After coming out of the palace, Liu Wenju didn't go home. Instead, he directly ordered the coachman to go to the steel factory. He hadn't seen Wang Xuanti's coal stove, so he naturally wanted to inquire about it.
On the way, Liu Wenju asked the coachman who was driving the coach. He said that it was a thing for cooking, but it was not firewood, but coal. The main advantage was to save money, and a little coal was enough to cook.
It can save a lot of money compared to burning firewood before.
Of course, if you are willing to burn wood, you can also do it, there is not much difference, and the stove is small and can be transported at any time.
The head of the Liu family didn't understand what he heard. Fortunately, he arrived at the steel factory at this time, so he got out of the car and hurried over.
The steel plant has been divided into three branches, namely mining, smelting, and finishing. What is sold to the outside world are processed finished products, and individual iron ingots are not sold.
The steel factory has a special sales department to receive various businessmen who come to place orders. Following someone's guidance, the head of the Liu family came to the reception desk.
This place is completely different from the merchants that Mr. Liu has come into contact with. It was established by Wang Xuan according to the modern model. Under the leadership of the sales staff, Mr. Liu first visited all the products in the steel factory, from kitchen knives of various sizes to iron pots.
There are basically everything from various metal parts to farm tools. As long as it is available in the Ming Dynasty, there is nothing that cannot be made here.
Of course, he also saw the coal stove. After all, it was Wang Xuan who suggested it. The salesperson heard that Mr. Wang specifically pointed it out, so of course he paid more attention to it.
"Mr. Liu, look, there are several models of coal stoves here, which can meet the needs of different families and environments."
With that said, the salesperson directed people to start lighting several models of coal stoves. He pointed to one of the coal stoves with a silver-white flue and said: "If it is sold to the north, I recommend matching it with this kind of flue."
"You see, if there is no flue, the smoke can be discharged casually. The main reason is that the smoke is poisonous and will make people suffocate if smoked too much. If it is matched with a flue, you see, the flue is already very hot now.
In the north, it can not only be used for cooking, but also for heating the house. It is many times better than the traditional charcoal pot. The most important thing is safety and economy. The charcoal pot is also poisonous. If it is not used regularly,
If you open the windows for ventilation, the people in the house will suffocate to death."
"As far as I know, many people die every year because of using charcoal pots in winter, but most people don't know the specific cause of death."
The head of the Liu family has heard of it, after all, he has had some contact with it.
"Is this coal available in the north? How much money can I save specifically?"
"Haha, this is definitely the case. When it comes to saving money, the North and the South are different. However, the North will definitely save more. After all, carbon is more expensive in the North, especially good carbon. But this stove does not pick coal and can burn anything.
"Anyway, in Fujian, we can save three times. If we are in the north, we conservatively estimate that we can save more than ten times."
The head of the Liu family walked around this coal stove a few times. He felt that this coal stove would definitely sell well and make a lot of money. After all, it was made of pure iron. I heard that basically all of Fujian now uses this coal stove. If it weren’t for its ease of use,
How could everyone change it?
This is still Fujian. If you switch to the north and you can keep warm, the sales will definitely be better.
However, he couldn't figure out how good it would be, but it didn't delay him from getting a batch to sell. He still had channels in the north, whether it was the Jurchens or Shanhaiguan in Liaodong, so he could try selling a batch first.
"I would like to remind Mr. Liu that this coal is a good thing, and there is more in the north. Once coal stoves are popularized, this coal mine will be a huge business." At this point, the salesman looked around and then became cautious.
Di said in the head of the Liu family: "Many people died in the fighting in the coal mines here. Back then, tens of thousands of troops were dispatched. It is said that the blood flowed like rivers."
The head of the Liu family trembled when he heard this. He didn't think that this person was lying. The matter must be true, but it should be exaggerated.
This can only be said that the head of the Liu family is ignorant. Only in the future will he know that an army of tens of thousands is responsible?
When coal stoves are fully promoted in the north, what is dug in every coal mine is not coal, but simply gold. There will be many incidents where tens of thousands of troops have killed and flowed into rivers of blood!
Whoever can occupy the coal mines is not a powerful one. After all, over the years in the north, the mountains and forests have been cut down due to heating problems. The price of charcoal remains high, and cheap coal is simply an indispensable necessity for people's lives.
Food and clothing are on the same level!
This time in Xincheng, the head of the Liu family stayed for seven days, especially in the trading center. He only stayed here for three days and found many things of trafficking value. Finally, he returned to Ningbo by boat with satisfaction. As for the lack of coal stoves, he also
We ordered 10,000 units and received 30,000 sections of flue.
However, the output of the steel plant is still limited, and it is impossible to meet his needs at once. After all, ten thousand is not much, but the iron output it consumes is one-fiftieth of the annual output of the Ming Dynasty.
If calculated based on the steel output of the Ming Dynasty, it would take 40 years to meet the needs of 2000W households in the country alone for coal stoves... Although the annual output of the two steel plants in Wangxuan is now the same as that of the entire Ming Dynasty, its various products are still in short supply.
After all, there are too many places where iron is used, and even coal stoves cannot last for 40 years without breaking down.
Anyway, the salesperson told Mr. Liu that this batch of goods would not be available for pick-up until two months at the earliest. It was almost winter at that time, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Just thinking about how many kilograms of iron it was, Liu Wenju was a little stupefied.
When he heard the salesperson's introduction, he was shocked. The annual iron output of Wang Xuan's two steel plants alone was the same as that of the entire Ming Dynasty. He didn't dare to think about how much it cost!
Fortunately, he also took a lot of things with him when he returned. When he came, he took a boat with 300 people. When he returned, he took 16 boats, 30,000 pieces of cloth, and 200,000 catties of salted fish. This trip
He spent one hundred thousand taels of silver just on buying goods. Fortunately, he brought more money because he was afraid of an accident.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, he calculated that the cost of the goods brought back alone would be able to recover and there would still be a certain balance. If he waits two months to transport the coal stove to the north and sell it
, no surprise, his principal of one hundred thousand taels can be doubled!
Although it seems that you can't make as much as you can from Japan's sea trade, the risk there is high and the number of times is less. There are at most two return trips a year, and the profit is only 200,000 yuan, but if it is done domestically, he alone can handle it.
In one year, he could make more money than if he went to Japan. How could he not be overjoyed?
…
Shipyard, dry dock.
"Sir, the launching ceremony will begin in a moment. Look..." the supervisor of the shipyard bowed and stood behind Wang Xuan and asked respectfully.
"Well, let me get on the ship and go out to sea with you to test the ship. This is the first batch of 2,000-ton displacement ships built by the shipyard. If the test results are satisfactory, then we will build them according to this standard in the future."
The one launched this time is also used as a transport ship. Wang Xuan thinks that a displacement of 2,000 tons is enough. As for whether to develop a higher ship in the future, a ship with a displacement of three to four thousand tons will be discussed later.
In addition, as for warships, Wang Xuan's final model is one with a displacement of 1,000 tons. The hull is long and narrow and the speed is faster. A 2,000-ton ship is too clumsy.
After thinking about the "cracking" sound of firecrackers, Wang Xuan used scissors to cut off the red rope. Then, a loud shout spread throughout the dock, "Open the gate and release the water!"
The thick iron chain slid through the pulley and made a "click, click, click, click" sound. The gate slowly opened, and seawater began to pour in crazily. In the entire dry dock, the seawater rose little by little, until it was more than five meters high.
At that moment, the hull began to tremble slightly, and gradually, the entire ship floated.
"Raise the sails! Set sail!"
Following the captain's command, hundreds of skilled sailors began to operate together, and the sails began to rise little by little. Gradually, the ship began to slowly sail out of the dock.
It stayed on the sea for a full hundred days and finally returned to the port in the evening. When the big ship returned, the entire port began to cheer.
The successful construction of the 2,000-ton displacement ship represents the upgrade of shipyard technology and Wang Xuan's determination to develop maritime trade. This makes people who live by the port not excited and cheering.
After getting off the boat, Wang Xuan issued an order, inviting all the top families in FJ Province and Jiufu to come to Fuzhou for a meeting.
At this meeting, Wang Xuan will use the power of the entire Fujian Province to make some big moves.
The carrier pigeons flew out from Fuzhou Prefecture one by one. By the third day, all the big families in FJ Province had received the news. Wang Xuan invited everyone to come to Fuzhou Prefecture to talk about it.
After receiving the news, each family behaved differently, and the family that was on good terms with Wang Xuan and had close business contacts naturally readily agreed to attend the appointment. However, in such a large Fujian province, there were also families who had nothing to do with Wang Xuan and were also invited.
.
Some of them had some conflicts with Wang Xuan, especially in Xinghua, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou, where some top families were originally vassals of the seven major families.
In addition, Wang Xuan has a notorious reputation, which makes these families somewhat unsure.
Zhangzhou, Weijia, meeting hall.
"Master, why are you looking for me?" A 60-year-old man came in tremblingly.
"Uncle, don't worry, wait until everyone arrives and we'll talk together." The middle-aged man sitting in the position of the head of the family frowned and said.
After about a stick of incense, everyone arrived, and the head of the Wei family said in a deep voice: "Today, someone sent a message to our Wei family, Wang Xuan, asking us to go to Fuzhou Mansion to meet him."
"What!"
This news frightened everyone to take a breath, and many people broke out in cold sweat. After all, their family had been married to the Liu family, and to a certain extent, they were part of the front line of the seven major families, and they were enemies of Wang Xuan.
Although Wang Xuan didn't cause any trouble to them after destroying the seven families, Wang Xuan never explicitly said to let them go, so these people were always unsure.
When I suddenly heard that Wang Xuan asked the Wei family to go to Fuzhou to meet him, I couldn't help but feel anxious.