“Please feel free to take a seat!”
Sun Mo received Li Gong in the guest room. “I just arrived and have no time to clean the room yet. I also don’t have hot water, so you have to excuse me for the lack of hospitality.
“Department head is too polite.” Li Gong replied docilely and stood at the side. Although Sun Mo said feel free to take a seat, how would he dare to? He was so obedient that he was like a baby.
As for hot water for tea?
What a joke. How would Li Gong be qualified to drink tea before Sun Mo? Being able to enter this villa was already a huge kindness heaven had bestowed on him.
“Speak, what’s the matter?” Sun Mo didn’t demand that Li Gong should sit as this was a feudal era. There were different classes among people. Before Sun Mo, Li Gong was a servant, and this slave-like thinking was deeply-rooted. If you forced him to sit, he would even feel more uneasy. He would wonder if he had done something wrong that caused Sun Mo to be unhappy.
“The Ma Clan, Wei Clan, and Zhang Clan trading companies are secretly conspiring to raise the price.”
Li Gong reported and passed a set of information over.
Sun Mo browsed through them quickly while listening to Li Gong’s report. “These three companies are responsible for more than 90% of our supplies. Once they increase the price, given the current financial situation of our Central Province academy, we would be finished in five days.”
As the number one lackey of the previous Department Head Yang, Li Gong wasn’t only good at bootlicking. He was quite capable when it came to working as well.
For a person like Li Gong, if one said that he was trash in terms of personality and character, it wouldn’t be too overboard. But he was truly capable and had friends in many places. His influence could be considered very wide.
“Who gave them the command? Was it Zhang Hanfu?”
Sun Mo’s expression was calm. He just became the department head, so it would be strange if Zhang Hanfu didn’t retaliate. “I don’t know.”
Li Gong honestly replied. Given Zhang Hanfu’s authority, he shouldn’t be able to influence the circle of merchants. This should be done by another major character. “Oh?”
Sun Mo gradually frowned. “Can we change to other trading companies?” “No!”
Li Gong explained, “These three trading companies have worked with us for over twenty years. We are working with them because they are primarily responsible for providing us with vegetables and grain, coal products and meat. We have always made a living together, so they are our foundation.”
If the Central Province Academy wished to establish a footing in Jinling and expand their influence, they not only needed connections among the nobles, but they also needed the lower rungs of society. These commoners were completely on the side of the Central Province Academy. When their children came of age, if they were qualified to join the Central Province Academy, they would surely put it as their top choice. Also Jinling City, in fact, even the entire Jiangnan, if they encountered floods, droughts, or bandit attacks, the local companies that produced grain, vegetables, and food would make it their priority to provide for the Central Province Academy first. Even if people from other places were willing to pay a higher price to purchase the food, the companies wouldn’t sell to them.
Naturally, as a kind gesture in return, these kids with lower backgrounds would be able to join the Central Province Academy even if their aptitudes were slightly inferior.
Hence, it could be said that the relationship between the Central Province Academy and these farmers was like the relationship between water and fish.
“Can we transact directly with the farmers, skipping the middlemen?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Department head, these farmers are illiterate and need a leader. Also, the farmers are very prejudiced against outsiders as they are afraid of being swindled. They would only trust these three companies who have cooperated with them for many years!”
When Li Gong spoke, his expression turned into one of disdain. These farmers felt that the three trading companies weren’t bad to them, but they had no idea how much profit the companies had been making off them.
There was no solution to this. This was the limitation due to the differences in knowledge.
“Department head, please don’t think about doing this. The consequences of skipping out on the trading companies as middlemen are very serious.”
Li Gong hurriedly reminded when he saw Sun Mo pondering.
Although Sun Mo didn’t understand this too much, he had seen some ancient dramas before and knew that these commerce associations, salt gang, cloth gang, etc, were very tough.
Similarly, the market division in Jinling was already allocated. Whoever had the greatest power would have the biggest share of the pie.
The Ma Clan, Wei Clan, and Zhang Clan had the qualifications to purchase the agricultural products from these farmers before selling them to the Central Province Academy. All because they were one of the few major trading companies in Jinling.
“What do you think I should do if they raise the price?”
Sun Mo inquired. “Negotiate and ask them to reduce the price!” Li Gong sighed in his heart. He knew that this day would come sooner or later.
If it was the Central Province Academy of the past, the one that was part of the nine greats, even if someone beat the three trading companies to death, they wouldn’t dare to raise prices at all. But now, since the school’s standing had fallen, it would then be strange if they didn’t bully the school.
What other trump cards did the Central Province Academy have? You didn’t let my children join your school? Well, they could join the Myriad Daos Academy then. In any case, you possessed no attractiveness to us.
“I understand.”
Sun Mo smiled. “You did a good job this time around. Continue to monitor the three trading companies as well as the news circulating among the farmers. I want you to note all of them down.”
“Roger that, department head.”
Li Gong couldn’t help but be impressed when he saw how calm Sun Mo was. No wonder he could force Yang Cai out and anger Zhang Hanfu half to death.
Ding!
Favorable impression from Li Gong +20. Friendly (205/1,000).
Li Gong left, and Sun Mo went to take a shower first. After he put on a new set of clothes, he exited the school and got into a carriage, heading toward Old Wolf Ren’s house.
“An esteemed guest. Welcome, welcome!” Old Wolf Ren had a smile on his face and personally went out to welcome Sun Mo. “This time, I have to trouble Elder Brother Ren for something.”
Sun Mo went straight to the point.
“Teacher Sun, you are too polite, just feel free to instruct me. As long as I can accomplish it, I’ll definitely do my utmost.” Old Wolf Ren patted his chest and guaranteed. Previously, during their mission in the daoist temple, Sun Mo had shocked him. He was a teacher that even the Governor and Prime Minister Zeng cared about. Among his disciples, there was even a member of the royal clan. For such a major character, Old Wolf Ren naturally wanted nothing more than to bootlick him. Since there was a chance, he wanted to do his utmost to impress Sun Mo.
Sun Mo also wasn’t polite and immediately gave his instructions.
Trouble came faster before the plan could be executed.
This time around, the enemies were clearly targeting Sun Mo. On the second day he returned to school, the leaders of the Ma Clan, Wei Clan, and Zhang Clan came for a visit.
“Department Head Sun. The harvest this year isn’t too good, and the farmers have to eat too. Hence, the price for vegetables, grains, wood, and coal has to be increased by 50%.”
Ma Cheng was a fatty. When he spoke, he was smiling and would keep nodding, giving people the feeling that he was very humble. However, his words were like a sharpened knife slicing a huge slab of flesh from people.
“Increase of 50%? Ma Cheng, why don’t you forget about selling to us then?”
Sun Mo’s lips curled.
After hearing Sun Mo directly calling his name, Ma Cheng, who was over 40 years old, immediately turned red. However, he endured it. This wasn’t the time to fall out.
“Department Head Sun, everyone is just making a living. It isn’t easy for us too.”
Wei Ziyu exuded a cultured and refined aura. He also had a short beard and would stroke it frequently.
Sun Mo fell silent.
“Department Head Sun, if you cannot make the decision, you can say it out directly. We can discuss with Headmaster An.”
Ma Cheng mocked.
“You guys shouldn’t even raise the price by 10%. At most, I will purchase it from others.”
Sun Mo’s attitude was unyielding.
“Hehe!”
Upon hearing Sun Mo’s words of anger, the three of them started laughing. (Go and buy then. If you can manage to buy anything, just consider it our loss!) Ma Cheng silently mocked Sun Mo in his heart. The major characters above had told them that they had to make the Central Province Academy die badly this time around. If any trading companies dared to aid the school, the trading company should be prepared to be finished off.
“I will only say so much. The three of you, please leave!”
Sun Mo didn’t wish to waste time talking nonsense anymore. “Department Head Sun, I hope that you won’t be kneeling down with tears in your eyes when the time comes.”
Ma Cheng flicked his sleeves and left after he spoke.
The three of them left the logistics office and went straight to the headmaster office. However, the topic was the same. “An increase of 30%?”
An Xinhui furrowed her brows.
“This is already our bottom line. Headmaster An, the farmers don’t have it easy either!”
Wei Ziyu sighed.
“I will need a few days to consider it.”
An Xinhui didn’t reject it because she knew the consequences would be too serious. But if she didn’t reject it, could it be that she had to agree and let others ride roughshod over her?
The main point was that their current cash had all been used by An Xinhui to purchase the medicinal ingredients for the giant medicine packet. Even if she agreed to the increase in price, she wouldn’t be able to fork out any money.
After Ma Cheng and the other two left, An Xinhui, who had been forcing herself to appear composed, now had her hands covering her face. She felt her head spinning from the pressure. However, a few minutes later, she adjusted her mental state and started to ponder over the solutions.
“I have to quickly get the giant medicine packet onto the market to earn a large sum of money.”
An Xinhui’s thoughts were beautiful, but the reality was too cruel. On the second morning, the ‘attack’ from the three trading companies arrived.
The teachers and students went to the canteen and discovered that the food was pathetically little.
“There are only so little ingredients transported here today, so we can’t prepare anything decent either.”
The chefs in the kitchen were helpless too. (Please don’t scold us!)
The school couldn’t possibly let the students go hungry, hence, they could only purchase food from outside the school. However, they discovered that those tiny hawker stalls had vanished, and the restaurants had increased their prices to the extent where it felt painful to have a meal there. Everyone thought that this situation was just an accidental occurrence, but who knew that it persisted for three days.
Not enough food!
The food wasn’t fresh!
The rubbish clearing was not done on time, leading to a pungent smell permeating the air.
Because the canteen logistics had a problem, it affected the learning and lifestyle of the students. Some rumors also started to spread quickly.
“Teacher Sun’s teaching capabilities aren’t bad, but he doesn’t have the ability to lead the logistics department.”
“It has only been a few days and the school is about to break apart. This is sufficient to prove that Sun Mo is trash.”
“I don’t want to go hungry!”
Food was the God of people. If one couldn’t even fill their bellies, how would they have the attention to do anything else?
Zhang Hanfu guessed that it must be Prince Li Zixing who acted. Only he had enough authority to do such a thing. Speaking of which, Sun Mo actually didn’t die on the Darkness Continent. This caused him to feel very unhappy as he grumbled about how bad his son was at fulfilling a task. But it was fine. It was also a happy thing to see Sun Mo under pressure.
On the fifth day, Zhang Hanfu summoned all the teachers in the auditorium. During the meeting, Zhang Hanfu first announced the problem the school was facing. He invited everyone to work together to get past this difficult period, and then he turned his spearhead and started to blast Sun Mo verbally.
“Department Head Sun, do you have a solution or not? In the end, this matter is caused by you. You should behave with integrity and not be arrogant. If it wasn’t for you offending the three trading companies, things wouldn’t have become like this, right?”.
Zhang Hanfu didn’t give Sun Mo any face at all in front of all the teachers. He was clearly saying that Sun Mo was an extremely useless fellow.
“Whom does this dog belong to? Why is it running out and barking so noisily?”
Sun Mo naturally wouldn’t bear the insults in silence and immediately retorted.
Hua
After hearing Sun Mo’s words, everyone was stunned.
“Sun Mo, what attitude is this? Do you have the guts to say that again?”
Zhang Hanfu was enraged. His face was filled with disbelief. Did he just get cursed in front of so many teachers? This was truly something unbearable!
