Chapter 28 Trading
Zhou Kui looked at Wang An with a smile, and said meaningfully: "Haha, I don't think the young shopkeeper is unreasonable. In this case..."

Zhou Kui pretended to feel pain and held up three fingers.

Wang An couldn't help but frown, "Three hundred taels? Is this amount..."

Before he could finish, Zhou Kui looked extremely shocked and unbelievable, and said in horror: "What nonsense are you talking about, young shopkeeper? How could it be three hundred taels!"

Wang An was surprised when he heard this. Could it be three thousand taels?
It seems that the rumors about Zhou Kui being stingy are not entirely true. Isn't he quite generous?

Of course, considering the effects and prospects of allicin, thirty thousand taels would not be an exaggeration, let alone three thousand taels.

But Zhou Kui immediately said: "The annual salary of my father-in-law is not less than three hundred taels!"

"I'm talking about... thirty taels!"

Wang An almost couldn't breathe. Even in his two lifetimes, he had never seen someone as shameless as Zhou Kui.

You’re dreaming of buying the method of extracting allicin for thirty taels.

This is no longer a matter of bidding low, this is robbery!

Wang An's face turned cold, and he said unhappily, "Father-in-law, even if you don't understand the magic of my medicine, you must know about back abscesses, right? You know about this medicine, so you must have heard how I cured back abscesses."

"Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to me. The efficacy alone should be worth more than thirty taels, right?"

"Alas, that's not the case..." Zhou Kui pulled Wang An to sit down at the Eight Immortals Table affectionately, and instinctively reached out to warm himself on the coal stove. "If times were peaceful, it would be more than thirty taels, but if you go outside Guangning Gate now, you'll see how many ordinary people have started selling their children!"

"A cute little girl only costs twelve taels of silver! My father-in-law gave you thirty taels, which is equivalent to giving you two and a half cute little girls..."

He was only halfway through his words when he suddenly looked down at the coal stove.

The "human flesh market" outside Guangning Gate has become famous in recent years.

At first, only some refugee wives and daughters with some good looks engaged in the prostitution trade to earn a few steamed buns to fill their stomachs.

Later, as the number of refugees gradually increased, competition in the secret door business became fierce, so some older women had to change their careers and stick a straw on their heads to sell themselves, although they were all selling themselves.

But unlike the previous "lease", this time it is a buyout.

Gradually, a "human market" was formed, and the "shopkeepers" also changed from being old and ugly people to being able to open doors. Now, as long as men, women, old and young could not survive, they would kneel outside the Guangning Gate and stick a straw on their heads. This business, which could only be done once in a lifetime, was considered opened.

"My Lord, how can you compare like that? We..."

"Let's not talk about the secret medicine for now. What's wrong with your coal stove?" Zhou Kui pointed at the coal stove in front of him and asked in surprise.

Wang An said indifferently: "A coal stove!"

"I know it's a coal stove!" Zhou Kui was a little anxious, pointing at the burning coal balls and said, "But I've never seen this kind of coal balls before."

Wang An's heart moved.

There is a mountain range west of the capital, which is part of the northern end of the Taihang Mountains and is rich in coal resources.

Among them, the Wansui Mountain where Chongzhen died for his country was later renamed Jingshan, which is a small hill in the Xishan Mountains. It is even called Coal Mountain because of its rich coal resources. Moreover, all the coal mines are shallow and close to the surface, which are easy to mine and have high efficiency.

However, it is recorded in the "Da Ming Hui Dian" that the government strictly prohibited private coal mining by the public.

However, as the saying goes, "live by the mountain, eat by the mountain", the common people of the Ming Dynasty cannot do this, but can the nobles do it?

Wang An also didn't remember that the unofficial history book mentioned that Zhou Kui had a coal mine in Xishan.

"Come, come, master father-in-law, let me introduce you to something good." Wang An hooked his finger at Zhou Kui, and the two of them came to the door of the herbal medicine shop.

Wang An lifted up a tattered straw mat in the corner, revealing a pile of black mud underneath.

However, Zhou Kui recognized it at a glance, "This... looks like coal dust?"

"The father-in-law has good eyesight!" Wang An gave a thumbs up and pointed at the coal briquettes beside the mud pile and said, "This is called honeycomb coal!"

"All you need is the lowest quality coal powder, 20% yellow mud and a little quicklime to absorb nitrogen and sulfur and increase the structural strength... What are nitrogen and sulfur? That's not important!" Wang An said excitedly, "Using the cheapest coal powder, you can make affordable and flame-resistant coal balls. This business is worth doing!"

"Master, are you interested in investing?"

"Just use coal powder..." Zhou Kui stroked his beard and thought, "No spices?"

At that time, people actually made great use of coal. Not only had they learned to mix coal powder with other substances and grind them into blocks for burning, but wealthy families would even add various spices such as agarwood, musk, and borneol to the ground coal blocks to make them into more stylish animal-shaped or beautifully shaped coal cakes, which could be used to warm wine and keep warm, and could also be used as incense.

There was even a special "incense factory" in the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty that was used to make this kind of high-end coal cakes.

However, this type of coal briquettes is only available to rich people, and it is a luxury for ordinary people to even use normal coal blocks.

But the coal briquettes made by Wang An don’t look like high-end products with added spices.

Moreover, judging from the way the other party directly burned things for heating, considering the financial resources of a small herbal medicine shop owner, it would definitely not be something expensive.

Wang An immediately understood Zhou Kui's idea and directly introduced the advantages of honeycomb coal.

It has a large burning area, strong firepower, long-lasting flame resistance and low cost. In addition, the firepower can be controlled to extend the burning time through a special coal stove.

After listening to Wang An's introduction and personally breaking a piece of the burned coal ball to confirm that a large amount of yellow mud was indeed mixed into the coal ball, Zhou Kui was immediately excited.

"I didn't expect that the little genius doctor is not only proficient in medical skills, but also well versed in such tricks!"

Zhou Kui paced back and forth for a long time, then suddenly stopped and held up three fingers, "How about I pay this amount to buy the shopkeeper's secret medicine, plus the method of making coal briquettes as a bonus?"

Seeing that Zhou Kui still had three fingers, Wang An wanted to kick him with his big foot.

But Zhou Kui came to his senses and explained, "Three hundred taels, no more!"

"No, five hundred taels plus 20% of the shares of Xishan Coal Mine owned by my father-in-law!" Wang An opened his mouth loudly.

(End of this chapter)