Chapter 188： Tobacco and Alcohol Industry

"Where is this table salt?"

Wu Changqing continued to ask.

"Returning officer, coarse salt is 100 wen per catty, and the finest salt is 150 wen per catty."

Xiaoer Dian replied.

Tsk tusk, it's so expensive, no wonder that in ancient times, the salt tax was the most important type of taxation.

Wu Changqing was secretly shocked when he heard this. This is equivalent to 70 yuan per catty for later generations, and the fine salt for later generations is generally a few yuan per catty.

The price difference is one to two hundred times.

Table salt is a necessity of human life, no matter how expensive it is, the common people can only buy it with their teeth. This shows that the people's life pressure is still considerable.

In order to save money, some poor people use salt in their daily lives, which is not good for their health.

Wu Changqing also took down the salt.

It is necessary to upgrade salt production technology as soon as possible, and then carry out large-scale industrial production. Only when the output is increased can the price of salt be suppressed and the cost of living of the people can be reduced.

Moreover, after increasing the production of salt, wealth can also be snatched from the hands of the Qing court.

You know, the largest salt merchant groups are concentrated in Yangzhou, and they are still under the control of the Qing Dynasty. While those salt merchants made huge profits, they also contributed a lot of taxes to the Manchu dynasty.

As long as the price of salt is kept down, or even salt is dumped to the north, the Qing court will lose a significant amount of salt tax revenue. This will hit the Qing Dynasty harder than the dumping of cloth.

After all, people can wear tatters, but they can't stay away from salt for a long time.

Salt-making technology, this also has to be noted.

Wu Changqing continued to look at a few products, and then left the shop.

"Bah, it looks like a rich man, I didn't expect to be so stingy, I just asked if I would buy it."

After Wu Changqing left, the shop Xiaoer cursed.

He waited carefully for a while, but he didn't sell anything, and it was normal to be angry.

"Hush, I'm afraid you are tired of living, do you know who the person who just asked you was? That was Governor Wu Guogong of the dynasty. People came to appreciate the sentiments of the people. It is your good fortune to ask you two sentences. ."

A customer in a store quickly reminded.

Etiquette and inferiority are very particular in this era, just because of the swearing of Wu Changqing by the shop's second child, no one will complain for him if his head is cut off.

"What, Wu Guogong, it's real or fake, don't lie to me." Xiaoer Dian asked with lingering fear. Although he didn't believe it, he didn't dare to scold again.

It would be worthless if you lost your life just to try your best.

Moreover, Wu Guogong cares about the people and does not impose taxes on the people. In fact, Xiaoer of the shop likes and respects them very much. If you scold Master Qingtian by mistake, that would be a sin.

"What did I lie to you? When Wu Guogong entered the city, I was fortunate enough to grab a good position and see Wu Guogong's face clearly. I will never forget that face. Wu Guogong must come to private microservices for a private visit this time to understand the people's sentiments. You really deserve to be a good official."

The customer continued to sigh, and the shop Xiaoer was secretly grateful, fortunate that he did not have a bad reception just now.

Wu Changqing left the grocery store and continued to wander the street. When he saw a store he was interested in, he would go in and take a look.

When he came to a tobacco and liquor store, Wu Changqing walked in. The decoration in the shop is relatively simple, just some big jars filled with wine and sacks filled with dry tobacco.

"How much does this dry tobacco cost a jin?" Wu Changqing pinched a handful of shredded tobacco, and found that the cut tobacco was very out of specification, some thick and some thin.

"The Caomin has seen Wu Guogong. This dry tobacco is a good product imported from Nanyang, and there is no other place. If Wu Guogong likes it, the Caomin will offer it for free."

This shopkeeper was once fortunate to be met by Wu Changqing along with other businessmen, but Wu Changqing didn't remember him.

What Wu Changqing likes, where he dares to collect money, naturally he will offer as much as he wants.

"I'm asking how much the dry tobacco costs a catty."

Wu Changqing emphasized it again, he was a bit speechless, and he didn't seem like a person who would take prerogatives.

The shopkeeper heard Wu Changqing’s impatience, and quickly replied: “Since the supply of dry tobacco is not much, it is more expensive to sell. The small ones usually sell for 100 wen a catty.”

Three hundred words, wouldn't it be about the same price as table salt. But the problem is that growing tobacco is much simpler than making salt. The cost of obtaining a pound of shredded tobacco is much lower than the cost of making a pound of table salt.

Therefore, this is also a profiteering industry.

In fact, in this era of underdeveloped business, almost all businesses are quite profitable. Even if you sell candied haws on the street, your annual profit will definitely exceed 50%.

In the 21st century, those industries with annual profits exceeding 15% are super high-quality industries.

After asking about the price of dry tobacco and the price of rice wine, Wu Changqing left the shop.

The history of drinking in China has a long history, at least several thousand years, but the history of smoking is not long. It was probably introduced by Westerners during the Wanli period, and then it sold quickly.

It is an inevitable event that this kind of mildly addictive product sells well and cannot be forbidden.

Wu Changqing did not smoke in his previous life, nor did he like to smoke, but he also knew that he had little hope of smoking ban. Chongzhen banned smoking, and later in the Manchus, they banned smoking, but they all failed without exception.

Those Han people can accept shaving their hair, but they can't quit smoking. This shows how terrible this addictive product is.

Later generations of the United States also issued a prohibition on alcohol, which was later proved by history to be a joke.

Tobacco and alcohol, when they appear, humans cannot stop their epidemic.

Therefore, Wu Changqing never thought about smoking bans and alcohol, anyway, they are all low addictive things, just don't smoke opium. However, at present, there is no opium on Huaxia's side, so don't worry about it for the time being.

The current liquor is still mainly rice wine with a low alcohol content. Although white wine has a high alcohol content, it is difficult to brew, consumes a lot of food, and costs a lot, so it is relatively small.

Regarding the wine industry, Wu Changqing is prepared to ignore it, not prohibit it, but also not encourage it.

Because winemaking consumes a lot of food, it is cruel to the people to encourage the development of the wine industry in the era when the people still can't eat enough. The more fermented wine, the less food, the higher the price of food.

When the price of food is high, the people will not get any benefits. The little food they grow can not eat enough for themselves, and only the big landlords will benefit.

As for cigarettes, Wu Changqing wanted to support them and encourage the people to plant them.

Because of the high income of growing cigarettes, it can greatly increase the income of the people. As for the food problem caused by growing tobacco, this can sell cigarettes abroad, and then buy food from foreign countries.

Wu Changqing plans to get out the cigarette machine so that cigarettes can be manufactured in large quantities, which will greatly increase production and reduce costs.

As long as the cost is low, foreign cigarettes will not be able to compete with the cigarettes they make. Then, they can dump their products to seize the market and monopolize the global market, thus realizing huge wealth.

This is what Europe has done to other places in history. Europe relied on the Industrial Revolution to drastically reduce the cost of goods and then dumped them all over the world.

But now, it was Wu Changqing's turn to do this. In the future, which country and region dare to prohibit the inflow of his goods, he can also send a fleet to attack the other side, and then sign a so-called fair trade treaty.

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