The first dish of mutton hot pot was brought to the table by the housekeeper, followed by four plates of meat skewers and two plates of grilled lamb chops were brought to the table, followed by a plate of stir-fried waist and belly, and finally a dish was steamed crab and sea fish, the dishes were all served, and everyone present did not move their chopsticks, but looked at Ma Nan

Ma Nan: Brother, if you want the north to become rich as soon as possible, you have to open the sea, so that Alan County becomes a transit point for maritime trade, the north has rich forest resources, minerals, salt industry, and seafood industry, these foundations, you develop agriculture and animal husbandry well, and the north will definitely become rich in less than five years, and when the situation is turbulent, there is an easy and difficult to attack behind you, and you can retreat

Li Yang was a little confused after listening to Ma Nan's words: I really didn't notice that there is such a natural danger in our north

Li Song: The risk that Brother Ma talked about is Maple Ridge

Li Yang suddenly realized that, yes, this Maple Ridge is indeed a natural danger, it lies at the intersection of the two provinces along the north of Taizhou Mansion in the south and the south of Ningbo Mansion in the north, Maple Ridge is not only steep and surrounded by mountains, covered by dense forests, the road to the peak of Maple Ridge is even more rugged and difficult, it is not suitable for a large-scale attack, when the Maple Village was encircled and suppressed, Shaoxing-Ningbo-Taizhou three prefectures sent troops to attack for a long time, and finally it was by setting fire to the mountain to hit the Maple Village

Li Yang: Thank you, Brother Ma, for your mention

Ma Nan: I brought you a gift this time

Li Yang: Brother Ma, you helped your brother and brought gifts, how can you be conscious

Ma Nan "Alas, our brothers don't talk about this, didn't I give you a papermaking technique last time you came to the south, you didn't lead me to take a brief turn in the north these days, not to mention that you can use a lot of things to make paper, you can be used to make paper like bamboo-bark-hemp-weeds-straw can be used to make paper

Li Yang: Brother Ma went to collect food a while ago, and when I was busy with this time, I started to make paper

Ma Nan: You don't have to worry about this, Brother Li Song and I have been preparing for the past few days

Li Yang looked at Li Song: "The boss and other carpenters need tools to make paper, and they can make paper, and it is estimated that it should be about the same in two or three days."

Ma Nan raised his hand and raised two fingers: Brother, don't forget our previous agreement, 2 yuan a piece, I want 20 million pieces a year, and you will deliver them at any time

Li Yang picked up the wine glass and gave Ma Nan a glass of wine: Brother Ma can not forget it, come brother, I will toast you

Ma Nan: Okay, let's have a drink together

Everyone drank very happily, a word I said, in a blink of an eye, it was going to be dark, then left with a drunken spirit, Li Yang staggered back to the residence with the support of the two family members, he just tried to put a chair on the one, there was something in the stomach surging up, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand and waved his hand, the family Ding brought the basin over, the family quickly brought the basin to him, only to hear the sound of "vomit" and spit out the wine and vegetables together, and the family on the side almost vomited out when he saw it

Seeing this, Song Shiting hurriedly poured a glass of water for Li Yang and asked him to slump, Li Yang rinsed his mouth and leaned back on the chair, muttering in his mouth, "Don't come here and drink, brothers, I will take over a big business" As soon as the words fell, he fell asleep, Heng Yan came to Li Yang's side and pinched his arm fiercely, and Li Yang slept with a screaming that made him not feel pain at all, the two of them covered their mouths and laughed when they saw this, Li Yang just sat on the chair and slept with his head up

It wasn't until he felt a sore pain in his neck and back that he opened his eyes in a daze, I sat on the chair and slept all night, and when I looked back, Song Shiting and Hengyan were lying on the bed and hadn't gotten up, he turned his head and looked outside, and when he saw that it was already dawn, he staggered to the side of the bed, and shook Song Shiting and Hengyan with his hand, "Mrs. is up"

After freshening up and dressing up, the three of them ate breakfast around the table, Li Yang picked up the rice bowl and ate a few bites and felt that he had no appetite, so he put some water in the bowl and finished the meal: Madame, how did I come back yesterday, why didn't I have any impression at all

Heng Yan rolled her eyes: You are still conscious and said, you don't have to drink so much wine, or the family helped you back and you vomited when you came back

When Li Yang heard it, he only felt that his brain was buzzing, "Oops", then I did drink too much yesterday, so did I have any indecent behavior when I came back

Song Shiting: That's no, it's just that you have taken on another big business, by the way, husband, what kind of business have you received?

Li Yang saw that no one was around, and the two ladies were closer: Madame's business was to make 10,000 sets of weapons and armor

Heng Yan: So many weapons and armor cost a lot of money

Li Yang sighed lightly "Hey" It's only 60,000 taels of silver, and I have to discuss this matter with Senior Ouyang in a while, and ask him to help me calculate how much iron is needed to build these weapons and armor, as long as this business doesn't lose money

Song Shiting: Husband, why don't you order more when you take over this business

Li Yang: Madam, you think I don't want to, but people will give me this money

Hengyan: Then don't accept the quilt

Li Yang: Madame's 10,000 sets of weapons and armor are related to the defense of the border pass, as long as we don't lose money, we can also do our part for the country, by the way, Madame, I want to order 10,000 pairs of iron-faced boots with the garment factory How much silver

Song Shiting: Then I have to go with my sister and tell you what the masters are telling

After several expansions, the forging workshop can make 1,000 pounds of iron every day - 500 pounds of steel - 200 forging platforms, with 400 craftsmen, in addition to forging weapons and armor, they will usually make some farm tools to sell to farmers, as long as the government agrees that he can even do these siege equipment such as catapults - crossbows - ladders, in Taizhou in addition to the official arsenal is the largest of his scale

As soon as he came to the forging workshop, Li Yang found Ouyang Xiu: Senior Ouyang, look at how much silver you get for forging 5,000 spears - 5,000 broadswords - 10,000 steel knives - 10,000 sets of armor - 10,000 pairs of wooden round shields

Ouyang Xiu: Forging these weapons requires 80,000 catties of steel, a pair of armor with 50 catties of iron and 10,000 sets of iron requires 500,000 catties of iron - coal has to cost about 200,000 catties, and now the price of steel on the market costs 6 taels of silver per load - 4 taels of silver per quintal of iron, and 500 taels of coal costs 1,000 taels of silver per load, and it costs about 26,000 taels of silver to prepare these materials

Li Yang: How long does it take for Ouyang seniors to forge these weapons and armor

Ouyang Xiu: With our current scale, it will take at least 3 years

Li Yang: It's going to take so long, Senior Ouyang, do you see if there is any way to forge this batch of ordnance within 6 months

The two discussed together all morning and didn't come up with any way, back to the manor, Li Yang was sitting still, walking back and forth in the yard, 6 months was not very long, and it passed in a blink of an eye, can this business make money, let's not say that I can't miss the general's matter, I have to come up with a solution as soon as possible, I have a clear idea, but I can't think of a way, you are not angry

After Li Song and Ma Nan came back, they saw Li Yang walking back and forth in the courtyard with a sad face, needless to say, they knew that he was in trouble again, Ma Nan came to the courtyard unhurriedly: Why is the virtuous brother so sad

Li Yang saw that Li Song and Brother Ma were back, so he invited the two to sit down around the stone table: Brother Ma, I am worried about a business, and the employer wants me to deliver the goods in 6 months, but I have made this batch of goods far beyond 6 months, so I am looking to see if there is any way to deliver the goods on time

Ma Nan laughed when he heard it: It turns out that you are worried about this matter, I thought it was a big difficulty

Li Yang suddenly became interested: Brother Ma, do you have a solution?

Ma Nan: Brother, why don't you hand over the unfinished part to someone else to do, if one person can't do it, then hand it over to two people or more, so that you can drive the goods out, if you can earn the difference from it, it's the best, it doesn't matter if you can't earn it, you can't also earn money for your own share

Li Yang: Brother Ma, this is indeed a solution, but then I should have earned less money

Ma Nan couldn't help but shake his head: Brother profiteering is not long-term, a real businessman will only earn limited profits, you can hand over the part that you can't complete to others to earn a favor, and others will think of you when they have a business that they can't complete, and sometimes business depends on businessmen to help each other

Li Yang felt that what Ma Nan said had a certain amount of truth, if you have money, everyone will earn it together, whoever takes advantage of you will not be good to you, and this will make a lot of friends and reduce your opponents, you really have to live to learn all the time: Brother Ma is really a word to wake up the dreamer, brother, I have been taught

Ma Nan: My father also encountered this kind of thing when he was in business

With a countermeasure, silver has become a major matter to be solved at present, Taizhou Governor Sun Yuanwu played Tai Chi in the courtyard early in the morning, I don't know what happened Today his right eye is a straight strip, don't you tell the old saying This left eye jumps wealth and the right eye jumps disaster, Sun Yuanwu is still muttering in his heart These days, I will pay more attention to my actions, and then a government official came to report: My lord, the head of the Li family in Alan County, wants to ask to see the adult

Sun Yuanwu sighed in his heart, this kid must not be good when he comes to me early in the morning: you go and tell him that I am busy with official business in the past few days and refuse to meet guests

Officer: Your Excellency, the head of the Li family said that if you don't see him, let me tell your Excellency that a friend of yours asked him to bring you a letter

Sun Yuanwu: You take him to the back hall first

"It's an adult"

Li Yang was led to the back hall by the officials, and when he saw that there was no one, he found a seat by himself, and when Lord Sun arrived in the back hall, he stopped at the door and said, "Cough", Li Yang quickly stood up when he saw Lord Sun: The student has seen the prefect

Sun Yuanwu: Did the errands go smoothly everywhere?

Li Yang: It's all going well, by the way, the general asked me to bring you a letter

After speaking, he took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it over respectfully, Sun Yuanwu took the letter and glanced at Li Yang and sat down on the chair on the side, he looked at the content of the letter and asked Taizhou Mansion to give Li Yang 50,000 taels of silver for forging weapons and armor, and transporting 100,000 loads of grain to the border pass, no wonder my right eye has been jumping early in the morning: Do you know the content of this letter

Li Yang shook his head: The student doesn't know

Sun Yuanwu slapped the letter on the table: You and the general regard this mansion as your cash cow, one asks for money and the other wants food, you and Lei Qi simply go and grab it, he asked you to forge weapons and armor and let Taizhou Mansion pay this money

Li Yang: My lord, what should you do about this?

Sun Yuanwu: What should I do if I want silver, this is definitely not there, all the money that this government can give you is 100,000 loads of grain, do you want to do it

The 400,000 quintals of grain confiscated by the government seized the Deyi Chamber of Commerce were half gone, although Lord Sun was reluctant, but he was a person who took care of the overall situation, so he wrote a handwritten letter to let me take it to the official warehouse to get grain, originally he planned to use these grains to settle the salary that the country owed to the Taizhou government over the years, but he didn't expect to kill a thunder horse halfway to disrupt his plan, he threw his sleeves with a gloomy face and walked away

After returning home, Song Shiting and Heng Yan also discussed with the workers and came up with the result, 10,000 pairs of iron-faced cloth boots cost 4,000 taels of silver, and they could be delivered in five months, and the silver and cloth boots needed to buy materials had to be spent plus a piece of exactly 30,000 taels of silver, and they had to control the remaining cost within 30,000 yuan, otherwise the business would lose money

Time is tight, the task is heavy, and the things that can be solved today will not be delayed until tomorrow, Li Yang racked his brains and thought about it all night, and had a general direction, the forging workshop can make 30,000 catties of iron and steel in a month, and 15,000 catties of steel, ensuring that the smelting base is not enough to purchase steel every month, which can save a lot of expenses, and the militia has to pay more money every month to transfer a few battalions to help the forging workshop temporarily, and the brothers can earn more money and learn technology, and they can save a lot of expenses. Seeing the results of a hard night, Li Yang was complacent, and I was really a genius

Just do it, Li Yang came to the forging workshop to tell Ouyang Xiu his thoughts, and Ouyang Xiu also told some of his thoughts, that is, the 400 blacksmiths in the workshop were divided into 400 groups, one blacksmith was responsible for taking two Xiang Yong to teach them some basics, and Xiang Yong was to help the blacksmith get a start or something, and the process of making shields-spears-steel knives was easier than armor

The first month was dedicated to making shields - the second month was dedicated to making spears - the third month was dedicated to making steel knives - the last three months were dedicated to making armor, and after discussing the results, Ouyang Xiu began to work on some matters and preparations for making shields, Li Yang had to sell the 150,000 loads of grain in his hand as soon as possible, so that he could have the silver to buy materials to pay for the wages, and he had to count on Li Song to buy grain

As soon as he got home, Li Yang came to Li Song's residence, and he knocked on the door with his hand, "Knock knock, "Second child, I have something to do with you."

Li Song opened the door and invited me to the house: What's the matter with the boss?

Li Yang: During this time, you will put away the 150,000 quintals of grain in your hand in advance and sell our family's 150,000 quintals of grain first

Li Song looked at me in surprise: Boss, we have so much food there

Li Yang: The 100,000 quintals of grain transported back from the south are 50,000 quintals left in addition to this year's rations, and this is back to Chuzhou and another business is to pay us 100,000 quintals of grain, and these 100,000 quintals of grain are in the official warehouse in Taizhou

Li Song: Boss, at what price should these grains be sold?

Li Yang: The current grain price is so high that we have a certain relationship, this time we will sell the grain at a low price to restore the grain price to the previous price, and we will sell it for 500 yuan per load of grain

Li Song: Boss, then let's just open a rice shop in the city, and the province can turn the grain back and forth, as long as we don't sell salt in the city, no matter how big the officials behind the Zhang family are, they can't control us

Li Song's words reminded me of the long-term plan, I really have to open a shop in the city, Taizhou City is the political center and commercial center of Taizhou after all, and integrating into the business circle of Taizhou can better understand the market situation, and the business may be more extensive.

Li Song: I'll handle the boss, what kind of business are you taking over this time, boss

Li Yang: Build 10,000 sets of weapons and armor, by the way, you often go outside to do business, you may be able to use this

Saying that, Li Yang took out the military merchant token from his arms and handed it to Li Song, he quickly stretched out his hands and took the token carefully: Boss, is this the military merchant's token

Li Yang nodded: The second child has this token, and the caravan can be unimpeded in the pass, and when it comes to the critical time, you are using it, and you usually don't use it to pay taxes

Li Song: Don't worry, boss, I understand that

Two days later, Li Song came to me early in the morning and didn't even bother to eat, he mysteriously pulled me to the backyard and asked me what happened to him, he didn't say just told me that you will know in a while, and when I arrived in the backyard, I saw an iron pot on the stove, and there was a wooden bucket on the iron pot steaming something

Before I could understand what was going on, the housekeeper fished out the steamed things in the wooden barrel and poured the steamed water from the wooden barrel into a square pool, at which time the two housekeepers beat the things they had just fished out with a wooden hammer, and then put them in the pool to wash them vigorously before they were fished out of the water, and the other two housekeepers used bamboo poles to put them back and forth in the pool

At this time, Ma Nan came to the pool with a plug woven of bamboo pieces in his hand, and let Li Song and I go over: You take a good look at this step is the most critical step in papermaking, fishing paper, the plug should be inserted vertically into the water, so that the pulp will be a little more, don't be too fast, and then flatten it, can't get out of the water, can't get too much water, shake it back and forth a few times, and wait for the water to seep out, and wait for it to dry out, and you can make the next piece of paper

Under the guidance of Ma Nan, Alan County successfully made the first batch of paper, although there are only 1,000 sheets, but this Alan County is a good start, Ma Nan also recorded the problems and precautions often encountered in papermaking for our reference, this paper was made Ma Nan is also ready to leave for the south, originally he was going to take the silver through Shaoxing - and then to Hangzhou - and finally from Huzhou back to the south, by the way to see if there is anything to make money to trade

But Li Yang was afraid that he was carrying so much money on the road in case something went wrong, so he said something bad to make Ma Nan dispel this idea, people came thousands of miles to send us food, then we had to let the family go back safely, and finally transferred a warship from the coastal defense battalion to send him back to the south

Before leaving, we came to the shore to see Ma Nan on the boat, and Ma Nan patted me on the shoulder: If your brother encounters any difficulties, you will let people come to the south to find me

Li Yang: Brother Ma, if my brother and I need a lot of food one day, can you help me raise it?

Ma Nan: How much food do you need, brother Xian?

Li Yang: Now I can't say that I just need to prepare in advance

Ma Nan: Then come to me when you need it, and I'll do my best to help you make it up

The warship gradually sailed away from the shore along the waves, everyone stood on the shore and waved goodbye to Ma Nan on the boat, and Ma Nan also kept waving goodbye to us on the boat, and the warship gradually disappeared on the sea, and everyone turned around and left