A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1061
Xuanyangfang,
Sikong Mansion, in the north room of the main courtyard, candlelight flickered in the room.

"I didn't expect this candle to be made of whale oil." Fan Xuanfu took off his makeup, untied his bun, and put on a loose and comfortable white folded cloth nightgown.
Wu Huaiyu was lying on the bed one step ahead of him, holding a book in his hand and looking through it.

"Now this candle is very popular among the noble families in Chang'an. Even if the purchase is restricted, the supply is still in short supply. There are always people who have connections. I also receive many invitations from ladies every day."

Wu Huaiyu raised his head and glanced at the candles lit in the room.
This is not an ordinary candle, but a candle made from whale spermaceti oil. This kind of candle has many advantages. First of all, it will not melt in the hot summer. It has no peculiar smell when burning, and there will be no black smoke or flame. Also exceptionally bright and long-lasting.

Candles at this time were still a luxury item that most people couldn't afford. They were mainly made of beeswax and white wax worms, which were difficult to make and expensive but had many shortcomings.

It is smokeless and odorless, has a bright flame, and is resistant to burning. In addition, the whale oil wax sold by the Wu family is packaged and marketed.

It is not called whale oil candle directly, but called mermaid balm, with a beautiful legend of a sea mermaid, and then some spices are added when making whale oil candles, plus exquisite packaging.
These mermaid balms quickly became popular in Chang'an.
In the Jin Dynasty, Shi Chong fought for wealth by burning candles with others, which was more expensive than burning money.

Legend has it that a large amount of mermaid ointment was used in the imperial mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, which was called the Everlasting Lamp, but it was actually whale oil.

The Wu family's mermaid balm is still red and looks higher-end than the white one.

By the Tang Dynasty, although people were cultivating white wax insects to make candles, which reduced the cost of candles and increased production capacity, this thing was still not affordable for ordinary people.

The Wu family's mermaid balm became popular in Chang'an once it was launched. It is positioned as a high-end upper-class market. Of course, those nobles and wealthy families will not care about the candle money. What they want is a matching status symbol, just like the famous nobles in Chang'an, who If there are no Silla maids in the inner courtyard of the house and no Kunlun slaves in the outer courtyard, they are not of the same standard.

As a nobleman, when you ride a horse, you have to ride an imported one, such as a Turkic horse, a Khitan horse, a Qinghai horse, or even a Dawan horse from the Western Regions. For a carriage, you have to use the Xi tribe, and for a saddle, preferably a Khitan silver saddle, when you go out for a drink. , then you have to go to Pingkangfang, and the wine companion must be called Hu Ji...
If you use candles, of course you have to use mermaid balm.
If you don't seek the best, but seek the most expensive, then you are called a noble.

The more limited the purchase of the Wu family's whale oil candle, the more people rush to buy it, and even many purchasing agents, that is, scalpers, have emerged because of this.

Try to find a way to buy candles from Wu's shop, and then resell them at a higher price.

This candle scalper has even appeared in more than two ways, three, four, and five.
"No one can do anything if they want more. The current production is only so much."

Whale oil candles are also a new industry in Luzon today.

At first, the indigenous people along the coast of Luzon would use the stranded whales to slaughter the stranded whales and cut the meat for food. They would also use the whale blubber and other things to light the lamps.

There are many advantages to whale blubber lighting, and there are many whales in Luzon.
So from simply sitting back and waiting, to actively refitting ships to go out to sea to hunt whales, a new industry emerged.

Whale meat can be eaten, whale bones and skin are also very valuable, and whale blubber and whale brain oil can be made into candles, which are also very valuable.

It relies on mountains to eat, and it relies on the sea to eat. With such resources, Luzon will naturally find ways to utilize and develop them.

There is no need to worry that whaling will harm nature. After all, the whaling capacity these days is limited and it is impossible to truly threaten the whale population.

This industry has just begun,
The production capacity is not high yet.
The candles produced are mainly shipped to the Central Plains for sale. Now they can only be supplied to Chang'an and Luoyang markets.
in short supply,

Completely in short supply,

There are too many wealthy families in Chang'an and Luoyang.

A candle costs one stone, and a high-end candle can be worth ten stone.

Whose family can afford a little per square meter? Ordinary people usually burn a pine branch or light a handful of bamboo strips at night, and just make do with it. They go to bed early, and there won't be much nightlife.

As for those powerful landowners, they mainly use oil lamps. Vegetable oil and animal oil can be used, but they are not cheap. One pound of cheap vegetable oil lamp oil can be worth three measures of wheat.

During the Jin Dynasty, Wang Kai and Shi Chong fought for wealth. Wang Kai washed the pot with sugar water, and Shi Chong used candles to burn the pot.
Because lamp oil was too expensive, some people invented oil-saving lamps with a mezzanine filled with water, which could save a lot of oil and became very popular.

The polarization between rich and poor in the Tang Dynasty was actually very serious.

This is especially true in Chang'an and Luoyang.

Ordinary people, a young and strong man, who works hard, may only earn a stone of wheat a month as wages, but those powerful people have thousands of servants and concubines.

Just like the mermaid ointment is so expensive now, some scalpers are reselling it at an increased price, but those nobles don't care at all and just buy it when it's available.

When their family eats, they don't light just one candle, but many candles. They are lit as bright as day to show their strength.

It is said that there is a family in Chang'an who used to be a small noble. Now his family is in decline and their life is very tight. But for the sake of face, he
I'd better light a candle,

But when there are no guests, only one is ordered, and when there are guests, two are ordered.

"How much money does our family have now?" Wu Huaiyu asked his wife.

"do not know."

"what?"

Fan Xuanfu said with a smile, "I really don't know the details. There are accounts, but it's very complicated. Our family is now a big business with countless properties. How can we tell clearly unless we do an accounting?"

"No need, I'm just asking about it,"

"Alang needs money, you can just spend it as much as you need."

As a eldest wife, Fan Xuanfu is naturally also the housekeeper. The family's property is very large, but it still has to be collected by her. Although she is very attentive to managing it, the family property is really too big.

It was said that the Wu family was as rich as the country. It was said that the trees on Zhongnan Mountain were tied with silk from the Wu family. All the trees on Zhongnan Mountain were tied with a piece of silk, and the Wu family's silk was not used up.

How many trees are there in Zhongnan Mountain? There is no clear number of people, so the number of silks and silks owned by the Wu family is also not clear. In short, some people say that there is tens of millions of silks and wealth. Some people think it’s more than that,
It is said that Wu Huaiyu's family business can definitely be used as the country's fiscal revenue for several years.

Various rumors,

The Wu family never responded,
But he is indeed rich,

So many industries are still expanding every year. It is true that money begets money, and life is endless. No one dares to say whether the Wu family is the richest man in the Tang Dynasty, but the Wu family is making money very fast.

"There should be a lot of cash available, right?"

"That's for sure,"

"That's good,"

Fan Xuanfu heard that Wu Huaiyu might need to use a large amount of money, but he didn't ask. It was long past the time for the family to worry about money. In fact, although Fan Xuanfu was in charge of the family's financial ledger, it was just a symbol. She didn't really need to worry about it.

Each industry of the Wu family is managed by dedicated personnel, and the operations are very healthy. The accounts are clear, the property rights are clear, and the profits are gratifying.

Fan Xuanfu opened the quilt, got into the bed, and leaned against Wu Huaiyu,
Although they are an old couple, they are about to part ways, and they still want to be more tender.

"I plan to use a large sum of money to invest in orphanages and build some social studies and technical schools."

"I support you." Fan Xuanfu's hands became unstable.

"This time I invested more money."

"Listen to Alang."

Wu Huaiyu allowed her to be dishonest, but he simply stated his plan. He planned to ensure that there would be at least one orphanage in each of the more than 300 prefectures and 1,500 counties across the country, with a scale that could accommodate adoptions. Hundreds of orphans.

The Wu family has actually established thousands of orphanages in various places over the years. Some were established directly by the Wu family, some were established under the names of various businesses controlled by the Wu family, and some were established with other identities.
Thousands of orphanages were built one after another, housing and raising tens of thousands of orphans.

The Wu family paid a lot of money for this, but in detail, this is not only a good deed. The Wu family has expanded its industry so much in recent years and requires a large number of manpower, many of which were trained by the Wu family themselves.

We not only recruit shopkeepers, craftsmen, and clerks from our peers, but also recruit a large number of people.

At the same time, the Wu family cultivates themselves. For example, these orphans in the Wu family orphanage are called Wu family orphans. When they are in the orphanage, the Wu family will also start to educate them, teach them literacy and arithmetic, and let them learn a few things when they are older. door technology,
For the orphans of the Wu family, the Wu family will make a plan for them based on their talents. Some who are good at school may sponsor them to continue their studies. Most of them will learn the skills of various industries and will naturally enter various industries of the Wu family in the future.

These people trained by the Wu family themselves are naturally more loyal and reliable, making it difficult for others to poach them away.

Apprentices are recruited in the workshops, technical students are recruited in the technology, plus children trained from childhood in the orphanage. In recent years, batches of young men have joined the various industries of the Wu family, and the number is increasing year by year.

But Wu Huaiyu felt that it was still not enough.
Nowadays, the place where the Wu family is most lacking in people is Luzon.

Regular immigration is difficult;

So now he thinks of orphans,

Although the current era is known as the Zhenguan era, it is a rare time of enlightenment and stability, and although there are no large-scale wars or disasters, this is after all a feudal era and the beginning of the country.
There are still many people in prefectures, counties and localities all over the world who are living in difficulty. Due to various reasons, there are also many orphans who have no one to care for them.

There are even many families who have encountered changes or have difficulty in living, and their children cannot be fed, so they can only abandon or give them away.

The Wu family's orphanage is able to adopt those orphans, which is a great good deed. And after adopting them, you can also enlighten them with reading, even teach them a living skill, and even plan their future work, which is definitely a good thing.

For the Wu family, it takes a lot of time and money to adopt and train orphans, but in the long run, it is worth it. It can not only solve their own employment needs, but also these people will be more loyal.

Luzon is currently short of people.

Of course there will be no problem in sending the orphans raised by the Wu family to Luzon in the future. In fact, in the past two years, the Wu family has had batch after batch of former Wu family orphans traveling from all over the mainland to the southeast coast, taking the The ship went to Luzon,
When they go there, they want to settle down and take root there.
The Wu family will not treat these Wu orphans badly. Not only will they get jobs, but they will also be given land. These young people are now the pioneers. Although the conditions are still rudimentary now, the future is definitely bright.

The bamboo baskets and baskets are used to open up the mountains and forests.

"I plan to build at least 3,000 orphanages in 300 states and more than 1,500 counties in the Central Plains within three years, capable of adopting at least 300,000 orphans,"

Fan Xuanfu's breathing was a little heavy, and her eyes were getting blurred. She didn't want to talk about this at this time, she just wanted her husband to love her a few more times before leaving Beijing.

"Then just do what A Lang said. Just allocate some money. The most important thing our family needs right now is money."

Adding 2,000 orphanages in three years, with the plan to accommodate more than 200,000 orphans, will be a huge investment, and will continue to be invested every year in the future, but she feels that this is a great thing to do good deeds, and it is also true If it helps the Wu family, then do it.

"I also plan to buy 500 acres of land for each orphanage,"

"purchase."

"The orphanage was renamed Salesian Kindergarten,"

"change,"

"Alang, you see it's getting late. Turn off the lights and have a rest. We'll talk about the business tomorrow," Fan Xuanfu said. He waved his hand and a strong wind swept through the candlestick and wiped out the whale oil candle.
Being turned over by red waves filled the room with fragrance.

(End of this chapter)