Match manufacturing can be roughly divided into five parts: stem manufacturing, stem processing, match medicine head manufacturing, box manufacturing, packaging and phosphorus brushing.

When making matchsticks, you choose wood with loose texture, straight texture, flammable and odorless wood.

The commonly used tree species are Poplaraceae or Tilora family, and can also be used in pine or spruce.

Pine wood needs to be steamed to remove the rosin contained.

The mountains of the warship bay are full of these kinds of trees, which is not a problem.

Moreover, the construction of the warship bay is being carried out, and now it is not even possible to cut it off. Take a piece of wood and use a knife to cut it immediately and start.

After selecting materials, cut the log into segments, peel off the bark, and spin it into continuous stems with uniform thickness. The stems are then cut into stems of certain specifications.

Then soak the stem with a concentration of about 1% phosphoric acid or ammonium phosphate solution. This step is to prevent the embers from falling after the matches burn.

After draining and removing the surface moisture, it is sent to a stem dryer to dry, so that the moisture content of the stem is reduced to 6 to 8%. After drying the stem, screen to remove broken branches and long strips and wide sheets, and select stems that meet the specifications.

Multiple processes such as stalk processing, stalk adding, dipping wax, dipping medicine, drying and unloading stalks are completed.

The matches and the matchbox are merged in the packaging process. The matches are neatly packed into the box according to the specified number of points, and then brush the side of the box with phosphorus paste.

The main components of phosphorus slurry are red phosphorus and adhesives. The traditional adhesive is leather glue, and synthetic adhesives are also used. After drying, every 10 boxes of matches are sealed into small bags and put into a box. A box of 100 bags is called "pieces", which is the finished product.

Wei Bao estimated the cost and said to Deng Erxian around him: "It costs about two cents and needs to be sold for three cents. Do you think it will be easier to sell on the market?"

Deng Erxian shook his head and said, "I dare not talk nonsense. It depends on whether the family has money. If the poor family only sells a penny, they will think about it for a long time. If my brother and I are still fleeing the famine, we will definitely not have the intention to see what the stalls are selling."

Wei Bao smiled.

When Deng Daliang heard his sister's words, he secretly called the silly girl stupid and really couldn't speak. He hurriedly said to the president: "President, my sister is careless. Don't listen to her. This match must be a good thing. As long as it is a family that can live a good life at home, if it costs three cents a box, you will be willing to buy it, and at least a few boxes are kept at home."

Wei Bao nodded and thought to himself: Unfortunately, more than 90% of the poor are poor in this era! In addition to food and clothing, poor people are reluctant to spend money on anything they spend! The mainstream consumer group still has to solve the problem of 10% of the families who have enough food and clothing.

Thinking of sales, Wei Bao had a headache.

Everyone developed matches in the warship bay, which belongs to the Military Industry Department. Wei Bao followed him for more than an hour and left the shed.

After walking two or three hundred meters, you can see the sea surface exposed from the valley entrance. This is a natural harbor. The Zhenyuan ship is lying quietly in the harbor. This scenery made Wei Bao extremely intoxicated, and this place can be called a paradise.

After walking around the beach for a while and smoking a cigarette, Wei Bao was in a very good mood. He felt that he had not been in vain for the past few days, and the progress of a lot of things was coming.

Wei Bao went to see a large brick and stone house specially built for the installation of generator sets, which will be a thermal power plant!

"Dig a well here! See if it can be fired." Wei Bao said to Lin Wenbiao beside him: "Go and call Deng Daliang and Fu Jiguang over."

"Yes, young master." Lin Wenbiao agreed and made a gesture. One of his agents hurriedly went to call for someone.

Deng Daliang will arrive in a while, "President, please come to me."

Fu Jiguang also called the president and stood respectfully with his hands down.

"Didn't you participate in the drilling of a well last time? This time, you use electricity to drill wells! I'll teach you how to use and maintain the generator set. In the future, you will take a few people. This power plant will be your supervisor! You must strictly follow the above operation requirements." Wei Bao finished speaking to Deng Daliang and then dealt with Jiguang: "You should help him, you must understand every word on the manual. If you don't understand, ask me."

The generator is covered with instructions and drawings, burning coal and generating electricity, which is not complicated. Wei Bao is worried about it.

The two of them hurriedly agreed, feeling a great responsibility. When they saw that the big guy was all iron, they knew that they were extremely valuable.

Because the imperial court monopolized metal mines, all metals were extremely expensive in the Ming Dynasty! Pirates smuggled them mainly to sell cheap things from the Ming Dynasty, and then bring in the expensive things from the Ming Dynasty to sell them, which is very profitable! The premise is that they should not be caught by the official fleet.

Wei Bao personally demonstrated it, "Did you see it? There are sockets here to activate electricity! This is a motor! Just like last time, measure the size and make the pipes down. When I get it done, how long will it take for me to come?"

Deng Daliang thought for a while and said, "If the CEO is not in a hurry, it will be within three days?"

Wei Bao nodded: "I'll come here the morning after tomorrow! I hope that the matches and paper boxes will be made out by then! The first batch of soap, matches and kerosene lamps can be packaged, and then the well will be cleaned!"

With power excavation, Wei Bao was not worried about not being able to dig deep wells! Just don’t dig into the rock layer.

Deng Daliang nodded and agreed.

"By the way, let's talk to them that every product must be tested and must be given a certificate of conformity in the end! What you need to do is exactly the same as this packaging! Products that are not tested are not allowed to leave the factory! Trademarks are made with Tiandi Business name, and the product name is Tiandi Match, Tiandi Soap, Tiandi Kerosene Lamp. Use the brand of Tiandi in unification!" Wei Bao then instructed. If it weren't for the printing of this era, it would be too difficult to print pictures, and now the time is too tight, so it's too late, otherwise Wei Bao would want someone to make a poster, and it would be best to match a beauty.

Deng Daliang then agreed.

"Let me go back and ask the carving master if he can carve it." Wei Bao was worried that the master in the countryside would not have such superb skills, and it would be difficult to draw on porcelain or seals. "There are beauties on the matchbox and the soap box respectively. The packaging of the kerosene lamp is no longer needed. If there is no such technology, forget it."

"Okay, President." Lin Wenbiao and Deng Daliang agreed together.

It is not difficult to have samples to make templates.

After Wei Bao said that, he went back. He thought it would take him very late, but it would take less time to simply explain it to his subordinates.

Now you only need to wait three days later, and wait until the first batch of products are packaged, and follow the products to Shanhaiguan. Whether it is sales or the imperial examination, the main battlefield is Shanhaiguan, and Wei Bao will stay there for some time in the near future.

Wei Bao rushed back to his house on time before dinner, only Wang Qiuya was there, Fan Xiaolin did not come back from work, and Xu Rui went to the board of directors, but did not come back.

Wang Qiuya also has a public office and serves as the deputy director in the President's Secretariat, but the office of the President's Secretariat is Wei Bao's residence. More than 30 other maids live on the periphery of Wei Bao's house.

After dinner, Wei Bao worked hard in the room to read some things related to the Eight-Legend Scientific Examination, the Four Books and Five Classics. He now has a concept. However, if he wants to take the formal imperial examination, he must go to Shanhaiguan for formal primary school. This process must be done.

Wang Qiuya knocked on the door gently.

Wei Bao looked up and said, "Come in."

"Young Master, after dinner, you haven't drunk hot tea yet." Wang Qiuya pushed the door open and said softly.

Wei Bao nodded. He had a habit of drinking some hot tea after a meal.

After Wang Qiuya came in to serve tea, she saw Wei Bao reading a book and reminded him: "I have collected more than 6,000 local villagers. How should they settle them? Today, many people came to our A to ask, and there is no work to do. Many people have to leave their hometowns and go out to flee the famine."

Wei Bao nodded, but forgot about this big thing! His back suddenly became dry and he felt his scalp numb!

He originally wanted to ignore those people for now, because the food pressure is too high, so if the food on hand is too high, it will be difficult to maintain this month if he can't buy food again!

Moreover, even if the spring plowing situation goes well, the seeds planted cannot be turned into food immediately. Even high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn, and sorghum will not be able to harvest the first batch of young seedlings at the earliest three months. It is the most wasteful to use them to satisfy hunger. It is best to harvest them when the fruits are ripe and full.

But since they have taken in a large number of refugees, these local villagers don’t care about it, which is really unreasonable.

Wei Bao leaned against the "boss chair" that was close to the top fur with a headache.

Wang Qiuya whispered: "Am I talking too much? Has it bothered the young master?"

"It's not your business, but I can't think of any good idea!" Wei Bao said: "The only way at the moment is to find a way to buy food and then arrange those people to do things! If they don't give food, they are all hungry people and they don't have the strength to work."

Wei Bao has no shortage of work. According to his idea of ​​building a modern urban infrastructure, there is only one million people. It will not be possible to complete it for five years. There are a lot of job opportunities! It’s just that there are job opportunities and no wages can be paid. Can people do it? People are not machines, they have to eat, even machines, they have to be oiled, maintained, and fueled.

Wei Bao originally wanted to pretend to be deaf and mute, because the debts of these villagers were in the gang, and the chief A and the rich were holding them! Now it is different, they are all in his hands. In fact, Wei Bao's tens of thousands of people are equivalent to his serfs! But he did not manage them by managing serfs, and gave his subordinates more freedom so that he could transform into the people under the capitalist system after paying off the accounts in the future.

Now Wei Bao has an unshirkable responsibility to these people.

"Food is hard to buy, and there is a shortage of food everywhere." Wang Qiuya sighed softly, "Drink tea first, it will cool down later."

Wei Bao slowly sipped the tea, his mind was rotating rapidly, but he really couldn't think of a way to buy food! Not to mention the food for the people, even the officers and soldiers of the garrison were in short supply now!

In this kind of year, only some large gentry and wealthy families can be safe and sound.

"Or, if you are a little hard-hearted, you will tell the truth. You can't control them for the time being. Let them go out to be refugees and come back when the summer harvest is coming in a few months! Otherwise, the original 3,000 people are not enough for us." Wang Qiuya came up with an idea. This is the stupidest and least possible way.

Wei Bao looked at Wang Qiuya, "Doing this is to force more than 6,000 of them to go out and be refugees. I wonder how many people can survive until summer to return home?"

At this moment, Wei Bao felt very sad. How fragile is a human life? Especially since he had been eating and drinking for a few days, his clothes were bright and full, the contrast was too great when the family squinted their eyes when they saw a fish more than a month ago.

Maybe he is really just a person with a small situation? Wei Baoan thought about the fact that since he had greater power and had to take on more responsibilities, he felt very tired all the time. He responded to the crowd and was arrogant, but he could not resist the many things that had to be handled behind the scenes and had to worry about.

Buying by land is definitely not possible. Wei Bao has entered the customs once and has been to many places in Northern Zhili, Hejian Prefecture and the capital. Knowing the market conditions there, the black market is expensive and the amount of goods is small, so it cannot meet the needs of a team of tens of thousands of people!

I think the situation outside the pass is similar! It was not only the Ming Dynasty that was affected by the disaster, but also the Jiannu place. If you want to find a way, you can only find a way from the Mongols. But I heard that in order to solve the supply problem, Jiannu used troops everywhere to plunder and blocked all roads outside the pass. Now it seems that he is still using the cold winter to attack the Lushun area.

Moreover, even if you can open up the joints and use this relationship between Liaoxi and Jiannu outside the pass to buy some high-priced animals, it is not realistic. The price is too high and the quantity will definitely not be satisfied.

Taking the sea route, looking for North Korea to find a way, or buying it with merchants from the south to the north, these two are the most feasible! But what other ships are there except for a large warship? The Ming Dynasty forbidden seas, and there are only a few families in Jinshan who are more courageous and secretly build a few small fishing boats, but they can only fish in the nearshore and cannot sail far away.

"There is no way now." Wang Qiuya sighed slightly, knowing why Wei Bao was embarrassed, and lamenting that Wei Bao was too kind-hearted. However, when she thought of the embarrassing situation where her family and Wei family almost fled abroad, she couldn't help but feel sad.

"We cannot let the villagers go out to flee the famine!" Wei Bao hesitated for a minute, and then said firmly: "No matter how hard or difficult it is, we cannot leave behind a person who follows me! The owed owes of these villagers have been transferred to me now, they are the tenants of my Wei family, and they are mine."

Wang Qiuya was shocked when she heard this, "But, our food is only enough for this month's expenses? She can't guarantee the expenses. Where can I spare no effort to take care of the more than 6,000 villagers?"

Wei Bao stood up decisively: "Go and call Lin Wenbiao to the hall, and then bring the local villagers' roster!"

Wang Qiuya didn't know what Wei Bao was going to do, so she agreed to go out quickly.

Wei Bao walked towards the hall, thinking that no matter what, people would move first! He still had some money in his hand, and as long as the new product was launched smoothly, he could still earn some money! He always had to try to buy food from the sea, and now he had to try to ask Lin Wenbiao to send someone to contact those "crazy merchants" who traveled between the southern part of the Ming Dynasty and North Korea.

Although Wei Bao was an authentic southerner, he still believed that the Ming southern merchants who could come to the north of the Ming Dynasty in this era called them profiteers because if these people were not treacherous enough, it would be difficult to do business, not to mention doing business, even traveling.

Isn’t Shanxi merchants so badly just mainly active in the north? Merchants from Southern Zhili can travel between the north and North Korea, open up all joints, and play a role in connecting the entire Ming Dynasty commercial society!

Although they do not have a clear group, they are mostly scattered business teams that rely on various powerful bureaucrats, the combined function is like this.

The eunuch party group, as well as the Qi Chuzhe Party and the Donglin Party that are dependent on the eunuch party group, have large bureaucrats among these political forces, and the scattered Nanzhili business teams are dependent on them.

The landlord class and gentry class of the Ming Dynasty did not have to pay taxes or donate, but they were all doing some poaching activities.

Lin Wenbiao came over quickly and Wei Bao told him his thoughts.

Lin Wenbiao said: "Young master, this is probably a bit difficult. You can contact us. I'm afraid that these people may not be able to like us. We are in western Liaoning. In the eyes of people from other places in the Ming Dynasty, western Liaoning is domineering and poor. Anyway, they have a bad impression. Their southern merchants do land business everywhere, but water business usually goes from Nanzhili to Dengzhou, then directly from Dengzhou to Shuangdao, Lushun, and then to North Korea. They don't live with us at all."

"If you have money, you will pass! I will give them money. Don't they want it?" Wei Bao said: "No matter how difficult it is, contact us immediately! Yongping Mansion and Shanhaiguan seem to have shops opened by southern merchants."

"If you buy food from sea, food is the most restrictive goods that the imperial court has restricted. If you are found, it is a serious crime!" Lin Wenbiao reminded: "And the sea involves the Mao family in Dongjiang! The local forces in Dongjiang and Liaodong are not in the way. If our area secretly interacts with the Mao family in Dongjiang and is found out by the government, the young master may also get into big trouble! I am afraid that southern merchants will not dare to cause this trouble."

Lin Wenbiao's words once again made Wei Bao think in deep thought, thinking that it was mainly the official forces!

Wei Bao gritted his teeth and thought that he had the debts of Wu Xuexia on hand. He could not say that for the sake of the food of tens of thousands of people under his command, he could only bow to the Wu family! Wei Bao felt that the Wu family must have this energy.
To be continued...