Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Six: The Department of Yu Joins
"Work harder, work harder!"
"Hey, hey, hey, here are some people to take out the candles from the No. 3 mold!"
"Candle oil, I want candle oil here!"
When Yubu Secretary Lang Zhou Pei rushed to the Smelting Bureau, the Smelting Bureau was frantically making candles. The craftsmen of No. 100 gathered around the ten candle molds and mass-produced candles at an incredible speed.
From the side, Lang Guan of the Smelting Bureau held a pen in one hand and a booklet in the other, recording the number of candles in each batch and the time consumed. These data will be used to further improve these molds in the future.
And looking at the boxes of candles being made, Yubu Silang Zhou Pei felt a little uneasy and uneasy in his heart.
Although Yubu does not rely entirely on making candles to sell to the domestic market, it is undeniable that candles, which are consumed by the public every day, have always been one of the main incomes of Yubu to maintain the operation of the department.
But now, the Smelting Bureau has improved the candle technology and increased the speed of mass production of candles to an unimaginable level, which made his mouth taste bitter.
"Master Zhou?" Seeing Yubu Silang Zhou Pei stop in the open space where candles were made, staring at the craftsmen, a civil servant from the Smelting Bureau reminded him in a low voice.
"Ah?" Zhou Pei, the chief minister of Yubu, woke up from his dream and realized his purpose: "I'm sorry... please continue to lead the way."
"please!"
"please!"
Under the guidance of the civil servant, Zhou Pei, the director of the Yu Department, came to the office of Wang Fu, the chief minister of the Metallurgical Bureau.
At this time, Wang Fu was in the house estimating the monthly salary of the officials and craftsmen in his smelting bureau. After all, Zhao Hongrun proposed a subsidy, which suddenly increased his workload a lot.
"Duk duk duk." There was a knock on the door.
At this time, Wang Fu was playing with a few finger-long bamboo sticks for calculation. When he was disturbed by this, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted. He glanced at the door helplessly: "Come in!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the civil servant of the Smelting Bureau led Zhou Pei, the Secretary of the Yu Department, into the house, raised his hands and said: "Master Cheng of the Bureau, Master Zhou Pei, the Secretary of the Yu Department, is here to visit."
"..." Wang Fu looked at Zhou Pei in surprise, stood up quickly, held his hands in front of him and said, "Master Zhou."
"Wang Jucheng." Zhou Pei also returned the gift with his hand.
After all, they are both officials at the Shilang level and have the same official rank.
"Tea."
After giving instructions to the civil servant, Wang Fu asked Zhou Pei to sit down on a chair in the room and said with a smile: "Master Zhou came to visit our Smelting Bureau today. It really makes our Smelting Bureau flourish."
In fact, Wang Fu knew very well why Zhou Pei came, but he didn't know how to bring up the topic. After all, he was building a bureau, but he was preparing to steal Yu's job.
However, Zhou Pei, the Secretary of the Yu Department, was obviously not in the mood to listen to Wang Fu's official politeness. He waved his hands and said with a wry smile: "Prince Wang, we were all colleagues in the Ministry of Industry in the past, so Zhou will not beat around the bush..."
I heard that your bureau has built ten new iron molds for making candles, which can make four thousand candles in one hour, right?"
"This..." Seeing that Zhou Pei mentioned this matter at the beginning, Wang Fu couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and said sarcastically: "In fact, it should be less than this number..."
Zhou Pei didn't take Wang Fu's humility seriously, and with a bitter look on his face, he praised: "This time your office is really proud and proud... However, this proud and proud thing has brought disaster to my Yu Department. How can your office tolerate it?"
Wang Jicheng, the Metallurgical Bureau and my Yu Department are all from the Ministry of Industry... Is your department trying to push my Yu Department to a dead end this time?"
Wang Fu was very embarrassed when he heard this. After all, the officials of the Ministry of Industry had always shared the same hatred and were very united internally because of their previous relationship with being at the bottom of the six departments of the imperial court. Wang Fu was actually unhappy with the idea of taking advantage of the Yu Ministry to rise to the top.
Hopeful.
But, there was nothing he could do.
After thinking for a moment, Wang Fu lowered his voice and said to Zhou Pei with helplessness on his face: "Master Zhou, Wang is not allowed to make the decision on this matter... That one wants to make candles to make money and raise funds for our Smelting Bureau..."
Zhou Pei, the director of the Yu Department, nodded with relief. After all, he also knew that the real master in the Smelting Bureau now was His Highness Su Wang Hongrun. Although the bureau chief Wang Fu in front of him still held the title of bureau chief, the fact was that
I can only be regarded as the second in charge, just helping His Royal Highness Prince Su.
Therefore, Zhou Pei did not embarrass Wang Fu and begged in a low voice: "Please introduce him to me."
"Master Zhou wants to see His Highness Prince Su?"
"Ah." Zhou Pei nodded and finally explained the purpose of his visit: "Zhou wants to meet His Royal Highness Prince Su. I hope there is room for redemption in this matter. Otherwise... I am afraid that my Yu department will really have to... this year..." At the end
, he shook his head rather helplessly.
Since they were all colleagues in the Ministry of Industry at the beginning, Wang Fu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and agreed. At the same time, he did not forget to give advice to this colleague who used to be in the Ministry of Industry: "His Royal Highness, King Su, is willing to accept the soft and not the hard. Mr. Zhou will talk to His Highness later."
Please do not have any verbal conflict."
Do I have the courage?
"I understand." Zhou Pei glanced at Wang Fu speechlessly and said to himself that the three ministries of the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Households all suffered losses because of their stubbornness with His Highness Prince Su. Now in the court, who can
How dare you talk to His Highness Prince Su? Isn’t that looking for death?
After finishing the instructions, Wang Fu led Zhou Pei to the house where Su Wang Zhao Hongrun was.
At the same time, Zhao Hongrun was playing with two candles newly made by his smelting bureau in that room, thinking about the sales channels used to sell these candles.
To be honest, Zhao Hongrun was reluctant to use the channels of the warehouse department under the Ministry of Accounts. After all, this meant that he would get a share of the benefits of the candle to the Ministry of Accounts. Otherwise, why would the Ministry of Accounts help him?
As for setting up your own sales channels?
When do you have to wait until then?
You must know that Cangbe's sales channels are official channels that draw on the power of the entire imperial court. There is no other sales channel that is more complete than the sales network covered by Cangbe.
Therefore, even if Zhao Hongrun was reluctant, he could only use Cangbu's channels to sell these candles.
The question is, how much profit should be given to the warehouse department under the household department?
The Cangbu department was dissatisfied with the underpayment, and the Smelting Bureau suffered from overpayment. Therefore, this problem has troubled Zhao Hongrun for a long time.
He planned to wait until a specific amount was calculated before discussing the matter with Kurabe Shiro Kuangke.
“Tuk-tuk-tuk.”
There was a knock on the door inside the house.
"Come in." Zhao Hongrun shouted casually.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Fu, the chief minister of the Smelting Bureau, led Zhou Pei, the director of the Yu Department, into the house. The two of them saluted Zhao Hongrun respectfully: "I pay homage to His Royal Highness Prince Su."
Zhao Hongrun raised his head and glanced at Zhou Pei. He could tell at a glance that this person was a bit unfamiliar, and asked doubtfully: "Who is this?"
After hearing this, Wang Fu quickly explained: "Your Highness, this is Mr. Zhou Peizhou, the Secretary-General of the Yu Department."
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, and immediately understood, stood up and said with a smile: "It turns out to be Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Pei laughed bitterly in his heart, glanced at Wang Fu secretly, recalled the man's instructions to him, bowed his hands, knelt on the ground and said in a deep voice: "His Royal Highness King Su, please save my Yu tribe!"
"..." Zhao Hongrun looked at Zhou Pei who was kneeling on the ground in front of him inexplicably. He quickly helped him up and comforted him: "Master Zhou does not need to pay such a big courtesy. Please get up and talk." After saying that, he saw that Zhou Pei was stubborn. Di Si knelt on the ground and said helplessly: "It's just a few candles, but that's it? Let's talk about it after we get up!"
Just some candles?
Zhou Pei's stomach turned red, and he thought to himself, Your Majesty Prince Su, you are just talking about a candle, but it will cause my Yu Department to suffer unimaginable losses!
The three of them sat down on the chairs in the room. At this time, Zongwei Shen Yu served Wang Fu and Zhou Pei two cups of tea.
Unfortunately, Zhou Pei was not in the mood to drink tea at all, and said to Zhao Hongrun anxiously: "Your Highness Prince Su, the candle molds of your office are really eye-opening for me. I never thought that the craftsmanship of making candles can be so great." It can be simplified to this point, but... our Yu Department will suffer. Your Highness, can you please consider that our Yu Department and the Metallurgical Bureau were all under the name of the Ministry of Industry in the past, and show your noble hands so that our Yu Department will not be completely cut off? Got this benefit..."
"Okay." Zhao Hongrun drank tea and said with a smile: "I can give the ten candle molds to your Yubu, and ask the craftsmen to teach your people step by step how to make candles with the new technology."
Eh?
Zhou Pei originally wanted to recount his sufferings and plead again, but he didn't expect Zhao Hongrun to be so forthcoming.
He was about to nod his head happily, when suddenly he was startled.
What? Give all ten candle iron molds to my Yubu, and teach the new craftsmanship to my Yubu officials? Isn’t this...
Zhou Pei's eyes widened in surprise, and when he was about to speak, Wang Fu couldn't help but asked: "Your Highness, you said you want to hand over all ten molds to the Yu Department? No! No!"
He shook his head repeatedly.
Why are you like this!
Seeing Wang Fu, who was still on his side just now, suddenly change his mind, Zhou Pei was furious, but he couldn't speak. After all, Wang Fu was considered to be the confidant of His Highness Prince Su, and his status was higher than him. So, he just looked at Zhao Hongrun longingly, suppressing his joy and asked again: "Really...seriously?"
Zhao Hongrun waved his hand to signal Wang Fu not to speak for the time being, and nodded with a smile: "I am not joking! ... Yubu and I, the Metallurgical Bureau, were once brothers under the name of the Ministry of Industry, and we shared the joys and sorrows, so why should I? Can you really step on Yu Bu and rise to the top?"
Just kidding, the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau are the ones Zhao Hongrun hopes to use to develop top craftsmanship. In his opinion, asking those craftsmen to make candles is simply a waste of talent.
It is undeniable that Zhao Hongrun has long thought about letting Yu Bu take over. It depends on when Zhou Pei, the Secretary of Yu Bu, comes to negotiate.
Hearing Zhao Hongrun's reaffirmation, Zhou Pei felt reassured, especially Zhao Hongrun's brotherly words, which made him feel warmer.
He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: It is said that among the six ministries of the imperial court, His Royal Highness Su Wang Hongrun is the only one who treats our Ministry of Works in a special light and treats us extremely favorably. This statement is indeed true!
Thinking of this, he held back his joy and said: "In this case, I will thank His Highness Prince Su on behalf of my Yubu!"
"Hey, don't thank me in a hurry. Although I want to teach you the new technique of making candles, the profit will be divided into 50% and 50%!"
That's nothing.
Zhou Pei felt reassured, and the smile on his face became thicker: "Thank you, His Highness Prince Su!"
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun said deliberately: "Mr. Zhou, please think clearly. Our Smelting Bureau is only responsible for teaching the craftsmen of your bureau how to make candles. In addition, we are responsible for the maintenance of iron molds. For the rest, I, the Smelting Bureau
No questions asked."
What else is there to think about?
Zhou Pei was very happy.
He knew what His Highness Prince Su meant. To put it bluntly, he wanted Yu Bu to work for the Smelting Bureau, but what did that mean?
You know, after learning a new process, one mold can produce four hundred candles an hour. As long as more molds are built, the output will rise sharply. Although half of the profit will be given to the manufacturing bureau, it is undeniable that if the smelting bureau wants to
Be more ruthless and refuse to distribute profits to their Yu tribe. Their Yu tribe will not get a single profit.
What's more important is that, according to Zhou Pei's inner estimation, even if their Yu Department has to give half of the profits to the Smelting Bureau, the benefits they will receive in the end will still be far greater than before.
There is no way, the iron mold developed by the Smelting Bureau can produce candles too fast. The terrible thing is that the output of four thousand candles an hour is only limited to ten iron molds. As long as their Yu department adds more
With manpower, the candle output can be increased, and it is not impossible to even exceed the number of candles consumed by Da Wei every day.
Zhou Pei had already thought that by that time, Yubu could even sell it to foreign countries, such as Weiguo.
At this moment, there was another knock on the door.
"His Royal Highness King Su, the eunuch Tong Gonggong, the eunuch Bingli and the chamberlain, would like to see you."
Tong Xian?
Zhao Hongrun, who was drinking tea, was stunned when he heard this. The eunuch Tong Xian next to his father, Emperor Wei, suddenly appeared in his mind, and he was really confused.
What is he doing at the Smelting Bureau? (To be continued.)