Three days later, Feng Yuan and the three of them were overjoyed with the cooked furs. On the one hand, the tanner Zhong Ah Da and his three companions watched coldly.

Du Zhongxiao coughed and said to a few people: "How?" In three days, your skins will be tanned, and now you will take them and sell them to the northland, where the price will increase several times. In this way, buying raw hides from the north, cooking them here, and then selling them back, saving thousands of miles of travel in the Central Plains. ”

Feng Yuan nodded again and again: "The official is right." In the past, we sold furs to the Central Plains, and then sold incense and silk to the north, traveling thousands of miles back and forth. Not only is it hard work, but the price of goods fluctuates infrequently, and if it is not good, it will lose money. From here to Yanmen Village is only 300 miles away, you can go back and forth in a few days, saving a lot of trouble. With this way of life, why do we have to go to the Central Plains? ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "It's okay, you don't go to the Central Plains, you have other businessmen to go." Profitable business, are you afraid that no one will do it? ”

Feng Yuan repeatedly said that in the future, if leather is cooked here in Bingzhou, the business will only get bigger and bigger, attracting more businessmen.

Several people discussed lively, and Feng Yuan said: "Since this business has been decided, there are still a few things that officials need to help with." First, the officials came forward to recruit fur merchants from the state, re-establish the rules of the guild, and prepare for this business. Another one is to recruit tanners as soon as possible, and the new guild will be established. If the two years go well, the business will be able to get up and running quickly. It's August, and autumn and winter are the time when furs are on sale, so don't miss it. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Don't worry, I will go back to Merge tomorrow and take care of the affairs of the official side clearly." You go back with me, gather the fur merchants in the city of Bingzhou, and set up a special field if necessary. ”

Speaking of this, he turned to Zhong Adao on the side: "Zhong Da, how many tanners are nearby?" ”

Zhong Ah Da looked at everyone, with obvious distrust in his eyes, and said: "There are two more in the town, just like me, who have brought a few apprentices to do business. As for the city of Bingzhou, the small ones are not clear. As for the four sides of the mountains, there are many Orions who will know this craft, and the small ones can't be understood. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "Okay, you go back and tell the other families in the town that the government has been able to use them recently, and they can't travel far, and they are all at home and waiting for orders." It's a good business for you. ”

Zhong Ah sang a promise, a little reluctantly, and said: "Don't hide it from the officials, there are only a few small tanners in the town, and life is passable." If you go to the government to serve and delay your business, where can you find food for your family? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What do you think!" I am looking for business for you, not for your food and clothing. ”

Zhong Ada's heart just didn't believe it, and his expression was cold.

Du Zhongxiao was a little annoyed, but he didn't show it on his face. The people were really frightened by the government at every turn to be forced into labor. Although Du Zhongxiao gave Zhong Ah a big reward this time, who knows what will happen next time. In particular, Du Zhongxiao asked Zhong Ada to go back and inform a few craftsmen that they would obey orders at home, and they looked like they were going to be conscripted, and Zhong Ada resisted from the heart.

didn't bother to pay attention to Zhong Ada, Du Zhongxiao said goodbye to Feng Yuan and returned to his own room in the inn.

Tao Seventeen and Thirteen Lang sat at the door, each took a cooked sheepskin, this one said the jacket was good, the other said the skirt was good, and they argued endlessly. Du Zhongxiao sat in the room, closed his eyes and recuperated, and sorted out the events of the past few days.

The state armies in Bingzhou and the surrounding states have always been dominated by soil and salt, and I don't know how many thousands of years have passed. Although there are salt ponds in the north and south, due to the rugged road and inconvenient transportation on the north side of Hedong Road, the soil salt has not only not decreased, but has become more and more prosperous. Wynn's salt is not easy to sell, but the price is still high. The government collects six wen a pound from salt households and sells it for thirty-six wen, and there are many people boiling salt in the village, who would buy such expensive salt? In order to ensure the profit of salt, the government implemented a policy of suppressing distribution and forcibly apportioned according to household registration. In this way, the government's revenue is guaranteed, and production and the market are also destroyed.

With the purchase price of six wen and one catty, the salt farmers are unprofitable and have no enthusiasm for production. The government also listed them as household registration and forced them to produce, and eventually they became errand laborers. How can the quality of the salt produced in this way be guaranteed?

In order to solve the chronic problem of salt in this area, the entire production and circulation system must be changed, otherwise it will only festering day by day. And if you want to change the salt industry system, you can't do it without money. The fur business brought by Feng Yuan and others is a breakthrough. If it is done well, it can not only receive a good tax from the fur business, but also make use of the by-products of soil salt, which can increase the value of soil salt in disguise. The government no longer relied on making money directly from salt in order to slowly straighten out the production and circulation system of local salt.

This is a difficult task, Du Zhongxiao sighed slightly. The so-called freezing three feet is not a day's cold, and many of the drawbacks have been formed over time, and have been catalyzed by the war against the party that has lasted for eight years. If you want to solve it, even if you have more than a thousand years of knowledge, it is very difficult.

On the second day, Du Zhongxiao and Feng Yuan brought the fur back to Bingzhou City.

When they arrived in the city, Du Zhongxiao let Feng Yuan and the three of them stay in the inn, and he took the tiger skin to the state office.

The official went to report to Xia Zhu, and Du Zhongxiao waited quietly in the flower hall with a skin in his hand.

As soon as Xia Zhu entered the flower hall, he was attracted by the tiger skin in Du Zhongxiao's hand, and he couldn't stop watching.

Du Zhongxiao stood up and saluted, and handed over the tiger skin: "I went to Yongli Prison this time, and it happened that I got a few fur merchants and got this tiger skin." Look at the late autumn, the body of the prince is cold, and I am here to offer it to the father. ”

Xia Zhu didn't shirk, took the tiger skin in his hand, kept stroking, and said, "Good thing." It's rare that this fur is intact, it's very rare! ”

After playing for a while, Xia Zhu handed over the tiger skin to the official beside him, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "I signed the judgment to go to Yongli Prison this time, but is there any way to sell the backlog of salt?" There are a lot of soldiers and horses stationed in the state, and they are in urgent need of money and food, so this matter cannot be delayed. ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Back to Xianggong, I thought of a way to humble my job, and I came to ask Xianggong for advice." ”

Seeing Xia Zhu looking at him quietly, Du Zhongxiao explained in detail how he met Feng Yuan, how to make manganese salt from soil salt, and how to cook fur. Finally, he said: "The lowly man looked at the fur that was made, and it was extremely fine. I heard from the fur merchants that such a ripe fur can be exchanged for several skins in the Northland. If that's the case, that's a big deal. Cattle and sheep are raised in the north, and they like to wear sheepskin clothing, but they lack the skills to cook furs. If you can start this industry in the state, you can collect a lot of taxes every year. And with this business, it is profitable to make nitrate from soil salt, and the hundreds of thousands of catties of salt that Yongli Prison has accumulated will be useful. The refined salt after nitrate making is as white as snow and has no peculiar smell, so it is easy to sell. ”

Xia Zhu was silent for a while, digested the news, and then said, "Sign the judgment, there is really such a good thing?" The fur business, I know, makes nitrate from soil salt, but I have never heard of it. How would I have believed it if you hadn't been there watching it yourself? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Xianggong doesn't know that soil salt is made by scraping salt soil. In addition to sediment, alkali and nitrate come out first. It's just that the government only collects salt from salt households, and the alkali and nitrate are thrown away, which is a pity. Alkali can be the same as in Yongcheng, adding oil to make soap, which is extremely profitable. As for nitrate, fire nitrate can be used to make gunpowder, and miscanthus nitrate can be used to make fur, and these lowly duties have already been tried. If the industry can be completed, salt farmers can make more money, the price of salt can be reduced, the government and the people can be both convenient, and the people can benefit, which is the long-term way. ”

When Xia Zhu heard this, he was very interested: "Sign the judgment, do you want to build another commune here in Bingzhou?" Yongcheng Commune, although there are many officials who say that it leaks the financial resources of the imperial court, it is convenient and extremely useful. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "The commune says that there is no distinction between the government and the people, and there is not much controversy, but it is still not built well." But those shops can be built with the financial resources of the government. The state is not as good as the county, and the income can go to the military treasury and can also be put into the minister's treasury, which is much more convenient. ”

Speaking of making money, Xia Zhu became interested and asked Du Zhongxiao to talk about his thoughts.

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Official, if you say that you make money in business, it is nothing more than three steps: entering, storing and selling. What the government is stronger than the private households is to enter and store, and the sales are irrelevant, and they can also sell by themselves or entrust merchants to sell. Whether it is salt, nitrate, or fur and many other local products, they are scattered in the hands of the people, and they used to rely on local products to pay taxes or buy them on the field, which is not efficient. If the government set up a salt business and bought it with money, it is not comparable to the merchants. In these two steps, the most important thing is to have more goods, which is not comparable to ordinary merchants. ”

In the final analysis, Du Zhongxiao means that each county will set up a shop specializing in the purchase of local products, and purchase local products such as nitrate and fur, some of which can be made into an industry such as fur, and some can be wholesaled by the government by using the scale effect. In this way, the government has benefited, and at the same time, it has also stimulated the local people to form industries and invigorate the economy. By directly receiving profits and collecting taxes, the government can receive large revenues.

Xia Zhu listened with great interest and asked Du Zhongxiao: "Doing this, it sounds like there are a lot of advantages, I don't know if there are any disadvantages?" ”

"Of course, there are drawbacks, and everything is too much. In doing so, we should focus on encouraging the people to produce, rather than focusing on business. In other words, the business done by the government must benefit the people, otherwise it will not be done. Otherwise, it is inevitable that the officials will take profits from the merchants in order to make profits, drink to quench their thirst, and eventually lose the industry. The degree here is the most difficult to grasp. ”

What Du Zhongxiao said was actually that there were signs at this time, and the city was carried forward by Wang Anshi's reform in history. However, the city focused on business, and frantically grabbed profits from production and circulation, making it unprofitable for practitioners, and eventually the industry shrank. Du Zhongxiao advocated restricting the government's business to basic industries, cultivating the formation of industries for the local government, and then increasing government revenue by collecting taxes.