Chapter 523 Silver, Can Kill People
The person who said that was Liu Sida.
Through the incident with sweet potatoes, he also managed to turn things around. His status in the Liu family skyrocketed, second only to Liu Sicun.
Hearing that Liu Sichun had brought back the money lending business, he was naturally delighted and thought about whether he could also benefit from it. But immediately, he realized that this was a difficult matter to handle.
Money, is the biggest problem.
As soon as these words were spoken, the Liu family members, who had been delighted just a second ago, all looked at each other in astonishment, unable to utter a word.
Indeed, such a big event requires a substantial amount of money. Just Liu Sichun also revealed that at least six million taels of silver are needed. Where could the Liu family possibly get that much money?
On the way back, I thought about it. I could sell all of Liu's assets besides salt transportation and pool all the money we could raise.
“I reckon we could scrape together about five million taels of silver. Plus another million taels, if we approached the Wu family who cooperated with us on salt transport and said that the Liu family was willing to offer them a year's worth of salt at 90% of the market price. But the prerequisite is that they have to pay the Liu family for next year's goods in advance. That way, it should be enough.”
Liu Sichun's words startled the Liu family.
"This is like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, squeezing the Liu family dry. If anything goes wrong, the entire Liu family will be ruined!"
Someone objected, "Taking such a gamble is too risky."
This viewpoint was met with widespread approval.
"That's right, master. Perhaps we should reconsider. The Liu family has other profitable businesses besides this one. Even if we maintain the status quo, there will be considerable profit at the end of the year."
"But to sell off all our assets and invest all the silver in a bank, we would only own 20% of it, and we would also be responsible for running it. It's really not a good solution."

Someone else more tentatively suggested, “Maybe we should ask the prince again? Or give the Liu family a bigger share of the profits? Otherwise, they'll just quit. After all, our Liu family could live very well without running this money lending business.”
Voices of opposition grew louder, with some even daring to demand concessions from the Eastern Palace.
These noises made Liu Sichun's face increasingly grim. Just as she was about to lose her temper, another voice spoke up.
"No!"
It was Liu Sida who spoke resolutely.
Everyone was silent, all eyes were on Liu Sida.
Liu Sida then said, "The Liu family is a merchant family. This means that apart from doing business, we have no other options and can only rely on business to make money and support our large family."
"Anyone can do business, but you are all businessmen. You should know that we, businessmen, are looked down upon the most. Even a roadside woodcutter or fisherman can scold us as being money-grubbing. But dare we retort? We dare not. If we did, we might be reported to the authorities."
"That's why? Certainly it's because merchants are lowly, but more importantly, our Liu family's business isn't big enough yet."
If the Liu family were truly as rich as a nation, would anyone still regard us as mere merchants? Money can kill.
"To establish a relationship with the East Palace is an opportunity that countless merchants dream of. The Liu family has now obtained this opportunity and even secured control over salt transport. Everyone here has tasted the sweetness, why would you give it up?"
"Our Liu family, before we were just a few big businessmen in the capital. Compared to the whole country, we weren't anything special. If we want to truly become part of the top tier of wealthy families, this opportunity is absolutely not to be missed!"

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