Chapter 36: Partnering with my cousin
"This... if you think about it this way, it is indeed a good business!" Chongzhen was a little shocked, but also a little disapproving.

Although Wang An's algorithm seems impressive, there is no such thing as taking things for granted in the world.

The capital city does have a population of over one million, but will these one million people buy honeycomb coal from you?
However, seeing that his "cousin" was so excited, Chongzhen didn't want to attack Wang An. Secondly, this honeycomb coal was indeed somewhat peculiar.

After all, Chongzhen was an emperor and was served very well day and night, so he did not have a deep understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of honeycomb coal and ordinary coal blocks.

"It's a good business indeed!" Wang An said with a grin, "You provide the money and I provide the brains. How about we two brothers team up to do something big?"

"Twenty-four thousand taels?" Chongzhen muttered. Wang An had made great contributions by giving him advice, so it would not be excessive even if he was directly rewarded with tens of thousands of taels of silver.

But then he thought again, Zhou Jian sold the coal mine just to return the stolen money.

In this case, there is no need to go through so much trouble. Just go back and ask the Ministry of Justice to ask Zhou Jian to get the documents from the coal mine.

Thinking of this, Chongzhen smiled and said, "Brother, what you said is indeed a good deal, but I think Zhou Jian's reserve price should still have room for negotiation. Why not let my brother bargain for it? If it's suitable, just take it!"

"So, my dear brother, do you mean to prepare to invest?" Wang An stood up immediately in surprise.

How can good night not be a surprise!

The investment amount of twenty-four thousand taels is not a small sum in any place.

As for what Chongzhen said about him personally negotiating the acquisition, Wang An didn't care.

Firstly, this is indeed a huge investment, and it is normal for the main investor to want to personally check it. Secondly, my cousin has been doing business with his uncle at the border for so many years, and he actually has more business experience than me and knows how to bargain.

Chongzhen looked at Wang An like this and immediately felt a little funny and nodded.

Wang An just wanted to hug Chongzhen and kiss him a few times, but he said shyly: "Oh, my good brother, how do you think we should divide the shares?"

As the main or even the only investor, Chongzhen should have owned all the shares. At most, he could have been given some dry shares because Wang An was in charge of operations.

However, from the technology to the creativity of this business, even the coal mine to be acquired was found by Wang An. Wang An felt that he should at least get half of the shares, including technical shares and management shares.

But I'm too embarrassed to say it out loud. After all, I want to take half without spending a penny. Will my rich brother think I'm too greedy?
So you should get some shares?
Four or six?

Thirty-seven?

But before Wang An could come up with a conclusion, Chongzhen waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "Why are you and I talking about this? Just think of it as the capital I lent you, and don't talk about dividing the shares."

"This... isn't good, right?" Wang An said it wasn't good, but the smile on his lips couldn't be suppressed no matter what.

Chongzhen smiled and said, "It's nothing good or bad. It's just over 20,000 silver coins."

While Wang An was sighing at how generous his cousin was, he became more determined that as a brother to such a generous and loyal cousin, he should not be too petty.

He made up his mind and said, "Although my dear brother is rich, it is not something that came from the wind! How about this, you provide the money and I provide the management and technology. We will split the profits 50-50!"

"Need not……"

Chongzhen wanted to refuse, but Wang An waved his hand and said, "Okay, it's decided!"

Wang An said he was generous, but in fact he had some calculations in mind. Chongzhen just said that the investment of more than 20,000 silver coins was borrowed...

Although Wang An was very confident that he could make it, honeycomb coal was indeed a good business.

But what if you lose money?

If I hadn't owed more than 20,000 taels of silver for no reason, I would have to wait till the end of time to pay it back.

It's better to be generous and insist on cooperation. If you really lose money, there's nothing you can do. In short, just mind your own business.

While Wang An was praising himself for his cleverness, he looked at his cousin with a bit of shame, as he saw his "honest" face.

I'm sorry, you treat me as a brother, but I play tricks on you...

Bah! I am not that kind of person. This is called win-win cooperation. I will help you make money and fly!
Chongzhen could not refuse and had to accept the 50% stake.

But no one takes it seriously. After all, compared with Daming, a listed company, an investment of more than 20,000 taels of silver is nothing.

The 300,000 taels of silver that Wei Zhongxian "earned" for himself were already on their way to the capital.

When I thought of the three hundred thousand taels, I thought of the plight of Jiangnan.

Chongzhen restrained his smile, thought for a moment, and then said, "Last time, my brother asked me to write to my father, saying that it would be best to move to Jiangnan. In the past few days, I have also contacted some Jiangnan merchants I know and learned about some of the conditions in Jiangnan."

As he spoke, he pretended to talk about Wei Zhongxian's tax collection in Jiangnan and the conflict between him and the local gentry as a casual conversation, and naturally put the two of them in Wei Zhongxian's position, and asked: "Brother, you are the smartest person. If you were Wei Zhongxian, how would you deal with this counterattack by the Jiangnan gentry?"

Wang An spat, "You are the eunuch, you are all..."

Halfway through his speech, Wang An suddenly realized that Chongzhen was now his major financial backer, and he could not speak as recklessly as before.

He immediately laughed awkwardly and said, "Brother! You just said that a few big salt merchants were going to incite the kitchen owners to cause trouble, right?"

Chongzhen nodded hurriedly. "These salt merchants are really hateful. They actually incited the people and slandered the court for planning to ban the salt merchants from selling surplus salt! The salt merchants are worried that the government will buy the surplus salt at a low price, so they come out to cause trouble!"

"That's it!" Wang An spread his hands, "Brother, you know the crux of the matter!"

"Ah?" Chongzhen was speaking indignantly, and Wang An's sudden remark made him speechless.

"I...I know what the problem is?"

Wang An said angrily: "From ancient times to now, how many people dare to turn their backs on the government? Everyone thinks it is better to have less trouble than more. It is a blessing to be able to live a good life!"

"Why were they easily instigated by the salt merchants this time? The cooks didn't know the government's orders, and they just wanted to make more money to live."

"If the government's purchase price for surplus salt has always been higher than the market price, the salt farmers would be eager for the government to buy it. Why would they cause trouble because they are worried that the government will ban the sale of surplus salt?"

Chongzhen said solemnly, "Brother, what you mean is that the government should raise the price to buy the surplus salt, so that the salt collectors will not cause trouble?"

(End of this chapter)