Go back to ancient times to be a royal merchant

In the court hall, Wang Xiujin expected that the matter of picking up the boat would be hindered, so he was not so anxious to go to the boathouse along the coast to gain a sense of presence, but to look for the "returnees". He needs to know too much now.After the young masters of the "returnees" experienced sea adventures, their temperament has changed a lot, and they are also a lot rougher. Compared with the gentlemen before, they are a little more straightforward. the difference.

Listening to the scenery overseas, Wang Xiujin was very serious. He was about to ask about the ship with the gun barrel they said, and several people took out a picture. The picture was the appearance of a ship, and it was in four directions. It’s all there. After Wang Xiujin read it, he folded the blueprint. He really thinks foreigners are too tall. Nima is called a cannon barrel. He was blind for nothing. He didn’t sleep all night and thought about it for so long. The result is wooden Yes, something similar to a trebuchet, but the ones thrown are really cannonballs. I thought about it last night. My brain was so big that I thought it was a big hailstone. How could I even imagine that the drizzle could not reach it? I feel so depressed Woolen cloth?

However, the idea of ​​the overseas people is still good. Wang Xiujin touched his chin. It would be very easy to imitate overseas to build such a ship. However, he did not want to make such a simple one. .Skipping the matter of the sea-going ship, Wang Xiujin asked about other matters, such as machines.

"We didn't have a chance to enter the workshop, but we invited back two glass craftsmen." As for how we invited them back, it's hard to say. "The artisans sent to the yamen under the Ministry of Industry should be able to figure out how to make glass very quickly."

"Overseas, do they light candles at night, or something else?" Wang Xiujin picked up his teacup, and seemingly unintentionally raised another question in his mind.

"Some places use candles, and some places use something called electric lights. There are very few places where electric lights are used. Except for the palace, there are only a few non-stop workshops."

The teacup in Wang Xiujin's hand fell on the table, and the electric light actually had electric light.

"Sir?" People who have studied in Xinlou Academy will respectfully call Mr. Wang Xiujin, which is more respectful and kind than calling Wang Huangshang.

"It's okay." Wang Xiujin forced himself to calm down. "Can you get the people from the power plant back?"

"I'm afraid this is a bit difficult. The few places with lights seem to be in the inner courtyard, and those people cannot be reached." Several people shook their heads. Although they didn't know what it was, they also made them try to get people When I got it back, it still looked noticeably brighter than a candle, making night seem like day. "They also have rail cars. There are many wooden tracks on which wooden cars can pass. The speed seems to be very fast." Several people talked and gestured to let Wang Xiujin know what the car was like.

Wang Xiujin nodded. Now that power plants have appeared, it is not surprising that there are mine cars under the track. He is not sure whether the common trains were developed because of this, but this can be considered for introduction. If you want to get paper, Wang Xiujin is in The Dongben that several people talked about was drawn on the paper, and several people stared wide-eyed. The husband has never been overseas, and he actually drew the track and wooden car just after listening to their description.

"This thing can be made, but I am a little picky about the wood used." Wang Xiujin tapped his fingers, "The maintenance after that must also keep up, especially the wear and tear."

A few people nodded and said yes, "This kind of car is not fast. It is not as fast as the bicycle you made for the emperor. It runs fast, and it can't compare to a horse." Speaking of this, a few people thought of overseas carriages again, "Overseas carriages The carriage is like this, although it is a bit smaller, it still has merits.” As for the carriage, someone picked up a pen and paper to draw the carriage, “Moreover, the carriage is not made of wood, but made of iron.”

Wang Xiujin nodded, he knew this.

"There are also pens. Overseas people are really poor. They actually use feathers as pens, and their writing is really stingy, small, and it looks too tiring." Several people admired some overseas things, but at the same time there were some I don't like it at all.

What if you put the quill in a thin bamboo tube?Wang Xiujin decided to try after going back.Several "returnees" talked about some overseas affairs and the things they brought back, "Their clothes are really weird, they look weird, and there are two cloths on the back, a bit like a swallow's tail, okay If people don’t do it, it’s like a bird.”

"What is the most popular thing to bring, and do they charge taxes?" Wang Xiujin is more concerned about this.

"No tax, the porcelain embroidery we brought over, and women's clothes, they like it very much." After finishing speaking, they were silent for a while, and then said, "And daggers, they paid extra attention to the daggers we equipped .”

Wang Xiujin nodded, "When doing business overseas, it's not that weapons cannot be circulated as commodities. The first question is that we get weapons that are more advanced than daggers. This can be done slowly. What kind of currency do they use, gold, silver and copper? Or banknotes?"

"Paper money, when they took it out, the youngest almost didn't laugh out loud, and joked that he couldn't even take out gold."

"It's not that they can't get the gold out, so they keep the gold for other uses." Maybe they don't feel it now, but when the gold reserves are more than a few years later, they will find the problem. "Since paper currency circulation has started overseas, Daliang has to prepare to change the currency in circulation when going abroad. If gold and silver things can't flow out, it's better to keep them safe at home." Pour a cup of tea for himself, Wang Xiujin thought for a while He said again, "Let's make the Minister of Household Affairs a headache for this matter!"

Several people chatted for a while before parting. Wang Xiujin did not go home directly, but went to a workshop in the army. He wanted to know how the research and development of gunpowder was going, and if possible, could he try to make a cannon.

The fourth prince and his party, who were going to follow the coastline from north to south, did not continue southward. Instead, Liu Qing continued south with the fourth prince's personal entourage, while the fourth prince and Li Sushan returned directly to Beijing with another team.They naturally heard some news about the return of the sea ship, and judging from the one after another order about coastal defense, it seemed that something happened to the returning sea ship.

Along the way, the four princes and their party rushed on. Wang Xiujin in the capital reported the matter of the wooden track to the imperial court. This time it did not cause much controversy. The car has to be provided by the Royal Merchant, and of course the imperial court will not let the Royal Merchant supply the car for nothing, and all the profits within five years will belong to the Royal Merchant.

After Wang Xiujin learned what the court had discussed, he just sneered. After the benefits were real, these people might jump up and ask for taxes again.Alas, when will the court be able to twist into one rope?At that time, as long as you stomp your feet, the whole world will also shake, and maybe the continental plates will also be re-divided.Putting aside unrealistic ideas, Wang Xiujin began to get busy. The wood used to lay the track had to be carefully selected, and what kind of cars would be built on the track. These are not the main things now. The progress of the workshop is about to speed up, and the name of the workshop that was originally planned has also been replaced by the word "che" by Wang Xiujin.

He has been waiting for Wang Xiujin to take over the management of the boat workshop, and prepared all kinds of calculations. In the end, he waited and waited, but no one was seen. No matter how many small tricks he prepared, he had to use people. Nothing works.The steward waited for several days without seeing anyone, so he was a little impatient, and one day when he went to the morning court, he read Wang Xiujin's book.

The emperor looked at the steward as if he was looking at an idiot, and while the ministers who had a good relationship with the steward mourned for him in their hearts, they all backed away, not knowing whether their stupidity would be contagious to others.No one in the capital knew what the imperial merchants were busy with, and with the acquiescence of the Holy Majesty, they either spent time in the military workshop or went to the Ministry of Industry to find overseas craftsmen.Since the emperor gave the shipyard to the imperial merchant, and the imperial merchant also handed over the money to the household department, then the shipyard belongs to the imperial merchant, so you just throw up your sleeves and leave. Not stupid, is not stupid.

At this moment, the Son of Heaven and all the ministers had the same thought, how did this fellow become an official in the court?Of course, the emperor would definitely not feel that he had misjudged the person. This person must have done something to deceive the emperor.Naturally, the ministers couldn't think that the emperor was wrong, even if they had this thought, they had to suppress it, what they thought was who was this guy's student, his teacher was really blind.

The steward who is regarded as a fool still has such a little bit of pride in his heart. Even if the emperor still gave the shipyard to the emperor for the sake of words, his participation in the book will still make the emperor have a lump in his heart against the emperor. .The more the manager thought about it, the more he felt that he had done a good job, which made him feel unhappy, and the other party also felt bad.Even though the steward lowered his head so that people couldn't see the expression on his face clearly, people could still feel the smugness emanating from his body, and the minister who was close to him backed away calmly, he wanted to die, don't implicate others.

Jumping out from the steward to participate in the imperial business, Mr. Wang listened attentively, without even raising his eyelids. On the other side, Old General Li stroked his beard, raised his eyebrows and glanced at the person who ran out looking for trouble, General Li Shaking his head in his heart.After accepting the decree, they listened to Wang Xiujin's words, fearing that there might be twists and turns in the boat workshop, let's let the kid guess it right.

After the court meeting, Wang Xiujin almost laughed out loud when he listened to the Dachao of the Ministry of Industry talking about this matter, and then felt sad, no matter whether the current ministers in the court were sincere, or were frightened by the emperor's move to drive people to the grassland, it was barely considered Twisted into a rope, but some people still jump out to do three twists and four twists. This is not just a matter of everyone's death. Raising such a brainless family, and educating such a gentleman who doesn't know how to adapt, I'm afraid it will be a problem. suffer.

After thinking about it, Wang Xiujin put the matter aside. He is really busy. Once he got the glass he was thinking about, he could do more things. Glass has a wide range of uses, and its clarity is better than colored glaze. I have already started to prepare to replace all the windows in the house, except the ones facing the bed, with glass.Of course, the first thing to change is the palace.

The few people who studied with overseas craftsmen put their heart and soul into it. This skill is quite good. According to what the emperor said, it can make a lot of money. After they finish their studies, they will take their apprentices to the workshop and enter Being a craftsman in the palace, no matter entering the palace as a craftsman or going to a workshop, is an enviable job. If the workshop is run by an imperial merchant, you don't have to worry about it for the rest of your life.

After leaving the Ministry of Industry, Wang Xiujin went to the workshop in the army. All the concave-convex mirrors made before were sent to the workshop. I don’t know if the new telescope has been made. If it can be used, there must be soldiers on the city wall. Of course, it would be even better if it can be made with a high magnification, but he doesn't know much about it, so he can only hope that the craftsmen's brains will be broadened.

The workshop was very busy, and the craftsmen were very busy. Wang Xiujin didn't want to disturb him. After talking with the master for a while, he saw the finished product of the telescope and looked at the design drawings of the cannon. The drawings of the ancients were quite simple. Only There is no introduction to the internal structure of the outer pass, but just looking at the shape, it is still very similar to a cannon. If it can be built, I don't know if it can guarantee the range.

After coming out of the military workshop, I turned to the car workshop under construction. The workshop occupies a large area, and the workshop with rail cars is added, which makes it look a bit small. Wang Xiujin’s consideration of whether to use bicycles has shrunk. It’s not that Wang Xiujin underestimated bicycles. Low-cost bikes are not available before leaving the factory, and the bicycle market is quite large. However, he makes wooden bicycles, which he thinks will be replaced soon, so there is no need to occupy such a large area.The construction speed of the workshop is not slow, and the bicycle workshop can be put into production years ago.

Wang Xiujin thought about it, talked with the manager about the workers' life, and asked people to post a formal notice, and those who had registered before also sent someone to notify.Wang Xiujin was so busy that he still felt overwhelmed, but news of his sister-in-law's premature birth came out at this juncture. After Wang Xiujin received the letter, he was silent for a long time. To be honest, his affection for his sister-in-law had long since disappeared, but when he heard She was born prematurely, and still couldn't help but worry about her. After all, it was an acquaintance, and she got along well with her sister-in-law before. It's not good for him to say anything maliciously, but it is absolutely impossible for him to visit Chun's house.

Mrs. Wang, who got the news, didn't go there, she just asked her daughter and the people around her to go there.The second master of the Chun family was not dissatisfied when he saw Wang Xiuyun. Although there were some conflicts between the two families, the Wang family did not cut off contact with the Chun family because of this, especially the Huangshang, who still took care of his business from time to time, which also made him feel uncomfortable. Master Chun Er was very grateful.

After learning that his sister-in-law had given birth to a daughter, Wang Xiujin didn't say anything, and asked the people around him to prepare a gift for his little niece. There are many boys in the family, so it's good to have a girl to accompany the mother.Just thinking about it, the person who came to deliver the message continued, "Young master, after giving birth, the young lady bit her tongue and committed suicide."