The next day, at noon, Mrs. Ding Yuanbo reserved a table at Tongchunlou, the largest restaurant in Xuanfu Town. She entertained local merchants, workshop owners, and landlords for a banquet.
In the late Ming Dynasty, due to the rise of Xinxue, society was more open than before. It was not unusual for ladies from wealthy families to go shopping or entertain guests. They would often go out for temple fairs and spring outings, and there were even many people who went shopping.
.
Tongchun Building has three floors, and today the Yang Mansion has reserved the place. Outside the building are fierce guards and servants.
The first floor is for small and medium-sized businessmen, and the second floor is for large businessmen. There are running mats on these two floors. On the third floor, there are two ladies from the Yang family and their female relatives. Here they receive businessmen, mine owners, workshop owners and others who ask for an audience.
Xiao Niangpi was sitting on the master's chair on the third floor, receiving local businessmen. Under the guidance of Huang Erya, these people came to the third floor to meet his wife.
At this time, hundreds of merchants came to the third floor. They all wanted to transport goods by train to Beijing and sell them in Tianjin. There were even some who wanted to transport goods from Tanggu to Hainan.
Among them, the largest dozen or so families are all engaged in fur business. The skins are very famous, and the animal furs from the grasslands are of excellent quality, and are even exported to Jiangnan, North Korea, and Japan.
Businessmen of a smaller scale than them are all mine owners who deal in local minerals. Mainly coal mines, phosphate mines, gold mines, silver mines, copper mines and lead mines. These are also needed by Yang Fan's system.
The last ones are all small and medium-sized local specialties and workshop owners. They produce and operate local cotton cloth, raw silk, oatmeal noodles, mushrooms, bracken, bitter herbs, tribute rice, apricots, milk grapes, longan grapes, Chaigoubao bacon,
Huaian tofu skin, Yuxian paper-cut, parrot mung beans, etc.
Xiao Niangpi did not talk to the most powerful businessmen first, but called out Boss Wu.
"Do you have a bentonite mine at home?" Xiao Niangpi asked while sitting on the Taishi chair.
Wu Xiong was flattered and came out. He was just a small mine owner. He didn't expect Mrs. Dingyuan to be the first to call him. He quickly said: "My family has more than a dozen metal and non-metal mines. There is indeed bentonite."
mine."
Bentonite is of great use in industry, explosives and military industries.
The bentonite clay used in Yang Fan's system is made from cat litter imported from modern times. The main component of that stuff is bentonite clay.
This thing is of great use in smelting. Bentonite has good water absorption, dispersion, lubrication, thickening and other properties. It can bond iron fine powder through the action of water. It is the main bonding agent for metallurgical pellets.
agent.
Molds for casting cannons also need this thing. Sodium bentonite has strong plasticity, good reusability, high wet pressure strength, strong formability, and high cavity strength, which can prevent sand inclusions, scarring, falling blocks, and sand mold collapse in castings.
, convenient for the metal industry to cast wet or dry molds, and is the preferred molding sand binder for precision castings.
This thing can also be used as an antidiarrheal medicine. During military expeditions, if the drinking water is not clean and causes diarrhea, this thing can treat diarrhea. It can also be used as a desiccant for medicines, vegetable oil, sugar, and alcohol decolorizing agent.
It can also be used as toothpaste, plasticizer for ceramic prototypes, etc. Bentonite is needed in many of Yang's industries.
"I'll send someone to your mine later to take samples and analyze the taste. If it meets our needs, we can order no less than three thousand taels of silver every year." Xiao Niangpi said crisply.
Wu Xiong was dumbfounded. They just used bentonite as a wall-painting material. They couldn't sell it for a hundred taels a year, but they got such a big order all of a sudden. He was so happy.
He was about to introduce his family's other lime mines and other minerals when he saw Mrs. Dingyuan waving her hand and letting him go down.
Xiao Niangpi took another famous thorn and asked, "Is Zhang Hou here?"
A thin businessman hurriedly stepped out of the queue, cupped his hands and said: "The young one is Zhang Hou. I have met Madam."
"Your family is in the copper ore business, right? I want as much copper ore as I want, just follow the market price. You transport it to the railway station and we settle the settlement in cash. We can also sell you gunpowder for blasting mining and mineral processing equipment. From crushed ore, select copper ore.”
Yang Fan's system was seriously short of copper. In fact, the entire Ming Dynasty was short of copper.
Now that the railway has facilitated transportation, it is natural to have as much ore as you need. You can even help him increase mining efforts. As long as there is a copper mine, no matter how far away it is, the Yang Mansion will buy all the ore.
Xiao Niangpi then called out several owners of lead mines and white phosphorus mines, and they all placed orders. These are the raw materials needed by the military factory. The metallic lead is used to make bullets and cannonballs, and the white phosphorus is used for incendiary bombs.
Xiao Niangpi finished her work according to her own needs and said to the dark group of people below: "There are too many people, so I won't talk about them one by one. The biggest request you have come to see me is that you want to use trains to transport your goods. Right? .”
Hundreds of people gathered together in darkness and said, "Madam, I see you clearly."
An old man came forward and said with cupped hands: "Old Chen Jingxiu is the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Xuanfu Town. Now that Zhangjiakou is burning, the businessmen of Xuanda are all concentrated in Xuanfu Town. The old man and others came to see my wife because they hope to transport us by train. goods.”
Another old man also said: "The old man Li Ziran is the vice president of the Xuanfu Town Chamber of Commerce. Our Xuanda area is rich in minerals and agricultural products. But the roads are not good and cannot be transported. The Beijing-Tianjin area is rich Prosperity is very close at hand, but due to transportation problems, the materials inside cannot be transported out, and the good things from outside cannot be transported in. Now the railway is open. We would like to ask Madam to allow us to use railway transportation."
Xiao Niangpi cupped her hands and said: "Two old gentlemen, we have long admired your name, and it is like thunder in our ears. We have a chance to meet you today, and I am honored to meet you."
All the businessmen bowed and saluted together. "Thank you madam for taking the time to meet me."
Xiao Niangpi said: "The opening of the train was originally prepared for military and national events. It was mainly used to transport soldiers, weapons, grain and other supplies to the northwest front. However, when military supplies are not being transported, some civilian supplies can be transported."
There was another burst of praise from everyone, thanking Mrs. Dingyuan for her kindness.
Xiao Niangpi waved her hand and said: "Since so many merchants want to use train transportation, let's build a freight yard in Zhangjiakou and Xuanfu Town. They are built next to the station. You can transport the goods to the freight yard first and handle the procedures. Go through the freight procedures, and then pay the transportation fee. Then you can queue up for loading and transportation according to the order of the transportation contract."
When everyone heard this, they were immediately overjoyed.
They were willing to spend money, but they were afraid that Uncle Dingyuan would not let them play. They all knew that Uncle Dingyuan had laid this railway for the purpose of fighting the war. Being able to use it for them was a big advantage.
"I don't know how to calculate the freight. Let me and other merchants calculate the selling price, cost and profit of the goods by ourselves based on the freight." Chen Jingxiu asked with his hand raised.
Businessmen are always concerned about costs, because only by controlling costs can they make profits.
Xiao Niangpi frowned, thought for a while and said: "The specific regulations haven't been released yet. But generally speaking, it depends on what type of goods it is. If it is heavy goods such as ore, the freight should be calculated according to the weight. If it is
For cotton, a very light and fluffy commodity, freight should be calculated based on volume and weight. At the same time, the distance of transportation must also be considered. Once the cargo yard and freight office are established, a freight standard will be given to everyone."
When everyone heard this, they all nodded slightly. Mrs. Dingyuan's words were reasonable and well-founded, and she seemed to be a person who obeyed the rules. They felt relieved.
As long as the freight is not too outrageous, they are willing to use railways for transportation.