"His white sugar sells at this price, and he can still profit?" Ouyang Ji felt his vision blacken.
If Liang Xiao's sugar refinery could be profitable, wouldn't that mean more money could be invested in his bookshops, engaging in a war of attrition with the Ouyang family's bookshops?
Duanmu Chao was also startled and, upon understanding the situation, became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
"Brother Ouyang! Can the Ministry of Revenue interfere with Liang Xiao's sugar refinery construction? We are in the same boat now!"
Ouyang Ji forced a bitter smile. "To the outside world, this is undoubtedly a good thing for the people. How dare the Ministry of Revenue interfere?"
Duanmu Chao said urgently, "Brother Dugu! Can your local officials forcibly occupy Liang Xiao's sugar refinery once it starts operating?"
Dugu Qun also smiled bitterly and shook his head. "When he opened his bookshops, we thought the same thing. But later, we discovered that all his bookshops were established in places we couldn't interfere with! For example, Li Xiuyun's Luzhou, He Jingyun's Jinling, Liu Qingping's Qiantang, and various places in Yanzhou... the prefects or commanders of these prefectures and cities are all loyal to the Son of Heaven!"
Duanmu Chao almost suffocated.
The Ouyang family's bookshops were dragged into a quagmire by Liang Xiao. The Duanmu family had funded the Ouyangs with millions of taels, but they still watched from the sidelines, occasionally getting some cheap books.
Now that Liang Xiao's war had reached the Duanmu family, he deeply understood that indescribable sense of pressure, crisis, and fear!
Now Duanmu Chao understood why the Grand Tutor and the King of the South had suffered so much at Liang Xiao's hands.
"This young man goes to extremes in everything, showing no mercy and disregarding rules. He is simply cutting grass and roots!" Duanmu Chao trembled.
The Duanmu family had originally thought that Liang Xiao would only open sugar refineries and shops in the capital and other sugarcane-producing regions.
In non-sugarcane-producing areas, the Duanmu family could still maintain their business by taking advantage of the local availability of maltose.
To their surprise, he actually intended to open them all over the country!
This white sugar seemed to be quite storable, perhaps it could indeed be transported all over the country.
At that time, the Duanmu family's sugar refineries in other regions would lose their competitive advantage, and losses or even closures would be imminent!
Duanmu Chao's intestines were filled with regret. "Should we have offended him from the start? Should we have coveted Yi Zui Bai Nian?"
At this time, Duanmu Chao did not realize that Liang Xiao's intelligence network had already begun to touch upon the Duanmu family's illicit salt.
Furthermore, the Duanmu family had taken the lead in significantly raising grain prices amidst the refugee crisis, severely hindering Xiao Qing's disaster relief efforts.
Ouyang Ji said in a deep voice, "If you don't offend him, will he let you off? He has clearly been targeting your Duanmu family for a long time! You should have your 'merchants' in various places restrain themselves recently, and don't let the court investigate, otherwise, even I can't protect your family!"
Duanmu Chao was greatly surprised!
The "merchants" Ouyang Ji mentioned were the illicit salt dealers who took risks in various places, and some of them were from the Duanmu family.
Not selling illicit salt would be another major blow to the Duanmu family's income!
At this moment, Ouyang Ji was also full of worry and confusion.
When would this competition in the bookshops end...
Now Ouyang Ji could only hope that Liang Xiao's sugar refinery was also operating at a loss, and that opening it all over the country like his bookshops was just to benefit the people and break the Duanmu family's monopoly on sugar.
Unlike the anxiety of the three families, Liang Xiao was personally cooking in the Liang Mansion, demonstrating the methods for making various pastries and dishes, including sweet and sour pork ribs.
After finishing his work at night, Liang Xiao was waiting for the financial reports from the sugar refinery and intelligence from various regions. Once his family's affairs in the capital were stable, he could go to Yanzhou.
After all, the military was full of uncertainties, and Liang Xiao did not dare to blindly trust that the garrisons of the three regions could guarantee complete safety.
The loss of any one region would be unacceptable to the Great Gan Dynasty, especially the Yan Yun region.
At night, Xiao Qing, disguised as Princess Ningshuang, sneaked into the Liang Mansion, just in time for Liang Xiao's dinner.
After eating the sweet and sour pork ribs, Xiao Qing was amazed, but then became unhappy.
"Oh no, Brother Xiao is going to Yanzhou soon, and Shuang'er won't be able to eat sweet and sour pork ribs for a long time..."
Liang Xiao was taken aback and smiled, "I've already had the scholars in the mansion copy several sets of the recipes. You can take one back for the imperial chefs to learn."
"I like the ones you make," Xiao Qing quickly hugged Liang Xiao's arm and acted spoiled.
"Alright, alright, I'll make them for you every day recently!" Liang Xiao's heart was almost melting, with a doting expression.
Luo Qingxue and the others couldn't help but chuckle, while Jian Qinwan felt a sense of relief.
Even Princess Ningshuang was like this, so in the future, when she acted spoiled or blushed in front of Liang Xiao, she wouldn't be embarrassed...
It was the season for sugarcane to mature, and the white sugar was still being mass-produced. After the people of the capital eagerly tried to buy it, they praised it.
However, Liang Xiao did not intend to sell it all at once. A portion of the white sugar would be stored for a steady, long-term supply, and another portion would be supplied to the army.
Ouyang Jia, Duanmu Jia, Dugu Jia, and He Jia, the heads of the four families, gathered in Ouyang Ji's secret room, still wondering if Liang Xiao's sugar refinery was like his bookshops.
The Duanmu family had roughly calculated the price of sugarcane and the cost of labor and tools, and estimated that the profit would be between a significant loss and a small gain.
However, Liang Xiao did not accept the Duanmu family's cooperation request. If he had money but refused to earn it together, this made everyone suspect that Liang Xiao might be profitable.
"Why don't you follow our family's example and trick Liang Xiao into signing a contract, buying his white sugar at a high price, and forbidding him from selling it to the common people?"
Dugu Qun and He Wanli thought of the Ouyang family's current situation and felt a chill go straight to their heads.
Duanmu Chao's old eyes lit up. "Excellent! White sugar is different from those books and scriptures. Even if the price is doubled, it can definitely be sold out, considering that maltose alone starts at one hundred and sixty wen!"
Duanmu Chao immediately sent someone to find Liang Xiao to discuss it, and everyone waited for news at the Ouyang residence.
Because Liang Xiao's sugar refinery had a limit on sugar sales. Buyers who wanted to purchase in bulk needed to be vetted by the refinery to prevent large quantities of white sugar from falling into the hands of opponents and being resold in other regions.
An hour later, the butler reported, "Master! He refused, and the guards directly threw this old servant out!"
Duanmu Chao felt his chest about to explode. "This fellow is incorrigible!"
Ouyang Ji's expression was complex, and he smiled without speaking.
He had only made a suggestion to Duanmu Chao, to test Liang Xiao's reaction, and did not expect the Duanmu family to actually cooperate with Liang Xiao.
Liang Xiao's reaction indicated that even if his sugar refinery was operating at a loss, it was within an acceptable range?
And if Liang Xiao had accepted the Duanmu family's proposal and signed a contract, he might have made a large profit. Then he would have more silver taels to consume the Ouyang family's bookshops, and perhaps the Ouyang family would collapse first...
In the capital, nine ordinary-looking citizens walked through the streets.
A young girl in linen clothes walked among the crowd, her face veiled, her pair of captivating eyes.
This group of people silently went to a spacious civilian residence in the south of the city. The owner of the residence, a middle-aged man, immediately welcomed them in, and then the door was closed.
Eight of them then took out rings and put them on their hands.
Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, Azure, Vermilion, Black, White.
The Yun Tian Guards!
The only woman not wearing a ring, her eyelashes fluttered, and she looked at the owner of the residence. "Uncle Lin, did... did that Liang Xiao get married?"
Uncle Lin nodded. "Eldest Young Lady, he has already become the only驸马 of Great Gan, marrying six princesses. His wedding ceremony just ended not long ago! Miss Qingyi and Miss Yirou both admire him, but they dare not disturb his life..."
Upon hearing this, the young girl's eyelashes trembled incessantly, her breathing became rushed, and her chest heaved violently.
A furious shriek echoed from the secret room.
"I want to get revenge on him and reclaim my territory!!"
"He dared to hit me in public... I will disturb him!!"