Poor Family

  Chapter 98 Cooperation again

After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather became hotter day by day, and the students of the county school began to experience the most difficult time of the year. Compared with the coolness of the countryside, the rooms in the county town were like steamers, sweltering and unbearably hot. And there are so many mosquitoes that it is unbearable.

At night, the magpies and sister-in-law Chrysanthemum lit the rope moxa, and after a while, a puff of green smoke began to fill every corner of the room. Sheng moi was a mosquito repellent in the Song Dynasty. Light it up, and the lit green smoke will drive away mosquitoes, and the effect is not bad.

   This is a mosquito repellent used by ordinary people. It costs two cents a piece and can be used overnight.

The rich and noble families use smokers to light the spices mixed with wormwood powder, which can not only fragrance the room, but also repel mosquitoes. In addition to incense, the rich and noble families also installed brocade windows and silk nets on the bed. Mosquito nets were popularized in the Song Dynasty. As long as the family is not too poor, almost every family has several mosquito nets.

   "Little official, there are no more mosquitoes over there, let me repel the mosquitoes for you!" Magpie poked his head in and said with a smile.

  Li Yanqing was sitting on the bed studying "Mao Shiyi", surrounded by a large ten-axis tent covering the entire bed, like a tent with brightly lit lights and mosquitoes crawling on the tent.

   "Yeah! It's annoying to hear them bark."

  Although mosquitoes can no longer bite people, the buzzing sound in the room really affects learning.

  The magpie ran in, holding a smoldering moxa rope in his hand and waving it around the mosquito net. Soon the room was filled with the smell of wormwood, and the mosquitoes gradually disappeared.

   "Little official, it seems that there are no more mosquitoes."

   "Hmmm! There's nothing but a huge mosquito flying around."

  Magpie rolled his eyes at him, "He has no conscience, he is kind enough to help you repel mosquitoes, and he also said that he is a big mosquito, so I will ignore you!"

  The magpie turned around angrily and wanted to leave, Li Yanqing hurriedly said to her: "I'm a little hungry, see if there is anything to eat in the kitchen?"

"knew!"

   Not long after, the magpie brought a plate of steamed stuffed buns, which were meat buns made by Mrs. Chrysanthemum herself. The taste was so delicious that Li Yanqing was full of praise.

  Li Yanqing asked while eating: "How is Brother Yue?"

   "He was trapped in a big tent like you, but he was more attentive in reading than you. He neither told people to chase away mosquitoes, nor complained that he was hungry, nor did he make fun of others as big mosquitoes."

  The magpie is still brooding over the joke the little official made just now.

  At this time, Wang Gui's roar came faintly from a distance, "Kill you damned mosquitoes, I'll kill you!"

  Magpie covered her mouth and laughed out loud, and said to Li Yanqing with a low laugh: "Little official, Brother Gui is practicing weightlifting in the yard! Brother Tang is also, he was bitten badly by mosquitoes."

Ever since they decided to take the martial arts test, Wang Gui and Tang Huai gave up their studies completely. They spent most of their time practicing martial arts every day, even at night they were very diligent. Bags of iron sand walked back and forth on a foot-high wooden stake.

  Li Yanqing said with a smile: "No way, the path I chose, no matter how hard it is, I have to go on, but...they are relatively stupid, they can definitely practice in the house! Why do they have to feed mosquitoes in the yard?"

   "He said it himself, the master has to see how many mosquito bags he has on his body to know how hardworking he is."

  Li Yanqing pouted, when did Wang Gui learn how to save face?

  At this moment, the moxa smoke dissipated, and the mosquito net was covered again. The magpie stomped her feet angrily, turned and ran to the kitchen. She had just snuffed out the moxa rope, and now she had to find a flint to rekindle it.

  Li Yanqing looked at the dense black dots on the tent, but thought about how to make mosquito coils. In fact, it is very simple. Mix dry inulin with toner and realgar powder, and then shape and dry.

Although making mosquito-repellent incense is simple and easy to do, I don’t have time to think about these trivial matters. There are still five months before the imperial examination. It will take at least half a year for him to go through the interpretation carefully, and he will also spend time practicing calligraphy. , writing essays, and the huge academic pressure made him wish he could stay up at night.

  Li Yanqing sighed lowly, if the grain bank had not been disbanded, this would be a new way for the grain bank.

  . ． ． ． ． ．

In the afternoon of the next day, the four of Li Yanqing came back from the county school. It was so hot that the ground seemed to be on fire, and they were sweating profusely when they moved. In a word.

Li Yanqing dismounted from his horse, and as soon as he walked into the gate, he saw a magpie trotting towards him. Li Yanqing felt a wave of heat rushing towards him. He smiled bitterly and said, "My aunt, grandma, don't run away. Once you run, the whole The heat is coming up."

   Magpie smiled and slapped Li Yanqing's cattail fan, and said in a low voice, "Young official, my uncle is here."

  The magpie's uncle is Li Dongdong, and Li Yanqing hasn't seen him for a year or two, just happened to be thinking of him last night, so he came, it's such a coincidence.

   "Where is he?" Li Yanqing asked hastily.

   "Drinking ice and snow licorice soup in the study!"

  Hearing that there is ice and snow licorice soup at home, Wang Gui and Tang Huai rushed to the kitchen together, regardless of sweating profusely, "Sister-in-law Ju, where is the ice and snow licorice soup? Are there ice and snow cold balls?"

   "Brother, long time no see."

  Li Dongdong walked out quickly from the inner courtyard. He was wearing a straight gown made of light silk and a sweat scarf on his head. His appearance was no different from that of a few years ago.

  Li Yanqing asked with a smile: "Where did Brother Dong come from?"

   "Of course I came from the capital! I came here to see my little brother."

Li Yanqing wiped the sweat from his forehead, pulled his sweat-soaked underwear again, and said to Li Dongdong: "It's too hot here, let's sit inside, magpie, pour two bowls of ice and snow licorice soup, it's really hot today Already!"

   "Yes! The capital city is also hot. In comparison, Tangyin County is better. The whole capital city is like a big steamer. If you stay for a few more days, people will be cooked."

  The two walked into Li Yanqing's study and sat down. The magpie brought them two bowls of ice and snow licorice soup with a smile.

   "Little official, let's have another bowl! We bought a jar."

   "Good! Have another bowl."

   "Does uncle want another bowl?"

  Li Dongdong quickly waved his hands, "I'm enough, just give it to your little official."

The magpie went out quickly, Li Dongdong looked at her back, shook his head and sighed: "Before at home, she was always beaten and scolded by her father, and she was always in fear. Happy, it can be seen that the little officials treat her very well, and it is also her blessing!"

  Li Yanqing smiled, didn't say anything, Li Dongdong pondered for a while and said: "Your father and I have already disbanded the food business, my virtuous brother should know about this!"

  Li Yanqing nodded, "Actually, I don't think you should disband the grain business. It took so much effort to open up the situation. If you just close it down like this, five years of hard work will be in vain."

   "There is no way to do this. Without the patriarch, we will have no backbone. Sooner or later, the food business will lose money. Instead of losing all the money we make, it is better to stop in time. Both your father and I think this is the best decision."

   After a pause, Li Dongdong asked again: "Where did your father go? After Anyang broke up, there was no news of him."

   "He has gone to Shuzhou now, and wrote to me saying that he will spend a month or two in Bashu, and then go to Jiangnan by boat."

   "It's really enviable!"

  Li Dongdong heaved a long sigh, "Your father is alone and relaxed, unlike me, with seniors and children, he can't rest for a day, and he has to continue to support the family."

   "What kind of business does Brother Dong plan to do in the future?"

   "My whole family wants to open a tavern or an inn. The capital is enough, but I am still a little bit unwilling. I just want to ask my sage brother to see if he can help me point out a way to make money."

  Li Dongdong admired Li Yanqing very much. The reason why he has a net worth of several thousand guan today was all due to Li Yanqing's guidance back then. So when he lost his way again, he thought of asking Li Yanqing for advice.

  Li Yanqing smiled and said: "In fact, opening a tavern is not bad. If you choose the right market, you can make a steady profit without losing money. In addition, there is a small business right now. I think you can do it, and you should be able to make a small fortune."

   "My dear brother, please tell me!"

   "It's the annoying mosquitoes at the moment. We only need to use our brains a little, and there will be money to be made."

  Li Dongdong was refreshed, and quickly said: "Is there any way?"

   "It's actually very simple. Rich people use incense, and poor people use moxa rope. What about ordinary people? Combining incense and moxa rope, isn't it a mosquito repellent for ordinary people?"

  Li Yanqing thought of mosquito coils last night, but he didn't have time to make a living. When Li Dongdong came, he gave this idea to Li Dongdong. Maybe they can continue to cooperate in the future.

  Li Dongdong lowered his head and pondered for a long time, then shook his head and said, "I really don't understand, let my brother teach me!"

  Li Yanqing said with a smile: "We usually burn incense. Incense is very cheap. You can buy two sticks for a penny. Why can't we mix wormwood powder and incense and burn it on the incense burner overnight, so we can sleep peacefully?"

Li Yanqing found the inconvenience of moxa rope, one is that the smell of smoke is too strong, which irritates the eyes, and the other is that it burns too fast, every time it repells mosquitoes, it must be extinguished for a while, and then re-ignited to repel mosquitoes after a period of time, so it takes a whole night to toss Three or four times, I couldn't sleep well, and the mosquito coils solved the trouble of waking up at night.

  Li Dongdong's eyes lit up, "That's right! Such a simple method, why has no one thought of it? We can make the incense a little longer, so it's no problem to light it overnight."

Li Yanqing said with a smile: "You don't need to make the incense too long, it will break easily if it is too long, you can make it into a spiral shape, go around in circles, calculate the time, it can be lighted overnight, in addition, in addition to using mugwort powder, Dried chrysanthemum can be ground into powder, mixed with charcoal powder and realgar powder to create incense, and after being lit, the mosquito repellent effect is also very good, and it is also very fragrant, much better than moxa rope."

   "Chrysanthemum can also repel mosquitoes?"

   "Of course, the effect is much better than wormwood. If you don't believe me, try it tonight."

  Li Dongdong was so excited that he rubbed his hands. He happened to know a few craftsmen who made incense, so he could ask them to make some mosquito repellent incense. If they sell well, he can earn at least a few hundred sticks in a summer.

Li Yanqing reminded him again with a smile, "Signboards are very important. I think they are called Liji brand mosquito coils. I will teach you how to make mosquito repellent in the future. Rich and noble people must have them in summer. Maybe the emperor will not be able to do without them. At that time, we reputation will come out.”

  Li Yanqing's few words seemed to open a window for Li Dongdong to get rich and widen his horizons. In the distance, there seemed to be piles of glittering mountains of gold and silver.

  He was not willing to wait until later, he took Li Yanqing's hand and begged: "My little God of Wealth, please tell me how to make mosquito repellant now, don't wait later."

Of course, Li Yanqing would not tell Li Dongdong how to get rich for no reason. He actually wanted to find something for his father to do. Although the grain business couldn’t be opened, they could do other businesses. They have cooperated for five years, and they can definitely continue. do it.

  Now that Li Dongdong is already on the road, Li Yanqing smiled and said, "It's not as good as making a fortune by one person, how about we join forces again?"

Li Yanqing's suggestion speaks to Li Dongdong's heart. Although he can do business alone, his husband and wife are illiterate and are always deceived. If Li Daqi can continue to do business with him, then with his brain and Li Daqi's help , I believe they will be successful.

  Li Dongdong smiled, "Actually, I came to you because of this idea. Although we can't do food business, we can do other businesses."

  Li Yanqing smiled slightly: "Mosquito repellent incense is just my preliminary idea. You can go back and try it first. If it succeeds, we will talk about cooperation. After a long time, there will be many opportunities."

   "My dear brother, can you tell me the formula of the anti-mosquito lotion? I think it will be more likely to succeed if you do the two things together."

  Li Yanqing thinks a lot. In the future, he can make soap, perfume, shampoo, shower gel, etc. Of course, he has to go step by step.

  The mosquito repellent product was just an idea he had last night. Whether the market can accept it is still another matter. Li Dongdong can try it first. If the market accepts it, then they can continue to cooperate and expand the business step by step.

  Li Yanqing immediately told Li Dongdong the formula of the anti-mosquito liquid. In fact, it is very simple. After pressing and soaking wild chrysanthemum and honeysuckle, apply the water on the skin, so that mosquitoes will not bite. This is a very effective folk remedy.

Li Dongdong felt like he had found a treasure, so he didn't even have time to eat dinner, so he rushed back to the capital overnight, and began to find craftsmen to start making Li Ji brand mosquito coils and mosquito repellent dew. , the key is to ignite for more than three hours to ensure that it will not stay overnight.

   But let Li Dongdong try it, try a few more times, and you will succeed in the end.

  The other two agreed that if the two mosquito repellent products were successful, they would jointly open a new business and bring more trendy products to the market.

   Li Yanqing immediately wrote a letter to his father, telling him and Li Dongdong's thoughts, asking him to go to the capital as soon as possible to prepare for the establishment of a new Liji firm.

  【Another 4,000-character chapter is asking for votes from everyone! 】

  (end of this chapter)