"Sir, the land you want has been purchased!" Butler Lin said.
"Uncle Lin, please arrange for someone to take me to see it." Lin Xuan said.
"yes!"
Lin Xuan was led by his servants to the place where Butler Lin bought it.
Although the place Guanjia Lin bought is close to a river, the terrain is high and he is not worried about being flooded in heavy rain.
Lin Xuan was very satisfied after reading it. Now he only needs to hire some workers to start his papermaking business.
But the people hired may not be reliable. If the papermaking method is leaked, it will be troublesome.
Lin Xuan was going to give part of the papermaking workshop to Li Shimin and asked Li Shimin for some people.
When the time comes, if the Wang family's dog jumps over the wall in a hurry, he won't be afraid if Li Shimin is here.
…
"Sister, several other companies impeached Lin Xuan yesterday, but he has made no move yet. From my point of view, he is just bluffing!" Cui Zhifeng said disdainfully.
Cui Yuxiu frowned and said, "Just wait and see, even if he makes any moves, he can't do it so fast."
Although she had only met Lin Xuan once, she felt that Lin Xuan was not the kind of person who bluffs.
"What are you waiting for? If our Cui family joined in yesterday, how could we let him get away with just a few words." Cui Zhifeng said hurriedly.
The officials with the five surnames and Qiwang accounted for nearly 80% of the officials in the court.
The Cui family only accounts for 30%, and the other families combined account for less than 50%.
Of course, not all those officials are Cui family members.
Some of them were trained by their Cui family, and some of them took refuge in their Cui family. There are not many real Cui family members.
He believed that if the Cui family had joined yesterday, Lin Xuan would have been dismissed.
Maybe now I have the method to make colored glaze.
"The family said I would be responsible for this matter, and I said I would wait, just wait!" Cui Yuxiu said.
"Okay, you have the final say, okay. I'm going out to play." Cui Zhifeng stood up and left.
Cui Yuxiu shook her head, knowing that Cui Zhifeng must have gone to Pingkangfang again.
She can't control these things and doesn't want to.
…
"I see your Majesty!" Lin Xuan bowed and saluted.
Li Shimin waved his hand and asked, "What are you here for?"
"I have a good business and would like to come to your Majesty for cooperation." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
"What business? Do you make money from Liuli?" Li Shimin asked.
Lin Xuan was speechless. Do you think anything is as profitable as Liuli?
"Your Majesty, this thing is not as profitable as Liuli, but it is of great significance to the Tang Dynasty." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin became interested and asked, "Tell me, what's the business?"
"Papermaking!" Lin Xuan said every word.
"papermaking?"
Li Shimin was startled and then came to his senses. He immediately realized that Lin Xuan was seeking revenge for the family's impeachment of him.
"Yes, it's papermaking. I wonder if Your Majesty is interested?" Lin Xuan asked.
"You should know that most of the paper in the world is made by the Wang family. Even if you can make paper, can you make it better than the Wang family?" Li Shimin asked.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. The paper produced by my method is better than the Wang family's, and it is faster than theirs. Even if the price is much lower than theirs, are you worried that no one will buy it?" Lin Xuan was confident.
said.
"How much are you going to sell one for?" Li Shimin asked.
"Your Majesty, Chen did some research and found that the best paper in the Tang Dynasty, about one foot square, sells for five cents. The cheapest one costs two cents a piece. I plan to sell ten pieces for one cent." Lin Xuan said.
.
Many people may think that two cents a piece is not expensive.
But in ancient times, calligraphy was written with a brush, and when practicing calligraphy, the writing was relatively large, and it was impossible to write a few words on a piece of paper.
Even if the writing is deliberately small, the limitations of the brush are there. You can't write many words on a piece of paper.
Most people don't know how to use paper when they first start writing. They write on the ground or in a sandbox.
"Can you make money like this?" Li Shimin asked with some disbelief.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, if you just sell paper, you will definitely make very little money. But if I have other methods, I will definitely make a lot of money."
Li Shimin glanced at Lin Xuan and said, "Tell me, do you have any other ideas?"
Lin Xuan said aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, how can this be called a ghost idea? This is wisdom."
Li Shimin said angrily: "Speak quickly!"
"Your Majesty, in addition to producing paper, you can also produce some thin and soft paper. This is where you make money." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin was startled and asked: "Thin and soft paper is impossible to write on. Even if you give it away, no one wants it. Are you sure you can use it to make money?"
"Your Majesty, this paper is not meant for writing." Lin Xuan said.
What he said was thin and soft, it was toilet paper, used to wipe buttocks, but it was hard for him to say this.
Li Shimin glared at Lin Xuan and said, "It's so mysterious. Tell me directly, what is it used for?"
"This is for wiping your butt!" Lin Xuan whispered.
Wipe your ass?
"Now the palace and some dignitaries use rough paper." Li Shimin said.
He really couldn't say the words "wipe his butt".
Lin Xuan was stunned and asked: "How is it possible? Why do I still use toilet chips at home?"
It’s not that the ancients used bamboo or wood to polish it and use it to wipe their buttocks. Ordinary people even used clods of earth.
Li Shimin said: "Li Mu, please explain this problem to him."
He really didn't want to discuss this issue with Lin Xuan.
"yes!"
Li Mu took Lin Xuan aside and explained to Lin Xuan.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, toilet seats were gradually eliminated from the palace. This thing was hard, pungent, and uncomfortable. They were replaced by coarse paper. However, coarse paper was a very luxurious item at that time, very precious and rare.
Yes, only some wealthy businessmen, officials, royals and nobles can afford to wipe their butts with coarse paper. Ordinary people still use toilet paper.
The use of coarse paper only started in recent years, and the public is not aware of it.
As for Lin Xuan's family, let alone officials, they were not even wealthy businessmen before, so of course I didn't know.
Although the Lin family is now a Hou family, the servants in the family are still the same as before.
They don't know about this at all, so they can't talk about purchasing.
Li Mu also specially asked someone to bring some rough paper to Lin Xuan to take a look at.
Lin Xuan looked at it and found that this thing was still too hard, not even comparable to the early straw paper of later generations. Let alone toilet paper.
When Li Shimin saw Lin Xuan coming back, he asked, "How about it? Do you still think papermaking can make money?"
"Your Majesty, I feel more confident after reading the rough paper." Lin Xuan said.
He was worried before that the ancients were rigid and believed that paper was used for writing and making books.
He couldn't bear to wipe his butt with paper, but now he doesn't have to worry about it at all.
Li Shimin asked: "I want to know where you get your confidence."
"Your Majesty, I have said before that we should make thin and soft paper. This paper is much easier to use than the current rough paper, and it will definitely be more popular with everyone." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin said: "Since you insist, I will do this business. I want 60%, but you can't let others know that I am also involved in this matter."
"Your Majesty, 60% is no problem, but there is no one in the paper mill now. Your Majesty, can you see if there are some people?" Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin asked: "How many people do you need?"
"Let's get one or two hundred first. We won't have enough later." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin said: "I will let Li Mu arrange it. You can go back and wait for the news."
"Yes, I will retire first!" Lin Xuan said.
After Lin Xuan left, Li Mu said: "Your Majesty, this is a letter from the border."
Li Shimin took the letter, opened it, read it, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The letter said that someone had asked many times recently about the prices of war horses, cattle and sheep.
But because their quotation was too low, the other party did not trade.
Li Shimin had been worried that Ni She was aware of his plan and was not ready to buy Liuli Lang.
Now it seems that Nishu didn't notice it.
I don't want to trade now, I just think the price is too low.
When he can think of no other way and collects enough money, he will naturally sell it.
Li Shimin was very happy when he thought that he would be able to get a large number of war horses right away, and the price would be very cheap.