Various princes spent real money to rescue the market, and the stock market has stabilized. However, the Caijiagou scandal has been widely implicated.
In Qian'an County and Yongping Prefecture, a large number of officials were dismissed or demoted, and many officials in the capital were also dealt with.
Chen Rong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was demoted to Yongping Prefecture as magistrate, and Chen Shiqing, the former magistrate, was demoted to Qian'an County as magistrate.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Zhu Qizhen suddenly had a sudden impulse to go to Yongping Mansion.
The eucalyptus in Caijiagou has a great influence on the New Deal. If it is not handled properly, it will be difficult for Yongping Mansion to turn around.
As for Chen Rong, demoting him to Yongping Mansion also gives him the opportunity to atone for his sins. If he does well, he can return to the capital. If he doesn't do well, it doesn't matter whether you are a veteran of the Four Dynasties or the Eighth Dynasty, you will be beaten to the end.
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It’s only one day’s journey from the capital to Yongping Prefecture.
Chen Rong got the news and hurriedly came to greet him.
As a result, we waited and waited, but in vain. Later we found out that the emperor was on a private visit incognito and had already arrived in Qian'an County.
Chen Rong hurriedly hurriedly arrived at the Qian'an County Government Office. When he saw the county magistrate Chen Shiqing, he also had a look of astonishment, as if he had not expected that the emperor would suddenly come to inspect the work.
After reading various files in Qian'an County, Zhu Qizhen asked: "The data looks pretty good. What industries are the current small and medium-sized workshops mainly concentrated in?"
Chen Shiqing replied respectfully: "Back to the emperor, the most popular ones at present are brick and tile factories, cement factories, carpentry shops, and blacksmith shops."
Zhu Qizhen looked at the sky again. It was just after noon, and there were still at least two hours before sunset.
"You two put on your casual clothes and go out for a walk with me!"
Chen Rong was stunned and quickly advised: "Your Majesty, I have not prepared in advance. There are not many officers available at the moment. If you encounter a bad person and hurt your dragon body..."
Zhu Qizhen interrupted him: "You mean, the security in Yongping Mansion is so poor that I will be in danger?"
"No, no... I never meant that!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Go change your clothes and leave now!"
Zhu Qizhen did not go out with much fanfare this time. He was only accompanied by Cao Nai, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Fan Zhong, the commander of the guards.
There is also Yuan Bin, who brought some hidden sentries for protection.
Chen Shiqing led the way, and everyone walked along the river embankment. In the distance, they saw chimneys emitting black smoke.
It turns out that clay is rich here, so many kilns were built.
Everyone arrived at the nearest kiln, and soon, a man dressed in Confucian shirt and silk scarf hurriedly came to greet him.
This man behaved politely, but after all, he was seeing a driver, so he seemed a little excited and said: "Student Xia Wenhui greets the Holy Gong!"
Zhu Qizhen was a little surprised when he heard that this person claimed to be a student.
"Why, are you still a scholar?"
Xia Wenhui smiled and said: "It's embarrassing to say that the student studied hard for more than ten years and only became a scholar, which is a disgrace to the family."
As soon as Cao Nai heard these four words, which were insulting to his family's lintel, he immediately became curious.
Although scholar is not a rare title, it is considered to be a person of fame after all. But for such a person to say that he has insulted his family, it means that he must be a queen of a famous family.
So, he stepped forward and asked: "Where is your ancestral home?"
"Sir, my ancestral home is Changsha Prefecture."
Cao Nai's heart moved and he asked: "Changsha Mansion, surnamed Xia, could it be that you are a descendant of Grand Master Xia?"
Xia Wenhui still had a polite smile on his face and replied: "Exactly."
The Grand Master Xia mentioned by Cao Nai was Xia Yuanji, an important minister in the early Ming Dynasty.
This person was a scholar during the Hongwu period. He was recommended to the Imperial Academy by his hometown, and was selected to be a member of the imperial edict of imperial education. He lived through the five dynasties of Hongwu, Jianwen, Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande. After his death, he was awarded the posthumous title of Zhongjing.
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It's no wonder that when Xia Wenhui mentioned that he was a scholar, he said with a look of shame that he had disgraced his family.
Cao Nai showed a pleased smile and said: "I have read an article written by Mr. Cao, and it has benefited me greatly. I never expected that I would meet his descendants here today."
Xia Wenhui said: "My ancestors were important ministers of the court. My father once served as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple in Nanjing. When he was a student, he failed to learn anything. I am really ashamed."
Zhu Qizhen didn't like to see their literary appearance, so he asked: "Xia Wenhui, you are from Changsha Prefecture, why did you travel so far and come to Yongping Prefecture?"
Xia Wenhui replied respectfully: "Back to the emperor, since the imperial court implemented the New Deal, the students planned to abandon literature and engage in business. It happened that some fellow villagers were doing business in the capital, so they followed them out to make a living. Later, they got married in Yongping Mansion, and from then on
Then he settled down."
Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked: "Does that kiln belong to your family?"
Xia Wenhui said: "Exactly."
Chen Rong on the side shook his head repeatedly. Xia Yuanji was famous, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a heir of poetry and calligraphy.
Now his grandson has opened a kiln factory here. This... is really a disgrace to the family. If Xia Yuanji were still alive, he would be angry to death.
Zhu Qizhen became interested and continued to ask: "What does this kiln do?"
Xia Wenhui said truthfully: "It is mainly about burning bricks. Nowadays, the population is increasing rapidly, and many people need to build houses. In addition, there are also many projects in the county that need to use bricks. Many newly built workshops and kilns are very important for bricks."
The demand for bricks was also great. So the students recruited craftsmen here and built this brick kiln!"
"The bricks produced by students are mainly red bricks. The firing of red bricks is more difficult than green bricks. It requires clay, shale, coal gangue and other raw materials. The advantage is that a large amount of coal gangue can be consumed, and the quality is not good.
Say."
His tone was very calm, and he didn't seem to care about other people's opinions.
Obviously, he has seen this kind of strange looks a lot these days.
Zhu Qizhen nodded and let Xia Wenhui take him for a walk. The kiln occupied a large area, and a large amount of clay, gangue, shale and other raw materials were transported. Then the craftsmen began to pound and add water to prepare the mixture.
into mud, and then use molding tools to make bricks one by one.
The next step is firing. There is a chimney in the kiln, and the smoke from the chimney is billowing. As soon as you enter, you will be hit by a heat wave.
Zhu Qizhen walked around and asked again: "How many bricks can you burn here in a day?"
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"Back to the emperor, the output of one kiln is 20,000 yuan. The student has two kilns here, which is 40,000 yuan."
"Can they all be sold?"
"We don't have to worry about sales. It's not an exaggeration to say that supply exceeds demand."
Zhu Qizhen became more and more interested and asked again: "How much is the monthly profit?"
Xia Wenhui thought for a moment and then said: "The profit depends on the specific situation. There are a lot of orders at the moment. After deducting raw materials and labor costs every month, the net profit of each kiln can be as high as five hundred taels of silver. Two kilns are one thousand taels."<
/p>
Zhu Qizhen was secretly surprised. One thousand taels a month, wouldn't it be more than 10,000 taels in a year?
This is all pure profit!
How can you make so much money just by burning bricks?
Suddenly, Zhu Qizhen had an idea. With such a profitable business, should the imperial court also open an official kiln...
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but ask: "How much does it cost to build your kiln?"
Xia Wenhui knew everything and said: "In fact, it's not much. The main thing is to apply for land from the county. The county doesn't sell land, it only leases it. For example, here at the student's kiln entrance, the monthly land rent is one hundred taels."
, not much. As for the cost of building a kiln, it is not big. It can definitely be built within one thousand taels. The main cost is the workers’ monthly salary."
"As long as the entrance to the kiln is built, the rest will be easy. Of course, if this business is to last for a long time, it ultimately depends on quality and credibility. Brick kilns are not a difficult business to do. The threshold is very low, so word of mouth is particularly important." As he was talking, he picked up a pile of red bricks.
"The bricks here at the students are all labeled with names. Because of their good quality, word of mouth has spread. Many people are in demand for bricks now. There are not other kilns nearby, but most of them are still willing to come to the students to buy bricks.
."
Zhu Qizhen took a closer look and found that there was an inscription on the brick. It was obviously carved into the brick mold when the brick was made.
"In this case, if your kiln factory continues to expand its scale, it will definitely make a fortune!"
Xia Wenhui smiled and said: "The emperor is joking. If we want to expand our business in the future, students will no longer build brick kilns. Although the selling price of red bricks is higher than that of green bricks, the profit is meager after all, and there are many brick kilns now."
.The students have already trained a group of potters. If they build another kiln, they might try firing ceramics."
After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen smiled and said: "There is a saying in the art of war. Soldiers are unpredictable, and water is unpredictable. The same principle applies to doing business. You cannot always stick to one method. If you do well, you will make a lot of money in the future.
Silver. As the saying goes, if you are poor, you can take care of yourself; if you are rich, you can help the world. When you become rich in the future, remember to take care of the local people."
Xia Wenhui hurriedly saluted: "According to the Emperor's auspicious words, students should do their best."
As soon as Zhu Qizhen said this, where his eyes fell, he saw a waterwheel standing far away along the river.
"Do you still have a waterwheel here?"
Xia Wenhui replied: "It's mainly used for drawing water."
Zhu Qizhen was now very interested in these folk tools, so he stepped forward and took a closer look, and then said: "This waterwheel is not good, it is too old."
At this time, the county magistrate Chen Shiqing stepped forward and said: "The emperor is right, this is a waterwheel from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and it is still in use today."
Zhu Qizhen thought for a while and said: "The foundation of the waterwheel lies in the rotating shaft. Does your waterwheel often need repairs, especially the rotating shaft, which is easy to break. Not only that, the propeller fan also often needs to be replaced." p>
Xia Wenhui looked surprised and said: "Yes, yes, that's it!"
Zhu Qizhen looked at Chen Shiqing and asked: "Are all the waterwheels here like this?"
Chen Shiqing nodded: "Basically the same."
"Go to the Academy of Sciences later and ask Beilin to send someone to transform it for you."
"This...it's not necessary..."
Chen Shiqing suddenly felt flattered. Where is the Academy of Sciences? It specializes in researching new technologies and methods. Isn't it overkill to let others modify the waterwheel?
But Zhu Qizhen was very serious: "If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. The efficiency of production tools is very important. Why is it unnecessary?"
Others may be confused by these words, but Xia Wenhui understands them.
Better tools can bring greater output and lower costs. People who do not run workshops will say such words, but these words are actually just used to talk to others.
Debating, only those who have actually run a workshop can deeply understand the weight of this sentence.
At this time, he looked solemn and looked at Zhu Qizhen with admiration. He couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart, how come this emperor knows everything?
Chen Shiqing did not dare to refuse anymore and said: "I will go tomorrow!"
It’s getting late, so the inspection ends here.
Behind Zhu Qizhen, Chen Rong, who had always been ignored, glanced at the smoky brick kiln, snorted disdainfully, and seemed to be talking to himself: "If Taishi Xia knew that his descendants were actually spending money here, they would have to pay for it."
, I speak eloquently all day long, and I am afraid that I will die of embarrassment."
Chen Rong is different from Xia Wenhui. He is a serious scholar. Let alone a scholar, even if he is a scholar, he cannot get into his eyes.
Seeing that the emperor valued a talented merchant so much, he felt dissatisfied.
I used to be a heavenly official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but I was demoted here to be a prefect. I was already full of resentment, but now my status is even worse than that of a merchant. Is there any justice?
You know, I am a scholar-official with a good reputation. What is a scholar-official?
Scholar-bureaucrat is not just a profession, but the incarnation of holiness!
These people monopolize public opinion, power, and morality.
In other words, when a group has mastered public opinion and power, they themselves have a moral standard after holding public opinion and power.
For example, what kind of person is noble and what kind of person is noble.
Therefore, with one sharp word from Chen Rong, Xia Wenhui was almost directly thrown into the lowest level of morality.
Xia Wenhui stopped, and he happened to hear these words, whether they were light or serious.
He turned back and glanced at Chen Rong.
Chen Rong's face was full of disdain. Even if he was demoted to the prefect, he was not comparable to an ordinary businessman.
That strong sense of superiority is evident on his face.
If other people are scolded, they will either smile awkwardly, or they will lower their heads and walk away in shame. After all, they are the prefect, and scolding you a few words will show their respect for you.
But Xia Wenhui is different, what is a prefect?
His grandfather was a dignified minister of household affairs, a veteran of the Five Dynasties, and was posthumously recognized as a grand master by the imperial court.
His father is the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple in Nanjing.
The Xia family is truly a gentry family. How can someone from such a family swallow their anger?
Therefore, he suddenly stopped and said in a deep voice: "May I ask this sir, what advice can you give me?"
With this opening, the temperament of a scholar comes out.
Zhu Qizhen heard the commotion and looked back curiously. Why did the good people suddenly start arguing?
Chen Rong's face was dark, and in front of him, Xia Wenhui was neither humble nor overbearing, looking at him.
In fact, Xia Wenhui didn't know this magistrate. On weekdays, the biggest official he met was the magistrate.
Today he saw the attitude of the county magistrate Chen Shiqing towards this person, and he knew in his heart that this person must be a high official.
But, so what?
The Emperor didn't say anything, so why are you gesticulating and sarcastic about me?