Chapter 29: Price War

"We need to make the Wang family regret, make them weep, make them lose everything!" Yuan Zhao fumed, acting as if he were some hot-headed youth.

However, Li Xian had already grown somewhat wary of Yuan Zhao.

Li Xian turned to Zhang Quan, "Brother Zhang, I know you’re the most thorough in your work. How is the Wang family’s situation right now?"

Zhang Quan thought for a moment, "Noble Consort Hua is still the Noble Consort, and His Majesty is still somewhat protective of the Wang family. Also, behind the Wang family’s imitation of the lanterns, there are faint traces of the royal family’s involvement. That's one of the reasons I didn’t mention this to you earlier. After uncovering part of the situation, I didn’t dare investigate further."

"Evidence?" Li Xian’s eyes gleamed with a sharp light. If this matter involved the royal family, it would indeed be more troublesome.

"There’s only one circumstantial piece of evidence — the night lantern. The Wang family’s shops don’t sell night lanterns! And even when we secretly tried to make contact, the Wang family didn’t respond."

"Circumstantial evidence?" Li Xian rubbed his fingers together, pondering for a long time. "Even circumstantial evidence is enough. It makes sense that the royal family is involved in this matter. I heard that His Majesty is already desperate for money."

Yuan Zhao immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, so desperate that he’s started selling official positions. For just 5,000 taels of gold, you can become a third-rank official. For 10,000 taels of gold, you can get promoted to second-rank."

"I’ve heard the Wang family is planning to spend 20,000 taels of gold to buy a first-rank official position," Yuan Zhao added.

"Mm." Li Xian nodded. What seemed like a joke from Yuan Zhao had actually revealed some crucial information — and important evidence — that the emperor truly was in dire straits! And the Wang family was constantly making moves!

Li Xian pondered for a while longer before speaking, "In that case, since the royal family is involved, we’ll abandon the low-end market. As for the lanterns, we’ll take over the mid-range and high-end markets. And regarding the lanterns, we’ll wage a price war by raising prices."

"Poof..." Shangguan Yong sprayed a mouthful of tea, "Brother Xian, did I hear you right? You said you’re waging a price war, and you want to raise prices?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"Of course there’s a problem, a huge problem! Isn’t a price war supposed to lower prices?"

Li Xian smiled confidently, "What if our lanterns had a lifespan of five years? What would you say to that? And if we only produce mid-range and high-end lanterns, our workload will decrease significantly. That way, we can focus on craftsmanship, making the lanterns even more vibrant and dazzling."

Zhang Quan calculated for a while and said, "This way, we can reduce the costs of protection and transportation, while subtly signaling our concession to the royal family. However, it might affect our reputation. People might think we’ve retreated and see us as weak and easy to bully."

Li Xian chuckled, "Didn’t you just say that the royal family might be involved in the lanterns? We’ll make a temporary concession to gain favor from the royals. 

But we won’t let the Wang family off easily. Identify all of their fabric shops, and we’ll open a 'Brilliant Star Fabric Store' chain directly across from every one of them. As for prices, we’ll undercut them by 10%. 

With our machines producing fabric, we’ll beat the Wang family by miles, both in quantity and cost. Machine-woven fabric is 20% to 30% cheaper than hand-woven fabric, and it’s also more uniform and refined."

"Yes, let’s do it!" Shangguan Yong yelled excitedly. "We should also pretend to be angry, short on supplies, and acting at a loss."

Yuan Zhao cheered, "Excellent! I want to see the Wang family’s fabric stockpile rot in their hands. Wait, no, we should lure them into buying our fabric at low prices and then let their entire stockpile rot. Haha..."

Zhang Quan squinted, his eyes flashing coldly, "Don’t worry about raw materials. I’ve already contacted merchants from Chen Kingdom and will purchase all their textile materials at 10% above market price."

Shangguan Yong raised his hand, "I’ve secured deals with merchants from Qi Kingdom. We’ll have an endless supply of raw materials."

Yuan Zhao shouted, "I’ve made arrangements with merchants from Jin Kingdom."

Li Xian was overjoyed. "With textile materials from three countries backing us, we’ll win this war hands down!"

For the next ten days, Li Xian, Zhang Quan, Shangguan Yong, and Yuan Zhao huddled together to discuss various strategies. Xu Ren, though silent during the meetings, would offer his advice to Li Xian in private, often coming up with several clever schemes that could be used later.

Finally, twelve days later, Zhang Quan, Shangguan Yong, and Yuan Zhao’s families sent over a total of 12,600 taels of gold. The three then departed, each taking their purchased textile machines. The machines had been disassembled for transport, and during this period, Li Xian had even arranged for their bodyguards to learn basic repair and assembly techniques for the machines.

At the same time, the three took away a total of 6,000 bolts of fabric, which included all their stock and what they had woven in the past ten days. While 6,000 bolts might not be as shocking as 20,000, in this pre-industrial world, it was enough to stir the fabric market in Wuyang City.

After watching the trio's convoy disappear completely, Li Xian wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Those bastards had been restless during the past twelve days, secretly contacting the craftsmen around him, trying to undermine his efforts. Fortunately, Li Xian had long since garnered their loyalty through a variety of means—benefits, oaths, humane management, and visions of a glorious future.

Once the three left, the Li family's merchant convoy arrived, slowly unloading the remaining goods and taking away a large quantity of materials. Li Youwei also came personally to consult his nephew Li Xian about business techniques.

After Li Youwei departed, Li Xian finally stretched, feeling utterly exhausted. It wasn't just physical fatigue; it was mental strain. With industrial development reaching its current state, it was no longer feasible to isolate oneself from the market. Stepping into the market meant risking leaks of information, and for that reason, Li Xian had calculated every detail, finally drafting a preliminary plan that he found somewhat satisfactory.

However, the issue of wires still hung over the scientific industry like a noose around its neck. As long as the wire problem remained unresolved, significant development in the scientific industry would be impossible.

"This is a headache! Am I really going to have to pursue electrical science?" Li Xian glanced at his plans. "Sigh, I’ve got a little foundation now. If it really comes to that, I might have no choice but to head down the path of electrical science. But I can't accept that!"

Indeed, no one would be willing to accept failure in such a situation.

Staring at the green hills and clear waters outside the transparent glass window, Li Xian furrowed his brows.

If only he had wires, he was confident that he could propel his technology forward dramatically. With wires, he could realize many dreams; with wires, he could control the entire industry and unleash the scientific beast. Yet, he simply didn’t have wires.

For some reason, Li Xian felt increasingly frustrated: “I’ve read countless sci-fi novels, countless stories about time travel, but why the hell am I the one stuck on the wire problem! There's not even a single reference to draw from!”

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