With a ruthless heart, Zheng Zhihu set an exorbitant price, averaging five times higher than his acquisition cost at Shanghai Port. The most expensive item on his list was Dove Chocolate.
This particular commodity was already costly to begin with. Li Daoxuan only occasionally bestowed it when he was in a good mood, and lately, Li Daoxuan had been on a diet, so he had not bought chocolate to eat in a long time. If he did not buy it, he naturally would not grant it to the little people in the diorama.
The chocolate currently existing in Gao Family Village mostly came from the Village Chief's stash.
Merchants transported it from Gao Family Village to the Heyang Qichuan Ferry, then transferred it to Xiaolangdi, and from there it traveled by river-sea vessels to Shanghai Port.
This layering of transfers caused its price to continuously escalate.
By the time it reached Zheng Zhihu's hands, it was already sky-high.
Zheng Zhihu then transported it across the ocean to Nagasaki Port, where he marked it up another tenfold.
Its price had become utterly incomprehensible to ordinary people.
Then the local merchant, after acquiring the goods from Zheng Zhihu, added another twenty percent to the price.
With the price soaring to such heights, the packaging naturally had to match.
The local merchant found a beautiful, exquisitely crafted ceramic box, so fine that the box alone could fetch several taels of silver in Japan.
In the very center of the box, a tiny piece of chocolate was carefully placed.
The asking price was two hundred fifty taels of silver, or simply "two-fifty" for short. It was purchased by a samurai eager for promotion, hoping to present it to his superior, and was then delivered to the residence of Nabeshima Katsushige, the Nagasaki Magistrate.
Nabeshima Katsushige was the son of Nabeshima Naoshige, a renowned general from Japan's Warring States period. He was a daimyo with a domain of 357,000 koku. After the Battle of Sekigahara, he was appointed Nagasaki Magistrate and had been stationed at Nagasaki Port ever since.
A page, holding the porcelain box with both hands, presented it before Nabeshima Katsushige.
"My Lord, this is a Tang good sent to you by your subordinates."
"Tang good" was the general term used by the Japanese at the time for items introduced from the Great Ming Dynasty.
"Tang goods?" Nabeshima Katsushige was long accustomed to Tang goods. Due to his position at Nagasaki Port, he constantly received goods from all over the world delivered by sea merchants, especially those from the Great Ming Dynasty. Silk, ceramics, tea sets, he had grown tired of seeing them all.
Nabeshima Katsushige shook his head. "Do they have nothing new to send me? Tang goods are the least scarce thing we have here. It is the peculiar items from the Western lands that are harder to come by."
The page whispered, "This item, however, seems quite rare. It is called 'Dove Silky Milk Chocolate,' a name never heard before."
"Oh?" Nabeshima Katsushige's interest was piqued. "Bring it closer for me to see."
The page stepped forward.
Nabeshima Katsushige now saw it clearly. Within the delicate porcelain box lay a small, dark, unremarkable square.
"Is this thing meant to be eaten?"
The page nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
Nabeshima Katsushige asked, "So unsightly. How can it be delicious?"
The page replied, "I do not know, and I dared not taste it myself. According to the samurai who delivered it, this tiny piece costs two hundred fifty taels of silver. It is far too expensive. I would not dare try it."
Two hundred fifty taels?
The price startled Nabeshima Katsushige. How small was that piece? And yet it cost two hundred fifty taels?
The number left him stunned.
His curiosity to try something new was ignited.
He reached out, picked up the small piece of chocolate, and tossed it into his mouth.
For some reason, a strange voice echoed in his mind, shouting, "Two-Fifty!"
Then the exquisite taste of silky milk chocolate spread through his mouth.
Nabeshima Katsushige's face revealed an expression of ecstasy. "Ah! Truly delicious, utterly delightful. It truly lives up to its price of two hundred fifty taels of silver. Tang goods always manage to surprise me."
He could not even bring himself to chew it. Instead, he let the chocolate slowly melt in his mouth, savoring it until it had completely vanished. Only then did he reach into the box, hoping for a second piece.
It was gone.
At two-fifty, there had been only that one tiny piece.
Nabeshima Katsushige exclaimed, "Such a wonderful thing, and there is only one small piece? How could one small piece be enough? Quickly, find the samurai who brought this and ask him where he bought it. Go at once!"
The page hurried off and soon returned with a report.
"It was obtained from Tsuchiya Santarō, a small merchant from the Rakuichi-Rakuza markets. Tsuchiya Santarō obtained it from the Zheng clan, sea merchants from the Great Ming Dynasty."
Nabeshima Katsushige declared, "Good. Now that you know, go and buy more."
The page darted off like a bird. Not long after, he returned, excitedly carrying a large stack of porcelain boxes filled with chocolate for Nabeshima Katsushige. That pile of boxes alone cost the Nabeshima family several thousand taels of silver.
And besides that stack of chocolate boxes, he brought back even more peculiar items.
"My Lord," the page announced, "there were many more Tang goods this time, and quite a few rare items. I have bought them all for you."
The page produced the exotic goods one by one.
"Look, this is called Want Want Snow Cracker. It is cheaper than chocolate, but also very tasty. And this is Xizhilang Jelly, quite fascinating. This is a Warm and Sleepy wool sweater. It is said to be top-tier even in the Great Ming Dynasty, and all the high-ranking officials and nobles there adore it."
Soon after, Nabeshima Katsushige found himself wearing a Warm and Sleepy wool sweater, a fragrant silk fan crafted by the Tujia people of Kaixian tucked into his waist, his feet resting on a thick rug embroidered in the Chengcheng style, a Want Want Snow Cracker in his left hand, and a clump of Xizhilang Jelly in his right.
Surely, this was a life fit for an immortal?
However...
Not long after, the Nabeshima family's Treasurer, the official in charge of finances, came calling.
"My Lord, please stop buying. Please, these Tang goods are too expensive. Our Nabeshima family's silver cannot sustain such spending. We are already experiencing expenditures exceeding our income."
Nabeshima Katsushige responded, "I have been spending rather quickly lately, but if we simply raise taxes a bit, will not those farmers make up the money for me? Go. Raise the taxes. Raise them now."
The Treasurer gasped in alarm. "We cannot raise them further. The farmers are already on the verge of rebellion."
Nabeshima Katsushige scoffed. "Afraid they will rebel? Kill anyone who dares to rebel."
The Treasurer silently cursed his misfortune, but a daimyo's command was absolute. As a loyal samurai, even if his lord was mistaken, he had to obey. Such was the spirit of Bushido.
While the Treasurer grumbled internally, Nabeshima Katsushige placed a Lay's Original Potato Chip into his hand.
"Here. You must try a Tang good as well. This is truly a rare delicacy."
The Treasurer put the chip into his mouth and crunched.
"Crunch. Delicious. So, so delicious."
He could not stop himself. Happiness became a constant crunching sound.
The Treasurer could not help but ask the page in a trembling voice, "How much did that small piece I just ate cost?"
The page replied, "Fifty taels."
The Treasurer hissed, then gritted his teeth.
"It seems... my family will also have to raise taxes."