"Please let me summon the craftsmen from the musical instrument workshop."
Su Xiaolou summoned the craftsmen, and they all knew that Su Xiaolou was the real master.
Su Xiaolou said without mincing words that the musical instrument workshop did not need so many craftsmen. He asked the person in charge of management to select the four most skilled craftsmen to stay, and the others were transferred to the longevity wood shop in the north of the city to make coffins, and the rewards would be more generous. . Those who don't want to go can settle one month's salary in advance and leave.
A young craftsman stood up and said passionately, "We are violin makers, how can we do the work of making coffins?" We also have self-respect and backbone and will never give in because of money. Finally, he collected his salary and left alone...
The remaining craftsmen expressed their willingness to stay, because it was easier for carpenters to make coffins.
Su Xiaolou asked the craftsmen to go back to work first, and then went to the wing room with the three fairies and picked up a pipa that had been made.
"I'll play a song for you. Enjoy it."
Su Xiaolou held the pipa and swept the strings like a guitar, making a series of harsh sounds...
Tu Yao frowned: "What song are you playing?"
Su Xiaolou replied calmly: "It's funny."
"A song that makes you laugh?" Tu Yao interrupted: "Stop playing it, it's too ugly."
Su Xiaolou stopped and sighed: "You just don't know how to appreciate it."
"…"
Su Xiaolou returned to the real issue, looked at the several zithers, zhengs and pipas that had been made, and asked: "Have you determined the prices for these instruments?"
The three fairies shook their heads at the same time: "Not yet."
"So how much does it cost to make a qin?"
Tu Yao replied: "About ten taels of silver."
Su Xiaolou smiled bitterly and said, "You really have to invest all your money."
"…"
The three fairies looked embarrassed.
Su Xiaolou sighed: "An ordinary qin on the market only costs a few taels of silver. Can you sell it like this?"
Yue Qingyan said timidly: "We use the finest wood and strings, and the sound quality is no less than that of instruments made by famous teachers."
"But it's not important." Su Xiaolou shook his head and said: "The reason why pianos made by famous masters can sell for high prices is because they sell them with fame. No matter how good you make them, you can't sell pianos made by famous masters. That kind of price."
Tu Yao said sincerely: "We also realize that we cannot sell pianos at the price of famous masters, so we plan to build reputation at low prices. When the reputation of our masters increases, the instruments we make can be sold at higher prices."
Su Xiaolou seriously reminded: "There are currently many famous violin makers, each with their own specialties. The woods used, the timbres, ranges, and pitches are different. Each genre has occupied market share, and it is difficult for new genres to emerge."
The three fairies realized Su Xiaolou's understanding and showed their helplessness.
"Then what should we do?"
Su Xiaolou suggested bluntly: "Give me half of the profits from your musical instrument shop, and I will help you sell musical instruments."
Tu Yao mocked disdainfully: "Are you trying to use fire to rob me?"
Yue Qingyan responded with a smile without hesitation: "As long as I can make a profit, why not give you half?"
Tu Yao said sarcastically: "Are you really generous?"
Su Xiaolou stroked his chin and thought: "In this case, I will try to help you sell musical instruments."
Tu Yao asked curiously: "What sales strategy do you plan to use?"
Su Xiaolou revealed mysteriously: "Your instrument will definitely not be sold for ten taels of silver. It can only be sold if it is priced at one hundred taels of silver."
"Ah?" Tu Yao was stunned: "You can't even sell it for ten taels of silver, how can you sell it for one hundred taels?"
"Go and call the three luthiers."
Tu Yao immediately went to summon three luthier makers.
"My lord, what instructions do you have for us?" they asked respectfully.
Su Xiaolou interrupted them: "Okay, okay, you have said enough. I just want to ask, are you capable of imitating their musical instruments?"
"Imitation?"
"Can you do it?"
"Of course." The three luthiers nodded repeatedly: "However, there are already many imitation guqins on the market, and it is difficult to sell them at a higher price."
Su Xiaolou said thoughtfully: "What we want to make is not an ordinary imitation piano, but a highly realistic high-imitation piano."
Tu Yao understood and said with a straight face: "Are you trying to make a fake guqin to deceive others?"
Su Xiaolou rolled his eyes: "Can I buy Shi Ruli's guqin with one hundred taels of silver?"
A violin maker replied: "Of course it's impossible. Shi Ruli's piano on the market costs at least three thousand taels of silver."
Su Xiaolou looked at Tu Yao: "If we sell it for one hundred taels, will others find out that it is fake?"
Tu Yao frowned: "If others find out that it is a fake Guqin, will they still buy it?"
"To show your identity!"
"ah?"
Su Xiaolou said with deep meaning: "You only need to spend one hundred taels of silver to assume an identity worth three thousand taels of silver. Why not do it?"
The three fairies and the three luthiers were all puzzled and could not understand it at all.
The attraction of high imitation is also effective in modern society, right?
As long as their guqin can be imitated so realistically that it is almost indistinguishable, someone will definitely be willing to buy it.
There are many piano rooms and piano academies in Nanjing. When a teacher puts up a Shi Ruli guqin in class, will it immediately improve his quality? Facing the envious eyes of students, will the teacher's vanity be satisfied?
However, a Guqin made by Shi Ruli costs at least three thousand taels of silver and is very rare. But now you only need to spend one hundred taels of silver to upgrade your status. How many people can refuse?
Nowadays, some people are making fake antiques, but the quality is so poor that ordinary people can spot them at a glance, and high imitations require huge costs. How many of those who make fakes are willing to invest high costs in making high imitations?
Luxury goods sell brand awareness, and buyers want to show off their status. However, many people cannot afford luxury goods, but want to upgrade their own taste, so merchants seize this point and high imitation products come into being.
Su Xiaolou left the musical instrument workshop and planned to find Master Zhang later and ask him to help find a master who was proficient in ancient crafts. In order to make up for these three loss-making items, he could only open the magic box of high imitations.
In order to operate in the long term, their high-quality antique musical instruments need to be diversified. They cannot just rely on a certain instrument and one famous teacher. In addition to the guqin, zither and pipa, they can also add instruments such as Xiao, Se, Xun, Fou, Zhu, and Konghou... …
However, while the fairies have achieved great success, they also face new challenges. There was a guqin master named Shi Ruli. The price of his guqin on the market soared to 3,000 taels of silver, and one of his guqins was even priceless. This makes many people yearn for it, because they only need to spend one hundred taels of silver to improve their skills. How many people can resist such a temptation?
However, in this era, there have also been many people who made fake antiques, but most of them are of inferior quality, which is obvious to ordinary people. And it requires high costs to make high-quality antique musical instruments. How many counterfeiters are willing to bear such investment?
Luxury goods sell brand reputation, and people who buy them do so to show off their quality. However, many people cannot afford luxury goods, but they hope to improve their quality. As a result, profiteers seized on the psychology of these people and launched high-imitation products.
Su Xiaolou walked out of the musical instrument workshop and decided to go to the musical instrument maker Master Zhang later and ask for his help in finding a master who was familiar with the distressing process. In order to make up for the three items of goods that he had lost before, he could only open the magic box of the high imitation market.
In order to operate in the long term, they decided to diversify their product line of high-end antique musical instruments beyond just the qin, zither and pipa. They also plan to increase the number of imitations of Xiao, Se, Xun, Fou, Zhu, Konghou and other musical instruments to meet different needs in the market.
This is a new challenge for the fairies. They need to cooperate with more production masters to learn and master the production techniques of different musical instruments and ensure that the quality of the high-imitation instruments is similar to or even better than the originals.
Over time, the fairies gradually built up a reputation and credibility for making high-quality imitation musical instruments. People have discovered that although these high-imitation instruments cannot compete with the works of real masters, they still have unique charm and timbre. As a result, these high-imitation instruments began to occupy a place in the market and were recognized by instrument enthusiasts and musicians.
Fairies constantly strive to improve their skills and designs to ensure that each high-quality imitation instrument can display the magic and beauty of the fairy world. They always aim to pursue excellent quality and hope to let more people feel the charm of music through high imitation instruments.
In this way, Fairies has established a stable foothold in the ancient musical instrument market and has become a well-known brand of high imitation musical instruments. Their stories have been passed down to the world and become a legend in the history of musical instrument production, inspiring more young people to pursue their dreams of musical art.
