"My dear friends, this oil may seem dirty and disgusting, but it is actually a treasure. The extracted kerosene can be used for lighting, asphalt can be used to pave roads, and other ingredients also have their own magical uses!"
The Yanchang Oilfield is currently the only oilfield in the Ming Empire that can be exploited on a large scale, and it plays a vital role in the development of the empire and the stability of the northwest.
What's more, oil itself is the blood of industry. As long as the industrialization process is launched, it will be a situation where those who get oil will win the world.
Owning a large oil field that is relatively easy to exploit is as valuable as owning the Grasberg gold mine with a gold reserve of more than 3,000 tons.
In Europe, only the oil fields in Romania and Hungary are relatively easy to exploit, but unfortunately, both of these places are currently within the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
For Western European countries, the combined oil fields of the "civilized world" are not as large as a finger of the Ottoman Empire, not to mention that they directly control the heart of the Middle East, which has the largest oil reserves.
The most important thing is that no one has yet mastered the method of refining oil. Any research on oil is still in the exploratory stage, and the functions and effects of its by-products are still poorly understood.
It is impossible to obtain the secret recipe. If a rich man buys it with ten million taels of silver, a certain prince may consider selling it.
Even if you only master the most basic fractionation technology, you can still be proud of the world in today's world that has not yet been completely civilized.
"Your Highness said this, it opened my eyes. But can this oil be used for lighting as well as ordinary oil lamps???"
As the first assistant, Xue Guoguan, who is unlearned and has no skills, can do nothing else, so it is perfect to be used as a supporter. Partnering with a certain prince, they are a "full of sincerity" son-in-law combination.
The oils used in oil lamps at this time include vegetable oil and animal oil. The former is tung oil, sesame oil, soybean fat, and the latter is lard, sheep oil, butter, etc.
Kerosene is a mineral oil that can be refined in large quantities. It is completely different from its ultra-high-priced competitors. As long as it is marketed properly, it can quickly become popular.
The only lighting supplies at this time were oil lamps and candles. Generally speaking, candles were more expensive than oil lamps, but there were also cheap candles, which were made of birch bark and wax oil.
In some places in the south, such as Bashu, which produces oil, there are "stone candles" that use oil as fuel. One lamp can hold three or four candles, but the smoke is too great...
Oil lamps also have their own shortcomings, that is, burning oil will produce a pungent smell, which is quite choking. Rich people will mix certain spices into their homes to eliminate this unpleasant smell.
"Come here! Close the doors and windows of the main hall. There is a kerosene lamp here in this palace. Dear friends, you can take a look!"
The burly Han general immediately closed all the doors and windows, and the palace immediately became dark. A certain prince asked Yang Jinchao to place the latest technological product on his small table, and then light it up.
The shape of the kerosene lamp is the quasi-cylindrical style of later generations, which is convenient for lighting on the table and easy to carry around. The light is like a dazzling star in the gloomy palace, which immediately attracted the attention of the civil and military ministers.
"Bright! Very bright!"
"What a masterpiece!"
"rare!"
"What a wonderful thing!"
Although the ministers were not surprised by the invention of a certain prince, they still praised the kerosene lamp after seeing it, thinking that it was much better than ordinary oil lamps.
"Okay, open the doors and windows!"
Just let your eyes be entertained. As for sales, it doesn’t seem appropriate to turn the Ming Empire’s court meeting into your own product ordering meeting, right?
"Your Highness, I don't know how much this thing costs. Can ordinary people buy it?"
Jin Xuan, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, came out to ask. This also represented the wishes of his colleagues. After seeing the effect of the actual product, everyone was aroused to buy it.
Nowadays, the monthly salary of officials has been greatly increased compared with before, so there is no need to worry about supporting the family, and many people can enjoy life.
As long as the price is not expensive, many courtiers are willing to buy a kerosene lamp. At least at night, the brightness is very pleasing to the eye.
"Currently, because it is still in the small-scale production stage, the manufacturing cost is high. A large lamp containing kerosene costs ten taels of silver, a small lamp costs six taels of silver, and a single filling of kerosene costs five taels of silver. It can be continuously Light for four hours!”
The large kerosene lamp is one foot high and looks very impressive. It is especially suitable for dignitaries to light up their homes. With this lamp, nightlife becomes more interesting.
Since it is purely handmade, the iron shell outside and the glass inside are all the hard work of craftsmen, so selling it for ten taels of silver is not excessive at all, and the price will not drop significantly after it is launched on a large scale.
The volume of kerosene filled at one time is only one hundred milliliters. The specific lighting time depends on the size of the flame. But for wealthy people who are not short of money, this is not a problem. If one light is not bright enough, just light two.
Calculating one hour per night, if it needs to be loaded seven times a month, it will cost three taels and five taels of silver. The monthly salary of a ninth-grade official is 20 taels, which seems to be affordable. At the worst, just buy a small lamp, no matter how little it is every day. Just a little time will do.
"Not expensive! Not expensive!"
"Yeah! It's okay!"
“The price is quite reasonable!”
The officials who can impress the main hall are all above the third rank, and their basic monthly salary alone is as high as one hundred and sixty taels. There is no problem in buying a large oil lamp. Everyone is just thinking about how many lamps to buy.
If you only buy one lamp to go home, the whole family may have to fight over the kerosene lamp that night, so the courtiers are secretly calculating how many lamps they have to buy.
"I would like to buy ten lamps!"
Xue Guoguan was the first to sign up. He knew that if he did not take the lead at this time, then he, the chief assistant and father-in-law, would be "treated differently" by the prince's son-in-law again.
Even if you don't need so much at home, it's still good to give it as a gift to others. The first assistant can see clearly that this item cannot be bought with money.
"This palace plans to supply the first batch of 300 kerosene lamps, 100 large lamps, and 200 small lamps to hundreds of officials. If you want to buy more, you can go to Li Jizhou to sign up and pay a full deposit! "
You can’t just buy as many lamps as you want. I’m going to do a hunger-style marketing so that you can see it but not buy it. In the end, it’s fun to have a hundred claws scratching your heart.
Before Imperial Oil Company's giant fractionating tower was erected, refining kerosene was very laborious, and the daily production capacity was very limited, so it was impossible to open up the supply market.
"I am also willing to buy ten big lamps!"
Zhang Guowei, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, is half an industry insider. Although his main focus is not on industrial products, he has some knowledge in this area, so he made up his mind and directly planned to buy the next batch of goods.
"The same is true for me!"
Feng Quan, the Minister of Rites, was a servant of the First Assistant, but before he could speak, Zhang Guowei took the lead, but it did not delay his subsequent follow-up.
"I am also willing to buy ten of them!"
"I am also willing to buy ten..."
"Huh? Huh? Huh? That's too much!"
"No! No! First come first served!"
"This is unreasonable! It's absolutely impossible!"
"I want twenty more!"
"Daydreaming!"
"Hmph! What a reckless man!"
A bunch of people were willing to buy ten lamps, for no other reason than to stock up. Through the experience and lessons of the "Jingshi Daily" that was originally released, we learned that the gentry of the Ming Dynasty were willing to try anything new.
However, they were not qualified to try it first. The first people to enjoy it were scholar-bureaucrats, and then the wealthy business gentry. Xue Guoguan understood this, and Zhang Guowei and Feng Quan also understood it.
Even the second assistant Wu Zong, who was unwilling to join in the fun, was interested in buying ten lamps. The thoughts of other colleagues were naturally self-evident. This was money earned in vain.
However, due to the "unequal distribution of lights", there was a situation of non-compliance at the court meeting, because in addition to this door, there were hundreds of officials poking at it outside.
In order to buy a lamp, someone will ask for it at a higher price, saying it is a filial piety, but no matter what, you will get dozens of taels of silver as soon as it changes hands. Who wouldn't want to do such an easy and profitable business?
The court meeting of my great rival was extremely joyful. A certain prince leaned on the back of a small chair and watched a group of civil servants and military generals arguing endlessly. The beautiful mother had a blank look on her face, and her thoughts were probably on the mahjong table in Kunning Palace.
Empress Zhou used the excuse of being sleepy and was only willing to attend the regular court meeting every morning. If the discussion was not completed in the morning, or if there was an emergency in the afternoon and the meeting needed to continue, she would not attend.
What a loss it is to delay the "mahjong business" for half a day? ? ?
Now that we have a kerosene lamp that can produce thousands of rays of light, wouldn't it be possible to fight at night with the sisters?
A certain prince was thinking about how to get money out of the ministers' pockets all day long, and a certain queen was thinking about going to the table to code the Great Wall immediately.
A certain chief assistant wants to be the first to win the price difference of the chief broker, but a group of colleagues are not willing to lag behind.
If the dumped father saw this extremely intense situation, he would probably vomit three liters of blood!
As for business...
Isn’t that the discussion is over?
The courtiers have all turned on the default mode, feeling that they have already completed what they need to do before, and think that dividing the lights is the right thing to do now!
Most of the people who can still stand in the hall today are loyal ministers and good generals of the Great Dynasty.
Like the "toothpick" who appeared in N Duo Ming Mo - Guang Shiheng, Mr. Guang, should be having a great time digging in the Shandong Mining Area at this moment!
A certain prince specifically reminded Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, who was returning to take office, to take good care of Master Guang and other adults similar to him.
We need to let them experience the hard work of the local people, otherwise they will live up to their good intentions. This opportunity is rare, and it is best to take root in the mining area for a lifetime...
Human hearts are made of flesh, but some people's hearts are red and some are black. The hearts of courtiers such as Mr. Guang must be poisoned, otherwise they wouldn't be this color.
If you are poisoned, you need to detoxify. Mining is a very good way to detoxify. If you mine a thousand kilograms a day, your waist will no longer hurt, your legs will no longer feel weak, and your brain will no longer cramp. The whole body will be smooth and it will feel so comfortable~!
"Ahem!"
"quiet!"
When a certain prince coughed, the follower Yang Jinchao understood, and immediately pulled his neck and screamed, because after arguing for nearly a quarter of an hour, many smart people could not come out, and there was still a chaos below.
"I believe that you have worked hard and have done well, so it is understandable to buy a lamp. For the time being, each person has one big lamp and a small lamp, and the rest will be distributed among the ministers outside the palace. I wonder what do you think?"
According to this distribution method, officials of the third rank and above occupy a large share of the big lamp, and the majority of the small lamps will be given to officials outside the palace. This can be regarded as balancing the interests inside and outside the palace.
A certain prince also wants to sell more, but the current production capacity is indeed very limited. During the product testing stage, small batches must be launched in order to control possible losses and unnecessary risks.
In the future, hundreds of thousands or even millions of kerosene lamps can be manufactured every year. Not only can they be used in the imperial market, but they can also be exported in large quantities to earn foreign exchange, thus achieving the best of both worlds. However, this is based on the premise that the production of kerosene is sufficient.
One lamp consumes half a liter of oil per month, so the oil consumption of 100,000 lamps is as high as 50,000 liters, which is 600,000 liters a year, equivalent to 6,000 barrels of kerosene.
Such a large amount of fuel consumption was very difficult for the Ming Empire, which had not entered a quasi-industrial mode, to cope with it. This did not include fuel consumption from other channels.
The Imperial Oil Company in the capital must process 50,000 barrels of crude oil per year to meet the needs of 100,000 kerosene lamp users. Otherwise, everyone would have to light old-fashioned oil lamps or candles.
"Your Highness is wise!"
Xue Guoguan also knew that he could not buy ten kerosene lamps in this situation, so he simply chose to follow the decision of the prince's son-in-law. On the contrary, the prince already treated everyone equally, and others could not say anything gossip.
At worst, I would ask my son-in-law to buy some of them privately. In this way, not to mention reselling them to others, at least my home would be brightly lit and very impressive, and I would have dignity as the head of the family.
"Your Highness is wise!"
A group of courtiers also believed that such a distribution was more reasonable. At this time, there were no worries about civil service and rank. Although most of the people present were polite people, anyone who disagreed with the prince's decision would be guilty of public outrage and would be drowned in spittle. of.
Not as good as the top, but more than the bottom. The rest is much better than those colleagues outside. Excluding the part divided by the civil servants and generals in the palace, it is difficult for everyone outside to get a lamp. If they can't get a share, they can only stare and wait.
In principle, a certain prince only provided lunch to the courtiers, not dinner. He had to hold meetings even in the afternoon. After the meeting, everyone had to go back to their homes and eat by themselves.
Unless there is an urgent meeting in the evening, but so far, this has not happened, so only dinner and midnight snacks are left.
Under the guidance of a certain prince, everyone has become accustomed to the pattern of meeting at nine o'clock, taking a lunch break at twelve o'clock, and having a delicious working meal in between.
Since meals are provided, many low-ranking officials even skip breakfast, just so that they can eat and drink enough in the imperial city because it is free.
"Then the matter is settled!"
At first it was about Shaanxi, then it was about Yanchang Oilfield, then Xincheng, then it was about oil storage and refining, and finally it was about selling kerosene lamps.
It seems that the output of kerosene is not as large as that of lamps. Even if you grab a share, you will have to wait for a while before you can supply oil.
If you are in a hurry, you can put some wax in it, I don’t mind, that’s the situation anyway.
There is also more advanced lighting technology in Houdi, but it is still unstable and is in the exploratory stage before testing the waters.
To this end, a group of scientists were convened, led by a certain prince.
For example, Song Yingxing, Bo Jue, who is older and who is younger...
