Tao Seventeen washed his hands and walked out the door to see the sun on the top of the mountain in the distance.

Li Fugui, the judge of Jinglu, and Dai Zhuang, the secretary of Shengzhou, hurriedly came over together and asked, "How about waiting for the edict?" ”

Tao Seventeen said: "Today is another busy day, the big things have basically been completed, and tomorrow will start to wrap up." ”

Li Fugui nodded again and again: "Okay, good, it's hard to wait for the edict." ”

Dai Zhuang said: "We have prepared a table of wine feasts in the city to celebrate the edict. It's not too early, so let's pass. ”

Tao Qiqi said to Dai Zhuang: "The two of you have been here often these days, it's really hard, why bother to break the bank?" ”

Dai Zhuang said: "Where is the edict?" In the days when the edict is here, all expenses will be paid from the minister's money. ”

In addition to the minister's money from Hequ Road and Shengzhou, Du Zhongxiao, as a high-ranking official of the Jiedu envoy, also has a minister's money exclusive to his own Jiedu envoy. According to the usual practice, this minister's money should go into Du Zhongxiao's pocket, which is one of the benefits of the festival envoy. Du Zhongxiao is not short of this money, he can save what he can left, spend it when he should spend it, and he can't wronged himself or his subordinates. Tao Seventeen is an old man who follows him, because he is entangled in official business, Du Zhongxiao asked Li Fugui and Dai Zhuang to take turns to entertain, and the entertainment fee came out of the minister's money.

This wool textile industry is jointly owned by the Economic Strategy Division and Shengzhou, and the money earned is divided equally between them. Of course, the boss is the same person, so the division does not have to be so clear. After Li Fugui and Dai Zhuang learned about the wool industry of the Volcano Army, they both had high hopes for this place and were particularly polite to Tao Seventeen. Seeing the end of the installation, the two of them stayed here together.

Relying only on the money and food allocated by the imperial court, it is not possible to live a good life. In the past, the side marshals would make their own strange moves to increase production and generate income. In the past, it was mostly used to use power and manpower to carry out various trades, and the Song Dynasty called it Huiyi. Most of the greedy people go into their own pockets, and those who are not greedy for money will be used as a benefit in the army, giving additional rewards to their subordinates to improve the life of the army.

Du Zhongxiao is obviously not a money-greedy person, and the Shuai Si industry is a big entry for the army. The wool industry of the Volcano Army now has an annual income of 100,000 yuan, and the government's commercial tax in this area is more than 10,000 yuan. There are all small handmade workshops, and how much money should be made a year when Shengzhou introduces machines for large-scale production? With this money, a lot of things are easy to do.

The three of them took their retinue and left the newly built wool factory and headed for the castle of Katsushu a few miles away. The factory is not built in the city because the wool industry has a certain amount of pollution, it is not well handled, and the smell is unpleasant. There happened to be a small lake here, so a small canal was dug from Shengzhou to lead to the lake. The washed wool wastewater is discharged into the lake, where it settles and then discharged back to the Yellow River through a drainage ditch. With a factory here, this small lake will be abandoned in the future. However, in this era, who cares about a small lake with no one around.

Along the way, Li Fugui and Dai Zhuang waited for the edict one by one, and they were polite to Tao Seventeen, and the title was a little funny. Tao XVII was a trick officer, and after being promoted to an envoy, part of the envoy was exclusive to them, separate from the military system. Most of the envoy positions used by the sorcerers belonged to the eastern class, while the western class was exclusive to the military class. Because most of these envoys are wine shops, wine warehouses, felt carpets, etc., which are not consistent with the original work of Tao 17 and these personnel, they are not elegant, and only a few envoys in the bow and arrow warehouse and the armory are slightly touched. The imperial court intends to add some new envoys for them, and it really becomes a sequence. Many people have put forward names as they see fit, such as artillery, muskets, and so on, and they form a system with bows and arrows, weapons, etc.

In the past, the official had a low status and did not have any customary honorific titles, and was often called the edict, which was the most commonly used title for officials in the Hanlin Academy. The problem is that this title is now used too indiscriminately, and those who paint on the market are called edicts, those who grind jade are called edicts, and even those who cut hairs are called edicts. Calling Tao Seventeen to be edicted is indeed an honorific title, but once it is associated with the folk title, it makes people cry and laugh.

Li Fugui and Dai Zhuang did not have a proper name for Tao Seventeen, so they could only do so. With the relationship between Tao Seventeen and Du Zhongxiao, they didn't dare to treat Tao Seventeen badly if they borrowed a few guts, not to mention, they were still begging Tao Seventeen to do something.

Entering the city, Li Fugui said: "Next to the shopping mall in the west of the city, there is an official restaurant, which is second to none in Shengzhou City. We chose a pavilion there, and set a table for a banquet, so that we should not be disliked when we were invited. ”

Tao Seventeen said: "How does this work?" I'm here, it's just business, so polite, it's a little uneasy. ”

Dai Zhuang said: "Don't say that the edict is a handsome old man, just on official business, you helped us build that factory, and I don't know how much money you make in a year." Not to mention, with this factory, the surrounding herdsmen can come here to sell wool, which is of great benefit to the people. We should have some wine and dinner, and it is a matter of course. There are still a few officials in the city tonight, and they will get to know each other together. ”

While talking, when I arrived at the official restaurant next to the shopping mall, I was already led by a small servant and arrived at the fixed pavilion.

Chen Xiliang, the commissioner, Wen Tong, and Zhang Tangying, the manager, had already been waiting here early and greeted Tao XVII.

These shogunate officials are all from Jinshi, if they were in the past, how could they be so polite to a trick officer. Tao Seventeen is a person who has been with Du Zhongxiao for many years, coupled with the industrial development in the past two years, the status of the trickster has improved, so everyone got together to invite Tao Seventeen's wine.

Without this reason, it would not be easy for these officials to use the minister's money to drink in the most luxurious restaurant. And without the minister's money, let them pay out of their own pockets, and how many people are willing to do it?

They all sat down, the little guy served the wine and food, and Li Fugui led the way to drink a few rounds of wine.

After three rounds of drinking, the topic came to the wool factory under construction. Chen Xiliang said: "To be edicted, I heard that the newly built wool factory uses a steam engine to spin and weave cloth, employing very few people and producing more, I don't know if this is the case?" ”

Tao Qiqi smiled and said: "Sign the judgment, the steam engine only provides power, how can it spin and weave cloth?" There are other human machines for spinning and weaving, and the steam engine just takes them. However, compared with the previous manpower, there are many fewer people, which is good. The most important thing is that the output is more, and the output of the cloth is uniform, which is the reason why everyone likes it. ”

Wen Tongdao: "Dare to ask the edict, using a steam engine to weave cloth like this is also useful elsewhere?" ”

Tao Seventeen said: "That's nature. The earliest factory that used a steam engine was opened on Jingxi Road and was used to weave cotton cloth. No, why has the price of cotton cloth dropped so much in recent years? Knowing this, the prime minister ordered someone to redo the machine and build a factory here. ”

Everyone nodded together: "I see." ”

Among these people, only Li Fugui used to be an official on Jingxi Road and knew what was going on, while the others only knew nothing and didn't know what was going on. Everyone is familiar with the name of the steam engine, but most of them are not clear about what it can do and how to use it.

After drinking a few more glasses of wine, Zhang Tangying said: "If the factory uses a steam engine, will the cloth woven from wool be as cheap as cotton cloth in the future?" ”

Tao Seventeen shook his head again and again: "Naturally not." First, the price of wool is not comparable to cotton, and it is much more expensive than cotton. Again, wool spinning and weaving are much more difficult than cotton, and there are many places where machines cannot be used. In today's factories, the number of people used is several times that of weaving cotton cloth, and the machines are only used in a few places where it is easier to do, which cannot be compared. ”