267: Chapter 267 Spreads

With profits placed right in front of them, he did not believe anyone would remain unmoved.

Wuyang was only the beginning; the major Great Families of Jinhuai Prefecture were the true targets the Pei Clan needed to harvest.

In a few days at most, once the matter had fully fermented, it would be time for the Pei Clan to exert its strength.

Seeing Pei Qingyun speak this way, Jiu merely stood to the side, listening quietly.

He naturally believed these words without a doubt.

No one understood the terror of the person before him better than he did.

As the commander of the Pei Clan's secret guards, he served only Pei Qingyun.

Some of the secrets he knew were even unknown to the clan leader, Pei Tianrong.

As long as it was something Pei Qingyun wanted to accomplish, he had never seen it fail.

"Continue to monitor this matter. Also, do not let your guard down regarding the Qian Clan and the Lü family," Pei Qingyun said calmly.

"Yes," Jiu replied.

Ever since the incident with the contraband, the two families had become completely quiet. Not only did they stop causing trouble for the Yuanhang Trade Caravan, but they also took the initiative to ease relations with the Pei Clan.

On the surface, the two families no longer showed any signs of being at odds with the Pei Clan.

But Pei Qingyun knew very well that this was simply impossible.

Putting aside whether he could tolerate the fact that the Qian Clan had once schemed against the Pei Clan behind his back.

The Pei Clan's development model would inevitably continue to damage the interests of the Qian Clan.

The transaction volume of the Yuanhong Trading Market did not appear out of thin air.

The market in Jinhuai Prefecture was only so big.

Even if the Pei Clan made this cake a bit larger, it would at most go from seventy percent to one hundred percent; that measly thirty percent could only satisfy the Pei Clan's needs for the time being.

But if the Pei Clan continued to develop, these two portions would not be enough. Not to mention that as the Pei Clan developed, those Great Families following the Pei Clan would always need to have a bite to eat.

Otherwise, why would other Great Families establish good relations with the Pei Clan?

In this way, another portion of the profits would have to be shared.

The Yuanhong Trading Market and the Yuanhang Trade Caravan were like increasing the development level of the Jinhuai market from seventy percent to one hundred percent.

Once this threshold of one hundred percent was reached, there would only be two paths: expanding outward or swallowing up the other Great Families in the prefecture.

The Pei Clan had never abandoned the path of outward expansion. Whether doing business with the Yun Family or with the Longxi Pei Clan, these were all part of it.

However, outward expansion simply could not keep up with the Pei Clan's growing demands.

Once the second phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market was successfully built, it would continuously attract Great Families from the prefecture to invest.

Once this positive reaction began to ferment, the market in Jinhuai Prefecture city would be under continuous impact.

Once the point of shifting the center of gravity was reached, the market in Jinhuai Prefecture city would wither.

By then, it would not just affect the Qian Clan and the Lü family, but all the Great Families in the prefecture city.

As for the Great Families that centered around the Pei Clan, it would be the exact opposite.

Of course, all of this was a matter for the future.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

News of the pre-sale for the second phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market had also spread to the major Great Families in the six counties of Jinhuai.

Some marveled at the Pei Clan's business model and were studying its feasibility; some were interested in the Yuanhong Trading Market shops and were thinking of pre-ordering a batch; and others wanted to cooperate with the Pei Clan to participate in the development of the Yuanhong Trading Market.

The plan was far smoother than Pei Qingyun had imagined.

With the success of the first phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market as a precedent, coupled with the guarantee of the Pei Clan's strength, the second phase also welcomed its first batch of pre-sale customers.

Inside the small courtyard.

Pei Qingyun sipped his tea, his expression indescribably relaxed.

These past few days, besides sipping tea, he had also personally visited the first phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market once.

Although he had been as low-key as possible, his arrival still caused quite a sensation.

Years ago, apart from the heads of the major Great Families in Wuyang, only a few people would have been able to recognize him.

Today, the situation had completely reversed.

With the rise of the Pei Clan, as the initiator of all this, he naturally appeared in the line of sight of many people.

Although he did not appear before the public many times, quite a few people still remembered his appearance.

Therefore.

He hadn't stayed in the first phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market for long before he was recognized by someone with keen eyes.

Once recognized, Pei Qingyun instantly became the center of conversation, and the crowd of onlookers gathered together in a very short time.

Even some shopkeepers abandoned their stores just to get a look at his honorable countenance.

To put it bluntly, if he had stayed on the streets of the first phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market for a quarter of an hour, the entire street would have been blocked.

This made Pei Qingyun feel quite depressed.

The onlookers were all well-intentioned, and this was the Pei Clan's territory, so he couldn't very well find guards to drive them away.

With no other choice, he could only cut his trip short.

After returning to the Pei Clan Estate, Pei Qingyun deeply felt the terror of the celebrity effect.

Fortunately, he rarely went out.

Otherwise, he would easily become a monkey for people to watch.

Sure enough, it is lonely at the top.

A person like him, in a familiar environment, could no longer integrate into the lives of ordinary people at all.

Only in a place like Longnan Prefecture, where no one knew him and no one knew of his fame, could he travel like an ordinary person.

It was precisely because of this experience that Pei Qingyun had not gone out again these past few days.

However.

Just as he was sipping tea, the small courtyard door was pushed open.

Pei Tianrong walked in from outside, beaming with joy.

Anyone who saw that expression would know that something good had happened.

"Tianrong, you are so happy today; is there any good news?" Pei Qingyun asked.

Pei Tianrong took a deep breath until he suppressed the excitement in his heart, and then slowly said, "Old Ancestor, following your instructions, I began the first batch of pre-sales for the second phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market yesterday. As of the hour of the Rat last night, the total value of the pre-sold shops had reached twenty percent of the total."

Twenty percent in one day—in Pei Tianrong's view, it was simply a myth.

Twenty percent of the total amount was enough to cover more than half of the construction funds for the second phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market.

After redesigning the second phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market, Pei Qingyun estimated the construction cost to be five hundred and twenty thousand taels, while the total price if all the shops in the second phase were sold would be around one million five hundred thousand taels.

A two-fold profit—in Pei Qingyun's view, his conscience was already very good.

For the sake of making money, merchants dared to do things with ten-fold or hundred-fold profits.

Compared to them, he was as pure as a little white rabbit.

However, this did not mean he was generous.

For the entire Yuanhong Trading Market, the Pei Clan possessed management rights and a five percent share of the profits.

Compared to short-term windfall profits, he preferred long-term stable income and absolute say.

He built the Yuanhong Trading Market, so naturally, it was impossible for him to work for the benefit of others.

Twenty percent was slightly higher than he had imagined, but it did not far exceed his expectations.

After hearing Pei Tianrong's report, his expression did not change in the slightest, and he said indifferently, "Twenty percent is not bad. Judging by the current situation, before the end of the month, the pre-sales should not be less than fifty percent."

"Since that is the case, the start time for the construction of the second phase of the Yuanhong Trading Market will also need to be adjusted. Tianrong, which time do you think is more appropriate?"

Speaking of this, Pei Qingyun looked at Pei Tianrong, who was standing to the side.