Zhu Youxiao's cigarettes are packaged in a package similar to that of later generations of Chinese cigarettes, but the color of the packaging is white, and the front and back of the package are printed with red Huabiao, a pack of twenty cigarettes, and the name is also taken "Zhonghua", and Zhu Youxiao also printed the words "smoking is harmful to the body" on it.

"Your Majesty, there is something wrong with the design of this packaging." Zhang Guoji saw the packaging of Zhonghua cigarettes and said softly.

"You mean that 'smoking is harmful to the body' printed on it." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

"Exactly, if there is such a sentence on the cigarette package, it will affect the sales of cigarettes." Zhang Guoji said. Seeing this sentence, Zhang Guoji felt a pain in his flesh.

"This sentence must be printed, all the people in this world are my people, I can't kill people in order to ban smoking, let alone mislead the people, so this sentence must be printed." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Your Majesty means that this cigarette will be popular in the Empire in the future?" Jiang Yan asked curiously.

"I feel that there will be such a day, after the tobacco leaves have been transmitted to China, in just a few decades, smokers have spread all over the southeast coast, and even radiated to Jingshi, which is faster than the spread of the plague." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Your Majesty, how much does this pack of cigarettes cost?" Jiang Yan asked.

"The price I have given you is eight copper dollars, and the price at which you sell it to the outside world is up to you. The unified wholesale price here is one copper dollar. Zhu Youxiao said.

"Twenty percent gross profit." Wang Xin said softly.

"Yes, there is only 20% gross profit, and I will issue you nine sales licenses, and you can get the corresponding cigarette quota with the licenses." Zhu Youxiao emphasized.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" The crowd said.

……

Through Zhu Youxiao's description, everyone felt that cigarette sales were actually not very profitable, and they were not as good as the business they were doing now, which made several of them lose interest. After leaving the palace, Jiang Yan invited Zhang Guoji to sit in his Jingshi mansion.

"Baron Jiang, do you think this cigarette sales can be done?" Zhang Guoji looked at the cigarette in his hand and said.

"Uncle, of course you can do it, at least there is no risk." Jiang Yan said.

"Then let's try it." Mr. Zhang has now almost lost interest in selling cigarettes.

"Uncle, do you remember what I asked the emperor?" Jiang Yan asked softly.

"Which one?" Zhang Guoji asked curiously.

"I asked Your Majesty, 'Your Majesty means that this cigarette will be popular in the Empire in the future?' His Majesty's answer is yes, which makes me think that this cigarette monopoly is the current salt monopoly. Jiang Yan said.

"No, there will be such a big profit in this? Salt is a necessity, but this cigarette is not. Zhang Guoji said in surprise.

"Uncle, this is an opportunity, if I can, I am willing to buy the license in the hands of others at a high price of 50,000 taels." Jiang Yan said with a smile.

Hearing Jiang Yan say this, Zhang Guoji's confidence greatly increased, "The feasibility of this method is too low to acquire other people's licenses, and you feel that it is profitable to buy other people, so you are unwilling to sell them, so you have to change the method." ”

"Uncle Na came forward to form a cigarette sales company, all nine licenses belonged to the company, and then divided the company into one hundred shares, one share of 10,000 taels of silver, and nine people voluntarily bought it." Jiang Yan said softly. This is the plan that Jiang Yan has been thinking up in his head, and he wants to take the opportunity to buy the share of cigarette sales in other people's hands while others have not yet understood.

"It's going to take a lot of money, and I can't afford that much money." Zhang Guoji said.

"I personally lend 100,000 taels to your uncle, and the interest is not needed, what do you think?" Jiang Yan asked.

"Yes, then do as we say." Zhang Guoji said with a smile.

……

Under Jiang Yan's planning, Zhang Guoji came forward to call on nine people to set up a tobacco sales company together, Jiang Yan alone bought forty percent of the company's shares, and Zhang Guoji also bought two percent, Liu Qi bought one percent, and the remaining three percent was divided by the remaining six people. The headquarters of the tobacco company was in Beijing, and a branch was set up in Fujian, but at the beginning, cigarette sales did not bring much profit to the tobacco company, but it did not lose money either.

Zhu Youxiao first set up tobacco factories in Beijing and Fujian, and at the same time issued an edict prohibiting the circulation of tobacco leaves in the market, and the tobacco leaves grown by the people could only be used or sold to tobacco factories.

Tobacco factories sell both cigarettes and tobacco products, and after the tobacco monopoly, the price of tobacco has risen four times more directly than before, which has aroused great resentment among the people who smoke cigarettes, and they all hate this tobacco monopoly system. But they didn't stop the cigarettes from quietly spreading among the people.

In September, Zhu Youxiao officially lifted the restrictions on foreigners on the commodity exchange, and the Dutch, British, Portuguese, and other Western merchants in the empire officially submitted applications to the exchange.

According to the requirements of the commodity exchange, in order to become a member of the exchange, a foreigner must pay a deposit of 1,000 taels of silver dollars and a membership fee of 10 taels per year, and at the same time, 10 members of the exchange must be jointly guaranteed to become a member of the commodity exchange. This membership fee is now mandatory for every member of the Commodity Exchange.

On the first day that Westerners entered the exchange, the price of the exchange's products rose by an average of eight points on the same day, especially the price of raw silk and silk, which rose by 15 points on the same day.

The prosperity of commodity exchanges has begun to give rise to a new trading model, that is, contract trading, which simply means that Party A signs a sales contract with Party B, and then sells the contract to Party C to earn the difference. Commodity exchanges have started to feel a bit like futures exchanges.

"Your Majesty, your addiction to smoking has increased, didn't you say that cigarettes are harmful to your body?" Zhang Yan said softly.

"When I think about things, I want to smoke." Zhu Youxiao said softly.

"What's bothering Your Majesty?" Zhang Yan asked.

"Today's feedback from the exchange is that the price of raw silk and silk has risen by five percent, which is the largest increase since the establishment of the exchange." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Isn't that a good thing? The price has risen, and the people who produce raw silk and silk can make more money. Zhang Yan asked suspiciously.

"That's true now, but now the scope of natural disasters is expanding and is already spreading around the world. I heard that Dongying also suffered a disaster this year, and the grassland suffered a white disaster last year, and this year should suffer another white disaster, in the grassland, except for Inner Mongolia Province, the situation is slightly better, the rest of the Mongolian tribes are not having a good time this year, it is likely that there will be a big war next year on the grassland, and some tribes are almost unable to survive. Zhu Youxiao said.

(End of chapter)