In the warehouse, there are more than two dozen wooden boxes stacked. In each wooden box, there were fifty packets of matches, and one box contained ten. Qin Bai took out a box of matches from an open wooden box on the side and nodded with satisfaction.

The number of matches in each box is not very large, only ten. However, according to Qin Bai's requirements, the matches here already have all the elements of modern matches. The side of each box is glued with a fire layer, the box surface is also pasted with sparks, the pattern on it is also designed by Qin Bai, in addition to the words "Mingwang match", there are several cartoon fire child images, holding some symbolic auspicious items, the whole picture looks quite festive.

"Woo ——!"

The match burned, and the flame jumped in Qin Bai's eyes, emitting a strange firelight. Lighting the cigarette in his mouth, Qin Bai smiled. The match continued to burn, so warm and bright, until it was burned to the end, that it fell to the ground, leaving behind a burnt matchstick.

"Good!" Qin Bai praised with a smile.

But Xiao Wu on the side suddenly said: "Second Brother Bai, it's nothing for the brothers to make these matches, but it's too hard to make boxes and boxes." And you need to have such a piece of paper attached to each box you request. It's a waste of money. In fact, we wrap a pack of matches in oiled paper and put something to wipe the fire, so that we can sell it. At least four or five times more. If you don't believe me, you can ask, it's too time-consuming to make boxes and boxes. ”

Of course, Qin Bai believed Xiao Wu's statement, remembering that when he was a child, his mother often made matchboxes at home in order to subsidize the family, and the match factory also outsourced all the matchbox production to people who worked odd jobs nearby. Even the production of wooden boxes and matchsticks can be outsourced. Wooden boxes can be found by carpenters, and matchsticks, although there are no modern special machinery, can also be made by odd workers. In this way, the match workshop only needs to solve the two processes of match head and fire layer, and it is not uncommon for the output to increase dozens or even hundreds of times.

However, Qin Bai thought about it and asked first, "Xiao Wu, how many boxes can we produce every day now?" ”

"Three boxes more! Push hard to get to four boxes. ”

"Then let's do it first, don't worry. But you must do what I tell you, especially the paper on the box, if you start the name 'Mingwang' in the future, this brand will be very valuable. It's okay to do it slowly, we don't know what the sales are like. Try to sell first, and then talk about it when you have the results. ”

Thorn Mao immediately smiled: "The market must be good, we have all used it, I think it is convenient." ”

Qin Bai also smiled: "But this thing can't be sold expensive, it is used for making fires at home, who will use it if it is expensive?" And no one else knows that we made this thing. Even if it is sold to a few nearby towns and towns, so that every household knows, it will take time, right? ”

Everyone nodded, this is indeed the truth. However, Xiao Wu still insisted on his thoughts: "Second Brother Bai, what you said is reasonable. But because we can't sell expensive, we have to do more, and we can't spend money in useless places? ”

Qin Bai didn't want to explain too clearly, so he decisively used his authority: "Just do what I do first, and if there are problems in the future, you can change them." Xiao Wu, the most important thing is to make matches and rub gunpowder, you must keep it secret, and the brothers may rely on them for dinner in the future? ”

"Second brother, just relax! It is guarded by our closest brothers. ”

"That's good, take twenty boxes first, and this time I'll go to Jingjiazhuang to try to sell them. Dare son, you go back with me, and by the way, let you and Yingzi get tired of it for a few days. Oh, big jackal, you too! ”

"Eh, Second Brother Bai, you have to uphold justice, should we be unlucky if we don't have a family?"

"Hahaha! That divides everyone into three teams. Make a rule that you have one day off every ten days. It's your turn to go to Jingjiazhuang, three days is enough time for you to play, right? ”

"Okay, I'll be the first!"

"Why you? Can't it be Lao Tzu? ”

"Hey, don't quarrel, brothers. Aren't you just in a hurry to throw money into that bottomless pit of your mother? It's not easy to save some money, so let me suffer! ”

"You fart!"

"Phew! Who's going to grab me and who's in a hurry! ”

"Yo, I'd like to weigh your anxious look."

"Alright, alright! You haven't even entered the hook bar, and you haven't even seen the girl's hair inside, so you're going to fight and be jealous? Virtue! Drawing! It's a matter of luck! ”

"Yes, draw lots!"

“……”

Qin Bai actually knew that the manufacturing process of matches was not complicated, and phosphate rock was everywhere, and the procurement of other sulfur and other things could not be hidden from the eyes of others. Therefore, no matter how well the secrecy work is done, counterfeit products will soon appear on the market. In this era, there is no emphasis on intellectual property rights, so it can be said that it will not take long to face fierce competition.

However, Qin Bai also had a secret weapon - a safety match. The key to safe matches is red phosphorus, which needs to be distilled and cooled. At that time, Qin Bai shoddidly made plugs, and what was in the incendiary bottle was actually white phosphorus. Just to let the coppersmiths of Jingjiazhuang make this distillation vessel, it took Qin Bai a lot of time and silver.

Therefore, as long as this process is kept secret, the match heads of his Mingwang matches are red, while the match heads of other counterfeit products are white. And safety matches are not easy to spontaneously combust and are basically non-toxic. Match heads that use white phosphorus are poisonous and flammable. Therefore, the trademark is very important, it is easy for customers to distinguish it, and it can be sold at a high price.

Moreover, the sparks carry many of Qin Bai's childhood memories. That's a lot of feelings!

……

Cui Xinxiao is a businessman who runs the north road. His caravan collected leather goods and other northern goods from the border gates, sold them in Tongzhou and bought the hot goods of Shandong, and ran to Linqing, then to Jingjiazhuang to sell them, and bought iron tools and those bargains in the grocery store, and went north again to sell them.

This trade route is not a very lively trade route, so the scale of Cui Xinxiao's caravan is not very large, only about 20 vehicles and nearly 40 men. With such a scale, of course, he didn't dare to run casually in the Shandong territory, so today, his caravan disembarked at Jingjiazhuang Wharf, and paid double the freight to the ship's boss. It is because of the flag of Zhenwei on the ship that safety can be guaranteed.

However, paying so much extra money always made Cui Xinxiao feel painful. He was thinking in his heart, should he change the trade route? Otherwise, you won't make much money after such a hard trip? You can change to those popular trade routes, one is fiercely competitive, and the other is very unfamiliar, and you may not be very sure. Thinking about it, he became hesitant again.

However, just as the caravan was finished and was just about to enter Jingjiazhuang, Cui Xinxiao accidentally heard a young child's voice shouting: "Sell matches!" Selling matches—"

Cui Xinxiao looked up and saw a little boy selling matches standing behind the counter of a store.