Ji Qingwen was still arguing with Song Yingxing, and Li Yan's mind was still on the matter of weaving the yamen, and asked: "Song Xiaolian, then Guo Jing deliberately concealed the output, presumably to take out the excess silk and sell it privately." But I don't know how much a piece of silk can be sold for? ”

Song Yingxing frowned and pondered, and said: "The colored brocade produced by Suzhou weaving is a royal thing, and it has always been difficult to find. On the market, each horse was sold for three hundred taels of silver, and it was often swept away. ”

"Wow!" Ji Qingwen almost exclaimed when he heard this number, "Three hundred taels is so much." If Guo Jing sells an extra 300 pieces of silk every year, he will have 90,000 taels of silver. My family is also a big family in Shaanxi, but I didn't expect that the annual income is less than a quarter of Guo Jing's! ”

Song Yingxing said: "Three hundred taels is not pure income. The raw materials used in Yunjin are the best raw silk purchased from Huzhou, and gold wire, silver thread, brocade chicken feathers, peacock feathers and other materials are needed, the cost is not low, and the price fluctuates. Well...... However, according to the student's calculations, it is still very safe to earn two hundred taels of silver for a piece of silk. ”

"I see." Ji Qingwen said, "Since Suzhou weaves more than 1,600 pieces of silk and satin every year, 800 horses can earn 160,000 taels of silver, and then think of a way, 200,000 taels of silver is not a difficult task......

When Song Yingxing heard this, he immediately became alert and asked, "What does Lord Ji mean by this?" Could it be that Guo Jing only sells 300 brocades a year, but Lord Ji still sells 500 more? The student only thought that Master Ji was a person of high character, but he didn't expect it to be the same greed. Hum! Please forgive the student for being rude and say goodbye......"

As he spoke, Song Yingxing turned his head and was about to leave.

Ji Qingwen hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Song Xiaolian, what are you anxious about?" This is the emperor's will to me before leaving Beijing. It is said that the quota of items to be paid for weaving and paying tribute every year will be halved, and then 200,000 taels of silver will be raised with the tribute saved. The 200,000 taels of silver were to be sent to Liaodong to fight the Jurchens. ”

Song Yingxing heard this, but he was still a little skeptical, and asked, "Is this true?" ”

Li Yan interjected: "Of course it's serious. When the emperor issued the decree, Admiral Sun Chengzong and Sun Lao were also present. Master Sun is Brother Ji's teacher, how can he be a fake? ”

As soon as these words came out, Song Yingxing immediately arched his hand and said: "Ouch, I didn't expect that Lord Ji was still the tall feet of Lord Sun, disrespectful and disrespectful!" Lord Sun is the mainstay of the imperial court, and he is one of the few people in the Donglin Party who understands military affairs. Since Master Ji is his student, he must not be a treacherous and greedy person. But what does the matter of Liaodong have to do with Suzhou? Why do you want Suzhou weaving to pay for it? ”

Ji Qingwen listened, and was about to explain to him, but he heard Song Yingxing say again: "But since it is the will of the saint, there must be some mystery, and the student may not be able to understand it." ”

Ji Qingwen traveled through the past two years and knew that the ancients were all small peasants with natural economic thinking, and there was no socialist thinking of "a game of chess for the whole country and concentrating on big things", so he didn't want to bother to explain it to Song Yingxing, and only said: "The emperor's will, we can only do it, otherwise it will be the crime of bullying the king." ”

Ji Qingwen saw that Song Yingxing had no objections, so he asked again: "Song Xiaolian, you have calculated the account clearly, but there is one more thing you don't understand." There is a material cost of about 100 taels of silver in the silk, but what about the labor? Don't you have to pay the weaver's wages? ”

Song Yingxing looked at Ji Qingwen with some surprise and said, "Lord Ji, don't you know this?" The weavers used in the weaving yamen weaving workshop are all craftsmen, and the imperial court requisitioned them, so they don't have to pay wages! ”

Li Yan also echoed: "Yes, this is the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu. ”

Song Yingxing also said: "I'm not afraid of two students saying that they are rebellious." It has been more than 250 years since the founding capital of the Ming Dynasty, and I don't know how to change this ancestral system......"

What do you mean by that? Is there any drawback to the artisan household system? Ji Qingwen asked.

Song Yingxing replied: "In recent years, Suzhou silk and embroidery have become popular in the world, and prices have risen. The weavers in the weaving yamen are all ancestral crafts, and I dare say that there is no better weaver in the whole country. Therefore, so many weaving workshops in Suzhou like to hire people in the weaving yamen, and the price is as high as one or two silver per day. ”

"In other words, these weavers working in the weaving yamen are equivalent to losing one or two taels of silver a day?" Ji Qingwen asked.

"That's not going to be. Rules are dead, but people are alive. Weavers are also human beings, and of course they have to earn money to support their families. After most of them completed the quota of weaving yamen, they went outside to take on private work to make money. Therefore, the weaver's mind may not be all in the weaving yamen, although the brocade embroidery produced is exquisite, but it is not the ultimate quality, and the output also has room for improvement. Song Yingxing replied.

Ji Qingwen listened and calculated: Emperor Chongzhen wants to hand over 200,000 taels of silver every year, and now he can barely complete the task with the current products of Suzhou Weaving Yamen; If on this basis, continue to increase production, improve quality, and raise the unit price, then if you remove the 200,000 taels of silver that you want to give to the emperor, you can still make a lot more, not to mention 100,000 taels.

With 100,000 taels of silver in his arms, and in this paradise-like Suzhou, isn't it a fairy-like life?

As soon as he thought of this, Ji Qingwen's face suddenly filled with a smile as if no one was around, as if he had forgotten that the extra "100,000 taels of silver" only existed in his mind now.

Li Yan, who was beside him, saw his frivolous appearance, and immediately coughed lightly twice, and said, "It seems that Brother Ji already has a countermeasure to such a drawback as reform in his chest, can you tell me about it?" ”

"It's easy. Isn't it to improve the cohesion and combat effectiveness of the weaver team, there are many ways. Ji Qingwen's smug expression is like that of a personnel manager of a small enterprise with hundreds of people, "It can improve the economic treatment of weavers, build the corporate culture of the yamen, organize team building activities, and so on...... But the most important thing now is ......"

Ji Qingwen's words, Li Yan and Song Yingxing both listened to them and didn't understand them, and hurriedly asked: "What is the most important thing?" ”

"Meeting! The most important thing is to have a meeting. Ji Qingwen replied, "Gather the weavers first, everyone will meet first, express their attitudes, and talk about familiar faces." Isn't that the truth? ”

"Holding meetings" is really a method that has not been easy for China for thousands of years.

As soon as these two words came out of Ji Qingwen's mouth, Li Yan and Song Yingxing immediately understood, and praised in unison: "That's right, the most important thing is really to have a meeting." ”

"Well, Song Xiaolian is familiar with the situation here, so how about gathering the weavers together and holding a meeting here in the afternoon?" Ji Qingwen glanced at the weaving workshop and saw that the place here was also vast, and more than 700 weavers could barely stand down.

Song Yingxing was puzzled: "I'm afraid this won't work." In the afternoon, the weavers went to work in private weaving workshops...... Of course, it's not impossible for the Weaver Admiral to call them over...... But if they interrupt their work, then they will work in vain today, and maybe they will complain about Lord Ji......"

"Okay, taking someone's money is like hurting someone's parents. I understand that. Ji Qingwen said, "Then tomorrow morning, let the weavers come here for a meeting tomorrow morning, the people are all together, I have important things to explain to them." ”

In this way, Ji Qingwen discussed a few more words with Song Yingxing, and then resigned.

When I returned to the weaving yamen, I saw that the prefect of Suzhou was leading a group of local officials to come to visit.

Ji Qingwen knew that he was now a fifth-grade official, and he was still inferior to the fourth-grade prefect, but the weaving admiral had the status of an emperor more than the prefect, so he could naturally be on an equal footing with the prefect of Suzhou.

The so-called "strong dragon does not suppress the head snake", Ji Qingwen just arrived, and he didn't want to be too big so that he offended the prefect of Suzhou, so accompanied by Li Yan, he had a talk with Kou Shen, the prefect of Suzhou, and had lunch together before sending the parents away.

Because the former weaving admiral Guo Jing was directly reprimanded by Ji Qingwen and did not handle the handover matters, Ji Qingwen did not understand the current situation of the Suzhou weaving yamen.

Fortunately, he took Li Yan, a resourceful son of a family, and Duo Jiugong, an old servant who had been in the mall for a long time, and asked them to start immediately, counting the account books, silver deposits, and inventory brocade of the yamen, and sorting them out until late at night, so that they had some understanding of the current situation of the yamen.