Ye Yaming didn’t want to say more about this and changed the subject.

She asked Qi Ji: “What do you think of the Prefect’s attitude?”

Qi Ji nodded: “It seems quite good. He’s very enthusiastic.”

“Then what do you think if we invite him to join our partnership? How would he respond?”

Everyone in the room looked at her.

“Join the partnership?” Lu Guanyi immediately began to consider the feasibility of this idea.

“Yes,” Ye Yaming said. “Since the Deputy Magistrate can partner with Pin Ya Pavilion, why can’t the Prefect partner with us?”

Lu Guanyi frowned: “The problem is that these officials get reassigned. If we bring him in now, what happens after he’s transferred? If his successor has different political views from Magistrate Lü, not only would our efforts be wasted, but we might also invite trouble.”

The Prefect of Xin’an was surnamed Lü, called Lü Xuanlin.

“Indeed,” Qi Ji shook his head. “This approach isn’t appropriate. We should just send tribute gifts instead. Everyone sends tribute gifts to avoid trouble.”

Just like his father, merchants in Lin’an would send generous gifts through Secretary Wu during festivals. These gifts varied in value, depending on one’s sincerity.

After receiving gifts, within the bounds of law and social norms, his father would have Secretary Wu look after these merchants.

The entire Great Jin officialdom basically operated this way. As long as the amount wasn’t too large, the recipient wasn’t aiding evildoers, and it wasn’t exposed like the Yang family case and exploited by political enemies higher up, there wouldn’t be any issues.

Ye Yaming shook her head: “Do you think Pin Ya Pavilion doesn’t send tribute gifts to Prefect Lü? Since Deputy Magistrate Liao wants to maintain good relations with Prefect Lü, he would send even more.”

After all, the Wu family was giving the money, not Liao Zhi himself. The Wu family gave money, and Liao Zhi reaped the benefits—it was an incredibly profitable arrangement.

This was why those official families with many sons were willing to have their sons marry merchants’ daughters, or simply take concubines from merchant families themselves.

One had money, the other had power—when officials and merchants joined forces, they were unstoppable.

Hearing Ye Yaming’s explanation, Lu Guanyi also frowned.

Even if the Wu family’s tribute wasn’t as much as theirs, Lü Xuanlin would still support Pin Ya Pavilion rather than them in order to work with Liao Zhi and win over this subordinate.

Ultimately, it all came down to interests.

“Why don’t you explain your idea in detail, Miss Ye?” Lu Guanyi said.

Since Ye Yaming had thought deeply about these issues, her suggestions should be able to resolve all the problems they had raised.

“Let’s give him a twenty percent stake without investment,” Ye Yaming said. “That means he doesn’t need to put in any money, but we’ll give him twenty percent of our annual profits until he gets transferred.”

Everyone was momentarily stunned, then they all thought it was an excellent idea.

Qi Ji was the first to praise: “Brilliant idea.”

The reason he and Lu Guanyi had gone into the tea business was naturally because they had inquired about the industry’s profitability beforehand. After cooperating with the Ye family, they understood the profits even better.

Even though their newly purchased tea mountains hadn’t yielded tea yet, and the newly established teahouse would need to buy tea from the Ye family in Lin’an; even though Xin’an wasn’t as prosperous as Lin’an, with the quality of the Ye family’s tea supporting them, the teahouse’s profits would still be considerable.

Throughout the year, a twenty percent profit would amount to more than ten thousand taels of silver, wouldn’t it?

Once the tea mountains produced tea, the profits would multiply.

Moreover, this partnership wouldn’t need to use Lü Xuanlin’s name. It could be under his wife’s, son’s, or a distant relative’s name. He wouldn’t need to risk accepting tribute gifts and fear someone like the “Yang family” keeping accounts, which could cost Lü Xuanlin his official hat.

With substantial income and no trouble, Lü Xuanlin would certainly be very pleased.

These were the benefits for Lü Xuanlin’s side.

As for themselves, since they were merchants, they had to follow the unwritten rules of the Great Jin, sending money annually to manage relationships up and down. With so many officials and clerks, the total would exceed ten thousand taels.

And that didn’t even count the amounts donated.

Despite giving away so much money, no one treated them as their own. If there was a dispute, once the opposing party had more advantages in interests and money, officials would protect the other side.

Now that the business was Lü Xuanlin’s own, would he not care about sending out so much money? Would other officials dare to accept tribute from their superior?

In the end, they would spend the least money and gain the most powerful backing.

The most ingenious part was that they didn’t take a penny of capital from him, and when he was transferred, the cooperation would end. They could then cooperate with his successor.

Lu Guanyi looked at Ye Yaming with full approval: “Miss Ye’s idea is truly excellent. Let’s do it.”

Ye Yaming smiled lightly: “I’m just providing an idea. As for whether this method is feasible, it depends on the specific situation. If Prefect Lü is insatiably greedy and untrustworthy, or too upright and intolerant of any impropriety, then this method won’t work. You gentlemen had better not even mention it in front of him to avoid trouble.”

Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji became solemn.

Lu Guanyi gave Ye Yaming a cupped-hand salute: “Thank you for your reminder, Miss Ye.”

This courtesy was unavoidable, so Ye Yaming could only nod in return: “I’ll trouble both of you then.”

“So, do you need to stay here longer? If necessary, I can go to Yishan with Fourth Uncle first.”

Qi Ji asked in confusion: “If we can’t reach an agreement with Prefect Lü, are we still buying tea mountains here?”

“The tea produced from the mountains is bought directly by the Tea Monopoly Bureau, and there’s no obstacle in this step. And the Tea Monopoly Bureau still needs to sell the tea, right? If not us, there will be others buying. As long as we don’t open a teahouse here, there won’t be too many conflicts of interest. With proper arrangements, I think obtaining a tea license shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ye Yaming looked at Lu Guanyi: “What do you think, Young Master Lu?”

Lu Guanyi nodded: “That’s indeed the case. The markets in the Capital and Lin’an are so large; if we transport the tea produced here to the Capital and Lin’an, those concerns won’t exist.”

After this analysis, he said: “Then we’ll go to Yishan together the day after tomorrow.”

Ye Yaming said: “On the way back to Lin’an from Yishan, we’ll pass through here again. You can stay here longer to build a relationship with Prefect Lü and make arrangements with the Tea Monopoly Bureau officials. Fourth Uncle and I will hurry back to process the spring tea, so neither task will be delayed.”

Lu Guanyi gave Ye Yaming a deep look and nodded: “Very well, let’s do it.”

Both were decisive people. After confirming the itinerary again and seeing that neither Qi Ji nor Ye Hongrong had any objections, Lu Guanyi took Qi Ji back to their courtyard.

The next day, the two of them continued their social engagements.

When Prefect Lü Xuanlin learned that they would be going to Yishan the day after tomorrow, he arranged a banquet at noon to entertain Lu Guanyi. Qi Ji brought Lu Guanyi to attend the banquet together. After all, both emotionally and rationally, Lu Guanyi should pay a visit to Lü Xuanlin.