199 Two years later
Time flies, and two years have passed in the blink of an eye.
These two years are simply hard to describe.
At the end of last year, the general sent Guan Ping, director of the Military Medicine Bureau, from the northern border to negotiate directly with Sun Sicheng.
Director Guan lived here for ten days and witnessed with his own eyes how good the alcohol was. He was ecstatic and immediately signed a cooperation agreement with Sun Sicheng, with a tentative annual output of 100,000 bottles, or about 50,000 kilograms.
Because it takes five or six kilograms of liquor to make one kilogram of alcohol, plus the transportation cost, the two parties temporarily agreed on one tael of silver for two bottles, and two bottles make one kilogram. Bottles should be returned as much as possible, and minor damages can be ignored.
If we encounter special periods when grain and liquor prices rise, the prices will be negotiated temporarily.
Both sides were satisfied with this. For the military camp, a bottle of alcohol cost only 500 coins and could be used on many wounded soldiers, which meant preventing many wounded soldiers from being infected and dying. The effect was so great that it was simply beyond words.
Sun Sicheng was also very satisfied. Soon their homemade liquor would be ready. By then, the cost per pound would be no more than 20 or 30 wen. In this way, the cost per pound of alcohol would not exceed 100 wen. Excluding the shipping cost, they would make a net profit of 80% per pound.
The net income from this alone is 40,000 taels of silver a year.
Because this is a great thing that benefits the country and the people, it will soon be spread to the Southwestern Army, the Southeastern Army, and various medical clinics in the Great Zhou.
According to conservative estimates, these places produce no less than 200,000 bottles and 100,000 kilograms of meat a year, with a net income of 80,000 taels.
With an annual income of at least 120,000 yuan, Sun Sicheng insisted on splitting the profits 50-50 with Ping An, otherwise he would rather not do this business.
Of course this is to intimidate Ping An. Alcohol has already made an agreement with the military camp, so how can you not do it?
Ping An was helpless in the end and insisted on taking only 40%, and he had to take out 20% of his own money. He had to divide 10% of the income equally among Xiansheng, Ming Wanli, and Fang Xiao, and the remaining 10% was used to support his people. Since he had income, he should not let Baicaotang support him anymore.
The number of these people will increase in the future, and when they grow up, they will get married and buy houses, all of which require money.
Sun Sicheng naturally agreed.
The young apprentice has a good annual income, and if he wants to support himself, then let him do it.
Half a year later, various armies signed agreements with Sun Sicheng, and major medical clinics also placed small orders.
The annual pre-sale volume reached 200,000 kilograms. For a time, Sun Sicheng, the eldest son of the Sun family, became the talk of the town, and people also knew that his apprentice had contributed to this.
Many people were envious, jealous and resentful. They didn't know what was wrong with the young disciple's brain to think of this.
As children, shouldn’t you think about delicious food?
Ping'an and his uncle found Wan Changsheng at the end of December. The three of them discussed the matter in detail, and Sun Hongyu analyzed all aspects for him.
Wan Changsheng laughed. What's the big deal? If there really was a reward, what use would it be to him as a medical student? In the end, the imperial court might just let it go.
Chang Chunfeng is different in this respect. First of all, he is Ping'an's biological father. Secondly, he is a graduate of the imperial examination system, which might be beneficial for his promotion. Ping'an is also his eldest son, so this will not be a bad thing for Ping'an.
At the end of last year, wars in the southwest and north became more frequent, more severe than in previous years, but not as severe as seven or eight years ago.
That’s it. The effect of alcohol is so obvious that it is almost called a magical wine. You know, this wine is so strong that it can almost spit fire. Is it still wine?
The death rate among the injured was much lower, and generals from all over the country wrote letters to Sun Sicheng and Ping An to ask for credit.
Of course the court likes it, of course the emperor likes it. Young people are the foundation of the country. Without them, everything is in vain.
Because of his two emergency methods two years ago, Sun Yinan had just been awarded the title of Fifth-Rank Yuanwailang. This time, Sun Sicheng was directly awarded the honorary title of Fifth-Rank Langzhong in the Military Medical Department. He did not have to take up the post, but he had the power of a Fifth-Rank official. The reward was indeed considerable. I will not mention the other things.
Ping'an's situation was special, but the emperor was in a good mood and asked someone to investigate. It turned out that the child was only nine years old. The prescription was originally thought of by someone else, and the sketch was also drawn by someone else.
The emperor was so pleased that he appointed Ping'an as a minor Zhaowu lieutenant, a seventh-rank official, a nominal position that also came with a monthly salary.
Ping An was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry. An annual salary of two or three hundred taels of silver was good, but after all, it was just the product of the emperor's momentary happiness, and he would probably forget it afterwards.
The imperial court of the Great Zhou Dynasty was quite good at encouraging people. They gave them honorary positions without any practical requirements, only a few hundred taels of silver a year, and only two to three thousand taels of silver in ten years.
Chang Chunfeng received an imperial edict, which said that he had given birth to a good son, and his rank was raised by one level, from the sixth rank, but his official position remained unchanged for the time being.
Chang Chunfeng was stunned. This was simply a blessing from heaven. Being promoted to a higher rank was good, but it was even better to make an impression on the emperor. For a moment, the people around him were filled with endless envy and jealousy.
Chang Chunfeng never hid his affairs from anyone. Anyone who liked gossip knew his past. While they sympathized with him, they were also extremely envious.
Naturally, the court did not forget Wan Changsheng. After all, Ping An mainly lived here. The court rewarded Mei Niang with a seventh-rank lady and praised her and Wan Changsheng for their good way of having children. Mei Niang was so happy that she didn't know what to do. The emperor also rewarded them with five hundred taels of silver and said a lot of encouraging words.
Wan Changsheng thought it was no longer his business, but who knew the court would give him such a big surprise.
Money is good, but an imperial edict is a great honor to the family.
One recipe for alcohol and one for white wine, it can be said that he gained both fame and fortune.
If you follow the emperor's clear path, no one will say anything even if you do the liquor business.
This was something Ping An did not expect, and even Sun Sicheng did not expect it.
Soon two more alcohol workshops were built, and a liquor workshop was also built, all in the pharmacy where Mei Niang lived. Ming Wanli was fully responsible for alcohol matters.
At the beginning of this year, Ping An and his master lived in the Medical Valley for most of the year. Apart from studying, they spent most of their time studying medicine, making medicines and even suturing living bodies.
The living subjects are artificially raised rabbits, chickens, etc. Many small animals hunted in the mountains are also used in experiments first.
Ping An no longer hides his talent and shows his amazing talent in this area.
This made Sun Sicheng ecstatic, but at the same time he felt helpless because his talent in this area was far inferior to that of his apprentice.
Ping An has increased the intensity of training for his twelve subordinates in the past two years, but each person has a different focus.
In the entire Da Zhou, half of the areas have experienced droughts to varying degrees in the past two years. It is not very serious, so there is no shortage of drinking water and no harvest.
However, due to the decrease in grain production, the price has more than doubled, and more than half of the more than 20 braised food shops have closed down. If this continues, the remaining shops will have to close one after another.
This made Ping An feel distressed. He alone lost at least six or seven thousand taels a year, which was not a small number, but what could he do?
Without raw materials, not many people would be willing to eat it. We don’t know what next year will be like. It’s good enough to be able to survive and not have to flee famine. Let’s forget about the braised food.
But he sold most of the grain he had stored and the grain his master had stored for him, and made a lot of silver.
Erqiang, who is fifteen years old, is tall and strong. The monthly salary he gets in the past two years is given by his cousin. It is not just a fixed amount every month. There are also floating rewards based on each person's performance. The most he can get is three or four taels a month, and the least is more than one tael.
He had saved sixty or seventy taels of silver in the past two years. Two months ago, he went back to his hometown with his uncle to attend his eldest brother's wedding. He took all the money with him, and his cousin gave him additional travel expenses.
When he returned that time, many people came to propose marriage to him, which scared him so much that he immediately told his parents that he would not get engaged within three years.
My eldest sister-in-law is Doctor Sun’s daughter, and she is also a girl from a well-known family in the county.
He didn't want to just find an illiterate girl.
He has good character and good skills, so why would he look for someone he is not satisfied with?
Besides, Ping'an had promised that for every one of his subordinates who got married, he would give sixty taels of silver and arrange accommodation for them.
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