"This paper is so easy to use, but it's a pity that ten sheets are only a penny, too cheap!" The shopkeeper said with a piece of paper one foot long and half a foot wide in his hand.

"The paper in your hand is ten pennies. Guess how much this three-foot-long paper is priced at? Montenegro asked the shopkeeper.

"Xiao Zhang's ten pieces of one coin, and the big one of them are not two pieces of one money?" Pasteur guessed.

"A piece like this one is priced at ten dollars, and there are even bigger ones, and the price ranges from tens to hundreds of dollars!" Montenegro replied.

When the shopkeeper heard this, he was very surprised and asked puzzledly: "Then why do you want to cut this low piece worth ten yuan into six pieces that are not worth one pattern?" Isn't this a thankless task? ”

"I am the county guard of Great Qin, not a businessman. The purpose of cutting large pieces of paper into small sizes and selling them cheaply is to make it affordable for everyone in the world. Selling large pieces of paper at a high price is to make the rich more money, only in this way can the paper mill meet the needs of the whole people at the same time, and have a steady stream of financial income. Kuro replied unhurriedly.

The shopkeeper listened and watched blankly as the workers put stacks of large papers on a super-large guillotine and cut them into neat and neat sheets. After a while, he suddenly realized: "It turns out that Daqin suppressed the prices of kudzu cloth and linen cloth to a very low level, and tried his best to raise the prices of silk and brocade, the price of grain, and the price of wine. The purpose is to increase tax revenue and ensure the food and clothing of the common people! ”

"You're right, this is the mystery of Shang Jun's law. I set the price of small paper low so that everyone could afford it. The purpose of raising the large paper several times or dozens of times is to ensure the income of the paper mill and the government.

Montenegro brought everyone to the printing workshop again! Craftsmen are engraving, printing, binding. Montenegro picked up a copy of "Spring and Autumn" and "Book of Songs", opened it and looked at it, and said: "I also set the price of some basic knowledge books low, and raised the price of some poetry collections, novels, and books, so that more people can afford to read books." Ba Huai is a big businessman in the world, and I brought you here today in the hope that you can be an example of a wealthy businessman and contribute to the national economy and people's livelihood. In a few days, Momoru is going to hold an exclusivity auction for books and papers, and I want you to take the lead. ”

"I would like to serve the county keeper!" The shopkeeper agreed.

"Okay, this matter will be handled by the shopkeeper and Lord Song. If you can fetch three million gold, I will give you a great credit. Montenegro said.

"It's an honor to serve the county guard!" Both replied at the same time.

Montenegro and the others inspected the cotton spinning workshop under construction again, and suddenly there was heavy snow in the sky. The slave workers were still working in the snow.

When the shopkeeper saw this situation, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's the first time I've seen a slave who doesn't use a whip to consciously work so energetically!" If you don't see it with your own eyes, you can't believe it! ”

"They're not slaves anymore! It's the Qin people! Many of them made meritorious contributions to the construction of the paper mill and paid homage to them! Can you work without working hard? Song Lei said.

Seeing a few people from Montenegro coming, an engineering supervisor in black Ge Yi Mo family disciple costume hurriedly came over to meet Montenegro. Montenegro asked: "How is the food for the workers at the construction site?" What time does it take to finish? ”

Montenegro's policy is in line with the Mohist theory of mutual love, so the Mohists are very supportive of Montenegro. Some of these ink artists were still the Southern Mo of the Chu State a few months ago, and after being captured in the Battle of Waihuang, they were sent to Taocheng to be handed over to Feng Mofeng of Qin Mo. Now the two are one again.

"My lord, I went to work in the morning, and I was glutinated with a pot helmet in the morning. Lunch meal, white rice with meat dishes. At the end of work, the evening meal is millet porridge and pastry, and this kind of food is already better than that of ordinary people. The director replied.

"Go back and let the actors of Taocheng Grand Theater come here to do a few charity performances, let them remember more about their lives as slaves in the past, and they will cherish the hard-won good days now!" Montenegro said to Xiao He beside him.

"No! I'll arrange it right away! Xiao He responded.

As the crowd continued to patrol forward, they came to a new construction site, where many people were building houses in full swing. More than a dozen people next to him were ramming the earth wall, they were shirtless in winter, their dark and strong skin was sweating, and they sang a loud trumpet:

"Labor, hey, hey

Shaking the earth, hey, hey

Pangu opened the sky, hey, hey

Sing to this day, hey, hey

Don't be afraid of the wind, hey

Don't be afraid of the rain, hey

The fool moves the mountains, hey, hey

Spread all over the world, hey! ”

They don't seem to be doing heavy physical work, but more like enjoying the labor life.

Montenegro walked over and gently asked these men who were singing songs and doing heavy work: "Are you tired?" ”

When the men saw someone coming, they stopped singing, and one of the lead singers agreed: "Tired! ”

"Tired and still working so hard?" Montenegro asked again.

"The government gave us freedom, good food and drink, and wages. We are willing to work hard to repay the government! The man replied.

"The order goes down, and tomorrow all workshops and construction sites will have a day off. After that, seven days are a week, and the first six days are Monday to Saturday, and everyone works and goes to work. Tuesday is a rest day, and all holidays are closed. Everyone is no longer a slave, civilians must have their own time! Montenegro said to Song Lei beside him.

"No! The next official will do it immediately. Song Lei agreed.

When I returned to the county guard's house, it was already past the end of the day. Seeing that Xiao He and Meng Hao were still handling official business.

Seeing Montenegro coming back, Xiao He put down the official duties in his hand and said: "Now hundreds of slaves and civilians from the Chu and Qi countries flee to Taocheng every day to settle down. The population of Taocheng has more than 400,000. Recently, the weather has been cold, and six people didn't have time to enter the city last night and froze to death outside the city! Today I have had people build a simple shelter outside the city, and have soldiers step up patrols outside the city. ”

"These outsiders are going to be disrupted, reorganize into Shiwu, and tell them that in order to prevent spies from destroying Taocheng, let each Shiwu supervise each other! If there is any abnormality, report it to the government immediately. Montenegro explained.

"Due to the increase in the number of people, the food reserves in the city are less than a month, and if there is a war, Taocheng will be very dangerous!" Xiao He said.

"Immediately send a letter to the Governor's Mansion to transfer the army's winter food first! Tomorrow afternoon, we will have a symposium with the major businessmen in the city to solve the problem of food and money together! Montenegro said.

"No!" Xiao He responded.

"How many troops are there in Tao County now?" Montenegro asked Meng Hao.

Meng Hao replied: "There are 20,000 cavalry of Xin Sheng, 10,000 heavy infantry troops of Mai, and 20,000 light infantry troops of Mi Long in the city. There are also Wei, Chu and new troops with a total of 10,000. There are also 30,000 foot riders of Zhao Tuo in the southern cities, a total of 90,000. ”

"Tomorrow, we will start to recruit another 30,000 county soldiers in the New Qin people and Ding Zhuang in the whole county, and strive to complete the preliminary training before the spring rush! Even if we have to vigorously develop the economy, we must not stop the military! Montenegro explained.

……

In the hall of the county guard's mansion, several pots of charcoal were burning. The perimeter of the hall is piled up with paper of various sizes and various freshly printed books. The top 100 merchants in Taocheng were all invited to the hall. Although they had heard of paper and books for a long time, they were still amazed to see them today, and when they saw such a cheap price on it, the fool also understood the business opportunity.

Montenegro did not show up, but handed over the matter to Xiao He and Song Lei to deal with. Xiao He said to the merchants: "In all the counties and cities of Daqin, all books and papers can only be sold at a uniform price. The government supply price is 50% of the selling price. The price of Qichu and other counties is set by the merchants themselves, but they must be exchanged for rice and sea salt of equal value. The auction of the exclusive rights to each county of the world for three years is now open. Based on the county, the starting price is 50,000 gold, and the highest bidder will get the exclusive right to operate the place for two years! ”

Auctions are already common in this era, but this is the first time that the auction has been held. The merchants just started to talk to each other, and after a while, Xiao He did announce the start of the auction. The first is Neishi County, because the capital Xianyang is in Neishi County, so Neishi County is the most competitive.

"Tian's Salt withdraws 60,000 yuan!"

"Wu's leather merchant withdrew 70,000 yuan!"

"Qidun Trading Company withdraws 100,000 yuan!"

"Weiguo Lu's trading company withdrew 120,000 yuan!"

"Handan Zhuo's Pharmacy withdraws 150,000 yuan!"

"Bajun Bashi withdrew 300,000 gold!"

Ba Jun Ba Shi, everyone knows that it is the business name of Mrs. Ba Huaiqing. 300,000 gold is already the limit! Everyone saw that Bab was determined to win, so no one made any more bids. Neishi County was voted for by Ba County Bab for three years.

The next few large counties are also fiercely competitive. The Zhuo clan won Handan, Qidun won Shouchun, and the Tian clan won the counties of Qi State......

In the backyard of the county guard's house, a Montenegrin family is enjoying the newly rehearsed songs and dances of musicians and dancers. Xiao He hurriedly entered to see Black Mountain.

Montenegro told everyone to retreat first. Xiao He said happily: "Lord County Guard, guess? How much gold was shot in total! ”

"Did you shoot three million gold?" Montenegro asked.

"More than that! Guess again! ”

"Four million gold?"

"And that's not all!"

"Are these people crazy? It won't be more than five million gold, right? Montenegro was also taken aback and asked rhetorically.

"That's 6.3 million gold!" Xiao He said happily.

Now it's Montenegro's turn to be surprised! He originally expected 2 million gold, at most 3 million gold, and he could shoot 6.3 million gold, which is really unimaginable. muttered to himself: "With six million, expand the army, buy food, cultivate the palace, and cultivate the Chi Dao, it's all out of the question!" ”

"The family of Mrs. Ba County of Guangba County paid more than 2 million gold, and photographed the seven counties of Neishi County, Tao County, Ba County, Shu County, Nanyang County, Nanjun and Yingchen of Chu State, as long as they fancy it, they will directly bid 300,000 gold to win." Xiao He said.

"Don't worry! They're making a lot of money! Absolutely can't lose them! Montenegro said, "Give me the best story written by each scholar, and I will pick an official history of three hundred stones among them to be responsible for publishing the book!" ”

"No!" Xiao He responded and left. He now admires Montenegro so much that he has invested in it.