Chapter 25: The One Who Emerges After Being Called For A Thousand Times

  After handling the aftermath of the robbery, Yang ordered the production of armor and was about to do his old business. The stolen opium weighed over 10,000 catties, and he believed that he could extract at least around 1,000 catties of morphine, which is half a ton!

  It is unknown how much wealth it can bring to oneself, as long as the product has a sales channel, one has taken the first step in dominating Yunnan, and with sufficient funds, there are not many things that cannot be done.

  After bidding farewell to the old master, Yang Meng rushed with several knife hands and rushed straight to the cave of Xishan Mountain. Seeing the large batch of opium piled up in the cave, Yang Meng's eyes were filled with golden light.

  But some things are one thing to think about, and another to do. After a day of busy work, it's not bad! It was successful, but there were only a few pounds of sea snails, and relying on him alone to finish these opium would take at least two or three years.

  He took some auxiliary materials and configured the first batch of products. Yang Meng was also thinking about how to let others do these things, relying on himself alone, it's too difficult to get rich.

  The process of making poison must be kept absolutely confidential, key links must be personally controlled, and other tasks can be divided among workers to ensure maximum secrecy.

  Yang Meng manually blended the first batch of products, and the effect is still to be tested by others. He himself didn't want to touch it again, nor did Yang's knife-wielding hand work. Go to Kunming City to find a few big smokers to try it out, they are not bad test subjects for poison.

  After tasting the poison, kill it, and there's no beginning or end, clean and neat.

  Found Ding Baojun, told him about the matter, and Ding Baojun also nodded in agreement. However, Yang Meng had a special requirement - these smokers should be literate, so they could accurately describe the effects of their drugs; otherwise, finding some fools who didn't even know the efficacy would be pointless.

  It's a bit difficult, Ding Baojun found several groups of people, and it was not easy to get a few bookworms who were not conspicuous, under Yang Meng's orders, they were sent to Xishan.

  "Uncle Ding, find some more honest and reliable people with strict mouths. I'm short of workers there. These people will live in Xishan later and can't easily return home. Even if they want to go back home, we need to keep an eye on them. Of course, we can pay a higher monthly salary."

  It takes someone's skill to guarantee production. I thought it was easy and could be done easily, but unexpectedly, the actual operation is also quite troublesome.

  "These people won't get addicted to smoking, will they? If so, it's a tough choice for everyone."

  Yang Meng's process of refining opium, Ding Baojun also went to see, he was not worried that the hired workers would get addicted to smoking, what he feared most was that this third master would get hooked on that harmful stuff.

  "This won't work, my refining method doesn't have any harm, as long as you don't touch the final product, there's no risk at all."

  Most people who make drugs don't touch this stuff themselves, so although homemade drug production is crude, the safety aspect is not a problem.

  "That's settled then. I'll arrange for as many people as you need. Servants, cooks, and guards will all be sent to Xishan this time, and from now on, they can form their own household there!"

  What's in the cave of Xishan Mountain, Ding Baojun is clear about it. This thing can't be associated with the Yang family, of course, the more secretive and independent it is, the more beneficial it is to the Yang family.

  "There are about fifty or sixty people! They must be strong and healthy, and when will our family's horse team running the Guangdong route return? I have some things to ask them."

  If the product is to be transported, packaging is also a big problem. This not only includes inland transportation but also the final transportation by sea to reach the terminal market. Moisture-proof and water-proof are also major issues.

  "After the New Year, your elder brother left. The trade route on that side is by waterway, so it takes about one or two months to come and go. Calculating the time, it's almost due for his return. When your elder brother comes back, I'll keep his team of horses. If there are any issues, you can ask him yourself."

  Guangdong Business Road, also known as the new business road opened by Yang's family, is the shortest route back and forth. Mr. Yang himself is in charge of this lucrative business road, which will be handed over to the eldest son in a few years.

  Yang Shiqin no longer asks about business matters, and everything is handled by Ding Baoren and Yang Yong, the eldest son of the Yang family.

  "Alright, tell the old master that I won't be returning to Wu Zhuang for a while. Before big brother returns, I'll get everything done and when he goes back next time, he can bring my new product over there to sell."

  The old man is not at home, can only let Ding Baojun deliver the message, and his side also needs to speed up.

  Back at Xishan cave, Yang Meng immediately started testing the poison. How was it? The first effect had to be seen, if the reaction was too intense, it would not be good for his own product.

  The result was indeed as Yang Meng had guessed, these several tobacco ghosts were all trapped in a state of dizziness, this is not a good phenomenon, such a large reaction, is because the purity is too high, the concentration is too high, although it's addictive to smoke, but the aftereffect is too big, it's not good for the sales of their own products.

  "How does it feel?"

  The concentration slowly drops, but it's still necessary to ask the smokers' feelings. No matter how good the thing is, if the taste is not good, it's useless. If you make the immortal pill look like shit, others will dare not try it. What's the use of the immortal pill?

  "Good! Too good! Smooth and sweet, with the faint scent of tea, it's like falling into a cloud. What fame, what wealth, all follow the fragrance of the tea, everything is perfect! This thing is wonderful!"

  The talking object, with a runny nose and tears streaming down its face, leaned crookedly against the pile of firewood, looking utterly delighted. This thing is ruined, what a pity for the advertising slogans it came up with.

  "What should this thing be called?"

  Seeing that he had some literary talent, Yang Meng let him come up with a name for himself.

  "This is snuff, with a faint tea fragrance, making people feel like they are in the clouds, produced in Yunnan, can be called Yun Tea Fragrance, but there is another name that is more fitting, simple and straightforward, Yunyan! It fully captures the wonder of this thing, after trying it, everything else is just fleeting like clouds!"

  Yunyan? What a terrible name! But if Yunyan can counterattack the Eight-Nation Alliance, then it's acceptable. Let's just call it Yunyan!

  The knife hand stared at these several tobacco ghosts, Yang Meng went to deal with the formula, the concentration of sea snail was too high, although it was said that this way was the fastest, but the side effects were too great, boiling frog in warm water was a good idea.

  Yang Meng slowly adjusted the formula, but directly adding high-purity sea snail factor would result in side effects, no matter how much was added!

  These people are still heavy smokers. If ordinary people smoke it, the reaction will be even greater, which will affect the sales of the final product. The problem lies in the extraction method.

  To solve this problem, Yang Meng spent more than ten days and finally solved the problem with a large amount of talcum powder. In these few days, due to frequent trials, those several big smokers were no longer human in shape. As for side effects, they also had some adaptation, and letting them try again had little effect.

  Yang Meng took some high-purity stuff and let them inhale it to death, then ordered the knife hand to bury these several tobacco ghosts. This stuff is too harmful to people, so later on, we still need to find a way to quit smoking, otherwise, with so many tobacco ghosts in the Qing dynasty, can they all be killed?

  Ding Baojun then found a few smokers to test the poison, and this time there were no side effects. After smoking this cloud smoke, those big smokers were not so enthusiastic about opium anymore. However, this stuff is more addictive than opium, and without an extremely strong willpower, it's very difficult to quit on one's own. Yang Meng had a deep understanding of this.

  The secret of Yunyan cannot be leaked, and it can only be blamed on these smokers for being unlucky. However, Yang Meng remembered their names, and in the future, if possible, they could become witnesses to history.

  The formula is no problem, the next step is mass production, but the problems are still coming, the biggest trouble is in the mixer, manual turning is not working well, and using a mule is also not very effective.

  Yang Meng searched for problems bit by bit and solved them one by one. The first batch of 100,000 kilograms of Yunyan cigarettes took nearly two months from development to actual production.

  One hundred thousand catties, that's a whole fifty tons! Looking at the countless ceramic jars in the cave, Yang Meng didn't know what to say either. These things, once they enter the market, will be extremely harmful, but what can he do?

  As the saying goes, good and evil will be rewarded in the end. Yang Meng is the reincarnation of a foreign devil's retribution. Without their massive importation of opium, he wouldn't have gotten hooked on it either. Yang Meng also wanted to be a saint, but having failed several times in his past lives, this life, he doesn't want to be a saint anymore.

  You hit me and I'll hit you back, whoever stands last is the real winner. Moreover, one has to rely on this thing to live a life of luxury and wealth!

  Uncle Ting still had no news from the horse team, this era is too inconvenient, communication and transportation are extremely backward, exchange is also very inconvenient, a horse team went out, and they can only know they are safe when they come back.

  Sometimes, a one- or two-month trip can turn into three to five months once something comes up.

  Ding Baojun was not in a hurry, but Yang Meng was anxious! These things of his still need to be packaged and transported in ceramic jars, which is clearly unrealistic. They are fragile and breaking one would result in a loss of silver!

  Since Ma Yun will not return for a while, he should first prepare some packaging. As his own products are high-end, the packaging must also be innovative.

  It just so happened that Xun Yuqing also found several discontented scholars there, all of whom had brought their families with them. The average Qing dynasty family was not small, with at least seven or eight people in a household, and sometimes as many as thirty or fifty people.

  The monthly salary of fifty taels of silver is enough to make a living, and the people brought by Cen Yu Ying are obviously poor, regardless of men, women, old or young, they are all thin like sticks, with nothing but skin and bones on their bodies.

  Such a miserable scene, Yang Meng had seen it before, on TV, the most in Africa, didn't expect Qing Dynasty to be like this too.

  Although these people are weak and thin, they have shown great enthusiasm to help with the work, packing things up. It seems that this five taels of silver has become their hope for survival.

  "Call Ying, and get Old Jiang over here."

  Looking at these people who are generally bookworms, Yang Meng's heart is very heavy. Once a person lives like this, for the sake of survival, they can do anything.

  These people are like smokers without tobacco, a suitable path can turn these struggling good citizens into evil spirits.

  "Lao Jiang, between Wu Village and Xishan, choose a piece of barren land. Don't want the one that can be planted with grain, don't want the small ones, I want to build a village."

  Having received Yang Meng's order, Jiang Shu began to think and soon came up with a result.

  "Listen up, if you want to stay here with me, now is your chance. I'll tell you about Zhuangzi's future layout and scale, and how to do it. You plan for yourselves, I just want to see the results. If you do well, you will live a life of plenty, but if you don't..."

  Yang Meng spoke out the overall function of modern residential areas, and one by one, weak scholars also silently memorized. After Yang Meng finished speaking, he left. The Zhuangzi didn't need to be built, Yang Meng only needed to look at the blueprint, and once this was done well, they would be considered valuable.

  Yang Meng also wanted to help more people, if he made a fortune in the future, it wouldn't be impossible to take them in for free, but now his products still have no sales channels, and whether they make money is uncertain, so for now, he can only afford to support useful people.