"Dad, you've worked hard."

Xu Xingxia stood beside his father and said movingly.

For the sake of glass, in this year, Xu Fuqing did not toss less.

In the past, although the Xu family was poor, hungry and poorly clothed, on Chinese New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year's Eve, the whole family could still sit together and have a happy reunion dinner. But this year, the Xu family began to become rich, and they didn't worry about food or clothing, but they couldn't eat the reunion dinner. Xu Xingxia confronted the Tartar cavalry at Zhenyuan Pass, but Xu Fuqing was in the secret valley, pondering the specific production process of glass at night. The two main backbones of the Xu family are not at home, and such a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is the first time in the history of the Xu family!

Xu Xingxia only knows the basic manufacturing principle of glass, only the basic proportion of various raw materials, and what the manufactured glass looks like, but he doesn't know the specific process and details. He didn't even know the temperature at which he needed to fire the glass. In other words, the specific production process still needs to be explored by the craftsmen themselves and continuously improved. Obviously, this is not an easy thing to do.

Fortunately, Xu Fuqing cares very much about his eldest son's entrustment. As a father, how many are willing to lose to their sons? He was stunned with more than a dozen craftsmen, constantly pondering and improving the process day and night, and approached Xu Xingxia's requirements step by step. During this period, I don't know how many semi-finished products were destroyed and how many raw materials were wasted. However, Xu Xingxia's requirements are very strict, and things that are not up to standard are absolutely not wanted. He wants high-spec glass, pure glass, not glass that fools people or something.

Even with the guidance of Xu Xingxia, a traverser, the production process of glass is full of hardships and twists and turns. The glass that came out first looked very rough and uneven, so Xu Fuqing and the others tried to smooth it out. Later, the glass that came out was not transparent enough, and they tried every possible way to find the reason, and finally fully met Xu Xingxia's requirements.

On the day of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the first batch of finished glass products that fully meet the specifications were finally placed in front of Xu Xingxia's eyes. For these finished products, Xu Fuqing and many craftsmen have been out of sight for three days and three nights. In their opinion, the purity of this batch of glass has exceeded their imagination. If Xu Xingxia still says that he failed, they will probably be hit. Thankfully, they didn't hear anything like that.

"Yes, this is glass!" Xu Xingxia said with a solemn expression.

The craftsmen who were affirmed by Xu Xingxia fell asleep directly on the spot. They were so tired, they were so sleepy. Even the joy of victory can't make them last even half a long time. The originally tense nerves suddenly loosened, and they could no longer control their bodies and went directly to sleep.

As the manager of the glass factory, Xu Fuqing's performance was not much better than that of other craftsmen. He only lasted less than half a pillar of incense, and he also fell asleep. Of course, this was after Xu Xingxia left. In front of Xu Xingxia, no matter how tired and sleepy a father is, he must hold on. How can a father easily reveal his weak side in front of his children?

According to Xu Xingxia's requirements, the first batch of products in the glass factory are all very large glass sheets. The size of these pieces of glass is square, each side is six inches (about 2 meters), the area is four square meters, and the thickness is about half a finger. Xu Xingxia checked it carefully, and there was no problem with the transparency at all, it was absolutely crystal clear. Even if it's an idiot, you won't think it's glass.

The cost of such a piece of glass, including labor, is about fifteen taels of silver, but its selling price is at least three hundred taels or more. Because on the side of Yuegang, Fujian, the glass pieces that are much smaller than this will be sold for two or three hundred taels of silver. Xu Fuqing produced a total of 20 boxes, each box had 20 pieces, a total of 400 pieces. This means that he Xu Xingxia will have an income of at least 120,000 taels of silver.

And the glass factory, every month, can produce at least a hundred boxes of such glass. In other words, an income of at least 600,000 taels of silver per month. Faced with such calculated figures, Xu Xingxia had to sigh, sometimes, it's really not too difficult to make money! It's not completely impossible to get rich overnight! If it is now a peaceful and prosperous era and there is no need to fight, he can become a large family just by relying on the money from selling glass, buy thousands of acres of land, marry a few beautiful wives and concubines, and live a good life.

It's a pity that these are extraordinary times, and the money earned from selling glass, left hand in, right hand out, soon disappeared. To put it simply, the money disappeared before it was hot. Don't look at the income of 600,000 taels of silver every month, it seems that it is a lot, but after it is scattered, it is really not much. Now the northern part of Ningxia Town is like a dry desert, I don't know how much time I haven't absorbed water, such a little silver, it's like a scoop of water, sprinkled into the desert, not even a shadow can be seen.

What the? The annual financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty, that is, millions of silver? You earn 600,000 taels a month and 7 or 8 million taels a year, isn't that enough? Big brother, it's not that my income is too much, it's that the income of the court is too small! The income of the imperial court is definitely abnormal! According to the normal situation, if the imperial court does not have an income of 30 million silver a year, it is impossible to maintain normal operation, which is the fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty is going downhill!

How can a country, a political axe, maintain normal operation without sufficient fiscal revenue and various functions? Especially in the undercurrent era of the late Ming Dynasty, there is not enough fiscal revenue, which means that the country will gradually collapse. Money is needed to fight wars, and money is needed to save the hungry. Nothing can be done without money. If the imperial court had money, Li Zicheng would not have been laid off and would not have participated in the rebellion. If the imperial court had money, the war in Liaodong would not have been repeated many times, so that it would be enlarged by the Houjin Tartars.

Now Xu Xingxia is really short of money. Originally, he also felt that the little silver in his hand was three or four hundred thousand taels, which should be able to support it. Three or four hundred thousand taels of silver, that's definitely not a small amount. If it is used by ordinary families, even if you squander it desperately, you can enjoy a lifetime of luxury every day. However, after receiving back 30,000 or 40,000 slaves, Xu Xingxia found that such a small amount of money was not enough to see.

Money is needed everywhere! This is Xu Xingxia's biggest feeling. It takes money to settle the slaves! It takes money to reclaim wasteland! It takes money to build a farmstead! It takes money to repair roads! It takes money to build the town far pass! It takes money to build weapons and equipment! Money is needed to expand the army! Money is needed for food for the troops! Forage for war horses needs money! Xu Xingxia didn't think that there was anything that didn't need money...... Well, you don't need money to pee on the side of the road...... If he didn't have an income of 600,000 taels of silver every month, he didn't know what to do! He was originally self-made, innocent, and had no foundation at all. If you don't have money, it's hard to move an inch. As the saying goes, a penny drives a hero to death, and this is absolutely not wrong! If you don't have money, you really can't do anything!

Of course, the income of 600,000 taels of silver per month is the most optimistic situation. With the gradual saturation of the glass market, this income will definitely not be able to sustain for long. After all, the price of a piece of glass is at least three hundred taels of silver, and this kind of consumption is definitely not something that ordinary large families can afford, only rich and expensive families. No matter how many wealthy and noble families there were in the Ming Dynasty, they were limited. However, it is enough for Xu Xingxia to earn the first pot of gold. In the future, glass will not make money, and he will have other ways to make money.

…… The Black Mountain Battalion, which was originally the camp of the Ming army's soldiers, originally only had some barracks made of wood. After being abandoned, after a long period of wind and rain, it has basically disappeared. When the white-clothed army entered the area, they built it and turned it into a construction site. Every day, there are seven or eight thousand military households busy on the construction site. Every day, new construction starts. Every day, too, buildings are completed.

In the northern part of the Black Mountain camp, there is a row of wooden houses that have been built, about a hundred of them, arranged neatly, magnificently, solemnly, and magnificently. Outside the wooden house, there is a sentry post of the white-clothed army. At each outpost, there were two sentries of the white-clothed army, staring vigilantly around. Behind the checkpoint, there is a flag of the white-clothed army flying high. The golden dragon pattern holding the twin swords can be seen from a long distance.

These rows of wooden houses are the barracks of the white-clothed army. The main forces of the White Clothes Army are stationed here. This is the heart of the entire Montenegrin camp. Xu Xingxia's residence is in the middle of the camp. It was a large wooden house, estimated to cover at least half an acre. The wooden house has a total of three floors, and Xu Xingxia is said to live on the top floor. If you are lucky, the people outside can even see Xu Xingxia standing on the balcony from a distance, looking around. Of course, this is all that is said, and no one can come up with convincing evidence.

In the barracks of the white-clothed army, in addition to Xu Xingxia's residence, near the entrance of the barracks, there is a wooden house with an equally large area, which is specially used to meet guests. At this moment, inside this wooden house, there were five merchants sitting, as if waiting for something. The middle one is none other than Liu Zhiqiang, the owner of Kwai Yuan Building.

(To be continued)