Chapter Forty-Nine: Exclusive Selling Rights

Bai Chenxi realized she had lost her composure, but quickly relaxed and smiled faintly, "Young Brother Shen is truly wicked, trying to scare your elder sister like this."

"And what evidence do you have to prove that the fine wine Baixi has a share belonging to Her Majesty?"

Qin Hao smiled and asked, "Does that mean Elder Sister Chenxi is confident she can deal with the Eldest Princess, the Prime Minister, and Duke Zheng?"

Bai Chenxi fell silent for a brief moment.

After a short while, she chuckled and asked, "Young Brother Shen doesn't need to fish for information from me. Since you have laid everything out so clearly, I want to know what price you can offer."

Qin Hao's tone grew much more serious as he slowly spoke, "Exclusive selling rights."

"What kind of exclusive selling rights?"

"One hundred thousand taels, and all of my future fine wines will be supplied to the Wind and Moon Pavilion on a priority basis."

"In the future, you will be my sole general distributor."

Upon hearing this, Bai Chenxi refused without a moment's hesitation, "One hundred thousand taels? Impossible."

Qin Hao laughed and said, "Perhaps Elder Sister Chenxi doesn't understand what a general distributor means."

"You've seen it yourself: after tonight, the fine wine Baixi will undoubtedly renowned far and wide."

"When that happens, whichever establishment sells Baixi will see its business thrive. Elder Sister Chenxi wouldn't dispute that point, would she?"

Bai Chenxi nodded.

It was precisely because she recognized the potential of the fine wine Baixi that she had wanted to buy the recipe.

Qin Hao smiled and continued, "Therefore, Elder Sister Chenxi's thinking has fallen into a misconception."

"Once the fine wine Baixi spreads through a single night, other restaurants and brothels will naturally come to know of it, and they will naturally want Baixi to appear in their own establishments."

"As long as you secure the exclusive selling rights, you will become my primary distributor."

"If other restaurants want to acquire the selling rights for the fine wine Baixi and other premium wines, even if they come to me, I will not sell to them."

"However, I can grant you the authority: they will have no choice but to seek a franchise through you."

"Furthermore, as the primary distributor, you will be permitted to sell all the fine wines in my possession."

"The secondary distributors who franchise under you will only be allowed to sell seventy percent of the fine wines I provide, which will not infringe upon your exclusivity."

"Of course, if they want these selling rights, they won't get them for free; they must pay you fifty thousand taels of silver. You and I will split this silver fifty-fifty before I provide them with any wine to sell."

"Likewise, I will grant you the right to engage in bulk sales."

"The secondary distributors you take on can only source their goods from you, and you are permitted to mark up the price by thirty percent for bulk sales."

"As for all downstream distributors, their retail markup must not exceed one hundred percent of the purchase price."

"This rule must be strictly observed; market prices must not be thrown into chaos. Only by ensuring that others can also make a profit can we achieve long-term development."

"There is one more point you must make clear: the fifty thousand taels of silver grants the selling rights for a single shop only. A one-time purchase does not permit sales across multiple locations. Once multiple-location sales are discovered, the authorization will be revoked, and wine supplies will be cut off permanently."

"Just think about it: you only need to find four merchants who want to sell the fine wine Baixi, and you will easily recoup the one hundred thousand taels."

"And that doesn't even include the silver you will earn from bulk-selling at a markup."

"There is another point: the fine wine Baixi is a high-end product, serving primarily as a traffic-driving attraction to lure customers into the Wind and Moon Pavilion."

"When the fine wine Baixi is available in only four or five restaurants or brothels, customers who wish to drink it will have no choice but to come to your establishment."

"Once the customer traffic in the Wind and Moon Pavilion increases, just how much more silver will you be able to earn?"

By the time she heard this, Bai Chenxi could not help but draw in a sharp breath.

Such a peculiar theory of sales was something she had never heard of before.

She understood the principle that scarcity commands high value.

Yet this bundled sales method completely subverted everything she had previously learned.

As for the opportunities to manipulate the market and generate profits within it, they were simply too numerous to count!

Seeing that Bai Chenxi was somewhat shaken, Qin Hao continued, "I can guarantee you one thing: the quality of all the fine wines I produce in the future will be far superior to the best wines currently available on the market, down to the very last drop."

"Elder Sister Chenxi, just think about it: if you hold the exclusive selling rights to the finest wines the Great Capital Dynasty will ever see, do you think you will make a profit?"

"Now think again—spending only one hundred thousand taels to buy these exclusive selling rights, do you think you're taking a loss?"

Bai Chenxi took a deep breath and remained silent for a long time.

Qin Hao's theoretical framework was far too comprehensive.

According to what Qin Hao had outlined, as the primary distributor, she would be able to sell all the fine wines he would brew in the future, which meant she was effectively buying out the selling rights for all future new products as well.

Conversely, the secondary selling rights sold through her would only cover seventy percent of all fine wines brewed by Qin Hao in the future.

This point alone guaranteed her absolute interests.

Not to mention that those who came to her to purchase secondary distributor privileges would also have to pay her a fee.

This was practically no different from outright robbery.

After briefly calming her racing mind, Bai Chenxi asked, "With exclusive sales, how can you guarantee that your recipe will not be leaked?"

Qin Hao laughed easily and countered, "The Eldest Princess injecting capital means imperial capital is backing this. In an exclusive trade, who would dare to counterfeit without authorization?"

"Besides, since I dare to say this, I naturally have ways to guard the recipe."

"We can sign an additional contract stipulating that if the recipe is leaked, I will issue a full refund."

"If you still have doubts, I can invite the Eldest Princess to act as our witness."

Hearing this, Bai Chenxi's mind was indeed considerably more at ease, so she voiced another concern: "How much wine do you currently have available for sale? If it's just this single variety, I truly would be taking a massive loss."

"Ten fine wines within a month."

"I will teach you how to build up the reputation and how to drive up the price."

"Once all ten varieties are launched, new products will be introduced continuously thereafter, and I will also release certain fine wines exclusively for the primary distributor."

"With all of this laid out for you, and given that my wine is entirely unique,"

"I shouldn't need to teach you how to make a fortune from that point onward, should I?"

Until this very moment, Bai Chenxi ultimately could not resist the temptation. She took a deep breath and said, "Young Brother Shen, you have convinced me. Now I find myself thinking more and more that the Marquis of Kaiyang is a utter fool."

"How could he ever drive you out of the Qin Manor!"

Qin Hao laughed, poured himself a cup of tea, and raised it across the bead curtain: "Your younger brother will use tea in place of wine to wish us a pleasant cooperation."

Bai Chenxi also raised her cup across the bead curtain: "A pleasant cooperation."

With the partnership settled, Qin Hao suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, right, Elder Sister Chenxi, I need a favor from you—a very simple little favor."

Bai Chenxi smiled and asked, "I'm already out one hundred thousand taels of silver to you; what else could I possibly help you with?"

Qin Hao smiled and said, "It's not difficult. You have heavy customer traffic here, so help me spread a word: just say that the Eldest Princess is selling off her treasured heirlooms to raise winter provisions for the soldiers on the northern frontier."

Bai Chenxi: "..."

By the time Qin Hao and the other two returned downstairs, Qin Hao's first direct-sales team in the Great Capital Dynasty had been successfully established.

Ma Yingze and Zhao Guangnian had listened to the entire process in a daze.

Even now, they still dared not believe everything Qin Hao had accomplished.

Just before they left a moment ago, Bai Chenxi had stated that within three days at most, she would deliver the one hundred thousand taels in silver banknotes and sign the formal contract at the same time.

No matter how hard they tried, they could not comprehend how Qin Hao, relying solely on a silver tongue, had managed to sell a product that didn't even exist yet for one hundred thousand taels!

One hundred thousand taels!

What kind of concept was that?

Just how many courtesans could one buy with that?

At this moment, the way the two men looked at Qin Hao was as if they were beholding a divine being.

Yet Qin Hao felt not the slightest bit relaxed.

He knew very well that these three days were merely a period for Bai Chenxi to observe the influence and potential of the fine wine Baixi.

If the potential of the fine wine Baixi failed to meet Bai Chenxi's demands, she could renege on their verbal agreement at any time.

Therefore, the ensuing hype and marketing campaign would be of paramount importance.

Moreover, before leaving, Qin Hao had already given Bai Chenxi an initial advantage.

He had promised to supply the Wind and Moon Pavilion with goods at the primary distributor's wholesale price right away.

An initial supply of one hundred catties—which meant one hundred pots of wine.

Calculated at a wholesale price of one hundred and fifty taels per catty, that amounted to fifteen thousand taels of silver.

Thus, at this very moment, Qin Hao had six thousand taels in retail banknotes and fifteen thousand taels in bulk-sales banknotes residing securely in his pocket.

Added together, that was a colossal fortune of twenty-one thousand taels!

Thinking of the suspicious look Li Qing瑶 had given him before his departure, a mischievous streak suddenly welled up in his heart.

He wondered what kind of expression Li Qing瑶 would wear if he were to slap this massive sum of money down right in front of her.