After everyone had finished cleaning up, Liu's father sent away Liu Haonian and several others, and took Liu Guangyuan and Liu Haojia into the main room to discuss their future actions.
Liu Haojia was the inventor of white sugar, so he naturally had to participate in the discussion. Although Liu Guangyuan was a servant, he had been tied to the Liu family for generations and was no longer a relative, so Liu's father also had great trust in him.
After the three people sat down, Liu's father and Liu Guangyuan started to pick up their tea cups and drink tea non-stop! These two people had eaten too much sweets just now, and they were a little stunned for a while.
After the two of them each drank a large cup of tea, Father Liu calmed down and said, "Xiao Er, the book you burned contains the secret recipe for making white sugar, right?"
Liu Haojia nodded pretendingly and said: "Yes, I found this secret recipe in the book! But what he wrote was imperfect, and I worked it out slowly! And I burned it. Now, except for our family, there is no one else."
People know how to make this soft white sugar!"
Father Liu felt relieved after hearing this, nodded and said, "That's good! Marshmallow is a nice name, and it is as soft and white as cotton!"
As soon as Liu Haojia heard this, he knew that his father had mistakenly thought of the word, and took the word "soft" as the word "cotton"! At that moment, he smiled slightly and said: "Father, the word "Mian" I took is not the word "cotton", but the word "soft".
!”
Father Liu was stunned for a moment, and didn't want to argue with the words anymore, so he said, "Well, that's not bad! But now that we have soft white sugar, what are your plans for the next step? Will our family sell it directly?"
Liu Haojia smiled bitterly and said: "If our family sells these soft white sugar directly, can we withstand the pressure of the court, civil servants and nobles?"
Father Liu breathed a sigh of relief and said: "I'm very happy that you can think of this truth. This is what I am most worried about! If you insist on selling it, I'm afraid you will offend those merchants who sell white sugar! You know, the people behind them
But they are all bad!"
Liu Haojia said: "Actually, father doesn't need to worry, because we haven't offended them deeply! The so-called soft white sugar is just the reprocessing of white sugar! If it is mass-produced, we can buy white sugar from them, and they will have nothing to do with it.
Loss! Maybe they will become our suppliers! As long as we don’t harm their interests, they won’t do anything to us!”
Father Liu heard Liu Haojia say this, and when he thought about it, it really was true! As long as the other party's white sugar was sold, there would be no loss, and the other party would naturally not come to trouble him! Maybe it could also help the other party speed up their turnover. And it's okay.
Take the opportunity to form alliances with the people behind them and expand your network!
Thinking of this, Father Liu said: "What is the price of sugar on the street now? I want to know how much our cotton candy can be sold for?"
Liu Haojia thought for a while and said: "That's brown sugar on the market for five cents of silver per pound! I have never seen white sugar, so I don't know how much it costs per pound, but I think it should be around six to seven cents of silver! Since
White sugar can be sold at this price, so I think our cotton candy can be sold for one tael of silver, or even a little higher!"
After hearing this, Liu Guangyuan didn't understand the consumption of sugar, so his expression did not change. But Liu's father's face turned red with excitement! Because he had shamelessly attended many banquets for nobles, but he knew how these nobles were.
Use white sugar!
The amount of sugar required for the various snacks they eat every day is not a small amount! In addition, there are also the maids and servants who follow the masters to benefit, and some high-ranking managers. Those snacks are also important to them.
Food is freely allowed, so the amount of sugar consumed in Xungui’s family every day is definitely a huge amount!
In the capital city, there are countless noble families! Counting those civil servant families, wealthy families, and brothel restaurants, the amount of sugar consumed in the market every day is definitely about a hundred pounds! So after such a rough calculation, he found
It turned out that my family controlled a market that brought in nearly a hundred taels of revenue every day! How could this make him not excited?
Liu Haojia saw his father's excitement and said in a persuasive way: "Father, this matter cannot be rushed! We are not businessmen and we don't know the true price of sugar in the market. We still need to find someone who understands to ask!"
"
After hearing this, Father Liu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes! You are right! It's just who should I look for?"
At this time, Liu Guangyuan chuckled, pointed to the east and said: "Master, you are so anxious that you are dizzy!"
Seeing this, Father Liu patted his forehead and stood up and said: "I'm really confused. I forgot about such a big businessman! Hurry, let's go visit! If it works, entrust him with the sale of sugar.
, isn’t this the best of both worlds!”
Liu Haojia stopped Liu's father and said: "Father, this must not be done! I am going to visit a businessman, and if I say it, I will be laughed at! Although our family has declined, there is hope of rising now, and the more this
When the time comes, the less likely you are to leave people with something to say! Anyway, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival soon, and he will come to your door, so we can discuss it slowly with him then!"
Father Liu calmed down after hearing this, sat down and said, "You are right! You are right!"
Liu Haojia continued: "This person doesn't have much contact with us. We only meet every year when we collect rent. We don't know what this person's character is, so we have to be on guard!"
Liu Guangyuan interrupted and said: "Second Young Master, don't worry about this! Zhang Yuanwai has a pretty good reputation among the capital, he is very honest, and he has never had any bad deeds! You know, when the master decided to rent Gu Ningbo's mansion to him, I
Mr. and I also inquired about him carefully! After all, this is Uncle Gu Ning’s house, and we can’t let people with bad records live in it!”
Yuanwai was originally called Yuanwailang, which refers to the official position outside the front office. It first appeared in the Jin Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, one Yuanwailang was placed in each department of Shangshu Province as the secondary official of each department. In the Tang Dynasty,
In the Song Dynasty, he was called Lang Guan together with Lang Zhong, and they were all important positions among the central officials.
Later, this system was still followed until the Ming Dynasty. With Lang Zhong and Yuan Wai Lang, the principals were the third-level officials, and they could be promoted. At that time, Yuan Wai Lang was referred to as Wai Lang or Yuan Wai, and was commonly known as Fu Lang.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Wai Lang became a sinecure and was no longer related to the imperial examination. Moreover, such official positions became positions that could be bought with donations, so the rich at that time bought this position one after another, and in the future, they would call themselves Yuan Wai when they went out. Therefore, the official position of Yuan Wai gradually became
It is associated with wealth. As long as they are willing to spend money, landlords and businessmen can donate a non-official position to do it.