After an episode, Handu and Anqing walked into his own machinery workshop.
As they walked, Sun Xian introduced: "According to Master Han's instructions, the entire machinery workshop only uses about one-third of the land. The other land is temporarily reserved for later use."
Han Du nodded, this was indeed what he had told him at the beginning. Sun Xian was able to execute it to the letter, which made Han Du very satisfied.
It was also the first time for An Qing to come in. Although she was the mistress of the machinery workshop, she had never been here before. So many of the Han family's properties were managed by the shopkeeper below, and An Qing just carried out a calculation at the end of each year.
. Even in the calculations of each shopkeeper, she will not personally participate. Instead, someone from her family will be responsible, and finally the general ledger will be handed over to her for verification.
"This workshop is so big!" An Qing looked at the spacious site, with three rows of houses on the left and front.
Sun Xian led Han Du to a row of houses on the right, pointed and said: "Master Han, this is where we stack various materials. If Master Han wants to go in and take a look, the student will open the door right now."
Han Du waved his hand and said, "Forget it, what's interesting about a pile of materials? Let's go to the workshop."
"Yes, Master Han, Your Royal Highness, please come this way." Sun Xian bowed slightly.
Sun Xian brought Han Du to the middle house. Before he got close, he heard a crackling noise. Sun Xian stepped forward and opened the door, and walked in first.
The moment Sun Xian opened the door, Han Du immediately saw the trembling heads of people inside. A dozen people were surrounding a huge ball of steel and were assembling it.
"Ah!" An Qing's eyes widened in surprise and he asked in confusion: "What is this and what are they doing?"
Han Du smiled and explained: "This is a steam engine, they are assembling it."
An Qing looked at the big guy in front of him curiously and hid behind Han Du, fearful and did not dare to step forward.
Seeing Sun Xian come in, someone immediately came to greet him. The moment he saw Han Du, his eyes widened, he smiled and bowed to greet: "Meet Master Han!"
Then he greeted Sun Xian, "Mr. Sun is here."
Sun Xian nodded, then turned back to Han Du and explained: "This is our apprentice. His name is Xue Dafang, and he is also a student of the academy. Because he likes machinery, after completing his studies in the academy, he did not want to be an official, so he followed us.
Come to the machine workshop."
Han Du looked at Xue Dafang with a smile and asked: "What kind of fame do you have, why don't you want to be a minister?"
Xue Dafang laughed and said: "Jinshi. If you don't even get the title of Jinshi after entering the academy, wouldn't it make Master Han lose face?"
Handu is very welcoming to people who really love machinery.
What are the benefits of being an official? Especially if you are an official under Lao Zhu, you might wake up one morning and your captors will be in front of your bed.
If this machinery workshop wants to develop and grow, it will definitely need talents who like machinery. Especially talents like Xue Dafang, who have completed their studies in the academy.
"Okay, since you like machinery, then you should work hard. Don't worry, I won't treat you badly."
Seeing that Han Du was not angry, Sun Xian was secretly relieved. He coughed twice and said tentatively with some embarrassment: "Well, Master Han."
"Huh?" Han Du turned to look at Sun Xian, who looked constipated, and frowned, "If you have something to say, you will have to fart."
"Master Han also knows that our apprentices all like machinery after all. So" Sun Xian was a little embarrassed to speak.
"So what happened?" Han Du looked at Sun Xian curiously.
"So, we brought them all to the academy. Maybe there are a little too many people." The more Sun Xian said, the more he couldn't go on. Although this machinery workshop has 10% of his shares, it belongs to Han Du after all.
He rushed people in like this, which seemed to overwhelm the guests.
Han Du suddenly laughed, patted Sun Xian on the shoulder and said, "What are you afraid of? Come as many as you want. If you can bring all your disciples, I will reward you."
"Is Master Han telling the truth?" Sun Xian was overjoyed. He had never expected that Han Du would have such an attitude. If he had known better, he would have brought in the other disciples.
"How many of your apprentices are there in this workshop?" Han Du asked with a smile.
Sun Xian quickly replied: "Sixteen."
Han Du frowned and muttered: "Only sixteen, so few?"
When Sun Xian heard Han Du's words, he felt relaxed. Since sixteen is still too few, it at least means that what Han Du just said was the truth. After thinking about it for a moment, Sun Xian's face darkened and he added, "But
, the salary we give them is a bit high.”
Han Du looked up at Sun Xian.
Sun Xian gritted his teeth, stretched out a palm, turned over to Han Du, and said: "A monthly salary of ten guan. We also thought that if they become officials, they will definitely be able to earn such a monthly salary in the future, so we decided to do it ourselves
I advocate giving them this amount."
Sun Xian was a little worried that Han Du would be unhappy, and his voice became smaller and smaller.
Han Du suddenly sneered and said: "It's only ten guans, how high is it?
"
"Ah?" Sun Xian didn't react for a while and asked again blankly, "Master Han agreed?"
Han Du shook his head and waved his hands.
Sun Xian's heart suddenly sank, thinking that Han Du disagreed. Thinking about it, the craftsmen hired by the workshop only worked two or three times a month. Although his apprentices each brought a dozen craftsmen to work, but
A monthly salary of ten guan is too high.
"From now on, everyone's monthly salary will be increased by ten guan." Han Du made a sudden decision with a wave of his hand.
"This" Sun Xian didn't know what to say, and quickly bowed to Han Du, "Thank you, Master Han."
"Thank you Master Han!" Xue Dafang also bowed down with excitement. After all, Han Du doubled his monthly salary with just one sentence, so how could he be unhappy?
The monthly salary is 20 guan, which means 240 guan in one year and 2,400 guan in ten years. With this money, you can buy an ordinary house in the outer city. How can Xue Dafang not be excited?
Ten years, it’s only ten years. You know, even among the officials in the capital, the vast majority of them have been officials for their whole life, and they still can’t buy a house in the capital.
Han Du stretched out his hand to help Sun Xian up, "No need to thank me, they earned it through their own efforts."
"You get up too."
An Qing may have gotten used to the huge thing in front of him, so he started to dare to reach out and touch it. When his hand felt slightly cold, An Qing immediately retracted his hand.
"Husband, what is the use of this thing?"
Han Du laughed heartily, and Sun Xian and Xue Dafang also smiled in agreement.
Han Du stepped forward, patted the steam engine with his palm a few times, and sighed: "This is the crystallization of the wisdom of many people in the academy. This is called a steam engine. Add water to it, and then burn it below."
Using charcoal, it can produce a steady stream of powerful power. This power is a hundred times or a thousand times that of a human being, or even more."
"Really? So magical?" An Qing was a little confused and a little excited.
Han Du then recalled that he seemed to have never explained to An Qing what a steam engine was. He laughed dryly, coughed twice, and said, "Of course it's true."
Sun Xian also intervened at the right time and said: "Your Highness, every steam engine that is manufactured will be tried before leaving the workshop to see if it is suitable for use and if there are any problems. If Your Highness wants to see it, I can take the Princess to see it."
Your Highness, please go over and see how these steam engines work."
"Is this okay?" An Qing's last question was asked by Chao Handu.
only saw her
Looking at him with hope, he felt An Qing grabbing him hard on his arm. Can Han Du still say "no"?
He nodded and said with a smile: "Of course, let's go now."
Sun Xian immediately smiled and stretched out his hand to signal Han Du and Princess Anqing to another house.
The steam engines here are being tested, and each one is filled with water and boiled. There are people around holding a wooden board with paper on it. These people all have charcoal pens in their hands, and they are constantly recording something.
Even when Sun Xian and Han Du came in, they just nodded slightly towards them as a greeting.
An Qing looked at the steel monster in front of her. It was constantly spitting out white mist and making dull roars, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Looking at the steam engine that was constantly moving back and forth, a thick flywheel was driven very fast by it. An Qing asked in great surprise: "This, this thing can really move on its own."
"Of course, if it couldn't be moved, your father wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars to buy one for me." Han Du said with a proud smile.
Then he felt like he was wrapped in a wave of hot air, as if he was in a sauna. He quickly said: "It's too hot here, let's get out first."
An Qing nodded, it was indeed very hot here. She just came in for a moment and felt a little sweaty.
When he came outside the house, Han Du suddenly exhaled a long stream of hot air. He turned around and asked Sun Xian: "I remember I told you before I went to sea. In addition to steam engines, our workshop also needs to make spinning machines? Why did I suddenly
I didn’t even see a spinning machine, they were all steam engines?”
Sun Xian had a wry smile on his face when he heard this.
Han Du suddenly frowned and asked in a deep voice: "What's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing Han Du's pressing questions, Sun Xian had no choice but to explain: "The structure of the spinning machine is really too simple. If someone doesn't take it apart carefully to look at it, others may not be able to make it out of thin air, but as long as they can take it apart carefully,
After looking at it once, a skilled craftsman can easily make one exactly the same.
"Wait a minute, what do you mean by this?" Han Du narrowed his eyes and asked seriously: "You mean, someone dares to imitate our spinning machine? Who has the courage to eat a bear's heart and a leopard's courage?
Yet?"
Although the spinning machine is not as profitable as the steam engine, it is still a hen that lays golden eggs. Someone dares to interfere and cut off his own financial path. This is not treating him as a Zhenhai Hou. Although he is not now, but
He is still the prince-consort now.
How dare someone not take his consort in the eyes? Who is so arrogant?