"Alright, let's cut to the chase and not waste everyone's time."
"If you want to buy my wine, you need to pay a deposit. No counterfeit, inferior, or imitation wine can be used as a substitute for mine. If found, the deposit will be forfeited and the purchase qualification canceled."
"Of course, if you follow my rules and decide not to continue buying my wine, the deposit will be fully refunded."
"Everyone will supervise together, and we will collectively crack down on those selling fake or substandard wine."
Oliver Sheng laid out his intentions. He wanted these merchants from various regions to become the exclusive distributors of Western Wind Blaze and Green Ant.
This would prevent them from selling counterfeit wine under his brand name and eliminate fake and inferior products from the market.
The goal was to tie these people to the same boat.
The merchants looked at each other in surprise. They had never heard of or seen such a model before.
Those with ulterior motives were stunned. They never expected Oliver to cut off their plans so directly.
"How much deposit does General Sheng require?" a well-dressed merchant asked.
"Not much, just 300,000 taels of silver."
As soon as Oliver said this, many merchants' faces changed.
"Of course, if you think it's too expensive, you can leave now."
Oliver would not compromise with these merchants. Without a high deposit, someone would surely dare to use his brand to sell counterfeit wine on the market.
This 300,000 taels of silver was both a deposit and an entry ticket.
This was how it was done in the future; he was just copying the business model and concept.
However, no one stood up to leave. This was a huge opportunity with rich profits. They had come all the way to River West County; how could they leave empty-handed?
"General, I, Hu Yan, will pay the 300,000 taels of silver." Seeing everyone else silent, Hu Yan stood up and said.
He was the first to take the plunge. He could afford the 300,000 taels of silver deposit and wasn't afraid.
Why not take this chance to leave a good impression on Oliver and lend a helping hand?
When Hu Yan spoke, Oliver looked at him and couldn't help but smile. This guy was smart and knew how to act.
Seeing Oliver smile at him, Hu Yan was overjoyed. It seemed he had made the right bet.
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"There are thirty-six provinces in the world, and each province will have one sales quota. The sales rights for the capital province will go to Manager Hu for Western Wind Blaze and Green Ant," Oliver announced.
A favor for a favor!
As soon as Oliver said this, Hu Yan and his brother Hu Xue were overjoyed.
The other merchants' faces changed instantly. The capital province was the center of the Great Wei Dynasty, where the imperial city Luo Capital was located, the most prosperous place. Now that Oliver had given the sales rights to the Hu brothers, the others were filled with regret.
If they had known, they wouldn't have hesitated to speak up earlier.
"General Sheng, I am also willing to pay the 300,000 taels of silver deposit."
"Me too, me too!"
The merchants quickly spoke up, afraid they would be too late.
"Very well, there are thirty-six provinces in the Great Wei Dynasty, and there will be thirty-six agents. The rest, please leave," Oliver said with a smile.
Those who were still hesitating and unwilling to pay the deposit were directly excluded by Oliver and driven out.
Oliver didn't plan to have too many agents; one per province was enough. The production of Western Wind Blaze and Green Ant couldn't keep up.
The hesitant merchants, driven out of the winery, came to their senses and regretted it deeply.
They were unwilling to pay the deposit and lost the qualification to buy Western Wind Blaze and Green Ant.
This meant they missed out on a huge profit opportunity.
"Ah..."
All their regret turned into a helpless sigh. They lacked the courage to pay the 300,000 taels of silver deposit.
They could only watch this opportunity slip away.
With thirty-six merchants left, Oliver finally spoke to them.
"Since you trust me, from now on, we will be doing business together. I won't let you down."
"General is right!"
"Now, let's talk about pricing and purchase quotas. You can only sell within your designated areas and cannot sell the wine in other people's territories."
"General, what will the pricing be?" a merchant asked.
"Green Ant will be 300 taels per jar, and Western Wind Blaze will be 500 taels per jar. As for how much you can sell it for, that's up to you," Oliver said.
Since it was a monopoly, with time and the reputation of Western Wind Blaze and Green Ant spreading, the prices outside would only go up.
There was no worry about selling.
"General, how much of a purchase quota will the capital province have?" Hu Yan asked.
"Tell me how much you need and your sales volume," Oliver said.
"The capital province is full of high officials and wealthy people. Even ten thousand jars of Green Ant at a time might not be enough. As for Western Wind Blaze, besides the martial heroes and military generals, not many people drink it. Five thousand jars should be enough for a month's sales," Hu Yan said.
"Then three thousand jars of Green Ant and one thousand jars of Western Wind Blaze per month," Oliver said.
With limited production, Oliver planned to use scarcity marketing.
After setting the purchase quota for Hu Yan in the capital province, Oliver allocated quotas for the others.
After receiving their purchase quotas and paying the deposit, the merchants eagerly took the wine back to sell.
By collecting deposits, Oliver amassed over ten million taels of silver. The thirty thousand jars of Green Ant and twenty thousand jars of Western Wind Blaze stored during this period were also sold out.
He gained another nineteen million taels of silver, making him instantly wealthy with a total of thirty million taels of silver.
This amount of money was almost equivalent to the national tax revenue of the Great Wei Dynasty for a month.
When Cameron Guo, Wesley Hu, Felix Wu, Xiao Chuyi, and Zane Wang saw so much money, they were all speechless with shock.
If Oliver went into business, he might become the richest man in the world.
Cameron, Zane, and the others felt it was unreal, like a dream.
What did thirty million taels of silver mean?
It was almost the annual military budget for the entire Great Wei Dynasty, which maintained an army of over a million soldiers with an annual budget of fifty million taels of silver.
With the money, Oliver expanded the winery and the craftsman's workshop, and the barracks were also expanded.
He expanded the winery, recruited workers, and increased production. It was like having an inexhaustible gold mine.
The craftsman's workshop was also expanded, with a large number of workers and craftsmen recruited to forge heavy armor.
With money, Oliver spared no expense. He needed a heavy infantry army, two light cavalry units, and one heavy cavalry unit.
Oliver spent a fortune to buy five thousand excellent warhorses.
In the barracks, there were ten thousand warhorses. The best three thousand were given to the heavy cavalry, and the remaining four thousand warhorses were used by Felix Wu and Wesley Hu to train two battalions of soldiers in mounted archery.
The two battalions would form two light cavalry units to support the heavy cavalry in charges.
The remaining three thousand warhorses were kept as reserves or for transporting supplies.
For Xiao Chuyi, Oliver planned to have her guard the city in the future.
He just wanted to push her out.
Oliver also arranged for Zane Wang to take a large sum of money to buy pills on the black market.
He bought a large amount of meat and medicinal herbs to feed his soldiers and improve their cultivation.
The main strategy was to be rich and willful!
The Flood Dragon Devouring Technique, deduced by the System, allowed cultivation as long as they ate well, consuming food rich in essence.
Silver flowed out of Oliver's hands like water.
He didn't care about money at all!
This famous saying, once only known on the internet in his previous life, now applied to him.
To him, silver was just an external object. Only when spent did it become money.
Piling it up in a warehouse was just a heap of silver ingots.