Zhao Dagui left a few hundred dollars for his younger brother and sister to buy some rice and meat in the village, and he hired a boat to cross the Huangpu River to the county seat of Modu.

After paying a few copper coins at the city gate, Zhao Dagui successfully entered the county seat of Modu and went to a bustling street with the most shops.

I found a small shop that sold sugar, and when I asked the price, the raw sugar was 56 wen per catty, the brown sugar was 60 wen per catty, the white refined sugar was 85 wen per catty, and the rock sugar was 120 wen per catty, which was considered a retail price.

It can be seen that the price of white refined sugar is more than half more expensive than that of raw sugar.

(Note: This is actually the price of local sugar in the British Concession in 1850, and the price in 1843 should not be much different from this)

Sugar is a bulk commodity with small profits and quick turnover, and the wholesale price should be 10 to 20 percent lower than the retail price, but it is almost impossible to reduce it by more than 20 percent.

The exchange ratio of silver dollars and copper coins was about 1,000 wen for a long time in the Qing Dynasty, but after the Opium War, the economy was impacted, and silver was expensive and cheap, and one tael of silver could be exchanged for about 1,600 wen.

Considering that the exchange rate between silver and the Spanish silver dollar at this time was 1.558 silver dollars for one tael of silver, it can usually be assumed that at the end of 1843, one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,5600 yuan, and one silver dollar could be exchanged for about 1,000 yuan.

(Note: The exchange rate of silver and copper during this period of the Qing Dynasty was very complicated and often changing, and copper coins were divided into money and big money, such as one or two silver can be exchanged for about 1,600 yuan, but it may only be exchanged for 1,000 to 1,200 yuan.)

This was still the price of the Daoguang period in 1843, and in the Xianfeng era in 1850, one tael of silver could be exchanged for 2,200 to 2,400 wen, and one silver dollar could be exchanged for 1,5600 wen.

For the sake of convenience, the copper coins here are calculated according to the system of money, so that one tael of silver is equal to 1.558 yuan of silver, which is about 1,600 yuan of money, and one yuan of silver is equivalent to 1,000 yuan of money, which will not be repeated in the future. ）

This change in the price of silver and copper has led to some very serious consequences, such as one tael of silver for one thousand wen money in the Yongzheng period, and one thousand wen money weighs eight catties and twelve taels, which contains four catties and six taels of copper;

During the Opium War, copper production in Yunnan and other places was greatly affected, and it was mostly used to cast cannons, which made the price of copper soar after the war, and one or two pieces of silver could only be exchanged for three or four catties of copper (or less);

However, one tael of silver can be purchased to make money and smelt copper, but you can get about six catties and nine taels of copper, that is, there is more than 100 percent profit from ruining money to make copper, and there are many big households who secretly destroy money and cast copper to make huge profits.

(Note: In fact, this only calculates the profit of ruining money to cast copper and get raw copper; if the copper obtained from destroying money is used to cast bronze objects, the income can increase by three or four times)

The price of copper, the raw material contained in copper coins, was twice as high as the face price, and the price of flour was several times more expensive than bread.

Of course, such a lofty issue as the exchange rate has little to do with Zhao Dagui, he just scolded in his heart that the government of this era did not have a little economic mind, and then put it down and ignored it again.

Zhao Dagui didn't want to ask only one, so he asked a number of shops along the street, and the prices were all about the same, and there was not much change.

After arriving at a shop in Yao's alley, Zhao Dagui deliberately stopped, carefully inquired about the price of local sugar with the shop owner, and took the trouble to bargain.

"Dagui, why are you here?" Suddenly, someone called Dagui from behind and came over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh, Brother Zihao, what a coincidence, I can still meet you here. Zhao Dagui said quietly.

"Haha, this shop is mine, you don't know. The man was very young, about twenty years old, wearing an indigo robe, and said happily.

"I see, that's a coincidence. Zhao Dagui also smiled.

The surname of the person who came was Chen Zihao, and he was also one of the students in this Modu County, which is commonly known as Tongsheng.

Lao Zhao's family still had a bit of a family background a few years ago, and the original owner also went to the county school to study for a few years, and there were only forty or fifty people in a county school, and all the children knew each other more or less, so the original owner was more familiar with this Chen Zihao, and the relationship was not very bad.

This Chen Zihao's family is better than Zhao Dagui's family, and he runs a grocery store in the city, in which there are still many local sugars;

Zhao Dagui inherited part of the memory of the original owner, so he felt that this Chen Zihao's family was available, so he intended to go to this store, and after arriving, he kept rubbing, just to see if he could wait for Chen Zihao's arrival.

Of course, even if there is no Chen Zihao and the Chen family, Zhao Dagui's money-making plan can still be carried out, but it will be more troublesome.

In this way, the shopkeeper of this shop is Chen Zihao's father, and Zhao Dagui greeted him with the etiquette of seeing his elders, which made this old Chen very happy.

"You're here to buy candy, let me give you a few pounds. Chen Zihao finally met his classmates in his store, so he patted his chest and pretended to be generous, and he was about to give something away.

Lao Chen's face on the side changed, and as soon as he wanted to speak, Zhao Dagui immediately shook his head and said: "Oh, if it's one or two catties, it's no problem for me to trouble you, but I want to buy more sugar this time, so I can't let your family break the bank." ”

"Oh, how much sugar do you want to buy?" asked Chen Zihao curiously.

"I want to buy about eight taels of local sugar, but I have a requirement here, that is, to buy the cheapest jaggery candy, the cheaper the price, the larger the quantity, the better. Zhao Dagui took out the silver in his arms and showed it to Lao Chen and Xiao Chen.

Eight taels of silver is equivalent to 19,200 copper coins, and you can buy 343 catties of raw sugar, of course, because of this large amount, the price must be cheaper, and the total amount will be more.

"Why did you buy so much, I remember that your family is not very rich. Chen Zihao couldn't help but be stunned when he saw this.

"To tell you the truth, I bought this candy to make money for business, not for myself. Zhao Dagui pretended to be mysterious, and looked left and right, and then pulled the two aside and whispered.

"What kind of business can this sugar do, do you want to sell it? But then you should find someone to buy it in bulk, we are retail, and the price is not cheap after all." Chen Zihao's father was stunned and said.

Zhao Dagui thought to himself that I also wanted to find those big merchants to buy at the lowest price, but first, I don't know how to contact the kind of wholesale big sugar merchants, and second, my capital is only eight taels, such a small amount, it is estimated that even if I go, no one will pay attention to me.

"Uncle is not bad, but I still have a lot of obstacles in this matter, and I have to keep it secret, so I can't let those big merchants know.

When I was a child, I went down to the South Seas with my father and rescued an old man who had fallen into the water at Temasek, and the old man taught me a miraculous recipe to refine black and red sugar into white refined sugar as a thank you for saving my life.

At that time, the situation at home was not bad, but when I got home, I forgot about it, and it was not until this time, when the family was nervous, that I remembered this matter and thought about using that method to make money.

I came here today just to buy some jaggery to go back, if I can really refine white refined sugar, it will be a supplement to my family, and I am naturally grateful to my uncle and son. ”

Zhao Dagui spoke very sincerely, and before Chen Zihao could react, his father had already laughed.

"In the future, you have been deceived eighty percent.

It's actually very easy to turn jaggery into white sugar, just get some yellow muddy water and pour it on it, it's not difficult at all, and everyone who makes sugar liao knows it.

I think it's because people in overseas barbarian lands don't know how to make sugar, and occasionally they learn about this method, so I will give it to you as a treasure.

If you want to make a fortune with this little thing, I'm afraid you can't. ”

Zhao Dagui had long expected that Father Chen would react like this, and smiled slightly after hearing it, but he didn't care.

"Uncle said that it turned out to be reasonable, when refining sugar, make a tile, put the raw sugar on it, and then pour the prepared yellow muddy water, and then leave it for a period of time, you can turn the raw sugar into white sugar, which is a method that has been handed down since the Ming Dynasty.

However, with this method, a part of the sugar under the tile will inevitably be stained with impurities and become unusable brown sugar, and there are also certain requirements for the raw raw raw sugar, and the jaggery sugar with too poor quality cannot be turned into white sugar even if it is poured with yellow muddy water.

My method is precisely to solve this problem, no matter how bad the black sugar is, even the brown sugar left over after pouring yellow muddy water, it can also be refined into white refined sugar, which is the real magic.

I didn't say it, I came here today just to buy some of the cheapest jaggery back, regardless of the quality, as long as the price is cheap and the portion is sufficient.

I have only twelve taels of silver on me to use, and I have always been good friends with Zihao, Shibo, can you sell me some cheaper jaber?"

Chen's father originally thought that Zhao Dagui had been deceived because he was ignorant, but when he heard that he was true and willing to take out real money to buy sugar, he was a little surprised.

"Well, in that case, you may encounter any overseas strangers, but it's better to be cautious.

Speaking of buying sugar, the price of jaggery sugar here is 55 wen per catty, but you are Zihao's friend, and you buy a lot of money, I can sell you 400 catties of sugar at a price lower than 50 wen per catty.

However, if you really want to buy the cheapest jaggery, I have accidentally bought the wrong batch of sugar here recently, because it is too shoddy, and I am worried about what to do with it.

If you want it, I don't want to make money, so I'll sell it to you at the original price at 40 wen per catty, how about it?"

"That's good, I'm not afraid of its shoddyness, as long as it's not stored for too long, rotten and moldy. Zhao Dagui couldn't help but say with joy.

"That's definitely not the case, we have to be conscientious when doing business. Father Chen said.

The three of them went to the Chen family's warehouse to look at the goods, and found that there were indeed several loads of raw sugar in the corner, and when they took it out, they saw that the color was extremely black, and this kind of sugar may not be unsellable, but only the poorest people will be greedy to buy some cheaply, and it is certain that they can't get rid of it quickly.

"This sugar is too bad. Chen Zihao was ignorant, so he shouted on the spot.

Zhao Dagui took a look at it and found that the sugar was just more impurities and was more shoddy, but there was no mold and rot and other problems, it should still be the sugar just produced today, but because the refining was not legal, the good sugar was damaged.

"The sugar is ok, just right. Zhao Dagui nodded and said.

Zhao Dagui discussed the price with Chen's father, originally 19,200 wen to buy 40 wen per catty of brown sugar, should be able to buy 480 catties, for the sake of the quantity, just take 500 catties.

Afterwards, Chen's father felt that it was very cost-effective to get rid of the tricky goods, and wanted to make a good impression in front of his son's classmates, so he gave two catties of white refined sugar, which was considered to have established a good relationship.

Zhao Dagui thought about the two children in the family, so he smiled, and couldn't stop thanking Chen's father.

Five hundred catties of sugar is not something that Zhao Dagui can carry alone, but fortunately, the Chen family has been doing business here for a long time, and Chen's father quickly hired a porter to move the sugar to the wharf, and contacted the ferry boat on the Huangpu River to let Zhao Dagui cross the river with the goods.

After Zhao Dagui crossed the river, he asked someone to help move all the sugar to his own house in Sanlipu on the east bank of the Pujiang River, not to mention it.

After Chen's father sent Zhao Dagui away, he remembered the words that raw sugar can be used to refine white sugar, and he felt a little stunned in his heart, so he asked his son: "Zihao, what are you doing as a classmate, saying that you went to Nanyang to learn the secret art of sugar refining, is it reliable?"

Chen Zihao happened to be heartless at this age, so he said: "Didn't I tell you before, I have a classmate, because the people in the village made a grain tax, and he fought with the local grain family, and the son of the grain family couldn't get out of bed."

Later, the grain household sued the person to the county office, and was finally beaten by the county magistrate for fifty years, and he was expelled from the county school, that is this Zhao Dagui. ”

After hearing this, Chen's father suddenly felt cold in his heart, and vaguely remembered that his son did say that a classmate was expelled from the county school because he was involved in a lawsuit, and he was still embarrassed at the time, but he didn't expect it to be the young offspring he saw today.

"I see. Such a person will have no future in the future, and you will have less contact with such people in the future. Chen's father was originally quite covetous of the secret method of refining white sugar that Zhao Dagui said, and he couldn't tell what his feelings were at this time, so he just stomped his feet and warned his son not to associate with those who were not careful.

"This... Be. Chen Zihao didn't think about people, but he felt that he was not close to Zhao Daguiyuan, but it was better than a nodding friend, so he didn't want to make trouble with his father about this matter.