[Chapter 322] It is not impossible to get rich overnight (Part 1)

(0322)

"Dad, thank you for your hard work."

Xu Xingxia stood beside her father and said with emotion.

For the sake of glass, Xu Fuqing has made no less trouble this year.

In the past, although the Xu family was poor, even though they could not eat enough and not cover their clothes, on New Year's Eve, the whole family could still sit together and have a happy reunion dinner. However, this year, the Xu family began to be rich and had no worries about food or clothing, but they couldn't eat the reunion dinner. Xu Xingxia confronted the Tartar cavalry at Zhenyuan Pass, while Xu Fuqing was thinking about the specific production process of glass day and night in the secret valley. The two backbones of the Xu family were not at home. This was the first time in the history of the Xu family!

Xu Xingxia only knows the basic manufacturing principles of glass, the basic proportions of various raw materials, and what the glass produced looks like, but he doesn't know the specific process and details. He doesn't even know the temperature required to burn glass. In other words, the specific production process requires craftsmen to explore and continuously improve it. Obviously, this is not an easy task.

Fortunately, Xu Fuqing cared very much about his eldest son's instructions. How many fathers are willing to lose to his son? He took more than a dozen craftsmen to ponder day and night, constantly improving the craftsmanship, and gradually approached Xu Xingxia's requirements. During this period, he didn't know how many semi-finished products were destroyed and how much raw materials were wasted. However, Xu Xingxia's requirements were very strict, and he would definitely not want things that could not meet the standards. What he wanted was high-standard glass, pure glass, rather than glaze that fooled people.

Even with the guidance of Xu Xingxia, a time traveler, the production process of glass was full of hardships and twists and turns. The first glass appeared rough and uneven, so Xu Fuqing and others tried their best to polish it. The glass that came out later was not transparent enough, so they tried every means to find the reason, and finally fully met Xu Xingxia's requirements.

On the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the first batch of finished glass products that fully meet the specifications were finally placed in front of Xu Xingxia. For these finished products, Xu Fuqing and many craftsmen were dissatisfied with their eyes for three days and three nights. In their opinion, the purity of this batch of glass has exceeded their imagination. If Xu Xingxia still said that it failed, they would probably be hit hard. Fortunately, they did not hear similar words.

"Yes, this is glass!" Xu Xingxia said with a serious expression.

Four craftsmen who were recognized by Xu Xingxia fell asleep on the spot. They were so tired and too sleepy. Even the joy of passing the victory could not make them persist even if they had more than half of the incense stick. The originally tense nerves suddenly loosened and they could no longer control their bodies and went directly to sleep.

As the manager of the glass factory, Xu Fuqing's performance was not much better than other craftsmen. He just persisted for less than half an incense stick and fell asleep. Of course, this was after Xu Xingxia left. In front of Xu Xingxia, fathers, no matter how tired or sleepy they were, they had to hold on. How could fathers easily reveal their weak side in front of their children?

According to Xu Xingxia's requirements, the first batch of products in the glass workshop were all very large glass sheets. The specifications of these glass sheets were square, with six inches on each side (about 2 meters), with an area of ​​four square meters, and a thickness of about half a finger. Xu Xingxia carefully checked it, and there was no problem with transparency, which was absolutely crystal clear. Even an idiot would not regard it as glass.

Such a piece of glass, even if it is manual, costs about fifteen taels of silver, but its sales price is at least three hundred taels. Because in Yuegang, Fujian, glass pieces that are much smaller than this are sold for two or three hundred taels of silver. Xu Fuqing produced a total of twenty boxes, each box with twenty pieces, which is a total of four hundred pieces. This means that Xu Xingxia will earn at least 120 taels of silver.

The glass factory can produce at least one hundred boxes of such glass every month. In other words, it means that it is at least 600,000 taels of silver per month. Faced with such calculations, Xu Xingxia had to sigh that sometimes it is really not difficult to make money! It is not entirely impossible to get rich overnight! If it is a peaceful and prosperous era and there is no need to fight, he can become a wealthy family by relying on the money of selling glass, buying thousands of acres of land, marrying a few beautiful wives and concubines, and living a leisurely life.

Unfortunately, it is an extraordinary time. The money you earn from selling glass is quickly gone. Simply put, the money you have gone in with your left hand and the right hand is out. It disappears before it is heated up. Don’t look at the income of 600,000 taels of silver per month. It really doesn’t matter after it is scattered. Now the northern part of Ningxia Town is like a dry desert. I don’t know how long it has not absorbed water. Such a little silver is like a can of water, sprinkled into the desert, and you can’t even see a shadow.

What? The annual fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty is only a few million silver? You earn 600,000 taels a month, and 700,000 taels a year, not enough? Brother, that's not because I have a lot of income, but because the court's income is too little! The income of the court is absolutely abnormal! According to normal circumstances, if the court does not have 30 million silver income a year, it is impossible for the court to maintain normal operation. This is the fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty is moving towards a downward trend!

How could a country or a government maintain normal operation without sufficient fiscal revenue and various functions? Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, when there was undercurrents, if there was not enough fiscal revenue, it means that the country would gradually collapse. Wars require money, and saving hungry people also requires money. Without money, nothing can be done. If the court had money, Li Zicheng would not be laid off and would not participate in the rebellion. If the court had money, the war in Liaodong would not have been repeated many times, and would have been dominated by the Later Jin Tartars.

Xu Xingxia is really short of money now. Originally, he felt that the little money he had in his hands was at least 300,000 to 400,000 taels, which should be able to support it. Thirty to 400,000 taels of silver was definitely not a small amount. If it was used by ordinary families, even if it was desperately squandered, the wings of abalone, delicacies, and a few delicate concubines would be extravagant for a lifetime. However, after taking back 30,000 to 40,000 slaves, Xu Xingxia realized that such a small amount of money was not enough to see.

Money is needed everywhere! This is Xu Xingxia’s biggest feeling. Setting up slaves requires money! Reclaiming wasteland requires money! Building farms requires money! Building roads requires money! Building Zhenyuan Pass requires money! Building weapons and equipment requires money! Expanding the army requires money! The food of the army requires money! The forage of war horses requires money! Xu Xingxia did not expect that there is something that does not require money... Well, it doesn’t cost money to pee on the roadside...

If he didn't have a monthly income of 600,000 taels of silver, he wouldn't know what to do! He started from scratch, was a waste of money, and had no foundation at all. If he had no money, he would be unable to move forward. As the saying goes, if he had a penny to kill a hero, he would never be wrong! If he had no money, he would really be unable to do anything!

Of course, the monthly income of 600,000 taels of silver is the most optimistic situation. As the glass market gradually becomes saturated, the income will definitely not last long. After all, the price of a piece of glass requires at least 300 taels of silver. Such consumption is definitely not something that ordinary wealthy families can afford, only wealthy families. No matter how many wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty are, it is limited. However, it is enough for Xu Xingxia to earn the first pot of gold. In the future, glass will not make money, and he has other ways to make money.

...

The Heishan Camp was originally a camp for the Ming army soldiers. There were only some military camps made of wood. After being abandoned, after a long period of wind and rain, the sun and rain, it was basically gone. After the White Army entered here, it built a large-scale construction and turned it into a construction site. Every day, there were at least seven or eight thousand military households busy on the construction site. Every day, new buildings started construction. Every day, the construction was completed.

In the north of the Heishan Camp, there is a row of built wooden houses, about a hundred, arranged neatly, magical, solemn and magnificent. Outside the wooden house, there are checkpoints of the White Army. Each checkpoint has two sentries of the White Army, staring around with vigilantly. Behind the checkpoint, there are high white Army flags. The golden dragon pattern holding the double swords can be seen from a distance.

These rows of wooden houses are the camp of the White-Clothing Army. The main forces of the White-Clothing Army are stationed here. This is the core of the entire Heishan Camp. Xu Xingxia's residence is in the middle of the camp. It is a large wooden house, which is estimated to cover at least half an acre. There are three floors in total, and Xu Xingxia is said to live on the uppermost floor. If you are lucky, people outside can even see Xu Xingxia standing on the balcony from afar and looking around. Of course, these are said to be that no one can provide convincing evidence.

In the white-clothed army camp, in addition to Xu Xingxia's residence, there is also an equally vast wooden house near the entrance of the camp, which is specially used for guests. At this moment, there are five businessmen sitting in this wooden house, as if waiting for something. The one in the middle is Liu Zhiqiang, the owner of Kuiyuan Building.
Chapter completed!