Lao Zhu saw that Han Du would rather sell his skills than sell it to the Ministry of Industry for a hundred cents per catty. He was also wondering in his heart, had I bargained too hard and really made Han Du lose money?
Lao Zhu's price for killing Han Du was because he instinctively did not want him to make too much money. The purpose was not to let the Ministry of Industry do the refining on its own. Lao Zhu felt it when Han Du was building cement roads.
The status of the craftsmen under Du and the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry are completely different. The craftsmen under Han Du do things much more quickly than the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry.
The craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry can indeed make iron by themselves, but the speed is so fast that Lao Zhu can't bear to look at it.
One hundred thousand kilograms of fine steel here in Handu only takes a little more than a day, but at the Ministry of Works, I don't know how long it would take to complete it.
Now the movement of the remaining Yuan is unknown. Since we are preparing for war, the sooner the better.
"One million strings!" Han Du opened his mouth wide at Lao Zhu.
It is natural to ask for high prices and pay back on the ground. In the face of huge profits, Han Du still dared to bargain, even if he was facing Lao Zhu.
After hearing this, Lao Zhu was shocked by Han Du's appetite and laughed angrily, "You really dare to ask for it."
If you dare to ask for it, I won’t give it to you.
The imperial court was preparing for war and could not spare more than one million yuan. Even if it could be spared, Lao Zhu would not give so much money to Han Du.
So, Lao Zhu thought about it and decided to sell it directly.
"One hundred cents per catty is indeed a bit too low, so let's do it, two hundred cents per catty. That's it. You have to know that even if the Ministry of Industry buys the fine steel back, they still want the craftsmen to forge it again.
There is grinding, installing the handle, etc., all of which are money."
Although the price he gave was too low, even if he wanted to buy it, Lao Zhu felt that he couldn't buy it at Han Du's asking price of 300 yuan per catty, and he couldn't let Han Du take advantage of it.
So he laid the groundwork first, and then discussed with Han Du: "The price of one hundred Wen per catty is indeed a bit low. How about this, two hundred Wen per catty, you won't lose money at this price, right?"
Is it a loss?
Of course, Han Du not only did not lose money, but also made a lot of money. Even if it was a hundred coins per catty, he would not lose money.
Anyway, the technology is provided by him. If he says you make a profit, you will make a profit. If he says you lose, you will lose.
Of course, even if he made a lot of money, Han Du couldn't show it, he had to hold back.
"Your Majesty, you can't do this. You can just take me back as an official. Then dismantle the treasure banknote lifting device and sell it to see how much it can sell for. Anyway, at your price, this treasure banknote lifting device will be sold."
Si can't hold on for long. A waist knife costs three guans, and such high-quality fine steel only costs 200 cents per pound..."
Lao Zhu naturally ignored Han Du's words about quitting his official position.
These days, although Han Du has not made any treasures, he first made cement and now made steel. Each of them played a decisive role in the imperial court.
Lao Zhu still wants to continue to let Han Du shine and contribute to the Ming Dynasty. How can he be easily dismissed from office?
Even if Han Du takes the initiative to resign, Lao Zhu will not allow it now.
Seeing that Han Du was still unwilling to give up, Lao Zhu said coldly: "If you have the ability to directly provide the waist knife, how about I promise you three ounces of money?"
"Seriously?" Han Du heard this and looked at Lao Zhu with shining eyes.
Lao Zhu was choked by Han Du's look, and felt that he had said too much. He wanted to regret it, but he said it so eloquently and in public, so Lao Zhu had no shame to take it back.
He had to remind Han Du in a roundabout way, hoping that Han Du could realize it on his own: "Do you think that fine steel is enough to forge a waist knife? It also requires a large amount of iron, and the craftsmen need to constantly fold and forge it before they can make one.
The waist knife is forged."
Lao Zhu looked at Han Du with disdain and pointed around, "How many craftsmen do you have here? How many waist knives can you make in a day? You'd better not think about this. It's a serious crime to delay important affairs of the court. Be careful, you will lose your head.
.I don’t want to have to personally order your head to be beheaded one day.”
When Han Du heard that his head was in danger, he couldn't help but shrink his neck.
However, even though he was suddenly rich, he still refused to give up and continued to explain to Lao Zhu: "I don't need to forge it. A waist knife only costs five kilograms. Can't I just cast it with five kilograms of molten steel? The Ministry of Industry got it.
Such a knife base only needs to be polished and added with a handle to grip it."
Han Du has a modern mindset, and he has never had the idea of forging a waist knife purely by manual labor. What he likes is industrialization and standardization. As for pure hand-made, unless he has absolutely no way to do it.
When the time comes, I have no choice but to use it.
As soon as Han Du's words came out, everyone was shocked.
"Is it still possible to make a knife like this?"
Although no one has used this method before, all the smart people present knew that this method is feasible after a little thought.
In the past, the reason why waist knives required blacksmiths to continuously fold and forge was because of the scarcity of fine steel. It was impossible to make a waist knife entirely from fine steel. Instead, it was forged using iron-clad steel techniques.
But now that Han Du can smelt tens of thousands of kilograms of refined steel a day, why should he save it?
Wouldn't it save time and effort to directly cast the waist knife from fine steel? The key is that in this way, it also saves a lot of labor and a lot of manufacturing time.
Moreover, a waist knife made of pure stainless steel is definitely better than one made with iron-clad steel technology.
Lao Zhu was also a little hesitant. He was not worried that the quality of the waist knife made in this way would be poor. He was worried that Han Du would make too much money from the court.
And Lao Zhu couldn't ignore it. Looking at Xue Xiang's eagerness to give it a try, one knew that he was very satisfied with Han Du's proposal and had no objection to the price of three guans.
Therefore, Lao Zhu felt that although Han Du's proposal was good, he still wanted to kill the price.
"But what you cast like this is just a rough embryo. It still needs to be polished by the Ministry of Industry..."
Han Du listened to Lao Zhu's words and asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, what do you mean?"
"Three guan for one, it's too expensive. Just two guan, that's it. I have a golden saying, even if you suffer a loss, you have to bear it for me."
Lao Zhu didn't give Han Du a chance to cry for poverty, and directly decided on the price.
After Han Du heard this, he almost vomited out a mouthful of blood and sprayed it on Lao Zhu.
Aren't all emperors powerful and domineering? Where did Lao Zhu, a fussy and fussy emperor, come from?
Han Du didn't understand, "Didn't he say that the emperor had the world and was rich all over the world? It was only tens of thousands of taels of silver. Couldn't it be that just a little bit of money exposed between Lao Zhu's fingers would be more than this? Why should he even have to compete with himself for this small amount of money?
Endless fussing?"
Han Du had to sigh, no wonder Lao Zhu was known as the most demanding emperor in history, so he was so eager to bargain with himself. Rumors that Lao Zhu treated officials like cattle and horses were probably not an exaggeration at all.
Han Du's mouth twitched and he bit his alveolus hard, still wanting to say something.
But Lao Zhu didn't give him a chance at all. He patted Han Du on the shoulder, with a cold air between his teeth, "You must know that you are now committing meritorious deeds."
Han Du trembled when he heard this. Strictly speaking, before he created the treasure banknotes, he was doing meritorious deeds, and his life was still in Lao Zhu's hands.
Therefore, he did not dare to stand in a stalemate with Lao Zhu anymore, and nodded with difficulty and agreed, "Okay, just follow what the emperor said."
Anyway, even if it is two coins, it is a huge profit. Even if it is three hundred coins per pound of fine steel, five pounds is only fifteen hundred coins, and there are still five hundred coins left for Han Du to make.
What about the mold?
No matter how you look at it, you can make more money than selling it for 300 coins per pound.
Now that the price was agreed upon, Han Du no longer hesitated and asked Xue Gongbu: "I wonder how many rough blades the Gongbu requires?"
When Lao Zhu saw that Han Du had agreed, he decided that this boy must still make money. However, Lao Zhu also firmly believed that under his bargaining regardless of his status, Han Du's profit should be very thin and he would not make too much.
.
Seeing Xue Gongbu looking at him for instructions, Lao Zhu nodded imperceptibly.
When Xue Xiang saw it, he immediately smiled and said to Han Du: "Fifty thousand."
In terms of today's fierce confrontation, the one who benefited the most was the Ministry of Industry. Not only did it solve the problem of insufficient steel, it also saved a lot of manpower and time, and the money spent was much less than before.
Xue Xiang was not dissatisfied at all.
Han Du nodded in agreement, "No problem, I will stop the casting of the rails first and go all out to make the waist knife. After ten days, you can send someone to pick it up."
Fifty thousand rough blades, a total of one hundred thousand taels of silver.
Handu only used 250,000 kilograms of fine steel and some molds to get this big order. Calculated this way, it was more profitable than when he originally sold 300 kilograms of fine steel to the Ministry of Industry.
Much.
Consensus, everyone is happy.
Once the matter is settled, everyone feels relaxed.
Lao Zhu asked Han Du abruptly, "What? After you cast the waist knife, you still want to continue to make this rail of yours?"
After hearing Lao Zhu's words, Han Du immediately realized that he had just made a mistake. However, it was too late to react. Lao Zhu had already caught him in pain, so he had to look embarrassed and didn't know how to answer.
Lao Zhu waved his hand and pointed at the rails on the ground, and asked sternly: "These are not enough for you to waste? How much are you going to use, honestly?"
Han Du had no choice but to say in a mosquito-like voice: "Eight, eight hundred..."
"How many?"
Lao Zhu's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe his ears.
"Eight hundred." Han Du's voice returned to normal this time.
It's a blessing, not a curse, but it's a curse that cannot be avoided.
hiss!
Everyone took a breath and felt that their internal organs were filled with coldness.
I have seen prodigal people, but I have never seen anyone like Han Du.