novelAbuy Chapter 006 Not for Sale, Only for Free
Chapter 006 Not for Sale, Only for Free
Chapter 006
"Chen Lang, it's done."
Song Yanniang's eyes gleamed, and she was secretly very pleased: "The man I chose is indeed capable!"
She turned and patted Song Xianze on the shoulder, saying, "Kangnian, how much do you think this new plow is worth?"
Song Xianze sighed and said, "The new plow is good, but I'm afraid most people can't afford it!"
"Can't afford it?"
Chen Ying asked in surprise, "How could you not afford it?"
"This new plow uses at least fifty catties of steel. Even if it's the highest quality steel (refined to the tenth degree), it costs three qian of silver per catty. Fifty catties would be fifteen taels of silver. Adding the labor costs, it should sell for at least twenty taels of silver!"
Song Xianze explained, "While an ordinary wooden plow is not as labor-saving as this iron-shafted plow, one iron-shafted plow can buy three wooden plows..."
Song Yanniang said, "Wooden plows are not durable and will break down in no time. This one is made of fine steel. Even if the iron plow breaks down in the future, the fine steel will still be worth more than ten taels of silver."
Song Xianze really couldn't refute Song Yanniang's point of view, after all, what she said was true, this was not cheap pig iron, but ten troop steel.
"Brother Chen, let's forge more iron plows, make hundreds, no, thousands. Guide Prefecture is so big, how many estates and how many landlords are there?"
Song Yanniang calculated, "We can sell each plow for twenty taels of silver. We can sell several thousand in Guide Prefecture alone, and there are also neighboring Weihui Prefecture, Zhangde Prefecture, Kaifeng Prefecture... After the floods this year, the ground has hardened, and we desperately need these labor-saving and easy-to-use plows. We've come at the right time!"
The timing is perfect. Since the frost season is coming early, although Guide Prefecture is located in the Central Plains and will not experience snowfall in August, it will definitely snow in late September.
Therefore, the autumn grain must be planted within half a month to avoid affecting the harvest. If the season is missed, the autumn grain will not only be reduced, but there may also be a complete crop failure.
After the flood, the fields will be more fertile. As long as the rain keeps up and irrigation is timely, the autumn grain can yield one shi per mu. According to the current grain price, one shi of grain can be sold for two liang of silver.
Song Xianze pondered for a moment and said, "Brother-in-law, I have three of these iron-shafted plows, or at least five!"
"OK!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly and said, "Bo'an, as the saying goes, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. I need capital to forge these iron plows. How about ten taels of silver for each one?"
"Ten taels?"
Song Xianze was slightly taken aback: "Really?"
"Would I lie to you?"
Chen Ying's actual production cost was nine taels of silver for coke and the iron Buddha statue he found. Even if he used purchased pig iron to make it, the actual cost could be controlled at three taels of silver. He sold it for ten taels of silver and still made a profit of seven taels of silver.
"No!"
Song Yanniang immediately refused, saying, "Brother Chen, ten taels of silver is too much of a loss..."
"Yan Niang, Bo An isn't an outsider!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly and said, "It's just ten taels of silver. If you don't have the money, we can settle the payment after the autumn harvest!"
"No, I have silver!"
Song Xianze directly took off his sword, whose scabbard was made of silver and copper. He pointed the blade at the copper and gently slashed it, revealing a glittering golden light.
"This is……"
Song Yanniang grabbed Song Xianze's ear: "Kangnian, have you been hiding some money?"
"There are six taels of gold in here. At the current gold price, one tael of gold can be exchanged for eight taels of silver, so that's forty-eight taels of silver..."
"Plus this sword, it'll be fifty taels for you!"
Chen Ying took the sword without hesitation: "Bo'an, in a few days, I'll return a knife forged from hundred-refined steel to you. You won't lose out!"
Chen Ying directly gave the iron plow to Song Xianze, and then took the sword to Ma Muji. Although Ma Muji was small, it had everything: medicine shops, grain shops, wine shops, and gold and silver shops.
The gold and silver shops and pawnshops in Mamuji are all owned by the Ding family, which is the family of Ding Kuichu, the future Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall.
Now, Ding Kuichu and his nephew Ding Qirui have both passed the imperial examination and become Jinshi. The Ding family is now a well-known emerging family in Yongcheng, but it is not on the same level as the four old families of Yongcheng.
The four major families in Yongcheng are the Cui, Xie, Zhang, and Chen families. Even the families of Ding Qirui, the governor of Shaanxi, the vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the minister of the Ministry of War, and the grand tutor of the crown prince, as well as the Wang Sanshan family, cannot reach the top in Yongcheng.
In Yongcheng, the most prestigious circle was Taiqiu Academy. At its peak during the Longqing reign of the Ming Dynasty, Taiqiu Academy had more than 1,200 scholars, and more than 150 of them went on to become officials in the capital.
Of course, besides Taiqiu Academy, Yongcheng also has Huibin Academy and Mangshan Academy, which are very popular for their literary culture. Taiqiu Academy was founded by Zuo Siming, and Song Xianze, Ding Kuichu, Lian Guoshi and others graduated from this academy. No wonder Song Xianze dared to say that he had so many connections.
Chen Ying originally intended to take the sword sheath to the shop to exchange it for silver, but considering that it was Song Xianze's most beloved treasure, he pawned the sword for twenty-three taels of silver.
With the twenty-three taels of silver, Chen Ying bought six bushels of grain, some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar before returning to his new home.
As Chen Ying looked at the last new plow, he was also pondering a question: In the Ming Dynasty, artisans were registered in the craft register, which was passed down through generations and they served the government. Blacksmiths were an important category in the craft register.
Important iron production, especially high-quality iron materials, weapons, and large agricultural implements, was usually carried out by state-run ironworks, mines and metallurgical institutes, or by craftsmen controlled by local governments. Private operations were strictly regulated.
Moreover, iron is a strategic resource, and like salt, it is strictly controlled by the state. Unauthorized iron ore mining and blast furnace smelting, i.e., illegal iron smelting, are serious crimes.
The sources of raw materials for private iron shops, such as pig iron and wrought iron, are subject to government monitoring. They must purchase them from legal government-run or franchised channels and register their intended use.
Despite numerous obstacles, in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, with the collapse of the garrison system and the development of the commodity economy, flexibility became possible. He could establish connections within the garrisons, such as with centurions, chiliarchs, or even the commanders, deputy commanders, and assistant commanders of the garrisons.
This path seems easy, but the most crucial thing is money. Chen Ying doesn't have any money. Even if he had a dozen taels of silver now, he wouldn't be able to get through so many steps.
Chen Ying naturally thought of Zheng Sanjun, the prefect of Guide, and Sun Chuanting, the magistrate of Yongcheng County, because both of them had made outstanding contributions to disaster relief during the flood in the third year of the Tianqi reign and were promoted.
Sun Chuanting was promoted from the seventh-rank magistrate of Yongcheng County to the sixth-rank magistrate of Shangqiu County, while Zheng Sanjun was promoted to the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate for his meritorious service in disaster relief.
He could ask the prefectural or county government to issue an official document to Sun Chuanting, who was eager to resume production and needed to achieve political success.
Chen Ying's workshop was designated as a farm implement manufacturing bureau, specially approved for the purpose of providing disaster relief and restoring agriculture. This was tantamount to receiving an imperial edict, placing it above the existing garrison and artisan registration systems.
The workshop could be nominally considered a government-supervised, privately-run operation, with Chen likely acting as the contractor or manager. The participating artisans could be explained as recruiting disaster victims, thus avoiding the issue of their artisan status.
The franchised workshops allocated or purchased a batch of pig iron for disaster relief from the government granary at a fair price, which perfectly solved the problem of the legality of the raw materials.
Thinking of this, Chen Ying looked at Chen Daniu and Wang Tiezhu, who were eating, and said, "You two, come with me to Yongcheng County!"
"Bang!"
The bowl in Chen Daniu's hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
"Boying, Brother Chen...Master Chen...please, I don't want the money anymore, just ignore me!"
Wang Tiezhu burst into tears: "I haven't gotten married yet, I don't want to die..."
"Look at you two, so pathetic. If I send you both to jail, do you think you can escape?"
"Not going to turn yourself in?"
"No, we're going to latch onto someone powerful!"
Chen Ying rented an oxcart, loaded it with the iron-shafted plow, and headed towards the county town with Chen Daniu and Wang Tiezhu.
At the Yongcheng County government office, people were still coming and going, crowding together to cry out for justice, file lawsuits, and request relief. Several yamen runners, carrying water and fire sticks, impatiently maintained order.
"How long will we have to wait in line?"
A scene from a movie flashed through Chen Ying's mind. He reached into his pocket and found a few pieces of silver. It would be a waste to throw them away; he wasn't exactly a tycoon.
Thinking of this, he beckoned to Chen Daniu beside him and handed him a piece of silver, about one tael of silver, which, according to the exchange rate, could be exchanged for more than a thousand coins.
Before long, Chen Daniu came over with a string of copper coins. Chen Ying broke the coins apart and threw them on the ground.
"Who dropped their money...?"
While everyone was scrambling to pick up the copper coins on the ground, Chen Ying finally squeezed his way to the door.
"Chen Ying has urgent business to discuss with the County Magistrate!"
The constable sized him up and sneered, "A military household, huh? What do you want to see the county magistrate for? What do you think this place is? Get out of here!"
Chen Ying then took out a piece of loose silver and handed it over: "Brother, please do me a favor. I really have something urgent to attend to."
After accepting the money, the yamen runner's attitude softened slightly: "The county magistrate went out of town early this morning to inspect the disaster situation. We don't know when he will be back. If you want to wait, just wait over there."
The three had no choice but to retreat to the stone lions at the entrance of the government office and squat down to wait.
As darkness fell, the sound of horses' hooves grew louder as it approached.
A carriage stopped at the entrance of the yamen, and an official in his thirties got out. It was Sun Chuanting. He looked tired and walked straight into the yamen after getting out of the carriage.
Chen Ying rushed forward: "Your Excellency! Military household member Chen Ying has important news to report!"
Sun Chuanting didn't stop walking, only waving his hand: "If there's anything, we can talk about it in court tomorrow."
"Your Excellency, I, Chen, have a treasure to offer that has saved countless lives!"
Chen Ying's voice finally attracted Sun Chuanting's attention. He turned around and looked at Chen Ying, recognizing him as the military household member who had been involved in the large-scale construction project in Ma Mu.
"Countless survivors?"
Sun Chuanting laughed: "Young man, don't speak so confidently. Today, I saw twenty-five flooded villages in this county, with more than 30,000 disaster victims homeless. Tell me, what treasure could save so many lives?"
"Faced with the disaster of the Yellow River breaching its banks, we cannot wait or rely on others; we can only actively help ourselves!"
Chen Ying's first words struck a chord with Sun Chuanting.
The Ming Dynasty is currently facing severe internal and external troubles. In Liaodong, the Later Jin army is pressing in and eyeing the border with hostility, putting Liaodong in a precarious situation.
The rebellion of She Chongming, the Pacification Commissioner of Yongning in Sichuan, and An Bangyan, the Assistant Pacification Commissioner of Shuixi in Guizhou, devastated forty prefectures and counties, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries.
Taking advantage of the internal turmoil in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, He Zhongwei, the governor of Luzhou in Annam, invaded Shangsi Prefecture in Guangxi, besieged Longdong, and plundered places such as Baisha Village in Pingxiang, before sending an urgent appeal to the imperial court.
As the foremost prefecture in the Central Plains, Guide Prefecture was immediately petitioned by Zheng Sanjun to seek aid from the imperial court. However, the petition was like a stone sinking into the sea, and even if the court wanted to help, there was nothing they could do.
Last year, Xu Hongru rebelled in Shandong. Although his main force was annihilated, the remnants still threaten the Grand Canal, and even the capital city is experiencing a food shortage. The current situation is just as Chen Ying described.
We can't wait, and we can't rely on others.
Chen Ying turned around, lifted the cover of the cart with a new iron-shafted plow, and said, "This is a new iron-shafted plow that I have made. It increases the efficiency of tilling the land by 40%, saves labor and is easy to use. It is most suitable for emergency planting after a disaster."
"If this plow is used now, soybeans can be planted before late June, potentially yielding a harvest before winter!"
"Come in."
Several yamen runners carried the iron-shafted plow into the back hall. Sun Chuanting got up, circled the plow a few times, squatted down and touched the plowshare and the plowshare itself, and then tried the handle.
"You say efficiency has increased by 40%, but do you have any evidence to support that?"
"I dare not deceive Your Excellency!"
Chen Ying took out a roll of paper from his pocket, on which was written the record of the actual test: "It has been tested in Songjiazhuang, and more than twenty people can testify to it."
Sun Chuanting was a pragmatic official. He did not completely believe Chen Ying's words. He ordered the iron plow to be carried into the back garden and the flowers and plants in the garden to be pushed over.
By the time the plowing test was finished, it was already 7:45 PM.
Sun Chuanting was overjoyed. If he presented this item, it would surely be a great achievement.
"This item is made of iron; how much did it cost?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, this item requires eighty-five catties of pig iron and costs ten taels to produce."
Sun Chuanting sneered: "This thing is clearly made of steel, not eighty-five catties of pig iron. How could it be made of steel?"