Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 032: Primitive Capital Accumulation (VII)
"Haha, Mr. Xiong is such a kind person."
Want to buy the first batch of soap for three taels of silver? Then I, a time traveler, am too worthless.
"Uh, what does Taisun mean?"
"The production of this product is not high at present, so it cannot be sold to thousands of households. It can only be provided to the rich and powerful. Do these people need money? If it is sold cheaply, they will not be happy. I plan to set the price at one ounce of silver per piece this year. Whether the price will increase or depends on the sales and production growth."
"Tsk!" Smacking his lips, Xiong Tingbi quickly calculated: a big fat pig is sold at 1.5 to 2 taels of silver in the market, and these things produced from two pieces of lard can be sold for at least 60 taels of silver. Even if some things are added, and some charcoal and labor are consumed, but no matter how you calculate it, the cost will not exceed 5 taels...
"Grandson, the profits are too high. I'm afraid..."
"Well, I know what Mr. Xiong is talking about. Let's not talk about him for now. Mr. Zhang, could you please write a few words for this thing of mine?"
"What does Your Majesty want me to write?"
"Well, this stuff is very fragrant, and it can remove dirt like soap. If you use it to clean your whole body, it will make you feel refreshed. Let's call it body soap!"
"I will obey your order and send you the calligraphy when I return to the city."
"Well, gentlemen, and you guys. I want to make it clear to you. I plan to find an agent among the people and then open a Shuangji store. The profits of this soap will be 2 cents each for the three gentlemen, and 1 cent each for each of you ."
"Ah? The Crown Prince has treated us well, and we are grateful. However, this gift is too generous, and we dare not accept it."
"Yes, Your Highness. We are merely Your Highness's guards and tutors. Serving the Crown Prince is our duty. If we take a share of the money from the Crown Prince, it would be really..."
"Haha, everyone, please be patient and listen to me." Zhu Youdong pressed his hand gently and continued, "Mr. Zhang, your shares are not simple. My future shop will rely on your calligraphy and paintings to improve its grade. Don't think I am insulting you when the time comes. As for Mr. Xu, I think you already have a lot of questions in your mind and are eager to verify them. And to verify these things, don't you need to spend money? And you guys, the profit of this thing is so high that even if I am the grandson of the emperor, there will be people coveting it in the future. At that time, it will not be as easy to get rid of as Wuqing Hou a few days ago. As my guards and companions, the pressure will not be small at all. This is considered as a pre-emptive fee."
During the whole process, he did not mention Xiong Tingbi. And Xiong Tingbi did not say anything either: there was already some tacit understanding between the monarch and his subjects.
"Guard Li?"
"What do you want, Mr. Xiong?"
"The funds accumulated from this soap are the foundation for the Crown Prince's future business. It is of utmost importance. Therefore, this production process must be carefully guarded and must not be lost."
"Uh... I have also thought about what Mr. Xiong said. But I don't have enough manpower... well, at most I can go back home and ask some reliable old brothers to come over. I will make sure that the villagers who participated in the production cannot collude with each other or escape."
"Haha, Shizhong, we need to allocate manpower, but we will not let your family work for nothing. Besides, the manpower allocated here is not to watch over these villagers, but to guard against the thieves behind who are eyeing this place!"
"Your Highness is right, but these villagers should also be careful. Although Your Highness has divided the production process of soap, these guys are ignorant and short-sighted. I am afraid that if someone coerces or bribes them in the future, or if these guys collude with each other, they can restore the entire production process!"
"Haha, Shizhong, don't underestimate the people. These people may not be short-sighted."
After saying this, Zhu Youdong said to Zhang Shize: "Go outside and send a few guards to bring all the villagers who participated in the production here."
This time, the raw material for production was only two pieces of lard, so not many villagers participated, only twelve people in total. They were quickly brought over by the guards outside.
Zhu Youdong happily got close to these villagers for a while, which reduced their fear of the crown prince a little. Then he asked Li Shizhong to bring a few bars of soap for everyone to try.
"Well, this thing is called soap, and it is very effective in removing dirt. It is what you have just produced after a while of hard work. This thing is much better than soap beans and pancreas. In the future, I will prepare to produce it in large quantities and sell it. If everything goes well, the annual income will probably be no less than tens of thousands of taels of silver."
Looking at the twelve villagers below, whose eyes were shining brightly, Zhu Youdong curled his lips slightly: "I probably know what you are thinking. Some of you are thinking whether you can take a few pieces of this stuff back to your wives and children, and some of you are thinking that you can work for me in this workshop in the future. If the soap sells well, you will get more wages. The future will be better and better . Well, these ideas are all good! But! Some of you must be thinking that after I leave, when it's late at night, you will connect with each other and piece together the whole process. Either do it secretly at home, or sell it to others at a high price! Is it true or not?! Hmm!"
A child of four or five years old, limited by his appearance and stature, could not pretend to be murderous. But Zhu Youdong was the grandson of the emperor, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty in name. Therefore, these villagers were still frightened.
"Grandson, Your Highness, who are we to have such an idea ? If this item can be sold well, and Grandson can give us more rewards, we will be satisfied."
"Haha, when I do things, I never let honest people suffer, but I will never let cunning people have an easy time either. I will explain the rules to you clearly today. First, those of you working in this workshop will receive two taels of silver per month as wages. At the end of the year, dividends will be distributed based on the performance of the soap. If the soap technology has never been leaked out and only our Honghe Manor can produce it, then I guarantee that each of you will receive a dividend of 100 taels of silver!"
Without allowing the people below to be amazed, Zhu Youdong quickly extended his second finger: "Second, from now on, each person can only be responsible for one process, and it is strictly forbidden to ask each other about the process that the other party is responsible for. If anyone breaks the rules, you can immediately report to this eunuch Wei. As long as it is verified to be true, I will reward the person who reported it with one thousand taels of silver! As for the person who was reported, hey, I am the grandson of the emperor, and I must treat the people with benevolence and righteousness first. Therefore, the wife and daughter of the person who was reported will go to the Jiaofangsi, and the person himself and his parents and sons will go to the underworld..."
The twelve villagers shuddered collectively. After a while, one villager took the lead, and the twelve villagers knelt down and kowtowed to Zhu Youdong: "Please rest assured, Grand Master. Who are we to be treated so well by the Grand Master? If you still want to betray the Grand Master, you deserve to be executed! The skills we have mastered will never be passed on to others. Not to mention collusion, we won't even tell our wives and children when we return home!"
"Well, I hope so. I hope everyone can live a good life. Okay, go ahead."
