Chapter 186 I’m back!
Just as Zhu Biao was about to go to court, a eunuch hurriedly ran in.
"Your Highness, Xia Zhibai is back."
Zhu Biao was still a little sleepy at first, but when he heard these words, he immediately became energetic. He suddenly looked at the eunuch and said : "When?"
"I just entered the city just now. Now I should go to the salt shop in the city." The eunuch said.
Zhu Biao touched his chin, hesitated, and said: "In an hour, I will send an order to Xia Zhibai and ask him to come to the East Palace. I have something to ask him."
"Nuo."< br>
When the eunuch walked away, Zhu Biao shook his head and said: "This Xia Zhibai is really one after another. He sent two memorials yesterday and came back directly today. This is really not leaving anything for His Majesty." A little room for thinking.”
“It’s a pity that the idea is too unrealistic.”
Zhu Biao sneered and walked towards Fengtian Palace.
In the city.
Xia Zhibai has just arrived at the Kyoto Salt Shop.
This trip lasted for more than nine months. Even with his strong willpower, he still felt a little tired. The Kyoto Salt Shop has not yet opened at the agreed time, and the door is still closed. .
Xia Zhibai stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Bang! Bang bang!
"Who?!" A slightly dissatisfied voice sounded in the room: "Yanpu doesn't open until three o'clock? You're early. Come back later."
Xia Zhibai did not stop and continued at the door Knocking.
"Open the door."
"I'm back."
Hearing these two sentences, the store instantly became quiet.
Then there was a burst of noise, and not long after, the closed shop opened.
Several expectant and nervous figures appeared in front of Xia Zhibai. Seeing that it was really Xia Zhibai, the current shop owner Jing Man's eyes turned red and he shouted excitedly into the shop: "Sir is back."
"Sir is back."
Several people quickly took off the door panels and welcomed Xia Zhibai in.
Xia Zhibai entered the store.
The store is not much different from when I left it, it just has a little more time and space to it.
Jing Man asked the clerk to pour a cup of tea for Xia Zhibai. It was as if he had a backbone and a head of household. His grievances were directly displayed on his face. The grievances looked like he was about to cry on the spot. came out.
Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "Man, why are you still crying?"
"You are a scholar."
Jing Man shook his head, I couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying: "I'm not crying, I'm happy. I'm glad that you're finally back, sir. If you don't come back, our salt shop in Kyoto will really collapse. During your absence, what happened in Kyoto Too many things.”
Xia Zhibai nodded.
He sat in his seat, looked around with a smile, and said, "Then I want to listen carefully. What is it that can make you so anxious?"
Jing Man Nod vigorously.
He did not delay at all, and directly told everything that happened in the salt shop in Kyoto in the past six months.
What Jing Man resents the most is Li Sheng’s betrayal, Chen Yan’s departure among the scholars, the suppression of Kyoto salt shops by the Salt Transportation Department, and the continued suppression of Kyoto salt shops in the Jiangnan region. of poaching people.
Jing Man talked about this series of things at once.
Xia Zhibai listened quietly.
He actually heard what Jing Man said.
But after all, he was in northern Xinjiang, too far away from Kyoto. The news he heard was fragmented and mixed with many misinformation and rumors. Therefore, he did not have a thorough understanding of what happened in Kyoto. .
After listening to Jing Man’s complaint, Xia Zhibai nodded.
All things, to his ears, can be classified into one category, and the benefits are touching.
Although he didn’t know the specific circumstances of Li Sheng and Chen Yan’s betrayal, he had basically guessed it. Especially in the Jiangnan area, various salt companies were popping up like mushrooms after a rain. This in itself was inconsistent with common sense. It must be It is related to the betrayal between Li Sheng and Chen Yan. It is probably Li Sheng and Chen Yan who handed over the confidential information of the Kyoto Salt Shop.
In exchange for today's prominent reputation.
As for the suppression by the Salt Transportation Department, interests are also involved.
Living on mountains and water, the Salt Transport Department naturally relies on salt, but when the court was in turmoil, he suddenly intervened and ate Yingtian Mansion, the most populous city in Zhili Province, alive. There are also nearby Chuzhou and Shouzhou, salt markets with millions of people, so much money is wasted, but at the moment, the officials of the Salt Transportation Department can't even see them.
Naturally they will not be willing to do so.
It is certain to suppress the Kyoto Salt Shop.
This.
Xia Zhibai had expected it a long time ago.
Not surprising.
As for the poaching of people from his factories in the Jiangnan region, it was a bit unexpected, but after thinking about it briefly, I understood it.
After all, the steam engine is new, so few people have seen it, and even fewer can operate it normally. Although Li Sheng knows a little, as an engineer, he obviously will not teach it himself. In the end, The most realistic way to make money is to poach people.
People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places.
The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River offered higher conditions. The Zaohu refugees he recruited at that time were already in worrying living conditions, so they were naturally easily persuaded. Xia Zhibai said: "There is no problem with the production of the salt factory and the coal factory, right?"
Jing Man said: "Not yet, but too many people have left. At the moment, the salt companies in Jiangnan are still thinking of ways. Due to helplessness, I discussed it with Governor Zhou. Outside the salt factory and coal factory, Walls have been built, but there are still people shouting outside from time to time, which makes people feel uneasy."
"Mr. It’s too late.”
Jing Man looked resentful at the moment.
Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "If you run out of people, you can recruit them again. There is a shortage of everything these days, except for people."
"As long as the salt plant and coal plant can operate normally, That’s not a big problem.”
"Just now you said that places that used to produce salt, such as Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang, have now begun to set up salt enterprises? Now that you know something about it, what form do the salt enterprises in these places use? Are they the same as those in Kyoto? What are the specifications of the salt shop?”
Xia Zhibai looked at Jing Man.
Jing Man snorted coldly, nodded and said: "Of course, this bitch Li Sheng was enchanted somehow and stole the blueprints of the steam engine. Now the salt in the Jiangnan area "Everyone who uses steam to make salt, without exception, uses our drawings."
Xia Zhibai laughed, his face completely relaxed.
Jing Man was stunned.
He looked at Xia Zhibai suspiciously, wondering why Xia Zhibai could still laugh?
Li Sheng stole their things and moved them somewhere else. Now he is still winking at them. Shouldn't he be angry?
Xia Zhibai smiled mysteriously and said: "Even if Li Sheng doesn't steal it, I will make the steam engine drawings public when I come back this time. What I care about is never the thin drawings. Remember me Have you announced the steam engine drawings before?”
Jing Man nodded.
Of course he knows this.
At that time, he and Fang Mo worked together to sort it out.
Xia Zhibai picked up the teacup, took a sip, and said lightly: "Do you still remember why I distributed those brochures with drawings in Yingtian Mansion?"
< br>Jing Man was stunned for a moment and said uncertainly: "At that time, the commander seemed to want to push out the conversion unit?"
Xia Zhibai nodded.
He said with a smile: "At that time, I just wanted to publish this set of conversion units, but steam engines were not popular at that time, and not many people were qualified to know about steam engines. Now, with Li Sheng's betrayal, But he also spread this system.”
"Li Sheng doesn't have the ability to reinvent the wheel, or even make changes."
"He can only copy it."
"Do you know what this means?"
"What does it mean?" Jing Man shook his head.
"Mathematics is unified." Xia Zhibai said with firm eyes.
"Mathematics?" Jing Man looked confused.
Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "Although weights and measures were unified in the past, there were always differences in various places, especially in many aspects such as weight and length in the local area. Even different counties in the same state have different differences. There are small differences, and it is very difficult to force integration.”
“Now with the steam engine, the Jiangnan region has gradually accepted the standards I set.”
“I will run the north in the future. Commerce will also unify the North."
"This also means."
"The north and the south will be unified in terms of weights and measures, and mathematics will be unified."
"This also means that the situation of one pound and sixteen taels in the north and half a pound and five liang and six taels in the south will not happen again in the future."
“1+1 can only equal 2 from now on.”
“This will be of great benefit to the improvement of mathematics in the future.”
Jing Man was even more confused.
He couldn't understand what Xia Zhibai was talking about.
Xia Zhibai said: "The breakthrough of the steam engine is destined not to be achieved by one person, but requires the concerted efforts of many people to promote it together. And my purpose is not only to make a breakthrough in the steam engine, but also to pass The steam engine has set new standards for the world.”
“I want to be the one who sets the standards.”
“Now that the steam engine is recognized by the gentry in Jiangnan, they will naturally accept the recognition. As more and more people agree with the set of standards I formulated, "In the future, there will be less and less measurement units like 'stone' and 'dou' in the world. Scholars from all over the world, they will." Receiving information and outputting information will be more intuitive and easier for others to understand. ”
"The threshold has been unified!"
"As for other things, don't worry about temporary gains and losses."
"These gentry in Jiangnan can't afford to be early without profit. Now the salt enterprises in Jiangnan can do it." It's so fast, most likely there is help from the court."
"But these people always look at the mountains. They are worried that I will reach out to Jiangnan, so they take action first and wait for the salt industry in the future. If it really spreads in Jiangnan, they will also reach out to these salt companies."
"Li Sheng has no idea of the evil involved."
"He will be eaten dry and wiped out."
"Don't care about temporary gains and losses, look at the overall situation, and look at the long term."
"If the old doesn't go, the new won't come. . ”
“Those old salt workers and miners left and saved us money, so they treated it as providing talents for the world. However, Jiangnan usurped so much of my actual profits, but it still did nothing to me. Yanqi pressed forward step by step and refused to let go, it was indeed too much."
Xia Zhibai's eyes turned cold, and he already had a plan in mind.
(End of this chapter)