After getting the Shang Fang Sword given by Han Wen, Su Hao reported on other aspects, and then got up to say goodbye and went back to the workshop. Watching Su Hao leave the lobby, Han Wen asked Meng Jin, "Mr. Fang, what do you think of what Su Hao said?" ”

Fang Mengjin pondered for a while and said: "Su Hao is a person with extraordinary knowledge, and what is especially rare is that he is neither humble nor arrogant. I heard the officials come back and say that he acted in the country as if he were a young man who was not weak. As far as I can guess, this son must have had an astonishing fortune before, but he did not want to make a statement, so he pretended to be taught by a Franco-machine missionary who could not be verified.

So far, there is nothing wrong with what this son has done, and my opinion is that he will do what he wants, and we will be tight inside and loose outside, and wait and see what happens. ”

Han Wen said: "I have also heard Qian'er talk about Su Hao's ability, and it is indeed very good. Today, I heard him talk about the idea of building a reservoir, but it aroused the county's competitive spirit. My generation read the book of sages, and always remembered the teachings of the sages on self-cultivation and self-cultivation to rule the country and level the world, and to leave a name in history. If the reservoir that Su Hao said can be repaired and I will never be flooded in Fengcheng, then a hundred years later, the history books will always record my achievements when Han was in office. ”

Most people believe that in the late Ming Dynasty, the government and the opposition were clustered, the officials were not greedy, and the dynasty collapsed. But in fact, this is just one direction of things, or it is too much to make an era too face-painted.

As long as there is a crowd in the world, there is a left, middle and right. Even those people in the officialdom of the late Ming Dynasty are not the same. Zhang Juzheng, who strongly advocated reform, Qi Jiguang, who bravely resisted the Japanese, and Hai Rui, who despised the powerful, all wanted to do some good deeds that would go down in history. Even if the later generations are quite despised, the official Qingliu, who is very arrogant above the court, in addition to wanting to deceive the court staff, may not have a public heart to speak up for the common people in the world.

Specific to local officials like Han Wen, it is inevitable to be an official for thousands of miles and make some money, but in addition, they are also conscientious about what they are responsible for. How many officials who were born as scholars don't care about their names before and after their deaths?

Li Bing's father and son repaired the capital of Jiangyan, creating a country of abundance with thousands of acres of fertile land, 2000 years have passed, who mentioned Li Bing's name is not respectful? Han Wen also has this kind of thought, hoping that after a hundred or thousand years, others will be able to praise his Korean name like Li Bing.

Fang Mengjin understood Han Wen's thoughts, he nodded, and said: "Indeed, if the reservoir mentioned by Su Hao is completed, then the 100,000 people of Fengcheng will benefit, which is indeed a great thing for the benefit of the country and the people." However, the old man has some worries, I don't know how much food it will cost to build this reservoir, how many people will need to be sent, with the financial resources of my Fengcheng, can I afford it? ”

"This has to be considered in the long run." Han Wen said, "In terms of people's strength, you can arrange for all townships and villages to be transferred, which is a good thing for everyone, and everyone should contribute some labor." As for the money and food, after Su Hao calculates a number, we will report to the two courts and ask for allocation. Every time Fengcheng is flooded, the relief money and food allocated by the Political Secretary and the Nanchang Government are also a large number, if the flood problem can be solved once and for all, what does it matter if they are asked to allocate more money at one time? ”

In the Ming Dynasty, there was no capital construction cost in the county-level finance, and if the county needed to build any project, it was necessary to report to the Inspectorate, the Governor's Procuratorate, and the government office, and then get funds from the government to build it after obtaining express approval. The construction of the reservoir is a large-scale project, and Han Wen believes that as long as the plan is right, the two houses and the government should support it.

"Well, I'll discuss this matter with Su Hao a few more times, and I have to calculate a reasonable number." Fang Mengjin said.

Han Wen and Fang Mengjin were formulating major policies in the lobby, but Su Hao was selling his own small abacus in the workshop at this time. Dai Qi, the scrivener of the workshop, led the officials to sit around Su Hao, and when he looked at Su Hao, his eyes flashed with golden brilliance.

In the month that Su Hao went to the countryside, Dai Qi was not idle, he and Wu Da quickly set up the "Fengcheng County Promotion of Han's Stove Work Leading Group", of course, the actual name will not be called like this, and there is no need to check the evidence.

Dai Qi first got an instruction from Hanwen, and then issued a notice to all villages in the county in the name of the county government, saying that in order to improve the lives of the people, the county government has now organized experts at home and abroad to develop a new type of stove with more than 50% of the firewood in the province, which is called "Han's stove". The construction of Han's stove is exclusively undertaken by the county government workshop, and the cost is more than 30% lower than the market price.

In terms of the quotation for building stoves, Dai Qi also gave full play to the talent of a senior Jianghu oilman, and he launched several different configurations of high, medium and low. The highest luxury stove is 5 yuan silver each, and the lowest economy stove is 1 silver each, and there are some different grades of stove accessories with different prices.

The policy came out, but the people's response was mediocre, except for Su Hao's hometown Longkou Village and several surrounding villages, most of the rural farmers did not see the real thing, and did not believe that there would be such a magical stove. Not surprised by this, Dai Qi summoned the village chiefs and ordered them to renovate the Han's stove in their homes as a model for the villagers.

The chiefs of each village are people who are relatively close to the government, and they are generally landlords and rich peasants in the village, and their families are relatively well-off. For the sake of a few dollars of silver, they naturally would not offend the government, so the first users of Han's stove were produced.

The first batch of Han's stoves settled in the villages, and curious farmers went to observe and test, and after witnessing the firewood saving effect of Han's stove and the advantages of firepower and less smoke and dust, everyone was attracted. The peasants were the most astute of the class, and they were keenly aware that spending a penny or two to build such a stove would save enough straw each year to compensate for the investment in building it.

It is common knowledge that returning straw and manure to the field is conducive to increasing grain production. Building a Han's stove, the family can save thousands of catties of straw every year, whether it is used for manure, or to the town to sell, the economic benefits are very considerable. Why not make such an investment?

For a time, the name of Han's stove swept the county, and residents in urban and rural areas lined up in a long line outside the house of the chief and the head of the fang, waiting to register for the construction of Han's stove. Dai Qi had already explained in advance that the workshop did not accept applications directly, and all applications were accepted by the chief and the head of the workshop, and as for how much the chief and the head of the workshop charged from it, it was not enough for outsiders.

In just a few days, the workshop counted the requirements of tens of thousands of residents to build stoves, with a total cost of more than 2,000 taels of silver, and the deposit received alone has reached 600 taels. Ordinary farmers who make a stove, if they are not particularly nervous at hand, generally do not choose the cheapest one, but tend to choose a medium-priced stove, so that the future will not be too cold in front of relatives and friends. As for those middle-class families, they will naturally choose mid-to-high-end styles, and if they have an extra one or two dollars of silver, they want a beautiful scenery.

Dai Qi recruited a group of masons and opened the "Han's Stove Technology Training Course", where Wu Da taught everyone the essentials of building this kind of provincial firewood stove. Dai Qi specially invited Fang Mengjin to give a speech to the training class, which was not so much a mobilization report as a solemn warning to the masons. Fang Mengjin told everyone that all the intellectual property rights of Han's stove belong to the county government, and any behavior of privately making Han's stove without registration with the county government will be severely punished.

In the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen were at the bottom of society, and their status was inferior to that of ordinary peasants. Fang Mengjin's murderous warning made the craftsmen silent, even if they crossed the thunder pool by half a step.

Su Hao's original idea was to pay craftsmen 50 wen per stove, but this idea was too merciful. A craftsman can build at least five or six stoves a day, and at the price set by Su Hao, they will be able to get a daily wage of 200 to 300 yuan. In fact, at that time, the daily wage of craftsmen was only about 50 yuan. Dai Qi was very clear about this, so naturally he would not follow Su Hao's arrangement.

Dai Qi compressed the wages for craftsmen to a differential price of 15 wen for ordinary stoves, 20 wen for mid-range stoves, and 25 wen for high-end stoves. In this way, if a craftsman can build 6 stoves a day, he can earn at least 90 yuan, which is a very good income. The most rare thing is that such an income is very stable, at least for half a year, so the craftsmen don't want to make trouble out of the way.

After Dai Qi received the money, he first sent 100 taels to Fang Mengjin, and asked Fang Mengjin to transfer it to Hanwen. This money is also famous, and Dai Qi made a mold of the three characters "Han's stove" in Hangul's handwriting and printed it on each newly built stove. The 100 taels of silver is the usage fee of Han Wen Mobao, which is extracted according to the number of stoves built, and with the increase in the number of Han's stoves, this money will continue to be added in the future.

Han Wen saw that the promotion of Han's stove could make him both famous and profitable, so he was naturally happy, and when Dai Qi asked for instructions on how to distribute the other expenses, he waved his hand and ordered Dai Qi to discuss it with Su Hao.

After handing over the commission to Han Wen, Dai Qi sealed all the other money, except for the cost of buying necessary tools and materials, the rest did not touch a penny, and waited for Su Hao to come back and distribute it. He knew that it was more appropriate to let the leader do this kind of money-sharing thing, and he now really regarded Su Hao as his top boss.

In this way, the first thing Su Hao did after returning to the workshop was to receive more than 500 taels of silver from Dai Qi. After he counted it a little, he asked Dai Qi to notify all the workshop officials to come to the dormitory for a meeting, and the theme was two words:

Divide the money!