After everyone had finished cleaning up, Liu's father sent away Liu Haonian and several others, and took Liu Guangyuan and Liu Haojia into the main room, preparing to discuss future actions.
Liu Haojia is the inventor of white sugar, so he naturally wants to participate in the discussion. Although Liu Guangyuan is a servant, he has been tied to the Liu family for generations and is no longer a relative, so Liu's father also has great trust in him.
After the three people sat down, Liu's father and Liu Guangyuan began to pick up the teacups and drink tea non-stop! These two people had eaten too much sweets just now, and they were a little stunned for a while.
After the two of them each drank a large cup of tea, Liu's father calmed down and said, "Xiao Er, the book you burned contains the secret recipe for making white sugar, right?"
Liu Haojia nodded pretendingly and said: "Yes, I found this secret recipe in the book! But what he wrote was imperfect, and I worked it out slowly! And I burned it. Now, except for our family, there is no one else." People know how to make this soft white sugar!”
Father Liu felt relieved after hearing this, nodded and said, "That's good! Marshmallow is a nice name, and it is as soft and white as cotton!"
As soon as Liu Haojia heard this, he knew that Liu's father had mistakenly thought of the word, and mistook the word "soft" for "cotton"! At that moment, he smiled slightly and said: "Father, the word Mian I chose is not the word cotton, but the word mian, which means soft!"
Father Liu was stunned for a moment, and didn't want to argue with the words anymore, so he said, "Well, that's not bad! But now that we have soft white sugar, what are your plans for the next step? Will our family sell it directly?"
Liu Haojia smiled bitterly and said: "If our family sells these soft white sugar directly, can we withstand the pressure of the court, civil servants and nobles?"
Father Liu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm very happy that you can think of this. This is what I'm most worried about! If you insist on selling it, I'm afraid you will offend those merchants who sell white sugar! You know, the people behind them But they are all bad!"
Liu Haojia said: "Actually, father doesn't need to worry, because we haven't offended them deeply! The so-called soft white sugar is just the reprocessing of white sugar! If it is mass-produced, you can buy white sugar from them, and they will have nothing to do with it. Loss! Maybe they will become our suppliers! As long as we don’t harm their interests, they won’t do anything to us!”
Father Liu heard what Liu Haojia said, and when he thought about it, it really made sense! As long as the other party's white sugar is sold, there is no loss, and the other party will naturally not come to trouble him! Maybe it can also help the other party speed up their turnover. And they can also take the opportunity to form alliances with the people behind them and expand their connections!
Thinking of this, Father Liu said: "What is the price of sugar on the street now? I want to know how much our cotton candy can be sold for?"
Liu Haojia thought for a while and said: "That's brown sugar on the market for five cents of silver per pound! I have never seen white sugar, so I don't know how much it costs per pound, but I think it should be around six to seven cents of silver! Since White sugar can be sold at this price, so I think our cotton candy can be sold for one tael of silver, or even higher!"
After hearing this, Liu Guangyuan didn't understand the consumption of sugar, so his expression didn't change. But Father Liu’s face turned red with excitement! Because he had shamelessly attended many banquets of nobles, but he knew how these nobles used sugar!
Just the amount of sugar required for the various snacks they eat every day is not a small amount! In addition, there are the maids and servants who follow the masters to gain glory, and some high-ranking stewards. For them, those snacks are also freely available, so the sugar consumed in the noble family every day is absolutely It's a big number!
And there are countless noble families in the capital city! Counting those civil servant families and wealthy families, as well as brothels and restaurants, the amount of sugar consumed in the market every day is definitely about a hundred pounds! So after a rough calculation, he discovered that he had a market that brought in nearly a hundred taels a day! How could this not make him excited?
Liu Haojia saw his father's excitement, and he said persuadingly: "Father, this matter cannot be rushed! We are not businessmen, and we don't know the true price of sugar in the market. We still need to find someone who understands to ask!" "
After hearing this, Father Liu nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, yes! You are right! It's just who should I look for?"
At this time, Liu Guangyuan chuckled, pointed to the east and said, "Master, you are just out of your mind!"
When Father Liu saw this, he patted his forehead and stood up and said, "I'm really confused. I forgot about such a big businessman! Hurry, let's go visit! If it works, entrust him with the sale of sugar. , isn’t this the best of both worlds!”
Liu Haojia stopped Liu's father and said, "Father, this is absolutely impossible! If I go to visit a businessman, I will be laughed at! Although our family has declined, there is hope of rising now. The more this When the time comes, the less likely you are to leave people with something to say! Anyway, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival soon, and he will come to your door, so we can discuss it slowly with him then!"
Father Liu calmed down after hearing this, sat down and said, "You are right! You are right!"
Liu Haojia continued: "This person doesn't have much contact with us. We only meet every year when we collect rent. We don't know what this person's character is, so we have to be on guard!"
Liu Guangyuan interrupted and said: "Second Young Master, don't worry about this! Zhang Yuanwai has a pretty good reputation among the capital. He is very honest and has never had any bad deeds! You know, when the master decided to rent Uncle Gu Ning's mansion to him, I Master and I also inquired about him carefully! After all, this is Uncle Gu Ning’s house, we can’t let people with bad records live in it!”
Yuanwai was originally called Yuanwailang, which refers to the official position outside the forehead. It first appeared in the Jin Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, one Yuanwailang was appointed to each department in Shangshu Province as a junior official in each department. During the Tang and Song dynasties, he was known as "langguan" (langguan) along with "langzhong". They were both important positions among the central government officials.
This system was still followed until the Ming Dynasty. The third-level officials are the doctor, the yuanwailang, and the chief officer, who can be promoted in a ascending manner. At that time, Yuan Wai Lang was referred to as Wai Lang or Yuan Wai, and was commonly known as Fu Lang.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Yuanwailang had become a sinecure and was no longer related to the imperial examination. Moreover, such official positions became positions that could be purchased with donations, so wealthy people at that time bought this position one after another, and in the future, they would call themselves Yuanwai when they went out. Therefore, the official position of Yuanwai was gradually associated with wealth. As long as they were willing to spend money, landlords and businessmen could donate a Yuanwai official position.
