Liang Wensheng said: "Let's listen, what do you need the help of this official? ”

"My lord, the cement is being tested right now. If the test is successful, it needs to be put into large-scale production. This requires grinding the calcined stone into powder, the finer the better. I'm going to build a lot of waterwheels to drive the stone mills to crush the stone. In this way, only a large waterwheel can be built on the edge of the Shu River, and a cement workshop can be ......built on the side of the Shu River."

"I see, how much land does the cement workshop need?"

"A hundred acres of land is enough."

"That's not much, I'll say hello to the river berth, you can negotiate with the river berth where you need land." Liang Wensheng agreed very happily. Then he asked: "The last time I went to your village, I heard the old man talk about cement, and the official only knew that it was a building material. ”

"This cement is a good thing, it is as fine as flour, gray and black in color, and it is a very good building cementitious material. Using a small amount of cement mixed with sand and water can be used instead of lime to build a house. It is not afraid of blisters or fire after solidification, it is strong and sturdy, and the effect is much stronger than glutinous rice, but the cost is very low. ”

"Because of the cheap price, you can also use cement and gravel and sand to mix the road, and the road is flat, strong, wear-resistant, and there are no blisters, and the road will not be muddy no matter how heavy the rain is."

Liang Wensheng was skeptical and asked He Zhiyuan: "Is there really such a good thing in the world?" ”

"When the cement test is successful, I will ask the adults to verify the effect of the cement. Then the adults will naturally believe it. ”

"Okay, when your test is successful, this officer will definitely go to inspect. If it is true as you say, it must be in great demand. More cement workshops will be built to produce cement by recruiting more laborers. Liang Wensheng felt that if this cement was really what He Zhiyuan said, the market would be amazingly large. If the government can participate in the dividends, the state's financial constraints will be greatly eased. Therefore, he paid special attention to this matter, and repeatedly told him that the experiment must be successful.

After talking about the cement, Liang Wensheng then asked Zhou Xuhai: "Boss Zhou, I don't know what the price of this 100,000 grain will be when it is transported here?" ”

"This is also the focus of our discussion today, these grains are all transported from Yanzhou, Dongchang, Laizhou and other places, and most of their local grain prices are nine to one tael of silver and one stone, because they cannot take the waterway, the transportation cost is high, and the cost of each stone transported here is 200 to 300 wen. In this way, the cost price of grain per stone is between one tael and one tael and three cents. ”

"Because it is rationed with soap, the price of each piece of soap is reduced by ten yuan, and forty pieces of soap are matched with one stone of grain, which is equivalent to the cost of each stone of grain is reduced by four cents of silver. The 100,000 stone grain required a ration of four million pieces of soap, but now there are only two million pieces of soap. So these merchants must be in a hurry to sell the grain, so that our opportunity has come. ”

"I see, it's very clever!" Liang Wensheng shouted skillfully at the case, but then he asked again: "What about the 50,000 stone of grain that is not rationed?" ”

"We can do this......" Zhou Xuhai whispered.

"Okay, this is indeed a way to have both worlds, and the official will immediately press the arrangement." Liang Wensheng readily agreed to Zhou Xuhai's request.

After talking about the food, He Shaoyun took out a delicate wooden box from the bag he brought with him, and held it in front of Liang Wensheng with both hands. Said: "Lord Zhizhou, this is a new type of soap recently made in the soap shop, please try it." ”

Liang Wensheng took the soap and smelled a faint fragrance of flowers through the wooden box, which was the size of a palm and rectangular. The front of the box is carved with a peony flower, and the three big characters of "Shu Skinjia" are written vertically next to it, and the two small characters of "soap" are carved below. On the back of the wooden box is a note with a string of symbols "15000416003AR" printed on the bottom right corner of the wooden box.

Liang Wensheng thought to himself, such a delicate packaging, the price must be expensive, so he asked: "This soap packaging is luxurious, what is the price?" How is it different from regular soap? ”

"It's not just a soap, it's made with floral oils. Because of the strong fragrance, after washing your face and hands with this soap, there is a lingering fragrance that will not disperse for a long time. If it is used for bathing, the effect is better, it can make the skin soft and smooth, and the warm fragrance is overflowing, so it is named "Shuskinjia" soap. Because it is very difficult to extract floral essential oils, and the production of essential oils is very low, so now there are only a few hundred pieces a month. Now it's only a small trial and it has not been introduced to the market. I brought more than 10 pieces this time, adults can try it, what is the effect, please judge after the adult tries it. If the effect is good, please help spread the word. ”

After Liang Wensheng heard this, he opened the box, and immediately the fragrance of flowers in the hall was overflowing, which was refreshing. Liang Wensheng said: "This is the fragrance of peony flowers. You don't have to try it to know that it will work well. In this case, the official accepted it. ”

********

Two days later, a large number of grain trucks entered the inland of Juzhou City. For a time, this small city with a population of 50,000 or 60,000 immediately became lively. Hotels, inns, inns, and inns are full of foreign merchants. After hearing the news that soap and grain rationing and the price of soap were discounted by ten cents per piece, these merchants all purchased a large amount of grain in the local area, and then the boss personally rushed to the grain cart in a hurry.

It is the nature of businessmen to seek profits, and now soap has become a hot product, with at least twice the profit per soap. Whoever buys soap from the Juzhou soap shop is equivalent to picking up silver. In addition, when I heard that the price of grain in Juzhou had risen, those merchants came like mosquitoes seeing blood, and in just one day, seventy or eighty thousand stone of grain poured into the city of Juzhou, and there were many grain trucks on the road.

In the evening, Boss Yang of Yanzhou made an appointment with the familiar Boss Du, Boss Li, and Boss Pang, and then took two guys to the biggest hospitality in the city to drink at the restaurant.

In a luxurious box in the restaurant, Boss Yang greeted several bosses who came as promised.

"Boss Du, Boss Li, Boss Pang, I am fortunate to be happy!"

"Boss Yang, make a fortune!" The three of them replied in unison.

"How much food did you bring this time?"

"Not much, I brought five thousand stones."

"I brought six thousand stones."

"You are all rich, I only brought 3,000 stones. How much did Boss Yang bring? ”

"I don't have much, a whole number. 10,000 stones! Boss Yang said proudly.

"Boss Yang is rich. We're going to slaughter him this time! The crowd laughed.

During the banquet, Boss Du asked: "Boss Yang, let's go to Zhouji early tomorrow morning to handle the grain delivery." It seems that there are a lot of grain trucks this time. ”

"What's the hurry? Boss Zhou said that one stone of grain is rationed with forty pieces of soap, so it will not be wrong. Tomorrow, put the grain in the warehouse, go to the west of the city to see the Fulai Mountain, I heard that the ginkgo tree on the Fulai Mountain has a history of 4,000 years, come to Juzhou once not to see the pity? ”

"Yes, it's rare to come to Juzhou, let's go together tomorrow?" Boss Pang said.

"Okay, let's go! Drink! ”

The feast did not disperse until the end of the day. On the way back, Boss Yang told the two guys: "Tomorrow morning, go to the door of Zhou Ji and wait, as soon as the door opens, immediately find the shopkeeper Xu to deliver the grain, and then buy the soap, and hurry up to load it back." ”

The two guys couldn't help but wonder and asked, "Didn't you tell the three bosses to go to Fulai Mountain tomorrow?" ”

"Don't you see how many grain trucks are coming today? There are 70,000 or 80,000 stone of grain, and many grain trucks are coming. It is estimated that more than 100,000 stone of grain will come to Juzhou City, and the price of this grain will definitely fall, and Boss Zhou will not have so much soap supply. Early delivery and early profits, only fools can't see it! ”

The two guys suddenly realized that what they just said was to paralyze them, and the boss is the boss!

As soon as dawn, Boss Yang took two guys to Zhouji grocery store. Of course, the door hadn't been opened yet, and Boss Yang was slapping the door outside. The guy inside heard someone knocking on the door and asked through the door. Boss Yang replied: "We are from Yanzhou Yang Ji, and we have shipped 10,000 stone of grain today, please ask the shopkeeper to count and deliver." ”

"Our shopkeeper Xu is not in the store today, and there is no way to deliver it." The guy opened the door of the store and invited Boss Yang to come in, and said, "Our shopkeeper Xu and Boss Zhou went to Jinan, and they won't be able to come back for a while." ”

"Went to Jinan? When will you be back? Who will do the food and soap rationing? Boss Yang had a bad premonition in his heart.

"I don't know when I can come back, our owner thought that you would be able to arrive in Juzhou in at least half a month, so I went to Jinan with the shopkeeper Xu first."

"Then we can't wait here, no one can call the shots except him?"

"We all said it doesn't count. Boss Yang, if you wait, they will be back in two or three days. The guy said embarrassedly.

While he was talking, a large group of people came to meet him, all of whom came to find Shopkeeper Xu to count and deliver the grain. The guy had to patiently explain again and say nice things with a smiling face.

At this time, Boss Du in the crowd found Boss Yang sitting inside, and suddenly became angry: "Okay, Boss Yang." Didn't you say last night that you asked us to go to Fulai Mountain to see the ginkgo trees today? Why did you come here early this morning? So you lied to us! I'm glad I didn't fall for you! You're so yin! ”

"You still say that I didn't agree to go with you last night? Didn't you come to this shopkeeper early in the morning? Boss Yang sneered.

After saying that, Boss Yang stood up and was about to go out, but the other bosses stopped him and said, "Don't go, Boss Yang." Have you settled with Zhou Ji? You can't fool us! ”

The guy hurriedly explained: "No, Boss Yang has just been here for a while." Our proprietor and shopkeeper did go to Jinan. Wait, he'll be back in the next two days. ”

"We can't afford to wait! The grain is placed in the warehouse, and the storage fee is a few taels of silver for an extra day. If it rains and the grain is moldy, who will we sell it to? And they were in a hurry. In fact, what they care about is not the deposit of silver, nor is it afraid of rainy days. What they were really worried about was that there would be more and more food, if Zhou Ji didn't have that much soap ration. The grain can't be sold, and if it is pulled back, the cost of each stone will increase by four cents of silver, and who will sell these grains to? This loss is huge.

The guy said in a hesitant voice: "When our host leaves, I will leave a word, as long as everyone is willing, maybe I can help you solve your urgent needs." ”