Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 386: Cooperation with the Su family

Su Jing He and Fang Qing both laughed, and Su Jing He said: “Fang Zhou, you are not a frivolous person, if you say it, then it is true!”

Fang Qing asked: “I don’t know what the raw cotton looks like? To make such a quilt, what kind of process and technology needed to be mastered?”

“You really are my cousin!” Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t help but laugh and praise.
Opening her pocket bag, she pulled out a handful of raw cotton and allowed them to look at it.
She explained: “This is the cotton seeds that have just been picked and not yet removed.”

“Cousin is very thoughtful!” Fang Qing exclaimed, looking carefully.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled: “My cousin is correct, from seed to quilt, it does require several steps and special tools.
Steward Su at my place has created a method after understanding the process.
I will sell cotton to my cousin and cousin-in-law and naturally the craftsmanship and tools will be the same.”

She explained that she had sent Su Zi Ji to study in Jiangnan a few months ago, only saying that intentionally or unintentionally, he had discovered an innovation.
The reason Su Zi Ji was able to make these tools so quickly was thanks to accidently stumbling across a few inspirations.

Whether this matter was truly accidental, Fang Qing and Su Jing He would certainly not pry into.
For them, this was unimportant.

“This is really great!” Fang Qing couldn’t help but take Lian Fang Zhou’s hand and say with a smile: “You are so generous, I really don’t know what to say!”

The cotton alone was precious but the truly rare thing was the technology and tools, not to mention the processing methods.

They all fully understood how valuable this knowledge was.
If Lian Fang Zhou didn’t tell them and they had to rely on their own ability to experiment, who knew how much time and financial resources would be wasted!

“Cousin, don’t say that, you are making me feel embarrassed!” Lian Fang Zhou smiled calmly.
“Can I not think of my cousin and cousin-in-law? I’m not afraid to share! Such a great benefit, I can’t swallow this alone! To tell you the truth, I also hope that with the Su family backing me, others won’t dare to have ideas lightly.”

Fang Qing smiled.
“Cousin, your temperament is really good.
Even if you say so, our Su family will still accept this kindness.”

In this world, there were many people who have been dazzled by wealth and lost their minds.
How many people in the government could be as calm and rational as her?

Moreover, the initiative is completely in her hands.
Since she made the decision to share the wealth, was there someone else the Su family would cooperate with?

The more the discussed the details, the more excited Fang Qing and Su Jing He became.
Eventually, Fang Qing smiled and said: “Cousin and Young Master Jian will stay the night! By the way, how much is a cattie of cotton? Does Cousin have any estimates?”

This question really stumped Lian Fang Zhou.
Before coming, she had thought about this problem and clearly recorded the costs of growing cotton in her notebook.
However, when she came to a price, she was still very embarrassed.

Because cotton was not currently an ordinary consumer product that was found in thousands of households, it could only be considered a luxury.

“I thought about this when I came here but I couldn’t think of a suitable price even after much deliberation.
I wanted to ask my cousin and cousin-in-law what their thoughts were.” Lian Fang Zhou smiled.

She added: “Cotton will certainly be a hot commodity for the next two or three years but once the material is common, the court will surely take control.
Eventually the price will come down and become very cheap.”

It was not like pearls or gems, which would always be luxury goods.
Even if the price fluctuated, there would only be a slight difference and generally speaking, this was a good thing.

The reason why Lian Fang Zhou said this was that of course the price must be set high but it could not be set too high or outrageous.
Otherwise, when the price dropped in the future, those who bought it early would inevitably feel unhappy.

Some people would get upset and complain about them secretly.
After all, this was something that people were willing to fight about and suffer.

But there would also be those that when they got upset, they would cause trouble.

Whether it was the Su family or Lian Fang Zhou’s family, if they wanted to do business in the future, they shouldn’t make too many enemies.

Anyways, it was enough for the two families to take the lead and two or three years was enough to make a lot of profit.

Fang Qing was a smart person.
Su Jing He was still a little confused when he heard Lian Fang Zhou but his wife instantly figured out the underlying problem.

Sternly, she said: “Cousin’s reminder is very good! I think the cotton quilt should be based on the standard of a seven-catty quilt, which is eighty taels.
However, one catty from Cousin should not be less than fifty taels of silver.
When you consider the unique technology and processing cost, the final estimate is not easy to say.
The total would be around 60,000 taels! This is too big, we should discuss it with father-in-law.
What do you think, Cousin?”

After all, the two families would sell at the same price in the future, they should negotiate the price together.

Lian Fang Zhou was startled, quickly calculating it in her heart.
Thinking about how much money she could earn, her heartbeat was a little fast.
Whatever the price was, she would make an amazing amount!

In other words, she would become rich overnight…

“Alright, just as my cousin says, I have no opinion.” Lian Fang Zhou pressed a hand over her beating heart and nodded, feeling ecstatic.

“Good! They you should stay here tonight.” Fang Qing decided.

That night, the Su family discussed the matter.
After seeing the cotton quilt, Master Su was also very excited, initially wanting to set the price even higher.

However, after he listened to Fang Qing and Lian Fang Zhou’s concerns over the imperial court regulating it in the future, he suddenly woke up and sighed, thinking it was a shame: “I am really old, not even as good as a little girl!”

Fang Qing smiled: “Father, please don’t say that! My cousin is not an ordinary girl! She is very smart.
You are not old, it’s just that she is the rarest little girl you can meet in a century!”

“Oh?” Master Su was immediately interested, “Is she better than you?”

“Daughter-in-law is ashamed!” Fang Qing smiled.

Master Su laughed.
Thinking about it, he sighed and said: “It seems there are good things in your generation.
Your cousin has this knowledge, so she cannot be an ordinary person.
But what is truly rare is to find a person like this who is not arrogant.
I’m too impatient, I didn’t even think of this after encountering such a valuable thing.
From now on, I will be serious and walk slowly.”