Glory

The Ye family's Tea Silver had not been robbed, and there was no shortage of funds. However, if they denied this, it would be difficult to explain the issuance of the Tea Certificates.

Therefore, since the rumors claimed the Tea Silver had been stolen, Ye Chongming simply neither admitted nor denied it, vaguely referring to the matter as "the incident of the robbery" in his speech.

Although Ye Yaming had advised him to let the rumors circulate for a while and not rush to refute them, that was only if the matter wasn't brought directly to their faces.

Now that people were pointing fingers right under their noses, some things had to be clarified. As for how to say it, that was a matter of verbal skill.

At some point, Yang Hong had come up from the first floor and stood at the stairway, listening for quite a while.

Hearing this, he couldn't help but sneer and said, "Not breaking trust with others? Uncle Ye, aren't you exaggerating a bit? How come I heard that what you gave the Estate Holders this time wasn't silver, but a piece of paper called 'Tea Certificates'? Isn't that just like an IOU?"

Ye Chongming knew full well that Yang Hong had colluded with Meng Chengwei and was planning to deal with the Ye family. Yet, seeing him here now, he felt extremely disappointed in this person.

The Yang family also owned a tea house, so Yang Hong only visited the tea guild when there was business to discuss and usually never set foot in the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion. Now, he had come specifically to kick the Ye family while they were down—such behavior was truly despicable.

As the saying goes, "A gentleman loves wealth, but he takes it in the right way."

There was no problem with the Yang family wanting to compete with the Ye family; it was understandable that those present wanted to snatch Estate Holders from him. But merchants should also follow the way of a gentleman.

If it weren't for the negative impressions people had of merchants—such as being unprincipled, cunning, scheming, and only seeing profit—why would their status be so low?

During all his years as the guild leader, he had always restrained the tea merchants of Lin'an with principles and integrity, and he had been pleased to see a generally good atmosphere.

But now that he had encountered misfortune, these people's true colors were immediately revealed, which deeply saddened Ye Chongming.

Ye Jiaxing stood behind his grandfather and saw everyone's expressions clearly, feeling greatly shaken inside.

Since his birth, the Ye family had been wealthy; since he could remember, Ye Chongming had been the tea guild leader. Wherever he went, people treated him with respect, and some children from tea merchant families even flattered him because of his grandfather's status.

But now he saw how fickle the world could be.

If it weren't for his cousin foreseeing everything in advance and the Ye family truly facing disaster, seeing these sudden changes in attitude would have shattered his composure.

"That's right. Due to the robbery, our Ye family is temporarily short on silver, so we have partnered with a money house, having the Mei family's Baofeng Money House issue Tea Certificates to reserve Spring Tea with the Estate Holders. The Estate Holders can take these Tea Certificates to the Baofeng Money House to exchange them for an equivalent amount of silver. If the Estate Holders wait until the spring tea transaction to exchange with us, our Ye family will pay a certain amount of interest."

He tried to ignore the varied expressions on everyone's faces, clasped his hands, and said to the crowd, "If any of you here ever face a shortage of silver for reserving tea in the future, you can follow my example today and cooperate with a money house. Although this move was born out of necessity, it also provides a solution for everyone to address fund shortages. At the very least, it does not disgrace my position as guild leader, and I won't feel ashamed facing all of you."

As soon as he finished speaking, many people began buzzing with discussion.To be honest, although the government implements the tea monopoly system, it still leaves a certain profit margin for tea merchants. The reason everyone engages in this trade is precisely because of its substantial profits. Hence, every year, everyone wants to place large advance orders for next year's Spring Tea.

The problem is that tea leaves must be ordered six months in advance, and not only must payment be made to the Tea Monopoly Bureau, but a deposit must also be paid to the Estate Holders. This requires spending thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver at once—how many people have that much liquid capital?

Keep in mind that from the Mid-Autumn Festival to the Qingming Festival, there is nearly half a year; and the tea leaves in their possession cannot possibly be sold out within six months. Those tea leaves sitting in storage are tying up capital.

Therefore, many have no choice but to reluctantly accept the situation. Despite knowing the profits are generous, they can only order a small quantity of tea each year.

At this moment, Ye Chongming suddenly introduced the concept of "tea currency,"

and everyone's minds were instantly opened. If this tea currency could really work, couldn't they do the same when facing capital shortages?

Thus, some became interested and began asking about the tea currency.

"Old Master Wang, Master Li, Master Yue..." Ye Chongming called out a few individuals who had either offered comforting words or shown sympathy earlier, "Let's go to the third floor for a cup of tea."

As he spoke, he gave a meaningful glance to Lin Zhensheng, the teahouse manager, and then shot a look toward Yang Hong.

Lin Zhensheng, in his fifties, had been working under Ye Chongming since his teens. A single look from Ye Chongming was enough for him to understand the intention.

He nodded slightly.

"Excellent, excellent." The invited men were very pleased and followed Ye Chongming up to the third floor.

The remaining guests exchanged bewildered glances.

Yang Hong, already uncomfortable after being slighted, couldn't help but sneer upon seeing this: "Hah, that tea currency is no different from an IOU. The only reason it succeeded is because the Estate Holders are giving face to Old Master Ye. And it's only a one-time thing. If they try it repeatedly, who would still accept it? Calling it a solution to capital shortages—what a boastful claim."

While Ye Chongming was surrounded by the other bosses, teahouse manager Lin Zhensheng had stepped out. He had intended to help his employer out of the predicament but found no opportunity.

Yang Hong had deliberately come to the Ye family teahouse to mock Ye Chongming, which was already despicable. Now, hearing such remarks, Lin Zhensheng was furious.

He immediately retorted, "Master Yang, just a few days ago, you were desperately flattering our Old Master. How is it that in just a few days, you've come to our teahouse to sneer and ridicule?"

"Although shifts in human relationships are common, our family is merely short on funds—we haven't suffered any major losses, nor are we showing signs of decline. Yet you suddenly turn hostile, kick us when we're down, and come to our teahouse to embarrass our Old Master. Your behavior is truly disgraceful."

He scanned the crowd and said, "Gentlemen, be cautious. Pray that you never face difficulties in your business dealings, and hope for smooth sailing all your lives. Otherwise, you'll surely witness Master Yang's ugly true colors."

With that, he signaled to several attendants and pointed at Yang Hong, saying, "Throw him out."

The attendants immediately rolled up their sleeves, seized Yang Hong, and escorted him downstairs, pushing him toward the door.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing? Is there no law and order..." Yang Hong hadn't expected the Ye family manager to dare lay hands on him. He suffered a great humiliation, his dignity stripped away, and he couldn't help but shout all the way out.He had indeed brought two pages with him, but this was Ye Jia's territory. To prevent loafers from causing trouble and considering that carrying teapots required strength, all the hired staff were tall and robust. Even if Yang family's two pages wanted to rescue their master, each was restrained by two staff members and escorted together toward the first-floor entrance.