The autumn equinox of the year 3242 on the Qingzhou Continent, the twenty-first of September.
The Royal Chamber of Commerce's franchisee system had already spread throughout the Yunyue Kingdom, with franchised stores in every county selling goods authorized by the Royal Chamber of Commerce.
Items such as crystal mirrors, full-length crystal mirrors, women's undergarments, sanitary pads, perfumes, new-style textile machines, and new-style spinning machines were all highly popular in various regions.
Especially perfumes and sanitary pads, which often sold out and were in short supply. Even though wealthy merchants were waving their money and persuading many gentry and noble families to exchange land for factory establishment qualifications, it was still difficult to meet the booming market demand.
The cooperating wealthy merchants, gentry, and noble families made a fortune, while those gentry and noble families who were still attached to their land and unwilling to exchange it for qualifications, looked at the value of the grain harvested from their land and, after comparison, were filled with regret.
Fortunately, the domestic market in the Yunyue Kingdom was still booming, not to mention the markets of surrounding countries that had yet to be developed. It was still not too late to exchange land for factory establishment qualifications.
As expected, even the gentry in Anping County, Pingyuan Prefecture, had taken action.
Anping Prefecture was located on the eastern border of the Yunyue Kingdom, bordering the Chen Kingdom, and was a border prefecture within the country. Even the gentry in such a remote place could not resist the temptation of the immense profits from establishing factories.
"Quick, quick, you scoundrels, harvest all the grain for me!"
in the fields, a steward-like figure, accompanied by several house servants holding sticks, stood by the field and shouted loudly.
In the fields, hundreds of tenant farmers, with their families, were busy bending over in the fields, not daring to stop for a moment, harvesting the ripe grain for their landlords.
And this situation was not limited to this one place; over half of the cultivated land in Anping County was like this.
In Anping County, in the Mu family courtyard, several tables of banquets were set, and several people dressed in brocade robes sat at the tables, chatting and laughing.
"Hey, Steward Li is truly a heavy drinker, come, let me toast you again!"
"No, no more, I've had enough to drink! Old Wang Ji, let's talk business, talk business."
Steward Li waved his hand, feeling a bit dizzy, and dared not drink any more. He cupped his hands and said with a wry smile, "Thank you all for your kind words, but I really can't drink any more. If we continue to toast, I'll be drunk and fall here, and this business will have to be discussed tomorrow."
"Uh~ Alright then, what a pity. But after we finish discussing business, Steward Li must still grace us with more drinks, and we won't go home until we're drunk."
An old man with a white beard and white hair, also known as Old Wang Ji, said with a look of regret.
"That's natural." Steward Li nodded quickly.
Damn it, who knew how much these old men could drink, even though they were half a foot in the grave.
Steward Li grumbled in his heart, quickly took out an embroidered handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It was from drinking, and he felt a chill all over his body.
Only his cheeks and head were burning hot.
"Then let's talk business first." The white-bearded Old Wang Ji put down his wine cup, waved to dismiss the servants, and then asked, "Steward Li, how much land is required for factory establishment qualifications?"
"According to the regulations of the Royal Chamber of Commerce, the land required for factory establishment qualifications is divided by type and region. For example, for the popular perfume, one thousand mu of land is required to obtain factory establishment qualifications, and with one thousand mu of land, you get fifty percent of the factory shares."
"Of course, if you obtain the qualifications and still have money to invest in the factory's equipment and personnel costs, then you don't need me to invest and take shares. You will fully own one hundred percent of the shares."
"The profits will naturally belong to you alone. Of course, you will have to pay taxes, which is thirty percent of the net profit as tax. You can also negotiate taxes based on the net profit and pay them on time and in full."
When it came to business, Steward Li's mind cleared up considerably, and he quickly explained the rules and regulations.
"Hiss! One thousand mu of land? How can it be so much?"
But the amount of land required for factory establishment qualifications shocked the old men present.
"It is indeed a bit much, but you also have to consider that even if your thousand mu of land are all fertile, planting wheat or millet will yield at most one and a half shi per mu. Even with a thousand mu, it's only fifteen hundred shi, or fifteen thousand dou."
At this point, Steward Li smiled, took out the abacus he carried with him, and quickly calculated for them. He continued, "Most of the land in our Yunyue Kingdom is harvested once a year. Only Pingyuan Prefecture can be harvested twice a year. If all one thousand mu of land are considered medium-grade land, the annual output of grain, wheat, and millet is three thousand shi, which is equivalent to thirty thousand dou. The price of rice has fallen from ninety wen per dou in the spring of last year to forty wen per dou today."
"Even at this price, it's because we are located in a border prefecture. If it weren't for the border, rice would already be fifty wen per dou. Let's calculate it directly at fifty wen per dou."
Steward Li quickly calculated and said with a smile, "You see, the annual income from one thousand mu of land is no more than one million five hundred thousand wen, which is equivalent to one thousand five hundred taels of silver. If converted to the inner prefectures with one harvest per year, it would be only seven hundred and fifty taels."
"If invested in establishing a factory, you get fifty percent of the shares. The monthly output is one jar of perfume, weighing one shi per month. One bottle of perfume weighs two liang, and one jar produces six hundred bottles. According to the agreed purchase price of the Royal Chamber of Commerce, the purchase price of light perfume is one liang and two, and concentrated perfume is two liang and three. A set of undergarments costs one liang and two. Sanitary pads are two hundred and thirty wen, crystal mirrors are fifty taels, and full-length crystal mirrors are six thousand taels. Just calculating the light perfume alone, the monthly revenue is seven hundred and twenty taels of silver."
"Even if you only have a five percent share, you can earn three hundred and sixty taels. After deducting half of the cost, the net profit is one hundred and eighty taels. After deducting the thirty percent tax rate, the monthly net income is one hundred and twenty-six taels."
"This perfume can be produced for twelve months a year, and the annual net income is one thousand five hundred and twelve taels. You see! Isn't this much better than squeezing those peasants for an annual income of over seven hundred taels? And there are costs for grain production, so we won't count that."
Steward Li's tone was full of seduction, and he continued, "And this is only calculating your initial income. If you make money later, you can completely negotiate with your partners to expand the factory's production capacity. If you produce another jar per month, your annual income will double to three thousand and twenty-four taels of silver? Isn't that wonderful?"
The old men looked at Steward Li's abacus and were completely shocked.
Even though they had heard that establishing factories was very profitable, they never expected it to be so lucrative!
Following Steward Li's words, they calculated in their minds, and it was indeed true.
Old Wang Ji immediately beat his chest and exclaimed, "If I had known this earlier, why would I have been so foolish back then? I have actually lost several months of income!"
"Then what do you think?" Steward Li asked with a feigned smile, his heart filled with joy.
"What do I think? What else is there to think about! I want to invest in establishing a factory! I have over three thousand mu of land at home, and I want to establish three perfume factories!"
Old Wang Ji shouted excitedly, as if he could already see the wonderful life of his family's income doubling.