The group took the piece of paper and ran to the Shen family on the other side of the river. After listening to the explanations from his brother and sister, Shen Chuanbai asked Grandpa Shen and took a medicine from the top of the medicine cabinet. The small porcelain bottle wrapped in oil paper came down, and it contained exactly the turpentine Shen Luzhu was looking for.
After unwrapping the greased paper on the outside, the scent of pine trees hit my face as soon as I opened the lid. Shen Luzhu poured some into a small porcelain bowl. It was a transparent, slightly yellowish and slightly viscous liquid. After it was applied on the paper, it dried in a moment, giving it a light luster.
Everyone took the dried paper to the yard. As soon as Huo Zhezi came close to the paper placed on the ground, the paper was instantly ignited with a bang. There may be oil on it, and the flames burned extremely violently!
Success! Shen Luzhu jumped up on the spot, smiling like a child with surprise on his face. Chu Yi stretched out his arm to hug her gently, and the corners of his mouth also rose.
Finally, they found an oil that can be used to replace tung oil and apply it on paper ingots. Pine trees are everywhere in Ningchuan Prefecture. The Shen family has mastered the method of refining pine resin into rosin and turpentine. Cost and supply will not be a problem. The advent of paper ingots has taken another step forward!
The problems of paint and oil were solved, and all that was left was paper. In fact, Shen Luzhu had considered this issue as early as when he was making banknote paper money.
My own banknote paper is made of rice paper. Although I bought the lowest quality, the cost is still very high. The same is true for this paper ingot. It also needs to use this kind of paper with a smoother and more delicate surface. If it is added with pigments and turpentine, Cost, I am afraid the price will not be lowered by then, and if the price is high, it is destined to affect sales.
So Shen Luzhu plans to take advantage of this opportunity to find a way to reduce the cost of paper!
Taking advantage of the fact that the Qingming Festival had just passed and the shops hadn't opened yet, the young couple went to the town a few times, but this time they didn't go to the shops, but went directly to various paper-making workshops on the outskirts of the town.
The young couple made a lot of inquiries in the town and visited almost all the paper-making workshops they could find. Finally, they felt that Lin Kee best met their needs. Lin Kee was the same Lin Kee Funeral Home that had been wholesalers of burning paper since the stall was opened. The clerk was right what he said at the beginning, Lin Ji's workshop was the largest in the town.
Lin Ji not only makes all kinds of paper money for funerals, but also makes rice paper and various linen papers for book writing. Unlike other workshops, which usually only make one type of paper, the demand for Shen Luzhu is relatively wide. , and if the manpower is not sufficient, you don’t have to go to many stores to purchase goods, which will be much more convenient.
After waiting around outside the papermaking workshop, Lin Ji's steward finally arrived: "I am Lao Li, the steward here, what can I do for you two?"
Chu Yi greeted Manager Li, led his wife forward and said, "Manager Li, I heard that your papermaking industry has the most complete range of paper products in the town. We would like to buy from you in the future."
Shen Luzhu added: "Yes, Manager Li, can you let us take a look at the style of your paper?"
"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. Our Linji Workshop does have a complete range of products, but whether it's for funerals, bookstores, studios or groceries, our owners have their own shops, so the workshop only supplies products to ourselves. Never to the public, sorry.”
Shen Luzhu didn't expect it to be like this, and was a little reluctant: "Manager Li, may I ask why my boss set this rule?"
"It's not a rule set by the boss. It's just the Lin family's way of doing business. It's always been like this!"
Chu Yi asked: "Can we, husband and wife, meet your boss?"
"My boss is not in the workshop. If you want to see him, you can go to the shop in town and look for him."
It was getting late that day, so the young couple had no choice but to go home first and make further plans. Both of them felt that since it was not a rigid rule, there might be room for maneuver, so they decided to discuss countermeasures and have a good talk with Lin Ji's boss another day.
After breakfast that day, Shen Luzhu found some new clothes for Chu Yi to put on, helped him tidy up his clothes, and sent Chu Yi out to get on the bullock cart to the town.
Chu Yi went to town to talk about business. The shop hadn't opened yet, and Shen Luzhu didn't want to just stay at home. She studied the steps for making paper ingots and planned to optimize them. She would definitely find someone to make them in the future. If it is too complicated, it will delay efficiency; if it is too simple, it will be easily copied by others.
As soon as Chu Yi walked into Lin Ji's funeral shop, the waiter greeted him from the counter. Chu Yi often came to stock the goods, and the quantity was larger than some shops in the town, so the waiter naturally recognized him.
"Hey, Boss Chu is here. Your business is really booming. How much goods are you going to get this time?"
This is the fourth Lin Ji's shop that Chu Yi walked into on the street today, and it is also the one he is most familiar with. He just doesn't know if the owner is here: "Brother Lin, I won't approve the goods today. I want to see your owner." , I wonder if it’s inconvenient?”
"Uh, OK, it just so happens that my boss is in the backyard today. I'll go and let you know. Boss Chu will sit down first and wait a moment."
After a while, the waiter once again opened the curtain that separated the shop from the backyard, and a middle-aged man wearing a royal blue satin robe walked out behind him. He was Lin Ji's boss, Lin Ting.
Lin Ting heard from the waiter that someone in the shop wanted to see him. He seemed to have a lot of sales every month, so he came out to meet him when he had nothing to do: "I heard that Boss Chu wanted to see me. What advice can I give?"
"Boss Lin, I want to talk to you about purchasing goods from Lin Ji's workshop."
"Buy goods? It turned out to be you who came to my workshop a few days ago. Didn't the manager tell you that my workshop does not supply goods to outsiders?"
Chu Yi was not surprised by Boss Lin's words and asked: "Why did Boss Lin shut out the business?"
Lin Ting looked at the neither humble nor arrogant young man in front of him, and remembered what the waiter had just told him. This man was from the village below. It was said that when he first came here, he only dared to buy the smallest amount of goods, but later he even wanted to buy them every now and then. I come to buy more goods every time, and now I even buy more than many shops in the town. To be able to run such a business in the village, I guess I have some skills.
"You want to buy goods directly from the workshop, just because you think the price in the workshop is cheaper than in the shop. If the purchase price is cheaper, you will earn more, right? But this time I earn more I will get even less. Secondly, if I agree to you today, then other people who buy from my shop tomorrow will also want to buy cheaper directly from the workshop. Should I not do this? If I do, I will end up with a loss. It’s still me, if I don’t deal with other customers, I won’t be able to explain it to you, and neither of them has any benefit to me, Lin Ji, so why should I respond to you?”
Chu Yi nodded, his face still emotionless: "You are right."
"Then please come back..."
"But that's not entirely true."
Lin Ting chuckled softly: "Ha, you said you were right just now, but now you are wrong. What did I say wrong?"
"If you only buy burning paper, you are right, but we not only need to buy burning paper, but also rice paper and linen paper."
"I just bought two more types, what's the difference?"
Being interrupted, Chu Yi was not annoyed: "Except for Lin Ji, who wholesales paper money here, other papers and shops sell them in bulk. We have to buy a lot of rice paper and linen paper, and we will keep buying it. Although the price is cheaper when purchasing directly from the workshop, the quantity is much higher than that of selling in bulk, so Boss Lin will naturally make a profit."
Lin Ting was speechless after hearing this and seemed to be thinking about something. Seeing this, Chu Yi continued to speak calmly: "The paper we bought will be made into other things and then sold. Lin Ji's shop will not have another competitor." . If Boss Lin doesn’t believe it, we can make a contract. And..."
After listening to the other party's analysis, it was indeed profitable, and he also said that a contract could be established. Lin Ting was already mostly shaken at this moment. When Chu Yi said that there was more, he couldn't help but be curious for a moment: "What else?"
This last point was brought up by Shen Luzhu. There are three main raw materials used in local papermaking. One is coniferous wood like pine, one is broadleaf wood like poplar, and the other is herbaceous plants like flax. , paper-making workshops will cover mountains and cut down trees, or plant them themselves, and the cost is not low.
In his previous life, Shen Luzhu accidentally learned that corn or wheat straw can be used to make paper, but now, no one in Daqian, or in their local area, uses it, so he wondered if he could provide this idea to Lin Ji, on the one hand, in exchange, on the other hand, it can further reduce costs!
“We have ways to reduce the cost of making paper.”
"Are you serious?"
Seeing Lin Ting suddenly sit up straight and even his tone of voice increased a lot, Chu Yi knew that they had taken the right step: "Naturally."
The fact that it can reduce the cost of papermaking is a huge temptation for Lin Ting: "In addition to purchasing goods from my workshop, are there any other requirements?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Ji's boss would ask this question. Chu Yi thought for a moment, and then made a request calmly: "The lowest purchase price in the town."
"Brother Chu, let me think about it for a few days. It is limited to three days. By then, whether it is successful or not, I will send someone to give you an answer."
Chu Yi left his home address for the clerk, then walked out of Lin Ji's funeral shop and looked up at the blue sky. The sunshine was a bit dazzling, but it was also warm and comfortable, just like his current mood.
Since his parents passed away one after another, and he has seen too much of the so-called reality among relatives, the older he gets, the less he talks. It’s not that he can’t, but he doesn’t want to. Grandma said that he doesn’t want his brother to be taken to another family to raise, so don’t He went to school and came back to take care of his younger brother, but he never went to school again.
Grandpa said that he should make coffins honestly. Grandma said that Grandpa and Third Uncle were not in good health and asked him to do more work, but he didn't say anything.
Slowly, he became less talkative and dull. All he knew was that working hard seemed to be his label, as if he had always been like this. If he hadn't met A Zhu, he would have forgotten that when he was a child, his father and mother also said that he was a small talker. Tuberculosis, saying he is naughty, saying he is very smart, I hope he will be successful in the future, hope he will stand out.
Chu Yi hurried back home before dinner and brought a lot of snacks to his wife and younger brothers and sisters. Shen Luzhu asked him how the conversation went as he saw Lin Ji's employer.
"Boss Lin said he will send someone to give us an answer in three days. It should be possible!"
"Really? My husband, what did you say?" Although he really wanted to reach a cooperation with Lin Ji, to be honest, Shen Luzhu didn't have much hope. After all, for Lin Ji, his sales volume should not be considered. Going to school or something, not to mention Lin Ji still has such a habit.
Chu Yi took his wife over and asked her to lean on his chest. He put his hands around her waist and rested his chin lightly on Shen Luzhu's head. He played with the small hand in his big hand and talked about today's events...
After hearing this, Shen Luzhu turned around and kissed Chu Yi on the chin: "Chu Yi, you are really amazing. First you told him about the benefits that Lin Ji could get, then you relieved his worries, and finally you gave him A big temptation, so strategic! Lin Ji’s boss will be completely defeated when they meet you!"
Seeing his wife's smart expression, Chu Yi smiled fondly: "Is there any?"
"Of course!" He stood up, put his arms around Chu Yi's neck and pulled him down, and then said close to his ear: "Grandpa, grandma is really blind. You are obviously more than ten years smarter than your eldest cousin. Times a hundred times, if he has the talent for the imperial examination, sir, you will have the wisdom to be number one!"
