The big man has a living father

Chapter 16: Warmth
A gust of wind blew, and Princess Wei Chang, with her hands behind her back, felt a little cold, so she put her hands in front of her.

To be honest, this long gown with a curved hem is really a bit weird.

Because the sleeves are big, they let in wind and are cold to wear in autumn and winter.

But this clothes is thick and it is still hot to wear in summer.

However, as the first generation of Hanfu, it is indeed dignified and beautiful, and it also shows off the figure.

Huo Hai waved his hand and summoned Xiang Xu over.

Xiang Xu looked at Huo Hai and mouthed: "Hand warmer?"

Huo Hai nodded, and Xiang Xu went to do his work.

Huo Hai was in Mobei not long ago. It was cold there, so Huo Hai made a charcoal stove. Because it had two layers inside and outside, the temperature was just enough to be held by hand.

On the other side, the servant came to the back carrying a brazier.

Seeing that he had a good eye for price, Huo Hai threw a bag of copper coins over to him.

The servant was so happy that he dared not say a word, but kowtowed twice before leaving.

Princess Wei Chang felt warmer at her back and looked more at ease.

After a while, Xiang Xu came over holding a hand warmer.

Huo Hai handed over the hand warmer: "Here, take it."

Princess Wei Chang was a little confused when she saw Huo Hai handing her a strange pottery jar, but she still took it.

After taking it, I found that the clay pot was hot. I opened the lid and saw that there was strange burning charcoal inside: "What is this? It smells a bit fragrant."

Princess Wei Chang held the pottery jar in her hands and found that her two large sleeves could be gathered up just enough to cover the jar.

But you can't see it from the outside.

“It’s kind of like a stove warmer.”

Hearing what Princess Wei Chang said, Huo Hai said: "This is a hand warmer. The bronze warmer is hot, but with the two layers of pottery jars put on, you can hold it in your hand."

"The only problem is that regular charcoal stinks and the smoke can blacken your clothes."

"This charcoal is made from a mixture of coal and fruit charcoal to create smokeless fruit charcoal balls."

Princess Wei Chang: "It sounds like... it can make money."

Huo Hai was happy. This thing could indeed make money, but it could only make money from the rich.

So you have to do it more carefully, you can't just use this one yourself.

After reading the article, Princess Wei looked Huo Hai up and down and asked, "What does the goddess you met look like?"

Although the article is well-written, it is very concise after all. How can it be described more appropriately in vernacular?
Princess Wei Chang wanted to know what the goddess looked like.

Huo Hai said calmly, "That's probably what the princess is like."

Princess Wei Chang was not a fool and looked unconvinced.

Huo Hai: "I dreamt of a beautiful woman that day. When I woke up, I thought she was a goddess. Now I think I was wrong. She was not a goddess, but Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Princess Wei Chang looked at Huo Hai and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, what a pretty lady."

Huo Hai subconsciously replied, "A gentleman loves a good match."

Princess Wei Chang turned around and continued reading "The Goddess of Luo River".

Huo Hai continued to look at Princess Wei Chang.

Princess Wei Chang: "Just now I was looking at the words, now I am looking at the paper, as for the article, I have already read it."

After all this time, it turned out that Princess Wei Chang was just appreciating calligraphy.

But what does it mean to look at paper?
Princess Wei Chang noticed Huo Hai's confusion and explained, "Father said that this paper can make a lot of money."

Huo Hai took a deep breath, okay, okay, what a dog emperor, he said he didn’t care in front of me, but behind my back... No, that’s not right, the princess’s property... Hehe, future father-in-law, have you ever thought about this, what’s mine is still mine?

Huo Hai: "You can make money, and you can make a lot of money!"

It is obvious that Liu Che was not confident that Huo Hai could handle this matter alone.

But if the paper passed through two hands, it would be perfect.

However, it was impossible for Liu Che to personally oversee this matter, so he had to choose someone from the royal family to do the job.

Liu Ju? Liu Ju should first figure out the weight of three-zhu coins, four-zhu coins, and five-zhu coins before doing business.

Other kings? This is about the right to speak, how can we let our position competitor hold it?
After much deliberation, Liu Che asked his eldest daughter, Princess Wei Chang, to keep an eye on the matter.

Princess Wei Chang is rich, good at managing money, has experience, and is almost eighteen years old. She is very smart and will not be easily fooled. She is just the right person for the job.

Huo Hai started talking to Princess Wei Chang.

Princess Wei Chang listened for a while and said, "In other words, the raw material of such good paper is actually tree...fiber? Then the raw material is worthless, right?"

Huo Hai: "The wood that you think is worthless now is too expensive. Large-scale felling will drive up the price. In the future, we will also use fast-growing wood, that is, wood that grows very fast, to cultivate in large areas. Then the paper we make will be cheap..."

Princess Wei Chang originally predicted that papermaking would increase the number of books in the world by a hundred or a thousand times in the future. Now, according to Huo Hai, the number of books in the future might be a million or even a million times more than it is now!
Do you really need so much paper?

However, if this is true, then this business is much more profitable than I imagined!
"This number of products is impossible. Father said that we can't make too many in the early stages and we have to sell them at a high price."

Huo Hai smiled and said, "In the early stage of promotion, we will let those who can afford the high price use our paper. Only then will those who can't afford it be eager to use such good paper. When the time comes, we will launch low-priced paper and truly sweep the market." Princess Wei Chang thought for a moment and said, "Tell me a number."

Huo Hai was just about to make a rough offer and include all the money he was going to spend on recruiting people, setting up furnaces, researching and developing glass, and building a greenhouse.

Princess Wei Chang added: "I will check the accounts."

Huo Hai smiled and said, "In theory, a workshop like this would require 50,000 coins to set up at this stage. Adding the paper shop, manpower, etc., it would cost about 100,000 coins."

"However, in this highly profitable industry, the expensive part is not these things, but the secret recipe."

"After the factory is built, you and I will split the profits 50-50. But in addition to the investment, there will also be a patent transfer fee. How about 500,000 Wen?"

"I mean the full pound."

Recently, the currency market has been messed up by Emperor Wu of Han. All kinds of counterfeit and inferior coins are everywhere. The Wuzhu coin is also beginning to be promoted, and there are many different kinds of coins.

"Patent? Specialized technology for profit? Is that what you mean? That's appropriate..." Princess Wei Chang: "Five hundred thousand coins? I'll pay one million coins, I'll pay seven and you'll pay three."

Huo Hai: "I don't need the 500,000 coins. The reason I mentioned this is because cooperation must be fair. If it weren't for the status of Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness, you wouldn't be able to get 500,000 coins or 500,000 strings of cash, let alone 50% profit."

Princess Wei Chang did not hesitate: "Okay, it's settled."

"I will provide the workshop... factory space, I will provide the security, you will provide the personnel, and I will participate in the management, but I will not show up during the sale."

Huo Hai extended his hand: "Happy cooperation."

Princess Wei Chang returned the hand warmer to Huo Hai suspiciously.

Huo Hai was amused: "This means shaking hands. Shaking hands with each other means the deal has been reached."

Princess Wei Chang believed Huo Hai's lies and actually shook hands with him.

"By the way, you are from Pingyang. How do the people there keep warm in the winter?"

Huo Hai: “Shake your legs.”

Princess Wei Chang: “…”

Huo Hai: "Charcoal is simply not affordable for ordinary people, and firewood is also very expensive. Those who can't afford it go up the mountain to chop firewood in winter, but the firewood a person chops in a day may not be enough for a family to use in a day."

"If you have to burn firewood every day, you will go hungry. If you don't go hungry, you will freeze."

"If anyone can make a little money, they will go out to make money, and there will be nothing left in the winter."

"People who are more powerful wear thick clothes filled with silk cocoons, and they also have copper stoves in their homes."

Huo Hai stretched out his hand: "The clothes that ordinary people wear are probably the same as my lining."

Princess Wei Chang was of course also wearing a cotton robe, but the material inside was not cotton, but silk, and it was stuffed with silk.

Princess Wei Chang: "Silk is too expensive. It seems that even ordinary people in Pingyang cannot afford it..."

Huo Hai interrupted: "There are cheaper cold-weather items in the world. Although Pingyang doesn't have them, I know where they are."

Princess Wei Chang stared at Huo Hai.

Huo Hai pointed to the south and said, "There is an island in the South Vietnam Sea. There is a tree on the island. The flowers growing on the tree are red. Its seeds are covered with a layer of fluffy fibers like snow... They are soft and tough hair-like filaments. I call them fibers."

"It is not as long as silk, nor as comfortable to touch, but it is much better than silk for weaving and keeping warm!"

“I call it kapok.”

Kapok flower, also known as Panzhihua, only appeared in the last years of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. At that time, Zhao Tuo of Nanyue had already died, and Nanyue fell into the arms of the Han Dynasty.

Later, there were some episodes in Nanyue, but it was finally incorporated into the rule of the Han Dynasty.

Then, the governor of Zhuya presented kapok cloth.

Princess Wei Chang's eyes lit up: "Is there really such a plant?!"

Huo Hai smiled and said, "Of course there is. I read about it in an ancient book... In addition to kapok, there is also grass cotton, a kind of grass that can grow more cotton. Not only can it be used to weave cloth, but it can also be made into cotton-padded clothes, quilts, and cotton shoes. It is much warmer than the thick silk clothes we use now."

"This grass is native to India, but it is also grown in South Vietnam."

"Of course, even if we send spies to investigate, we can only find kapok trees. It's hard to find grass cotton because grass cotton is very rare and the weather there... doesn't make cotton very useful."

Princess Wei Chang excitedly grabbed Huo Hai's hand and asked, "Can they be grown here?"

"Forced planting is possible, but it is more suitable for planting in places like the Western Regions, Nanyue, and southern Shu where the sun is stronger." Huo Hai smiled.

Unfortunately, even if these things are cultivated on a large scale, they cannot enter the industrial age.

Because Asian cotton, which originated in India, is not suitable for textile machines.

Unless you reach Central America or South America and find long-staple cotton or fine-staple cotton, don't even think about making money from this.

However, if we tell Princess Wei Chang this, perhaps we can prevent many people from freezing to death in the Han Dynasty every winter.

After getting the answer, Princess Wei Chang said: "Huo Hai, someone will arrange a workshop and people and money tomorrow. Take this and you can come to me anytime."

Princess Wei Chang handed Huo Hai a Pisces jade pendant and then left in a hurry.

Huo Hai looked at Princess Wei Chang who was leaving in a hurry and waved.

Huangfu Hua stepped forward quickly.

Huo Hai: "Go check what Princess Wei Chang is doing. It should be easy to find out."

(End of this chapter)