"This is white sugar." Huo Xi said as he handed the porcelain bottle in his hand to Wu Youcai.
Wu Youcai took it with great interest.
He poured some into his palm, took a handful and put it into his mouth, his eyes immediately lit up: "How is this made?"
Huo Xi and Feng Ershi looked at each other and said something to him. Feng Ershi was also smart. He knew that Yiwei was facing someone, so he had to wait for Huo Xi to finish his message before he said a long sentence with a guarded look on his face.
.
Wu Youcai glanced at him and then looked at Huo Xi.
Huo Xi said: "He didn't know how to make it. He only said that it was a secret in their country and he didn't bring much. If Mr. Wu was not interested, he would find someone else to change it. He likes the Yun Brocade from our court.
And porcelain, if adults can't change it, others won't have it either."
Wu Youcai rubbed the bottle in his hand and put the white sugar into the water. The water did not change color.
Even ordinary people can't afford the cane sugar, let alone this white sugar. It can only be sent to wealthy families. This kind of white sugar has never appeared in the Wei Dynasty. If he gets it, how much benefits can he get in exchange?
Wu Youcai was thinking, his heart was up and down in various ways, but he said nothing.
He wanted it very much, and this sugar could only be purchased by him.
Wu Youcai looked at the list of items to be exchanged on the paper again. There were about ten kilograms of ambergris, two boxes of pearls of various colors, ivory, tortoise shell rhino horn, and various spices. The quantities were not large, but they were all top quality. Those two
The casket of pearls is especially a treasure.
If he got hold of that sugar, it would be considered an orphan. Wu Youcai was very excited.
But a piece of cloud brocade is priceless, and it is always a tribute. If he wants to get a hundred pieces from the warehouse of the shipping company, he has to take a lot of risks. A ship of official kiln porcelain is easy to solve.
After thinking for a long time, I typed the list of items: "Add a thousand pounds of sugar."
Huo Xi pretended to bite Feng Ershi's ears, and said to Wu Youcai: "If Mr. Wu is not sincere, my noble lord will not stay any longer." After saying that, Feng Ershi planned to get up and leave.
Wu Youcai quickly winked at Ping Niang.
Ping Niang stood up hurriedly and grabbed Huo Xi, and said gently: "Oh, where do you come from, kid? You are from the Wei Dynasty, and the people from the Wei Dynasty should help us."
Wu Youcai felt very comfortable with Ping Niang's words. He nodded in agreement and said to Huo Xi, "If you help me negotiate this business, I won't be able to treat you badly."
Huo Xi remained unmoved.
Wu Youcai rolled his eyes and said to Huo Xi: "You help me negotiate this business, and I will give you a quota for purchasing wood from Ci'en Temple. As for whether you do it yourself or transfer it to others, I don't care.
There's a lot of profit there, much more than what you get from being a successful person to these people."
Huo Xi thought he was joking: "When did Mr. Wu go to the Ministry of Works instead? Ci'en Temple was built by the Ministry of Works. Can Mr. Wu be the head of the Ministry of Works?"
Wu Youcai looked proud: "Ministry of Industry? Where can the Ministry of Industry use anyone now? If a carpenter can solve the wood problem of Ci'en Temple, the Ministry of Works will be eager to do so. Maybe they can even support the carpenter as an ancestor."
Huo Xi was puzzled: "How do you say this?"
Wu Youcai glanced at him and thought she was too young. He didn't know if there was really no one available in the thirty-sixth line along the coast, so he sent a child here twice.
However, children are easy to control. When something goes wrong, they will just ignore it and think that the children are getting what they want.
Ping Niang glanced at Huo Xi and leaned weakly on Wu Youcai, throwing the fragrant handkerchief in his face.
"Sir, why do you have to play riddles with a child? How much of the world has he seen? If you don't explain the reason clearly, he will lose his mind and not be able to figure out the key point."
Wu Youcai was coaxed to feel comfortable by Ping Niang and pinched her face: "You still know how to speak."
Then he said to Huo Xi: "A few months ago, your Majesty ordered Chen Gui, Marquis of Taining, to build Beiping City. All kinds of materials were transported to Beiping City, of which wood procurement was a big part. Now the Ministry of Works, from top to bottom, can only breathe.
Almost all of them were sent to various places to collect wood. Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, personally went to the mountains of Sichuan. The left minister Gupu went to Jiangxi, the right minister Shikui went to Huguang, all the doctors, Yuanwailang went to Yunnan, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places.
Now that His Majesty wants to build Ci'en Temple again, how can he still have the manpower?"
Huo Xi was shocked, not expecting to hear such news.
He was acting like a dog, so he personally made him a glass of sugar water and asked him to talk more.
Wu Youcai was made comfortable by Huo Xi, and he did not hesitate to talk to her a lot.
Only then did Huo Xi know that Emperor Yongkang first sent people to dredge the North-South Canal. After the river was dredged, he also ordered the construction of Beiping City.
Building the city of Beiping is not a simple project, it requires a huge amount of wood. "Shushan Wu, Epang comes out." Just to build one Epang palace, the entire Shushan was cut down.
Nanmu is mainly used to build palaces, and nanmu is also mainly used for gate towers, with sporadic fir, cypress and other woods used.
Rather than saying that only these types of wood will suffice, each type of wood has size requirements. Those with a girth of less than one foot are not allowed, those with a girth of more than one foot are classified as sixth class, those with a girth of more than two feet are classified as fifth class, those with a girth of more than four feet are classified as first class, and those with a girth of more than four feet are classified as first class and fifth class.
Above a foot, it is a sacred tree.
These nanmu, fir, cypress and other woods that are more than one foot long all grow on high mountains. Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, dragged his old body to the mountains of Sichuan. How can other people in the Ministry of Industry enjoy happiness in the capital?
Nowadays, the timber in Beiping City is still being harvested, and the emperor wants to build Ci'en Temple to worship Emperor Taizu and Empress Xiaocigao. The purchase of this timber can only be left to the wood merchants.
Nowadays, there are mainly three forms of wood procurement for the construction of Beiping City. One is the direct logging by the government. If it is an official mountain, it will be cut directly. If it is a civilian mountain, the price will be based on the market price. The second is for merchants to procure wood, and the third is for wood to be purchased by merchants.
The chieftain presented a large tree.
Compared with the construction of Beiping City, the wood procurement of Ci'en Temple is naturally lagging behind. Nowadays, the Ministry of Industry still has people who are on the front line of logging, keeping an eye on the wood procurement of Bao'en Temple, so they all leave it to the wood merchants.
Wu Youcai said something and gave Huo Xi a sideways look. He said so much and did nothing to this boy. He suddenly felt that he had lost his identity.
Huo Xi noticed his gaze, and hurriedly stepped forward, patted and coaxed him to make him comfortable, with a hint of flattery on his face: "Sir, can you really give me a quota for purchasing wood?"
Wu Youcai glanced at him sideways: "Do you dare to doubt my words?"
Ping Niang leaned on him and said: "Oh, Sir, he is just a boy. Who knows what you are capable of? Your brother-in-law is Mr. Hou, and your sister is Mrs. Hou. Even in the palace, you have nobles to help you. You are a small wood purchaser in the Ministry of Industry.
It’s just a quota, can’t you still make the decision?”
Wu Youcai looked proud and glanced sideways at Huo Xi: "If you can convince Fan Shang to add another thousand kilograms of sugar to the list, I will make the decision."