Chapter Sixty: The Officer Training System

Zhao Hengyi had long anticipated the craze triggered by perfume. In fact, the concept of using exquisite packaging and selling in gift sets was something he had taught to Steward Song.

Accentuating a product's value with beautiful packaging was nothing new in the Great Yan Empire; merchants and traders had already studied such methods. However, the notion of the gift set truly opened Steward Song’s eyes!

Yet, this Steward Song was indeed a dragon among men: he grasped the idea effortlessly, not only accepting the concept of selling four fragrance types as a set, but also, by intuition, differentiating the sales volume of each fragrance.

The four varieties—Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum—did not represent the true scents of those plants. Rather, they were deliberately chosen as poetic product names to elevate the elegance of the perfume.

According to Steward Song’s plan, Chrysanthemum had the highest production, Orchid followed, Plum was rare, and Bamboo could only be found in the gift set!

After such a clever maneuver, Zhao Hengyi could not help but look at Song San, Steward Song, with new eyes; the man was a consummate merchant through and through!

Though the production and sales quantities varied, Steward Song insisted that all fragrances be sold at the same price—three taels of silver for a vial as thick as a thumb, and fifteen taels for a gift set.

Logically, buying in bulk should be cheaper, yet the set actually cost more than buying individually—an apparent contradiction. Steward Song’s explanation was that the finely crafted wooden box was difficult to make, especially the coloring, and the silk lining inside was dyed by only one workshop in the market; the extra three taels were well worth it. Buyers of the set were, in his words, making a terrific deal.

Whether or not Steward Song’s justification held water, his deliberate consumer guidance drove the price of the Bamboo fragrance sky-high.

A single vial of Bamboo, on certain black markets, could fetch as much as thirty taels of silver!

Perfume, naturally, suited different people with different scents, but faced with a market completely void of competition in the Great Yan Empire, Song San scoffed at Zhao Hengyi’s theories.

This steward of the Marquis of Dangyang’s villa seemed to wield magic, effortlessly captivating the hearts of all the noble ladies and gentlewomen around Jiangling Prefecture.

Suitability? That was a question for those lucky enough to even find the product in stock!

Having grown up in the grand residence of the Marquis of Weiwu, Steward Song understood those ladies’ psychology with uncanny precision.

On ordinary days, a new dress or a fresh gold hairpin would already spark a round of comparison among them; how much more so with the novel and luxurious “Nine Flowers Dew”!

The wives and daughters of prominent households had limited access to information. Most of what they saw or cared about was confined to their own circles, and comparison arose naturally.

Moreover, since the perfume-making process was not yet perfected, and consistent quality was only possible with small-scale production, a situation of “hunger marketing” emerged.

As a result, while the fame of “Nine Flowers Dew” grew ever more resounding, it became all the harder to obtain.

Yet, even as the noble ladies clamored for more, Song San insisted on selling only through his own shop, never engaging in speculative hoarding.

In his words, though speculation could easily bring in dozens of times the profit, there were no secrets in this world; should word ever leak out, the shop’s reputation would be ruined.

If others could resell at a huge markup, that was their skill and had nothing to do with him.

This attitude dispelled even Zhao Hengyi’s last worries. With Steward Song at the helm, his own modern business experience was hardly worth mentioning.

Steward Song’s only demand of Zhao Hengyi, as the supplier, was that the quality of “Nine Flowers Dew” be absolutely guaranteed—especially the scents of the four types, which must never change in the slightest.

Even if more fragrances were developed, or better products launched in the future, the Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum scents must remain exactly as they were.

As a product that entered the market already bearing an aura of elegance and luxury, no matter how much the four scents were questioned, as merchants, they must never compromise or alter them.

This was, in essence, brand identity!

Was he really dealing with people of ancient times?

Just from this one matter of perfume, Zhao Hengyi gained a vivid understanding of Song San’s commercial talent and insight.

Song San had only recently entered the business, yet in those merchant houses with decades or even centuries of history, there were surely many more formidable talents than him!

Truly, he had only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.

With business operations and sales handled by others, Zhao Hengyi could be at ease, simply waiting for his share of the profits.

As for sales channels not being under his own control, and the risk of being squeezed out, Zhao Hengyi was not worried in the least.

Even in the highly developed commercial world of his previous life, how many businesses could truly control both production and sales entirely themselves?

Moreover, even if Zhao Hengyi wanted to sell on his own, he lacked the background and qualifications to establish the necessary channels. In the end, he would still need to cooperate with other merchants.

Rather than that, it was far more practical to tie himself firmly to his elder brother, Song Ying’an.

The creation of perfume was originally meant as a quick way for Zhao Hengyi to amass capital—and that wealth, in turn, was for building a force capable of self-preservation.

When it came to money, Zhao Hengyi was very clear-headed, knowing exactly what his profits were for. Compared to product development or marketing, what mattered more to him was training his guards.

At present, the entire guard unit—composed of able-bodied men from Elm Bay village and old soldiers who had been recruited—numbered only eighty-five.

Most were old soldiers, and under their influence, the local young men had become increasingly tough and capable.

However, the bad habits picked up in the army inevitably crept into the guard.

Zhao Hengyi had noticed these tendencies long ago, back when he wiped out the bandits on Broken Cliff Mountain.

Though the old soldiers, with their battlefield experience, were fiercer fighters, three of them were injured in that assault.

By contrast, the house servants trained by Song Ying’an, though somewhat inexperienced, displayed excellent discipline and coordination during the fight, and afterwards, not a single one was hurt.

Zhao Hengyi had his own ideas about how to train the guard unit.

Through nearly harsh training and constant, repetitive instruction in rules and regulations, combined with deliberate team-based exercises to enhance coordination, he was determined to mold every member into his ideal of a personal armed force.

In devising the training regimen, Zhao Hengyi drew deeply from the officer training systems of later generations; should the need arise, the guard could serve as a core, quickly forming a capable fighting force.