Chapter 65: Business is Booming

  Business is booming

  "Tomorrow I'm going to play at Daming Lake, and I'll bring the umbrella that Uncle Yao gave me." Li Jingyu said excitedly.

  "An umbrella? It's almost autumn, but there's hardly any rain in the north now. What's the point of bringing an umbrella?" Ding Tichang asked in confusion.

  Li Jingyu then lavishly praised the umbrella sent by Yao Fan, and Ding Tichang listened, hastily ordering someone to bring out those umbrellas sent by Yao Fan. Li Xiangyue came forward with a pleased smile, one by one opening up these folding umbrellas.

  "Wow, this umbrella can actually be folded and shrunk! How clever! The umbrella's surface is really beautiful too! The colors are great! Brother Yao, the umbrellas your family made are truly one-of-a-kind! I was just thinking of asking you what they were earlier, but it turns out they're rain umbrellas!" Ding Tichang exclaimed.

  Li Jingyu said: "With this thing to block the sun, tomorrow everyone will have one, and when we go boating on the lake, we won't be afraid of getting sunburned."

  "There is a silver-white reflective coating on this umbrella, which can indeed prevent ultraviolet rays," said Yao Fangdao.

  "What is ultraviolet?" Ting Ti often asks.

  "The white light we see is actually a mixture of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. It's only after being separated by a prism that we can clearly distinguish each one. The violet light here is ultraviolet light, which can darken human skin, so using an umbrella to block the sun is essentially blocking this violet light from darkening our skin." Yao Fang explained simply.

  Li Jingyu thought to herself "From now on, I must always carry a silver umbrella with me to shield myself from the sun!"

  "Ah! So that's it! Brother Yao is indeed a great talent! He has such a profound understanding of Western learning!" Li Jingfang was also hearing this principle for the first time, and because it came from Yao Fang's mouth, he didn't doubt it.

  "Wait until I bring a book on optics next time, and everyone will understand that this is not some profound doctrine. Even children in Western elementary schools understand this principle." Yao Fang knew that at this point, it had been 23 years since the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau's Translation Department translated "Optics" in 1898. Prior to this, people in the Qing dynasty had no concept of optics.

  Then everyone had another round of happy drinking, and it wasn't until they were full of wine and food that they finally dispersed.

  That night, after Ding Baozhen left the table, he thought more and more in the backyard, feeling that Yao Fang's use would be very great in the future, so he made up his mind to protect this "golden boy" in his eyes.

  The next morning, Ding Baozhen arrived at the office of the Governor's Office and met with Hu Zhen, who was also the Provincial Governor and the Judicial Commissioner. Although Hu Zhen was a high-ranking official in charge of both offices, he was technically subordinate to Ding Baozhen. Seeing that Ding had come to see him in person, Hu did not dare to be slow in his response and hastily came out to greet him.

  Ding Baozhen expressed his intention to fully support Yao Wenyuan, and Hu Zhen naturally did not dare to say anything else.

  Ding Baozhen, as the governor of Shandong and also the commander-in-chief of Shandong, was equivalent to a modern-day provincial governor and military district commander. He had the highest decision-making power over all judicial, administrative, and organizational departments within the province. The two assistant governors were only deputies to Ding Baozhen in terms of administration and justice. Although they could handle administrative and judicial matters on their own during normal times, all important issues ultimately went through the governor's office.

  To put it bluntly, Ding Baozhen, the governor and commander-in-chief of Shandong province, was almost as powerful as the emperor. Of course, Old Ding wasn't an arrogant person; otherwise, he could have just sent someone to inform Hu Zhen and wouldn't have had to make the trip himself.

  Hu Zhen felt that Ding Baozhen had come with a deeper meaning, and after listening to Ding Baozhen's words, he learned that the matter was Guo Jixiu causing trouble for Yao Fan. After sending off Ding Baozhen, Hu Zhen immediately scolded Guo for being loyal and finding trouble for himself. He then specially wrote a letter to his subordinates in the Deng Laiqing Taoist temple, telling them to inform those below that if they ever encountered any conflicts between Yao Fan and the Guo family, they must remember that Yao Fan was under Ding Baozhen's protection, and no one should dare to cause trouble.

  Yao Fan was also clever, he knew that Ding Baozhen was an anomaly in the late Qing officialdom, although he also accepted gifts, but his expenses were also large, often taking out money to do charity work, and still owed more than 20,000 taels of silver debt when he died. However, Yao Fan knew that Old Ding's five sons had all been separated from the family estate, each house accounted for its own accounts. So Old Ding himself being a clean official who died in debt did not mean that his five sons' households were all so poor.

  So the next day, they went to Daming Lake for a tour. Yao Fan brought 100,000 taels of silver notes and found an opportunity to secretly hand them over to Ding Ti Chang, under the pretext that it was payment for helping Ding Bao Zhen write signboards, with each character costing 10,000 taels, and also 10,000 taels for coming up with the two-character name "Yu Chun".

  Ding Tiyong naturally knew that his father's words were indeed worth so much money, which gave Yao Fang an opportunity to make a big show of it. Others might want to ask for it but couldn't get it. However, Ding Tiyong also knew that this matter absolutely could not be told to his stubborn old father, otherwise it would be like pouring water into a bamboo basket.

  Yao Feng also instructed him: "Brother Ding, you must not tell the old master, otherwise he will return the silver and I will lose face. Moreover, Brother Ding, you are going to Shanxi next year as a candidate for the prefecture, and on the way, you won't need to spend money on attendants or clerks? Once you arrive at your post, you'll also need to entertain and grease palms everywhere, with silver flowing out like water. And in the future, I will also go to Shanxi to open a branch, so I will still need Brother Ding to take care of me."

  Ding Ti often heard Yao Fang's words were reasonable, so he grasped the silver ticket that had already been stuffed into his sleeve pocket even more tightly through his sleeve.

  "Brother Yao, the jade Buddhas, jade Ruyi, and various small Western-style jade pendants you sent yesterday are already quite extravagant. And now you're giving me silver again? I'm really a bit embarrassed." Ding Tichang said with a slightly red face.

  Yao Fang thought to himself, "This young master is indeed inexperienced in serving as an official of the Qing dynasty, and has a rather unusual father. His conscience hasn't turned black yet." However, the jade items he sent were all made of 2011's imitation jade material, also known as amber polyurethane resin, which are chemically synthesized products. You can buy a large piece of fake jade for just over a thousand yuan. Fortunately, no one knows the difference these days, so Yao Fang can claim it's Western jade; otherwise, the Ding family would be in for a scolding.

  So Yao Fan's face turned red instead, and he repeatedly said: "It's nothing, it's nothing."

  After spending a day touring the lake with Yao Fang, he returned to the store in the evening and received another message from Ding Ti Chang's family, telling Yao Fang that his father had already gone to Hu Zhen's place to help him make arrangements. He also said that he himself had written a letter to the magistrate of Lai State Prefecture, asking him to take care of his good friend Yao Fang, so he should put his heart at ease and not be afraid of small landlords like the Guo family. The words were full of love and care for Yao Fang and confidence in their own strength.

  Yao Fang was overjoyed and immediately prepared 10,000 taels of silver that night. The next morning, he secretly sent it to the residence of the Governor of Finance, Hu Zhen. As a result, Hu Zhen was also very satisfied with Yao Fang, thinking that this person had vision.

  Actually, Yao Fan is just afraid that next year Ding Baozhen will leave and things will be deserted, so he is making preparations in advance for the future.

  Because of these days, the Ding and Li families and others have been holding folding umbrellas to shade themselves as they come and go in Jinan Prefecture, causing a sensation. Yao Fan's Tian Tang umbrella has sold extremely well since its arrival in Jinan Prefecture, with local landlords, wealthy merchants, and scholars competing to buy it. The reputation of this heavenly sun-and-rain umbrella has spread throughout Jinan overnight. However, ordinary people simply call this umbrella the "foreign umbrella", apparently thinking it is an imported product.

  Yao Feng brought 60 boxes of 3,000 Tian Tang umbrellas to Jinan Prefecture, and more than 2,000 were sold out in just five days! Even the soap in the store was sold out.

  Early in the morning, the entrance of the Hualong Company was crowded with partners and onlookers.

  With a loud crackle of firecrackers, Yao Feng smiled and bowed to the onlookers, saying: "Thank you, fellow villagers, for your support. In a moment, we will open for business. The first 200 customers will each receive a gift worth two taels of silver. I promise to keep my word!"

  As soon as this was said, everyone cheered loudly.

  "Wishing Yao Dong's family business prosperity!"

  "Bodhisattva blesses Yao Dongjia!"

  "Today is a great day for the Early Sail Company, as we have been granted a new name by Lord Ding. From now on, the Early Sail Company will be officially known as the Encounter Spring Company! We hope that our fellow villagers and esteemed elders will continue to patronize us!"

  Another round of applause followed.

  Yao Fan was overjoyed and called the apprentices to replace the new sign. This new sign was made by the best woodwork shop in Jinan City, costing Yao Fan 120 taels of silver. The materials were fine, the craftsmanship was exquisite, and the large golden characters were made by grinding gold foil into powder, mixing it with tung oil, and brushing it on. After drying, three layers of transparent varnish were applied, making it shine like gold, exuding an air of grandeur.

  After seeing the sign of Chunshang Hanghang well, there was another burst of applause around.

  Next, people went in one after another to buy goods and receive gifts under the maintenance of order by the shop assistants. Those gifts were various miscellaneous goods purchased by He Wanyou before, which were now packaged at a price by Yao Fang's shop assistants as gifts. Yao Fang had already made it clear that from now on, Chunshang Store would only sell its own products.

  "Master, there are really many rich people in Jinan Prefecture! Thirty taels of silver for an umbrella and yet so many people buy it!" Zhou Si said with emotion to Yao Fang in the inner hall.

  "The goods are good, and with the Ding family taking the lead in using them, others will naturally follow suit. Fourthly, you should know that people who can live in a big city like Jinan Prefecture, except for small artisans and small traders, are not poor." Yao Fangxie said on the chair.

  "The master said that Jinan Prefecture has 1.2 million households and more than 5 million people, so it's naturally not lacking in rich people. But I think, ordinary high-quality oil-paper umbrellas only sell for one or two silver coins each, and top-grade painted umbrellas made by skilled craftsmen only sell for twelve or thirteen silver coins at most. How can our umbrellas be sold so expensively and yet have so many people wanting to buy them?! The master really has a good eye for selecting goods!" Fourth Brother chimed in with flattery.

  "Is the oil paper umbrella's fabric as beautiful as mine? Is the bamboo rib of the oil paper umbrella as light and convenient as my steel rib? Although the oil paper umbrella's canopy is thick, can it block ultraviolet rays? The oil paper umbrella is clumsy like a big bamboo tube, can it be folded up like mine and put into a sleeve? I'm not afraid of people not knowing goods, but I'm afraid of comparing goods. Our folding umbrellas have so many advantages, and everyone is not blind, naturally they will sell well." said Yao Fangdao.