Chapter Fifty-two: The Timber Business

  The palace has many skilled craftsmen, and the style of rocking chairs is not complicated. After a few days of deliberation, they can be made, but there is a difficult problem in front of these carpenters, that is polishing.

  To achieve the smoothness of a rocking chair made from Qingfengju's sent recliner, it's simply an illusion, even with golden nanmu wood, let alone purple sandalwood.

  The carpenters wanted to imitate, but it was Li Shimin's intention. The day after the rocking chair appeared in the imperial palace, it caught the attention of Li Shimin's sons and daughters. The older ones were okay, they could control themselves, but the younger ones couldn't, they all wanted to lie down and rock, not having any of the dignity that princes and princesses should have.

  Li Shimin was furious and severely scolded these little guys, then ordered the craftsmen in the imperial palace to imitate them. The imperial palace naturally had many precious materials, such as golden silk nanmu wood, but the method was good, and the result did not meet his expectations.

  Until Qin Yu sent the rocking chair into the imperial palace for the second time, the craftsmen in the palace still couldn't figure out a way to make it. Although Li Shimin was not pleased, he did not punish these craftsmen and immediately dispatched Yang Gonggong to ask Qin Yu about the secret of this smooth rocking chair. It is said that Li Shimin was also quite curious about this.

  Qin Yu met Yang Gonggong again and saw that he was in high spirits at a glance, but he wouldn't ask for the reason.

  Qin Yu ordered someone to bring a cup of tea for Yang Gonggong, and Qin Yu also had one. He raised his teacup to signal Yang Gonggong to drink the tea, then immediately asked, "What brings you here, Yang Gonggong?"

  Yang Gonggong's eyes were fixed on the teacup, and upon hearing Qin Yu's inquiry, he cleared his throat and said, "Qin Gongzi doesn't know this, but this rocking chair is good, it's just that there are too few of them, and the princes and princesses are not happy about it."

  Qin Yu was taken aback for a moment and thought to herself, "Not again, how many more sets do I have to make? Li Shimin's sons and daughters are not few."

  The Great Tang Taizong is the greatest, it's best not to offend him. Making a few chairs isn't difficult at all. Qin Yu hastily asked, "I wonder how many more sets does Your Majesty need?"

  Yang Gong smiled slightly, picked up the teacup, lifted the lid, and carefully sniffed it under his nose, with a look of intoxication on his face. He then put it to his mouth and sipped it lightly, savored it for a moment, before speaking, "Qin Gongzi, I have something to say, but I don't know if it's appropriate."

  "Good grief, you're still so arrogant." Qin Yu thought to himself, then spoke up and said, "Lord Yang is being straightforward."

  Yang Gong smiled and nodded, then opened his mouth to say, "The miscellaneous family thinks that as a minister's son, one should consider everything for Your Majesty. If Your Majesty wants to make enough rocking chairs as soon as possible, how many carpenters does Qin Gongzi have? How many days will it take?"

  Yang Gong paused for a moment, then continued, "In my humble opinion, the most pressing matter is that Qin Gongzi should tell me the method of making this reclining chair. I will instruct the craftsmen in the palace to make it with all their might after I return. What does Qin Gongzi think?"

  Qin Yu heard this and still didn't understand what Yang Gonggong meant, so he muttered to himself, "Damn, do you need to beat around the bush? Can't you just say it directly?"

  It wasn't until then that Qin Yu knew the reason why the craftsmen in the imperial palace were having a hard time, it was nothing more than polishing, the purple sandalwood was hardwood, and without a plane, it was basically impossible to make a recliner like Qingfeng's, even if it was softwood, the difficulty was not small.

  Qin Yu smiled and said, "Of course there's no problem. Lord Yang, please wait for a moment, I'll go back to my room and write down the method. You can take it back with you, and in no time, we'll be able to make enough chairs. This way, Your Majesty won't have to worry about this matter either."

  Yang Gongzi smiled and raised his orchid finger, saying, "Qin Gongzi can go ahead with his business, I'll just wait here."

  Qin Yu shuddered, muttering to himself, "Damn it, a ghost of a eunuch." However, he didn't reveal anything, as this eunuch's mind was the most twisted. Qin Yu naturally knew this point, how could he possibly let his inner thoughts show? He immediately clasped his fists and left the main hall.

  Back at the rear residence, Qin Yu re-drew a copy of the rocking chair's blueprint and also drew some carpentry tools on paper, adding some notes. Only then did he hand over these blueprints to Yang Gonggong, briefly explaining them before Yang Gonggong left Qingfeng Residence with satisfaction.

  Of course, Yang Gonggong also took away the tea leaves that Qin Yu had given him. Who made this dead eunuch always staring at the tea leaves? Such an obvious action, Qin Yu couldn't possibly not see it.

  The plane did not appear in China until tomorrow morning, and many hardwood furniture began to flourish on the Chinese mainland only after the plane was available. At first, Qin Yu made a plane purely for curved shares and waterwheels, without considering it deeply.

  Qin Yu sat on a purple sandalwood chair, one hand propped up his chin on the table, and the other hand fiddled with a brush, muttering to himself, "Should I stockpile some wood?"

  However, Qin Yu's idea of making money was focused on furniture, specifically the wood materials used for furniture. Previously, he hadn't thought of making money from furniture, but now he had revealed the method of making planes to Li Shimin, so the secret of planes was no longer a secret, and the opportunity was lost, but not entirely.

  Xiao Tao heard Qin Yu muttering to himself, somewhat confused, wooden everywhere, what's good for hoarding, but didn't understand, and wouldn't interrupt randomly.

  "Not doing furniture, doing some wood business is also good, making furniture requires a lot of manpower and time, but the effect is short-lived. It's better to do wood business. The hardwood in Datang has not been utilized much, now the price is cheap, once the advantages of wooden boards are spread out, this price will definitely skyrocket."

  "Alright, let's do it this way. The shovel has reached the imperial palace and for a while, news of it won't spread out. Even if someone notices the use of the shovel and utilizes it, it will still take some time. This period of time is the best opportunity to hoard hardwood."

  Qin Yuvue got more and more excited, hastily looked at Xiaotao and said, "Go, call those two cousins of mine over."

  "Yes, young master." Little Peach said, and then hurriedly went to find Cheng Huai Mo and Cheng Hua Liang.

  Before long, Cheng Huai and Cheng Hualiang arrived at Qin Yu's place. Before entering the door, they heard Cheng Hualiang shouting, "Brother-in-law, what's going on? Why so many people?" His words were somewhat unclear.

  Qin Yu raised his head, and Cheng Huai and Cheng Huailiang stumbled in, shaking. Without thinking, it was clear that these two had drunk a lot again. Qin Yu shook his head helplessly. Since this wine was brewed, these two people almost drank one or two kilograms with every meal.

  The dishes are good, the wine is good, but these two have poor drinking habits. As soon as they drink, they get drunk. Of course, it's not that their capacity for liquor isn't up to par, it's just that the two of them drink a lot. Once they're drunk, they make fools of themselves, either exposing their breasts or wailing like ghosts and wolves. Qin Yu has told them several times, but they refuse to change their ways.

  Qin Yu helplessly shook his head and then spoke up, "Is there a profitable business you can't do?"

  Cheng Huai Mo and Cheng Hua Liang were taken aback by Qin Yu's words, immediately sobering up, their eyes gleaming with interest as they turned to Qin Yu and asked, "What business?"

  Although these two men are the sons of Cheng Yaojin, they have no worries about food and clothing, but they don't have much silver in their hands. The Cheng family is large and prosperous, with many expenses, and they also want to be carefree, but without money, how can they be carefree? So Qin Yu's words immediately sparked the interest of both men.

  Qin Yu smiled slightly and said, "How's this table and chair?"

  Cheng Hua Mo thought for a moment and then said directly, "Of course it's good, but the quantity is too small. Otherwise, I would definitely get a few sets back."

  Cheng Huailiang was more awake than Cheng Huimo, and his eyes lit up as he spoke. "Brother-in-law, you wouldn't be thinking of doing this furniture business, would you?" Before Qin Yu could respond, Cheng Huailiang continued, "I've been wanting to talk to you about this for a long time, but I was worried that brother-in-law's ambitions weren't in this area, so I didn't bring it up."

  Qin Yu was slightly stunned, but it had to be said that Cheng Huailiang really did have some business acumen. He nodded and began to speak.

  "Not bad, indeed it's this business, but not entirely. Previously, it might have been possible to make a fortune, but now it can't be done. The main tool has already been passed on to Your Majesty, so the business can still be done, but it won't be as profitable."

  "It's not easy to make money, brother-in-law. You don't know how hard our days are. Brother-in-law, tell me, how do you make money?" Cheng Huai asked eagerly.

  Qin Yu hadn't thought that these two people would be so obsessed with making money. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth and said, "How about this? You go back home and gather as many carpenters as possible to come here and learn from me. I'll take charge of designing the furniture blueprints, and then we can set up a furniture store together. What do you think?"

  "Alright, let's do it that way, and we'll split the profits equally among the three of us." Cheng Huailiang clapped his hands and shouted.

  Qin Yu had no opinion on this division, anyway he was only responsible for drawing pictures. After Qin Hui and Cheng Huai finished speaking, they left, but Qin Yu shook his head helplessly and hastily opened his mouth to shout, "Don't be in a hurry, there's still one more thing, this matter is crucial."

  Cheng Huai and Cheng Huali hastily stopped, turned around and walked back. At this time, Qin Yu spoke up, "As I said before, this furniture business can be done, but it's only a temporary way to make money. If you want to make more money, there is another way."

  "What's going on?" asked Cheng Huai and Cheng Huali in unison.

  "Wood, we need wood to make furniture, right? The furniture we're going to make also needs wood." Qin Yu said, seeing Cheng Huai's puzzled face, he couldn't help but smile and continued.

  "This wood is not ordinary, to make good furniture, the selection of materials is very important, what we need to do is to accumulate these high-quality woods, such as purple sandalwood, yellow rosewood and so on, which have a long growth period, are rare in number, and are the best among all kinds of wood."

  "I understand, brother-in-law, you're waiting for a good price." Cheng Huailiang's eyes lit up as he spoke.

  "Indeed." Qin Yu picked up the teacup on the table and took a light sip, smiling as he spoke.

  "Alright, let's do it." Cheng Huai Mo seemed to see a large sum of silver and excitedly shouted.

  Cheng Huai and Cheng Hualiang discussed with Qin Yu for a while, then hurriedly returned to the Cheng Mansion to tell Cheng Yaojin about it. The two of them didn't have any money, so naturally it was Cheng Yaojin who paid. Qin Yu wouldn't forget Qin Qiong, and soon he took a carriage to the Wing State Duke's mansion.

  The timber business is purely based on individual investment, the more you put in, the more you earn, and the less you put in, the less you earn. If Qin Yu did it himself, he might not be able to do it, at least for a while, he couldn't swallow so much wood, and could only drag Cheng Yaojin into the water together. Qin Qiong's money is not much, but at least he can make some money for Qin Qiong.

  Fortunately, Qin Yu said that the wood needs to take tens or hundreds of years to mature, and the quantity will not be too much. Even if it is the Tang Dynasty, it would be impossible to make this deal otherwise.