Master of The Azure Palace Chapter 13: The Beggar, The Monk and The Courtesan (12)

Read chapter 13 of Master of The Azure Palace by AzulConVerde on NovelPedia.

Lán and Youlan got to work, they needed to quickly and quietly set the groundwork for the festival. They needed to recruit as many businesses as they could before word eventually got out and reached the ears of the Jinzi Merchant Union. Lán was happy to be right about Su Youlan, she was an excellent businesswoman and her uncanny ability to know just what each person wanted proved to be the perfect tool for the job. Many small businesses that were unaligned quickly joined them sensing an opportunity, and the larger businesses that were actively opposing the Jinzi Merchant Union needed only a few words and slight suggestions from Su Youlan to think that the whole thing was their idea. They happily gave the Húchéng Summer Festival Committee the starting gold they needed to begin the first part of their operation. They gave each business explicit instructions to start buying resources and network with each other to avoid the ears of the Jinzi Merchant Union while steadily growing their influence. Once they had the seed money, they started giving out low-interest loans to would-be business men to build hotels, inns, restaurants, and other necessary tourism infrastructure. Naturally many con artists and grifters came but they were quickly rooted out by Su Youlan’s discerning eye. Once they laid the groundwork, they spread news of the festival with the help of Shú, the contacts they had made recently in the Imperial Palace once again helped fan the flames of the festival even further. Soon, many of the small businesses they had helped set up became full with reservations in anticipation of the festival. As news spread, some of the businesses that had a shaky or forced alliance with the Jinzi Merchant Union found ways to sever their connection, hoping that the revenue from the festival would offset their losses of doing so. And so, four months came and went. Lán sat in his office with Youlan, Shu, Baek and Saman Pa. With one month to go for the festival, the small office resembled a sea of paper and ink, with hundreds if not thousands of notices, contracts and books filling every corner of the crowded office. Their workflow was interrupted by a familiar ruckus in the front gate of the family estate. “I demand you let me in!” Guan Baocai screamed “How dare a punny family cut us out on potential business, let me in I said!” he was accompanied by another merchant and a small retinue of private guards The Lúse Family guards at the entrance were struggling with the group until Lán stepped outside to calm things down. “Please, esteemed guests, there is no need for arguing” Lán said calmly “What can I help you with?” “Did you seriously think your little plan was going to work?” Baocai sneered “You can try to pry business away from us, but the fact that we own every single supply route in and out of Húchéng remains” “We can snip your little festival in the bud if we wanted to” Lán led the businessmen into the main hall to keep them from causing a scene. Once they settled in they began discussing business. “So, you were saying?” Lán replied calmly. “Young Master, I’m He Suanpan” the other businessman spoke up “As my partner was saying, it's been extremely rude of you to cut the Jinzi Merchant Union out of this festival, however we are willing to be kind and not end your event if you cut us into the profits” "Of course we expect a majority of the profits, at least seventy percent, and we expect you to pick up the tab” Baocai smirked. “That’s ridiculous and you know it” Youlan said as she stepped into the hall. She stared Guan Baocai down as they both sneered at each other. He Suanpan pulled out a contract “I'm afraid you don't have much choice, as we said, we can end this charade of yours in an instant” he said, starting to lose this patience. “You are welcome to try” Lán said as he pulled a ledger from under the table “These are the buy orders for all of the materials and resources necessary for the festival, we bought them from you months ago