After chatting with Li Zhang for about an hour, Li Zhang finally said that he would send 300,000 guan as quickly as possible. The reason why he sent 300,000 guan was naturally because his gold membership could still use 250,000 guan. Keep the extra fifty thousand as a spare.
Anyway, the requirement for gold members is that they cannot use the remaining 50%, and Li Ke has no restrictions on other members.
I have earned this money by myself, but it is not enough. I am a little poor. If I earn more, I will have to go to the cheap dad and ask him if there is anything he lacks in the Daming Palace. I will cover it all!
Many plans will be launched when the next issue of Datang Weekly is released. The current 2.5 million guan, including Li Ke's own earnings, is already more than 3 million guan, which should be enough for the time being. Hey, making money is really difficult. It’s been almost three months, and I’ve only earned one-third of Datang’s annual income. I still have to increase revenue and reduce expenditure!
"Go and invite Li Shiji." Li Ke thought for a while and asked Tian Meng to invite Li Shiji. Some tasks were about to be assigned.
Li Shiji came very quickly. He was a little surprised as to why Li Ke asked him to come, but he came as soon as possible. Li Shiji changed into casual clothes.
When he entered the reception room, he was stunned. Good guy, this reception room looks more high-end than His Majesty's palaces.
"General Li, please take a seat." After Li Ke greeted Li Shiji, he made a gesture of invitation. A brothel girl who acted as a temporary maid next to him made tea for the two of them, and then retreated to a distance.
"Your Highness invited me here?" Li Shiji was a little confused.
"General Li, as the first gold member of Youjian Mall, I want to thank you." Li Ke said what he just said again unchanged.
"Your Highness, you're welcome." Li Shiji did not explain. Some words would be meaningless if explained.
"Well, as a gold member, in addition to the distinguished treatment in Youjian Mall, there are also some special benefits, such as business. I invited General Li here this time because I want to do business with General Li. A business deal." Li Ke said with a smile.
Business? Li Shiji paused for a moment. He also had some shops in his house, but these shops were run by his family members. Overall, they were small businesses. Otherwise, Li Shiji's family fortune would not have been wiped out with 500,000 yuan.
There is a lot of money here that was saved before the founding of Datang.
"I wonder what business your Highness is talking about?" Li Shiji was not hypocritical. He had a large family to support, so Li Shiji thought it was good to make money.
"The annual profit is not very high, about two to three million dollars." Li Ke thought about it and said.
"Pfft..." Li Shiji, who had just taken a sip of tea, spit out the tea in his mouth. From the time when I was Xu Shiji to today, I, Li Shiji, have only saved more than 500,000 yuan including my original family wealth. And a profit of three million yuan, you tell me this is not a very high profit? !
This is profit! Do you know what two or three million cans can do? From last winter to this year, Datang has spent less than two million dollars on troops against Tuyuhun!
That was with Li Jing as the commander-in-chief and Li Daozong Hou Junji as the deputy commander-in-chief. They had six cavalry regiments led by Qibi Heli, Zhihusi Li, Xue Wanjun, and Xue Wanche, the Tang Army, the East Turks, Tiele, and Qibi, in total. A main force of more than 100,000 people!
Li Shiji didn't know what to say for a moment.
"To be precise, this business was done with you, Li Jing, Hou Junji, Li Daozong and others, and of course it was also done with my father." Li Ke didn't show off.
"I wonder what His Highness is talking about?" Li Shiji was stunned for a moment, Li Jing, Hou Junji, Li Daozong? This is the commander-in-chief who used troops against Tuyuhun. What is this business?
"Salt." Li Ke spit out one word.
"There is actually no shortage of salt in the Tang Dynasty." Li Shiji hesitated and said.
Yes, the salt of Datang is different from that of later generations. Currently, the salt of Datang is not an official franchise, and the salt of Datang is not the so-called huge profit. On the contrary, Datang's salt is currently very cheap. Datang's current table salt is mainly composed of well salt and pool salt, and sea salt is just a supplement. Sea salt in this era is really not the main force.
Because the processing of sea salt in this era is not as good as that of later generations, and the principles are not even understood, so sea salt is bitter and not as delicious as well salt or pool salt.
The main salt supplied to the Tang Dynasty came from the Hedong Salt Pond, which was later known as the "Dead Sea of China" as a tourist attraction, located to the north of Zhongtiao Mountain. In fact, this salt pond lasted from the Yanhuang period to the Tang Dynasty and was the main salt supply in all dynasties.
Taking the price of these salts in their origins as an example, the price of coarse salt is about the same as that of brown rice. It is really not expensive, 180 Wen per stone, 18 Wen per bucket of salt, yes, 180 Wen per stone salt, one stone is equivalent to about 120 kilograms in later generations! Almost 1.5 cents per pound.
The quality of these salts is poor and contains many impurities. It is eaten by the poorest ordinary people. It seems that everyone in the Tang Dynasty can afford salt.
Even ordinary people who are living a moderately good life will buy better salt. The price of this kind of salt is more expensive, about 5 cents per pound, and it is definitely not about huge profits.
After all, people can eat a pound of salt for a long time.
"This." Li Ke stretched out his hand, and the brothel girl next to him immediately took the prepared plate of salt.
Li Ke directly placed the plate of salt in front of Li Shiji.
Looking at the plate of salt in front of him that was whiter than snowflakes, Li Shiji was stunned. He reached out and dipped a little bit into his mouth. There was no bitter taste. To be precise, there was no other taste, only the salt itself. Salty.
"This..." Li Shiji was shocked. What kind of method could make salt so fine?
"You said, this kind of salt sells for three times the price of Hedongchi salt, which is mainly supplied on the market. Does anyone buy it?" Li Ke asked with a smile.
Li Shiji pondered for a while. Hedong Salt Pool mainly supplied Chang'an and other important areas of the Tang Dynasty. The best salt, such as what Li Shiji's family ate, was about ten times the price of the most common coarse salt, which was 15 Wen per pound.
Ordinary people couldn't afford this salt, and the supplies were only provided by small households and the powerful people of the Tang Dynasty.
Speaking of this, Li Ke felt really distressed. People in this era didn't understand the packaging. How could the salt supplied to the emperor and the powerful officials be the same as the salt of ordinary small and powerful people?
If you change the packaging to nicer-looking packaging and add a little more cost, doubling the price isn’t too much, right?
Hey, I will use the best glass bottles for them when the time comes! Customize them! Is this salt? No, this is status! By the way, we are launching another royal model! Isn’t this classification coming out?
The salt in Li Ke’s hand is so good! This salt sells for 50 cents per pound, so there shouldn’t be too many people buying it!
"I wonder...how much does it cost?" Li Shiji hesitated and asked.
cost? Li Ke was delighted. The cost of this thing, after sorting out the salt-drying technology, would be a hundred tons in one batch, right? The number of workers needed is only a few dozen, and workers are free. Wouldn’t those captured Tuyuhun people be just right?
