In the flower hall of the state yahou, Xia Zhu's knees were covered with the tiger skin given by Du Zhongxiao, and he quietly listened to him talk about the summoning of fur merchants and craftsmen today. After Du Zhongxiao finished speaking, he said lightly: "These people only have small profits in their eyes, and they are not enough to make big things." Sign the judgment, you let the tanner take turns in this matter, it is not a trivial matter, and you must not make mistakes. After a few days, the transshipment made Shi Changyan to the state, and he should be careful. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes.

The Transshipment Envoy Division is in Luzhou, which is one south and one north of the Economic Strategy Envoy Division and the Criminal Prosecution Division of the Merge Prefecture, that is, the one way to the prison is different from the state. According to the system, the transfer envoy and the deputy envoy have to tour the states every year, and this year it is the turn of Shi Changyan, the envoy, to inspect the states in the north of Hedong Road. Letting the craftsman take turns is equivalent to apportioning the errand service, which will attract the special attention of the transfer envoy, Xia Zhu specially reminded him.

Nodding, Xia Zhu said again: "It is always a good thing to build a fur yard in Yuzhou, if you can really gather businessmen, I don't know how much more taxes will be charged every year." But what do you mean by letting tanners turn poor? Why don't they move their shop there? ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Back to Xianggong, craftsmen are not as good as businessmen, they are all small businesses, home is a store, a store is a home, and there is no financial resources to move to the freight yard." I let the craftsmen take turns, whether to use their craftsmanship and really do things, or rely on the requisitioned army. If it is well arranged, there are these people doing work in the freight yard, and the fur processed is not known to be several times that of now, which is fundamental. ”

Hearing this, Xia Zhu became interested and asked, "Oh, how do you want to do it, and tell me about it." ”

"Tanning fur needs to go through the steps of soaking, cutting, washing, tanning, rejuvenation, scraping soft, etc., of which only a few steps such as tanning and scraping soft need to be skilled craftsmen, and the rest are just prepared with potion and effort. Craftsmen have to do their own tanning by themselves, and most of the time they waste their energy in vain. When we tann in the freight yard, we can concentrate our manpower on those few key steps, and use the rest of the van army. This not only saves manpower, but also uses a larger pool, better potions, and more skin than before the hair. ”

Xia Zhu listened to Du Zhongxiao's reasoning, and nodded again and again. The method Du Zhongxiao talked about is actually to replace small manual work with factory, even if it is the same manpower, the production efficiency is not the same. In particular, the scale of immersion and tanning will immediately increase the productivity when the scale is large.

After listening to Du Zhongxiao's speech, Xia Zhu said: "The key to this matter is still on those craftsmen. When they arrive at the freight yard, their own business will inevitably be affected, and if the compensation is not much, the transshipment will inevitably say that we treat the people harshly. In addition, the tanning business has been moved to the freight yard, which is equivalent to taking away the food and clothing of these people, and it is necessary to find a way. ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "What Xianggong said is extremely true, and he has already thought of a way." When the craftsmen arrived at the freight yard, they used the money they earned from the fur merchants to give them money and food, so that they would not suffer any loss. As for the future, Bingzhou City has really become a distribution center for the fur business, only the business can't be done, and it will not take away anyone's food and clothing. Maybe for these craftsmen, the business will be better in the future. ”

Xia Zhu nodded: "Since you have thought about it properly, just do it." Hedong has nearly 100,000 soldiers, and money and food are needed everywhere, and if you can find a way to make money, it will be a great achievement. ”

Du Zhongxiao gave up his promise, and seeing that Xia Zhu had no intention of talking again, he got up and said goodbye.

Back at his residence, Du Zhongxiao found Feng Yuan and the three of them and said to them: "You have seen that the fur yard here in Bingzhou will be built in a few days." What is lacking now is you fur traders. Your fur has already been cooked, so it is better to go back to Yanmen Village and sell it, and then bring in some raw hides. By the way, I will inform familiar merchants and sell goods here. ”

Feng Yuan hesitated a little and said: "Although the officials have arranged it properly, there is still an empty space there, and there is not a single word, how can I persuade others to do business?" Trafficking in furs is not a trivial matter, and businessmen cannot afford to take the risk. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What a fool outside! You used to trade furs, from Yanmen Village to the Central Plains, traveling thousands of miles, and you could only do business once or twice a year. Now all you have to do is sell the furs and go back and forth in a matter of days. The same capital now has several times the interest. At this time, if you don't hurry up to do more business, take the lead, look ahead, and waste the opportunity. If it weren't for the fact that the government was not allowed to return to the government, I would have taken the capital of the state officials and sold furs with my own money. Outside, if you help me to do something, it will be beneficial in the future. ”

Feng Yuan discussed with the rest of the people for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, it's up to the officials, we'll leave tomorrow!" ”

Watching Feng Yuan and the others leave, Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment before turning around and sitting down. To be honest, Du Zhongxiao hates to do this kind of business. Because I didn't come up with the capital, I was in a hurry, and I was obviously doing good things for others, but I became begging others. If it weren't for the restrictions on officials doing business in the jurisdiction, Du Zhongxiao would have wanted Tao Seventeen and Thirteen Lang to take the money to Yanmen Village to do business on their own. He has a humble official position, and he has no reliable connections in the court, so he easily does not dare to violate the ban. The current transfer envoy Shi Changyan was because he violated the ban in Gyeongju, and after being known by the imperial court, he suspected that Chen Xiang was condemned and attacked each other, so that he was demoted. It took many years before he was able to regain the position of a transfer envoy.

Jingjing came in with a cup of tea, saluted, and put it on the table.

Du Zhongxiao saw Jingjing shrink and asked, "Are you sick?" Why is your body shaking? ”

Jingjing said: "Where is the disease, I didn't expect it to be so cold in Bingzhou." It's only August, and I'm freezing at night, not like when we were in Jiangnan. Although the salute belt has a jacket, it is not worn at this time. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "When it's cold, I wear a jacket, do you still have to look at the day?" When the fur yard in the city is built, I will buy you a fur to wear. When you arrive in the Northland, your clothes and habits should naturally be different. ”

Jingjing shook her head: "I'm a female envoy, if I wear fur, wouldn't it be a joke?" ”

With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

Looking at Jingjing's back, Du Zhongxiao shook his head. I don't have the concept of master and servant of this era, although Jingjing and Xiaoqing are doing slave things in their own home, they are not treated as slaves. Not only did they not suffer a loss in food and clothing, but they also had pocket money every month.

Standing up, Du Zhongxiao arrived at the door and looked at the night. In fact, there are many ways to make money in this era, but I can't buy an industry due to the restrictions of laws and regulations, and I am constrained everywhere to make money for the imperial court, which is actually a little depressing. Fortunately, Xia Zhu is the governor to support him, otherwise things will be more difficult to do. Du Zhongxiao's current status is only the way to make money and save political achievements, and the others are even more difficult.

It has been three years since he was a jinshi, and from the selection of officials to the signing of judgments by Beijing officials, Du Zhongxiao's promotion has made many people envious. But in Du Zhongxiao's own opinion, he is still just a shogun, and he doesn't know what year or month he has been promoted to Zhizhou, so he is inevitably a little depressed. The knowledge and insight that you have are destined to be better played only by being alone, and what can you do for others?

But at this time, there was no conflict with the party, and the Khitan had not been in conflict for decades, and in an era of peace, there was no way to make great contributions.