Chapter 330: The Governor asked me to bring you a message.
Compared with the anxiety of the officials of the Ministry of War, Li Guozhang's recent days have been a bit leisurely.
After subcontracting the purchase of winter clothes, Li Guozhang had a great time fighting birds in a cage every day.
Hou Ping was a small businessman who favored Li Guozhang. Relying on his relationship with Li Wei, Hou Ping also won the right to purchase two thousand winter coats.
This batch of winter coats totaled 30,000 pieces, and the purchase price set by the court was one tael of silver each.
Li Wei made a profit of two coins, and the purchase price he gave Hou Ping was eight coins.
Nowadays, the cheapest and thinnest winter coats on the market in the capital cost almost six cents of silver. Originally, everyone planned to make two cents of silver from a winter coat by buying it in the market of the capital.
But Hou Ping soon discovered that he was wrong.
As everyone bought winter clothes in the market, the price of ready-made winter clothes in the capital skyrocketed, rising by 30% in less than three days. People throughout the capital complained, and Hou Ping could no longer receive cheap winter clothes.
Hou Ping had to go to Dengzhou with several other contracting companions.
Dengzhou Port.
Dengzhou was an important town for the Northern Navy of the Ming Dynasty. It was a port where North Korea and the early Japanese countries paid tribute, and it was also the residence of the Northern Navy of the Ming Dynasty.
After Hou Ping and others arrived in Dengzhou, they saw a lively scene.
Along the pier, shops with the "North and South Goods" logo are spread out on both sides of the road, and all kinds of goods are placed directly on the cargo boxes for the merchants coming and going to pick.
Hou Ping watched all the way, really dazzled.
From the hawking sounds, Hou Ping also figured out what goods from the north and the south were.
"Southern goods" are goods shipped from Susong, Fujian and Vietnam. They include the most popular and new goods in the capital at present, with many categories.
"Northern goods" are goods shipped from the north, that is, from Liaodong, including Northland's specialty products such as fox fur, ginseng, and winter pearls.
Hou Ping looked around and finally found a shop that sold wholesale winter clothes. He quickly walked in and saw a mustachioed shopkeeper sitting behind the counter with an abacus.
"It's the shopkeeper!"
Following Hou Ping's greeting, the shopkeeper hurriedly came out from behind the stage. He cupped his hands and said, "What do these distinguished guests want to buy?"
Hou Ping pointed to the winter clothes hanging on the wall and said, "It's the shopkeeper's. , how do you sell winter clothes?"
The shopkeeper rolled his eyes and said: "I'm really sorry for the distinguished guests, all the winter clothes in the store have been ordered."
Hou Ping's face was a little ugly, but he didn't expect that he was a step too late when he arrived in Dengzhou.
But the shopkeeper continued: "But the store has a branch in Songjiang Prefecture. You can place orders and purchase directly from Songjiang Prefecture. It will be delivered to Dengzhou in about a month." A month
? Hou Ping's face looked a little ugly. It was already October now. If we wait a month, the north would already have entered the cold winter, and it would be too late for the deadline assigned by the Ministry of War.
If it's late, it's too late. Li Guozhang will naturally delay it!
Hou Ping said: "One month is just one month, what's the store's price?"
The store smiled and said: "Although these winter coats all look the same, the prices are quite different."
The store took out a thick winter coat and said: "This is the best winter coat in our store. The two layers of cotton are made of fine cotton. Look at how thick the cotton is between the cotton. This kind of winter coat can withstand frost even after it is sold out. One piece only costs eight coins. ."
Then the store took out another thin winter coat and said: "This is the best-selling winter coat in Jingshi recently. Although the filling is not as good as the previous one, it can withstand freezing in the house, and the price is much cheaper than the one just now. , one piece costs five cents of silver."
Hou Ping and his companions looked at each other, five cents of silver was enough to make money based on the unit price, but he and his party had to come back from the capital after a long journey, and they still had to transport the winter clothes back to the capital. A winter coat only earns 3 taels of silver, and 2,000 pieces is 600 taels of silver. Taking into account shipping and handling costs, it doesn’t seem like you can earn much.
Hou Ping quickly asked: "Do you have cheaper winter clothes in the store?"
The store then said: "Of course, the cheapest winter clothes are generally used by the people in Shandong near the sea and Jianghuai. These places are not cold in winter. So just a small amount of cotton filling is enough."
The store brought a thin winter coat, which didn't even have a stand-up collar.
Hou Ping quickly asked: "How much does this clothes cost?"
"A winter coat like this only costs three yuan."
Hou Ping's eyes lit up, but soon someone said: "This clothes looks too thin, I'm afraid. It’s hard to do business!”
The shopkeeper added: “Our shop has long-term business with Songjiang Xujia Workshop, and we can cooperate in customization.”
“Customized?”
The shopkeeper brought another winter coat, only to see that this winter coat was bulging, but it was the same as the first one. A winter coat worth eight cents of silver is about the same.
"This is a customized model. The lining is not cotton, but chopped wheat straw and reeds. At first glance, it is no different from the most expensive winter coat, but it is not very warm." "You can
order this one, and it only costs 3 Money."
Hou Ping and others immediately said: "This is the one!"
Songjiang Mansion, the Xu family's workshop.
Xu Kun, the second young master of the Xu family, is inspecting his garment workshop.
His father wrote another letter urging him to move from Songjiang Mansion, but Xu Kun didn't want to move at all.
If we can barely move so much equipment, how are these workers going to move it?
Nowadays, the workshops in Songjiang Prefecture are prosperous, and a skilled garment worker is a hot commodity. Xu Kun has spent a lot of effort to win over these workers.
In addition, Songjiang Prefecture is blessed with convenient transportation that is unmatched by other regions.
After making the winter clothes, you only need to take them directly to the pier of Shanghai Port, where they can be sold all over the country. If you move to other places, just bringing the goods to the pier will cost a lot of money.
"Master, the people from the prefecture's Yamen are here again."
Xu Kun waved his hand and said: "Take them to the warehouse, I will be there later."
These are the random inspection officials sent by Songjiang Prefecture Shen Shixing. They are here to check the supply of Fujian. Zhejiang United Army winter clothes are of high quality.
The Fujian-Zhejiang Allied Forces ordered 10,000 pieces of winter clothes from the Xu family. The cost of each piece was one or two taels of silver. Xu Kun originally thought the profits were huge.
But after signing the deed, Xu Kun discovered how perverted the rules of Songjiang Mansion were.
Each winter coat costs money to fill with cotton, and one or two ounces of cotton must be filled.
Winter coats must have a stand-up collar, a hem that goes above the knees, and the cuffs must be tightened to ensure warmth.
In addition, there are requirements for sewing openings and cuff stitches. Songjiang Prefecture will send people to the workshop from time to time for random inspections. Those who fail will be asked to rework immediately.
Calculated in this way, although the price of one or two silver coins is not a loss, it is not much profit.
It’s not a loss at all.
Xu Kun could only comfort himself like this. He walked quickly to the warehouse and saw the officials from Songjiang Prefecture who came to do random inspections. "Mr. Xu, it's a routine matter. I'm sorry to disturb you."
Xu Kun, the clerk in charge of the random inspection, also knew him. He used to work as an errand in Songjiang Mansion. Xu Kun pulled him aside and said: "There is no problem with this batch of goods. Secretary Gu, why don't you Let everyone have tea?"
After saying this, Xu Kun took out a few silver coins from his sleeves.
Secretary Gu's expression changed and he said, "Mr. Xu, please don't do this."
Secretary Gu said, "Mr. Xu, if there is no problem, we will leave after checking it. You don't have to spend the money. If there is any problem, you can give it to me." These silver coins are useless."
Xu Kun's expression changed slightly.
Secretary Gu said: "These winter clothes are inspected before they are shipped. Every time they are inspected, we clerks have to sign and stamp them. If there are any problems afterwards, we will be held accountable." "Master Shen Fu treats his subordinates leniently, but
only He is extremely strict with the administration of officials. If he fails to do his job, he will be demoted and fired, or at worst, he will be handed over to the judicial department."
Xu Kun's face improved a little. Since this trick was useless, Xu Kun simply asked the manager to continue to cooperate with them. After checking, I went to inspect other workshops.
Different from the neat workshop in front, this workshop is messy everywhere. The baskets are full of cut platycodon, reeds and wheat straw, and there is still dust in the air.
I only saw workers filling these messy things into gray cotton cloth, and then skilled weavers simply sewed it up. As long as the contents inside were not leaked out, the winter clothes would be considered qualified.
The steward in charge of the workshop came over and said, "Master, this batch of goods is ready for shipment."
Xu Kun asked, "It didn't have our Xu family's mark printed on it, did it?"
"According to the master's instructions, there was no mark printed on it!"
" That's good, remember, this is purchased by northern merchants, we don't know anything." "Don't
worry, young master, everyone knows that this is for the north and ordered by northern merchants."
Xu Kun made a tour and concluded Half of today's work is done.
In the afternoon, he also had to inventory raw materials and check orders. He also had to personally inspect and receive the newly shipped cotton to Shanghai. He was extremely busy every day.
But compared to going to the capital and being a worthless useless person next to his father, Xu Kun was quite satisfied with this kind of life.
The large and small workshops in Songjiang Mansion are operating at full capacity, and the entire city is like a giant beast, swallowing up massive amounts of raw materials and spitting out all kinds of goods.
Managing a city like Songjiang Prefecture is extremely challenging for any Ming Dynasty official.
The newly arrived Songjiang prefect, Shen Shixing, made all the officials in Songjiang Prefecture look up to him with admiration.
The young prefect managed to control the giant beast of Songjiang Prefecture in an instant.
When Shen Shixing first took office, he looked like a good old man.
But after taking office, he immediately showed his thunderous methods.
Shen Shixing's political skills were surprisingly sophisticated by sending several old officials who had been retained in the Songjiang Prefecture to the judicial department, and quickly settling the squeezed lawsuits in the Songjiang Prefecture.
The "Da Ming Code" originally dealt with corruption and bribery very severely, but Shen Shixing just reiterated the "Da Ming Code", which was enough to intimidate officials at all levels in Songjiang Prefecture.
However, Shen Shixing did not use the "Da Ming Code" according to the script. After taking office as the prefect of Songjiang, Shen Shixing focused most of his energy on compiling civil laws.
There were already many lawsuits over property disputes in the Jiangnan area. After business boomed, in addition to property disputes, there were many more business-related cases.
In the past, there was no unified judgment standard for these cases, and they often relied on judicial interpretations deduced by the presiding officer or cases from previous years.
Some officials judge these cases without even clarifying the ownership relationship. They just make arbitrary decisions as if they are trying to start a fight, and even force mediation to close the case.
Shen Shixing was writing new provisions of the Civil and Commercial Law at this time.
Handing the files on the desk to his assistant, Shen Shixing rubbed his temples and said,
"Jianwu, sort these out and send a copy to the Governor's Office."
The young scholar next to Shen Shixing is named Shen Yiguan. The nephew of Shen Mingchen, a prolific poet on Hu Zongxian's staff.
Since the last time Lan Keshan of Zhejiang Province wrote a poem to persuade Hu Zongxian to defect to Su Ze, Shen Mingchen was also awarded an official.
His nephew Shen Guanyi was well-known in Zhejiang and was proficient in criminal justice. He was also recruited by the Governor's Office and then sent to Shen Shixing as an assistant officer.
Shen Shixing relaxed for a moment and said, "The task given to me by the Governor was to compile this "Civil and Commercial Code" as soon as possible. When Songjiang Prefect took office, I realized that I had been tricked by the Governor. This "Civil and Commercial Code" How could it be so easy to make up?"
Shen Yiguan smiled and said, "This is all the Governor's trust in Mr. Futai."
Shen Shixing shook his head and said, "The Governor has always put people to death when they are easy to use. Use it."
Shen Shixing looked at Shen Yiguan and said, "Jianwu, you must have read yesterday's official document. The Governor is going to start land negotiation in the second province and the sixth government, and each government will recruit people. I have reported your name. Up."
Shen Yiguan said in surprise: "Why is Shenfu Terrace like this!"
Shen Shixing said with a smile: "This is also to let you feel the Governor's 'way of employing people'."
"No kidding, this time we will discuss it Quan actually means 'checking the place', 'checking the records', 'Da Suo Mao Yue', 'making yellow records', etc. Jianwu, if you are familiar with history books, you should understand what I mean." Shen nodded and said, "Da Suo Mao Yue
" The governor wants to clear the land."
Shen Shixing nodded and said: "Those who have permanent property have perseverance. This time the right to question is to free up part of the land and grant it to meritorious soldiers." "
But this time the question of power is different from that in history. Any time to clear the land."
Shen always looked at Shen Shixing doubtfully.
Shen Shixing pointed to the draft on the table and said: "In the past, property rights were land rights, and the remaining taxes and corvees depended on the land." "
But now, in addition to land, mines, docks, roads, shops, etc. It is an important ownership right. Commodities, goods, and contracts also have rights and responsibilities. When discussing rights this time, it is important to clear the land, but it is also important to clarify the property rights." "Before discussing rights, the governor must discuss the property rights
. First of all, you can go to Fuzhou on behalf of our Songjiang Prefecture."
Shen Yiguan was shocked and said: "The Governor is going to hold the "Salt and Iron Conference"?"
Shen Shixing nodded and said, "That's probably what I mean, you are in Songjiang during this time Please take a look around the house and bring your opinions here."
October 20, Guangzhou City.
Tan Lun, who entered the city in disguise, came to the house of Guangzhou Patrol Pan Jixun.
As soon as he saw Pan Jixun, Tan Lun went straight to the point and told Pan Jixun the confusing message that Su Ze had given him and said: "
Brother Pan, Governor Su asked me to bring you a message." "
If you do your best, Governor please Brother, control the Yellow River."
(End of chapter)