Chapter 4861 It’s clear
Li Shenfu was sitting cross-legged on the mat in front of the window. There were lanterns hanging in the courtyard outside. After the first snowfall, the flowers and trees were withering, and the aroma of the teacup on the coffee table was lingering.
"What do you think of Duke Yue's decision?"
Jin Renwen was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "What kind of person is the Duke of Yue? He is a man of great talent and talent. How can a common man like me dare to figure out his thoughts? How can you tell me to convey the message? I will tell you every word." It was passed on without fail, and I did not add or subtract a word from the Duke of Yue's reply, and I dare not say more about the rest."
He was frightened to be able to participate in a confrontation of this level. It was only right to withdraw immediately after the completion. It was enough to improve his status and expand his influence. If he went deeper, it would be difficult for him to die.
Although he is young, he comes from the royal family of Silla. In the past few years, he has been used to seeing how aristocrats can be abject and cruel in the process of the rise and fall of dynasties and the decline of countries. With the background of the Jin family and the banner of Fang Jun, he has been dealing with the aristocratic families. This is already the best situation, we can't expect more.
If a person's heart is weak, he will surely die miserably...
Li Shenfu's old face was as dark as water, and he yelled: "You were sent by them to assist me. You will do whatever I ask you to do. When will it be your turn to make your own decisions?"
Jin Renwen's smile did not fade, but he sat up slightly: "I'm afraid the prince may have misunderstood. I only have some business dealings with those people, and I can't be considered one of their people. If you have to say that I am I can only be Fang Jun’s person.”
He raised his chin and smiled at the highly respected prince in the Tang Dynasty. He felt confident after saying "I am Fang Jun's man".
When you beat a dog, it depends on the owner. I am Fang Jun's son. Do you dare to beat me?
If you don't dare to fight, then be polite and don't boss me around and use those superior methods. You can't control me.
Li Shenfu's face was still gloomy, but unexpectedly he did not get angry in the face of disobedience. He just looked at Jin Renwen carefully with a little surprise, then nodded and said: "I didn't expect that the Jin family, except for the very bloody Jin Famin, had no one." With a talent like you, if Queen Seondeok had been determined to fight to the death and never surrender, maybe Silla would have been able to defend it.”
"Haha," Jin Renwen smiled with his white teeth showing in a very interesting manner: "The county king is ridiculous, I am just the most unpromising and stubborn person in the family. It doesn't really matter whether Silla can defend it or not. The important thing is that everyone in Silla admires the glory of the Celestial Dynasty and is willing to annex the country. All Silla It is the best choice for everyone to become Tang people. This is the best choice to adapt to the current situation. Whether it is the Jin family or other nobles, they can all be sheltered under the wings of the Tang Dynasty for thousands of years and have an endless inheritance. This is truly a blessing to Her Majesty the Queen. , Silla people will always respect Her Majesty the Queen.”
For actually using such despicable methods to sow discord, does this prince really think I am a fool?
Or are you too conceited, thinking that the world is being manipulated at your fingertips?
Li Shenfu changed his previous arrogant attitude, stretched out his hand to signal Jin Renwen to drink tea, and asked with a smile: "This time the government is proud to replenish enough manpower in the iron mines of Goguryeo. It depends on your timely support. I also want to say some thanks." . In the future, I plan to open several iron smelting plants in China, but I am still short of manpower. I hope you can support me. As for the price, it is definitely not a problem.”
Jin Renwen took a sip of tea and put down his cup, slightly surprised: "As far as I know, almost all the iron factories in Datang are monopolized by the Foundry Bureau. Even the former Fang family's iron factory was merged into the Foundry Bureau. Small private ironworks have little room for survival under its suppression. Are you planning to rise to the challenge? ”
Everyone knows that iron factories make money, but not everyone can earn this money.
Folks can make hoes and hoes, not to mention the cheap price and the scarce quantity. It can be done on a small scale without making big money. If you want to make big profits, you can only take over the work of the state, and among the various yamen of the state, there is a strong demand for iron materials. The one with the greatest need is the Ministry of War.
The Fang family sold half of the iron factory and half gave it away and merged it into the Foundry Bureau. Together with the former iron factory of the Changsun family, they built the largest iron smelting factory in the Tang Dynasty, which could meet almost all the needs of the Ministry of War.
If Li Shenfu wants to open an iron factory in China, then the target of competition must be the Foundry Bureau. Although the Foundry Bureau is an industry of the Ministry of War, Fang Jun is behind it...
The first step is to give others a county king to cooperate with them, and the second step is to open an iron factory to compete with others?
Li Shenfu smiled and said: "Who can compete with the Duke of Yue for business? The reason why Sun Wuji's family's iron factories opened all over the Tang Dynasty and made huge profits was because he used his power to annex and suppress this independent family. Big, but the Duke of Yue did not do this, and actually used the improved iron-making method to cut off the foundation of the Changsun family from the root. With better quality and lower cost, even Changsun Wuji was helpless and watched the house Home The iron factory suddenly emerged and swept across the country... How could I dare to think that I was better than Changsun Wuji? So I never had the intention to compete with the Fangjia Iron Factory. Now the Fangjia Iron Factory has been merged into the Foundry Bureau of the Ministry of War and became state-owned. It is impossible to interfere with the national economy and people's livelihood. It's just that the family business is huge, the population is too large, and the expenses are huge, so we have to find a way to supplement our income, but..."
He looked at Jin Renwen and continued: "... Regardless of the profit of the iron factory, since the mining of ore from deep mountains requires a large number of manpower for transportation, smelting, etc., Renwen needs to pay more attention to this aspect." OK.”
Jin Renwen immediately agreed: "It is my honor to have the prince use me. From now on, whenever slaves from Southeast Asia or the West come in, they will be given priority to the prince's property."
But he was thinking to himself: You really can't make much money by opening an iron mine. Even so, you have to continue to expand the scale of the iron plant. He also mentioned that there is an extreme shortage of manpower... What does he need so many manpower for?
Slaves are bought with real money, and their only purpose is to use slaves to create profits that far exceed the purchase price. Therefore, even those wealthy families who are full of benevolence and morality treat slaves extremely harshly and give them less to eat. , doing one more hour of work, and assigning one less person to the same job, all these accumulated are profits, but Li Shenfu's style is obviously different from this.
Want to wait for the critical moment to arm these slaves and try to use them like an army to attack the city?
If this is really the case, then Li Shenfu can only be blinded by his imagination.
Whether slaves from Southeast Asia or the West, they were all as strong as cows, as stupid as pigs, with naughty temperaments, and they were lazy to eat. The most important thing was that they were as stupid as stones and could not be trained. They rushed forward when eating and whined when working. , even if the whip is applied, it still lingers... Jin Renwen simply couldn't imagine what would happen if such barbarians organized them into an army and the two armies faced off.
But what does this have to do with him? The Prince of Xiangyi County is extremely generous. He only needs to deliver the slaves, pays very quickly and never bargains. He is an extremely high-quality customer...
*****
There were lamps and candles burning in the imperial study room, and it was bright.
Li Chengqian sat behind the court case and carefully read the information submitted by "Hundred Qisi". His brows were furrowed, his molars were clenched tightly, and he was filled with anger.
After a long time, he put down the information and rubbed his eyebrows, looked at Li Junxian who was standing in front of him with his hands tied, and asked: "What's going on with this Jin Renwen?"
The Jin royal family is not prosperous and has very few close branches. Even so, except for Jin Famin, he is not familiar with the rest of them. What good is a royal family that is nominally affiliated with a country that has perished in reality? What do you care about?
Even the "Three Thousand Hwarangs" were killed in the mutiny, and the Silla Kingdom's vitality was completely cut off...
Li Junxian said: "This man is the son of Jin Chunqiu, the brother of Jin Famin, and the nephew of Queen Seondeok. It stands to reason that he has the same qualifications to inherit the throne of Silla as Jin Famin... However, this man is very smart and took the initiative after Jin Famin died. Cut off ties with other Silla nobles, and used Queen Seondeok's connections and money to do a lot of business with those aristocratic families, including slave trade, which was very profitable."
"Didn't you act under the banner of the Duke of Yue?"
"It's rare. As far as the general knows, Queen Seon Deok once sternly warned that if something really happened, you can go to the Duke of Yue to help solve it, but you must not use the name of the Duke of Yue to collect money during normal trade. .”
"Haha, this woman is still very affectionate towards Erlang. Could it be that she plans to marry into the Fang family as a concubine?"
Li Chengqian teased and asked: "How many minerals, workshops, and slaves do the Xiangyi County Prince's Palace...and the entire clan have now?"
Although slaves from overseas do not understand the language, are not accustomed to the local environment, and work hard, the survival rate is extremely low. However, these people gathered together in one place must be obedient to the masters who provide them with food and control their life and death. Even if It is a mob, but once it is suddenly launched, the harm is not trivial.
Li Junxian understood what His Majesty meant, why: "Most of the minerals of the clan members are in Goguryeo, Wa, Luzon and even Ceylon, Johor, Linyi and other countries. Although the 'Baiqisi' is in these places, There are also ears and eyes, but they are more focused on monitoring the country's internal affairs, military and other trends. There is no systematic monitoring of the Tang people's industries there, so the general will not know. "
Li Chengqian nodded. The "Hundred Cavalry Division" is now responsible for supervising hundreds of officials and spying on the whole country. It is extremely powerful. If it is allowed to add more people outside the territory to expand its scope of authority, it will evolve into a behemoth and be in danger of losing control.
"Jin Renwen was just a broker who traveled among the nobles of the aristocratic families and clans. He met Erlang and rushed to the palace of the Prince of Xiangyi County. What was going on?"
This is what Li Chengqian is most concerned about.
Li Junxian shook his head: "No one else was present at the two places, Queen Shande, Duke Yue, Jin Renwen, Prince Xiangyi, Jin Renwen, so it is not known what the specific discussion was about. But yesterday, Duke Yue When he left the palace at Xuanwu Gate, he met Wang Fangyi. After he left, Wang Fangyi strengthened the security of the entire Xuanwu Gate area, which seemed to be the instructions of the Duke of Yue. "Obviously, Fang Jun was not worried about the security of Xuanwu Gate.