Royal Gold Magistrate

Fang Zheng pushed Li Yuanzhao aside and looked at the shopkeeper.

“What’s your surname?”

“Chen…”

Shopkeeper Chen knelt on the ground, staring at Fang Zheng in a daze, his mind a bit muddled.

“Good! Get up for now. Shopkeeper Chen, let me ask you a question. Is the silver you earn each month enough to live on?”

Shopkeeper Chen stood up and said bitterly, “It’s enough to get by… Although there are several people in the family, fortunately, we have some savings.”

“It’s barely enough.”

“So you mean before it wasn’t quite enough?”

“Yes…”

Fang Zheng grinned. “Then do you want to get rich, Shopkeeper Chen?”

Shopkeeper Chen nodded like a pecking chicken. “Of course! I think about it every day!”

“Great! Then it’s easy… I have a way to get rich. Are you interested?”

“Please tell me, Mr. Fang. This humble one is all ears!”

Fang Zheng began pacing around the general store, looking at the haphazardly placed goods and the few idle shopkeepers.

He said, “Your business is mediocre. I see the problem lies in having more people than work.”

“Look at those few shopkeepers. Some are chatting, some are playing with bugs. Not a single one is willing to go out and shout to attract customers.”

Shopkeeper Chen smiled awkwardly. “They’re all… family relatives. Not easy to scold or beat. Besides, business is just like this. Shouting… doesn’t help much…”

Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow. “Of course it’s useless! You can only shout at your doorstep. But what if you expanded your range?”

“Let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s move on to the next item.”

“Look at these miscellaneous goods in your store. Are they any different from what other stores sell?”

“The same things, aren’t there many stores on this street selling them? Yes or no?”

Shopkeeper Chen was stunned for a moment.

He had been in business for more than a decade, and this store had been open for over ten years.

Although the business was mediocre without much improvement, he could be considered quite experienced.

He didn’t expect this young Mr. Fang to point out the shortcomings of his store with a single sentence.

But that’s how it was. There were indeed quite a few general stores on this street, but everyone sold things this way!

Could it be that Mr. Fang really had a way to get rich?

So he said expectantly, “Ah yes, yes, yes! Mr. Fang truly has remarkable insight. You’ve opened this old man’s eyes! I wonder… what advice do you have?”

Fang Zheng began strolling around the room.

At the same time, he spoke eloquently, “There are ways to break the deadlock.”

“Since everyone sells the same things, you have to work on promotion and packaging.”

“Let’s talk about packaging first…”

Fang Zheng walked over to the soy sauce vat.

“Take this soy sauce for example. First, you have to give it a catchy name, tell a story, and then promote it in the market.”

“It’s best to condense these into a catchy slogan, so it’s easy for people to remember and spread.”

“For the soy sauce, let’s say, ‘Chen’s soy sauce, delicious and fresh, sun-dried for a full one hundred and eighty days!'”

“Just imagine shouting this out. Doesn’t it make your product stand out immediately?”

The corners of Shopkeeper Chen’s mouth curled up. That sounded great, indeed catchy.

Hearing it once, it stuck in the mind. Sun-dried for a full one hundred and eighty days!

Then he said hesitantly, “But… this soy sauce hasn’t been sun-dried for one hundred and eighty days…”

“Then how many days?”

“Ninety days.”

“Then divide it into two vats. When someone comes to buy soy sauce, scoop from one vat, and together it’s one hundred and eighty days! Blockhead!”

Shopkeeper Chen grinned. “Oh! Right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Li Yuanzhao covered his face to the side.

It was hard to watch Old Fang deceiving people.

Fang Zheng continued walking until he reached a basket of ginger. He casually picked up a piece.

“This ginger can also have a catchy name. Tell me, what is ginger used for?”

Shopkeeper Chen said dumbly, “Cooking, brewing medicine for colds, reducing fever…”

“That’s it! Promote based on its characteristics. Go out and say, ‘Chen’s ginger, born to fight fever!'”

“This…”

“And these rakes, cooking spatulas… You can go to a temple and get a joint-branded version, saying they’ve been blessed by Buddha. Using them doubles the effect, even vegetarian dishes can taste like meat.”

“Isn’t this… disrespectful to Buddha?” Shopkeeper Chen felt something was off… Although it sounded good, it seemed to be going off track.

Fang Zheng snorted disdainfully. “How is it disrespectful to Buddha? Using it for promotion is giving Buddha face. At most, when you make money, you can donate one or two coins to the temple. Then Buddha becomes your partner.”

“………….”

Shopkeeper Chen thought for a while with a long face. “But if I say this, others can say it too, right? It’ll be useless in a couple of days!”

“Tsk tsk tsk, you’re absolutely right, Old Chen! You’re so clever, no wonder you should be rich!”

Fang Zheng patted his shoulder in delight.

“So, what should you do?”

“I’ll tell you. Since everyone can learn these methods, you have to take them to the extreme first! Promote like crazy every day, so that all the commoners in the capital only know your Chen’s soy sauce, Chen’s ginger.”

“By the time others react… they’ll only know Chen’s and not the others!”

“Think about it. Your goods are constantly flowing, people are lining up from one end of the street to the other to buy from you… every day you collect money until your hands develop calluses.”

“What kind of experience is that? Savor it…”

“Hiss~”

Shopkeeper Chen had a perverted smile on his face, standing there grinning foolishly, as if he really saw countless money waving at him.

But he soon came back to his senses.

He said with a troubled expression, “This old man doesn’t have that much money to hire people to promote! This is simply impossible!”

“What’s the hurry? I’m telling you this naturally because there’s a way to solve it. Young Master Li, come here.”

Li Yuanzhao was reluctantly dragged over.

Fang Zheng put his arm around his shoulder and said, “You see? You know Young Master Li’s sanitation team, right?”

“I know… so what?”

“Young Master Li has specifically come this time to help small shops like yours increase their income! Think about it, he has thousands of people under him! Walking through the streets and alleys of the capital!”

“If these people all had your Chen’s signboard and product images on their backs, and shouted a few lines while working… just think, how many people would know your Chen’s name by then! At least tens of thousands, right?”

“I bet in less than a month, you’ll be replacing your shop’s threshold with solid iron from all the foot traffic!”

Shopkeeper Chen fell to his knees with a thud upon hearing this, exclaiming excitedly, “For you two masters to help this old man like this, I’m truly endlessly grateful!!”

“What’s the hurry? We charge money.”

“???”

“Didn’t you say… you came specifically to help small shops increase their income…”

Shopkeeper Chen’s mood rapidly declined… after all that, they came to do business at my shop!

Can I afford a sanitation team of several thousand people?!

Fang Zheng pulled him up and held out five fingers. “Don’t be afraid! For new customers, it’s only five taels a month!”

Shopkeeper Chen’s eyes once again burst with light.

Only five taels for thousands of people to promote for him for a month! That was so worth it!

“I’m in!”

Fang Zheng smiled and put his arm around Shopkeeper Chen’s shoulder, lowering his voice. “Don’t be hasty… think about it some more.”

“With a monthly revenue of thirty taels, you have to give five taels to certain people.”

“If you can earn three hundred taels a month later… will you still give five taels?”

“If it were me, I’d think since you could honestly give five taels out of thirty before, when you get rich, I’d ask you for two hundred and seventy-five taels.”

“Don’t you think so?”

Shopkeeper Chen’s face quickly turned ashen. He got carried away just now and didn’t think of this. If it really went as Mr. Fang said, what would be the point of his efforts?

“Then I won’t do it…”

“Look, you’re being hasty again, aren’t you?”

Fang Zheng’s tone began to turn stern.

“This is a new venture Young Master Li and I are working on, aimed at helping small shops like yours. If it can’t succeed just because of some petty ruffians, wouldn’t that be a slap in the face for Young Master Li?”

“Do you think the thousands of people beside Young Master Li would be afraid of them?”

“Moreover, this matter is related to the people’s livelihood and must succeed. If anyone blocks our way, they’re going against the yamen, against the imperial court! Against the Emperor!”

“No matter who they are, they’re dead meat!”

“Old Chen, do you want to continue muddling along like this, offering five taels to people every month, living hand to mouth with your family, or are you willing to give those five taels to me and let you earn money by the bucketful without any worries?”

“Alright, now tell me… who exactly has been bullying you?”