His original plan was to first level up in the Lone Wanderer system to earn some bounties to solve the "burning eyebrows" problem.
But now it seemed he still had to sort out other company matters.
Compared to bounties, doing business was clearly a faster way to make money!
So after returning to the company, Li Chonglou met with Zhou Tong first.
"Is the current money enough?"
"It's enough for now. I contacted some old friends and secured some sales channels, but we're likely losing over 300,000 yuan every day."
Zhou Tong sighed as he said this. The Blue Sky Apparel Company was originally an industry leader with a large and established foundation. Their financial strength was like an adult bullying a child compared to them.
However, they hadn't expected this child to be from an unusual family. As long as there was enough capital to sustain them, it was still uncertain who would win this business war!
Li Chonglou nodded and explained his idea: "I want to open up Old Gao's trade routes first. This way, we can solve the sales problem in the shortest possible time. From now on, no matter how much we can produce, it can basically be sold."
In this business, the most important thing was sales channels. As long as there were sales channels, there was no fear of not making money. And Gao Baisong's trade routes were not just about convenient transportation in Shangjing. Each station also had suppliers from all over the country.
If they could seize the initiative and open up the supplier market, they wouldn't necessarily have to go head-to-head with Blue Sky Company.
Moreover, Blue Sky Company's biggest suppression method was currently blocking Li Chonglou's sales channels.
Zhou Tong naturally understood this, but he was a bit worried, saying, "Brother Li, this involves a bit of a gamble. Blue Sky has been in Shangjing for so many years, and those suppliers are already quite familiar with them."
"If they spend a lot of money to suppress us again, it might not be effective for us so quickly."
Li Chonglou's idea was simple: he wanted to break through the opponent's blockade. While profit-seeking was the essence of merchants, it wasn't something that could be resolved in a few words.
To give a simple example, if they successfully opened up the trade routes and connected with various suppliers, why would others trust Tong Gu Ming Jin, a newly emerging company?
If there were no other interference, they might gain trust through their own persuasion. But at this crucial juncture, what if Blue Sky Company spent a large sum of money to negotiate exclusive deals with those suppliers?
In the end, this could lead to a complete loss of capital!
Li Chonglou fell silent.
Business matters were indeed not his specialty. Even Zhou Tong, despite his extensive connections and experience, was not necessarily an expert in the field.
Both of them suddenly realized their company's shortcomings.
Li Chonglou sighed and said, "It's all about money. If we had enough money, what couldn't we achieve?"
If they had enough money, they could engage in a price war with the opponent. If the opponent wanted to sign exclusive deals, they could also offer higher prices to negotiate with others. As long as they could break into the market, what couldn't they handle?
However, the reality was that they lacked money.
Or rather, they didn't have enough money...
There was another option: force.
No business is without deceit. In the past, such things were not uncommon, they were just well concealed. Many leading powers rose to prominence this way.
However, this path was now blocked due to the matter with the grey-clothed man. The General Bureau was currently conducting a crackdown. Causing trouble at this time could lead to more losses than gains, and they might even become targets for missions in the Lone Wanderer system!
Thinking of this, Li Chonglou felt a bit frustrated. Why was he targeted by others? He didn't seem to be acting ostentatiously.
Zhou Tong hadn't finished his initial investigation with him. It was only when Li Chonglou asked in a complaining manner that Zhou Tong explained.
"You mean this is the Gao family playing dirty behind the scenes?"
Li Chonglou was stunned. He had never expected that such a difficult situation would be caused by a mere Gao family!
The Gao family, where Yuan and Feng Gao were from, was merely a nouveau riche family, not even a clan, let alone one of the sixteen prominent families. He knew that he still held the Hu family in his hand, and now he was being thwarted by a small Gao family?
Zhou Tong gave a wry smile, "Brother Li, I know what you're thinking, but the reality is indeed like this. But it's not surprising. Although the Gao family isn't very famous, they are willing to spend money."
"I've had professional personnel analyze it. To achieve the current situation, they must have spent at least a billion yuan! At least."
Li Chonglou immediately understood. The Gao family had likely used all their assets to deal with him. But was it really worth it? m..oΓg
Thinking about this, Li Chonglou became even more confused, "The Gao family doesn't know my plans, and even if they did, I could just change direction. Is it really worth it?"
Zhou Tong blinked and said, "Brother Li, not everyone knows how easily you make money, and they don't know your true strength either."
Li Chonglou fell silent.
Zhou Tong's statement made him feel like he was being blindsided, like an ignorant student defeating a seasoned master. While it was intellectually nonsensical for the opponent to act this way, it was undeniably frustrating.
After all, he hadn't really considered changing his approach.
So the problem returned to the original point: what was the most stable course of action now?
Just then, Zhou Tong seemed to remember something and clapped his hands.
Li Chonglou looked at him curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Brother Li, I just remembered that when you were out of contact, a friend introduced me to an old veteran in the business world. He said that if we could invite him to come out and help us, our growth rate would at least double!"
At that time, the company hadn't been suppressed yet. That happened a couple of days later, so Zhou Tong's friend hadn't mentioned anything about that.
But if he had such capabilities, he would certainly be able to handle the suppression!
Li Chonglou's interest was piqued, and he pressed Zhou Tong for details.
Zhou Tong knew the specifics. The most important aspect was that the person was advanced in age, the kind who might be enjoying his twilight years. To truly invite him out of retirement, some effort would be required.
Most importantly, this person had a connection to Meicheng, where Li Chonglou had just returned from.
"You mean he was famous in Meicheng when he was young?"
Zhou Tong was taken aback, "Brother Li, you've heard of Meicheng too? Or..."
Seeing Zhou Tong's increasingly strange expression, Li Chonglou couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"What are you thinking? I just returned from there, have you forgotten?"
Zhou Tong's old face flushed. He had been in charge of this matter, and he had personally handled the money transfer. He thought he had caught Li Chonglou in some kind of shady dealings.
But it was he himself who was embarrassed!