In the Xiao Mansion, Xiao Yu called Xiao Kai to the front after returning to the mansion in a rare situation.

Xiao Yu, who is already in his old age, has begun to deteriorate.

However, in the face of this ever-changing situation, I have always maintained a clear understanding.

"Dalang, do you think this kerosene lamp is useful?"

Although the sky outside has not completely darkened, kerosene lamps have been lit in many rooms in Xiao Mansion.

As the royal family of the Southern Dynasty and the descendants of the Sui Dynasty, the Xiao family naturally had a very profound foundation.

Not only did they have shipbuilding workshops second only to the Chu Palace, but they also developed very well in the safe trade that they cooperated with.

Even in Dengzhou and Puluo, the Xiao family's whaling team ranks among the top in scale.

"Aye, this kerosene lamp is made very exquisitely, especially the use of glass as a lampshade, which is almost unaffected by strong winds and is much easier to use than whale oil candles."

Xiao Kai expressed his experience in a realistic manner.

"Lighting is an indispensable thing for almost every household. With lighter, this kerosene lamp has a very broad future.

But the future of kerosene lamps is broad, which means that the future of whale oil candles will be affected. What are your considerations?”

Although Xiao Yu had already made plans in his mind, he still wanted to listen to Xiao Kai's thoughts.

After all, the Xiao family will be handed over to Xiao Kai in the future.

"Although kerosene lamps have a great future, it should be difficult to replace whale oil candles. Not to mention that whale oil candles are more popular, even the current price of kerosene lamps is much higher than whale oil candles, right?"

After thinking for a while, Xiao Kai gave his own answer.

However, it is obvious that this answer disappointed Xiao Yu a little.

"That's right, kerosene lamps now cost one or two chunks of money, which is not affordable to ordinary people.

But this is because the lampshade and lamp holder outside the kerosene lamp are made in exquisite detail. If you just buy kerosene, you can buy one pound for a few cents. And ordinary people can’t use it for a pound of kerosene even if you use it for a month, right?”

After Xiao Yu said this, Xiao Kai immediately realized the problem.

"What do you mean is that in the future, the Chu Prince's Mansion will focus on selling kerosene instead of kerosene lamps?

His Highness the King of Chu wants ordinary people to use kerosene lamps?"

"This is almost inevitable! When doing things, you must guess his motivation from a higher angle.

It is definitely not his main purpose to simply sell some kerosene lamps to make money.

Didn't you notice that in just a few days, some other workshops have already stated that they can produce kerosene lamps as well?

The Chu Palace not only had no intention of opposing such behavior, but seemed to be secretly supporting it.

Because all the merchants who produce these kerosene lamps purchased kerosene from Guanshishan Academy's turbulent oil research institute.

Kerosene is what His Highness the King of Chu cares about."

Xiao Yu, who had witnessed many scenes, quickly grasped the key point.

If Li Kuan was here, he would probably be unable to help but give him a thumbs up.

Ginger is still so spicy.

"But this kerosene is only a few cents a pound now, so what can I make?"

Compared to kerosene lamps that cost a few jin of money, the price of kerosene is too low.

In Xiao Kai's opinion, the Chu Prince's Mansion could not make much money at such a low price.

"If there are only a few families who use it, they will naturally not make much money. Not to mention making money, His Highness the King of Chu will definitely lose money.

But what if every household in the Tang Dynasty used kerosene lamps? Even if His Highness the King of Chu earned a few cents a year from each household, it would be a huge number in the year.

The most important thing is that such returns are available every year, and will only increase and not decrease.

Can whale oil can compare with a few cents per pound of kerosene?”

Xiao Yu went around and fell back to the whale oil candle.

There is no way, whale oil candles are now one of the three most expensive industries in the Xiao family.

Although kerosene is like the tin mine of Ping An Trade, it is easier to make money.

After all, the fishery resources in this era are still very rich.

The Xiao family itself has a shipbuilding workshop, and the scale of the whaling team is getting bigger and bigger every year.

Even at Hakodate Port, there is now a fleet of Xiao’s family.

"If it really continues to develop like you said, whale oil candles will be in trouble. But there should be a process that will not decline immediately."

"There is a process, but this process is likely to be faster than you think. Although the price reduction of whale oil candles can alleviate this process, once the price drops to a certain level, everyone's enthusiasm for going to sea to catch whales will decrease. At that time, it is almost inevitable that kerosene lamps will replace whale oil candles.

After all, tinea oil keeps coming out from the ground, and it costs almost no cost. But going to sea to catch whales requires buying a ship and taking huge risks."

"Then...what do we do? Are we going to cut the whaling teams now?"

Xiao Kai asked reluctantly.

After more than ten years of development, the whaling industry has now become relatively mature.

Whether it is whale oil, whale meat, or whale skin and skeleton, they can find their own uses.

Selling a whale can get a lot of benefits.

"It is inevitable to reduce the size of the whaling team. However, this action does not need to be so fast. After all, the demand for whale oil does not decline immediately.

In addition to making whale oil candles, whale oil is also lubricating oil on four-wheeled carriages and bicycles, and the demand is still there.

However, the benefits of whaling must have declined. On the one hand, we must turn the fleet to catch sea fish, and on the other hand, we must follow the Chu Palace to see if we can find tincture oil deposits."

Xiao Yu naturally won’t be that extreme when doing things.

"This is easy to deal with. I received a message from Japan a few days ago. There are very huge fishing grounds outside Hakodate Port in northern Japan, and the rich fishery resources there are simply beyond everyone's imagination.

I think my family can transfer some workshops and ships from Dengzhou to Hakodate Port.

At the same time, with Hakodate Port as a base, we can also consider entering North America to see if we can find new opportunities.

As for finding tincture oil deposits, this may not necessarily result in a short period of time.”

Xiao Kai naturally knew that Li Geng's fleet was exploring routes to the North Pacific.

Once successful, it will become much more convenient to go to North America in the future.

"Even if there is no result for a while, we have to work hard. At worst, we can find a few more students from Guanshishan Academy to join the exploration team, which will not cost much money anyway."
Chapter completed!