In modern times, cigarette factories are basically the richest enterprises in various places, and they are also large local taxpayers, basically a pack of cigarettes of about 20 yuan, nearly half of the money is actually taxed, which shows how high the profit is. Therefore, it has also given birth to an underground industry specializing in counterfeiting brand-name cigarettes, the most famous of which is Fujian, Fujian man-made fake cigarettes, almost can be fake, and even formed a complete counterfeit cigarette industry chain, some places the whole village is based on this main industry, and Fujian people are very innovative, they sometimes launch new counterfeit brand-name cigarettes sell better than real cigarettes, so that even those cigarette factories that make real cigarettes have to imitate them in turn to launch new products with the same packaging, Therefore, Fujian people are really talented in cigarette manufacturing.

There were not many people who smoked at this time in the Ming Dynasty, not because people in this era had a strong sense of health and knew that smoking was harmful to health, but because there were no cigarettes in this era, and all they smoked were dry tobacco and hookah. Another reason is that the taste of dry tobacco and hookah in this era is very bad and choking, so no one smokes it.

But these two problems are not a problem for Guo Zhiyuan, as long as the invention of cigarettes can be solved, smoking cigarettes is much cooler than smoking dry cigarettes, there are many smokers who started smoking because of this, they think that smoking can be cool, look at those heroes in the movie and big money, when they appear, they like to hold a cigarette or cigar, force. Ge came out in an instant, and cigarettes also have a strong communicative function, between friends, colleagues, and even between two strangers, meet and hand a cigarette, the distance is instantly shortened, and these are very in line with the psychological needs of dignitaries and nobles in this era. As for the taste problem, it is also easy to solve, as long as the appropriate amount of flavor is added to the tobacco, the taste of the cigarette can be improved.

Of course, smoking is harmful to health, which is certainly not good, but existence is the truth, cigarettes also have a positive effect on relieving stress and calming the spirit, and its harm and addiction are still within the acceptable range of human beings, even if there is no cigarette, human beings may choose other alternatives, to put it may not be correct, if there are cigarettes in China, maybe the British will not be so easy to open the door to China with opium, so that thousands of Chinese people become "the sick man of East Asia".

The most important thing is that people in this era have not yet realized the huge market space for cigarettes, so there is no high cigarette tax, and the weight of the imperial court tax is placed on the salt tax and mineral tax, which gives Guo Zhiyuan a huge space for operation, if it works well, it is not just to provide Guo Zhiyuan with a cash cow, basically he does not need to worry about money for a long time.

Thinking of this, Guo Zhiyuan's heart suddenly became hot, just as Sun Chuan came to the door again to complain and discuss with him the shortage of funds for road construction, Guo Zhiyuan did not plan to monopolize the cigarette business by himself, but was still ready to let Sun Chuan come forward and hide behind the scenes, so as to avoid being too eye-catching and attracting the suppression of big forces, and the spices that need to be added to cigarettes can only be obtained by Sun Chuan through the way of maritime merchants.

Talking to Sun Chuan about the idea of setting up a cigarette factory, Sun Chuan was still a little hesitant, after all, no one in this era had ever smoked cigarettes, and hesitated: "Is this thing easy to sell?" Guo Zhiyuan laughed and said: "Old Sun, you can rest assured, as long as you get what I want, you can wait to sit at home and count the silver!" ……”

Sun Chuan has seen Guo Zhiyuan's magic, so despite hesitation, he nodded and agreed, he has always been vigorous and resolute, his carriages and horses traveled all over the world, and soon got a batch of tobacco leaves and spices, under the personal guidance of Guo Zhiyuan, the first pack of cigarettes in this era came out! Considering that paper-wrapped cigarettes are easy to get broken tobacco leaves into the mouth, Guo Zhiyuan simply took one step and even got the filter out, there was no sponge, so he replaced it with cotton first, and the cigarette box was specially asked to find a painter to draw colorful patterns, although the packaging was far less exquisite than the cigarettes of later generations, but it was definitely a novelty in this era.

When the first pack of cigarettes was made, Sun Chuan couldn't wait to take a puff, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he was pleasantly surprised: "It's really different from dry tobacco!" This cigarette must be very popular, the old man is really a god, and he can turn decay into magic! ......", but he pointed to the words "smoking is harmful to health, please do not smoke excessively" specially requested by Guo Zhiyuan on the cigarette box and asked: "It's just that the old man really doesn't understand why he has to add such words, which is harmful to health, so who else wants to buy it?" ……”

Guo Zhiyuan laughed and said: "Sun Lao doesn't know, everyone has a rebellious mentality, the more I write like this, the more curious people are, and the more they want to try!" ……”

The cigarette factory soon started in full swing, this time all the recruits are female workers, female workers are ingenious, just suitable for doing this kind of fine work, so as to solve the employment problem of some Gutian women, many families in Gutian County men work on the road construction site, women work in the cigarette factory, family income went up all of a sudden, the smiles on the faces of the people are more and more, and Guo Zhiyuan, the county order, is even more praised, saying that he is a Buddha of ten thousand families, the reincarnation of the stars.

Guo Zhiyuan used the business network that Miaoyifang has rolled out, and opened a cigarette * shop next to Miaoyifang in various places, the signboard is called "fairy cigarettes", and the advertising slogan is also very attractive: "A cigarette after dinner, happy like a fairy", at the same time, Guo Zhiyuan used Miaoyifang to build a good relationship with dignitaries and dignitaries around the country, and sent "cigarette trial packs" to dignitaries, so fairy brand cigarettes quickly became popular in various places, and dignitaries regarded smoking as a kind of high-end enjoyment. Even the court officials and subordinates like to pop out a cigarette when they are deliberating, and listen to the reports of their subordinates while swallowing clouds and mist, thinking that this can show the unfathomable majesty of Enwei.

A box of fairy brand cigarettes is priced as high as fifty copper coins, but it still makes dignitaries flock to it, and now they are embarrassed to say hello if they don't put a pack of fairy brand cigarettes in their pockets, Guo Zhiyuan also specially launched a beautiful wooden box, and now some shrewd officials don't accept cash, after all, the direct cashier is a little too blatant, only accept wooden boxes of fairy brand cigarettes, because the fairy cigarette * store also provides cigarette recycling and hedging services, Officials only need to quietly take the cigarette gift box to the cigarette store to exchange it for silver, although there will be a certain discount, but this way of accepting bribes is much safer than before!

(PS: If you are a non-smoker, you may be a little repulsed by the points mentioned in this chapter, so please laugh it off and skip it.) ）