As Su Xigui finished speaking, Zhu Niang was caught in a dilemma.
As Su Xigui said, this secret recipe is not a unique skill after all. Once others learn it, it will be of no value. Instead, if people know that they use people who are not salt farmers to dry salt, they will be punished and imprisoned for violating the court laws.
"Besides, the salt business is not going well these days."
Su Xigui started to put on airs.
He told Zhu Niang clearly that the court was now imposing many heavy taxes on the people in order to build the palace and the emperor was doing whatever he wanted in the Leopard House. Ordinary salt vendors could hardly survive. At this time, you still want to keep a secret recipe and make a fortune? You are dreaming!
Zhu Hao said with a smile: "It seems that Master Su has a deep understanding, but I wonder if he will agree to the conditions I offer?"
Su Xigui said, "Ten thousand taels is not impossible. After all, we are all acquaintances and have known each other for more than a day or two. We can definitely negotiate. But this ten percent of the income...how about this, after you take out the secret recipe, you can continue to use it, as long as you don't tell others...forget this extra condition."
Zhu Hao thought to himself, Su Xigui you are really smart. I am going to sell the patent to you now. Do you think you can control me just by getting the patent?
"If Lord Su doesn't agree, then we can talk to other companies. For example, Prince Xing's Mansion is a good choice!"
Zhu Hao said, "Anyway, the family's suppression of us is not that severe now, so there is really no need to work so hard to earn that little bit of hard-earned money...Sifting salt is so tiring."
This is the argument that if the deal fails, we should cut off all ties.
Su Xigui thought, "Where does this kid get his confidence from? Is he sure that I can't find out his secret recipe from other sources?"
Seeing that her son didn't want to talk, Zhu Niang was more than happy to do so. She quickly stood up and bowed, "Master Su, goodbye."
"Don't leave in a hurry."
Su Xigui quickly stopped him, "As for me, doing business is about making money through harmony. If your secret recipe can really produce salt out of nothing... although I know it's unlikely, if it's true... it's not unacceptable."
Zhu Niang frowned: "So are you going to talk about it or not?"
You said it was acceptable, but you set a prerequisite. Isn't that nonsense? Do you think we are Taoists? Can we make salt out of nothing by performing a ritual? I didn't expect that you, Master Su, can also be unreliable!
Su Xigui realized that he was a little incoherent, so he corrected himself: "How about this, I will go back and prepare 10,000 taels of silver, and you guys prepare the secret recipe. As for the contract of sharing 10% of the income, after seeing the effect of your salt production and satisfying me, I agree in principle!"
…
…
Zhu Hao and Zhu Niang went home to prepare first.
Although it is called preparation, there is actually nothing to prepare. Zhu Hao just took out the specific method of salt drying.
Zhu Hao will not give everything at once. He will give the general method first. As for the tricks of pushing the brine, rushing the brine, making crystals, etc., Zhu Hao will not tell Su Xigui first. He will make a decision after seeing the other party's sincerity.
"Xiaohao, why did you suddenly say you wanted to sell the recipe? Isn't it better for us to make salt ourselves?"
Zhu Niang never quite understood.
Zhu Hao laughed and said, "Mom, why are you confused? Our snowflake salt is contraband salt, and selling contraband salt is illegal. Su Dongzhu is powerful. Once he targets us, how can we do business peacefully? Besides, we have 10,000 taels of silver... We can return to a stable life. Why should we continue to worry?"
"this……"
Zhu Niang found that her argument with her son was pointless.
She has always been pursuing a peaceful and stable life, and had mentioned before that she should stop early. But this time when Zhu Hao said he wanted to sell the secret recipe to Su Xigui, she felt a little uneasy.
"Master Su is too shrewd, and he is a government official and a businessman. Will we be tricked by him?" Zhu Niang asked worriedly.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "It is possible, but the chance is very small. His brother-in-law Huang Fantai is already quite old. It is estimated that if he wants to make further progress in his official career, such as being transferred to the two capitals and six ministries, the chance is not great, unless he makes outstanding contributions to the Ming Dynasty... We can say that we sold him a salt drying recipe, rather than giving him an opportunity to help his brother-in-law advance in his official career."
Zhu Niang was puzzled: "What do you mean?"
It is difficult for Zhu Hao to explain it clearly to a political novice like Zhu Niang.
The highest rank for a local official in the Ming Dynasty was basically a provincial governor. Huang Zan was already old and was about to retire. If he wanted to enter the central government as an assistant minister of one of the six ministries, or even go further and become a minister, he would have to have outstanding political achievements among the many provincial governors. However, this was difficult for Huang Zan, who did not have a strong family background and no backing.
If it were someone else, it would be almost impossible for Zhu Hao to sell a prescription for 10,000 taels. But with Su Xigui, the possibility of the deal being successful was very high.
It is well known that Emperor Zhengde was greedy for money. If Huang Zan offered Zhu Houzhao an opportunity to provide him with a steady stream of wealth, would the emperor look at him differently?
"Mom, as long as he is willing to buy and we are willing to sell, isn't that great? We can do so many things with ten thousand taels of silver." Zhu Hao smiled and began to look forward to how he would spend the ten thousand taels of silver.
Zhu Niang took a breath and said, "Mother never dared to hope to have 10,000 taels of silver. In the past... I couldn't earn that even in my lifetime."
Zhu Hao nodded, "Yes, it would be great to have 10,000 taels of silver. If Su Dongzhu is trustworthy and gives us a share of the profits every month, that would be a lot of money. Can we start any business we want in the future? It's too risky to dry salt by ourselves. If the government finds out, everything will be over. It's better to try to make a profit regardless of drought or flood."
Originally, Zhu Niang lacked confidence in salt drying. After listening to Zhu Hao's analysis, she felt that she could just throw the pot away and her heart immediately calmed down.
…
…
Return to the shop.
When Zhu Niang told her about selling the family, Aunt Li was puzzled at first, but then nodded: "Now that the master is gone, Master Hao is the head of the family. Isn't it good for him to make the decision?"
Zhu Niang looked at Zhu Hao and nodded slightly, agreeing with Aunt Li's statement.
As a decent and chaste woman, it would be easy for her to get into trouble if she went out in the limelight to do business. If Zhu Hao supported the family business, he would be qualified to make decisions even though he was young.
"Madam, how much land can you buy with 10,000 taels of silver? By then, won't we have thousands of hectares of good farmland? I dare not even think about it."
Aunt Li suddenly began to yearn for the life of a big landlord.
Half a year ago, his life was in dire straits and his shop was about to be taken back by his family. He was a complete pauper, but now he is about to become a big landlord.
This contrast...
Zhu Niang rolled her eyes at her and said, "Sister, you are overthinking. Master Su is not a fool. Why would he spend 10,000 taels of silver to buy a prescription? It's just Xiaohao's wishful thinking."
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Mom, just wait and see. I think Su Xigui is more anxious than us about buying a house. He must be raising money everywhere now. There will be news in two days."
…
…
Just as Zhu Hao expected.
Not only did it happen within two days, but that same night Su Xigui brought people to the door.
"Master Su, it's getting late. Can't we wait until tomorrow to discuss this? It's inconvenient now."
Zhu Niang didn't dare to open the door casually.
A widow's house, talking about business with people late at night, if it gets out, won't her reputation be ruined?
Su Xigui looked very anxious outside the door: "It's okay, it's okay. Su has invited witnesses, all of whom are local gentry. How could they ruin Madam's good reputation?"
Hearing that there was a gentleman present, Zhu Niang would not open the door.
If people knew that we used a secret method to dry salt, wouldn't that mean that we were also selling smuggled salt? Wouldn't that be self-incriminating?
I wouldn't be stupid enough to open the door!
Zhu Hao said, "Mom, don't go out. How about I go and talk to him?"
"ah!?"
Both Zhu Niang and Aunt Li looked at Zhu Hao with surprise.
Su Xigui, who was outside the door, couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "Young Master Zhu is still sensible. Please ask Young Master Zhu to come to the inn where I live to discuss. You can call a few people over there... After the matter is settled, the silver will be presented."
Zhu Niang was very worried and did not dare to let her son go to the meeting alone, so she had to quickly send Xiaobai to notify Zhongshu and Yu San to accompany Zhu Hao to the inn to discuss business.
…
…
Inn room.
Zhu Hao asked to discuss the matter with Su Xigui alone. The so-called notary was meaningless to Zhu Hao.
"Master Zhu, you mean to say that you use the sun... to make salt? Are you kidding? The method of drying salt on the beach has existed since ancient times. When has snowflake salt ever been produced? Don't try to fool me with this."
Su Xigui was very dissatisfied. "I sincerely offered you 10,000 taels of silver to do business with you. You have seen who I am. I will not default on my debt just for a prescription... You must give me an explanation."
Zhu Hao immediately took out a blueprint and said, "This is the salt pan I designed. It's night time now, so I can't prove it right away. Tomorrow morning I'll take you to the salt pan outside the city for a walk, and then you'll understand."
"this……"
Su Xigui took a quick look at the drawings.
Not getting the point.
As someone who has been dealing in government salt for a long time, how could he not know how to dry salt?
He would never believe that snowflake salt could be made by using brine.
"Master Su, if we didn't use this method, how could we have produced so much snowflake salt in the past six months?" Zhu Hao said, "If Huang Fantai reported this method to the court, and let the court choose a place to test it first, and then promote it in all salt fields in Daming after it is effective, then Daming's salt production will not only double, but the quality will also be greatly improved. Huang Fantai's achievements are outstanding, and he is more than qualified to be a minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital..."
Su Xigui still remained silent.
Zhu Hao said: "If everyone else knows how to do it, it can't be called a secret recipe. If it really works, what would Master Su say?"
Su Xigui slammed the table and said, " It's just as you said. Not to mention the 10,000 taels of silver, I will also give you the 10% share in the future."
With Su Xigui's shrewd business mind, he naturally realized the advantages of this salt-drying method. He also understood how this salt-drying method would change the Ming Dynasty's salt industry and how much help it would bring to his brother-in-law's career.
The most important thing at the moment is, of course, to verify the authenticity of Zhu Hao’s words.
…
…
Early the next morning.
Su Xigui visited Zhu's rice shop early in the morning, and then Zhu Niang took Zhu Hao in a carriage and left the city with Su Xigui's carriage. After making many circles, they finally arrived at a salt field hidden in the ravine.
It looks ordinary, like a rice terrace.
At that time, no one in the inland areas was drying salt, and even if someone discovered it, no one would be able to figure out what it was used for.
When Su Xigui arrived at the salt field and saw the crystals in the salt field, he crossed the field ridge made of cement without even taking off his boots, jumped into the salt pond, leaned over, picked up a piece of salt crystal and put it in his mouth...
"Master Su, when will the silver be delivered to my house? If you are worried that I am deliberately confusing you, you can ask someone to demonstrate it from beginning to end, but you may have to stay in Anlu for a month or even longer." Zhu Hao said.
Su Xigui's hands were shaking, and he looked surprised. "Does it only take about a month to produce salt in winter? Then in summer... Of course you have to live there, but the money will be paid today. What's that thing next to it?"
Zhu Hao said: "That is a waterwheel. It transports bittern from the bottom of the mountain to the top, saving time and effort. These are all skills... Do you think you can make snowflake salt by learning the basics? So, even if you know how to dry it, it will be difficult to succeed without mastering the tricks... I'm afraid we have to cooperate for a long time."