After handling official business in the capital hall of the embassy, Du Zhongxiao walked out of the door and bumped into Zhilu Shen Shilong head-on. Shen Shilong is similar to Du Zhongxiao, he is a Beijing official, and his official title is to become a governor and a military officer, but in fact, his duties are no different from those of recording and joining the army. is like Du Zhongxiao, because he is a Beijing official, the official name is the official business of the judge's office, but what he actually does is the judge's business.

After the salute, Shen Shilong said, "Have you finished signing the judgment?" Why don't we go out for a glass of wine together? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I'm going to Shouningfang to have a look, or another day." - Knowing what is going on, just say it. ”

Shen Shilong smiled embarrassedly: "Now is the time to collect the autumn tax, the amount is reported, and the transfer envoy will have to transfer the grain." Yongli Jian has hundreds of thousands of catties of salt stored there, but it is actually useless, but it is in the account. If the judgment does not help to write off this account, I am afraid that the grain in this state will be transferred out, and then there will be a shortage of money and food, and there will be a lot of trouble. This is a common trouble for our state court and the embassy, and I hope that the judgment will pay attention to it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I have built a fur yard in Shouningfang, if it goes well, the salt of Yongli Prison can be used, and Zhilu does not have to worry about this matter." Hundreds of thousands of catties of salt sound a lot, but in fact, it is less than 10,000 pounds, and it is a large state, so it will not hurt the muscles and bones. ”

Shen Shilong shook his head again and again: "That's not what I said, Wanguan is not a small amount of money, thousands of stone grains." There are many soldiers in the state, and once there is a shortage of food, I don't know what will happen. Sign the judgment, and when it's free, let's talk about it together. ”

Du Zhongxiao agreed, said goodbye to Shen Shilong, took Tao Seventeen and other entourage, went out of the yamen, and went to Shouningfang.

There are nearly 20,000 forbidden troops and thousands of troops in Bingzhou, and the pressure to raise the army is extremely great. Recently, Shen Shilong was in charge of collecting autumn taxes, and no matter how he calculated it, he had to use his brains on the hundreds of thousands of catties in Yongli Prison. The salt was on the books, and the transshipment envoy refused to transfer money and grain from other state armies on this ground. Shen Shilong didn't want Du Zhongxiao to exchange the salt for money, but just wanted the two to discuss and find a way to write off the account. Du Zhongxiao was building a fur yard, and he was still counting on using soil and salt to make nitrate, so he could only drag things over first.

After more than ten days of construction, the fur yard of Shouningfang has taken shape. The tanks and grounds for the nitrate furs have been built, and even the various tools for tanning the skins have been prepared. It's just that it's too late to build a house, and now it's all sheds. The winter in Bingzhou is extremely cold, and this kind of semi-open-air shed cannot be worked, and the craftsmen do not think about themselves, and are urging the Xiangjun to build houses.

Driving all the officers away, coupled with the stimulation of money, the Xiang army finally got to work seriously.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao coming, someone had already reported Qi Kongmu, and Qi Kongmu hurriedly greeted him.

After the salute, Du Zhongxiao asked, "Confucius, the ten-day deadline has passed, how is this place being built now?" ”

Qi Kongmu arched his hand: "Back to the officials, the place for tanning furs has been built, and now there is only a lack of shops and places for people to live." These days they are urging them to work day and night to build houses and houses for people to live in. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I'm afraid it's too late now, and when the house is built, it won't be until next year." But it doesn't matter, as long as the place where the workmanship is built, the merchants can bring in the furs and tann them. The craftsmen have their own dwellings, and they do their work every day, and they go back to their homes. As for the people who are doing things, don't think of a way to build some temporary housing for them. ”

Qi Kongmu was a little embarrassed: "Officials, just like the shed that works there, it is not difficult to build a temporary place to live." It's just that the winter in Bingzhou is cold, and those places are only afraid of being inhabitable. Even if it is work, it is impossible to stay in the shed. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "These are all small sections, as long as they are properly arranged, they are not a big deal." There is a lot of coal near the state, and the price is very cheap, so you can buy more these days for winter heating. ”

Qi Kongmu shook his head: "The charcoal has a peculiar smell when burned, and it is difficult to use it for roasting." Besides, if the shed is ventilated everywhere, even if there is charcoal, what use does it have? The officials don't know that the houses here in Bingzhou are different from those in the Central Plains, and they must be compacted to block the cold winter wind. ”

"I know, I know, you don't have to worry, as long as you buy coal, I always have a way." Du Zhongxiao said as he took Qi Kongmu and his entourage to see how the tanning place was built.

At this time, coal is generally called charcoal, and the price is extremely cheap, fifteen catties are only one or twenty yuan, and it is much cheaper than firewood to burn fire. However, although coal is used a lot, the technology is not mature, and the effect is not good. Coal burning is also a technical job, from the structure of the furnace to the layout of the fire channel, there is a lot of knowledge, but it is not just a matter of igniting. In his previous life, Du Zhongxiao had seen a coal stove and a kang for roasting tobacco, as long as there was enough coal, there was no big difficulty in solving the problem of heating.

Seeing that the facilities should be complete, Du Zhongxiao Qi Kong Mu said: "Since it has been built, have you tried to get some fur?" ”

Qi Kongmu said: "Don't hide it from officials, fur is expensive, where to get it?" In addition, there is a lack of miscanthus and other substances, and I have never tried it. ”

"Don't worry about manganese, I've ordered the Governor of Wynn to send it in the next few days, it's enough. As for the furs—"

At this moment, someone not far away shouted: "Is it Du Guanren?" What a coincidence, we went back to Merge yesterday and saw you today! ”

Du Zhongxiao turned around and saw that it was Feng Yuan and the others, and there were a few unknown people standing in the distance.

Hurriedly asked Tao Qiqi to invite a few people to the shed, and after a few cold words, Du Zhongxiao said: "Feng Yuanwai, you go to Yanmen Village to buy furs, and go here for many days." Are things going well? ”

Feng Yuan said: "Thanks to the officials, everything goes well." These are all fellow businessmen, and they heard that the officials have built a freight yard here, so they specially followed us to see it. The fur we brought this time is more than dozens of times that of the last time! ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "The more the merrier!" You see, this yard is so vast that there is enough fur to be saved. Also, the tanning place has been built, and as soon as you settle down, you can recruit craftsmen to tannish it. ”

While talking, Du Zhongxiao took Feng Yuan and others to the tanned place to watch. These people have been trafficking in furs all year round, and they are no strangers to the craft of tanning hides, and they all have confidence in this place when they see that this place is in order.

In the past, the processing capacity of tanned fur in the state was insufficient, and it was not the process that was holding back, but the small workshop-style production method. Due to the small scale and pure manual operation, the processing capacity of each company is not large, and it cannot form a joint force. Du Zhongxiao engaged in this large workshop, in addition to several key processes, a large number of manufacturing processes have been merged together, and this alone, I don't know how much manpower has been saved. They also used the box army to do those jobs that did not require skills, and a small number of craftsmen formed a huge production capacity.

That's the difference in perception. Du Zhongxiao's thousand-year-old experience knows how many benefits the scale effect has and how to quickly improve efficiency. First of all, small producers are gathered together to form a workshop, so that the production site and tools are shared, and the efficiency is superimposed. When it reaches scale, the machinery is designed and used in the workshop to further improve efficiency and form a positive interaction. When the scale of production is up, the market is formed. When it becomes a fur processing center, the tanners of the city will definitely rush to move here, and slowly there will be no need to take turns.