Everyone complimented one after another, and Guo Erbo laughed and said: "Boss Bai, this Maritime Bureau, when I hear it, it is the yamen of the imperial court, and it is also an official, how can it be called a foreman?" ”

Boss Bai listened comfortably to this, smiled from ear to ear, and said: "It's useless, in Daxing, the national status is the most noble, like me, who can't afford to pay money to be promoted to the national, only if I make great contributions, but you say, I'm a recruit, where can I go to make meritorious service?" Hey......"

The novelty that everyone listened to, the first time they heard that there were people who paid money to promote the people, came to Daxing, and really refreshed their world view.

Guo Erzhu asked curiously: "Boss Bai, it's okay to pay the money, how much do you have to pay?" ”

Boss Bai laughed and said: "Don't think about it, it is impossible to work like you for a lifetime, and now you have to get 12,000 taels of silver!" ”

When everyone heard this astronomical mathematics, they were stunned, even if they successfully entered the shipyard, one or two a month, only eighteen taels a year, and one thousand eight hundred taels in a hundred years, and they would have to work for hundreds of years without eating or drinking, and they would not become monsters.

Guo Erzhu said with a smile: "Forget it, don't think about paying the money, it's more realistic to want to make meritorious contributions, Boss Bai, if you recruit more than 20 people back in one breath this time, is it considered meritorious service?" ”

Boss Bai squirted: "Fart, what kind of credit can this be, it's not that the shipyard can't recruit people, the fishermen who are rushing to do it have been rowed from Weihai to Laiyang, if I hadn't heard that you had been a craftsman before, I would have been too lazy to bring you over!" ”

Guo Erzhu immediately attracted the ridicule of several people in the car, but he did not feel embarrassed at all, and continued: "Boss Bai, do you have a musket workshop in Daxing, we are all familiar hands, we have been learning for two or three months, you can bring it over and make muskets for Daxing, so you can count it as a credit, I Guo Erzhu don't believe it, Daxing craftsmen who can make muskets can also be lined up from Laiyang to Weihai!" ”

These words resonated with everyone, and everyone thought to themselves, just by going to the shipyard to work, they could earn one or two halves a month, and if they made the musket they were good at, wouldn't it be that their income would increase, so they echoed in unison, and they all looked at Boss Bai eagerly.

Boss Bai was stunned for a moment and said, "There is no musket workshop in Daxing!" ”

Everyone was immediately disappointed, and many sighed.

But Guo Dazhuang didn't think so, and said: "Boss Bai, I see that Daxing even has a grocery store, why don't you apply to the above to open a musket workshop?" The profit of making muskets is much higher than that of grocery stores, otherwise the Fan family would not have come so far to Laiyang to open a musket workshop, if this thing is done, will you be considered a great achievement? ”

Boss Bai was instantly moved, and when he thought of the excitement, his hands trembled slightly, and he asked, "If I can successfully apply, can you be sure to make a musket?" ”

Guo Dazhuang patted his chest and said loudly: "Wrap it on our brothers, in the Fan family's musket workshop, several of us are the best and fastest in making muskets. ”

Boss Bai gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, when you get to the dock, I'll arrange for you to stay first, Chen Er's shopkeeper of Daxing Business is at the dock, I'll go to her when I arrive!" ”

When everyone heard that Boss Bai actually agreed, they were all gearing up and eager to try.

When I arrived at the wharf, it was extremely busy, tens of thousands of people were building the city, and some of it had been repaired, and not far from the wharf, there was a large shipyard, there were already three sea ships under construction at the same time, and more than 2,000 craftsmen were busy in various ways.

There was also a team of twenty soldiers standing guard at the gate of the shipyard, and when they saw Boss Bai leading people in, they let them in without asking.

On the left was a row of neatly repaired yards, all of which were occupied by the shipwrights, and Boss Bai found an empty one and brought everyone in.

When I opened the door, everything inside was new, although it was not too big, and it was enough for twenty or so people.

"This is a chase shop, you live here temporarily, and a guy will come to bring you food in a while, everyone will rest first."

On the west side of the wharf, in the center of the entire complex, there is a largest courtyard, with a heavily armed sailor standing guard at the door, and a golden plaque with the words "Maritime Administration" written on it.

Boss Bai hurriedly walked to the door, took out his waist card, and then hurried inside.

In the living room of the Maritime Safety Bureau, Zhao Yuan was sitting in front of the desk, and Aunt Chen in front of her looked a little excited.

"Senator Zhao, give me five shops first, don't be so rigid, you don't need to wait for King Xing to come back to make a decision for such a trivial matter, I'll run the store first, and then tell him when King Xing comes back."

Daxing's civil official system seems a little chaotic, Yang Xin only said that he asked Zhao Yuan to form a maritime bureau, and assigned him a lot of tasks, as for what the maritime bureau is, he only asked Bai Youcai to watch it, so Bai Youcai had to give him a position as a political envoy to Denglaib.

At this time, Zhao Yuan looked a little aggrieved, before Yang Xin gave himself the order that the city was empty after it was built, and wait for Yang Xin to arrange it, but Aunt Chen was an anxious child, seeing that there were so many Gu workers near the wharf, and the monthly salary was not low, so she naturally thought about opening some shops with daily necessities that had been built first, and the business would be very good.

"King Kexing's ......"

Zhao Yuan frowned, he had already said this several times.

"You don't have to worry about King Xing, I have followed King Xing since I started selling grain in the capital, I know him too well, he will not refuse any idea of making money, it's a big deal to wait for him to come back in case he doesn't agree, I will withdraw the shop again!"

Aunt Chen was so anxious that she even said that she had withdrawn from the shop.

Zhao Yuan had to agree, and said: "Okay, then that's it, but you have to write me an explanation, it was your Daxing firm that took these five shops, what was the purpose of it, and I will file it in case King Xing blames it, and I also have a certificate." ”

Aunt Chen almost ran away and said, "You literati just have a lot of things, okay, wait for me to come back!" ”

She couldn't write, so naturally she couldn't write to Zhao Yuan on the spot, so she had to go back to find the daughter of the Wang family, who is now her fifth brother and daughter-in-law, for help.

So she hurriedly walked back to her temporary office room in the Maritime Safety Bureau, in order to deal with Weihaiwei's business name, she specifically asked Zhao Yuan for an office room in the Maritime Safety Bureau, because everything here is in charge of the Maritime Safety Bureau, and it is a waste of time to run back and forth.

As soon as he returned to the room, he couldn't wait to shout inside: "Xiulan, hurry up, write me something, explain that our Daxing firm has taken away the five shops in Weihaiwei New Town, and go back to make a seal, I have an urgent need!" ”

Xiulan knew that she was in a hurry, so she hurriedly found a pen and paper, and said, "Sister-in-law, Bai Youguang, the recruitment officer of the shipyard, is looking for you, there is something urgent!" ”

Aunt Chen was picking up a pot of tea on the table at this time, poured herself a cup, drank it in one gulp, and turned her head to see Bai Youguang looking at her with a smile on his face.

After drinking the tea, Aunt Chen hurriedly waved her hand and said, "I'm busy now, I'll talk about what you have later!" ”

Bai Youguang hurriedly said: "Chen Er's shopkeeper, the small one is looking for you, there is a big business to discuss!" ”

When Aunt Chen heard this, she immediately became interested, and hurriedly asked: "The business of your shipyard is not under the control of my Daxing firm, what kind of big business do you have to find Senator Zhao!" ”

Bai Youguang's eyes rolled, and he smiled: "This Zhao Senator, being an official is a good hand, when it comes to doing business, where can it be compared to our Chen Er's shopkeeper, this small business is more profitable than all the businesses in Chen Er's hands combined!" ”

Bai Youguang is the brother of Bai Youcai's clan, after Bai Youcai developed in Daxing, naturally many clansmen came to take refuge, this Bai Youguang is one of them, they are naturally closer to the bare-ass people in the Daxing court.

When Aunt Chen heard this, her eyes immediately lit up, and she said, "Don't brag, come and listen!" ”

Bai Youguang whispered, "The little one hired workers in Weihaiwei today, and guess what, he actually hired a group of more than twenty people, all of whom are experts in building muskets!"

Xiao pondered, the main weapon equipped by my Daxing army is the musket, before the king of Xing spent a lot of money smuggled from all over the south of the Yangtze River, the price was ridiculously expensive, how much more than a million taels of silver spent?

Now that the Fan family has been invited to come and make it, although the price is cheaper, it is also sky-high, if Mrs. Chen organizes this group of craftsmen and builds her own musket workshop, the profit, hehe......"

When Aunt Chen heard the joy, she didn't think about it, and said, "Okay! I've done this business, take me to the craftsmen! ”

As he spoke, he pulled his white and shiny sleeves and walked out.

Wang Xiulan was anxious, and hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law, what should you do after you finish writing this document?" ”

At this time, Aunt Chen had already walked to the door, turned around and said, "You take it to Senator Zhao, and by the way, go and ask for the deed of the five shops!" ”

Bai Youguang led Mrs. Chen to the shipyard, and when she saw Mrs. Chen's excited appearance, she couldn't help but say: "Shopkeeper, there is still a difficulty in this matter, these people all ran out of the Fan family's musket workshop in Laiyang, will we offend the Fan family by doing this?" ”

He thought about this question for a long time, although he had some scruples, but the identity of the Daxing people was too fragrant, and he couldn't take care of it when he thought about making meritorious contributions.

At this time, seeing that Aunt Chen's satisfied attitude was far beyond her expectations, she naturally just threw the problem to this veteran citizen to deal with.

Aunt Chen ignored it and said, "Fan family? This is Daxing, is it possible that his Fan family is allowed to make muskets, and I am not allowed to make muskets in Daxing? It's against him! ”

Mrs. Chen took three steps and made two steps, walking like running, and entered the shipyard with a gust of wind, and when she opened the courtyard door and entered, the man was cooking for Guo Dazhuang and others.

Tonight's food, porridge, white flour steamed buns can be taken as you like, enough for one person, and a small bowl of braised pork, plus a stack of pickled cabbage.

Ordinary landlords can't catch up with this food.

The people in Guojiazhuang all swallowed saliva when they saw it, and they received a feast on the rice, and the food was called a fragrant.

Seeing Bai Youguang and the two coming in, everyone smiled and signaled.

Bai Youguang walked up to Guo Dazhuang and said, "Brother Guo, this second shopkeeper of Daxing Business has come to see you in person!" ”

Guo Dazhuang was holding a steamed bun and stuffing it into his mouth, he was startled when he heard it, and quickly knelt down, looking a little funny, and the steamed bun was still stuffed in his mouth.

The crowd fell to their knees.

Aunt Chen looked at the ragged person in front of her, as if she saw herself back then, so she hurriedly stretched out her hand to help Guo Dazhuang up, and said: "Get up, take the meal and come over to sit and eat, and talk while eating!" ”

As he spoke, he led Guo Dazhuang to sit down at the temporary table in the courtyard, with a smile on his face, and said: "This Fan family is too picky, how can you still be poor like this by working for them, and my sister-in-law will send someone to send two sets of new clothes, shoes and socks to each of you, work hard here, and the future is limitless!" ”

The people of Guojiazhuang were overjoyed and cheered, Guo Dazhuang's excited tears almost fell, and said: "The shopkeeper is so loving, we will repay him with an oath!" ”

And Bai Youguang estimated that Aunt Chen didn't come to eat, so he ran to the guy and got the food for the two of them.

Aunt Chen was with everyone, holding a steamed bun and gnawing and said: "The rules of our Daxing, the superiors and subordinates eat together, even if it is the king of Xing, when he was in the capital, he ate the same meal as our subordinates, everyone doesn't have to be restrained, we are all poor, we have lived like this before, and when we come to Daxing in the future, we will no longer be poor!" ”

Everyone burst into laughter, and Aunt Chen was very familiar with dealing with these homeless people, and in a few words, she became one with everyone.

After understanding the specific situation of these people, he immediately said: "Okay, I now announce the establishment of the Daxing Musket Workshop, Guo Dazhuang is the shopkeeper, the monthly salary is ten taels, and the rest of the people are paid three taels a month, tomorrow I will go to find a place, first build the workshop, and then slowly recruit people to expand!" ”

Everyone suddenly thundered with joy, they didn't expect the treatment to be so high, far beyond their imagination, in fact, Yang Xin stipulated that the first-level treatment of the shopkeeper was higher than this, usually around thirty taels, and even fifty taels for good work.

It was Aunt Chen who saw that these people were poor, and she tried her best to lower her monthly salary, if it was a second-class national, it would not be more than this treatment, it was the same in any court, and there was a situation where things were easy to do, ancient and modern.

But Guo Dazhuang and others are different, there is a feeling that a pheasant has become a phoenix, but there is not even a monthly salary in the Fan family.

It is said that Aunt Chen is doing a good job here, and the Fan family will not have a good time.

After Guo Dazhuang and the others escaped, they didn't come to work the next day, and the family members of the workshop manager went to the courtyard where they lived to see that the people had already run out, and the guards were all tied up in the lobby.

Hurriedly untied a few people, asked about the situation, and hurriedly went back to report.

Yuliu Lane, Fan Mansion, this is a luxurious mansion, Fan Yuxuan was sitting in the hall at this time, listening to the report of a fat old man standing in front of him with a sad face.

The old man's slender eyes said lightly: "Second Miss, now the regent has ordered to reduce the output of our Fan family's musket workshop, and only need to provide three hundred muskets this month, but our workshop in the capital can currently produce six hundred a month, which is reduced by half. ”

Fan Yuxuan suddenly had a headache and said, "Have you found out, who are the people who oppose our Fan family's production of muskets in front of the regent?" ”

The old man's face was full of bitter melons, and he said: "It's not a question of who it is, now all the Manchu princes are unanimously opposed, they say that the current musket is enough, and the Qing Dynasty is now empty in the treasury, and too much silver cannot be wasted on muskets." ”

Fan Yuxuan was stunned in surprise, and it took a long time to come back to her senses, and said: "Our Fan family hasn't offended them either, and there are a lot of filial piety that should be given in normal times, what do they want to do?" ”

The old man was also full of doubts, and said: "The old man said, we have been low-key recently, and it is best not to make too much movement here in Laiyang, and I don't know how long this half of the output can last, if it does not improve after a while, I will simply take the initiative to stop the supply of muskets to the Qing Dynasty, so as not to make it difficult for the regent to be caught in the middle." ”

Fan Yuxuan stood up and said, "No! How much less money do we have to make! ”

She was 10,000 unconvinced, Yang Xin is now making money faster and faster, and she has encountered difficulties, because the Manchu Qing Dynasty has entered the customs, the profits of grain, salt, iron, and tea that were supplied to the Qing Dynasty have dropped sharply, and the outrageous profits that relied on smuggling before are outrageous, but now it is completely different.

At present, the musket has become an important source of profit for the Fan family, accounting for more than half of the Fan family's income, although the supply of muskets to Daqing is not as profitable as the supply of Daxing, it can also earn about 200,000 taels a year.

The Fan family had a hard time during this time, if this year's income hadn't been made by making a big windfall by flipping houses with Yang Xin, and doing a musket business with Yang Xin, I am afraid that it would not be able to reach forty percent of previous years, and the gap is so big, how can Fan Yuxuan not be worried.

The old man sighed and said: "Hey, the second young lady must not be rash, if she offends the powerful people of the Manchu Dynasty in order to make money, then you will not taste loss." ”

Fan Yuxuan really couldn't figure it out, obviously the musket strengthened the army of the Qing Dynasty, and the last time he was able to defeat Li Zicheng in Wuguan, the musketeers played a decisive role, who knew that the good times would not last long, and the magnates of the Manchu Dynasty came to oppose the muskets.

Fan Yuxuan sat down dejectedly, her face extremely ugly.

At this moment, a housekeeper hurriedly walked in, walked up to Fan Yuxuan, and said anxiously: "Oh no, Second Miss, the workshop ran twenty-six craftsmen last night. ”

Fan Yuxuan was in a bad mood, and when she heard the bad news, she immediately exploded and scolded: "What do the guards do to eat?" ”

The housekeeper broke out in a cold sweat and said, "The two housekeepers, the husband and the grandmother who cooked, were all tied up by them, and there were many of them, so they couldn't do it." ”

Fan Yuxuan slapped the table and said, "What a bold thief, have you reported to the official?" ”

The housekeeper's face was embarrassed, and he said, "Second Miss, this is Daxing, and the people in the government are not familiar with each other, so you have to be old and old." ”

Fan Yuxuan was in a bad mood, and just took advantage of the topic to play, so she stood up and said, "Come with me and go to the prefect's yamen!" ”

The housekeeper hurriedly took a few housekeepers, and the group went in a hurry.

When they arrived at the yamen, the officials guarding the door didn't know Fan Yuxuan, so they stopped them.

"What for?"

The leading head catcher seemed to be aggressive, and he didn't dare to go too far, so he asked tentatively.

Fan Yuxuan said coldly: "This girl wants to see your prefect Ou Keli, hurry up and spread the word, just say that Fan Yuxuan is here!" ”

The head catcher didn't dare to slack off, the official knew the wind and the rudder the most, and when he saw someone calling the name of the prefect, where did he dare to offend, it must be someone with a great background, and he hurriedly ran to report it.