Rebirth of the Phoenix Princess novel Chapter 879

"What's this?" Qian Lai asked in a low voice, frowning.

Yun Shang smiled and slowly removed the lids on the five plates in front of her one by one. She looked at the five dishes and said gently, "It called Bumper Grain Harvest including tofu, roast wheat, rice, millet porridge and Gaoliang liquor made from fermented sorghum."

Seeing that all the businessmen present looked unhappy, Yun Shang continued, "The biggest wish of His Majesty and His Highness is that all people could have a good harvest, living and working in delight and contentment. It's the first time that His Highness invites you all here since he has just been conferred the title of the Crown Prince. I thought maybe this dish could better express his wish. Although you are businessmen, the status of merchants is the lowest among the four occupations, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. However, His Highness attaches great importance to merchants. Today is the first time His Highness hosts a banquet in the mansion after he became the Crown Prince, and he invite you, big shots in the business world. His Highness is willing to join hands with you to create a prosperous world."

Although Yun Shang's voice was gentle, her words were brief and powerful, making all people feel like that they share a hatred of enemy. And what Yun Shang said was true. Since ancient times, although businessmen had controlled most of the wealth of a country, they were not respected. When people talked about the merchants, they would say that they had stink of money. Many families were unwilling to marry their daughters to businessmen. Yun Shang's words touched their sore spot.

Gusu Jingyang stood up and raised the bowl of Gaoliang liquor. "I'm not a good talker. It's said that His Higness Crown Prince is a hero and Her Highness Crown Princess is a capable woman. I admire those who are wise and brave the most. Just for Her Highness's words, I have to propose a toast to His Highness and Her Highness."

Luo Qingyan turned to look at Yun Shang. Yun Shang smiled and picked up the bowl first, followed by Luo Qingyan. "Cheers."

The three of them raised their heads and drank up. Gusu Jingyang burst into laughter and sat down.

Some of them poured scorn on Yun Shang's words. "Her Highness is good at talking and acting. His Highness invited us for nothing but wanting us to help the refugees outside the city. But what does it have to do with us whether or not those refugees outside the city could survive? All businessmen values profit. Why should we do something without profit?"

Hearing this, Luo Qingyan put down the bowl in his hand casually and said with a smile, "Boss Liu, you are right. My main purpose of inviting you to the banquet today is indeed to ask you to help me settle down the people suffering from the drought both in and out of the city. I also know that businessmen are keen on profit. I have a win-win solution which could bring profit for you and good reputation for me. There is no outsider around now. So let's have a frank discussion about it."

Luo Qingyan stood up, came out from behind the table and walked to the middle of the room.

"You are all outstanding businessmen. Of course you know that only when you open more shops and your goods are known by more people can you have more customers and earn more money. I've never engaged in business. I'm wondering how you publicize your shops. Why not tell me?"

As soon as Luo Qingyan finished speaking, someone replied, "The goods I sell are of good quality, so I've got many repeat customers who also recommend my shop to their family or friends. I think the best form of advertising is by word of mouth."

"Outside every shop of mine, I had someone peddle good by calling out."

"I have several jewelry shops. I often send some jewelry to the wives of some noble officials. And others will ask where they bought it."

After listening quietly for a while, Luo Qingyan raised his voice. "I have a way to let most of the people in the State of Xia know your shops. Would you like to hear it?"

Everyone turned to Luo Qingyan, and even Yun Shang looked at him with a smile.

Luo Qingyan took two steps forward and said loudly, "If you offer funds for the disaster relief, I will help you do three things. The first thing is that you can write down the name of your shop and the main products you sell on the relief supplies you donate. The refugees will naturally be very grateful to you. There are nearly two thousand refugees in and out of the city. After this natural disaster is over, I will arrange to send them back to their hometown."

"From Jin city to their hometowns, there will past six cities and a lot of small towns. Since the refugees have received your kindness, they will spare no effort to tell the people they meet along the way who you are and what you sell. In this way, many people will know you." Luo Qingyan smiled and looked at the people who were staring at him with enthusiasm in their eyes. "This is first way, and the second..."

"Since you have donated money and goods, I will make a notice with your names on it to tell everyone in the State of Xia about your good deeds. The rankings on the notice board will based on how much you donate. As soon as the announcement is made, I will order my people to send it to every city and post it. By that time, most of people in the State of Xia will know you and your shops. In this way, won't it be easy for you to sell whatever you want and open shops wherever you like? Won't you gain countless customers?"

Luo Qingyan glanced around the crowd with a smile on his face. "This is the second way. And the last one..."

Luo Qingyan ordered, "Go fetch me the four treasures of the study. I'll write a memorial and hand it to father right now and tell him how generous Boss Xiao is!"

The butler received the order and left in a hurry. Soon he returned with the things in hands.

Luo Qingyan picked up the brush and wrote Xiao Yun's name and the donated property on the memorial.

After Luo Qingyan finished writing, someone clapped the table and stood up. "Boss Xiao is so selfless. Our Gusu family is surely not selfish. As we just provide service and don't sell goods, we'll pay one hundred thousand taels of silver."

Yun Shang curled up her lips. It seemed that Gusu Jingyang was just a big and rough man, but he was smart. No wonder the branches of his security escort agency could spread all over the State of Xia. He must have already seen the situation clearly. Since Ning Qian promised to donate so much, the others couldn't provide less than her. In this way, the earlier they stood out, the lesser they could donate.

All the people present were not stupid. Seeing the performance of Xiao Yun and Gusu Jingyang, they shouted one after another. "I'll donate eighty thousand taels of silver and all the refugees could have meals in Longfeng Tower for free within a month!"

In less than an hour, Luo Qingyan had written three pieces of paper. As Luo Qingyan had promised, as soon as the memorial was written, he ordered someone to rush into the Palace before the Emperor rested.

Everyone were happy to see it as they thought the contributions they made would be seen by the Emperor. And they all praised that the Crown Prince was a man of his word. Only Yun Shang knew that Luo Qingyan did this to prevent these treacherous merchants from going back on their words and refusing to admit the promise they made after they left the Crown Prince's mansion. If Xia Huanyu praised these businessmen in the morning court tomorrow, they had no way to go back on their words. So they would have to be obedient and hand over as much as they had promised.

Yun Shang laughed in her heart. It was said that all business people are crafty profiteers. But in front of Luo Qingyan, that was just a joke.

* Red