Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 199 Collision of Two People in Beijing (4)

Feng Xuxu was intently perusing the documents when Baihe knocked on the door and entered, "Miss, the Young Master’s envoy is here, saying that everyone has arrived."

"Mhm, let’s go." She donned her cloak and followed the person sent from the front courtyard to the study.

"Holy Maiden, we’ve arrived, this servant shall take his leave." The servant bowed to the Holy Maiden and then turned to leave.

Baihe stepped forward and knocked on the door a few times, then a weighty voice came from inside the room, "Come in."

Feng Xuxu said to Baihe, "You may return." She then pushed the door open and entered.

The people sitting in chairs stood up when they saw the Holy Maiden arrive, respectfully saying, "Holy Maiden."

"Mhm, please be seated." Feng Xuxu took her seat next to her cousin, and then everyone else dared to sit down.

"Now that the Holy Maiden is here, let’s discuss your situations," Jueqing said with a frown as he looked towards everyone.

"Young Master, Holy Maiden, doing business in the Capital City is truly difficult now. The five major clans seem to have conspired together, each monopolizing grain, cloth, jewelry, restaurants, and harbor transport. It’s almost impossible for outsiders to break in. They also established a trade association. For anyone who wants to join, they must pay tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of silver annually to open a shop in the Capital City. Otherwise, these people, as if they’ve agreed upon it, would lower their prices together until they drive you out of the Capital City," Mo Heng, the grain shop owner, said helplessly.

"Mo Heng is not wrong. I had to pay tens of thousands of silver to be able to continue operating in the Capital City, otherwise I really would have..." Fei Wen said despondently.

"Mhm, my cloth store too, but the shop I operate is relatively small, so I have to pay a few thousand silver each year as well," Fei Chen shook his head, as he compared the less silver he had to pay, yet his annual profit had also greatly diminished. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"My restaurant is the same. A few of us joined the trade association, which is the only reason we’ve been able to continue operating in the Capital City; otherwise, we would have been squeezed out too," Wuchou stated with difficulty.

Feng Xuxu nodded. She had seen all of this in the documents already. Indeed, it was not an easy issue to solve, but it wasn’t an insurmountable one, depending on how they handled it.

"Mhm, I understand everything you’ve said. From now on, continue with your previous ways. Do what you need to do without raising any suspicions. I’ll pave new avenues in other industries," Feng Xuxu thought about avoiding direct confrontation for the time being, starting a new industry of her own. Once the funds were recouped, she would then start other businesses.

"Yes, Holy Maiden."

"As much as possible, begin acquiring manors and land in the villages near the Capital City. We’ll take the route of selling fruits." After thinking it over, she realized there were no fruit businesses among the major industries, and she was very familiar with this line of business. It was feasible to shift some people from the manor for this operation. The group exchanged glances, then all replied simultaneously, "Yes, Holy Maiden."

"At the same time, if you find any ceramics factories, purchase the land and as many kilns as they have." Recalling the porcelain-making methods stored in her space, she planned to buy some servants and research the techniques. Leveraging modern technology, she expected to produce porcelain that would surpass the current quality, which would be a good strategy.

"Mhm, that’s all I have to say. Cousin, I have nothing else." She looked at her cousin, who had been silent beside her, and spoke.

"Did you all hear clearly?" he asked, his cold gaze sweeping over them.

"Young Master, we heard everything clearly."

"Mhm, just do as the Holy Maiden said. You may all go now."

"Yes, Young Master." They bowed to the Young Master and the Holy Maiden before slowly exiting the study.

After everyone had left, Jueqing relaxed his brows and looked at his cousin sitting below, "Cousin, are we planning to sell fruits next?"