Qian Yuanwai stood by the smelting furnace and watched the three brothers of the Shi family lead people to blow wind and smelt iron. The iron supervisor strictly prohibits private damming of the river, nor does it allow the establishment of water drainage mills without permission. Of course, the small smelting furnace in this area is still stained with the light of the iron supervisor, and the original push-pull side plate type bellows have been changed to the damper type, and the efficiency has been improved a lot.

A few pick-and-pick ores came down from the small dirt mountain, put the burden on the ground, and went to the front of Qian Yuanwai, saying: "Outside, our family has land to plant wheat this year, and we will go home tomorrow and plant under the land." These days, I can't help the staff to do work outside. ”

Qian Yuan said: "Got it." Whichever of you does not sow wheat stays, and does the same work. The rest of the people who went home should come back soon after packing up. The stove is on fire, but you can't stop. Once it cools down, the furnace is useless. ”

The faces of several people were a little embarrassed, and they hesitated and said, "Don't hide it, everyone grows wheat." Tiejian loves to eat white noodles, and the price of wheat has risen a lot during this period of time, so why should I plant some, how can I miss it. ”

Qian Yuanwai couldn't help but be anxious when he heard this, how could he persist here without people who were mining and transporting ore? If the days are short, you can let your own bankers come over to top it, but it won't work for a long time. Not to mention that they also have a job, the work of mining is too tiring, and the banker is not willing.

The people didn't wait for the money clerk to speak, and said, "Outside, we've planted wheat, and we won't come—"

"What?!" Hearing this, Qian Yuanwai was completely anxious. "I've never been short of your wages, so why don't you do it? Instead of staying at home after the farm work, it is better to earn some money. ”

The people were silent for a while, and one of them said, "Alas, we have been here for more than a month, so it's hard to hide it." The iron prison over there had already opened a furnace a few days ago, and countless ores were used. There are many foremen in the nearby villages, and they have hired people to smash stones and beneficiate the ore for them, and the wages are higher than those outside the staff, and the work is much easier. You don't need to mine, you don't have to carry it, you just smash stones, how can you compare it here? ”

Qian Yuanwai was stunned for a while. He had heard that the Iron Prison had already opened the furnace, but he was too busy here to inquire in detail. Unexpectedly, as soon as the smelting furnace of the iron supervisor was opened, it would have such a great impact on the local area, and the wages would rise.

Seeing that the money clerk didn't speak, several people turned around and left together. Don't look at this kind of rough work, everyone can do it, and if you do it for a month, you can do it better than others. There are already a few foremen who have said that they can go to the beneficiation with them, and the work will be easy, and the wages will be better than those outside the money clerks.

Looking at the backs of a few people leaving, the money clerk was gloomy outside. I finally opened the furnace, sold iron a few times, and made a few dollars, but I didn't expect to encounter this kind of thing again. What to do in the future? You can only increase your salary, but you can't turn off the stove.

was troubled by these people, and Qian Yuanwai was depressed and didn't have the heart to watch it anymore. instructed the three brothers of the Shi family, left the smelting furnace, and the money clerk went to the side of the ferry. Find a tavern and drink two glasses of wine to relieve your sullenness.

asked for a pot of wine and two side dishes, and the money clerk sat at the table thinking about his thoughts. The iron supervisor opened the furnace, I don't know how. According to the experience of other places, the government-run smelting furnace produces less iron and is more expensive than the private smelting furnace because of various drawbacks. Therefore, in the government-run smelting furnace, the main thing is to use the box army to do things, and recruiting from the people will lose money, so it is generally not done. The iron supervisors here are strange, and the wages they pay are higher than those of the people, and I don't know how they make money. Hiring people like this, I don't know how much money they produce, in the end, it is an iron prison, it should not be comparable to a small smelting furnace like himself. These smelters can only rely on the price to be cheaper than the iron supervisor, otherwise they are afraid that it will not be easy to sell.

Look at the opposite side not far away, He Yuanwai's "Qingyu Building" business is booming, there is a colorful building outside, and a few female prostitutes are also found, dressed up in fancy ways to solicit guests at the door. Qian Yuanwai was anxious for a while. I took the wrong medicine, and I didn't do the easy-to-make business of opening a restaurant and inn, and opened a smelting furnace. This was originally his own land, but it turned out that He Yuanwai, an outsider, built a house and opened a store and made a lot of money. He had all the difficulties in everything, and an outsider didn't dare to enter his restaurant, so he could only drink in this kind of tavern, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt angry.

At this moment, two people came in from outside, saw Qian Yuanwai here, and hurriedly stepped forward: "It's a coincidence, I don't want to drink outside." ”

Qian Yuanwai looked up and saw that it were two guests who had come from other places to collect iron, who had done business with him twice, and hurriedly got up and let them sit at their tables. As soon as the iron prison is opened, the business is definitely not as good as before, and the customer who buys iron is the God of Wealth, and he must be deliberately wooed. The money clerk asked the little guy to ask for a pot of wine, let a plate of meat come, and drink with the two of them.

After a few polite words, the money clerk said: "I have saved some iron there, when will you two go to buy it?" ”

The clerk looked at his companions and said embarrassedly: "Don't hide it from the staff, we have bought all the iron we want in the past few days, and we will leave for our hometown tomorrow." Iron outside the staff, next time, wait for the next time. ”

Qian Yuanwai looked at the clerk's expression wrong, and felt bad in his heart, so he hurriedly asked: "Brother Wen, we have done business several times, and both parties are satisfied, and I want you to be a long-term customer." What do you mean, you don't want to buy money from me. Look at the previous friendship, please have something to say! ”

The clerk coughed embarrassedly twice before he said, "Brother Tai, we are in business, sell some iron and return to our hometown, hoping to earn some money to support our family." The first two times the iron outside the staff was good, and the price was fair, my brother remembered your good. However, recently, the iron supervisor has opened the furnace to produce iron, and the price of iron has plummeted, and we will not make money if we buy it from you. ”

Qian Yuanwai was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Why did the price of iron plummet?" I asked someone to ask, the iron supervisor's pig iron is 18 wen a catty, even if their iron is better, I sell you 15 wen, there is still iron to be earned. ”

The clerk said: "You are talking about good iron, how can it be compared with a small smelting furnace?" Regardless of the price, we hawkers don't sell it to us when we go to buy it. If you want to buy the big iron ingots of the iron supervisor, you need to buy them at least 10,000 catties at a time, otherwise people will not sell them at all. How can we have such a large capital? ”

Qian was stunned for a moment and said, "Since the iron prison is not sold, why don't you buy my iron?" ”

The clerk said: "The iron prison is not sold, there are other places to sell." Looking at the previous friendship, I don't hide this matter from my brother. Since the iron prison opened the furnace, they have transported hundreds of thousands of catties of slag every day. These slags were to be used by the iron supervisor to build roads, and several nearby workers outsourced this work, broke the slag, and collected some wages. In these slags, iron can be picked out. Alas, after all, it is the great iron supervisor, and the iron that is picked out of the slag is much better than the iron of your little furnaces. The iron is good, and a few employees only cost ten cents a catty, and the iron sellers are rushing to buy it! ”

Qian Yuanwai couldn't help but be stunned when he heard it. Picking iron in the slag? What is this operation? There is also slag in a small smelting furnace like himself, and the iron in it is all clean, and it is not easy to refine it, who will bear to throw it away. Whoever wants the iron supervisor not to do this, the iron in the slag will be thrown away with the slag. With the skill of picking iron, they might as well do something else, and it will be much easier to make money.

After being silent for a while, Qian Yuanwai said, "How much iron can there be in the slag?" Those few people are all picked out, and there are not many of them, how can they be enough for you to sell. Besides, the slag iron is definitely not as good as the iron ingots I smelt! ”

The clerk shook his head and sighed: "Clerk, although the iron supervisor is right in front of you, you still know too little. The iron in their slag, though slightly finely crushed, is still of the finest quality, and your furnaces cannot be compared with it. In addition, the iron supervisor has to produce tens of thousands of catties of iron a day, and the slag is picked up, and there are always one or two thousand catties. These little furnaces of yours don't produce as much iron as they have been picked out of the slag. Moreover, I heard that the iron supervisor is going to build another furnace, and there are more and more slags, and naturally more scrap iron will be picked out. Brother Ren, listen to my advice, after the iron prison opens the furnace, the small smelting furnace in this area will not be able to continue, stop it as soon as possible and do something else. ”

Qian Yuanwai was like being hit by five thunderbolts, his mouth was open, and he couldn't speak. Other difficulties can be overcome, but there is no way to deal with this kind of thing. There is no cost to pick iron from the slag, and the quality of people is good, and the quantity is large, how can they compete?

The clerk saw the dejected appearance of the money clerk, quietly greeted his companion, and walked out of the tavern. Ask yourself, if you encounter something like this, it will inevitably be like this. It took a lot of effort and a lot of money to build a smelting furnace, but the iron couldn't be sold at all, and no one could stand it. And there is no way to think about it, which makes people desperate.

These small furnaces were too small compared to the size of the Iron Prison, and a slight leak between the fingers would fill the market. If there is no special skill, there is no condition to open a smelting furnace in this vicinity, and it will pay for one to open one.

It is several big families in the county who are involved in the handling of the slag of the iron supervisor, and they have deep connections in Ye County, and their power is not comparable to that of Qian Yuan. They work for the iron supervisor to process the slag, crush it and use it as a road construction material, and they earn wages. Picking iron out of the slag is purely a business, how can it be compared to this kind of small smelting furnace outside the money clerk? No matter how cheap it is, can it be cheaper than their capitalless business?

At this time, Qian Yuanwai was completely desperate. From the very beginning, I was wrong, the lacquerware business is doing well, why should I go home and smelt iron? Even if it is to open a smelting furnace, how can I be dizzy and plant in idleness, and lose the money first. Up to now, smelting iron and making money is his last hope, but now even this road has been blocked.

Tilting his head and pouring a glass of wine, Qian Yuanwai looked at the bustling crowd outside and felt weak. What to do? I still have a lot of debts, and I can't make money with iron, so can I sell my family property? This is the inheritance passed down from the ancestors, and it was ruined by himself like this?