A few days later, Wu Zhi’s customized wine bottle was finally fired successfully and came out of the kiln.
He followed the waiter who reported the news to the Wu Family Colorful Porcelain Workshop. Wu Gang, the owner of the workshop, welcomed him and approached the porcelain kiln. He saw rows of porcelain bottles lined up in front of the kiln door, shining brightly in the sun. The porcelain firing masters were surrounding them.
Pointing with interest, they had never seen such a strange and beautiful porcelain vase, and their curiosity aroused.
Wu Zhi carefully inspected everything from beginning to end and found that the firing effect was still very good. Although there were some defective products, they could basically be fired according to the style he designed. The height and size were basically the same, and the color and pattern were the same.
They are basically the same, the porcelain body is crystal clear, the hand feels smooth and delicate, the fonts are clear and rhythmic, the bottle cap fits perfectly, and the seal is tight.
Holding it in his hands, Wu Zhi felt like he was holding a work of art. This was the feeling he wanted, the feeling of being tall!
Wu Zhi was quite satisfied. After sorting, he selected 592 sets. There were 390 sets of wine bottles for "Zhuang Yuan Chun" and 202 sets of wine bottles for "Zhuang Yuan Lang".
He didn't care about it, and settled directly with the shop owner according to the price of 600 sets. Wu Gang saw that he was very happy, and he directly decided that he would give a profit of 20 cents for future cooperation, and only charge 180 cents for each set. Then he ordered the workshop clerk to pack it carefully.
Okay, load it gently onto the bullock cart and send it back to Wu Zhi's home, including people and goods.
Wu Zhi then found a funnel, measuring cup and beeswax, and started bottling. He and Xiao'e worked together. After filling the bottles, they capped the bottles. Wu Zhi used heated and melted beeswax to seal them one by one to make them unbreakable.
Air leakage. After the operation, 202 bottles of the 50-degree "Zhuangyuanlang" wine were filled, and 390 bottles of the 38-degree "Zhuangyuanchun" wine were filled. Each bottle is a pound.
, that is, about 661 grams, which is larger than the pound in later generations.
The work was not done yet. These wine bottles still needed to be packaged. Wu Zhi designed a set of packaging boxes overnight: a square box made of cork with an inner diameter slightly larger than the wine bottle, just enough to easily place the wine bottle. The bottom of the box was made of
It is cushioned with soft silk cloth, and the top of the box is covered with an embedded lid. Small holes are drilled in the middle of the left and right sides, and wooden latches are inserted to fix the lids. A hole is punched in the middle of the lid that is larger than the index finger. You can put your fingers through the holes to easily lift the lid.
The edges of both sides of the box are perforated on opposite sides, and two red hemp ropes are tied respectively so that the entire box can be lifted; the wooden boards of the box are polished smooth inside and outside so as not to irritate the hands, and then "Zhuangyuan Chunjiu" or "Zhuangyuan Chunjiu" or "Zhuangyuan Chunjiu" are engraved on the front and back of the box.
The four regular characters of "Zhuangyuan Langjiu" are polished and smoothed, and then painted with gold paint. The upper edges of the box are pierced across each other, and a golden silk ribbon is tied to each as decoration.
Wu Zhi found Tan Si and gave him the customization work of the packaging box. After Tan Si tried making a packaging box, he found that the effect was good and the test bottle was just right. So Wu Zhi ordered it for him.
Six hundred orders, two hundred "Zhuangyuan Langjiu" and four hundred "Zhuangyuan Chunjiu" packaging boxes, the labor and materials were paid for each box for sixty cents, Wu Zhi paid a deposit. Although Tan Si was full
I was confused and curious, but after getting the deposit, I took action quickly and worked overtime to make it.
At noon the next day, Wu Zhi was on duty at the redaction office while proofreading an imperial order when a yamen officer suddenly came in and handed him a letter. Wu Zhi took the letter and looked at it, and saw in the middle of the envelope written: "The redaction order was deleted.
"Dingguan Wu Zhi received it", and in the lower left corner it also said: "Sent by Pan Weimin of Enzhou". Wu Zhi knew that this was a letter written by Pan Weimin to him. When he opened it in confusion, he realized that Wu Xiu, Feng Niang and Jin Lian had received it from him.
After receiving the letter, I had already set off from Qinghe County and rushed back to the capital a few days ago. I estimate that I will arrive in the capital in five or six days.
"Why so fast?" Wu Zhi was happy, but also full of doubts and surprises. It had only been about twenty days since he sent the letter home, and according to his calculations, he would not receive a reply for at least three to forty days.
What Wu Zhi didn't know was that with his official status as the No. 1 scholar, Wu Zhi's reputation, and money as a means of clearing the way, the postman of the post office must be very energetic to deliver the goods.
The letter sent to him was rushed through Baili and was delivered to Pan Zhizhou of Enzhou in less than ten days. Pan Weimin read the letter and sent another letter to Wu Xiu and Feng on the same day.
Mother. Within five days, Wu Xiu, Feng Niang and Jin Lian had already set off. Before they set off, Pan Weimin had already sent a capable servant to set off with a reply to Wu Zhi, riding a fast horse, and it took less than ten days.
We arrived in Beijing.
Wu Zhi was very excited when he received Pan Weimin's letter. When he returned home in the afternoon, when he showed the letter to Xiao'e, Xiao'e also jumped up with joy and her eyes shone. She had not seen him for more than half a year.
Thinking that she would be reunited with her parents soon, she was so excited that she tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep that night.
In the next few days, while Wu Zhi was on duty, he kept asking people about where there was a house for sale. After Wu Xiu and Feng Niang came over, he estimated that there would be at least four people, so the current house must be
There is not enough room for him, so he needs to plan ahead, find a suitable house in advance, and make preparations.
But when he inquired about it, he was shocked. The house prices in Bianliang, Tokyo, were indeed extremely high. Every inch of land cost a lot of money. An ordinary house cost at least 8,000 guan of copper coins. A luxury house could not be bought without hundreds of thousands of guan coins.
Now, he is short of money and it seems he will have to rent a house for a while!
Wu Zhi shook his head helplessly. Facing the high housing prices in Bianliang, he felt like he had become a beggar.
Nowadays, the monthly salary of Wu Zhizheng, an eighth-grade official, is fifteen taels of silver, Lumi is twenty dan of silver per month, and the other income is about 30 taels of silver. The monthly income he receives is close to 64 taels of silver. This is compared to the ordinary people.
He said that Wu Zhi's monthly income was quite high, but with his salary alone, he could not afford a house in the capital even if he had not eaten or drank for more than ten years! This further strengthened his determination to engage in business.
Wu Zhi put his salary and property in charge of Xiao'e, and Xiao'e became a little housekeeper.
Wu Zhi had no choice but to find a larger single-family rental house near Baokangmen with the help of his dentist. After he broke off the old rental contract with the old landlord, he signed a new rental contract with the new landlord.
, found a suitable day, asked Lin Chong and Wang Jin to help, the four of them packed their luggage and distilling equipment, packed the wine jars and bottles, hired an ox cart, and slowly moved to the new house.
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The new house rents 30 guan per month, which is very expensive. However, the house is quite spacious, with more than ten rooms and complete facilities. The extra rooms can be used as distilleries and storage rooms, and even a laboratory can be built.
After moving to a new home, the distillation room had to be redesigned and expanded. So Wu Zhi approached Tan Si and asked him to stop making packaging boxes and complete the distillation room first.
Tan Si took three helpers, and the four of them worked overtime and were familiar with each other. It took them four days to build the new distillation house. The new distillation house was much larger than before, with five sets of distillation equipment.
After building the distillation house, Tan Si went back to continue making the packaging boxes.
On the fifth day of anticipation, after asking for leave, Wu Zhi and Xiao'e had been waiting at the West Water Gate Pier in Bianliang City since noon, watching the boats coming in and out. They waited until dark, but no one was picked up. Both of them were a little frustrated.
, and returned disappointed.
The next day, at noon on the tenth day of May, Wu Zhi continued to ask for leave, and Xiao'e continued to wait at Xishuimen Pier. At the exact moment of Shenshi (that is, four o'clock in the afternoon), the sun was setting in the west, and facing the slanting light, a somewhat familiar ship appeared.
The passenger ship slowly sailed into the Xishuimen Pier. As the ship gradually approached, Wu Zhi and Xiao'e suddenly saw the people standing on the bow of the ship, looking around and pointing. Wu Xiu, Feng Niang and Jin Lian were all there.
List!
A burst of surprise suddenly came to their hearts. Wu Zhi and Xiao'e both raised their hands happily and waved to everyone on the boat. Everyone on the boat also saw Wu Zhi and Xiao'e, and they immediately waved their hands excitedly.
When the boat docked and came to a stop, Wu Zhi ran onto the boat and saluted Wu Xiu, Feng Niang and Jin Lian one by one. He also greeted the little maid Liu Yue and everyone else. Everyone looked a little tired, but everyone
Everyone was smiling.
At this time, the boatman came over and greeted Wu Zhi with a smile. Wu Zhi took a look and found that he was an acquaintance. This boatman was the boatman who sent them to Bianliang, Tokyo last time! Wu Zhi also greeted him with a smile.
, thanked him profusely.
Xiao'e had already followed her and ran onto the boat, and immediately threw herself into Feng Niang's arms, crying and laughing at the same time, making everyone laugh.
The boatman looked at Wu Zhi in awe. When he came, he had already found out clearly that the people he was picking up on this trip were the wife of the number one scholar and the uncle and aunt of the number one scholar. Therefore, he was careful not to stop too much while sailing. It was smooth sailing.
, arrived in Bianliang, Tokyo, in fifteen days. Now that he saw that the number one scholar who picked up the ship was his benefactor Wu Zhi, he was filled with emotions. This strange experience was probably enough for him to brag in front of others for a lifetime.
Everyone unloaded the luggage quickly. There were so many things that Wu Zhi had to hire five ox carts. After negotiating the fare, three ox carts loaded the luggage and two ox carts carried people. Wu Zhi, Xiao'e, Wu
Six people, Xiu, Feng Niang, Jin Lian and Liu Yue, sat in one car together. Five people, Dahu and Erhu's family and two government servants, all sat in one car. They were driven home by five coachmen.
Along the way, everyone laughed and laughed. Wu Xiu and Feng Niang were particularly happy to see Wu Zhi and Xiao'e, and asked them questions endlessly. Jin Lian was also elated to see Wu Zhi, and her pretty eyes were full of spring, but she was still a little shy, although she was already
She is considered to be Wu Zhi's person, but after all, she is not married yet, so she is still somewhat reserved and shy.
Half an hour later, the motorcade arrived in front of the newly rented home. After unloading the goods and getting off the vehicle, Wu Zhi gave each driver a hundred cents for the fare, and the driver just drove away with satisfaction. Eleven people started working together, and three
After five divided by two, I moved my luggage home.
After discussion, Wu Xiu and Feng Niang’s rooms were located on the left side of the central wing of the courtyard, with the living room in the middle and Xiao’e’s room on the right. There were four rooms in the left wing, with Wu Zhi’s room on the far left and Jinlian’s room on the left.
Next to Wu Zhi, there is the room of the little maid Liu Yue and the room of the old lady Feng. There are also four rooms in the right wing. The two Wu Zhi on the left are planned as distillation rooms and storage rooms. Dahu and Erhu
The two people live in one room together, and the one on the far right is reserved as a guest room, which can be arranged for two government servants to stay temporarily. The kitchen, dining room, and woodshed are between the left wing and the central wing, while the toilet, bathroom, and utility room are distributed
Between the right wing and the central wing, there are corridors connecting the upper, lower, left and right sides, which provide both sun and rain protection. They are surrounded by walls and form a relatively large courtyard in the middle. There is also a small garden behind the central wing. Between the courtyard and the small garden
There are several sweet-scented osmanthus trees and some flowers and plants. In the middle of the courtyard, a two-meter-wide road is paved with stone slabs from the door to the central wing. There are also paths connecting the left and right wing rooms. It feels like a winding path leading to a quiet place.
The monthly rent was worth it. When everyone saw the spacious and elegant courtyard they rented, they immediately fell in love with it.
In the evening of the same day, Wu Zhi arranged a banquet for everyone at Li Qing's house in Baokangmen. He sat at the same table with Wu Xiu, Feng Niang, Jin Lian, Xiao'e and Liu Yue, and Dahu's family sat at the same table with the two yamen servants.
The table was filled with glasses of wine, and the atmosphere was full of joy. During the dinner, Wu Zhi paid a toast to Wu Xiu, Dahu and Erhu, and the two government officials. Dahu's family and the two government officials were all very friendly and flattered to see Zhuangyuan Lang being so hospitable and approachable.
The next day was Wu Zhi's day off. Seeing that the escort mission had been completed, the two government officials did not dare to stay any longer and prepared to leave and return to Enzhou. In order to thank them for their escort service, Wu Zhi gave each of them a gift.
The two of them gratefully accepted twenty taels of silver as payment. The twenty taels of silver were almost equivalent to four months of their salary. Wu Zhi was so generous that they were overjoyed and felt that this trip was a great one.
Jing, it was worth it. They had some complaints in their hearts, but now they have all disappeared.
After seeing off the two government officials, Wu Zhi stopped by Tan Si's place to check on the production of the packaging boxes. He found that all the box bodies and lids had been made, and some of the packaging boxes had been engraved and painted. The effect was good, and he felt relieved.
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Before leaving, he deliberately took away four packaging boxes, two each for "Zhuang Yuan Chun Liquor" and "Zhuang Yuan Lang Liquor". He was about to start implementing his marketing plan. As for how to market and how to promote Zhuang Yuan series wine
Entering the market, Wu Zhi already knew what he was doing.