Upon hearing this, Han Zhongyu nodded in agreement, and began to ponder how to subtly curry favor with Xie Yushu in his memorial!
Xie Yushu instructed Li Guang and the others to sort and load the items onto the carts. The glass filled three large carriages. Li Guang, seeing these precious items, was afraid they would break, so he wrapped them in several layers of blankets before stopping.
A carriage was filled with all sorts of cups and tea sets, and a carriage was filled with mirrors, all of which were wrapped tightly in quilts.
The remaining carriage, with its slightly smaller windows—a model reserved for the powerful and wealthy—along with four sets of tea sets featuring plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums, and two mirrors, was given to Han Zhongyu so he could arrange his own visits to relatives!
Han Zhongyu was delighted to see that he had been given a separate carriage, and he flashed a row of bright white teeth.
"Thank you so much for your kindness! I was just wondering what to send home for the New Year! Such a beautiful and unique gift will surely be a hit with my family!"
Xie Yushu said
"This batch of goods was made in a hurry, so we'll send it to the capital first. After the craftsmen rest for a couple of days, they'll resume work. You can tell me what you want, and I'll have someone make it and send it to you later."
Or you can draw whatever style you like!
Han Zhongyu thought for a moment
"I think this batch of tea sets is quite exquisite. If I had to think of anything better, I couldn't come up with anything better!"
"Then I'll send you a set of each, and you can use them in rotation!"
"Excellent! It seems I've come out on top by being friends with you!"
"Pshaw! This is nothing! Follow me, and I guarantee you'll live the high life, with all the good food and drink!"
Han Zhongyu cupped his hands and smiled.
"Then I, Han, will rely on Your Excellency from now on!"
"Haha! No problem, no problem!"
"Alright, you must be tired after working for several days. Go and rest. I'm going back to write my greetings. We should send the things away as soon as possible!"
After Han Zhongyu finished speaking, he took his leave with his convoy.
Xie Yushu had been working tirelessly these past few days, repeatedly experimenting and giving guidance, and she was indeed very tired, so she slept soundly for a day.
Before they knew it, it was time for Xie Tianqi and his group to return home. Xie Yushu had the workers load a donkey cart with small glass items of ordinary size, two sets of ordinary glass tea sets, a bag of beans, and half a pig, and send them to Xie Tianqi.
Xie Tianqi and the others had packed their things and were waiting for the glass that Xie Yushu had mentioned. Upon seeing Xie Yushu, they were all curious to see what the glass actually looked like.
When they pulled back the quilt and saw the bright, clear glass, they all exclaimed in amazement.
Liu Qiang even said directly
"If we replaced the paper windows in our house with this, the house would be so much brighter!"
Xie Tianming also said
"Really! With this, it will be so much more convenient to do needlework indoors!"
Xie Tianqi said excitedly
"When we get back, we'll replace the glass and show them how amazing my sister is!"
"Stop showing off, just live your life well!"
This thing will be available for sale next year. This smaller model is for ordinary people. It will be priced at 25 copper coins per piece, or 20 copper coins per piece for wholesale, with a minimum order of 200 yuan, cash only.
If anyone asks about it when you get back, just spread the word. If anyone wants to become a small vendor and sell wholesale, they can come and pick up the goods after June next year.
For the first six months, we need to focus on the high-end market.
Xie Tianqi screamed upon hearing this.
"Such a precious item, only twenty-five copper coins?"
Two hundred and fifty is cheap, okay?
"Sister, you can make money selling like this?"
"These are meant for ordinary people, so who can afford them if they're too expensive?"
Don't worry, we won't lose money. We'll just make small profits on high volume!
After listening, Liu Qiang pondered for a moment and said...
"Twenty-five copper coins is only the wages for two days' work and the cost of eight catties of corn. By autumn, almost every household will be able to buy a few coins to store!"
Such a good product at such a low price, it's sure to sell well!
Xie Yushu nodded
"Brother Liu, this batch of goods is in a hurry, so we only made sixty pieces. There are also two tea sets. You can take twenty pieces of glass and one set of tea set. My dad and the others will keep one set for their family to use first. You can come back and pick up more when we produce more!"
Liu Qiang then noticed that there were two tea sets inside, and couldn't help but take out a cup and examine it closely.
"Such a beautiful cup, I need to buy some good tea to match it!"
Xie Tianming, Liu Nan, Liu Bei, and the others gathered around and took one of the teacups. It was just an ordinary set of eight cups, consisting of a teapot and a large-bellied cup. It would be very common in modern times, but here, it really amazed them. They stood there for a while, stunned, before carefully putting it back.
Liu Qiang thought of what Xie Tianqi had told him and asked Xie Yushu.
"By the way, Tianqi told me that you asked me to find workers to standardize the dock? Finding people is easy, but are you saying that we'll take over all the loading and unloading work at the dock from now on?"
"This is my plan. The dock will definitely become more lively in the future. If no one manages it and everyone comes to find work on their own, it will be easy for fights to break out over jobs!"
Over time, they'll split into their own gangs, with one leader and another second-in-command. If they fight, it'll inevitably cause trouble for your Jinli Bureau. Why don't you establish a gang, monopolize this industry, and manage it in a unified and standardized way?
Merchants will pay you a loading and unloading fee. This unified payment system will prevent merchants from abusing their status to maliciously lower prices, or workers from undercutting each other to compete for work, thus disrupting the market. You can send your workers to load and unload, and then pay them their wages in a unified manner. This will avoid a lot of trouble!
You can take your time looking. Anyway, the number of merchants won't suddenly increase, and it won't become a huge boom all at once. It'll probably take at least six months.
Liu Qiang originally thought that if things were standardized, he would definitely have to charge management fees, which would mean taking a cut from the workers. If he took another 10% of the hard-earned money from the workers, wouldn't he be no different from those cruel officials?
Besides, if he exploits the workers, wouldn't the workers be at odds with him? How can he be easy to manage?
But when Xie Yushu said that they could charge the merchants and pay the workers' wages in a unified manner, he immediately understood!
That's right! Merchants make at least half the profit from each shipment. There's an old saying that even junk can be made half the profit, let alone precious items like glass. Why would they care about a few extra loading and unloading fees?
Liu Qiang figured it out and was once again impressed by Xie Yushu's quick thinking. He took a deep breath, seemingly struck by a sudden thought.
"I understand! I'll get started on it as soon as I get back!"
"Alright, you can go now. Be careful on your journey, and I wish you a Happy New Year in advance!"
"Okay, you too, Happy New Year!"
Although Liu Qiang found this idea novel, he still replied with a similar statement.
Xie Tianqi, Xie Tianming, Liu Xiaodong, and the others all smiled and said...
"Happy New Year to you, Sis!"
After watching them disappear from sight, Xie Yushu led Nanxing back to the manor.
Meanwhile, Han Zhongyu, along with his New Year's greetings, family letter, tofu recipe, gifts, and glass as tribute, embarked on his journey to the capital.
He is currently busy with his year-end summary.
He wanted to finish things quickly so he could have a peaceful New Year, preferably with Xie Yushu. He just needed to come up with a pretext.
Sigh! What a worry!
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