Zhu Chuan had brought however many things, what quality they were, how much they were worth—Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t seen them, so naturally she couldn’t immediately discuss prices. Therefore, Zhao Hanzhang invited him to stay first.
As for subsequent price issues, naturally Changning would negotiate with him.
As a noble young lady from a great family, how could she go discuss such vulgar matters?
Ahem, mainly because she’d pretended too much earlier and it would be awkward to haggle now, so the task of cutting prices could only be left to Changning.
Zhao Hanzhang said to him: “Press the price down as much as you can, and try to exchange primarily with glassware.”
They’d recently produced quite a lot of glassware. Although both Ji Yuan and she were slowly releasing goods to the market, there was still considerable stock accumulated.
Whether it was Ji Yuan or Zhao Hanzhang, neither was willing to release it at too low a price.
But Shangcai and the surrounding counties—indeed all the counties within Runan Commandery—had reached the first peak for the glassware market. Unless they lowered prices, selling more glassware wouldn’t yield particularly good sales.
At this time, they needed a major merchant who could connect various regions.
Zhao Hanzhang pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice: “Chief Clerk Chang is close with him—why not invite him to stay at your home?”
Changning seemed thoughtful. After a moment, he nodded. “My lady speaks wisely. Master Zhu the Second has come from afar—as hosts we should treat him well.”
As a chief clerk and advisor whom Zhao Hanzhang had painstakingly recruited, she treated Changning very generously. Specifically, this manifested in giving him a house, servants, and various furniture and decorations.
Finding a residence in Xiping County, which had been half-emptied, wasn’t difficult, but furnishing a plundered-bare house to be both warm and elegant wasn’t easy.
Zhao Hanzhang not only had people provide Changning with much furniture and decorations, but also supplied many glass products.
Heaven knows what Changning felt the first time he saw a full-length mirror as tall as himself in his own bedroom!
Not only that—he also had a round mirror on his vanity, the same size as a bronze mirror, yet much clearer and brighter than any bronze mirror.
To facilitate his entertaining guests, Zhao Hanzhang also had people send him two sets of glass cups, and placed a pair of glass vases on his curio shelf.
One could say that just the things in that one room were worth Changning’s wages from ten years serving under County Magistrate Chai.
Being so valued, Changning wished he could repay her with his very life.
Changning decided to have Zhu Chuan stay with him, letting him inadvertently see those glass products.
If you want to sell things at a good price, naturally you must let customers experience their benefits.
Zhao Hanzhang nodded with satisfaction.
Changning was a man of action. He immediately pulled Zhu Chuan to visit his home. Zhu Chuan originally didn’t want to stay overnight. Although Changning’s home looked spacious, he felt staying at an inn would be more comfortable. But upon inadvertently seeing the two glass vases on the shelf, Zhu Chuan changed his mind.
So Zhu Chuan stayed over. The two conversed very happily and planned to talk through the night by candlelight.
Thus Zhu Chuan naturally saw the full-length mirror in his room.
It was the first time he’d seen his own appearance so clearly and completely in a mirror. Zhu Chuan was stunned.
Compared to glass cups, he was even more eager to know the price of this full-length mirror.
Not only the full-length mirror, but also the vanity mirror—these two items were even better than glass cups. Whether sent to Luoyang, Jizhou, or taken back to Shu territory, they would surely cause a sensation!
Seeing Zhu Chuan take the bait, Changning’s lips curved upward.
But Zhu Chuan was no fool either. If Changning, a mere chief clerk, could have so many glass products in his home, that meant they either had large quantities of glassware on hand, or they had a source for glassware.
Thinking of a certain rumor he’d occasionally heard when coming to Xiping, Zhu Chuan narrowed his eyes. Perhaps rumors weren’t necessarily all rumors.
The rumor was that Miss Zhao the Third had a glassworks in Shangcai that could manufacture glassware.
If that were true, then the price of glassware…
Changning saw him deep in thought and knew he’d realized the key point. His heart felt even more pleased.
The young lady had said that a one-time transaction could only bring momentary pleasure—how could it compare to steady, flowing income?
Some things that they said wouldn’t necessarily be believed by outsiders. People had to think of it themselves. They didn’t mind lowering the price of priceless glassware to the level of expensive, consumable luxury goods. What they wanted was a channel that could continuously sell glassware.
Shu territory was isolated and secure. Whether fabric or grain, both were of the highest quality. If they could exchange these luxury items for those survival resources, they’d still be the ones profiting.
Just as Changning and Zhu Chuan were probing each other, Fu Tinghan and Zhao Hanzhang were pondering the next luxury product.
Fu Tinghan unwrapped the finished soap to show her. “Since it’s nearly winter, recently many people have been slaughtering pigs and sheep. I tried using animal fats. I added some dried flowers to this—smell it?”
Zhao Hanzhang sniffed it, then sighed. “Professor Fu, is there anything you can’t do?”
It had been a long time since she’d addressed him this way. Fu Tinghan smiled. “This isn’t difficult. You could definitely make it too.”
That was true—it really wasn’t difficult, but actually doing it wasn’t easy either. At minimum, you’d need to experiment several times.
Zhao Hanzhang closed the box and accepted his gift. “I was just thinking of discussing with you—do you remember the diagram of the spinning wheel, and the improved farming tools from the Ming and later periods? I remember they were in both middle and high school history textbooks.”
Fu Tinghan was stunned, then said: “I teach mathematics…”
Under Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze, Fu Tinghan paused before saying: “I vaguely remember some, but working from diagrams alone… forget it. I still recognize the basic mechanical principles. Give me craftsmen and I’ll try researching it.”
Zhao Hanzhang immediately said: “I’ll send people to find craftsmen who can build spinning wheels. Before then, you’ll have to make do with the current carpenters.”
Fu Tinghan nodded, already thinking rapidly. “You’ll need to find me a current spinning wheel. I need to take it apart and look. I understand your meaning—if the northern territories and Central Plains truly fall into warfare as you say, then with communications cut off, we’ll have to be self-sufficient. By improving spinning wheel efficiency, we can free up more productive forces.”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “Exactly. The current chaos is more caused by upper-level power struggles, so there’s no need to fight over production relations. We’ll work from the angle of productive forces.”
Fu Tinghan raised his eyes to look at her. “You want to compete for popular support?”
“Of course. When I decided to establish myself in Yuzhou, this became something we must do.”
Zhao Hanzhang took these two matters very seriously, even more seriously than making glassware or paper. So she rolled up her sleeves, planning to work on it together with Fu Tinghan.
She had people move over a loom. The two changed into lightweight clothes and began studying it closely.
They had someone bring paper and pen. Zhao Hanzhang took a ruler. As they disassembled the loom, they measured the data and drew diagrams.
This wasn’t difficult at all for Fu Tinghan. As a mathematics professor, he occasionally participated in some projects. The mechanical principles used in spinning wheels weren’t complex. For him, the difficulty should be woodworking techniques.
Without nails and certain adhesives, they could only use mortise and tenon joints, which meant considering spacing issues…
Fu Tinghan fell into thought. The two stayed in the room until evening. Only when the light dimmed did they go out, though their minds were still on the spinning wheel.
Ah, having Changning was truly wonderful! Zhao Hanzhang could free up time to do these things, with the remaining matters completely delegated to those below.
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