A few days later, the east gate of Gusu City. The people gathered in a circle on the inside and outside of the three floors, pointing to the notices posted on the walls and discussing.

The herald shouted to the people, "The king has decreed that the merchants should be encouraged to reduce the tax burden, and whoever pays three hundred copper coins a year shall be exempted from the grain tax." ”

Before the commander could finish speaking, someone in the crowd shouted, "What is it?!" A person's annual grain is eighty catties, and even if he goes to the market to buy it, it will cost less than three hundred copper coins. What else do you say about reducing the tax burden? ”

"That's it, that's it! Two hundred and eighty are enough! People were babbling.

The herald was obviously accustomed to the complaints of the people, and he didn't bother to raise his eyes, and continued to shout: "The king has an order to encourage all kinds of workers, and all the people and homeless people can go to the Simin Mansion to sign up for work." Whoever works shall be in charge of two meals a day, and shall be paid a hundred copper coins a month. ”

This decree aroused everyone's interest, and everyone talked about it, and people kept asking for details. The herald shouted ignorantly: "If you don't understand, go to the Simin Mansion and ask, don't ask me again." ”

With that, the herald left here and went to the next place to give the order.

At noon, in Simin's Mansion, Gong Hui Ran was drinking tea with He Yu, and He Yu asked, "Brother Gong Hui, are there any people who have come to sign up?" ”

Gong Wanran took a sip of tea unhurriedly, "Three hundred people have been recruited, and the vast majority of them are homeless and poor peasants. ”

"So fast! I can't imagine it. ”

"In the past two years, there have been many displaced people who have entered the country, and these people have no land, no livelihood, and no other way to survive than to work. In addition, there are large numbers of tenant farmers who have no land or only a small amount of poor land, and these people are not enough to make a living from farming. For them, working in the incense factory not only manages the food, but also earns 100 copper coins a month, why not? ”

"Brother Gonghui, there is one thing I don't understand, why paying three hundred copper coins can exempt one person from grain tax?"

Gong Wanran smiled and said, "I really don't understand? ”

"I don't understand."

"Okay, I'll tell you about it."

"Hmm!"

"I checked the price of grain in the previous five years, and on average, the transaction price of 80 catties of grain in the market is almost 300 copper coins."

"Oh, I don't know."

"Of course you don't know, as a rich kid, you naturally don't pay attention to the price of food, but the people are very sensitive to the price of food."

"But this year's price seems to be 280 copper coins, and since the price has dropped, wouldn't it be cost-effective to use another 300 copper coins to offset the grain tax for a year? The people are not stupid, how could they do this? ”

Gong Wanran asked rhetorically: "Then tell me, why are food prices falling?" ”

"This ...... I do not know. ”

"In the past two years, the wind and rain have been smooth, and the harvest has been bumper year after year.

"The grain hurts the peasants?"

"Well, don't look at the bumper harvest, there is more grain, but the price of grain has fallen, and the peasants' lives are even more miserable. If industry and commerce develop in the future, there will be many people who will make money, and they will naturally use the money to buy grain, and then pay for it. Once more people do this, the price of grain will rise and eventually stabilize at around 300 copper coins. In this way, not only will the peasants be better off, but they will also avoid a large fluctuation in food prices. ”

"I see." He Yu nodded thoughtfully.

"By the way, let me ask you, how have you learned how to make snake thorn incense now?"

"Brother Gonghui, don't worry! I'm not good at anything else, but if you want to say something, I'm the best, now I'm familiar with all the production processes and processes, the day before yesterday I took the finished product to Sister Hana, she smelled it and said that this is the best snake thorn fragrance she has ever seen, haha! ”

"That's good."

"Brother Gonghui, I really didn't expect that the government-run industry and commerce you mentioned was an incense factory."

"Didn't I say that before? I'm going to build an incense factory with you. ”

"I thought Brother Gonghui was talking about fun, by the way, how is the incense factory being built now?"

"It was almost finished, and in order to keep the workers up to speed, I urged them to work overtime and pay a lot more. When I went to see it yesterday, the workers were already finishing the work, and then we waited for you and Miss Hana to go and inspect it. ”

"Good! We'll be there in the afternoon! ”

"Wait, there's something I need to ask you for."

"What's the matter? Brother Gonghui just said. ”

Gong Wanran was a little embarrassed, "Hmm...... I received a total of fifty taels of gold from Dazai-sama. ”

As soon as he heard this, He Yu was shocked and angry, "Ah! It's only fifty taels?! Bo Ya will give you such a little capital? What is this money for? Hum! Bo Ya, this big corrupt official! Brother Gonghui, believe it or not, he gave you fifty taels, and maybe he drew five hundred taels from the treasury behind his back! ”

Gong Wanran waved his hand and said in a low voice: "Don't talk about this, be careful that the wall has ears." Fifty taels of gold is just enough to build a factory and purchase tools. But I had to figure out how to buy the raw materials, and before my mother rewarded me with fifty taels of gold, I borrowed fifty taels from Miss Hana, so that I could make up one hundred taels. With this one hundred taels, I purchased six hundred catties of southern snake vines, ten catties of jade thorns, and two hundred catties of other materials in proportion, do you estimate, how long are these materials enough? How much can it produce? ”

He Yu calculated and said, "Hmm...... If it is estimated according to the production capacity of 300 people, these materials will take less than a month, and they should be able to produce 600 catties of finished products in the end. ”

Gong Wanran frowned, "This batch of incense must be sold quickly, now I am worthless, if the capital chain is broken, the incense factory will stop production, and it will be difficult to do it at that time." ”

"Or ...... Why don't you take some from the county governor's office? ”

"No, this matter has not yet taken shape, I don't want to involve more people, and once the county lieutenant gets involved, it is not just a matter of money, so this matter will definitely not cost the county magistrate's mansion a copper."

"Oh......" He Yu nodded as if he didn't understand.

"I'll find a way to buy materials, but I'm shy in my pocket now, and the workers' food money ...... And wages...... I'm afraid I'll have to borrow it from you first, and when I send it out this month, I'll pay you back little by little. ”

"Oh, this still needs to be returned! What Brother Gongwan does is a big thing for the country and the people! It's a great honor for me to be able to help! Brother Gonghui, let's say, how much does it cost? ”

"Now there are 300 people, and the monthly food cost per person is about 100 copper coins, and the salary is also 100 copper coins, so the total food expenses and wages for the first month are six taels of gold."

"Six taels of gold! How are there so many!? I can't imagine that it costs so much money to start a chamber of commerce and industry! But it doesn't matter, Brother Gonghui can rest assured! It's up to me! After saying that, he subconsciously touched the green dragon jade worn on his waist.

Soon, the incense factory officially started, and 300 workers began to produce snake thorn incense after training and organization by Heyu.

Five days later, on the third night of the fourth lunar month, Gong was just about to fall asleep when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. When I opened the courtyard door, I found that He Yu was standing outside the door, he was unkempt, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. Gong Huiran hurriedly pulled Heyu into the house, poured a cup of tea, and asked, "What's wrong?" What's so in a hurry? ”

"Brother Gonghui, the first batch of snake thorn incense has been made!"

"It's not easy, it's hard work."

"For the first batch of incense, I watched the factory every day during this time, and the workers also worked overtime and worked tirelessly. Just now, the first batch of snake thorn incense was finally freshly baked. After inspection, the quality of the finished product is very good. Originally, the workers were happy, and I was happy, but when I calmed down and settled the accounts, I found a very serious problem! ”

"What's the problem?"

"I can't make enough money! In these five days, the incense factory produced a total of 100 catties of snake thorn incense, according to the price of half a tael of gold per catty of snake thorn incense in the Central Plains market, the total price of this batch of snake thorn incense is about 50 taels of gold, converted, the output of a day is ten taels. In that case, the annual output value is only 3,600 taels of gold, and this is not counting the cost! The cost of raw materials and labor adds up to 1,500 taels. ”

Gong Wanran was very calm, "According to your calculations, the profit is more than half, and it is very profitable." ”

"No! Brother Gonghui! Of course, high profits are a good thing, but what should you do with the task of increasing your income by 4,000 taels of gold a year? With the current capacity, it is impossible to do it in any way! ”

Gong Wanran pursed his lips, was silent for a moment, and said, "Hmm...... According to this output, it is indeed impossible to complete the task of four thousand taels. ”

"What can I do then? Huh! That's right! I have a solution! ”

"What's the solution?"

"If the drying time is reduced during the thickening process, the finished product will contain some moisture and the final weight will increase."

"No, if you cut corners, the quality of the finished product will decline, and if the quality is not good, you will not be able to sell it."

"Oh...... So what to do, the task of four thousand taels is too difficult. ”

"Don't worry about it yet, we'll figure it out later. The workers will become more and more skilled, and your management experience will become more and more abundant, and you will be responsible for all the affairs of the incense factory in the future. I'm sure you'll do a great job and you'll be able to increase your output dramatically in the future. ”

"Leave it to me? Brother Gonghui, do you really feel free to hand over the incense factory to me? Can I? ”

Gong Wanran patted Heyu's shoulder heavily, "Brother believes in you." ”

He Yu was extremely excited, and clenched his fists with confidence, "Thank you, brother!" ”

Gong Wanran continued: "Compared with the problem of production, the problem of sales is more to worry about at the moment. ”

"That's right, what can Brother Gonghui do?"

"I don't have a mature idea yet, but I believe that as long as the quality of the incense you make is good enough, you will definitely not worry about selling."

"Hmmm! I will definitely make the best snake thorn incense! ”

"Okay, it's not too early, you haven't had a good rest in the past few days, hurry up and go back and get a good night's sleep."

"Oh, okay, then I'll go back. By the way, Brother Xiao Xun, Brother Ji Zheng and Brother Dongya, do you have any news over there? ”

"I just received the letter today, the day of the letter is three days ago, Xiao Xun said that they have broken through Shu County, Hong County, Beiyang County and Baji County, and are preparing to attack Wanqiu City."

"Is Wanqiu the capital of the Chen Kingdom?"

"Yes, in terms of days, the army should have been in the city by now."

"May they return safely soon."

"Oh, by the way, you take this back." Gong Wanran said, took a small wooden box from the bamboo case behind him, and handed it to Heyu.

He Yu asked curiously, "What is this?" ”

"This is Xiao Xun's birthday gift to Frost, a cluster of Tumulta flowers carved from wood, you can take it to Frost."

He Yu suddenly panicked, and the six gods said: "Oops! I've been staring at the incense factory every day lately, and I've forgotten my sister's birthday! Worst! Worst! I haven't prepared a gift for Frosty yet! What to do? What to do! ”

Gong Wanran smiled and said, "There are still four days, don't worry." ”