For two days, Li Zhen stayed in the room and kept making matches.
At the same time, Zuo Zongtang also accompanied him.
Starting from the manufacture of match stems, Li Zhen selected relatively soft wood to make match stems with a square cross-section. He then processed the stems, dried them and roughly selected them before determining the match stems to be used. After coming down, Li Zhen smeared paraffin on the match stem, and finally made a sulfur paste on the match head and dried it.
It took two days to go through the procedures one by one.
During this period, apart from eating, drinking and having diarrhea, Li Zhen stayed in his room making matches. Li Zhen personally controlled a series of processes for making matches. Zuo Zongtang was just a handyman and could only help Li Zhen.
Zuo Zongtang was even more surprised when he looked at the matches made by Li Zhen.
In the study, Li Zhen looked at the matchbox in front of him and the bundle of finished matchsticks that had been dried beside him. His heart was full of accomplishment. It is easy to think about this thing, but the real thing is. It took a lot of effort and effort to operate. Li Zhen said excitedly: "Brother Ji Gao, you can try the results."
After saying that, Li Zhen held the matchbox in his left hand and a match in his right hand, rubbing it with slight force.
"call,."
The fire flashed, and the match stem was shining with flames, burning quietly.
"This, this, this is really amazing."
Zuo Zongtang's eyes were very bright, and he suddenly said: "Your Majesty, let me try."
Zuo Zongtang felt extremely fresh about this thing that could produce flames with a little friction. It was really unheard of and unseen. He even wanted to dig into Li Zhen's brain and see how Li Zhen thought about it. Zuo Zongtang Tang held the matchbox in his hand and was so excited that his hands even trembled slightly.
Because I don’t know and don’t understand, I appear mysterious.
"Chi."
There was a friction and the match was lit again.
The matchstick burned quietly and the flame was stable. This opened Zuo Zongtang's eyes and he repeatedly praised: "Awesome, so awesome. With this thing, it is really convenient."
Zuo Zongtang changed his mind and said: "Your Majesty, the matches have been made, why not let them be sold. The price of a box of matches is not high, but it is a convenient and affordable gadget that can be used by every household. , it is definitely more cost-effective than fire discounts and so on. Even if it costs two cents per box, if all people in Nanjing use it, this is a considerable amount of data. Moreover, it is impossible to use matches after just one box. If you continue to use it, I think it can be sold, which is a huge opportunity to make money."
Li Zhen asked: "Brother Ji Gao, how are you going to sell it?"
Zuo Zongtang was stunned, not expecting that Li Zhen would ask about business and sales.
He was not proficient in selling business, but after thinking about it, he said truthfully: "In my opinion, you can sell it directly on the street, or you can find a shop to sell it. As long as there is one person, after two people, the news will spread. , it will definitely become popular. By then, people all over Nanjing and even all over the country will use matches, which will definitely be a huge wealth."
Li Zhen chuckled and said: "If you sell matches, people will definitely know about it. I never doubt this. However, other merchants also make other matches and sell them with us. What should we do?"
Zuo Zongtang said loudly: "We make the matches and we don't allow others to interfere."
Li Zhen shook his head slightly and said seriously: "Brother Ji Gao's idea is not feasible. On the one hand, we cannot monopolize the entire match industry, and on the other hand, we cannot be isolated from all merchants. This is not how we sell things. , it is enough for us to have the initial pricing power of all matches. We will not come forward, but merchants in Nanjing City and even other provinces will sell them for us."
After a pause, Li Zhen continued: "We have the technology and strength, and the pricing is right. The other merchants can purchase the goods and sell them, and the profits they earn are considerable. That is enough. If the profits earned by the merchants are too high." If not, they will think that they might as well make it themselves, but if the profit is considerable, if they make it themselves, excluding costs, etc., they may not be able to make so much, so they will always rely on us. Therefore, two things are extremely important at the moment. The first is the process of making matches; the second is that if the match sellers handle the two lines well, it will be a real assembly line."
Zuo Zongtang nodded and admired Li Zhen even more.
If it were him, he could definitely memorize the essence of Confucianism, such as the Four Books and Five Classics, etc., and could even speak it in a coherent manner. But when it came to business, he was far behind. Zuo Zongtang thought for a while, and then said: "Your Majesty, Is there anyone who can make matches?"
"Of course there is."
Li Zhen shouted: "Someone, please bring Mas over."
Before that, the Italian businessman Mas had been living in Shanghai. After Li Zhen arrived in Nanjing, Mas quickly ran from Shanghai to see Li Zhen. At first, Mas was quite uncomfortable staying in Shanghai, but with Hong Xiuquan, Mas After Yang Xiuqing and others made a lot of money, they just obeyed Li Zhen and had no other thoughts. Moreover, when Maas saw that Li Zhen was getting stronger, he did not dare to have other ideas and temporarily put aside the family's interests. On the side, only then did Li Zhen pay attention again.
The soldier went to notify, and Mas quickly arrived in the room. He looked at a box of matches on the table, showed a puzzled expression, and asked: "Your Majesty, what can I do?"
Li Zhendao: "Mas, I'll give you a chance to make money."
"Your Majesty, please speak." Mas's eyes shone with excitement. He regarded Li Zhen as the God of Wealth. When he heard Li Zhen's words, he knew he had another good idea.
Li Zhen smiled slightly and demonstrated the function of matches.
Immediately, Li Zhen introduced the structure and production process of matches in detail, and then said: "I want you to immediately design a machine for batch manufacturing of matches and solve the problem of mass manufacturing as soon as possible. As for the specific matters of selling matches, I will work with you. You contacted me again, what you have to do now is to solve the mass production problem as soon as possible."
"yes."
Mas nodded in agreement and left quickly.
Zuo Zongtang said: "Your Majesty, is it reliable to leave it to foreigners?"
Li Zhendao: "It must be reliable. Don't worry. Let's take a step back. Matches are easy to copy. It's just a matter of the cost. What we have to do is to be the one who starts the trend. The major businessmen will handle the future matters."
…
Next, Li Zhen introduced Zuo Zongtang to the major generals, and asked Zuo Zongtang to take up a post in the army, recruit soldiers, and train the soldiers. Within half a month, Maas brought good news to Li Zhen. The machine for making matches has already been made. The machine is not complicated, so the experts brought by Mas can design and solve it as soon as possible.
When these arrogant experts learned that Li Zhen designed the match, they secretly admired it.
