The three people entered the house, and Deng Hong prepared some fruits and drinks for them.
There was tea in the Han Dynasty, but the tea at that time was not roasted tea, and a large amount of oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar were added randomly. The mixture tasted strange and strange, and neither Deng Hong nor Shen Chen could get used to it.
Drinks were different. They were common drinks for entertaining guests at that time. Although children could not drink, they were millet wine with a very low alcohol content.
Of course, Shen Chen didn't know how to drink. Deng Hong and Zhou Lin drank alone, while he watched from the side.
After the three people sat down, Deng Hong looked at his humble room of less than 20 square meters and said with a little embarrassment: "Now the population in Xiangyang has increased greatly, and housing prices have risen sharply. Although this house is rented, it is still very expensive. ."
Zhou Lin, who is a businessman, naturally understands this and said with a smile: "Now that there is chaos in the north, a large number of people are migrating to the south. Since last year, more than 100,000 households in Yizhou have moved south. The current situation in Chengdu is similar to that in Xiangyang, and housing prices have risen. It’s almost doubled.”
"Brother Demao's family has great achievements and we can't compare with him."
Deng Hong picked up his wine glass and sighed: "The price of food has risen so fast now that I don't dare to buy food in the city anymore. I can only ask someone to send food from Xinye every month, and buy some oyster sauce or fish minced meat to survive. Fortunately, fish in Xiangyang is relatively cheap.”
Zhou Lin also picked up the wine glass, looked around and said, "Brother Youshuo is very careful with his budget and is a man who knows how to live a good life. Oh, by the way, why didn't I see Mrs. Sister-in-law?"
"Forehead"
Deng Hong looked embarrassed and quickly took a sip of wine to cover it up. As soon as he took his mouth, he felt the spicy taste coming over him. He spit it out with a "plop" sound. He stuck out his tongue and looked at the wine glass in surprise: "Why is this wine so weird? "
At this time, Shen Chen chuckled and said: "This is the wine I brewed before leaving the clan this year. It is several times stronger than ordinary wine. I secretly changed it just now when my uncle entertained Mr. Demao."
"You are such a..."
Deng Hong felt even more uncomfortable. He used to be able to discipline him when he was in the clan. Since Shen Chen became the savior of the clan and later took over the power of the clan, it seems that he no longer takes his great uncle seriously.
Shen Chen said: "This wine is really much stronger than ordinary wine. If you sell it in winter to warm yourself up, you will get drunk after a few glasses. Mr. Demao, try it and see if you can sell it to Sichuan."
Zhou Lin didn't dare to drink it before because of Deng Hong's appearance, but now that Shen Chen urged him, he had no choice but to take a sip, and he immediately felt spicy in his mouth.
In fact, this is just ordinary distilled liquor. To put it bluntly, it is just alcohol mixed with water. It is definitely not comparable to later generations of liquor.
But the problem is that the wines in the Han Dynasty were all low-alcohol wines. The first record of spirits in history was in Jiannan in the Tang Dynasty, which is today’s Sichuan in later generations. It was called Shaochun. At least high-alcohol wines were definitely First of its kind.
After Zhou Lin took a sip, he felt his throat was burning, and his whole body seemed to be on fire. After a while, his face turned slightly red, and he felt a little dizzy.
"This wine."
He was a poor drinker, but he shook the wine glass, and there was a trace of embarrassment on his face: "It's strong, but it tastes bad. I'm afraid it will be difficult to sell it in Shu."
Shen Chen shook his head and said: "It must not be difficult to sell. There are people in this world who like to drink wine like water, and there must be people who think that ordinary corn wine is not strong enough. This wine is very strong, and the taste is not a problem. It can be adjusted. The key is how to sell it. ."
"oh?"
Zhou Lin glanced at him in surprise and asked: "What does Shen Xiaolang think should be the best way to sell it?"
Shen Chen laughed: "I believe that your husband is better at this kind of thing than me. Even in Jingzhou, I know that Jinwen Confucianism is popular in Yizhou, and scripture debate meetings are often held. Since your husband is from a wealthy family in Yizhou, there is no way he doesn't know about it. this point."
"This is it"
Zhou Lin pondered for a moment and asked, "How much does Shen Xiaolang plan to price it?"
"Three hundred coins a dou."
"Is this your shipping price?"
"Of course, this wine is strong and consumes several times more food than ordinary millet wine."
Shen Chen nodded without hesitation. Distilled liquor consumes more than ordinary liquor. When the cost is higher, it is normal for the ex-factory price to be higher.
“A bit expensive.”
Zhou Lin hesitated. Except for a few special wines, this price was almost the same as the purchase price of the best wines on the market. Even if they were doubled and sold in Bashu, their profits would not be much if shipping and costs were taken into account. .
Shen Chen smiled and said: "It doesn't matter if you don't dare to buy too much, sir. We didn't brew much in the first batch this year, only one thousand dan. If Mr. Qian Shi wants it, he can take it for half the price. As for how much it can be sold for later. A bucket depends entirely on your ability. If you can’t sell it, we’ll take it back at the original price.”
He knew that Zhou Lin did not understand that there must be a market for spirits, but it was the nature of businessmen to keep prices low. Prices are soaring now. In peacetime, better-quality wine used to cost 50-80 yuan a dou, but now it can be sold for 200-350 yuan. Ordinary rice wine can be sold for 200-350 yuan. It cost 20-30 yen per bucket, but now it sells for 80-120 yen. The price has basically tripled or even tripled.
Since spirits are a new product, firstly, they don’t know how the sales volume will be, and secondly, they are afraid that Shen Chen will ask for high prices. So whether it is in terms of taste or price, if Zhou Lin really wants to try selling this novelty, he will definitely do it. Choose to lower the price of this manufacturer.
Therefore, Shen Chen didn't bother to go around with him and just let Zhou Lin sell it at half the price. Then he would come back to get the goods if the sales volume was not good. If the sales were not good, he would return the goods. Anyway, he didn't brew much now, so he thought it was just to make him hungry. Marketing.
"Is that so?"
After hearing his words, Zhou Lin looked at Shen Chen and thought. It seemed that the child had seen through his thoughts, so he simply stopped pretending and said, "In that case, those porcelains?"
Shen Chen shook his head and said: "Porcelain is not better than wine. Wine depends on people's taste. You can tell whether the quality of porcelain is good or bad by looking at it. You can't give it half the price, it has to be the real price."
"But the price of porcelain fluctuates quite a lot."
Zhou Linwei said: "People drink wine every day, but you only need to buy a few porcelains. Nowadays, Jiangdong white porcelain is mostly used in Sichuan. Although your porcelain looks good, it is not easy to sell it at a high price."
"This can be discussed."
Shen Chen was not unaware of this. To a certain extent, wine was a necessity in Han Dynasty society, and people could not live without wine in their daily lives.
It is as rigid a necessity as water. Nobles and nobles need wine for their daily meals, for banquets, and for guests at home. Not only nobles, but ordinary people also need wine to make up for their monotonous lives.
Porcelain is different. Ordinary people don’t need luxury high-end porcelain for their pots and jars. They can just burn some pots and bowls for their own use. Countless ceramics have been unearthed in later generations, but the ones that are truly valuable are always the best officials. They were produced in kilns because they were a luxury item in those days.
Therefore, wine can be sold at a high price, but it is difficult to sell more exquisite porcelain at a high price. Therefore, Shen Chen must be more relaxed about the price of porcelain, which may even be lower than the price of Jiangdong white porcelain. Otherwise, it is better to start from Jiangdong bought white porcelain and returned to Yizhou.
Zhou Lin thought about it: "I can only give you 15 yuan for a bowl, 40 yuan for a porcelain jar, and porcelain plates, porcelain dishes, porcelain basins, porcelain washers, porcelain bowls, porcelain cups, porcelain ears, porcelain cup holders, candlesticks, porcelain pots Porcelain pillow, porcelain pot, porcelain bottle”
He talked about dozens of types of porcelain in one breath, all of which were popular ceramic utensils at that time. For example, the so-called tiger is actually an imitation of the bronze tiger from the Warring States period, the saliva pot is a thing used for spitting, as well as chamber pots, pillows, There are many household utensils such as dishes and dishes.
But every time Zhou Lin said something, Shen Chen frowned. Because the price of a Jiangdong white porcelain bowl in Jingzhou market is 40-50 yuan, and the purchase price is at least 20-30 yuan. Zhou Lin reported it The price is basically cut in half.
To a certain extent, ancient porcelain has never been expensive. For example, a white-glazed bowl with lotus petals from the Song Dynasty was unearthed in Hebei in later generations, with the selling price "三十文zumo" engraved on the bottom of the bowl; brown porcelain from the Song Dynasty was also unearthed in Fujian. The glazed porcelain melon-covered bowl also has the selling price "three Shiwen" engraved on the bottom of the cover.
According to the records of "Juyan Han Slips", the price of porcelain in the Han Dynasty was actually lower than that in the Song Dynasty. In normal years, ordinary porcelain maintained around 5-20 yuan. However, white porcelain is a high-end product, so the price will be a little more expensive. In addition, In troubled times again, prices will be even higher.
After all, the north is in such chaos now, who is still making porcelain? These are all porcelain from Nanyang caves, so even ordinary porcelain has increased a lot, about 10-30 yuan, and the price of white porcelain is even higher in the north. It has doubled several times.
Although the porcelain Shen Chen made in Nanyang Cave was new, the price should be lower than the old Jiangdong white porcelain, but no matter how low it was, it couldn't be this low. Zhou Lin was completely selling his porcelain as ordinary porcelain, so he cut it too much.
After careful consideration, Shen Chen finally agreed to his conditions. First, the new porcelain had not been tested by the market, and Zhou Lin did not necessarily know that these things would be popular in Yizhou.
Second, by sailing such a long distance, people not only bear huge costs, but also high risks. If the market response is not good, then the trip will be a loss, and the transaction will naturally not be worth it.
So the price is a bit lower, which is understandable.
Thinking of this, Shen Chen said: "The price Mr. said is relatively reasonable. It's a pity that I missed a little calculation. I just produced porcelain this year and I am eager to find Mr. to sell it. If I try it with a merchant in Jingzhou first, maybe We can see whether it can be accepted by the world.”
When Zhou Lin heard this, he smiled and said: "It's quite simple. I have a few businessmen friends in Jingzhou. If Shen Xiaolang wants to, I can help you introduce them. The most exquisite porcelain now is Jiangdong white porcelain." , your porcelain can be considered top-grade, and if it can break the monopoly of Jiangdong White Porcelain, many people will be willing to see it."
The word monopoly comes from "Mencius". Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, businessmen have known what monopoly power is.
Just like now.
Jiangdong white porcelain actually does not mean that only Jiangdong produces white porcelain, but that due to the current war in the north, all kinds of porcelain kilns in the past have basically been closed down, and the output is pitifully low.
The soil quality for making porcelain in Jingzhou and Yizhou is far inferior to that of the Jiangdong area, just like Jingdezhen in later generations. The reason why Jingdezhen became the capital of porcelain is because the local soil quality is particularly good and suitable for making porcelain.
Therefore, the white porcelain produced in Jingzhou and Yizhou is much inferior to Jiangdong white porcelain in terms of exquisiteness. High-end porcelain is basically monopolized by Jiangdong white porcelain.
In this case, it is often the porcelain merchants in Jiangdong who have the final say on the price.
These long-voyaging merchants suffered a great loss.
If someone could break the monopoly of Jiangdong White Porcelain and make the price cheaper, as a businessman's profit-seeking nature, people would be more willing to cooperate with Shen Chen.