Chapter 189: Shrewd Merchant
Since few weeks ago, Khirkee village, Delhi
Ashitosh Kulkarni was a thorough businessman. His way of doing business was out of the conventional ways, and this was the reason why he became a successful merchant through his own merits and managed to join a reputed merchant group of the Marwari community’s Mahajan Sangh.
After his arrival in Delhi, he didn’t get much help from the local authorities regarding the entry to Khirkee village. So, he decided to explore Delhi for more benefits. In the city, there were fewer options to start anything new, as it was already flocking with merchants offering far better products than his.
Then he remembered he had spotted the tents of people living outside the village who were there for jobs in company. Since they were lower-caste poor peasants, he didn’t give them much value. But their sheer number was enough to get a hefty amount if he could tax them 1 copper each, which would turn out to be almost 2,000-3,000 coppers, which meant it would be 20 silvers or 20 rupees. That would be a good amount to pay for his daily bills, and that too luxuriously.
Now, the only thing needed was to find a way to milk them dry. Motivated by this idea, he gathered a few of his people and went to check on the area.
He caught two or three lower-caste people, like barbers and field laborers, and interrogated them about their daily life activities. Taking information from them was child’s play, as they had a mentality of servitude in society due to being discriminated against. But all that mattered to Ashitosh was finding a way to get some extra money.
The good news was that there were more than 3,500 people estimated to be outside the village border. They worked odd jobs elsewhere and would return to the tents at noon and night. Some rich tents were also there, but their location was exactly opposite, so all the focus of necessities was available to the rich travelers, while the poor, low-caste people lacked such premium mediums .
However, thanks to the emperor’s concern over hygiene and diseases, basic necessities were provided by the authorities. A water system was arranged through canals, initially meant for farming nearby lands, and free rations were distributed so the people could cook for themselves and survive. From this, Ashitosh got the idea of how to mint money from them.
The first thing he did was choose a suitable location within their settlement that was accessible to all. Then he hired people from that very settlement to meet his needs for local guards with staffs, cooking, and storage.
Since he liked the local inn idea, he decided to provide a private toilet and public bathhouse by simply barricading and digging some space, putting up a tent for shade, and making it free to use. It was a baiting area to attract customers for his real business.
The food prices were set at 2 copper per meal, affordable enough for them to purchase, and as soon it was started it boomed and become a success.
Ironically, he didn’t own anything: not the land, nor items, neither labor, but he used them to meet their needs by simply organizing them with his money and the return was over-expected.
The best part was the toilet, as the locals had to either go to the river or some canals at night, which was dangerous. But with the confined area and local guards providing security, it added confidence, especially for women. While going to the toilet, they would often cross paths with the outlet, which was at a comfortable distance, allowing them to have their meal at an affordable price without spending much time cooking when they could buy it. Not everyone was there with family, so a cheap outlet was a boon.