Chapter 55: Chapter 54 Sewing Workshop Chapter 55: Chapter 54 Sewing Workshop The shopkeeper of Luo Family Cloth Shop, who is also the owner, is named Luo Shang, a slightly thin man in his thirties.
After Manager Lu’s introduction, Yang Zhenshan got to know Luo Shang.
Yang Zhenshan didn’t bother with pleasantries and directly talked about the business he wanted to do.
“Luo shopkeeper, I want to ask if I provide a batch of cloth shoes, would you be able to sell them here?”
That’s right, he intended to set up a sewing workshop in Linguan Castle.
The first product to be released would be cloth shoes.
The women within Linguan Castle all had some sewing skills, so getting them to make cloth shoes or simple garments was no issue at all.
And within Linguan Castle, there were soldiers from the Five Camps, who were all recruited. They had no families of their own, so most of their clothing was either issued by the military or bought by themselves.
Ordinary civilians mostly made their own cloth shoes, but these soldiers needed to buy them, which meant there was a market for cloth shoes in the garrison castle.
“They can be sold, but the profit might not be high!” Luo Shang hesitated a bit before responding.
“If I sell them to you for twenty copper coins a pair, would you be willing to help me sell them?” asked Yang Zhenshan.
“That’s possible to try, but I can’t guarantee they will be sold!” Luo Shang didn’t refuse. One reason was that Manager Lu introduced Yang Zhenshan, and the other was that Yang Zhenshan was a Hundred Households.
Although he wasn’t optimistic about this business, he was still willing to give it a try, not to make money, just to avoid offending Manager Lu and Yang Zhenshan.
After all, helping sell was not a troublesome matter.
His shop was already selling ready-made clothing and would take some orders to make garments; it was just that the profit from cloth shoes was too low for his liking.
“Mm!” Yang Zhenshan nodded, then added, “I would also like to ask Luo shopkeeper to help collect old and worn clothes, buying them by the pound, three copper coins per pound!”
Ordinary people usually made cloth shoes from old clothes at home, and Yang Zhenshan, for the sake of saving on material costs, also planned to use old clothes.
Since he didn’t have enough old clothes, he would buy them.
This was considered recycling as well.
“This~~”
Luo Shang’s eyes flickered, and he immediately understood Yang Zhenshan’s idea.
After a brief contemplation, he said, “Master Yang, there’s no problem with buying old clothes, but there’s something I’m not sure if I should say.”
“Please speak, Luo shopkeeper, don’t hold back!” said Yang Zhenshan.
“I’ll just say it then, buying old clothes is easy, making cloth shoes is also easy, and selling cloth shoes is not difficult either. This counts as a business, but the profit involved will probably be very low.”
“Master Yang might be busy for a month and not even make a few taels of silver!”
Luo Shang spoke very sincerely.
He had understood Yang Zhenshan’s idea, but he still didn’t agree with him doing such business.
The profit was too low; even he disdained it, and he didn’t think Yang Zhenshan would value it.
For ordinary people, earning a few taels of silver in a month was already a lot, but for shopkeepers like them, such a business was too much of an energy drain.
With that effort, he’d rather take on more garment-making orders.
Some wealthy families would purchase clothing for their servants and house servants. Such clothing didn’t need to be too high-end and was relatively simple to make, but the profit was not low.
So small cloth shops like theirs would rather take on such orders than engage in the troublesome business of making cloth shoes.
But Yang Zhenshan saw the value in this.
Low profits meant little competition.
Others might disdain it, but he valued it.
“I’m doing this business not for the sake of making money, but to help the military households in Linguan Castle find a way to earn a living!” Yang Zhenshan explained.
For the women of Linguan Castle, earning a dozen or twenty copper coins a day was already considered a decent income.
Such an income could help them get through the toughest part of the coming year.
And this was just the beginning; if this business venture could be maintained in the future, Yang Zhenshan could also extend it to other trades.
Such as making ready-to-wear apparel, handkerchiefs, silk flowers, embroideries, and so on.
Of course, the latter required certain craftsmanship, and it remained to be seen if the women’s skills were up to the mark.
“So that’s how it is, Master Yang is truly dedicated and meticulous!” Luo Shang looked at Yang Zhenshan with some admiration.
He had seen many low-ranking Military Officers in the military, but to be honest, none had ever thought to help their military households make a living like Yang Zhenshan did.
A low-ranking Military Officer who didn’t oppress their military households was already considered good enough, let alone going to great lengths to aid those impoverished military households.
“This matter will require Manager Luo’s assistance; if it can be accomplished, I will owe both you and Manager Lu a favor,” said Yang Zhenshan graciously.
Hearing him say this, both Luo Shang and Manager Lu took the matter to heart.
Favors were far more valuable than silver.
Luo Shang had already decided that as long as it would not result in a loss, he would carry on with this business.
Although Master Yang was only a Trial Hundred Households, to someone of humble origins like him, having one more friend meant more security.
Afterwards, Yang Zhenshan made an appointment with Luo Shang to collect the old clothes in five days and to deliver the first batch of cloth shoes in ten days.
Before leaving, Yang Zhenshan also gave Luo Shang three taels of silver as the capital for collecting the old clothes.
…
The rebuilt garrison at Linguan Castle in Chongshan Pass did not attract much attention; it could even be said that it didn’t attract any attention at all.
Even Zhou Lan seemed to have forgotten about the existence of Linguan Castle. For several days in a row, Yang Zhenshan did not receive any news from Zhou Lan.
Yang Zhenshan didn’t mind this and just honestly stayed at Linguan Castle, building houses and setting up a sewing workshop.
Time flew by quickly, and before long, it was already the beginning of May.
After half a month of construction, everything inside Linguan Castle was completely rejuvenated.
Behind the government office, rows of earthen and thatched houses were neatly arranged, and the training field in front of the office had been repaired, becoming remarkably level.
And the sewing workshop to the left of the garrison gate was also built.
In front of the workshop sat a dozen women, each guarding a wooden basin, washing old clothes.
The workshop consisted of five rooms, and within each room, six or seven women were bent over, sewing cloth shoes.
Today, the first batch of cloth shoes had been delivered to the Luo Family Cloth Store.
Whether this business would be successful depended on the following few days.
However, Yang Zhenshan left these matters to Old Li and Yang Minghao to manage, as he was busy training soldiers.
He had been at Linguan Castle for over half a month, so it was time to start training the troops.
“Form up!”
“Stand up properly for me!”
“Chin up, chest out, feet together!”
“Number off!”
“One, two, three…”
On the training field, Yang Chengze, Yang Chengxu, and other ten small flag officers were leading the soldiers to form up.
The disordered counting echoed from all around, with no lack of harsh reprimands.
The first time forming up took a whole quarter of an hour to complete.
“Reporting, Linguan Left Banner called for fifty-six people, fifty-six present, all accounted for!”
In front of the government office, Yang Zhenshan stood with his hands behind his back as Yang Mingzhi approached him with precise steps and stood to attention to report.
“Reporting, Linguan Right Banner called for fifty-six people, fifty-six present, all accounted for!”
Shortly after, Yang Mingwu also came forward to report.