Chapter 80: A Chance Encounter in the Glass Shop
Chapter 80: Encounter in the Glass Shop (Available on Monday)
Meng Chong's eyes lit up instantly.
During this period, the sudden emergence of soap brought Yiran Tang a huge amount of income.
Now according to Zhu Zaigui's plan, after the twelfth lunar month and before the February examination, Yiran Tang will hold a unique channel agent conference to attract these candidates from all over the country who have come from afar, and select the capable ones among them as Yiran Tang's regional general agents.
Promote all of Yiran Tang’s current products such as Yiran sugar, Bingxin sugar, Yiran soap, etc. throughout the country, so that the wealthy gentry and landlords in the Ming Dynasty can enjoy the luxury from the capital.
The silver that had been rusting in their cellars was revived by their enthusiastic consumption and circulated in the extremely money-short Ming market.
This would not only revitalize the Ming Dynasty's stagnant economy, but also allow upstream and downstream workers involved in this production line to receive corresponding rewards for their hard work, so that they could also drink some soup while Zhu Zaigui was eating meat.
It can be said that Zhu Zaigui did not make money for himself, but to save the Ming Dynasty.
What a noble sentiment!
Such a noble devotion!
He is simply the business saint of the Ming Dynasty who cares about the world!
It's a pity that Zhu Zaigui could only keep such a great achievement in his heart and couldn't share it with others~~
How great is the psychological pressure involved?
So during this period, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but gain some weight out of worry.
From this we can see that Zhu Zaigui is the unsung hero who truly dedicated himself to the Ming Dynasty~~
"What does the prince want to see?"
Meng Chong looked at Zhu Zaigui with excitement and hope. At this moment, he no longer tried to persuade Zhu Zaigui to go back. He just wanted to know the answer as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Zhu Zaigui just glanced at him and said calmly, "Won't you know if you take a walk and have a look?"
Meng Chong quickly replied: "My lord, you are absolutely right!"
Zhu Zaigui pulled the collar of his cloak to block the cold wind from his neck.
The winters in the Ming Dynasty were incredibly cold. No wonder people in later generations always said that the late Ming Dynasty was a Little Ice Age or something like that.
Now, after experiencing his first winter in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zaigui has begun to feel what it means to be bone-chilled cold. He really misses the days with heating.
However, Zhu Zaigui's living conditions are not bad now. Although there is no heating in Prince Yu's Mansion, there are floor heating systems.
So after August, when the weather began to turn colder, Zhu Zaigui called Zhang Tianci over again and re-planned his dormitory and study room for classes.
The floors of both houses were converted to floor heating with underfloor heating.
Therefore, even without the air conditioning and heating of later generations, Zhu Zaigui still enjoyed the floor heating service that later generations never enjoyed.
It can be said that the prince’s identity is really very useful, it is simply a blessing from heaven!
"Let's go quickly. This is my first time in Liulichang. I don't know what's new here."
Zhu Zaigui, like a curious baby, urged Meng Chong and the guards who followed him to walk towards Liulichang.
Just as Zhu Zaigui was walking towards Liulichang, Hai Rui, who had been walking for a long time, finally arrived at Liulichang Hutong in the west of the city.
He heard from the people in Beijing that there were cheap houses for rent in Liulichang Hutong, and that they could be rented for a month for one or two taels of silver.
This was undoubtedly a huge piece of good news for Hai Rui, so he took the trouble to walk all the way from the city gate to Liulichang.
Hai Rui felt warm all the way, and the cold he had felt while queuing to enter the city in the morning was forced out of his body.
"Father, can you tell me where I can find a cheap house for rent? I am a candidate for the imperial examination."
Hai Rui walked into Liulichang and saw an old man setting up a stall on the roadside and asked him about the rental situation.
The father-in-law looked up at Hai Rui with suspicion in his eyes?
"Will the scholar rent a house in the west of the city? Are you kidding me?"
What a noble status is it to be a Juren?
Even if he didn't pass the imperial examination, he could still become a minor official in the local area, and the villagers would donate land and property to him. His life would be so good. How could he possibly rent a house in a poor place like the west of the city?
Hai Rui explained, "Don't worry, father-in-law. I won't lie to you. This is my article."
As a result, when Hai Rui showed his imperial examination certificate to the old man, the old man said directly: "I can't read, it's useless for you to show it to me." Hai Rui put away the certificate with a little embarrassment and continued to ask: "Then, old man, do you know of any houses for rent nearby?"
The old man looked at Hai Rui, who was wearing thin clothes, and then at his sincere and righteous square face, and thought that he should not be a bad person.
So he said, "Go inside. There are more people living there. Maybe there are rooms available for rent. There are none here."
Hai Rui bowed to his father-in-law and said, "Thank you very much, father-in-law."
Then Hai Rui followed the direction given by his father-in-law and walked towards Liulichang Hutong.
At the same time, Zhu Zaigui, Meng Chong and others also came to the other end of Liulichang Hutong.
Meng Chong introduced: "Sir, this alley is full of skilled glass craftsmen. They don't usually work, but when they do, their work is sure to be top-notch!"
Zhu Zaiqi hummed, "Okay, let's go in and take a look."
Under the leadership of Meng Chong, Zhu Zaigui entered Liulichang Hutong.
As they were walking and strolling, Hai Rui's figure came from another direction.
Zhu Zaigui was looking at a transparent glass object in a store and frowned, thinking that the glass object was interesting.
Zhu Zaigui asked, "Shopkeeper, how was this piece of colored glaze made?"
When the shop owner saw the noble man in front of him, a friendly smile appeared on his face.
The shopkeeper said, "My lord, you have a good eye. This piece of pure transparent colored glass is a treasure. I spent a lot of effort to make it. If you like it, you can take it away for five taels of silver!"
Zhu Zaiqi looked up at the shopkeeper and asked, "Is it really worth five taels?"
The shopkeeper patted his chest and said, "It's definitely worth the money! Look at how good the color is. It's obviously a top-quality product."
Zhu Zaigui said, "Oh!" and put down the glass object in his hand. "If you can tell me how to make this transparent glass, I can give you fifty taels of silver."
When the shopkeeper heard that he would be given fifty taels of silver, his heart started pounding. He knew better than anyone how cheap this piece of transparent glass was.
This happened when he forgot to turn off the furnace and put a piece of quartz and a piece of limestone in it. After calcining them overnight, he found a piece of transparent colored glaze at the bottom of the furnace the next morning. It was white in color, a bit like a rare jadeite.
So on the next day, he re-fired the transparent material that was accidentally fired and made the current transparent small piece, thinking of selling it at a high price by pretending it was water jade!
As a result, before I could sell it, I met someone who wanted to buy the secret recipe.
But how could such a precious secret recipe be sold so easily?
The shopkeeper looked at Zhu Zaigui, took a deep breath, and held up two fingers: "Two hundred taels! I'll sell it for two hundred taels!"
When Meng Chong heard the two hundred taels, he immediately got furious. "Why don't you just go and rob me? Do you really think my son is a sucker?"
Zhu Zaigui said, "Two hundred taels is two hundred taels, but I have to see how you made it, otherwise I can't give you the two hundred taels."
The shopkeeper was confused again and said, "How can I let you see it when I haven't paid you yet?"
Zhu Zaiqi winked at Meng Chong and said, "Give it to him."
Meng Chong took out a few silver notes from his sleeve without asking, "Here, quickly demonstrate to my master, otherwise you will not only not be able to eat these two hundred taels of silver, but you will also have to carry them with you."
The shopkeeper said happily: "Just look at me. I have always been fair in my business!"
Just as the shop owner was about to go to the backyard to light the stove and make a fire, Hai Rui, who was covered in cold air, also walked into the shop.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any houses for rent?"
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(End of this chapter)