It has to be said that although Zhao Hongrun warned himself time and time again that his Smelting Bureau must develop step by step, it is undeniable that the stalls laid by his Smelting Bureau are still too big, so that everywhere he looks he needs money.
place.
In particular, the construction of Bolangsha River Port and the expansion of Xiangfu Port caused the Metallurgical and Manufacturing Bureau, which had just seen a good change in its financial situation, to return to its original tight situation and gradually owe a large sum of money to the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry.
money.
Fortunately, the share of the candle technology developed has given the Smelting Bureau a stable and considerable income, and also allowed the Ministry of Household Affairs to lend money to the Smelting Bureau with confidence. Otherwise, the situation of the Smelting Bureau might have been even more difficult than it was back then.
"Is it necessary to be in such a hurry? Remember, haste makes waste."
Emperor Wei also mentioned this matter when they had dinner together at Ningxiang Palace.
I remember that since the Bolangsha incident, Emperor Wei had asked the eunuch to pay close attention to every daily move of his son Zhao Hongrun and the Smelting Bureau he was in charge of.
"I also understand that the stall of our Smelting Bureau has suddenly become too big, but there is no way..."
Zhao Hongrun shook his head with some distress and said sharply: "Recently, I have gradually felt that my Dawei's foundation is very weak."
Speaking of this incident, Zhao Hongrun felt really depressed.
After all, if Cangbe's transportation capacity was strong, he would not need to build a river port in Bolangsha or expand Xiangfu Port. Likewise, he would not need to consider imitating Chu's ships to build transport ships.
The most fundamental reason for all this is simply that the warehouse's transportation capacity is insufficient to supply the Smelting Bureau with sufficient raw materials.
As for Bolangsha River Port, which is bound to become the most prosperous trading river port near Daliang in the future, this is just a by-product of Zhao Hongrun's attempt to enhance the warehouse's transportation capacity.
Thinking about it, if it was just to make money, Zhao Hongrun would never choose to build a river port in Bolangsha. After all, it would require a large amount of manpower and material resources to be invested in the early stage, and it would take a long time. It is a veritable national-level project.
Make money by initiating national projects?
I'm afraid that before the Bolangsha River Port was built, the Smelting Bureau headed by Zhao Hongrun would have starved to death.
After all, it was a large-scale project with only initial investment and no output, and there was no expectation of any gains. Its ultimate goal was just to create a prosperous trade zone near Daliang and drive the economy of the surrounding areas of Daliang and even the entire Wei Dynasty.
It is a ten-year project and a project that will benefit future generations.
"For the sake of our Smelting Bureau's free efforts for Wei, won't my father give me some benefits?"
After hearing this, Emperor Wei glanced at his son and asked after a long pause: "What do you want? As long as it is reasonable, I can give you appropriate compensation from the Industry Bureau."
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun was a little surprised. After all, what he just said was just a complaint.
"Are you surprised?" Emperor Wei noticed his son's surprised and surprised look, and said with a smile: "I'm not blind yet. I can see that what you did was just for the sake of my great Wei..."
"..." Zhao Hongrun blinked, feeling a little shocked. After all, father and son rarely praised each other, but more often mocked and squandered each other. Therefore, even Concubine Shen Shu sometimes found it difficult to understand the communication methods used by their father and son to deepen their relationship.
"Well... let me think about it."
"Think about it slowly. As long as it is reasonable, I will agree."
At this point, Emperor Wei stopped the topic and turned to another matter: "How is the situation with your second uncle in the Zongfu?"
"It's not bad." Zhao Hongrun shrugged and said, "Although he didn't say much, I felt that the second uncle was very dissatisfied with the way I did things at that time. He probably thought that I had harmed the interests of the Ji family.
...How is the relationship between father and second uncle?"
Emperor Wei frowned when he heard this, thought for a while and said vaguely: "It's not bad...why do you ask this?"
Zhao Hongrun grinned and said with a smile: "I feel that there should be many conflicts between the father and the second uncle..."
"..." Emperor Wei opened his mouth, then smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Indeed, as Zhao Hongrun guessed, although Wei Emperor Zhao Yuancai and Zongzheng Zhao Yuanyan were brothers, in fact they were not closely related.
In a sense, the values focused on by the father and son, Emperor Wei and his son Zhao Hongrun, were basically similar.
The only difference is that as the king of the Wei Dynasty, the Emperor of Wei has the responsibility and obligation to shoulder the Wei Dynasty that his ancestors have worked hard for. Therefore, in his mind, the interests of the entire country have priority over the interests of his family surnamed Ji and Zhao. After all,
He is the king of the entire Wei Dynasty.
As for Zhao Hongrun, I am afraid that he has no consciousness of being a member of the Zhao family with the surname Ji. What he only values is that I am from Wei and that I am the prince of Wei. As for Yuanyang King Zhao Wenkai and others,
In the eyes of Zhao Hongrun, the eldest son Zhao Chengxiu is no different from a stranger, and there is no so-called kinship at all.
Therefore, as long as it is beneficial to the entire Wei Dynasty, even if it harms the interests of the Zhao family surnamed Ji, Zhao Hongrun will do it, and the Emperor of Wei will turn a blind eye to a certain extent and provide convenience.
Unlike their father and son, Zongzheng Zhao Yuanyan focused on the interests of the Zhao family surnamed Ji. After all, the clan existed for this purpose, so it was not difficult to understand.
Because of this, even though Zhao Yuanyan hopes that the Wei Dynasty will gradually become stronger, he will never sit idly by and allow the Wei Dynasty to become stronger at the expense of the interests of the Zhao family surnamed Ji.
"What do you think of my father, Wei, and my Ji, whose surname is Zhao?" Zhao Hongrun asked coldly.
When Emperor Wei heard this, he couldn't help but pause when he reached out to pick up the food with his chopsticks. He turned his head and looked at Zhao Hongrun inexplicably, his expression full of surprise and surprise.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun shrugged and explained: "My second uncle asked me this question when I first met him."
Emperor Wei was silent for a moment and asked, "Then how did you answer?"
"I didn't dare to say it directly." Zhao Hongrun shrugged.
Emperor Wei was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "Well, there are some things, just keep them in mind... Come, eat more food." He put a chopstick of food into Zhao Hongrun's bowl.
"..." Zhao Hongrun glanced at his father and understood in his heart.
May at the Smelting Bureau has become increasingly busy since the middle of the month.
Leaving aside Bolangsha, the construction and expansion of Xiangfu Port, and the imitation of Chu ships, the furnaces of the Smelting Bureau outside the city were also gradually transported to the city along with the sand and soil of different textures from nearby places.
The warehouse outside was officially put into use.
The fire brick project was officially launched.
Zhao Hongrun handed over this matter to Wang Fu, the Bureau Chief of the Smelting Bureau.
There is no way, because the stalls are too large, the manpower of officials in the Metallurgical Bureau has become increasingly tight. Three Langguan of the Metallurgical Bureau, Chen Dan is responsible for supervising the construction of Bolangsha River Port, and Cheng Lin is responsible for supervising the expansion of Xiangfu Port.
, while Xun Xin was responsible for imitating Chu ships.
In addition, Wang Fu, the chief minister of the Metallurgical Bureau, is now personally responsible for the firing of fire bricks. The four main technical officials in the Metallurgical Bureau are all responsible for their tasks. If there is another project, I am afraid that even Zhao Hongrun
I can only go into battle in person.
Borrowing manpower from other ministries and departments was impractical, and it was difficult for Zhao Hongrun to completely trust them. Therefore, the best way was to train relevant officials and select talents from principal-level officials below Lang Guan.
In addition, the craftsmen are also facing the embarrassment of a shortage of manpower. Although the Smelting Bureau has more than 400 craftsmen and nearly a thousand craftsmen and apprentices, with the start of the fourth line of the Smelting Bureau, the problem of insufficient manpower has been solved.
It became more and more serious. Even if the Ministry of Industry kindly borrowed more than 200 craftsmen temporarily, it would only be a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun decided to recruit craftsmen from the private sector. After all, there were many stonemasons, carpenters, and blacksmiths with relevant experience in the Wei Dynasty. Recruiting these craftsmen with corresponding work experience to the Smelting Bureau could solve the problem of manpower shortage.
Best way.
But the problem is that communication in this era is really inconvenient.
After much deliberation, Zhao Hongrun had no choice but to use the stupidest method. While selling candles to various markets, officials from the Warehouse Department posted a notice on the wall near the city gate of every county in the country where wanted persons and rewards were posted.
The recruitment notice of the Metallurgical and Manufacturing Bureau caused those craftsmen who were not satisfied with their current working environment to fall into the arms of the Metallurgical and Manufacturing Bureau.
Not to mention, the early results were really good, at least in Daliang. After the recruitment notice of the Metallurgical and Manufacturing Bureau appeared on the bulletin wall near the city gate, many Wei people in Daliang City went to the Metallurgical and Manufacturing Bureau to try out the work.
For this reason, Zhao Hongrun specially promoted three principals to take charge of this matter. These three people were named Lu Yu, Gu He, and Zheng Zhao.
Among them, Lu Yu was responsible for recruiting new people, Gu He was responsible for testing the skills of those new people, and Zheng Zhao was responsible for transferring the newly recruited craftsmen to Bolangsha to build a river port, expand Xiangfu Port, and imitate Chu ships according to their strengths.
, the four projects of firing fire bricks.
These three principals are all old men who have worked in the Smelting Bureau for several years, and they are very capable at work, but their qualifications are not as good as those of Chen Dan and others, so they are not qualified for the position of Langguan.
After all, departments under the Ministry of Industry, especially in the Metallurgical and Manufacturing Bureau, generally attach great importance to qualifications and place qualifications on the same level as personal abilities: even if a person has mediocre talents, as long as he works hard for a few years, he will be promising in metallurgy.
If you have made a contribution to the game, then this person is worthy of respect. If there is a junior who is not as qualified as him, no matter how good his ability is, he can only call the former senior properly.
It has to be said that the atmosphere of the Ministry of Industry is far more rigorous than that of officials in the Ministry of Personnel.
As the Smelting Bureau gradually became busier, Zhao Hongrun felt more relaxed. After all, all he had to do was to formulate a development plan for the Smelting Bureau. He did not need to do everything himself. Anyway, Wang Fu, Chen Dan, and Cheng
Lin, Xun Xin, Lu Yu, Gu He, Zheng Zhao and others watched for him.
This gave Zhao Hongrun a rare and precious period of personal free time, allowing him to arrange personal matters.
For example, we officially moved to Prince Su's Mansion, which has been renovated long ago, and held a housewarming banquet.
For another example, take Miss Su from a waterside pavilion to Prince Su's Mansion, confess to her the truth that Jiang Run is actually Prince Su Hongrun, and let Concubine Shen Shu meet this woman who has had physical contact with her son. (Unfinished)