The atmosphere in the Xingyuan Flower Hall became more and more harmonious, almost as good as honey mixed with oil.
"I understand your intentions completely." Zhu Zhen still has this kind of temper. The more you support him, the less he can let you suffer.
"It's true that borrowing and repaying has some merit. But how can I let my friends suffer? That would be too shameless!" He thought for a while, patted his thigh and said:
"Why don't you do this? I will give you another chance to make a fortune."
"Okay, Your Highness, please tell me." The big businessmen have extremely high expectations for the 'magical Lao Liu'.
"Don't you think that the goods we export are a bit monotonous at the moment?" Zhu Zhen asked first, and then asked Shen Rong: "You are the deputy director of the Shipping Department, so you have the right to speak on this issue."
"Yes." Shen Rong nodded hurriedly and replied respectfully: "Right now, raw silk, various silks, and silk products account for more than 80% of Shibo's export commodities. It is indeed too dependent on silk."
"What is the remaining 20%? Why can't the share be expanded?" Zhu Zhen asked.
"The remaining 20% are mainly porcelain, Songjiang cotton, rice paper, pens and other stationery, as well as some handicrafts." Shen Rong replied in a deep voice:
"As for why the share is so small, some are due to limited output, such as porcelain. Some are due to mediocre sales, such as Songjiang cotton and various medicinal materials. Cotton is produced overseas, and no matter how good the quality of our Songjiang cotton is, they are not willing to spend tens of Purchased at twice the price.”
"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded and said in a deep voice: "It seems that only products that we produce exclusively and are widely sought after by overseas countries, such as silk, can achieve high volume and price, allowing us to make a lot of money. !”
"Your Highness is absolutely right." Shen Rong nodded heavily and said, "It's just that there are not many such commodities. Among the commodities that Ming Dynasty can export, the only ones that meet these two conditions are silk and porcelain."
"..." Some big businessmen moved their lips but did not dare to speak. In fact, they originally made a lot of money by smuggling arms overseas. However, considering His Highness's status, this deal was not even a thought.
"Isn't tea good?" Zhu Zhen asked with some confusion. In his impression, traditional overseas trade also included tea, a key product, which together with silk and porcelain formed a troika of foreign trade.
"The sales of tea overseas are very limited, mainly because few overseas people are accustomed to drinking it." Shen Rong replied: "In the north and southwest, tea is the hardest product."
"We can't touch the tea-horse business." Zhu Zhen frowned and said in a deep voice: "The tea-horse trade is an important tool for the imperial court to control Mongolia and Tibet. Don't get involved, otherwise I won't be able to protect you."
"Yes, we will bear in mind His Highness's teachings and will never go too far." The wealthy people who had had enough of prison food expressed their opinions one after another.
Zhu Zhen asked again: "What about porcelain? This can be sold openly, why are the sales volume so low?"
"Because we can't get the goods." The big merchants said sarcastically: "The output of porcelain in the south of the Yangtze River is limited. Only the kilns are open in Longquan, Zhejiang."
They won't say that it's because food stamps can only buy silk... so they don't bother to develop other products. They just want to spend the food stamps quickly.
"Jiangxi is also Jiangnan." His Royal Highness the King of Chu said calmly.
The wealthy people heard the same words from Zeng Tai yesterday, but today they heard it like hearing the voice of a fairy. They were suddenly enlightened and asked in unison: "Your Highness is talking about Jingdezhen?"
"That's right, it's Jingdezhen." Zhu Zhen smiled and nodded.
Of course, there is no need to talk nonsense about the famous Jingdezhen. By the Yuan Dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain had basically unified the world and was sold overseas.
In this dynasty, Jingdezhen's status continued to rise. In the second year of Hongwu, the imperial court set up an "Imperial Kiln Factory" in Jingdezhen, making Jingdezhen porcelain for royal use, far ahead of the rest of the country.
The quality of the porcelain produced in Jingdezhen is also unparalleled in the world. Jingdezhen porcelain is even more popular than silk overseas. However, it is usually exported from the nearby Fuzhou and Guangzhou, and is rarely exported from the south of the Yangtze River.
Jiangnan is closer to Goryeo, Japan, but what do Bangzi and Japanese slaves know about porcelain? Just buy some local kilns and sell them to them. Selling them Jingde porcelain is a complete waste.
Therefore, even though wealthy people may have Jingde porcelain in their homes, few of them have the idea to export it.
~~
After hearing everyone's explanations, Zhu Zhen nodded and said, "So that's the case. It's because it's too far."
"Yes." Everyone nodded and said, "If you want to transport Jingdezhen's porcelain to the south of the Yangtze River, you must first take the Changjiang River into Poyang, then enter the Yangtze River from Poyang Lake, and go down the river to Taicang. Not to mention the long distance, Jiangnan is closer than Nanyang.
Fujian and Guangdong are much further away, so most people don’t sell to us."
"What if some of the workers in Jingdezhen are moved to our place to open kilns?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu asked quietly.
"That's a great feeling!" Everyone was excited when they heard this: "If we can open our own kiln and produce porcelain similar to that of Jingdezhen, we can make a lot of money!"
"It's just the people in Jingdezhen who have always guarded the kiln so tightly. Are they willing to give up on this chicken that lays golden eggs?" The more the big business owners cared about it, the more they worried about gain and loss.
"Haha, I would definitely be reluctant to part with you in normal times." Then I heard His Royal Highness King Chu say with a sly smile: "But is this normal now?"
"Yes, yes, yes, no, no, of course not!" All the big businessmen reacted immediately, clapped their thighs and shouted: "Now we are undergoing a large-scale immigration. Anyone who dares not to cooperate will be sent to Huguang!"
"The people who are saying this are all the people of the Ming Dynasty. How could I treat them like this?" Zhu Zhen said with an angry look on his face.
"However, Jingdezhen is the most densely populated place in Jiangxi. It would be unreasonable for them not to move during this large-scale immigration." Hearing Lao Liu change his subject, he said calmly:
"I heard that there are only 23% indigenous people there, and 70% to 80% are kiln workers and households from outside. It is really inappropriate to have such a floating population. Isn't it reasonable to move 10% or 20% of the population out?"
"It's reasonable, very reasonable." Everyone nodded in unison.
"It's a pity to just let these craftsmen with unique skills go to Huguang to farm." Zhu Zhen said leisurely: "I will make the decision and relocate them to Susongchang Town. Do you have any opinions?"
"No, no, absolutely not." Everyone completely understood what His Highness meant and nodded excitedly.
"As for the cost of resettlement..." Lao Liu said again in a funny tone.
"We are responsible, we are responsible!" Everyone was immediately jealous and wanted to take all the kiln workers and kiln households to their homes.
"But you can't be a mate. Let's do this. I'll take you to visit the kilns tomorrow." Zhu Zhen smiled and said, "How many craftsmen you can recruit depends on your own abilities."
