Song Hao glanced at everyone, smiled slightly, and asked, "Have all the people that Tianyitang has drawn from various places arrived yet?"
Ah Long said, "The personnel and vehicles are fully equipped and are waiting outside Dali Prefecture."
“Okay!” Song Hao nodded and said, “Starting tomorrow, the 25 tons of Gastrodia elata that have already been shipped out of Dali Prefecture will be repackaged and sent to March Street in batches for slow sale at a price lower than the market price.”
“President Song!” Li Xin said, “The March Street Market still has 10 tons left, which is far beyond the saturation point. Even if we sell at a low price, we can only sell a small amount. At this time, most people are just watching and not many will enter the market to buy.”
“That’s not important,” Song Hao said mysteriously. “And there will be tens of tons of Gastrodia elata being transported here continuously.”
"Mr. Song said that our Tianyitang also has tens of tons of Gastrodia elata reserves? And we're going to transport them to March Street to sell them off?" Li Xin and the others were astonished.
Song Hao did not directly answer Li Xin's question, but confidently smiled and said, "March Street has become the central battlefield of the national price war for Gastrodia elata. Starting tomorrow, the price of Gastrodia elata in major medicinal herb markets across the country will change with the changes on March Street. This is the benefit of the information society."
On the fifth day, people from Tianyitang brought 5 tons of Gastrodia elata to the March Market for sale. Although the amount of Gastrodia elata brought in from various places decreased significantly that day, the total market volume still reached about 20 tons. The price also began to fall sharply, from 185 yuan per kilogram at the opening of the market in the morning to 162 yuan at the closing of the market, basically returning to the level of five days ago.
On the sixth day, the price of Gastrodia elata at the March Street medicinal herb market dropped from 162 yuan per kilogram to 140 yuan. Despite this, there were no large-scale transactions; only a few tons changed hands. However, the price of Gastrodia elata in major medicinal herb markets across the country began to converge with that of March Street.
On the seventh day, the price of Gastrodia elata at the March Street medicinal herb market plummeted from 140 yuan per kilogram the previous day to 118 yuan. Then, an unexpected event occurred: a purchasing agent from a pharmaceutical factory in Yunnan province bought 12 tons at once. This caused the price of Gastrodia elata to fluctuate again, rising to 125 yuan.
"Song Hao!" Tang Yu rushed to Song Hao's room and said anxiously, "A purchasing agent from a pharmaceutical factory bought up 12 tons of Gastrodia elata in one go. We've been working so hard for so many days, and someone else has reaped the benefits."
Upon hearing this, Song Hao was quite surprised, but quickly said, "It's alright, we'll take drastic measures to save the market tomorrow. It seems things are much more complicated than we anticipated, and anything can happen. The more than one hundred tons of Gastrodia elata in the hands of those three are our main target; the gains and losses here at March Street are not important."
At that moment, Li Quan was on the phone with Zhang Zhifa.
“Old Li! We’ve made some progress on this. The price fluctuations of Gastrodia elata at the Dali March Market this past week were deliberately orchestrated by someone trying to muddy the waters and profit from it. We can’t yet determine which pharmaceutical factory is behind it. Today, however, a large transaction took place, 12 tons, purchased by a Yunnan-based pharmaceutical factory at a low price. From what I understand, this factory isn’t very large, so the March Market incident probably wasn’t a big deal they orchestrated; it must have been someone else,” Zhang Zhifa said.
"I've received information that people from Tianyitang Pharmaceutical have been frequently seen at the March Street Market. This includes purchasing personnel from different regions. I suspect that the Tianma incident at the March Street Market was orchestrated by Tianyitang," Li Quan said. "It's highly likely that Tianyitang is about to launch a new drug with Tianma as its main ingredient. Judging from Tianyitang's past purchasing scale for a particular variety, it's always been at least 30 to 50 tons. However, Tianma is currently in short supply in various pharmaceutical markets, and they can't acquire large quantities at once. So they've resorted to this trick, aiming at our inventory. I've investigated, and pharmaceutical factories that previously needed large quantities of Tianma already had some reserves last year, so it's impossible for them to make such a large move now. Therefore, the only pharmaceutical factory that needs large quantities is Tianyitang Pharmaceutical."
"Tianyitang!" Zhang Zhifa exclaimed with delight, "Great! This is our big cash cow! But I think the purchasing department of Tianyitang Pharmaceutical Factory is completely brain-dead. This kind of self-buying and self-selling trick has been used by other pharmaceutical companies before, and it might be effective on a small scale once. This time, their anti-speculation strategy has chosen the wrong time and the wrong product. What kind of time is this?! Even if they bought up all the loose Gastrodia elata in the country, it would only amount to a few dozen tons. Besides, even if they bought in bulk, buying only a few dozen or a few hundred kilograms at a time, they couldn't afford the time, and it would only drive up prices. So, their target should be our large inventory of over a hundred tons."
“You’re right!” Li Quan said, “But their tactics have already worked in March Street. The price of Gastrodia elata has surged and then plummeted, which is disadvantageous for us. Of course, Tianyitang might be very wealthy and use this method to attract all the scattered goods from across the country to March Street, then buy them up regardless of cost, to buy time for their new medicine to be produced and launched ahead of schedule. That’s one possibility. Another possibility is that they want to use this method to drive the price of Gastrodia elata to its lowest point in March Street, then quickly buy it up, leaving us out in the cold. Yet another possibility is that they want to attract scattered goods from all over the country to March Street, causing a temporary drop in price, and then forcing us to sell, with their real target still being the more than one hundred tons of stock we have. Therefore, our current strategy is to wait and see. You should inform Liu Shun in Haozhou that Tianyitang’s ultimate goal is to take us all. No matter how the price of Gastrodia elata changes in the March Street market, even if it drops to a few dozen yuan per kilogram, we should ignore it.”
"And another thing, Lao Zhang," Li Quanfu added, "we also need to consider various possibilities. Tianyitang might go to great lengths to attract and purchase the Gastrodia elata they desperately need in March Street, regardless of cost, but 30-40 tons should be enough for them. There will likely be a shortage of several dozen tons, and they will definitely come to us. We need to set a unified price. At this time, we must not let Tianyitang take advantage of us. We must jointly defend this line of defense. No matter who ultimately sells those few dozen tons to Tianyitang, we must sell them at an exorbitant price, using those few dozen tons to offset the price of the hundred-odd tons. The rest is extra profit, achieving our goal. Even if we throw it away, it's worth it, since goods are sold to those in urgent need. Then we can use that money to distribute according to the proportion of our original inventory. This is not the most ideal outcome. Tianyitang's big move in March Street is just a ploy to catch us, a feigned retreat. The ideal outcome is that Tianyitang will take everything, selling over a hundred tons to them for over twenty million!"
"How many somersaults would that take!" Zhang Zhifa laughed. "Don't worry, I'll do Liu Shun's job. With the three of us working together, we can earn a fortune!"
The eighth day of March on the streets.
Early that morning, Song Hao said to Li Xin, A Long, and the others, "Starting today, we're going to take drastic measures. We'll split into more than a dozen groups. One group will buy up all the Gastrodia elata from the March Street medicinal market in batches at market price. Another group will bring in a certain amount of Gastrodia elata and sell it at 100 yuan per kilogram. We'll try to get the medicinal merchants on March Street to take over, and then we'll buy it back at a higher price. We'll speed up the buying and selling frequency. Even if we're operating on their turf, we'll still let them make some money. To put it bluntly, we'll buy high and sell low. If we lose money, we won't even make a profit. We'll force the price down."
On the ninth day, the price of first-grade Gastrodia elata at the March Street medicinal herb market finally dropped to 103 yuan per kilogram under the relentless pressure from Tianyitang. Prices in major medicinal herb markets across the country also fell sharply, settling at around 110 yuan per kilogram by the close of the market that evening.
"President Song!" Li Xin said with a mournful face, "Today we've been openly buying and secretly selling, going up high and down, making the entire March Street medicine market a complete mess. In just one day, we lost more than 700,000 yuan. If I hadn't finally taken it too far and ordered our people to buy some of their own stock, the losses would have been even greater. When will this ever end?"
Song Hao laughed and said, "It's alright. The more losses we suffer, the more realistic things become, and the closer we get to our success. This situation needs to last for a few more days, and victory or defeat will depend on this."
On the tenth day, Song Hao ordered his men to sell the acquired Gastrodia elata at an incredibly low price of 90 yuan per kilogram. By the close of trading that evening, the market price had finally fallen below 100 yuan. Prices in major medicinal herb markets across the country also dropped to around 100 yuan. That day, Tianyitang suffered a direct loss of nearly 1 million yuan.
"The prices in major pharmaceutical markets have finally dropped to the 100 yuan threshold!" Song Hao said excitedly. "Things have gotten too big, and there are no secrets anymore. They should have guessed that Tianyitang was behind our actions in March Street. It's time for us to make our move. Inform our purchasing agents to formally contact Li Quan, Liu Shun, and Zhang Zhifa tomorrow. Tell our people to be strategic and just show that Tianyitang is interested in buying the gastrodia elata they have stockpiled. Don't show too much interest."
"President Song," Ah Long said worriedly, "What if they refuse to sell? Are we still going to keep going in March Street at a loss of over a million every day? Things are in complete chaos!"
Song Hao shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying, "We're on the tiger's back now, and there's no way to get off. There's no way out; we have to fight with our backs to the wall. Tomorrow's commotion needs to be even bigger. The more chaotic it is, the more it will confuse the enemy. Let's seek victory in the chaos. Now, dozens of herbs are being boiled together, and their combined medicinal properties are almost ready."
Thirty-three
The interplay of Yin and Yang is called the Dao; that which continues it is goodness; that which completes it is nature.
The continuous generation of life is called change; the formation of images is called Qian (Heaven); the imitation of principles is called Kun (Earth); the arrival of the ultimate numbers is called divination; the understanding of change is called affairs; the unfathomable nature of Yin and Yang is called spirit. — *The Book of Changes*
_______________
“Old Li, damn it, something’s not right! I’m getting more and more confused!” Zhang Zhifa said to Li Quan on the phone, “The trading volume of Gastrodia elata in March Street has surged these past two days! It’s already dropped below 100 yuan, and it’s almost at the 100 yuan mark in my market too. It can’t all be Tianyitang buying and selling among themselves, right? My people estimated that if Tianyitang really dared to do this, they would have lost at least 2 million yuan these past few days. There’s no reason for Tianyitang to act so recklessly. I suspect that Tianyitang’s actions have attracted a large amount of hoarding that we don’t know about. March Street is like a boiling pot now, with everyone buying and selling Gastrodia elata.”
"Hold on!" Li Quan said, "My men just returned from Tianyitang Pharmaceutical Factory. They spent a lot of money to get reliable information that Tianyitang is indeed about to produce a new medicine with Gastrodia elata as the main ingredient, called 'Zhengxin Huonao Dan'. I heard it's Tianyitang's top priority product. To ensure a continuous supply of raw materials and smooth production and sales, they plan to purchase around 100 to 150 tons. And they want to start production soon, because they've already signed a large number of orders, and they can't afford to delay. In other words, Tianyitang is fighting a desperate battle, and their target is the more than 100 tons of stock we three have. So we must not lose our composure. Tianyitang has a thousand clever plans, but we have our own rules."
"That's true, but right now it's really unsettling! I'm worried that there might be a large quantity of goods that we don't even know about entering March Street, plus the loose goods that have been attracted there. What if the Heavenly Doctor Hall buys up a hundred tons? Wouldn't we be completely taken advantage of?"
"That's impossible. Only the three of us hold large quantities of inventory. Before our collective acquisition last year, I conducted thorough research, which is why we invested so heavily. The current situation at Sanyue Street is a facade; Tianyitang has used a huge amount of capital to buy and sell dozens of tons of Gastrodia elata. It's impossible for any more large quantities to enter Sanyue Street. Once Tianyitang runs out of funds at Sanyue Street and feels that all their efforts have been in vain, they will come to us. I have a feeling that Tianyitang's purchasing agents will come to us in the next couple of days. Remember, we need to get Liu Shun from Haozhou to work with us to make big money. If any of you give up at this time and sell your goods to Tianyitang, it just shows your short-sightedness. If anyone does that, I'm not afraid. The 50 tons in my warehouse, I can sell half of them to Tianyitang and that will be enough to make all of yours. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we don't take advantage of Tianyitang, this big spender, we'll have wasted all these years in the pharmaceutical industry," Li Quan said calmly.
"Don't worry, Lao Li, we'll all follow your lead and stick together. Our current wealth was earned under your leadership by stockpiling Schisandra chinensis and ginseng back then. You're the top expert in our industry; you have a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of things, which we have no doubt about," Zhang Zhifa said admiringly.
"Good!" Li Quan said, "As long as you listen to me, you can make a lot of money. Tianyitang is also in a difficult situation. If they continue to lose money like this on March Street, they won't be able to hold on. Their lifeline is in our hands, so we have nothing to fear. They've probably gone too far and can't recover."
March Street, the eleventh day.
Early that morning, Ah Long came over and said disappointedly, "President Song, we have news about Shi Tingchuan's family. They moved away from Dali again two years ago, and we heard they went to Kunming, but nobody knows their exact address now."
"Oh!" Song Hao said helplessly, "We can't worry about this now. Let's go back to Kunming and try to find it after things are settled here."
"Shall we continue with our work today?" Ah Long asked.
“Continue!” Song Hao said, “Today is the time for us to unleash our drastic measures. I’ve already ordered Tianyitang’s purchasing agents to make formal contact with Li Quan, Liu Shun, and Zhang Zhifa at the same time today. Their actions are still a slow and steady approach, but they’ve managed to trigger the other side’s symptoms. The other drastic measure is yet to come. Also, let that convoy that ‘returns fully loaded’ make a grand entrance back to Tianyitang’s pharmaceutical factory.”
"President Song, you've really confused us all!" Ah Long scratched the back of his head, looking bewildered.
After Ah Long and the others left, Tang Yu came over.
"Song Hao, you're now strategizing and winning the nation!" Tang Yu said with a smile.
"It's too early to say that. Today is the most crucial day; the outcome hinges on this. To be honest, the way things have unfolded has exceeded my expectations, and I'm not sure what the final result will be," Song Hao said, shaking his head.
Tang Yu felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing this.
On this day, the price of Gastrodia elata in March Street dropped to 83 yuan per kilogram, and it finally fell below 100 yuan in major medicinal herb markets across the country, reaching 96 yuan. Tianyitang suffered a direct loss of 850,000 yuan. Moreover, another 10 tons of Gastrodia elata were bought up by other pharmaceutical companies, and Tianyitang painfully did the work for others and had to pay a considerable sum in compensation.
Song Hao skipped lunch and dinner that day, sitting in his room, frowning as he stared at the messages returning from the table. Things hadn't gone as he'd predicted. Tang Yu sat beside him, also silent.