Xiao Jinghong was already extremely impatient inside, but on the surface, he still pretended to be calm. "Since we have nothing else to do, why not tell me about it. Of course, if it involves secrets, then forget it. After all, it's your means of making a living, and I'd better not ask."
Yi Qing sneered inwardly. If it's better not to ask, then why are you asking?
Trying to play innocent while being scheming. You want to have all the good things!
"Where, where. I've already earned enough silver. I'm just afraid that business matters are too vulgar and might dirty Second Master's ears. Since Second Master is interested, I'll tell you. You can just take it as an after - dinner pastime." Yi Qing said in a pretentious manner.
"Yes, just a pastime. You're not short of silver, and neither am I." Xiao Jinghong said. "Not to mention anything else, the mountains of gold and silver left by my elder brother after his death are enough to last for generations."
How shameless! Yi Qing was so angry that her lungs were about to explode. He actually had the nerve to blatantly set his sights on Xiao Jinghan's inheritance.
"But how come I heard," Yi Qing pretended to be surprised, "that General Xiao left behind a son?"
"What can a child like that eat and drink? Of course, my parents should take charge for him. To be honest with you, the reason we came back to the capital this time is for this very thing... So don't think I have no silver now. It won't be long before I have endless silver to spend."
When you go underground, I might consider burning endless spirit money for you, Yi Qing sneered inwardly.
"So don't be afraid that I'll snatch your business. I'm not interested in doing business. With my status and family background, won't countless merchants come to me with silver in the future?"
"Yes, that's right." Yi Qing pretended to flatter. "That's for sure. Speaking of which, there's nothing really to hide. I'm in the overseas trade business."
Xiao Jinghong was stunned. "Overseas trade?"
"Correct." Yi Qing said. "As the saying goes, things are valuable because they are rare. Our cloth, tea, and porcelain here. Not to mention the silk, pre - Qingming Longjing tea, and top - grade imperial kiln porcelain. Even the most common varieties on the market can fetch more than ten times the profit when sold overseas. And what do we get in return? Gold, silver, gems... And then bring back some foreign goods, and there's another ten - fold profit. It's hard not to make money."
Xiao Jinghong's eyes instantly lit up.
Why didn't he think of this highly profitable business?
Yi Qing scoffed inwardly looking at his expression. What a fool!
But after a while, Xiao Jinghong still raised a question. "But isn't the emperor currently not allowing overseas trade?"
Yi Qing made a gesture of counting money. "As long as this is taken care of, it's no big deal. Especially when it comes to ships, who can check? The sea is vast. Can the imperial patrol teams keep watch over it? And we've bribed them all. They'll turn a blind eye even if they see something."
"Really?"
"If there were really any problems with my dozens of big ships coming and going every year, would I still be here drinking with Second Master?" Yi Qing said while shaking his teacup.
Xiao Jinghong quickly calculated the feasibility of this business in his mind. After a moment's pause, he said again, "The journey is long, and the sea is unpredictable. What if the ship has an accident?"
"Of course, there are risks. One or two ships are always lost every year, but compared to my profits, it's not worth mentioning." Yi Qing waved his hand. "To spread the risks, we can't let all the ships set sail at the same time. How many storms can there be? Besides, the ship - building skills in the south of the Yangtze River have reached an extraordinary level. The craftsmen in my shipyard are hired with a thousand taels of silver a year. If the Qing family's ships claim to be the second best, no one would dare claim to be the first."
Xiao Jinghong's face showed a look of eagerness, obviously calculating whether this deal was worthwhile.
Taking the opportunity, Yi Qing winked at Xiao Tian and rubbed her waist.
Xiao Tian: "..."
He glared at her gritted his teeth and looked away, not knowing that his earlobes had already turned slightly red.
"How much silver does it cost to invest in one ship?" Xiao Jinghong asked, his eyes red, obviously making a difficult decision and already very tempted.
He knew there were risks, but if it could bring dozens of times the return, who wouldn't be tempted?
Yi Qing held up two fingers.
"Two thousand taels?"
"No, twenty thousand taels."
Xiao Jinghong gasped. "So much?"
"Not much, not much," Yi Qing waved his hand. "Think about it. Twenty thousand taels might turn into five hundred thousand taels. Does Second Master still think it's much?"
Xiao Jinghong bit his lip and said nothing.
Five hundred thousand taels... Even with risks, if he invested in three or five ships and only one or two could return safely, he'd have enough to squander for the rest of his life!
Moreover, in the future, he could make money with money. Becoming as rich as a nation was not a dream!
No wonder Yi Qing was so generous. Earning hundreds of thousands of taels from one ship and having dozens of ships a year meant earning tens of millions of taels. The silver came so easily.
Although Yi Qing said that one ship could earn tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of taels, he automatically assumed the highest value, as if he could see countless silver taels waving at him.
He voiced his thoughts, and Yi Qing sighed. "Although it's not difficult to make money, it's not as good as Second Master thinks. Not to mention anything else, just bribing officials at all levels, from the bigwigs to the small fry, costs more than a million taels of silver every year. Moreover, with a big family and a big business, there are many places to spend money. You only see the money earned from overseas trade but don't see the many people we support. If we don't pay them hard - earned silver, who would risk their lives for money? All these add up to a significant amount."
There were already stars in Xiao Jinghong's eyes. "But no matter how you calculate it, you can still save one or two million taels of silver a year."
"There is that much. But actually, I've only been in this business for two years, and I've also lost a lot in other businesses. After making up for the losses, I only have about a few million taels of silver left. It'll be better in the future... But to be honest with you, I'm already tired of this business. I want to retire early and just lend out the silver I've saved to earn interest. Wouldn't it be great to not have to worry about anything?"
Great my foot!
If she quit, how could she take him along?
Xiao Jinghong was extremely anxious. He said, "Brother Qing, you're wrong. You're so young. Isn't it better to accumulate more family wealth for your descendants or for your own future enjoyment? As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. I advise you to earn more silver and leave more ways out. You'll surely live a better life in the future."
Yi Qing raised his teacup. "Thank you, Second Master, for your teachings. I'll consider it."
Xiao Jinghong wanted to say more but felt it was too hasty. He could only invite her to eat and drink.
Of course, Yi Qing paid for this meal in the end.
Xiao Tian asked Yi Qing, "Don't you think this scheme is a bit rough?"
If Xiao Jinghong was so easily deceived, how stupid would he have to be!
"Have you ever heard of being rough on the surface but meticulous in details?" Yi Qing raised an eyebrow and said proudly. "For example, the Qing family, a very famous Shanxi merchant family. The third young master did leave home and go to the south of the Yangtze River. And in recent years, smuggling overseas from the south of the Yangtze River has been very prevalent..."