Chapter 563: Chapter 563: Dividing the Cake
Watching the two compliment each other, a smile reached Wufuās eyes. She took a sip of her tea and said, "Alright, enough praising one another. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, skills others lack. Embrace the good and learn from each other, thatās all there is to it."
"Yes, miss."
Wufu then looked at Jadeite and Hongyu, who had not given their opinions.
Jadeite giggled and said generously, "Miss, I donāt understand these matters much, and my mind isnāt as quick as Sister Zi Yuās. If you asked me about medicinal herbs and poisons, I could probably talk for two days and nights. But these twisty turny subjects, I really donāt know."
"Mmm, everyone has their specialization," Wufu nodded, showing understanding without disapproval.
As for Hongyu, her eyes were red and her voice was tinged with sobbing, "Miss, I... I donāt understand anything, Iām the least capable of all." As she finished speaking, tears began to fall.
Hearing this made Hongyu feel incompetent, as if she had no skills. What was she supposed to do in the future?
Wufu chuckled, "How can you say you have no skills? Your needlework is excellent, and your stitches are neat. If youāre serious about learning, you might even become a master. If not, you can learn jade identification from me, which is also possible."
Hongyu nodded repeatedly, "I will definitely study hard."
Wufu gave a few words of encouragement before continuing, "Back to what we were discussing. Purple Jadeās point is very valid, where thereās profit, with enough benefit and temptation, even a deity could bend. Hongfu Tower became the top establishment in the county and remains unshaken because it has backers, nobles and powerful people, enough capable shareholders."
"If you have no power or influence, just some silver, and you want to have a piece of the cake, you canāt eat it all by yourself because that would choke you. You have to share it, let everyone have a piece. That way, although you donāt get to eat much of the cake, at least itās in your stomach and you donāt have to spit it out."
Sharing the cake?
This analogy was novel, but not difficult to understand in light of what had been said before.
Liu Jin was the first to exclaim, "Miss, do you mean to make the County Magistrate a shareholder of our shop?"
Wufu nodded in approval.
"Business and government should not be separated. Behind many great merchants are nobles and powerful people. As merchants, we donāt have to do anything, just provide the nobles with some non-operating shares to lean on for support. Who would dare to mess with common ruffians or competitors then? In this era, whatās most unshakable are actually the nobles," Wufu sighed.
The economy can affect the fate of a country, but the nobles and powerful people can influence merchants; they are intimately connected, hence the saying about business and government being inseparable originated.
"What we discussed today is just a small shop, but thereās a saying: āthousands of changes, but the principle remains.ā No matter how big or small the business is, it all boils down to the approach weāve just analyzed. This is something you all know better than I do. Every renowned merchant has powerful people standing behind them," she added.
She was a person from the future who knew this, how much more so these people of ancient times.
The others all nodded and discussed, signifying they had learned something new.
"Miss, so about the shop, shall we take it or not?" Liu Jin asked.
Wufu took a sip of tea, her smile reaching her eyes, "Take it. I also want to see if this bone is too hard to chew."
Liu Jin was overjoyed; he knew the miss wouldnāt give up so easily.
"What are you waiting for? Go send a name card to Lord Wen, tell him I wish to visit him," Wufu chided him.