"I see, that is, if we want to make the business of space-time trading long-lasting, we must change the way we trade?"

"Yes, that's right, there has to be a change in the way trade is done! The products must be diversified, not a single variety. Zhang Xinda said, "You see, at present, our trade is that I provide you with cheap pearls, stainless steel jewelry and brass, and you provide me with precious jade such as jadeite and white jade, as well as other precious wood, gold and other things, all of which belong to the precious luxury industry, and the products are too simple."

Indeed, for the time being, our current trade chain is fine, because the times are too different, and the profits are very high. But the problem is that our consumption is also very high, I have to buy you a lot of weapons, this is pure consumption, and in the future, as you expand in scale, I will have to buy all kinds of equipment, so that the cost will be even greater.

There is also a security issue compared to the cost. Although in modern society, the market for jewelry is very large, but after all, it is not a big deal, I have a lot of jewelry, jade, precious wood and gold without a source, and I go to buy a lot of weapons, sooner or later there will be problems.

What about you, don't look at the troubled times, the price of jewelry is cheap, but due to technical problems, the total amount of mining is small. You have no problem now, after a long time, the price of your jewelry will inevitably rise sharply, and I will definitely reduce the price here, and then there will be no such high profit support, and our arms trade will not be able to continue, and at that time, the size of your army will definitely get bigger and bigger, and the demand for arms will also increase, so it will become a dilemma.

As the saying goes, people who have no long-term concerns must have near-term worries, and we must pay attention to this issue as soon as possible, and in terms of the types of trade, we must not only focus on high profits, but also take a long-term view. ”

"So what exactly do you think?" Li Yongji asked.

"That's what I thought." Zhang Xinda said, "Since you said that your teleportation capacity is larger than mine, then you should make good use of it, not to mention anything else, you have to do that possible brush experience point." ”

"Don't talk about that, talk about your product diversification, what do you mean?"

"The so-called product diversification means that our trade products cannot be limited to high-end luxury goods. Of course, it is not that there are no luxury goods, but that new products are opened up on this basis, and in addition, the scope of precious jewelry should be expanded, and it is not just about the Qing Dynasty. We should open up the international market now and make money from foreign devils. ”

"If you don't say this, I know it." Li Yongji said, "I didn't contact foreigners before, I didn't sell goods to them, because my strength was still small at that time, and the strength of foreigners was still great, I was afraid that I would contact foreigners too early, and they would eat me alive. ”

"Good." Zhang Xinda said, "The so-called golden jewelry in troubled times, the Qing Dynasty is now in troubled times, and jewelry is naturally worthless, but the Western world at that time was the so-called prosperous era." The Crimean War had just ended, and it was a period of peace in the West. Among them, Britain is still in its heyday, France is thriving under the leadership of Xiao San, at least the economy is doing well, and other European countries have no major wars, and are working hard to develop their economies. ”

"Dumping pearls in the West?" Li Yongji said.

"It's not just pearls, we have more cost-effective products." Zhang Xinda said, "Westerners like diamonds, opals, crystals, and other shiny things, by the way, there are aluminum products!"

You don't know, I've used my jewelry company to buy a lot of synthetic opals, zirconium diamonds, synthetic crystals, and then made a variety of jewelry crafts with modern techniques. As long as you take it to the foreigners, keep them and put it down, as long as the price passes, they will definitely go crazy about it, hehe, when the time comes, China may be called a country of jewelry in addition to the country of silk and porcelain. ”

“……”

"And aluminum." Zhang Xinda said, "I didn't care about equipping your troops with aluminum lunch boxes before, but then I always felt that something was wrong, remembering the story of Wang Yunyi who took the stainless steel mirror pit, go back to check, I will take it, it turns out that aluminum products are promising, and they are more cost-effective than selling stainless steel!" Because stainless steel is a new item, most people still don't recognize it, and it hasn't formed much of a market, but aluminum products are different, and aluminum products have long had a mature market and recognition in the West. ”

"Is there a mature market for aluminum products in the West?"

"That's right." Zhang Xinda said, "Aluminum products are currently in the Western world, and only those aristocratic and wealthy businessmen can come into contact, and ordinary people can't use or even see them, but they must have heard of it." Historically, in your time, pure aluminum could only be obtained by chemical reduction method, because the cost was too high, and the scarcity was expensive, which led to the high price, and it was purely a luxury for high-ranking officials. If we provide a large amount, we will definitely make a fortune. ”

"You also said that scarcity is expensive, we have to provide a large amount, and the price will dive immediately."

"Hehe, it is impossible for the price to dive immediately, there must be a process." Zhang Xinda said, "I have checked, the reason why the price of aluminum products has plunged in a short period of time in history is purely for technical reasons, it is that an idiot announced the method of large-scale electrolytic aluminum, and everyone looked at it, oh, it turned out that expensive aluminum products can be made in large quantities, and the price quickly dived." However, now that the method of large-scale electrolytic aluminum has not yet come out, and even electricity has not begun to develop, we only provide aluminum products, sell them as high-end jewelry, and try to guide the trend of aluminum jewelry, which is different. ”

"Go on."

"Nowadays, the price of aluminum products is more expensive than the same weight of gold, and European aristocrats are proud to use aluminum knives and forks, such as Napoleon III, who loved to use aluminum knives and forks. In addition, aluminum products are mostly made into vases, rings, necklaces and other precious items, and used as precious jewelry.

If we take advantage of the trend to guide this trend, we will directly sell aluminum jewelry, handicrafts and tableware at the beginning, build a brand, and sell them all as luxury goods, and then advocate and publicize it, such as writing some novels, saying that this is light silver, how precious it is, how it represents love, loyalty and other beautiful metaphors, and then saying that this thing can ward off evil spirits, can kill ghosts and vampires, etc., as long as the trend is together, I believe it will definitely make a big difference in the Western world. ”

"That's a good idea." Li Yongji nodded, "Indeed, according to what you say, the large-scale dive in aluminum prices should be the announcement of a new process, so that everyone thinks that this thing is worthless, but before everyone knows that it can be mass-produced, this does have the potential to become a luxury jewelry."

If we properly package it and promote it in the way of a modern brand, maybe it can really cause popularity and sell at a good price.

However, I have a doubt, if we provide Westerners with a large number of these aluminum products, what other diamonds, synthetic opals, etc., will it cause a new round of coveting by Westerners?

You know, at the beginning, Westerners were interested in the East, that is, they thought that the East was full of gold, and pearls, diamonds, and aluminum products also had an irresistible attraction for Westerners at this time. ”

"Start a war? Afraid of Mao, they come all the way, you wait for work, and you have modern weapons, there is no shortage of manpower, and it is strange if you can't win again. Zhang Xinda pouted, "Once you win, your prestige will go up, and you can not only increase the prestige of the country, but also get compensation, how good is it?"

Besides, Westerners attach great importance to the Orient and think that it is good to have jewelry everywhere in the East, so that it will attract Westerners. What is this called, this is called attracting talents in disguise.

The population base of our Han nationality is too large, and the Westerners coming over can only be a stimulus, which will not have an impact on our main nation, and when the Westerners come, they can only be influenced, but it is impossible to really turn us into the West, and they will definitely not be completely Westernized.

To tell the truth, just like the bear in the late Qing Dynasty, you have to rely on yourself to cultivate talents, so when will you be the head, or you have to attract Western talents as soon as possible. When the time comes, we will also make a Chinese division of four or six levels, and also get an IELTS TOEFL, so that they can all come to learn Chinese! ”

"Okay, I like the idea." Li Yongji said, "But that's all later, it's too early to say." By the way, what's going on with your labor-intensive industry? I'd be interested to hear about this. ”

"That naturally allows you to develop light industry and add new products." Zhang Xinda said, "Although Suzhou does not have any metal minerals, it is not possible to engage in large industries, but the light industry, especially the silk industry, is still very good." Silk products are also very expensive in modern times, and they can become a new round of trade growth point for us.

Suzhou embroidery is famous all over the world, you give me silkworm cocoons directly, I can't make much money by selling them, it is better to be directly in your place, using your artificial and resource advantages, the first development of the silk industry.

You see, I can provide you with modern silk reeling machines and silk machines, and you will be responsible for recruiting workers to build factories, and when the time comes, you can produce large quantities of high-quality silk there, which can be directly exchanged for gold with foreigners, and you can also sell it directly to me if there is excess capacity in the future. In this way, we can not only make money, but also start the industrialization of the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Just organic qì is enough, what about energy? And with a modern machine qì? Qualified workers are so well trained? ”

"You don't have to worry about energy, it's all electricity, diesel-electric engines are not very cost-effective, I decided to provide you with a part of the Stirling external combustion engine first. In fact, I have already negotiated a deal with STM Power in the United States, and they will provide us with 100 sets of 25KW solar external combustion hybrid power generation engines. This kind of engine is durable, small and convenient, each unit has a power generation of 25KW, and 100 units is 2500KW.

In addition to solar energy, the energy consumed by this generator can also burn straw, wood, coal, and everything that can be heated by fire, especially for your side. With these generators connected to the network to generate electricity, plus the battery, it is absolutely no problem to pull a few silk reeling machines and satin machines.

As for worker training, hey, to be honest, the machines I bought you are all highly automated Japanese products, and they don't require too complex skills, just learn how to use them according to the instructions, provide raw materials on time and in quantity, and dispose of waste materials in a timely manner. With this kind of machine, even illiterate African workers can learn it quickly, how can the Qing Dynasty people be better than Africans, right? ”

"I understand this, but in the future, when the scale expands, you can't just use any external combustion engines and these highly automated equipment, right? How can I have my own industrial chain and produce my own machines, right? ”

"Hey, I'm making quick money on an emergency basis, and it's a different thing from you building an industrial system." Zhang Xinda said, "You have to take your time to build an industrial system, and you can't be in a hurry.

But since I have said this, I will also say briefly, in fact, I think you should not take the old road of the steam engine revolution, and go directly to electrification, after all, electrification is more suitable for southern Jiangsu.

First of all, it is easy to solve the problem in terms of energy, Suzhou is short of coal, and in order to reduce environmental pollution, the development of thermal power is not suitable, but the local hydropower resources are abundant, and it is absolutely no problem to engage in a bunch of small hydropower. With electricity, I can give you some simple light industrial equipment such as electric flour mills, electric oil presses, electric looms, etc., which you can use while learning and slowly cultivating industrial workers and technical talents. At the same time, with abundant electrical energy, I can also provide you with an automated weapon production line to ensure your weapon superiority first.

Of course, the development of the industrial system, in the final analysis, is still to develop heavy industry, in this way, Anhui must be beaten, such as Ma'anshan, Tongling these places must have, as well as Huaibei coal mines must also have, it depends on how you do it.

In short, if a mature industrial system wants to be established, even if I provide you with a full set of technical information and equipment, it will not be possible to make it in one or two years.

All in all, the industrial system is not in a hurry, and the most important thing for us now is the lack of capital, and without capital, industrialization will not be able to be talked about, so I want you to make money first and slow down the heavy industry. ”

"Well, well, even if you convince me, make a quick buck first." Li Yongji nodded, "But just engage in the silk weaving industry?" Don't you want to get some cotton spinning machine qì come over? ”

"How many qualified workers do you have over there? You have to eat one bite at a time, the cotton spinning industry, or put it first, this thing is too impactful, it will collapse the local natural economy in one fell swoop, and it is different from the silk industry, so before you are stronger, it is better to slow down. Zhang Xinda said, "So, let's start the silk weaving industry steadily, this is tall and can make quick money." Oh, and porcelain, in the future, if you lay down Zhejiang, I will get you some porcelain-making equipment.

When the time comes, we will give priority to exports, use high-end silk, high-end porcelain, high-end synthetic jewelry, and high-end aluminum products to impact the Western market, exchange gold and diamonds from the West, and at the same time, the silk and porcelain produced by you can also be directly given to me, so that I can sell them to the modern society.

Silk products and porcelain in modern society are also expensive, but that is mainly due to the high cost, and the cost is mainly labor cost and land cost. The Qing Dynasty on your side, this aspect is definitely cheaper than the Africans, the cost is cheap, the quantity is large, and it is not sensitive, sell these with peace of mind, and I will be able to have one more source of wealth in the future. ”

"The planning is good." Li Yongji shook his head, "Okay, what you said is too scattered, let's get a detailed plan to show me, so that I can also have an eyebrow." Then, get the equipment as soon as possible, I'll do it immediately, it's better to do it early than late, didn't the great man say, what is just seizing the day.

Oh, by the way, before you make a plan, pass me your synthetic opals, synthetic crystals, fake diamonds, and aluminum products, I'm very idle now anyway, so let's use them to make some foreigners' money first. ”