"Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau?" The three officials were a little unsure. "Is it the one east of Tianxin Bridge?"

As magistrates of Suzhou, of course they knew about the existence of the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau.

Since the Tang and Song dynasties, Suzhou has been the national silk weaving center. In order to meet the needs of the court, since the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court has set up a weaving bureau in Suzhou. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it was changed to the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau. Because of Boss Zhu's strict thrift, the Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau is not only much smaller than the previous dynasty, but also the specifications have been downgraded from the palace to the local supervision.

Therefore, in the eyes of the three officials, the Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau is simply a department under their jurisdiction, how can they borrow grain from the reserve warehouse?

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that my father has given permission to change the Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau to be directly under the jurisdiction of the palace." As he spoke, the King of Chu handed another handwritten oracle to the three people:

"My father ordered this king to temporarily take charge of the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, and during this period, the king will naturally be jointly and severally liable for all the debts incurred by the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau."

After Zhu Zhen finished speaking, he stared at the three of them and asked word by word: "Now, the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau is qualified to borrow grain from you, right?" ”

"Yes, some ......" The three of them wiped their sweat while carefully studying the edict, and finally Li Heng nodded with difficulty: "It's just that Your Highness, you must pay it back in the autumn, otherwise we will die." ”

"Don't worry, this prince will still rely on you to settle the account?" Zhu Zhen patted his chest first and promised, and then said with a displeased face: "This is to use your own food to help your own people, and you have to be vouched for by this king, have you ever seen such a grievance as this king?" ”

"Your Highness is angry, it's really unbreakable...... the three of them hurriedly said carefully: "Actually, even so, we are also responsible." ”

"After all, His Highness didn't use an inch of land as collateral, and the scale of the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau is really small."

"How small?" King Chu asked.

"There are more than a dozen looms in total, and it's not as good as a larger weaver." Fei Zhixian replied softly.

"Don't worry, the scale will soon be bigger, and the weavers of the entire Suzhou City will work for this king!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu is arrogant and arrogant.

~~

No matter what the three officials thought in their hearts, the matter of borrowing grain from the reserve warehouses of one government and two counties was decided by the Royal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, and the King of Chu was the guarantor.

In order to avoid long nights and dreams, the king of Chu immediately ordered Luo Guanzhong to draft a contract and sign it with the three officials on the spot.

Then with Li Heng, the three finalized the detailed rules of the 'Suzhou grain stamp'.

The two sides agreed that the Suzhou grain stamps were issued by the Royal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, and the reserve warehouses of one government and two counties were responsible for exchanging grain with the stamps, but the total amount did not exceed 200,000 stones.

Because of the two counties in one government, a total of 200,000 stone of grain was lent to the Royal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau.

Moreover, the king of Chu promised that if the Royal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau could not return the grain on time, he would be responsible for returning it.

The prince has 50,000 Shilu rice per year, which is the fundamental reason why Li Heng and the others dare to open a warehouse to borrow grain......

When everything was finalized, the three officials felt deeply sorry to His Royal Highness the King of Chu.

"It's obviously our business, but we have to put such a heavy burden on His Highness." Li Heng apologized to the King of Chu and said, "I'm really sorry for Your Highness. ”

"It's okay!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu's round eyes were full of worries about the country and the people: "My father often taught us to dare to take responsibility. Moreover, the king's money is taken from the people, and it is also used for the people. ”

The three of them were deeply moved, and they all felt that they were really dragons giving birth to nine sons, and they were all different. Unlike the murderous and treacherous King of Jin, His Royal Highness the King of Chu is simply a bodhisattva......

~~

When the three people who had sent away a thousand thanks for His Highness turned back, Luo Guanzhong finally couldn't help but complain: "They don't know Your Highness, aren't they qualified to receive the money?" ”

"That's it, this king's face is cleaner." His Royal Highness the King of Chu was not ashamed at all and said: "Otherwise, Mr., the King of Chu will not have to hang up at my uncle's place to eat empty salary." ”

It is different from the royal guards that were formed according to the regular army as soon as they came up, and they were paid every month. It has to wait until the prince opens the palace before the palace officials have a good fortune. Of course, except for Liu Bowen, a prince personally hired by the emperor.

"It's a huge Suzhou city, and there are no less than 100,000 households that rely on the textile industry to eat, how can a mere 200,000 stone grain stamps be enough?" Luo Guanzhong heard the king of Chu say in a shocking voice: "This king wants to print a grain stamp of one million stones!" ”

"......" Luo Guanzhong's mouth was wide open, and he could stuff a duck egg into it.

But he knew that the king of Chu was right......

After coming to Suzhou, Luo Guanzhong was instructed to conduct a thorough survey of the textile industry in Suzhou City.

By questioning the investigation, he came to a conclusion. There are about 2,000 looms in Suzhou City.

Each large and complex loom requires three weavers to operate. Together with the workers who are responsible for drawing the warp and shedding the weft, each loom needs an average of five workers, that is, 10,000 people.

However, the silk weaving industry is a long industrial chain, there is silk reeling in the upstream, and there are several links such as dyeing, jacquard, embroidered satin in the downstream, plus transportation and sales personnel, and the entire industry is conservatively estimated at 50,000 people.

And the average monthly salary of these 50,000 people is 1,500 wen, which is not counting the profits of Orido and other owners.

Grain in Suzhou is relatively expensive, and one stone of rice costs 500 wen. Therefore, 200,000 stone food stamps are only enough for one month.

"And if you want to start production, you have to purchase looms and raw silk, right?" Zhu Zhen settled the account for Mr. Luo on the spot and said: "So don't say 200,000 stones, it's a food stamp of 1 million stone, which will last for three months at most, and you can barely wait for the city fleet to come back." ”

"Well, I'll admit that a million stones is enough." Luo Guanzhong nodded, glared at the sixth child and asked loudly: "But you borrowed a total of 200,000 stone of grain, how can you give it to the people?!" ”

"Hahaha, that's the beauty of food stamps." Zhu Zhen laughed proudly and said: "This king issues a grain stamp of one million stones, as long as he prepares 200,000 stone of grain, it is more than enough!" ”

"Why?" Luo Guanzhong was a little blind.

"Because there is no shortage of food in Suzhou, it's just that the workers have no money and can't afford to buy food." Zhu Zhen tried his best to explain in a way that Mr. Luo could understand:

"And the workers' wages can't just be used to buy food, but also to buy firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. So we only need to survive the first month for the stamps to go into circulation. If you don't believe it, let's see, by that time, the number of citizens who come to redeem food will be sharply reduced, and 200,000 stone will be enough. ”

"That's ......" Lieutenant General Luo Guan was suspicious, and asked again: "But Your Highness, in this way, is it a breach of contract?" ”

"Hahaha. The contract document is here, you can see clearly, it only stipulates that Suzhou Prefecture accepts 200,000 stone of rice in two counties, but it does not stipulate how much this king will issue. Zhu Zhen smiled slyly, and comforted the uneasy Teacher Luo and said:

"Don't worry, can this king still pit the common people? I won't let them suffer - when the city fleet returns, I'll collect all the food stamps! ”

(End of chapter)