"It seems that there is only other way to compensate." Zhao Kuo said that in any case, the salt and iron monopoly is necessary, and only in this way can Zhao have enough money to support the construction of the army. "How many businessmen have donated supplies?"

"Most of them have been donated." Zhao Mu said.

Zhao Kuo thought for a while and said, "We will wholesale the salt to them at a price of eighty yuan per stone, and they will sell it in the territory of Zhao State. I don't care how many hands they have to deal with, and the price that ends up selling to the common people must not exceed a hundred dollars per stone. In addition, it is strictly forbidden to mix soil or sand with table salt. Once the violation is found, its business qualification will be cancelled and the house will be searched. ”

Once the government suppressed the price of salt, profiteers would infiltrate sand into the salt and sell it to the people in order to obtain the same profit, and the people had no choice but to continue to buy their salt.

The merchant gave some taels of silver to the officials who were on patrol, and the officials would not say anything when they saw it. In addition, the price of salt in the market has indeed dropped, and his task has been completed, and he can't make trouble for some untouchables, just go back and accept the emperor's reward.

In the end, the government did suppress the price of salt, and the price of salt did come down, but it was the ordinary people who suffered.

How could the emperor, who sat in the palace all day long, know the filthiness in it, and thought that he had done a good deed, but he didn't know that he was a man who carried the blame, and the people of the world were cursing him for not dying well.

"In this way, although the interests of salt merchants will suffer some losses, it is not unacceptable." Zhao Mu nodded.

Compared with Shang Ying's methods, Zhao Kuo's methods are already very gentle, and now Zhao Guo has low-cost salt, even if the merchant does not agree, there is no way. Zhao Guo was able to give them a way to live, and gave them some benefits, which was already very kind.

"Don't worry, they won't have an opinion, this king only restricts the price in Zhao Kingdom, but does not limit the price of salt in other countries. In other countries, even if they sell for a thousand dollars, the king of each stone will not care. Zhao Kuo said with a smile.

Although the profits in Zhao State are not much, they are enough for small and medium-sized merchants to eat. Ambitious businessmen will inevitably go on to explore other markets.

The price Zhao Kuo gave them was lower than the price they had received from salt merchants in other countries, and the quality of the salt was good enough for them to open up other markets, and when the time came, they would make more money than they did now.

"It's still the eldest brother who thinks it through." Zhao Mu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said with great admiration.

Zhao Kuo smiled and did not speak.

"What is the big brother going to do with the right to operate the cast iron?" Zhao Mu asked.

The salt merchants of Zhao are generally not large, and they are relatively easy to handle.

However, the scale of the iron merchants is very large, whether it is weapons or farm tools, iron is needed, Guo Zong and Zhuo Jia two giant merchants occupy half of Zhao Guoye's iron industry, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as rich and rival the country.

It has a lot of influence both among the people and among the nobility, and if it is not handled properly, it is likely to cause turmoil in the Zhao State.

"Cast iron, like table salt, must be recovered and monopolized by the state." Zhao Kuo said firmly.

The private use of iron smelting not only harms the interests of the state, but also has a very bad impact on public order, and many people in the six countries of the Kwantung region can find big knives or spears under their beds in their homes, and they will do whatever they want, injuring people with weapons, and fighting privately has become a common practice.

This can only be reduced by the state-owned ownership of cast iron.

Moreover, the monopoly of salt and iron also has great benefits for the people, allowing the people to eat cheap salt and use better and cheaper agricultural tools.

Of course, all this is based on the political clarity of the government.

Once the government begins to corrupt, the impact on the people will increase tenfold and hundredfold, far more terrible than the greed of merchants.

However, these are things for the future, at least for the time being, for Zhao Guo, the advantages of the salt and iron franchise outweigh the disadvantages.

"Like salt, the state will make agricultural tools and wholesale them to them, set the maximum price, and they will be responsible for selling them, but they are only allowed to sell agricultural tools, not weapons."

"In addition, they can also switch to other industries, such as coal, paper, etc., and the government can support them." Zhao Kuo said.

Coal was used very early in ancient China, in addition to lighting and heating, and was also used to smelt iron, but due to the difficulty of mining and transportation, the scale was not large, and it was not until the Song Dynasty that it was popularized into the homes of ordinary people.

Zhao's Shangdang, Taiyuan, and Yanmen all have a large amount of coal, and many of them are open-pit coal mines.

Zhao Kuo had arranged for people to mine it a few months ago, and now it has been transported to the workshops in Handan and Wuyang.

In winter, it will be sold to ordinary Qianshou to warm up and help the civilians of Zhao State survive the cold winter.

The benefits of this monopoly industry are amazing, although Zhao Guo can eat them all, but there is no need, and if you want to sell it to other countries, you still have to rely on businessmen. As long as the merchants are obedient, Zhao Kuo doesn't mind giving them a little soup to drink when they eat meat.

Whether it is a commoner, a merchant, or a nobleman, they are all the people of Zhao after all.

"Big Brother Paper is also ready to sell?" Zhao Mu said in surprise.

This is a strategic material, and other countries will inevitably print books quickly when they get paper. As for printing, don't think about keeping this thing secret, a discerning person will know what's going on as soon as he looks at Zhao Guo's books.

"Of course, it's just a limited sale." Zhao Kuo said.

Everyone knows that if Zhao Guo does not sell a single piece of paper, he will become the one lost by everyone in the world and will be jointly suppressed by various countries.

Of course, Zhao can also give Han Wei and Chu some benefits to unite the three kingdoms against Qin Qiyan.

But there is no need, it is better to use it to make money than this.

Those who can afford to use paper these years are the nobles of the nobility, presumably after they use paper, they never want to return to the life of using bamboo slips.

Zhao Kuo is not willing to squeeze their wallets dry.

Zhao Kuo prepares every 100 sheets of paper for one copy, and sells 100 copies every month, that is, 10,000 sheets.

This was enough for them to transcribe the treasured classics, but it was impossible to print many copies like Zhao Guo.

In addition to paper, Zhao Guo was also refining and optimizing inkstones, brushes, and ink, which were divided into three, six, nine, and so on, and sold to people of different classes.

Don't underestimate the comparison between the nobles and the money spent on studying, even if they are asked to sell their fertile land, they are willing.

And rich aristocrats have some little habits to some extent, such as some people like to collect.

Zhao Kuo specially prepared a big gift for this kind of person, he ordered people to make different brushes according to the hair of different animals such as sheep, rabbits, wolves, foxes, etc., and similarly, the pen barrel was also classified according to bamboo, wood, brass, bronze, etc., and then engraved with different patterns, inlaid with gold or jade.

The inkstone and ink are the same, dozens of categories must be created, each category must have a resounding name, and then a special label for the royal family and the Son of Heaven, sell it to those nobles, and you can harvest a sum.

Zhao Mu was dumbfounded when he heard this, can business still play like this? He suddenly felt that compared with himself, Zhao Kuo was a real businessman.