Chapter 265: Ming Dynasty Royal Tribute
"Mengji, you take care of the county government first. I'll go and take care of the affairs of the imperial farm, and then I'll come back to find you."

At the gate of Tongzhou County Government Office, Ou Zanghua, riding on a horse, looked at Chen Mengji, who had a bitter look on his face, and said with a smile.

Chen Mengji rubbed his hands and asked in a servile manner, "Sir, I have no backers. You won't let me take the blame, will you?"

He just heard that the Tongzhou County Magistrate had contacted Jinyiwei Commander Qian Ning a while ago, and when he turned around, he saw his boss trying to escape.
"Hey, Mengji, what are you talking about? Am I not your backer?" Ou Zanghua smiled and said calmly, "With me here, who dares to let you take the blame?"

Giving Chen Mengji a reassuring look, Ou Zanghua rode his horse and galloped towards the Weiyang Palace.

Standing at the gate of the county government office, Chen Mengji couldn't help but sigh secretly. He just hoped that his boss was as reliable as he said!
He didn't want to become an unlucky guy like Lin Hua, the clerk of the Ministry of Justice, and Shen Guangda, the judge of the Dali Temple, one was demoted by a level and the other was dismissed.

Ou Zanghua was unaware that his younger brother was worried. When he led a group of people to the Weiyang Palace Imperial Farm, he found that there was no chaos here, and everyone was doing things and living in an orderly manner.

I don’t know what Yang Jinshui was thinking, he actually named the office manor Zhongyi Hall.

When entering the hall, the first thing you see is the portrait of Yue Fei. Above it hangs a plaque with the words "Bi Xue Dan Xin" (Loyal Heart) written on it.

It's true that the more you lack something, the more you show it off!

After lighting a stick of incense for Prince Yue, Ou Zanghua sat down and looked at the official from the Honglu Temple who came with him and said, "As you can see, the Weiyang Palace Royal Farm will be managed by the Honglu Temple from now on. The personnel who were originally responsible for managing the internal affairs of the Royal Farm and their servants have been controlled by the Shangzhi Qinwei, and the eunuch in charge of the Royal Farm and his confidants have all been taken back to the capital."

"So from now on, you will all be required to take over the affairs of the Imperial Manor as soon as possible. Once everything in the Imperial Manor is back on track, rewards will naturally be inevitable, and I will also recommend credits for you all."

The ten Honglu Temple Mingzan all bowed and saluted, saying, "Thank you, Lord Ou, for your support!"

Ou Zanghua smiled and continued, "In addition, we will recruit thirty literate peasant children from the imperial manor to serve as errand boys. Each of you will be assigned two, and the remaining ten will be assigned to my office."

"Yes!"

With the assistance of these helpers, Ou Zanghua sorted out all the affairs of the imperial farm in just three days. Combined with the information provided by the former head of the farm, his family, and his servants, he even figured out Yang Jinshui's sales channels.

When Ou Zanghua saw it, he was speechless. After all this time, Yang Jinshui's way of making money was to transport all kinds of agricultural products from the imperial farm to the capital to sell them, and then hand over the profits.

In the Song Dynasty, Wu Zimu's "Dream of the Southern Song Dynasty" recorded: "Hangzhou's famous shops include the Zaoershui in front of Riwaer, Gandoutang in front of the grocery store, Ge's candied dates, Heji Huimin Pharmacy in the south of Shixifang, Ren'aitang prepared medicine shop in front of Guanxiang, and Sanbuqi medicine shop in Xiuyifang..."

This shows that during the Song Dynasty, the people already had a relatively clear brand awareness.

In the realistic scroll painting "Nandu Fanhui Tujuan" reflecting the late Ming Dynasty, there are 109 signboards that can be counted, such as "Yonghe Cloth Shop", "Li Ji Chuanguang Grocery", "Xibei Liangkou Fur Goods Sale", etc.

In other words, even without Ou Zanghua, the concept of brand would still have grown in the soil of the Ming Dynasty.

Now, what Ou Zanghua needs to do is to formalize the brand concept which is still in its infancy.

He used simple sketching method to draw the Five-ridge Hall with just a few strokes, and then wrote the three words "Weiyang Palace" on the left side of the Five-ridge Hall.

The next step was the advertising slogan. After thinking for a while, Ou Zanghua decided to use the six words "Royal Tribute of the Ming Dynasty".

Not to mention in ancient times, even in the 21st century, any product with the words "for royal use" on it can be several levels more expensive than similar products.

Especially the European royal families, headed by Dai Ying, have used the words "royal use" to their advantage. In the Ming Dynasty, Ou Zanghua would not have dared to imagine that if these six words were printed on the packaging of a product, it would have sold like hot cakes!
Moreover, the value of the six words "Royal Tribute of the Ming Dynasty" can be further explored. If it can be made to have the same effect as the British royal family, it can also be a good way to make money.

As for whether the Ming Dynasty could sell royal tributes?

This can actually be seen from the treatment of porcelain.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the official kilns were very strict in dealing with defective products.

Once defective products are discovered, they are often handled secretly, such as being crushed, buried or re-fired.

However, by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the way the official kilns dealt with defective products had also changed.

Emperor Wanli even issued a special decree: among the porcelain wares to be fired, including screens, candles, chessboard vases, the good ones should be picked out and the unsatisfactory ones should be sold.

This shows that some of the more minor defective products might have been used in daily life by the court.

Some kilns will also sell some defective products to the public at low prices to meet the living needs of ordinary people.

The Qing dynasty that followed continued this practice, and some relatively intact defective products might be reprocessed and modified and then sold as defective products.

The official kiln also set up a special "defective product warehouse" to store and manage defective products, which were sometimes used for charitable donations or rewards to officials, literati, etc.

Ou Zanghua was not bragging, based on his life-long friendship with Emperor Zhengde, asking for an imperial decree was as easy as pie for him.

He found a servant and said to him, "Go find a seal engraver and ask him to make a seal that is three inches long and three inches wide according to this."

"Yes!" the servant answered, took the paper and ran out quickly.

Now that we have the brand, trademark and slogan, the next step is the product.

If the product is labeled as "the royal tribute of the Ming Dynasty", then its target customers are not the poor common people at the bottom of society, but the landlords, gentry and scholar-officials who are wealthy, have free time and good taste.

These people all have one characteristic, which is that they like to pretend to be different.

Doesn’t this perfectly match the luxury goods of later generations?
What do luxury goods sell?
Unique, scarce, precious, individual, and has intangible value.

Coincidentally, Ou Zanghua can provide all these things.

He wrote down the two phrases "clothing" and "food" on the paper, tapped them with the tip of his pen, and then his eyes focused: Only children do multiple-choice questions, adults want everything!
Ou Zanghua rang the bell on the table, and a servant came in, bowed and said, "What do you want, Lord Ou?"

"The last time I came to the imperial manor, I ate delicious rice cakes and dried fruits. I want to meet the person who made them." Ou Zanghua looked at the servant and said calmly.

The servant immediately replied, "Please wait a moment, Master Ou. I will be right there."

(End of this chapter)