Dahan: A 100-year-old veteran, I will build the strongest family

Chapter 77: High prices can make money? No, the real free things are the most expensive!

"Old General, our Zhen family has cooperated with the Li family for a long time. If there were no Li family, there would be no Zhen family today. The Zhen family is willing to join the Li family and become a subsidiary family of the Li family!"

"The Lu family has been on good terms with the Li family for decades. Now the Li family is thriving under the leadership of the old general. Since the Li family needs it, the Lu family will follow the Li family."

……

In the Li family's meeting hall.

Faced with Li Hong's direct and overt solicitation, Zhen Yi, Mi Zhu, Xiao Lusu, and Wei Shu quickly made a decision. They stood up and expressed to Li Hong that their families were willing to join the Li family and become affiliated families of the Li family.

Li Hong, who was sitting in the main seat, listened to the heads of the four families expressing their willingness to become affiliated families of the Li family one after another. Li Hong could not help but stroke his gray beard with satisfaction.

With the four great business families of the Han Dynasty joining the Li family, the power and prestige of the Li family skyrocketed!

"Haha, good. Today, I will also express my stance on behalf of the Li family. I will definitely not let down the Zhen, Mi, Lu, and Wei families."

Li Hong said with a smile, and then said to the four people:

"We are short on time and have a heavy task. Next, we need to quickly get involved in the salt industry and Chinese paper. Look at the salt and paper in front of you. These two are the commodities that we will operate on a large scale. The salt purified by the Li family has almost no impurities and is as white as snow. Therefore, it will be called "snow salt" from now on. As for paper, it will be called "Chinese paper". Do you have any questions? If not, mobilize manpower and material resources immediately and get ready!"

After hearing what Li Hong said, Zhen Yi, Mi Zhu and the other two once again focused their attention on the fine salt grains and the tough, clean Han paper in front of them. The more they looked at it, the more they couldn't help but get their hands on it.

"Old General, this salt is so fine and clean. It is cleaner than the refined salt we eat. It is so salty without that strong bitterness. Snow salt is worthy of its name. Such good salt will never be hard to sell. And this paper is so tough. If you use it to write or write books, all the children of the noble families in the world will flock to it."

"I wonder how much it costs for the old general to purify the crude salt, and how much it costs to make this Han paper?"

After shifting his attention to the salt and Han paper that Li Hong took out, Zhen Yi, the head of the Zhen family, couldn't help trembling again, and looked up excitedly and asked Li Hong.

Zhen Yi was indeed shocked and excited when he saw the snow salt and Han paper that Li Hong took out. As a top businessman of that period, Zhen Yi had a keen business sense and he immediately realized the huge market and popularity of these two things.

I just don’t know how much snow salt and Han paper cost!
Not only Zhen Yi was shocked and excited, but little Lu Su, touching the Han paper, also looked at Li Hong with a gleam of light and anticipation.

What little Lu Su subconsciously thought of was that if the cost of making this Han paper was not too expensive, wouldn’t it mean that more people could have access to books?
Everyone's eyes turned to him. Li Hong stroked his beard and smiled:

"Snow salt comes from purified coarse salt, which means that as long as there is coarse salt, you can get refined salt."

"As for the cost, it's not that expensive. The cost of purifying one pound of snow salt is about the current selling price of half a pound of coarse salt!"

"This Han paper is not as expensive as Caihou paper. The cost is only one-fifth of Caihou paper, and it can also be produced on a large scale!"

Li Hong did not hide anything when asked by the four family heads, but gave a number that he wanted to give.

Since the four families have joined the Li family and will continue to cooperate, the Li family cannot hide too much. Wouldn't that mean they are not treating the other party as their own?

Therefore, Li Hong gave a piece of data that he was willing to let the other party and even other people know.

Of course, this data is still highly inflated.

In fact, the cost of purifying crude salt is not that high.

The cost of purifying a pound of snow salt is only about 20% of the current selling price of a pound of coarse salt.

Li Hong reported double the amount.

In fact, the price quoted is still too low.

After all, the reported cost of purifying one pound of snow salt is the price of one pound of crude salt. What does this mean?
You know, the refined salt with impurities that the palace and the major noble families eat is several times or even ten times more expensive than coarse salt. Snow salt is a level better than the refined salt with impurities that the palace and the major noble families eat.

Therefore, Li Hong told the heads of the four families the cost of purifying a pound of snow salt, which was almost the current price of a pound of coarse salt, but he gave an extremely cheap price.

Given the quality of snow salt, Li Hong said that the cost of purification is ten times that of crude salt. I'm afraid that all the major families and nobles will be eager to rush to buy it.

However, Li Hong thought differently.

It’s not that Li Hong thinks he has too much money and doesn’t want to make more.

It was because Li Hong was too eager to get involved in the salt industry, which was worth tens of millions of dollars, and plunder a large amount of wealth.

How many people are there in the aristocratic families and powerful clans of the Han Dynasty?

Do you have one million?
Do you have five million?

With such a small population, even if they all ate expensive snow salt, it was impossible for Li Hong to gain excessive wealth.

After all, salt is a consumable and a necessity. Only when the population base is large and there are many people eating it, the accumulated wealth will be terrifying.

In ancient times, the price of crude salt was already high enough, and many ordinary people could not afford salt and lived frugally.

If the price of snow salt is high, then Li Hong will be giving up the market for ordinary people.

Therefore, Li Hong wanted to set the price not so high, and directly use high-quality Duxue salt to swallow up the crude salt market and squeeze out the living space of crude salt.

All the income from the Han Dynasty's salt industry was concentrated in his hands.

Directly boiling salt on a large scale with seawater can reduce production costs and make a lot of money. After all, the price of crude salt is very high.

Li Hong's plan was to let the people eat more qualified and less harmful snow salt on the one hand, and to plunder the profits of the Han salt industry on the other.

The same is true for the pricing of Han paper. Li Hong told the heads of the four families that the price of Han paper was not as expensive as Cai Hou paper, and its cost was only one fifth of that of Cai Hou paper. It could also be manufactured on a large scale. His intention was to directly destroy the market for the expensive Cai Hou paper, popularize the price, and allow Han paper to enter a market with tens of millions of people.

Han paper is of excellent quality, far better than Caihou paper. Even if it is priced at twice the price of Caihou paper, I am afraid that the children of the aristocratic families will buy it! But what is the significance of such a small market?
By lowering the price of writing tools, you can make a lot of money and expand the market size. On the one hand, you can still make huge wealth, and on the other hand, you can increase the number of books in the Han Dynasty and create more readers. Li Hong believes that this business can be done.

High prices make money? No, the truly free stuff is the most expensive!

Sometimes, the lowest price may not mean less profit!

In the hall, Zhen Yi, Mi Zhu, Xiao Lusu, and Wei Shu were stunned when they heard Li Hong talk about the cost of purifying snow salt and the price of Han paper.

"What? The cost of purifying snow salt is so low? And the cost of such exquisite Han paper is only one fifth of the price of Cai Hou paper. How is this possible!" Zhen Yi and the other three were stunned on the spot.

On that day, Li Hong hosted a banquet to entertain the heads of the four families and conducted careful and in-depth research on how to mass-produce and sell snow salt and Han paper.

The four family heads left the General's residence that day and began to mobilize manpower and resources in Luoyang and the surrounding areas to cooperate with the Li family.

The Li family's power was also mobilized on a large scale.

The five families worked together to recruit refugees on a large scale, which immediately attracted the attention of many noble families in Luoyang. They didn't understand why Li Hong suddenly made such a big move just after returning.

(End of this chapter)