213, New Way to Make Money
213, New Way to Make Money
Liu Sanniang came into the backyard from the front and just happened to hear her husband and eldest son talking about that crazy woman.
Upon hearing this, Liu Sanniang came up with an idea: "How about we see if there are any unwanted children somewhere and find one for her? Perhaps with a child by her side, her madness will be cured without treatment."
"What you said seems to make some sense."
Lu Youtian thought about it for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'll go look outside and see if there's any abandoned child somewhere. I'll give her one to raise."
"Can she take care of a child in her current condition?" Lu Mingfei was a little skeptical. Can a mad person take care of a child?
"Let's try it first. If it doesn't work, we'll send the child to the mountains to be raised by others. Life is hard these days, and there are so many unwanted children out there. If we don't pick them up, these children..." Liu Sanniang stopped talking before she finished.
Everyone present could guess what would happen to these unwanted children.
Hearing this, Lu Mingfei frowned and asked, "Are there a lot of abandoned babies out there now?"
"It's better here. It's hard to say about places further away." At this point, Lu Youtian couldn't help but sigh and said, "This is bad heaven, and the people's lives are not easy either."
"We're near Kyoto Prefecture, and many of us are servants and tenant farmers for wealthy families. Even if we're struggling, we can still come into the city and do some small business. Most families live better than those in other places."
After listening to what the adults said, Lu Mingfei could only agree with his mother's suggestion to ask his father to go look for an unwanted abandoned baby and give the woman a child to raise.
Thinking of what his father said about abandoned babies, Lu Mingfei discussed with his father again: "Dad, you often walk outside. If you see an unwanted child, pick it up and we can raise it."
"Our family will set aside a sum of money every year to support these children. Dad, please pick out a few kind-hearted aunts from among the refugees and have them take care of the children we bring back."
"…Raising so many children will probably cost a lot of money." Lu Youtian said with some concern.
"It's okay, we'll just find another way to make money. Now we have the people, and I'll find a few more ways to make money." Lu Mingfei also knew that raising a child would cost money, and running an orphanage would require a lot of money.
He didn't know why he came to this time and space. Since he was here, it must have been arranged by heaven. He didn't want to leave this world without doing anything and leaving nothing behind.
Lu Mingfei said to his parents in this life, "We just need enough money to get by. We don't need to build up a huge fortune and leave a lot of things for our descendants. Money spent can be earned back. Instead of keeping the money earned in a bank, it's better to make the most of it."
Hearing his adopted son's words, Lu Qingfeng was deeply moved. "I didn't expect Mingfei, at such a young age, to see things more clearly than us."
"Then I'll consider it my godfather's share. From now on, I'll also take out a portion of silver every year to do charity with you guys."
Lu Qingfeng had experienced many ups and downs in his life. He knew that if his descendants were capable, they could still protect the family fortune. However, if they encountered unfilial descendants like his father, half the shops on the street would be gambled away. It would be better to use some of the money to do good deeds and accumulate more virtue for himself and his descendants.
Hearing this, Lu Youtian thought about it for a moment, then nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
After finishing these things, Lu Mingfei brought up what he had said last time, about finding other ways for their family to make money. "I have a few money-making recipes here. One is making pencils..."
He glanced around but couldn't find his shoulder bag. Lu Mingfei then remembered that he didn't bring his shoulder bag with him when he went out today. However, he had given pencils to his younger brothers at home. He said to the three adults looking at him, "It's the same kind of pen I gave Mingrui and Mingcong to write with."
"This pen is very useful and convenient for writing. It can be used by children who are just starting to learn. It also saves money on buying inkstones and ink sticks."
"When I took part in the provincial examination this time, I used this pencil to write my drafts. It's faster than writing with a brush, the characters are smaller, and it doesn't take up too much paper." Although he has been learning calligraphy here for more than ten years, Lu Mingfei is still more accustomed to writing with a hard pen.
One advantage of writing with a hard pen is that it allows for smaller characters and is faster than writing with a brush. This time, he was able to answer the test so quickly and save half a day, all thanks to the pencil he brought.
"Well, I use the pen you mentioned too. It's very convenient for taking notes. I don't need to grind ink or dip it in ink. I can write with it." Speaking of this pen, Lu Qingfeng also likes it. The half of the pencil in his hand was from his own son. He was worried that if he ran out of it, he would have to ask his adopted son to do it for him.
But if they opened a workshop specifically to make this thing, he wouldn't have to worry about running out of pencils and having no place to get new ones.
"If I make this thing and sell it, someone will probably buy it."
"Why don't we try to make a batch first, and then go to those bookstores to ask if they want them. If not, we can just set up a stall in the city to sell them." Their Lu family started out as a business. When Lu Qingfeng was a child, he often heard his grandfather talk about business. If his father had not been incompetent and addicted to gambling, their family might not have fallen into decline so quickly.
However, influenced by his family from a young age, Lu Qingfeng also had his own ideas and perspectives on business. He could tell at a glance which businesses were viable and which were not. For example, every business his adopted son proposed always turned out to be profitable, and he had an almost blind trust in him.
Lu Youtian knew that he had no talent for business. Since the two most business-savvy people in the family said that this business could be done, he would naturally listen to the advice of those who knew the business.
"In addition to pencils, I also have a method for making paper. We can also select a group of people to make paper." Since they produced pens, how could they do without paper?
Lu Mingfei had his own considerations when he proposed making paper and pens to sell. "If we want to make paper, we only need things like tree bark and grass roots as raw materials. These things can be found everywhere and require almost no capital. We just need to train a group of people to do the work."
"What we have the most right now is people. Manpower doesn't cost a lot of money."
"As for wages, we can pay less in the early stages, and then increase them later when we make money. If we sell paper and pens, the raw materials alone will save us a lot of costs compared to our current business."
"Well, yes, that's the truth. If we knew how to make paper, it would be more profitable than our two current workshops." Lu Qingfeng nodded.
"How do you know how to make paper?" Lu Youtian looked at his eldest son and asked in surprise.
"...from a book." Lu Mingfei had actually read about papermaking online before. Of course, no one would doubt him now that he said he learned it from a book. "I've never done it before, so I don't know if it's possible. It just so happens that I have some free time these days, so I'll try it at home to see if I can make paper."
Liu Sanniang did not doubt her eldest son's words. As a scholar, it was normal for him to know more than them.
"Is there anything I need to do? I'll do it with you." Lu Youtian asked.
Lu Mingfei told his father the materials he needed, "Please help me find these things first. I have to attend the Luming Feast tomorrow and should be back in the afternoon."
"Okay, don't worry, I will prepare everything." Lu Youtian said.
At this time, Lu Qingfeng asked: "If that's the case, should we keep our two workshops open? Or should we open a new one?"
"The current workshop will continue to operate, and we will choose a new location to open a new workshop." Lu Mingfei said.
Thinking about the approaching cold weather and the fact that they had taken in so many refugees, Lu Mingfei thought about making arrangements for the winter. "It's already getting cold, and many people here don't even have winter clothes. It just so happens that the clothing factory has a batch of winter clothes that haven't been sold yet. Why not distribute these clothes to everyone so that they can wear them through the winter?"
However, Liu Sanniang disagreed with her eldest son's suggestion of distributing clothes. "Our down jackets are much more expensive than ordinary cotton-padded jackets. If we were to distribute one to everyone, the cost alone would be quite high. Why don't we go out and buy some cotton and have the people in the workshop make a batch of cotton-padded trousers and jackets, and then distribute them to them?"
"It's better not to give these things away for free." Lu Qingfeng disagreed with the mother and son's plan to give clothes to the refugees. He said, "We've already done the most we can by taking them in and giving them a place to live and food to eat."
"As for the rest, we don't owe them anything. You should all understand the principle of gratitude and resentment. We can ask them to work in exchange for clothes, but we absolutely cannot give them away for free."
"Recently, a lot of people have come to me asking about down jackets and meat sauce and sausages."
"We can sell this batch of goods on hand and exchange them for some coarse grains. After the autumn harvest this year, grain prices not only did not fall, but also rose a lot. By the end of this year, until the first half of next year, before the new grain comes out, grain prices will probably not fall. If we don't store some grain at this time, I'm afraid the grain prices in winter will be even higher." Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading Books
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