After explaining everything, Liu Feng took Jia Huating to the Li family's house.
The Li family was in the salt and iron business, and their main base was naturally in Yicheng.
Liu Feng had two purposes in going to find the Li family.
The first thing was helping Chunyue bring her elderly father out.
The second thing is to establish a long-term cooperation plan with the Li family.
Because a very important byproduct is produced during the salt production process.
That is the important raw material for gunpowder, pyroxene.
Previously, Liu Feng had asked Tian Laoba to use horse manure to make saltpeter, but the output would definitely be limited and could not support his subsequent needs.
With the Li family, a major salt producer, supplying saltpeter, Liu Feng could begin to incorporate gunpowder technology into his plans.
Once we have enough gunpowder, we won't have to do it like before.
Even a tiny amount of saltpeter must be used sparingly when preparing gunpowder.
It's no different from playing house.
Jia Huating then had a carriage prepared and, along with Liu Feng and a group of guards, leisurely headed towards Yicheng, where the Li family was located.
Upon hearing that Liu Feng was coming, Li Jianping was quite polite and prepared a welcome banquet at the largest restaurant in Yicheng.
Liu Feng and Jia Huating were invited to a banquet.
The three chatted about everyday things during their meal.
Just from a casual chat, Liu Feng could basically tell what level the Li family was at in the salt and iron business.
The Li family owns four salt mines and two iron mines.
However, the salt mine was bought by the Li family themselves, giving them complete control, but the iron mine was not so easy to acquire.
Regardless of the quantity produced, it all had to be handed over to the Salt and Iron Bureau in the end.
However, the Li family would secretly keep a portion of it behind their backs.
If you go to the Li family's headquarters, you will discover something strange.
No matter where you go in the Li family's house, you can find scenes of iron smelting and forging.
In a sense, their blacksmithing is not for making money, but more for stockpiling resources.
The Li family understands one principle: no matter how things change, these things are hard currency and assets.
As for the Li family's four salt mines, those are even more impressive.
The edible salt used in the four cities east of Qingzhou and the surrounding counties and villages all came from the Li family. Not only that, the Li family also had to pay tribute to the imperial palace with a considerable amount of snow salt every year.
Otherwise, how could the Li family, a local clan, have the power to swallow up so many profitable businesses?
They were all raised step by step by being fed.
By this calculation, the Li family owns the fewest shops in the four cities, but among the three major families, the Li family is the wealthiest.
The Yong family owns the most businesses, including numerous rice shops and other businesses. Including the rice shops in lower-level villages and counties, the number of larger shops alone exceeds one hundred.
However, because their business profits were not high, they had the least amount of cash among the three major families.
The Jia family's businesses were quite diverse, with their main industry being their brothels, which is why they occupy a prominent position among the three families in the story.
However, the Yong family possesses a unique advantage: they have numerous businesses, numerous industries, and numerous subordinate bosses. This makes the Yong family the most influential among the four cities.
This is why the old guy Yong Xubo dared to make such harsh remarks to Liu Feng; they could rally merchants of all sizes.
If Liu Feng is taken down, the position of gang leader might actually be possible.
"Mr. Li, the reason I've come to visit you is because I have something to ask of you."
"matter?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jianping's heart skipped a beat.
Are you here to borrow money?
"Of course, Mr. Li, you don't need to worry. This matter is essentially a business deal."
Upon hearing the word "business," Boss Li immediately beamed with joy.
However, he still asked with a face full of doubt.
“Mr. Li, it’s very simple. Mr. Li’s salt mine produces a large amount of saltpeter every day, but this stuff doesn’t have much use in the market.”
"Most of them were discarded."
"My idea is for Mr. Li to sell them all to me."
Saltpeter?
Upon hearing this, Li Jianping was taken aback for a moment, but quickly realized what Liu Feng was talking about.
Its primary use is in alchemy, with a small amount used in medicine.
However, how many people practice alchemy? The market for alchemy is relatively large in the south, but it is not popular in Dali.
The dosage of the medicine was pitifully small.
However, they didn't throw these things away, so over the years they've accumulated an unknown amount in the warehouse.
“That’s easy to say. We produce several sacks of this stuff every year.”
"They are all suffering even more from their broken lives."
"But how does Mr. Liu plan to take it?"
Liu Feng knew that this kid was after money.
The price of saltpeter in pharmacies varies depending on the value of the medicine being prepared.
Under normal circumstances, one can obtain one stone for around fifty taels of silver.
In peaceful times, this thing would cost less than twenty taels of silver.
Currently, in these four cities, the price of saltpeter is only a dozen or so taels of silver.
Liu Feng had already inquired about this.
However, now that war has broken out, the price of saltpeter, an important ingredient in hemostatic drugs, has risen.
However, even buying a stone for twenty taels of silver is an astronomical price.
"Mr. Li, how about this, you name a price, I'm easy to talk to."
"How about this, thirty taels of silver per shi, a fixed price?"
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