Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 156
  Turning around, Li Weijian went to the inner palace warehouse first. The clerk led him into a place and saw dozens of wooden barrels lined up inside.

The clerk used a crowbar to pry open a wooden barrel, and Li Weijian saw a milky white soft shell floating on it.

The clerk said: "Mr. Li, this latex has been floating on the sea for more than a month. Although it is covered with tung oil to preserve it, the top layer is still hardened. But Mr. Li, don't worry, the latex underneath is intact as before."

This time, the inner government sent a total of two thousand kilograms of latex from Qiongya, which was enough for Li Weijian's experiment. This layer of soft shell is probably caused by the oxidation of the rubber solution when it comes into contact with oxygen.

It seems that there is an anticoagulant in the original rubber solution. Otherwise, the journey would have been so long, and by this time the bucket of original solution would have solidified into a lump.

Li Weijian nodded and said to the clerk: "First carry ten buckets, and then bring another two hundred kilograms of sulfur."

The clerk was speechless: "Two hundred kilograms of sulfur? Does Mr. Li want to make gunpowder?"

"Don't worry about it. I have my own uses."

How to deal with rubber? Naturally it is vulcanized rubber. However, Li Weijian only knew the name but not the reality. How is this vulcanization done? Should I use sulfur steam, or add sulfur directly and mix it? Is it normal temperature or does it need to be heated? If it is to be heated, to what degree should it be heated?
  We don’t know all of them, so we can only try them one by one.

"Okay, Mr. Li will just sign it later, otherwise it will be difficult for me to explain."

The clerk wrote down the receipt in duplicate, and Li Weijian signed and stamped it. He then hired a carriage to haul all the [-] kilograms of sulfur and rubber liquid to his mansion.

The former residence of General Fengen had been renovated a long time ago, and the side garden was kept as it was. A side door was left on the east side so that Li Weijian could go to the second courtyard to play with things.

Hearing that Li Weijian had arrived, Fu Qiufang came out to welcome him. Li Weijian was busy at the moment, so he only said a few words to him, put down his things and rushed to the Military Academy.

I went to the place to find Director Chen, handed him the sketch of the gun mount, and asked him how the steam engine was being built.

Chief Chen said with a bitter face: "Mr. Li, our Military Academy is responsible for its own profits and losses. Earlier, we naturally hoped that the more work the better. But now that we have taken over the work of the imperial court, we really can't find too many people. The steam engine only I’m afraid I have to build it slowly.”

No matter how highly regarded Li Weijian was by King Zhongyong, he was just a scholar. What could drive master Chen and other great craftsmen was just money. But now that the imperial court has placed a large order in preparation for war, it is naturally difficult for the Armed Forces Academy to allocate manpower to earn money.

Li Weijian understood in his heart, but he was not far away from such a delay. So he casually said: "Master Chen, can you recommend a craftsman? Since the Military Academy can't find anyone, I will make one myself."

Manager Chen shook his head repeatedly and said: "Of course we have the manpower, but where can Mr. Li find so much equipment?"

Apart from other things, the boring machine alone is a problem. There are also various other types of machine tools and cranes. Li Weijian really wants to build a factory from scratch. If he gets all these equipment together, he won't be able to stop it in less than half a year, even with a hundred thousand taels of silver.

Li Weijian had no choice but to move out King Zhongyong. Then Chief Chen had no choice but to agree, saying that while ensuring the court's livelihood, he would try his best to build steam engines.

Everyone understands the saying that sharpening a knife does not waste time chopping firewood. But Li Weijian's steam engine is a new thing and no one has ever seen it. How can it ensure that the efficiency is far higher than before?

The war will begin in the summer and autumn of next year. If preparations for war are delayed, who will bear the blame?

After leaving the Military Academy, Li Weijian felt depressed. When he first started working in his previous life, he was also very ambitious and wanted to do something big. He researched and put forward an improvement plan for half a year. His immediate superior praised him repeatedly after seeing it, and then sent him to Qingshui Yamen.

Later, Li Weijian learned that the reduced departments were not dispensable, but contained related households gathered from above and below. Li Weijian slashed at a related household with his first blow. Wasn't that looking for death?
  It is said that if the water is extremely clear, there will be no fish, and if people observe it clearly, there will be no disciples. It is nothing more than this. I didn't expect to get stuck here.

Suddenly thinking of Cao Dahu, Li Weijian's heart moved. Since the Military Academy is too busy, why not start a new one? He is weak alone, but at least he still has an old mentor to take care of him. If Cao Cao's big family is rich, he will definitely have some connection with the court.

If we go back to the stock raising and get the inner government involved, it should be fine, right?

If you think about it carefully, you will find that the upstream iron materials for the factory came from the Imperial Iron Works, and the coal came from the Xishan Coal Mine. The majority of the downstream materials were also sold to the imperial government. At best, they were processed with supplied materials. In this way, the imperial court was less worried.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it became, so Li Weijian immediately ordered Wu Haiping to change direction and go straight to the Shanxi Guild Hall. After arriving at the Shanxi Guild Hall, I realized that it was an unlucky day to come here. The stock sale of Xishan Coal Mine is today. Not only Cao Yunsheng, but also all the wealthy Shanxi businessmen in the guild hall have gone to the stock exchange.

Thinking that the exchange would not be closed soon, Li Weijian waited in the clubhouse. They waited for an hour, and after half the hour, they saw Cao Yunsheng returning.

"Cao Gong!"

"Hey! Mr. Li!"

When Cao Yunsheng caught a glimpse of Li Weijian, he immediately burst into laughter, stepped forward to greet him warmly, and said, "How come Mr. Li has time to come to our Shanxi Guild Hall?"

Before Li Weijian could answer, a fat man came over and smiled like a Maitreya Buddha: "Hey, it's Young Master Li in person, and it's Kou Yongping on the other side. I'm so glad to meet you."

Cao Yunsheng suddenly became unhappy and said with a low face: "My dear nephew, Mr. Li is here to find his forehead. Are you going to join in the fun?"

"Master Li never said anything, how did you know you were here to make fun of me?"

Seeing the two of them choking, Li Weijian said quickly: "You two, I have a business to make a living this time, and I have to rely on the help of all Shanxi merchants."

After Cao Yunsheng and Kou Yongping heard this, they immediately lost interest in quarreling. Kou Yongping couldn't wait to say: "Who doesn't know the name of Li Caishen? Mr. Li is already making a living, and he is expected to make a lot of money. He is weak in power, so he goes out first. A hundred thousand taels of silver just for fun."

Then Cao Yunsheng was not happy: "My nephew is really cautious... Mr. Li, first we have the water service and then the Xishan Coal Mine, so we follow Mr. Li's way of making money. No matter how much money we need, we will pay half of it."

Li Weijian smiled and said: "Don't be busy, you two will listen to me explain it in detail before making a decision."

At the moment, Li Weijian explained the current situation. Now that the steam engine is available, everyone can see the benefits, but the Military Academy cannot spare the manpower to build it, so Li Weijian has the idea to start a new one.

After Li Wei said it, Kou Yongping still didn't know what kind of business a steam engine was. Cao Yunsheng, who had seen a steam engine, laughed and handed over his hands repeatedly: "Hey, thank you Mr. Li for taking care of me. I can't make a living with this kind of business, so I'll put my money in." He immediately called the accountant and asked, "How much money is left in the account?"

The accountant whispered: "Master, I'm afraid we don't have much left, only three hundred thousand taels."

Cao Yunsheng turned to look at Li Weijian: "Master Li, is it enough? If you don't have enough, ask someone to go home and bring a few carts of silver winter melons." Kou Yongping also realized it at this moment. Since Cao Yunsheng, the old fox, is optimistic about this business, he will definitely not be able to escape. , and immediately shouted: "If Cao Shibo doesn't lend a hand, I have a lot of money. If there is too much money in my account, I can still get three to five million."

Li Weijian hurriedly said: "You two, I am not short of money. One is lack of craftsmen, the other is lack of equipment, and the third is... this factory must set aside [-]% of its shares for the inner government. And to be honest with you two, I personally think that if we start manufacturing As for the steam engine factory, it's better to spread it out as much as possible. I wonder if you two know any Huizhou merchants?"

Cao Yunsheng thought to himself: "I'm afraid Mr. Li's camp is not small. Does it need so many people to protect it?"

"What Cao Gong said is true."

Cao Yunsheng said: "Well, I happen to know a few Huizhou merchants. Let's have a gathering in the future. We will discuss this matter and see how many people will take shares."

Kou Yongping curled his lips and said: "Who doesn't know the name of Li Caishen? Mr. Li, don't worry, I will go back and spread this letter, so that the people who want to buy shares will be able to cross the threshold of Mr. Li's house."

The matter is settled for now, the better. Later, the two of them find Hui merchants, set a date, and then send the post to Rongguo Mansion.

In the following days, Li Weijian had no time to spare. After finding Yan Fengzhen, the two hid in the house and repeatedly tried the method of vulcanizing rubber.

This steam fumigation was the first to be eliminated, because sulfur was poisonous, and he didn't have a breathing mask at the moment. Li Weijian didn't want to risk his life on this matter.

Since steam fumigation fails, try mixing and heating. Just what proportion of sulfur should be added? At what temperature should it be controlled? Everything is unknown, and Li Weijian and Yan Fengzhen can only experiment again and again.

On the fourth day of arrival, early in the morning, a steward from the Rongguo Mansion handed over a notice, which scheduled a meeting with a group of Shanxi and Huizhou merchants at Xianlu Residence at noon today.

Seeing that it was still early, Li Weijian simply put pen to paper and wrote a feasibility report eloquently. He was familiar with this technique in his previous life, and he was very comfortable writing it. After deleting, deleting, and revising some more, I drove to Xianluju near noon.

When we arrived at the place, we found out that the restaurant was directly booked by Cao Yunsheng and no longer entertained foreign guests. Li Weijian secretly sighed that Duke Cao was really generous. When he entered, he saw that the house was full of guests. After a little calculation, excluding the servants and servants, there were more than thirty wealthy businessmen present.

Cao Yunsheng was busy talking to people when he saw Li Weijian coming over quickly: "Hey, everyone is here and we are waiting for Mr. Li. Come on, come and introduce me to Mr. Li. This one is in the tung oil business." Member Liang."

Then I saw an old man standing up and holding his hands in his hands: "I've met Mr. Li."

Li Weijian hurriedly returned the gift: "Liang Liang is very polite, student Li Weijian is very polite."

After saying a few words, they moved to the next table. This time it was Zhao Yuanwai who was in the silk and satin business.

I went through a circle of recommendations like this, three to five sentences here, two or three sentences to that one, and it actually took half an hour to write them down.

After they all turned around, Li Weijian and Cao Yunsheng exchanged a few words, walked up to the stairs, took out the manuscript they had prepared, and said loudly: "Thank you all for your support. The students are really scared. The purpose of this gathering is to recommend the steam engine business." , I think many owners don’t know about this thing, and I’ll allow the students to explain it first.”

The manuscript was just for show, Li Weijian just opened his mouth and said everything that was reasonable and well-founded. Let’s talk about Newcomen’s shortcomings first, then the advantages of the new steam engine, and finally the market prospects.

During the process, a tiger skin was used as a banner, and King Zhongyong mentioned many times that he was very optimistic about this thing.

After more than ten years of investment promotion and operation in his previous life, Li Weijian was naturally familiar with such recommendation meetings. After talking non-stop for half an hour, all the wealthy people next to him nodded.

Finally, Li Weijian said: "In this fund raising, raising funds is the second most important thing. It's only a hundred thousand taels of silver. I can come up with it myself. Because in addition to raising funds, there are two other things that I have to worry about, bosses."

Kou Yongping then said: "Master Li, please don't give up. If you need me to do anything else, just tell me."

There were people echoing around, and Li Weijian said: "One is the craftsmen, especially skilled craftsmen, regardless of money, the more the better; the other is the related machinery and equipment. Of the two, the former is the most important, and the latter is the most important. If not, at worst we can make it ourselves.

Therefore, the size of this stock depends on the number of craftsmen recruited by the owners. The more craftsmen you recruit, the more shares you will have, and vice versa. Do you have any objections? "

Cao Yunsheng had known about Li Weijian's plan. He had started early in the past few days and had already recruited seven or eight master craftsmen, so he smiled and said: "Well, it seems fair, why not just do it like this?"

Kou Yongping naturally made his move early. Although he was not as many craftsmen as Cao Yunsheng, he was still well prepared. Therefore, it was rare to agree: "Well, I see what Cao Shibo said makes sense, so let's leave it as it is. It's almost noon, let's start the banquet and talk while eating."

After some discussion, the matter was settled. The dishes were served one after another immediately, and the restaurant suddenly became lively.

Li Weijian is famous and naturally became the focus. All the bosses were arguing with him one after another. This one said a few words and they always wanted to drink a drink together; the other one actually had an old relationship with his mentor Yan Xiyao, so he had to drink this wine.

Even if what he drank today was sweet-scented osmanthus wine, Li Weijian couldn't resist changing the cup. When it came time to speak, Li Weijian's stomach was raging, and he couldn't hold it anymore. He covered his mouth and nose and ran out, looking for a bucket to vomit out the bile.

Cao Yunsheng was afraid that he had fed Li Weijian too much, so he quickly called Wu Haiping to send him back.

Wu Haiping immediately carried Li Weijian on his back and drove back in a carriage. On the way, Wu Haiping asked: "Master, are you going back to Rongguo Mansion or to your own home?"

Li Weijian was top-heavy at the moment, but he was clear-headed. Thinking about these days, I had a quick chat with Fu Qiufang during the day, and then went to Dongkua Yard with Yan Fengzhen to test vulcanized rubber, which seemed to have left Fu Qiufang in the cold. Because he said casually: "Go back home."

"Okay." Wu Haiping responded with happiness.

Now Qianxue is doing the housekeeping errands in Li Weijian's house and has returned to her own house. Naturally, the newlyweds can be reunited together.

The car was rolling, and I arrived at my home in a daze. Wu Haiping called Wu Zhong, and the two carried Li Weijian inside. Fu Qiufang heard the commotion and had already arrived at Yimen. When she saw the two men carrying Li Weijian, she was immediately startled.

"What...what's going on?"

Wu Haiping hurriedly said: "Auntie, don't be afraid. The young master has drunk too much. If you have a good sleep, you will be fine in the morning."

(End of this chapter)