Ji Zizhao certainly wouldn't engage in a losing business. It was just that before the medicinal materials were sent out, she temporarily didn't mention profits.
The next day, Xin Bi led his men to the Jiang family's storeroom. The Jiang family's shopkeepers originally wanted to make things difficult. However, with Xin Bi's temper, the Jiang family members dared not even breathe too loudly, let alone find fault. After finally seeing Xin Bi off, they thought they could finally vent their anger tomorrow. They never expected that after Xin Bi left, Wang Can would arrive…
However, the Jiang family was not disheartened. In any case, it was a sure thing that the four major medical halls would lose money this time.
After working busily for about seven days, on the eighth day, the sorted medicinal materials were finally successfully sent out of the imperial city.
But just as everyone was sighing with relief, rumors against the four major medical halls began to spread in the imperial city.
At this moment, Ji Zizhao had just finished her shift and was sitting in the carriage. She could casually hear the overwhelming discussions.
“Did you hear? This time, the four major medical halls cooperated with the Jiang family, contributing manpower and resources, but only got one-tenth of the profit.”
“Is that true? Then wouldn't they be losing money?”
“Are the people at the four major medical halls all blockheads who can't even do basic arithmetic? If that's the case, we should go to the four major medical halls less for treatment in the future. Don't turn us all into fools one day!”
Shui Ling, who was driving the carriage, heard this and was so angry that she wanted to get down and argue.
Ji Zizhao, however, said, “Continue driving.”
Shui Ling clenched her fists unwillingly. “Miss, are you going to let them keep spreading rumors?”
“The common people are just spreading rumors. Even if you stop the ones in front of you, you can't control the others,” Ji Zizhao said indifferently. To be able to spread such rumors, she knew without thinking that it was the Jiang family's doing. If the four major medical halls clashed with the common people under their name at this time, it would only make the common people more resistant to the four major medical halls.
Shui Ling dared not disobey her lady's orders. She sat sullenly in the carriage and mumbled, “Just accepting it like this is truly unbearable.”
Accepting it?
How could that be possible.
Ji Zizhao had never intended to let the Jiang family swallow nine-tenths of the profits for free. It was just a matter of the bigger picture. She didn't expect the Jiang family to be impatient before she could even make a move.
But even if the Jiang family wanted to kick them while they were down, they had to see if they had the ability.
Ji Zizhao had a plan in mind and directly asked Shui Ling to drive to the four major medical halls. At this moment, the four major medical halls were unusually quiet at the entrance due to the rumors. Ji Zizhao went up to the second floor through the back door, and soon Chen Gang and others all arrived.
Looking at the shopkeepers in front of her, Ji Zizhao only said one sentence: “Make copies of the contract signed in duplicate with the Jiang family, and post them in every medical hall.”
Chen Gang and the others’ eyes lit up after hearing this.
Yes, words are not enough. But as long as there is solid evidence, no one can stir up trouble anymore!
“We originally agreed to a one-tenth profit with the Jiang family. Now it's time to claim our interest,” Ji Zizhao said with a smile.
Only then did Chen Gang and the others understand their leader's intention. They quickly made over a dozen copies of the contract and posted them all over the walls of the pharmacies, including the pharmacies that had been taken over from the Jin family.
Although they were rubbings, the signature and thumbprint of Jiang Guangcheng were clearly visible, as was the official seal of the Jiang family. This way, the common people could easily distinguish between true and false.
It was only when the common people saw the rubbings of the contract that they suddenly realized that it wasn't that the four major medical halls were brainless, but that the Jiang family was simply too overbearing!
What did it mean to send medicinal materials to the battlefield?
It meant saving lives and healing the sick!
With the righteousness of life and death before them, as human beings with flesh and blood, they would put their own interests aside first. However, the Jiang family still did not forget to demand exorbitant prices at this time, asking for nine-tenths of the profit with one mouth. Was this something a human could do?
The imperial city was where rumors spread fastest, but it was also a place where reason prevailed. No one knew when the rumors in the city began to dissipate with the wind. The four major medical halls, which were originally deserted, became bustling again. Those common people who were still resisting the four major medical halls now couldn't even get a place in line.
As for the Jiang family, they naturally became the target of the city's common people's blacklisting.
This time, the shopkeepers of the Jiang family business alliance were dumbfounded. If the common people didn't buy Jiang family's medicinal materials, who would they sell their medicinal materials to?
Seeing that the tide had turned sufficiently, Ji Zizhao then had Wang Can personally visit the former Jin family pharmacies and told them to all hang out flags proclaiming no business dealings with the Jiang family. In an instant, the common people who were busy buying medicinal materials flocked to them.
As a result, even the former Jin family pharmacies were boosted.
In terms of this transaction, Ji Zizhao did indeed lose money, but the reputation that the four major medical halls gained now was something that could not be bought with any amount of money.
The Jiang family members who were still waiting to see the four major medical halls make a fool of themselves…
What was there to see? This time, it was their turn to become the joke!
If they had known that they could play like this, they would have preferred not to have even a single coin.
Madame Jiang had initially thought that the four major medical halls would at least come forward to explain and argue with the common people. She never expected that their move would directly lock onto the Jiang family's throat.
“Mother-in-law, have some tea to calm your nerves,” Cui Shi, seeing that Madame Jiang's face was grim, quickly offered her tea.
Madame Jiang's chest was blocked with anger and she couldn't drink tea. “Ultimately, it's your Cui family's incompetence. You can't help at all. Otherwise, why would we, the Jiang family, have to do everything ourselves!”
Cui Shi saw her mother-in-law venting her anger on her and said aggrievedly, “Marrying a husband means following the husband. As a daughter-in-law, I only know that after entering the house, I must respect my husband and be filial to my in-laws. I cannot overstep my bounds to inquire about business matters.”
This remark clearly told Madame Jiang that she did not concern herself with matters outside the mansion.
Madame Jiang, who was in a fit of anger, became even more enraged upon hearing this. She even knocked over the teacup in front of her onto the ground. “To put it bluntly, you are also a useless thing! You have been married into our Jiang family and have been of no use. Look at the Fourth Prince's Consort. Even as a royal daughter-in-law, she has the courage to show her face in public. Look at you… you are truly like a common pebble compared to a pearl. How can you compare to her!”
After entering the mansion, Cui Shi had often heard her mother-in-law talk about the Fourth Prince's Consort. However, what she heard was that the Fourth Prince's Consort was infatuated with her own husband, but the Jiang family looked down on the Fourth Prince's Consort, and so on…
Cui Shi felt quite fortunate. At least she had won over a prince's consort, so she had a considerable disdain for this Fourth Prince's Consort. Now, hearing her mother-in-law compare her to someone she had always looked down upon made her naturally very uncomfortable.
When Jiang Guangsheng returned from outside, Cui Shi ran to complain, “Mother-in-law hopes that I will show my face in public like the Fourth Prince's Consort. But in the end, isn't it the Fourth Prince's Consort who doesn't understand the rules? She already has an engagement but still doesn't uphold wifely virtue, insistently showing her face in the palace.”