In May of the third year of Huangyou, the imperial court set up the River Canal Division and the Railway Department at the same time, which were subordinate to the three divisions. The deputy envoy of salt and iron is also the leader of the river and canal department, and the deputy envoy of the degree branch is also the leader of the railway department, representing three divisions, one canal, and one railway.

In June, Guo Xun became the governor of Baiting on behalf of Su Song, and Su Song was transferred to the governor of Xiangzhou, where the iron supervisor began to roll a large number of rails. The Sangju railroad was mainly used by the Hedong Province, and the railway from Hakuba to Namju began in earnest.

Du Zhongxiao still promoted the Changping Division of Jingxi Road, and last year he used Mingtangen to promote the official to a higher rank. At the point where Du Zhongxiao has arrived, it is not easy to be promoted, even if he has merit, he can delay it. When the term of office expires, if you are lucky, you will go up first, and then the official rank will be promoted rapidly.

With the opening and operation of the Central Plains Railway Network, Kaifeng to Luoyang, Kaifeng to Xiangzhou, Luoyang to Yexian, Kaifeng to Dengzhou, etc., the market has been opened up and commerce has prospered unprecedentedly. All the states and important counties of Jingnan Road have opened shopping malls, and Changping Division has abundant finances. With the rapid development of Changping Division, the imperial court decided to add a judge and divide the north and south roads of Jingxi with Tiju. The candidates have not yet been decided, and Du Zhongxiao organized personnel from Yamen County to begin preparations to set up a branch office in Luoyang.

If the shopping mall under Changping Division is opened to Jingbei Road, the commercial network will be completely formed, and a unified market will appear on Jingxi Road. The guild people of the various cities that used to dominate commerce can no longer manipulate commerce, and a new situation will appear. The success of the Changping Division on Jingxi Road has been recognized by the imperial court, and the Changping Division has recently been set up in various roads in the world, so that Du Zhongxiao can improve the regulations of the Changping Division as soon as possible.

Fancheng, which was the first to open a shopping mall, has seen a new situation, and after the guild and the Yaren lost control of commerce, after a period of development, they have recently begun to slowly unite. Most of the tooth people and some businessmen contributed money together to open a shopping mall in Xiangzhou opposite, and the system and setting basically imitated the Changping Division shopping mall, and even poached some people in the past. This was the first private shopping mall in the Song Dynasty, and it directly competed with Fancheng shopping mall.

After going to Xiangzhou to see it, Xu Hark hurried to the Yingtian Yamen and reported to Du Zhongxiao.

Sitting down in the flower hall and serving tea, Xu Ke said: "Lift, two days ago, some businessmen jointly contributed capital and opened a shopping mall in Xiangzhou together with the tooth people of Xiangyang and Fancheng. Since opening, they have only lowered the discount, I don't know how many discounts, and the trend is very vicious. If they become the climate, I am afraid that our shopping malls in Fancheng will be unfavorable. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Then what can I do?" We must not do this business, and the people will not be allowed to do it. ”

Tsui Hark said: "There is nothing in business, but they are so big that they are not doing business." Soliciting customers for so many days in a row is clearly a life-and-death struggle with our shopping mall, and this is worth it! ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "They are all the outsiders and tooth people of Xiangyang and Fancheng, how can they fight for life and death with Chang Pingsi?" You're thinking too much. In my opinion, there are two benefits of Changpingsi's mall, which their mall can't do. First, the circulation of goods, we have opened a shopping mall in my state and county, there is a special transportation team, and there are regulations for the exchange of goods, which saves money and is fast. Second, there are a large number of villages under the shopping mall, which produce many goods for the shopping mall, the price is not high, and the quality is stable. With these two strengths in hand, you can find more ways to do business and be invincible. ”

Xu Hark shook his head again and again: "Lift, although we have these two strengths, we also have disadvantages." Changping Division's shopping malls have rules and regulations, which must not be violated. Compared with the newly opened shopping malls in Xiangyang, it looks old-fashioned. In addition, in our shopping mall, the goods sold must be genuine, and they are different. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What, as soon as the shopping mall over there opened, it was short of two catties and shoddy?" ”

Tsui Hark said: "I can't say that, but I still use a lot of small means." For example, the citrus in it is obviously produced nearby, but it is said to be Dongting oranges from Liangzhe. It's cheaper than ours, it's famous, and I don't know how much business we've robbed. There are countless small means like this. If they are deceitful, there is no evidence, and they are citrus. How can we do this kind of business? ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at Tsui Hark and was speechless for a while. This method seems familiar, taking advantage of the people's greed for cheap, shoddy, and robbing the business of regular shopping malls. The Dongting oranges of Taihu Lake are famous all over the world, and the people listen to them, the price is not expensive, and many people will buy some to taste rare. How far is it from Xiangzhou? There is no train, how can the price be cheaper than in Fancheng shopping mall? But this kind of thing, only a slight difference in taste, how many people in the city have eaten Dongting oranges? I can't taste it. The real connoisseurs don't buy it, but they are in the minority after all.

After thinking for a while, Du Zhongxiao said: "There is no good way to do this matter for the time being, you just have to follow the previous rules and do business genuinely." Even if there is a temporary loss, relying on word of mouth will slowly take back the business. ”

Tsui Hark smiled bitterly: "Lifting, where is it so easy?" In the past two days, many customers who came to our mall complained that our prices were higher than those in Xiangyang opposite, and they were very dissatisfied. If this continues, the people's reputation is that our goods are expensive, and they will be worse day by day in the future. ”

Of course, Du Zhongxiao can use experience to take measures, such as proof of origin, shelf life, and so on. But in this era, these methods cannot be implemented in practice, the cost of counterfeiting is too low, and the cost of verification is too high. Official shopping malls can't take such measures, otherwise they can't manage, which is a natural disadvantage. When everyone has formed the impression that the things sold in the official shopping malls are expensive and the private ones are cheap, the business will not be good.

After thinking about it for a long time, Du Zhongxiao said: "Supervisor, it stands to reason that like citrus fruits, we all have special orchards in the local area, and they shouldn't be more expensive than the newly opened shopping malls in Xiangyang." Even if they use the land to pretend to be Dongting oranges, which are cheaper than us, wouldn't they be profitable? ”

Tsui Hark said: "How do you know where they received it, looking at the quality that is not as good as what we sell, let's say that Dongting oranges are like this, but the taste is more special." Where can ordinary people tell the difference? Or greedy for the cheap, go buy theirs. Many other goods are like this, compared with the two, the quality is far inferior to ours, but if you don't put it together, it is difficult to distinguish it for a while, what can you do? ”

Du Zhongxiao was speechless for a while, this is really a tricky problem. What is sold there is not as good as what Changping Si sells, but it is cheaper, what can you do? The shopping mall has a fixed supply channel, aquatic products have a fishing ground, fruit has an orchard, and even rice and noodles are produced in a fixed place. In this era, ordinary people have not yet reached the level of paying attention to taste and appearance, and no one pays attention to the nutritional differences, which is a big disadvantage.

Thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said: "There is no way to do this kind of thing for a while, so I have to let them go for the time being." After you go back, someone will sort out the prices on the other side, and we will also reduce the price appropriately to make less money. This is a long-term business, and you have to do it the way you do it for a long time, and you can't follow their example. ”

Tsui Hark agreed, with a sad face. I am not competing, but I am not the opposite, but Chang Pingsi has many regulations, and the means are limited, and there is no way at all. Especially the newly opened shopping mall over there, there are a large number of tooth people, and the tricks of doing business are endless, which is eye-opening.

After thinking for a while, Du Zhongxiao said: "Otherwise, how about you try the membership system again?" ”

Tsui Hark said: "Membership? What is the membership system? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "When I was in Tanglong Town, I used this method in the cabinet shop. Anyone who is a regular customer, or who buys more goods, can let them apply for membership. Every time they buy goods, they will be given points, and they will be given various discounts according to the points. In this way, you can try to hold the buyers as much as possible and try to avoid the impact of the opposite shopping mall. ”

After speaking, Du Zhongxiao explained to Tsui Hark in detail the membership system, operation methods, and significance. Let him go back and make regulations, and in the future, shopping malls in various places will do the same, so as not to be at a loss when the same thing happens in other places.