In less than half an hour, Steward Zhang and the others returned with a large sum of silver.
After the servants verified the count, Chu Chen led them back to the reception hall and issued each of them a monopoly document as proof.
Holding the documents, the stewards were overjoyed.
To others, it was just a piece of paper with some writing, but to them, it was a pass to a lucrative business.
"Prime Minister Chu, we all have our monopoly documents now. What about the goods?" Steward Zhang asked cautiously, holding his document.
"Naturally, there's no problem. With this credential, you are qualified to procure goods from the Royal Merchant Guild. As long as you have sufficient funds, everything is negotiable," Chu Chen replied with a smile.
Seeing this, Steward Zhang and the others' last worries were put to rest.
Steward Zhang exclaimed with delight, "Prime Minister Chu! Please give me a hundred bottles of each fragrance, both light and strong! And a hundred of those handheld glass mirrors! Also, a hundred sets of women's clothing!"
"No problem! Laifu!"
"Yes, Master!"
"You will be responsible for discussing procurement matters with the esteemed stewards."
Chu Chen instructed an elder over fifty years old, then turned to Steward Zhang and the others, "This is the steward of my household's merchant affairs. From now on, all procurement, as well as subsequent franchise fee payments and other matters, can be handled directly with him."
"I still have some official duties to attend to, so I won't be able to accompany you further."
With that, Chu Chen nodded with a smile at the stewards and departed.
The stewards bore no dissatisfaction with Chu Chen's departure.
As the Second Prime Minister, Chu Chen's personal reception and handling of their matters was already beyond their expectations. A Second Prime Minister, even if not the Chancellor, could not possibly be responsible for merchant affairs indefinitely.
Soon, Steward Zhang and the others surrounded Steward Laifu, listing their procurement orders.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study of the palace.
The Empress received the message sent by Chu Chen. Her stern face broke into a smile as she read the memorial.
She exclaimed joyfully, "Even with just a dozen wealthy merchants making cautious initial orders, we have already generated so much revenue. This merchant venture is truly profitable."
The selling price for a bottle of light perfume was three taels of silver, and for strong perfume, it was five taels.
A chest binder cost two taels, underwear cost one tael, and a pack of sanitary pads cost half a tael.
A handheld glass mirror cost one hundred taels, and a floor-standing glass mirror cost ten thousand taels.
These were the prices the Royal Merchant Guild sold to the public, and their franchisees were required to sell at the same prices.
For procurement, according to Chu Chen's regulations, the wholesale price for light perfume was one tael and two mace, and for strong perfume, it was two taels and three mace. A set of underwear cost one tael and two mace, sanitary pads were two hundred and thirty wen, handheld glass mirrors were fifty taels, and floor-standing glass mirrors were six thousand taels.
Excluding the floor-standing glass mirrors, almost all other goods offered the franchisees a profit margin of double the wholesale price. This was to motivate them and maximize the market penetration and promotion of the goods across all counties of Yunyue Kingdom.
Once the products became widely known and everyone wanted to buy them, the next step would be to address insufficient supply by investing in factories, enticing gentry and landlords to exchange land for investment.
At that time, when the gentry and landlords saw these wealthy merchants making huge profits, how could they resist? Especially after their wives and daughters had experienced these products, they would understand how popular they were and how profitable they could be.
After accumulating enough land, the Royal Merchant Guild would then begin to compress the profits of franchisees and factory merchants, bringing them back to normal levels.
The second phase of the plan had now commenced, and the Empress was even more confident in its success.
Chu Chen, after leaving the headquarters of the Royal Merchant Guild, did not go far. He proceeded to the adjacent street of the Imperial Guards and summoned over three hundred of them.
"Do you know why I have summoned you?"
"We do not know! Please enlighten us, Prime Minister Chu!"
The three hundred Imperial Guards, led by their Thousand Households, responded in unison.
Chu Chen smiled, waved his hand towards the ground, and instantly, a large number of porcelain bottles appeared on the ground.
He then said, "These porcelain bottles contain pills that can help cultivate to the Ancient Martial realm. I have summoned you all today to reward you for your past meritorious service."
"After you each receive your pills, remember to cultivate diligently and do not slack off."
The Imperial Guards' faces lit up with joy upon hearing this, and they shouted back, "We obey Prime Minister Chu's orders!"
Chu Chen nodded, signaling the Thousand Households to begin distributing the pills. He waited by the side.
It wasn't for supervision. These Imperial Guards were all light infantry and dark guards summoned from the void using system-provided summon cards. Their loyalty and execution were beyond doubt.
Chu Chen had originally obtained two thousand bottles of Ancient Martial realm pills through the lottery. After using five hundred, he had fifteen hundred left. Each bottle contained one hundred pills, which Chu Chen divided into bottles of fifty pills each, enough to provide the necessary nourishment for their cultivation to the Ancient Martial realm.
After they had all received their pills, Chu Chen, based on his previous experience training the elite guard reserve for Princess Xin Yue, personally guided and protected these three hundred Imperial Guards to help them enter the state of cultivation sooner.
They cultivated until evening, and Chu Chen was busy until this time. During this period, he also taught the Hundred Households and Thousand Households methods to avoid having to personally attend to other Imperial Guards during their cultivation.
Within the Imperial Guards, there was one Commander, a third-rank official; two Vice-Commanders, a third-rank official; two Investigating Censors, a fourth-rank official; and two Pacification Officers, a fifth-rank official.
The latter three officials were all civil officials who did not participate in daily duties but remained at the Imperial Guard headquarters to handle administrative matters.
Below the Commander were the Thousand Households, who commanded a thousand men and held a fifth-rank position, the Hundred Households, who commanded a hundred men and held a sixth-rank position, and the Small Banners, who commanded ten men and held a seventh-rank position.
Among these, the Thousand Households and Hundred Households were all members of Chu Chen's dark guard in their current positions. Each of them possessed cultivation at the Body Refining realm. As long as they did not encounter the strongest cultivators at the Foundation Establishment realm openly in Yunyue Kingdom, they could basically move unhindered within the country.
The remaining three thousand light infantry soldiers who transferred to become Imperial Guards only possessed cultivation at the Body Forging realm, essentially at the level of blacksmiths, only slightly stronger than ordinary people.
If they were to operate in areas like Shuangyue City, Guyue County, Yuanyue County, Canyue County, Hongyue County, and Zhuiyue County as before, their current strength would be barely sufficient.
However, these six counties were only one province. The Imperial Guards would certainly not limit their activities to the province where the capital was located. To spread throughout Yunyue Kingdom, their strength naturally needed to be improved.
Chu Chen planned to use the three thousand formal Imperial Guards as a base. For each of the four hundred and sixty-eight counties in Yunyue Kingdom, at least one Small Banner would be stationed. The Small Banners would then recruit informants, temporary workers, and intelligence personnel locally as auxiliary staff.
Concurrently, Imperial Guards would need to be deployed outside Yunyue Kingdom to collect intelligence.
Of course, the current number of Imperial Guards was insufficient for this important task. However, in the future, when Chu Chen drew summon cards, he would supplement the Imperial Guards, aiming for a scale of at least ten thousand formal Imperial Guards.