Chapter Thirty Borrowing a Chicken to Lay Eggs

  The prospects are good, but the reality is slightly disappointing. Wu Jie has just started making thunderbolt shells, with limited capital, few craftsmen, and a small scale, and cannot yet sell them to the military.

  Once the military starts purchasing, it won't be just dozens, but hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. With Wu Ji's current capabilities, it is fundamentally impossible to produce that many, let alone have such a large amount of capital.

  The most reliable way is still to first complete the Qiyun She line and accumulate it to a certain scale before promoting it to the military, which would be much better.

  In the following days, Wu Ji was still comfortable and at ease in his role as the main bookkeeper. He mainly worked with Huang Fu to calculate accounts, while Niu Yang could only do odd jobs.

  Sometimes Zheng Tai would make a guest appearance, replacing Huang Fu to report numbers for Wu Ji. As she got to know him better, Zheng Tai grew more and more appreciative of Wu Ji.

  He admired Wu Ji so much because of his modern ideas, modern thinking and modern knowledge, which were extremely novel in his eyes, making him praise without stopping, and his evaluation of Wu Ji became higher and higher.

  Zheng Tai repeatedly recommended Wu Ji to teach abacus at the Imperial Academy, but Wu Ji politely declined.

  The way of abacus, can indeed promote the social reform of the Song Dynasty. However, which reform is as great as selling weapons? If the Song Dynasty used thunderbolt bombs well enough to defeat Liao State and even destroy it, it would be rewriting history. The Song Dynasty would not have been so weak and its martial arts would not have been so stagnant. What a wonderful thing to look forward to!

  Although the task is heavy and the road is long, the prospects have already been clarified, and it will be done as soon as Wu Ji does things.

  A few days later, Wu Ji was resting at home when Qi Da Bao arrived. Qi Da Bao had a big smile on his face and as soon as he saw Wu Ji, he shouted from afar: "Wu Da Guan Ren, Wu Da Guan Ren, I can finally see you!"

  Splitting a big mouth, only enjoying the fun, a pair of big eyes narrowed into a small slit, looking at his smile, it's comparable to Maitreya Buddha.

  Three steps in two, quick steps forward, gave Wu Ji a bear hug. He was so excited that he used too much force, and Wu Ji's small body couldn't take it, almost falling apart: "Good fellow, be gentle! Be gentle! I'm about to fall apart!"

  "What's wrong?" Zhi Da Bao suddenly remembered that Wu Ji's small body was too weak and couldn't withstand the commotion, feeling a bit embarrassed, he said with a smile: "Wu Da Guan Ren, I'm really happy! Really happy!"

  "Please sit down! Please sit down!" Wu Ji invited Qi Dabao to take a seat, and Wu Jian hurriedly brought over tea.

  "Good fellow, judging from your appearance, the Thunderbolt must be quite popular, right?" Wu Ji took a glance at Qi Dabao's appearance and guessed roughly.

  "That's it! That's it!" Qi Dabao nodded vigorously, his neck almost breaking: "Favored! Favored! Too favored! But you're also too ruthless, blowing up a craftsman to death."

  It's obvious that someone in Qiyun Society has had evil intentions and wants to dismantle it. It would be strange if they weren't killed by the explosion.

  "Good fellow, you're wronging me! Didn't I warn you earlier? It can't be dismantled!" Wu Ji's face turned stern, his tone very severe, saying: "Don't even mention you guys, if I were to do it myself, once it's done, it still can't be dismantled. If I go dismantle it, I'll get blown up too!"

  This is not an intimidating big talk, but a fact. Once assembled, whoever disassembles will die, including Wu Jie.

  "Wu Da Guanren, I have come this time to discuss a major matter with you!" Qi Da Bao's smile was retracted, and he said very seriously: "I know that you may not agree to this matter, but since I am entrusted by someone else, I still want to ask you. Are you willing to sell the secret method of Thunderbolt to us? Money is no problem, just name your price. Ten thousand taels, thirty thousand taels, or even fifty thousand or one hundred thousand, it's up to you."

  "500,000, 1,000,000? That's really a big deal!" Wu Ji was slightly surprised by Qi Da Bao's words. Were there too many rich people in the Qi Yun Society?

  "A good man has already spoken, I won't agree to it. If you want to eat eggs, you have to keep the hen! I will never sell no matter what." Wu Jie would not do such a thing as killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Doing well, don't mention 50,000 or 100,000 taels of silver, even a million taels of silver is not a problem.

  "I knew you wouldn't agree, it was just a casual question." Qi Dabao was straightforward, and even if he had such good things, he wouldn't sell them: "This time I came to buy a batch of thunderbolt bullets from you, this time there are a few more!"

  "How many? Can there be that many? One hundred, or two hundred?" Wu Ji had some understanding of the Qi Yun Society, knowing they had a large number of people and were not short on wealthy individuals, so asking for one or two hundred at once was about right.

  "A hundred or two? You're underestimating the Qi Yun Society!" Qi Da Bao proudly raised his head, puffed out his chest: "At least a thousand!"

  "1,000?" Although Wu Ji had some understanding of Qi Yun She, this number still startled him, and he secretly thought: "This Qi Yun She is not simple! There must be a hidden situation!"

  "What's wrong? Can't do it?" Qi Dabao looked at Wu Ji's surprised expression, slightly disappointed.

  "Don't worry! Don't say a thousand, you want ten thousand, I can do it too, it's just that it will take some more time!" This order is naturally the more the better, Wu Jie wouldn't mind having more.

  "That's great! That's great!" Qi Dabao was very satisfied with Wu Ji's answer, and put a package on the table: "This is fifty taels of gold, you take it. This gold, one tael can be exchanged for twenty taels of silver, no problem, that's one thousand silver, consider it as a deposit. You do well, just tell me, I'll come to collect it."

  In the Song Dynasty, gold was precious and silver was cheap. One tael of gold could be exchanged for twenty taels of silver, which was considered a fair price. At its most expensive, one tael of gold could be exchanged for twenty-five taels of silver, which Qidaobao thought was a very reasonable exchange rate.

  Wu Ji opened the package and took a look. It was shining with golden light, it was pure gold. It's rarely circulated in the market, usually only used for large transactions.

  "Good!" Wu Jie readily agreed.

  "It's all right, I'll go back first!" Qi Dabao stood up and was about to leave.

  "Good fellow, wait a minute!" Wu Ji hurriedly called out to Qi Dabao: "Good fellow, your Qi Yun Society can withstand a thousand thunderbolt bombs at once, you don't have many people, do you?"

  "Our Qi Yun Society isn't just bragging! We're top-notch heroes!" Qi Da Bao raised his head, looking particularly arrogant: "We have many people in our Qi Yun Society and a wide reach. Don't mention one thousand, even ten thousand wouldn't be a problem. However, for now we don't need that many, there will be more later."

  Wu Jia heard it in his ear, determined that he was not telling a lie, and his eyes lit up: "Good fellow, since this is the case, why don't we discuss something long-term? You buying one by one isn't very troublesome, is it? I have a method that will take care of everything once and for all."

  "Oh! What method is this?" Qi Dabao's interest was piqued and he hastily asked.

  "I'll be in charge of making the Thunderbolt, you help me sell it. As for the silver, we'll split it." Wu Ji was going to use Qiyun Society's network to promote the Thunderbolt, this was borrowing a chicken to lay eggs, and it was Wu Ji's best solution at the moment.

  With Wu Ji's current strength, it is fundamentally impossible to establish a sales network. Borrowing the relationship of Qi Yun She is indeed the best solution for now.

  "This is a good method! Our Qi Yun Society still has many shops, just in time to use them!" Qi Da Bao was overjoyed and asked hastily: "How will this be divided?"

  "This is what we have discussed." Wu Ji heard Qi Da Bao's words and was even more delighted.

  The two then began to negotiate and haggle. After a round of negotiations, they finally agreed that for each Thunderbolt bullet taken from Wu Ji, Qiyun Society would pay ten taels of silver, which was non-negotiable. The selling price would be divided into labor costs, transportation fees, venue fees, and Wu Ji's fixed price of ten taels of silver, with a ratio of three to seven, where Wu Ji got seven and Qiyun Society got three.

  Even so, once it becomes a bestseller, Qiyun Society will still make a lot of money. According to the feedback from Qi Dabao, if they sell it for 15 taels of silver per grain, it's not a problem, which means that Qiyun Society will make an extra tael of silver for each grain sold, and this income is not small.

  With the help of Qiyun She network, Thunderbolt will definitely sell well. This is a win-win situation for both Wu Ji and Qiyun She, bringing benefits to all parties involved!