lu Hong had never seen Wu Kai so flustered before, and couldn't help but feel extremely pleased. "Although I'm a rough person, I also understand the rules, I won't overstep my bounds, let alone these years of cooperation with County Magistrate Wu have been pleasant!"

  As soon as Wu Kai heard Lu Hong's words, he let out a long sigh of relief, his tightly furrowed eyebrows suddenly relaxed, and his originally cold face instantly bloomed like a flower, making Gao Yuan feel a chill on the side, one person's facial expression changed so quickly, today is really an eye-opener.

  "I knew Lao Lu was a man of discipline." Wu Kai laughed and said, "Unlike Huo Zhu, who eats like a beast. This number, 5,000 yuan, I want Fangzi."

  Originally, Lu Hong thought that 1,000 yuan would be enough, but he never expected Wu Kai to offer 5,000 yuan, which suddenly made his mind more agile. It seems that this business is indeed very promising, and perhaps it's true what Gao Yuan said, that a steady stream of small profits can be more cost-effective.

  "Old Wu, I said it before, this prescription was concocted by my nephew, his affairs he's in charge of, I don't interfere." Lu Hong shook his head and finished speaking, then turned his head to pick up another bowl of wine, hiding on the side to savor it carefully, shaking his head and nodding, feeling content.

  Wu Kai immediately turned his face to Gao Yuan, "Five thousand taels!" he emphasized, Gao Yuan was not some big shot, although he had a hundred or so acres of land, at most it would only bring in a hundred or so taels per year, and five thousand taels could crush him, if not for Lu Hong standing behind him, Wu Kai wouldn't have made this offer, although he knew the value of this prescription was far more than that.

  Gao Yuan smiled and shook his head.

  Wu Kai's face immediately fell.

  "Young man, don't be too greedy. I'm just one cent short and you can't do this business, right? Old Lu, you said before that you wouldn't take advantage of me, didn't you?"

  Gao Yuan lightly laughed out loud.

  "Wu County Magistrate, in Fufeng County, I indeed cannot do this business, but what about other counties, the prefecture? I believe that as long as I take these wine samples out, people will line up to buy the formula from me. Do you believe it or not?"

  Wu Kai's face suddenly turned dark and gloomy. "Young man, too greedy, won't live long."

  With a loud clang, Lu Hong slammed the wine bowl heavily on the table. "Old Wu, I don't dare say anything else, but my nephew will definitely live to be a hundred years old, won't he?"

  Lu Hongyi spoke up, and Wu Kai immediately lost his enthusiasm. Ah, the young man in front of him was not someone he could easily manipulate. Taking a deep breath, "Alright, young man, name your price, I'll buy this formula!"

  Gao Yuan smiled and stretched out two fingers.

  "Twenty thousand taels?" Wu Kai was shocked, "Are you crazy?"

  "Not two million yuan, but 20% of the shares!" Gaoyuan said with a smile.

  As soon as the words came out, not to mention Wu Kai, even Lu Hong was stunned. Lu Hong stood up involuntarily, and his stomach was too big. If Wu Kai really agreed, Lu Hong would worry that Gao Yuan would burst his belly.

  Wu Kai sneered coldly and stood up from his chair, "Young man, is that all you've got to say?" He didn't even glance at Gao Yuan, but instead turned to look at Lu Hong, "Old Lu, this isn't me being disrespectful, it's just your nephew who has gone too far." Having said that, he swept his sleeve and was about to leave.

  "Go far!" Lu Hong had an urgent knot.

  Gao Yuan gave him a look and said in a low voice, "Mr. Wu, these two shares, my uncle and I only need one share."

  Wu Kai's footsteps paused, and he slowly turned around, "What do you mean by this? Since you and Lao Lu are going to split it 50/50, who is the other 10% for?"

  "Director Wu, standing at the door isn't a good place to discuss business, is it?" Gao Yuan said with a smile.

  Wu Kai sank into thought for a moment, then turned around and walked back. "Alright, go ahead and say what you want to say."

  "Let's talk about whether this wine has a market first, will it sell well?" Gaoyuan asked.

  "This goes without saying, I, Wu, am in this line of business. If it didn't have a future, would I be willing to spend 5,000 guan to buy this formula? In my experience, not just in Fufeng, but in the entire Liaoxi Prefecture, and even the entire Yan State, this is also the first of its kind." Wu Kai said without hiding his intentions.

  "Good, sir is indeed a connoisseur. If so, sir wouldn't want to just sell this wine in Fufeng County, would you? Wouldn't you want to go out? Wouldn't you want the entire Liaoxi Prefecture to sell your wine? Or even the entire State of Yan or an even larger place?" Gaoyuan's voice was full of temptation.

  "It's easy to say that it's fake, but this business has someone holding onto it everywhere, wanting to enter someone else's territory, how can it be so easy?" Wu Kai shook his head and said.

  "This is where I'll be going from now on." Gaoyuan smiled and said, "Lord Wu, you should have thought of this by now?"

  Wu Kai stared at Gao Yuan with his eyes wide open, his mind turning for a while, and suddenly he slapped the table heavily, "I understand, I understand, you're right, Governor Taishou."

  "Adults are indeed clever!" Gaoyuan patted his palm and laughed loudly. "Since this business can make a lot of money, it's better to have a larger market, isn't it? Just Fengxian County alone won't make much money. Mr. Wu, Uncle, and Governor Taishou can get along with each other, let's pull Governor Taishou in, with his shares, this will be Governor Taishou's business too! The more we sell, the more Governor Taishou will earn, think about it, won't Governor come to help us promote our wine?"

  "What a great idea!" Wu Kei slammed his hand on the table and shouted, causing Lu Chao and Wu County Magistrate's personal attendant to poke their heads in from the doorway to see what was going on.

  "The governor has 3,000 troops in his hands, but the imperial court hasn't allocated silver to the governor for many years. The governor is really poor, the more wine he sells, the more he earns. Not to mention Liaoxi County, even if he sells wine throughout the entire state of Yan, the governor would be willing to do so. With the governor as our backing, we can make a name for ourselves in Yan."

  "If we can pull in Taishou, it's no problem in Liaoxi County, but if we want to extend it to the entire Yan State, it's difficult."

  "Director Wu seems to have forgotten that we have the governor as our backing, and the governor being in Ji City doesn't mean he has no connections? But by then, would Director Wu be willing to take out some more shares?" Gao Yuan said with a smile.

  Wu Ke was excited and trembling slightly, "If it can really be sold throughout the entire Yan State, I am willing to give a few more percentage points of shares to the people behind the governor."

  "So, sir, does this mean you're willing to give up these two percent shares?" Gaoyuan asked with a smile.

  "Of course I'm willing, anyone who isn't is an idiot." Wu Kai burst out laughing and turned to look at Lu Hong, "Old Lu, you have a great nephew."

  Lu Hong looked at Wu Kai, then at Gao Yuan, and was shocked in his heart. He never thought that Wu Kai would actually agree to it, and he would even agree to exchange two percent of the shares for this formula?

  "Old Lu, it's been a pleasure working with you. From now on, this Fufeng County is our domain, just the two of us. Let Huo Zhu see how powerful we are!" Wu Kai laughed and said: "What's wrong, Old Lu? Can't bear to bring out some good wine and meat to celebrate? Gao Yuan, let's drink while we talk about this plan."

  "Of course, no problem!" Lu Hong finally came to his senses and shouted repeatedly: "Lu Bin, Lu Bin, hurry to the kitchen and order them to prepare a few good dishes immediately. I want to have a good drink with Mr. Wu."

  "Right, let's have a few more cups. I was just thinking of asking Gao Xian about his thoughts on brewing."

  While preparing wine and dishes, Gaoyuan had already prepared the pen and ink. Wu County Magistrate was also straightforward, with a big stroke of his brush, several contracts were quickly written out, a total of six copies. Lu Hong took one copy, Gaoyuan took one copy, and Zhang Shouyue, the governor of Liaoxi Prefecture, took one copy. Lu Hong and Gaoyuan signed their names on the contract with their pens. Wu Ke signed his name on all six copies, then handed two copies to Lu Hong, "Old Lu, these two copies need you to trouble yourself to discuss with Governor Zhang, only when these two copies take effect will our copies take effect, how about it?"

  "No problem!" Lu Hong smiled and said: "During the New Year, I will go to pay a New Year's visit to the governor, just in time to discuss this matter with him."

  "Director Wu, let's first get this business going, and when Uncle goes to pay his respects during the New Year, we'll send the dividends for these few months to Governor Taishou all at once. With real gold and silver, Governor Taishou will surely be more willing to agree." Gao Yuan suggested.

  "Alright, Gao Xian's idea is good. No matter how much we talk about it, nothing is more persuasive than cold hard cash. Let's get down to business right away. Gao Xian, what's the plan?"

  "Tomorrow, Master Wu will send Da Shifu to my house, I'll teach him, this kind of thing, of course, is not to be spread to six ears, how can it be written on paper? If it's stolen by someone, won't we have been busy for nothing?" Gao Yuan said with a smile.

  Wu Kai clapped his palms together, "High Xian nephew's words have deeply touched my heart, tomorrow early in the morning, our family's master will come to your door to ask for advice." He held High Yuan's hand and smiled with great joy.