On the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, President Cao of the Huguang Chamber of Commerce held a family banquet at his home in Wuchang.

President Cao is a businessman but not a layman, and he has read some books, so he has a few bones on his body. His house does not occupy a very wide area, but the courtyard for enjoying flowers and walking in spring, the water pavilion for enjoying the cool and listening to the rain in summer, the mountain house for climbing high and looking far away in autumn, and the warm pavilion for drinking around the fireplace in winter are all available ♀, and President Cao does not want to make too much movement, so he lets his subordinates set up three tables of banquets in the corridor on the side of the courtyard, which can not only look up at the moonlight, but also avoid the autumn dew soaking clothes, and it is relatively close to the bedroom to facilitate getting drunk and going to bed. After the housekeeper arranged all the affairs, he withdrew and went home, leaving only a few girls under the porch to listen to the call.

President Cao sat at a table with several wives and concubines, several sons sat at one table, and several daughters-in-law and grandchildren sat at another table. Seeing that his wife and concubines had stopped their chopsticks and showed their tiredness, President Cao knew that he had almost eaten, so he ordered the banquet to be removed and the tea served, and the women each took the girls back to the room, and he wanted to talk to his sons for a while.

President Cao has a total of five sons, the first four are all adults, granges, shops, workshops, mines, etc., the youngest son is his favorite concubine born a few years ago, I heard that the imperial court does not discriminate against merchants now, so I am ready to let the younger son study and become an official.

Seeing that the second son was sitting silent, President Cao smiled and said, "Second son, you have always liked to laugh, why do you look like a stuffy gourd today?" Could it be that a few days ago, I went to see the regulations of the imperial court and the big iron company, and I was unhappy? ”

Cao Lao Er said: "I know that the big proprietor of this big iron company is the emperor, and all the new systems of the imperial court are set for the emperor's business, and our family also has shares in it, so I will not be unhappy." And the newly appointed chief officer is Li Juren, I heard that as long as he does a good job, he will be promoted to the seventh grade immediately, which is higher than the grade of the lord Bo and the county Cheng, in order to leave a good impression on the county order, it is understandable that the six relatives do not recognize the convenience of promotion, and my business is getting worse and worse in the future of our Cao family. ”

President Cao asked, "Where did it come from?" Didn't you say that all the mines and workshops that were on the verge of the original were allowed? Don't Li Juren know? ”

Cao Lao Er shook his head and said: "What Li Juren said is the same as what my father said when he came back, but I was thinking that this field has to pay rent, and private land is no exception. ”

President Cao nodded and said, "This is the emperor's idea, saying that this is to prevent people from getting rich, and everyone is not completely targeting our family, so you don't have emotions." Whether it is public property, private property, farmland, there is no way to pay taxes, the emperor and many princes pay taxes, which stops everyone's mouths, I wonder what is the meaning of this emperor? Is it really for the sake of those mud legs? This shouldn't be! ”

Cao Laosan was in charge of the Cao family's small money bank, and at this time said mysteriously: "Dad and second brother don't know yet, right?" The big iron company Akari said that private banks are allowed to open money, as long as they pay a deposit. But I heard that they secretly gave Dongchang a list of money banks that were unwilling to join the big iron company and wanted to work alone, and I wondered if we were putting the mines, workshops, and money houses under our names under the name of the big iron company, anyway, I heard that they only asked not to interfere in specific operations. Although the name has changed, it is still the industry of the Cao family, firstly, it can obtain stable income, and secondly, it will not make trouble in the East Factory, I don't know what you think? ”

Cao Lao Er was shocked when he heard this: "Third child, where did you get the news?" ”

Cao Laosan said: "A friend of mine also runs a money bank in Nanjing, and he accidentally heard a drunk Jinyi guard officer say that they have changed the brand name of the big iron company in their money bank, because no one dares to guarantee that they will not make a mistake. ”

Cao Lao Er said: "What does this emperor want to do? Does he really want to eat all the world's inheritance? ”

President Cao thought for a moment and said, "It's better to be careful in everything, I'll go and inquire tomorrow, I believe they will give me some face, if that's the case, we will have to follow the crowd." You have to remember that the rafters rot first, and the birds still don't deserve it. ”

Just when people all over the south were speculating about Apocalypse's intention to encourage everyone to join the Great Iron Company, Xu Guangqi was also asking the same question in the Qianqing Palace in Beijing. On the second day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tianqi asked Gao Panlong, Liu Zongzhou, and Xu Guangqi to go to the Qianqing Palace to discuss matters, and asked them to make a comment on the behavior of the big iron company for more than a month. When he heard Tianqi say that nearly half of the factories and mines and most of the money houses had joined the Big Iron Company and operated under the brand of the Big Iron Company, Xu Guangqi also asked in surprise: "The emperor really wants to eat all the industries in the world?" ”

Tianqi shook his head and said: "I don't want to include all the industries under the name of the big iron company, that is not realistic and there is no benefit∞ I also have the intention of inviting you here today to discuss this matter, I have already considered it, but I want each of you to say your views from your own responsibilities, and finally synthesize and make a charter." But before I do that, I want to discuss the road construction with Lord Xu. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "The emperor divided half of the people taught by Zhao to tidy up the fields and ponds in Huangzhuang, and the other half to build roads and canals in Huangzhuang. The emperor's imperial village is not much now, it is estimated that they will have nothing to do next year after the completion of the repair this year, and then let them go to various places to repair roads according to the effect. ”

Tianqi shook his head and said: "They are all meritorious men, first in the Ningyuan area to build the city wall and repair the arrow tower, and later in the Nanguan area ambush the Jurchen soldiers and wiped out 20,000 people, it can be said that the war is outstanding. I had just settled down by the canal and was ready to repair the river, and two months ago I was ordered to rush to Beijing to repair houses and build houses for the victims, this time after the road was repaired and the fields were completed in Huangzhuang, I was ready to let them go to the whole country to teach and supervise the construction of ♀ rivers and roads, and it was much better to let them teach people to do things than to directly let them do things. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "The emperor's kindness and generosity are still nostalgic, which is a blessing for the ministers. If you really want to only let them teach people instead of doing things directly, then you can draw some of them, anyway, the Huangzhuang is not big now, and it is enough to grow crops and irrigate. ”

Apocalypse nodded and said, "Is it easy for them to find materials to build roads?" Don't use good materials in Huangzhuang and can't find so many road building materials outside, then you will lose the value of promotion. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "The minister personally went to see it, they built the road first rammed earth and then added gravel to pave the surface, and finally used lime, broken brick sand, and clay to make a three-way soil to pave the surface. In order to avoid flooding on the road, they built the road in the shape of a slight arch, and dug ditches on both sides to plant trees, which was not only conducive to drainage but also convenient for shading. I just heard Deng Yuhan say that there is a record in their book of Tessie, saying that there was a country called ancient Rome that used lime mixed with ash from the burning mountains when building houses, so that the mixed ash would harden when it met with water, and it was very useful to repair the house. It's a pity that Daming doesn't have a burning mountain, otherwise it would be more convenient to make some of this kind of ash. ”

Tianqi was shocked when he heard it, and said in his heart, Could it be that Deng Yuhan's book mentioned how to make cement? After thinking about it, he said to Xu Guangqi: "Let the person in charge of translation speed up, and throw aside the books related to their God first, and translate the books of what kind of ash mixed with lime and volcanic ash first if there is no book of God, since it is the knowledge brought by the Taixi people, and they are floating across the ocean, let's call this kind of ♀ ash ash." It doesn't matter if there is no mountain on fire, we can make our own fire, right? It doesn't matter what stone it catches first, burns it into ashes, and then mixes it, and then says, what can be hardened when it encounters water is good ash. ”

Xu Guangqi frowned and said: "They have to translate the missionary books first, and it is not easy to do more than 7,000 books without their presiding over the translation, and there are too few Taixi languages in the Daming Society." ”

Tianqi thought for a while and said, "Isn't Deng Yuhan teaching people?" You tell him that there are many people in our Ming Dynasty who believe in God, and they need to hear the original Tessie language to listen to God's teachings, and ask him to teach people the Tessie language. When we learn it, we will translate it ourselves, what do you think? Of course, you have to make it clear to the people who learn the Tessie language, don't really believe the nonsense about Jesus, how can someone tie up and kill someone if you are really powerful, don't you say? ”

Xu Guangqi nodded with a smile and said: "To say that believing in God is to deceive them, the real purpose is to learn the Tessie language to translate useful books, this minister understands." ”

Tianqi praised Xu Guangqi again, and then said to Liu Zongzhou: "Lord Liu can't be idle now, and the Holy Academy should also think more about how to cooperate with the big iron company to do a good job in opening mines, starting yards, opening money banks, and building roads." ”

Liu Zongzhou thought for a while and said: "Lord Gao is in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and can cooperate with the Great Iron Company in the use and supervision of officials, and Lord Xu's Doctoral College is even more direct to discuss economic affairs, and the Minister's Holy Academy is mainly to accumulate experience and grasp affairs from the overall situation, I am afraid that it will be of little help to the Emperor's Great Iron Company." ”

Tianqi shook his head and said, "Lord Liu's words are inappropriate, I once said that all the behaviors of being busy inside and outside can be summed up in the three words 'people doing things'. Needless to say, it goes without saying that people and things are very important, but I think that how to do it should be a matter of careful study by the Holy Academy. Just like a person who is hungry and wants to eat, there are people who can cook and cook, rice, vegetables, meat and other raw materials, and how to arrange which people do what is the most important thing, and Lord Liu should not be lazy in this matter. ”

Liu Zongzhou thought for a while and said: "The emperor means to let the ministers wait or grasp the general direction from the overall situation, so how does the emperor consider such an arrangement?" Can't the Faculty of Bo arrange considerations? ”