"Why is this, why?" Lao Zhu's voice was like a bell, roaring in the Fengtian Palace. He glared at Han Du fiercely, as if he was the bad guy who ruined his good intentions.
Han Du, who was lying on the ground, couldn't help but curse in his heart. "Lao Zhu is indeed kind-hearted in giving profits to the people, but there is nothing in this world that can solve all problems as long as you have good intentions. When doing bad things with good intentions, don't be too
many."
Facing Lao Zhu's stern questioning, Han Du had no choice but to raise his head and said: "Your Majesty, all the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit, and the prosperity of the world is all for profit. People's lives are not easy. If you face the price that is too low,
For charcoal, no one will choose expensive charcoal anymore. As a result, all charcoal sales will inevitably close down, and those who rely on charcoal for a living will also lose their livelihoods and will be dead."
Han Du's voice was not loud, but in the Fengtian Hall where you could hear a needle drop, it could easily be heard far away.
After waiting for a long time, Lao Zhu stared at Han Du with red eyes. Although he didn't want to give up, he had to admit that Han Du was right. Those people who relied on charcoal to make a living were unlikely to have much savings.
If the charcoal cannot be sold and there is no source of income, Lao Zhu doesn't know what else they can do except wait for death.
"Then what do you think should be done?" Lao Zhu gritted his teeth and asked this sentence word by word.
After hearing this, Han Du made up his mind. As long as Lao Zhu can still listen and give advice, it will be fine. What he fears most is that Lao Zhu insists on going his own way. In that case, Han Du has nothing to do, even if he risks his own life.
No, it is impossible to dissuade Lao Zhu.
"Your Majesty, your love for the people can be seen from the sun and the moon. In fact, even if the coal is sold at the price recommended by the minister, the people will still benefit."
Hearing this, Lao Zhu sneered a few times and said, "Selling at your price, apart from seeing you making a fortune, I don't see any benefit to the people."
What do you mean by this? What does it mean that I have made a fortune? You are obviously the one who has always made a fortune, okay? I only hold 10% of the shares, but you hold 50%. Oh, by the way, the prince also holds 40%. It’s you and your son.
The two of them made a fortune.
But Han Du could only think about this in his heart.
"Back to the emperor, in the past, the entire capital was supplied by charcoal. Now that there is more coal, the people have one more choice. Coal itself is much cheaper than charcoal, so the people will benefit from using coal. But
Because burning coal will produce a lot of smoke and dust, it is not as good as using charcoal. If the price of coal is set at about 130 yuan, then people with poor families can choose to use coal in order to save money, and those with well-off families can choose to use coal.
Families can continue to use convenient and clean charcoal. In this way, although the price of charcoal will drop, it will not fall to the bottom instantly, giving people who rely on charcoal a buffer time."
The price of charcoal in the capital has always been high, even higher than that of the surrounding Prime Minister's Office. It is basically maintained at more than 380 Wen, and the highest can reach 450 Wen. Of course, don't think that
The high price of charcoal means that the lives of people who rely on charcoal for a living are much better. In fact, the high price of charcoal is taken away by those who are engaged in the charcoal business, and has nothing to do with the people who are engaged in the charcoal industry.
"Accurate!"
In the end, Lao Zhu thought twice and softened.
After all, what Han Du said makes sense. You cannot crush another industry that maintains the livelihood of many people just because it is beneficial to the people.
Han Du breathed a sigh of relief immediately. What he was afraid of was that Lao Zhu insisted on giving benefits to the people across the board.
"My Holy Emperor!"
Han Du and Zhu Biao retreated from Fengtian Hall together.
Han Du was walking half a body behind Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao suddenly turned his head and glanced at Han Du, and said with a chuckle: "I didn't expect that my father would listen to your opinion. You know, although there were people who could persuade my father in the past, this is not something that ordinary people can do. You
He’s really capable.”
After hearing this, Han Du turned around and glanced towards Fengtian Hall, as if he saw Lao Zhu who was reviewing the memorial inside.
Looking back, he shook his head and said to Zhu Biao: "It's not that I have the ability, but that the emperor pities the common people and pretends to be suffering from the common people in his heart."
Zhu Biao's expression was even weirder, and he whispered tentatively: "Do you really think so?"
Han Du knew why Zhu Biao looked so strange. Since he became an official, Han Du had not had many contacts with officials, but people in the market had heard that Zhu Biao was cruel.
"That's what I think." Han Du nodded and continued: "I know what His Highness wants to say. I think the Emperor's actions are fair. If you treat the people as dogs, the Emperor will naturally treat them as dogs."
After Zhu Biao heard this, he said with some confusion: "But Gu's teacher once said that scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, and scholars help the emperor manage the world, so naturally they should be higher than the other three people. Even the father and emperor gave the scholars a lot.
Preferential treatment~”
When Han Du heard such remarks again, he felt bored. Regardless of Zhu Biao's face, he waved his hand to interrupt him. "Any group will only speak for its own interests. As the prince, your highness should have a
A clear understanding is that no one can be superior to others except the royal family."
After Han Du finished speaking, he saw that Zhu Biao was deep in thought, so he ignored him and left Si Silan.
"Why?" By the time Zhu Biao came to his senses and spoke, Han Du could no longer be seen.
Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that Han Du had said that if he wanted to answer his doubts, he had to help him. He lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "Han Du, Han Du~"
Can Zhu Biao help him? How is this possible~
Han Du is not in a hurry and is very confident in his knowledge. Zhu Biao is now trying not to ask him to answer his questions, but there will come a time when he can't help it anymore.
Back at the banknote bureau, Han Du quietly prepared the materials for making glass. When mixed together, most people would not be able to understand what was in it. With the help of Heizi, Han Du successfully fired the glass. Then he used the prepared materials.
Tools to make glass into various test tubes, beakers, etc.
Heizi looked at Han Du's skillful operation in horror. When he saw the fired transparent glass, his face turned pale, fearing that Han Du would kill and silence him.
Han Du turned around and saw Heizi's appearance and chuckled.
"Sir, I, I will never tell anyone until I die." Heizi quickly promised.
When Han Du saw that he was done, he instantly felt extremely tired and sat down on the ground. He curled his lips and said, "Even if you want to say it out, you can't. You just know the firing process and the formulas of these materials.
You don’t know. It’s not as simple as firing cement, it can’t be done through constant trying.”
Han Du is not that stupid to hand over such an important thing so easily, especially now when he needs to accumulate chips.
After Heizi heard this, his heart dropped, but he still assured Han Du: "Sir, I won't say anything."
Han Du nodded indifferently.
With the utensils, it is much more convenient for Han Du to mix the potion for making cotton pulp. First, Han Du makes sulfuric acid. How to make sulfuric acid? It is very simple, just heat alum. As for alum, where is it?
Alum is now a traditional Chinese medicine. You can find it in almost any drugstore. With sulfuric acid, you can make nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. These three acids are also called the three foundations of modern industry.
In the place where the banknote paper raw materials were soaked, Mr. Huang followed Han Du's instructions and cleaned up all the mud in the original pool, plastered it with cement sand, and polished it with cement ash. Now the entire pool is completely the same as before.
There are two looks.
The cleaned pool was filled with clean water again, and the cotton was soaked in it.
Han Du, Xiong Shi and others stood at the edge of the pool.
Buckets of potion prepared by Handu were put aside.
"Sir, everything is ready as you requested." Xiong Shi said.
Han Du nodded without any hesitation, raised his hand high and waved it down, "Pour it down."
Buckets of potion were poured into the cotton, and the craftsmen continued to stir the cotton with long wooden poles to mix it evenly with the potion.
When Han Du saw that everything was in order, he took Xiong Shi and Huang Lao and left here.
When they arrived at the business office, Han Du waved his hand for the two of them to sit down.
"Huang Lao, I have already asked His Highness the Crown Prince for permission regarding the sale of coal mines. Your Highness has given twelve shops. You can have the coal transported directly to these shops, and His Highness the Crown Prince's people can sell it.
.”
Mr. Huang nodded and replied: "Yes."
Han Du felt relieved about the sale of coal and said, "Now let's talk about the production of banknotes."
"Please tell me, sir." Xiong Shi and Huang Lao immediately replied.
Han Du stood up, walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said: "The production of banknotes, paper is now available."
When Xiong Shi heard this, he immediately reacted, "Sir, do you want to use cotton to make paper?" Originally, Xiong Shi was wondering what Han Du was buying cotton for. He originally thought he was going to distribute cotton to the craftsmen. But later, Han Du sent the cotton to the craftsmen.
After soaking and adding medicine, it turned out that the paper for making banknotes was already available. He still didn't understand that Han Du originally used cotton to make paper?
"Yes." Han Du smiled and nodded. At this time, there was no need to hide it from the two of them. And even if he wanted to, he couldn't. After all, they would naturally know it when the paper was made.
Moreover, the key to using cotton to make paper is not the cotton, but the potion prepared by Handu. Without the potion, cotton soaked in water will only turn into a puddle of foul-smelling black water instead of snow-white and tough paper.