Infrastructure masters in the red building

The eldest prince has indeed seen Jia Fang's generosity today.

There are so many officers and soldiers in Shengli No. [-] Village, and so many subjects of transformation, Jia Fang generously contributed a single-cylinder steam engine so that they would have the time to go to Cuju and have time to go to Yihong Activity Center for entertainment.

But Jia Fang said: Manpower is the most limited and precious thing, if you can let machines do it, you should let machines do it all.

This is exactly what he did - after finishing the crushing process of sweet potatoes, soaking, settling, draining... until it is sent to the fermentation furnace for fermentation, it is all done by machinery.

It's just that the steam-powered machinery in his hand is not enough, and the machinery in some processes still needs manpower to assist, but this is much less cost than the First Prince imagined.

The fermentation furnace was exactly the large, chubby boiler that he had seen sent from Xiaoyuan to Taoyuanzhai earlier, and now it has been erected firmly in a corner of the second village.

During the fermentation process, the temperature needs to be controlled throughout the process, so a steam heating device is also installed near the fermentation furnace, and an eye-catching sign is posted - "Production center, idlers should not enter".

After the fermentation is completed, the finished product and waste residue will be separated from the fermentation furnace, and the finished product will be further purified, and finally refined into white crystals; the waste residue can be used as fertilizer, and even the waste water generated during the fermentation process is also a very good organic fertilizer.

"Yes, yes!" The First Prince beamed with joy.He really didn't expect that the thousands of people who were originally working in the farmland could now produce such a precious "monosodium glutamate".

"We plan to produce alcohol in the future." Jia Fang pointed to the waste residue produced after starch production from sweet potatoes, "The fermentation furnace has already placed an order with 'Xiaoyuan', and it will be delivered in a few days."

"Alcohol?" The First Prince muttered the term, "The essence of wine?"

"You can say that." Jia Fang nodded and said, "This is a necessity for the medical school. In the past, they always purchased 'burning knives' directly from Xiaoyuan. I think it's too wasteful. It's better to use these scraps to brew it yourself. Alcohol comes out to use..."

Unexpectedly, the First Prince misunderstood the meaning: "You mean... you can brew burning knives here?"

Ganqing has been in the Northwest for many years, and he often hears the reputation of "burning knives".

Jia Fang: Uh... When he brews the alcohol and blends it into a burning knife, it is actually possible.It's just that the eldest prince probably doesn't want this kind of "burning knife".

The two talked about the development of the two villages in Shengli, and as they talked, some dispute arose.Jia Fang called the copper ring Sanliu:

"Sanliu, tell His Highness what is going on with you now."

Tonghuan Sanliu's face was dark at this time, and when he heard Jia Fang's words, he grinned and showed his snow-white teeth, and said, "Master Jia, Your Highness. My service period has been reduced to ten years, and I am now a member of the village. The learning pacesetters are striving to pass the assessment of technical leaders."

"At that time, I will be able to reduce it to five years, and after working for another two years, I will be able to have my own house and my own land. Mr. Jia also promised me that the factory may give me some Son dry stock..."

The eldest prince is about to go berserk at this moment: "Damn...not even me..."

Tonghuan Sanliu smiled naively: "So let me tell Mr. Jia that I won't leave here no matter what. This is my home. Besides, this factory can't do without me..."

Jia Fang hurriedly nodded to Tonghuan three or six times, not to delay his work, and let him go back to work quickly.

"Your Highness, I am now sure that those 'reformed objects' will become residents of this village, and let them become the backbone of this farm and factory." Jia Fang said quite proudly.

"As for whether they need to train and equip their troops like the officers and soldiers in the field in the future, it all depends on His Highness."

The eldest prince fell silent immediately.

What Jia Fang meant was that he had gradually assimilated these former mountain bandits into the villagers who farmed in the two villages, allowing them to receive education, master skills, give them status, and give them the opportunity to be a new person.

But originally these bandits were not the most vicious and heinous group.Those who were the worst at the beginning have all been brought to justice during the public trial.

However, whether these bandits are eligible to be a member of the official army in the future, or be conscripted as conscripts in an emergency, this is the eldest prince's own consideration.

The two visited the "sweet potato products processing factory" in Ercun, and then went back to Taoyuanzhai.Before leaving, Jia Fang took the "monosodium glutamate" that had just been purified from the pot factory, and went to Taoyuan Village.

On the table in front of Shuixian was the can of "monosodium glutamate" that Jia Fang brought back.In his hand were various documents sent to him by shopkeeper Ren.

Shui Xian didn't look through those documents, but just stared at the small clay pot, and at the same time rested his palms on his hands, and lightly tapped his temples with his slender fingers.

"If you don't go back for so long, do you really think that this king will do nothing in Beijing?"

Shui Xian thought about it, and couldn't help laughing.Just when Jia Fang came in, seeing his smiling face, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Shui Xian shook his head: "It's nothing, just come and order something from you."

"Order?" Jia Fang opened his eyes curiously, followed Shui Xian's gaze, saw the small clay pot, and immediately understood.

Jimo port.Now there are more tax collectors in the port, who estimate the value of the cargo list reported by each unloading ship, and then levy [-]% of the landing tax.

Originally, these people were officials who collected road taxes from various state capitals, but now that shipping has increased and the imperial court has added a landing tax, these officials have all been transferred to the port.

There is an unwritten rule in road tax collection, that is, when collecting for the first time, officials will set a tax base according to the type of goods: how much is a tael of tea, how much is a tael of silk, how much is a box of porcelain...

No matter how the goods are changed in the future, as long as the merchant who transports the goods holds the original tax payment documents, he can pay taxes according to the previous tax base.

The hand left by the third prince is here.He secretly sent letters to those rich businessmen who begged to come to the door, asking them to return the cheapest goods no matter what for the first tax return.

That's why there are tea leaves for five renminbi a tael, silk for five renminbi a piece of silver, and high-quality porcelain for two thousand dollars a box...

Afterwards, no matter how good the goods were, the tax collectors stopped looking at them and just counted the quantity, and if the quantity was consistent, they would be released.

As a result, those big merchants whom the third prince mentioned carefully got the first batch of tax bills, and they will be confident in the future. The landing tax is just drizzle and water for them, and they don't need to care about it.

However, those ordinary goods disembarked from Jimo Port: high-quality paraffin smokeless candles, safety matches, briquettes, large and small pieces of glassware, and even fresh seafood caught from the sea, are all sold in Jimo according to the rules. A tax base was approved for the market price in the city, the tax was levied, and [-]% of the tax was paid.

These are small items with little profit, and the price has to be raised after being taxed.

[-]% of the price is not too much, but it is still money.

Of course the people are not happy about it, but the things are better than before, once they are used, they can’t be thrown away, so they have to buy them sparingly, wishing they could break them into two and use them, complaining while using them:

"Third Highness, what are you trying to do!"

"It's better when His Royal Highness was here—"

"Ah, I heard...you must not tell others!"

What I heard is that the palace is secretive and not for outsiders.But the more this is the case, the more one spreads to ten, and ten spreads to hundreds.

If the third prince found out that his new policy of "landing tax" actually contributed to the gossip about him, I don't know if he would regret it.

But here in Jimo Port today, no one cares about what kind of public opinion is in Beijing.Several officials who collected taxes all raised their faces, pretending to act impartially and according to the rules.

"As long as there is one omission to report, it is smuggling|smuggling. If it is found out, it will be severely punished, and the penalty is so great that your shipowner cannot bear the consequences." The tax collector said the opening remarks, and then took the tax declaration form.

Or those, common ones.The tax collector glanced at it, and was about to order someone to take an inventory, but suddenly found that there was one more thing on the list——

"MSG?"

"Yes, monosodium glutamate. It's a new product. I'm planning to ask you to check the price!" The steward who came with the boat is very smart. He has traveled this waterway many times and is very familiar with the officials in front of him. .

As he spoke, he asked the sailors to carry a porcelain jar out of the cabin: "There is only one jar in total. The little one was lazy at first and didn't want to report it anymore. The treasurer Ren told the young one not to miss anything. It's the same as underreporting." It's all about evading state taxes."

"Salt?" the tax collector asked, looking at the white powder in the jar.

"It's not salt, it tastes much milder than salt." The steward quickly reached out, wiped a little on the lid of the jar, and put it into his mouth.

The tax collector followed suit, dipped his fingers in a little bit and tasted it: "What kind of taste is this!" It's really not salt, not even as good as salt, it tastes weird.

"Yes, what our Lord wants is the land in the north. Use this to cook, add a little to it, and the taste of the food will be better." The steward shrugged and said, "You know what?" ’ look, and then said: “Who knows?”

The tax collector thought so too, probably this is just a little eccentricity of some high-ranking official.

Furthermore, the attitude of this taxpayer has always been very good, never missing a report, and several tax collectors also manage here on a daily basis.

"Then, two hundred liters per jar!" The tax collector looked at the small porcelain jar, and wrote "MSG: Two hundred liters per jar" on the tax bill as the tax base.

That is to say, the land tax will be paid in the future, so that it is enough to pay the tax of [-] Wen per jar.

After paying the "landing tax", the "monosodium glutamate" with a jar of two hundred pennies arrived in Beijing after paying the road tax of four states and counties. The total tax was 36 pennies.

After the truck was unloaded, the jar of monosodium glutamate was immediately sent to Wanqing Building.

The master chef and cook of Wanqing Building have already received a letter from Shui Xian, which contains the usage of "monosodium glutamate": it should not be used in large amounts, and must be used with salt; Use, dishes with strong umami flavor should not be used...

A group of cooks had a rare opportunity to "get knowledge from things", and started experiments one after another: cook two dishes by hand, one with MSG and the other without MSG - for a comparison;

Tried all the taboo items on the water constitution letter again - confirmed that they are indeed taboo;

In the end, the cooks were really bored, they poured two pots of water, one with MSG, the other without, and asked the most sharp-tongued and sensitive cook in Wan Qinglou to try it out—and they also tasted the difference.

So, the monosodium glutamate in this small porcelain jar was immediately divided into exquisite porcelain bottles with a height of one finger, and stuffed with wooden stoppers wrapped in red cloth.In the words of Wanqinglou's cook - it looks like a elixir.

From the second day onwards, the diners gradually began to taste something different: "This ingredient looks ordinary, why is it so fresh?"

"Is it much better than before? How did you do it?"

After going to the Wanqing Building, the diners went back to their homes to taste the handicrafts of their own cooks: "No, no, no, it's too dull, too dull!"

It didn't take long for the cooks from various wealthy families in central Beijing to learn from the Wanqing Building.

The cook in Wanqinglou used to be "borrowed" to the mansion. When "gold and silver rice" was popular, even Rongfu was invited once.So the relationship is still there.

So, one by one, the small porcelain bottles were "borrowed" from the Wanqing Building, and all kinds of usage tips were recorded in the hearts of the cooks in various prefectures.

Wanqinglou is very generous, the first calls were all "borrowed", and the result was naturally "meat buns beat dogs, never return".

After that, other restaurants and restaurants secretly entrusted their connections to ask for Wanqinglou and MSG.Wan Qinglou spread her hands--no more, not even her own goods.

During the few days when MSG was lacking, the cooks of Wanqinglou, like other cooks, tried their best to use ham, scallops and other ingredients to draw out the umami flavor in the dishes.Stores and people who don't have this kind of material, or can't make such efforts can only return to the previous bland taste.

The big kitchens in the whole capital are begging: MSG, MSG... where are you!

Finally, a grocery store in Beijing claimed to have the stock, a bottle of [-] Wen, and many of them were snatched away in an instant.But not long after it was discovered that the goods were not on the right board, they were all sent back.The signboard of the grocery store for many years was immediately scolded down.

Immediately, Wanqinglou began to send messages to various "relationship households": The goods have arrived, do you want them?

want! ——Suddenly, restaurants of all sizes in Beijing, as well as private chefs, all flocked to Wan Qing Building.

The master chef of Wanqinglou played a "tasting" in front of his store in a serious manner. The master added a little monosodium glutamate while cooking, and invited everyone to taste the finished product after it was out of the pan.

In addition to the master chef proudly demonstrating MSG, there is actually another "control group" who is hard-working. Another cook with a frosty face is cooking exactly the same dishes as the one opposite, but unfortunately he is not allowed to use it MSG.

"That's right, that's the smell. How much?"

"A bottle of [-] Wen. The dosage is not much, and it can last a month for a dozen people to eat..." The master babbled down all the precautions in one breath, making people feel that his explanations are at least worthwhile. One hundred words.

Perhaps each family had their appetites whetted by the Wan Qing Building earlier, and their expectations were raised by the grocery store that supplied counterfeit goods. The price of a bottle of "two hundred coins" was proposed, but no one thought it was expensive. I still feel like I got a great deal.

The first batch of goods that came in from Wanqinglou was sold out immediately, and in the end even the remaining half bottle in the hand of the "tasting" chef was begged.

But soon, Wanqinglou entered the second batch of goods.

This time, the goods are available in large and small packages. The small bottle is still [-] cash a bottle, and there is also a large bottle with ten times the capacity of the small bottle, and the price is exactly one tael for a large bottle.The kitchens of big families, or those who specialize in the catering business, all think that it is more cost-effective to buy a large bottle.

For example, the purchasing manager of the Ningrong Second Mansion bought ten large bottles at one go, and the total amount was only ten taels of silver. There are so many people in the mansion, and one mansion needs two big bottles for a month, so it is better to buy more and put them away. It's not easy to break anyway.

In this way, this monosodium glutamate gradually became a fashion in Beijing, and then spread to the south.Even many big families in Beijing specially bought this gift, and the Rong Mansion bought a lot of them, and sent them to the Li family in Jinling and the Lin family in Gusu as gifts for their in-laws.

In order to meet this demand, Wan Qing Lou even made gift boxes.Of course, the gift box is also equipped with "instructions" unchanged for thousands of years, explaining the usage and taboos.The recipient of the gift received it, and thought it was prepared by the gift giver, and felt it was caring.

Jimo port.

As soon as the ship docked, the serious tax collector stood on the pier again, solemnly repeating: "If there is one omission..."

"Where can it be!"

The young steward jumped off the diving board and landed on the trestle. With documents in his arms, he came to the tax collector, handed the documents, and reported the goods on the ship one by one:

"This time there are twenty pots of monosodium glutamate." The steward smiled brightly, "Our boss said that it sells well in Beijing."

The tax collector seemed to remember the strange taste he had tasted last time, so he pursed his lips: "That's it... can it still sell well?"

"Twenty essays and one altar, a total of four hundred essays."

It didn't even come to five coins.The young steward thanked him and handed over a taxable amount.The tax collector didn't care about them anymore, and naturally he didn't notice that the jars moved from the boat were not the small porcelain jars like last time.

This time it's a decent large porcelain jar, the kind that can hold dozens of catties in one jar.

East Palace.

The third prince was looking at the amount of "landing tax" reported from various places.

Landing tax is not ideal, that is to be expected.After all, he picks persimmons softly, and only picks those goods that are not expensive to collect taxes seriously, but charges only a fraction of other truly luxurious things.It is also normal that the tax amount is shabby.

Unexpectedly, the third imperial concubine reminded him: Recently, there is a thing called "MSG" in Beijing, which is extremely expensive, and a small bottle is only one tael of silver.I heard it was shipped by sea.

So the third prince looked for the word "MSG" all over the article, but couldn't find it.After rummaging through the tax books, I found it at the end of the Jimo Hong Kong tax book—MSG: the tax base is 60 cash per jar.In the past month, a total of [-] altars were landed, and the land tax was [-] taels of silver.

Third Prince: ...?

I heard from my wife that this "MSG" is obviously a big deal!One tael of silver per bottle, these three hundred altars were transported to Beijing, at least it was a business of 3 taels of silver, and a total of 60 taels of landing tax was paid?

He doesn't remember anyone ever pleading for this "monosodium glutamate", he doesn't even know what MSG is.

The third concubine said that MSG had been added to his diet recently, and the only time he hadn't added it, the third prince frowned and asked, "Did the kitchen change the cook?"

Therefore, even the East Palace spent several taels of silver in the past two months.

The third prince ordered someone to go to Jimo Port to inquire, and what the staff brought back made him extremely depressed-when this thing landed for the first time, no one thought it would be worth anything, and the owner himself "claimed" that he didn't know.But this thing is gradually selling well in Beijing. The fragrance of wine is not afraid of deep alleys, and every family has goods and hundreds of families are looking for it.

According to the rules of Jimo Port, the tax base shall be based on the tax base approved at the time of the first tax return.

"Your Highness, it's simple. You just order Jimo Port to change the rules for this 'MSG'. Every time you go ashore, go to the market and re-check the tax base." The staff thinks this is not a big problem.

"No," the third prince flatly vetoed, "absolutely not. Isn't the lesson from last time not bad enough?"

Now he finally understands that everyone is treated equally, and a bowl of water is equal.If the rules were changed just for this "MSG" now, there would be a lot of noise in Beijing.One change will inevitably force him to apply the rules to other families.

If every family reassesses the tax base every time they go ashore, then he can imagine that the amount of ashore taxes in various ports will immediately soar, and silver will continue to flow into his treasury...but all kinds of pressure will come from all directions. Come, some of which he couldn't refuse, because he couldn't afford to lose them.

So this time, he would rather sit back and watch the loss of landing tax than rashly change the rules of tax collection.

This even made the third prince doubt whether the power in his hands would really be boundless in the future.

——But at least it will be better than now, right?The third prince thought so.

The tax collectors at Jimo Port quickly received the order from above, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.If the tax base had to be checked every time a ship docked, these tax collectors would have no time to close their eyes and sleep.

The young steward with thick eyebrows and big eyes jumped off the boat from the north and greeted the tax collector with a smile.

The tax collector immediately became vigilant: "What new goods have you brought this time, which need to be approved for tax base?"

The steward immediately untied a bag he was carrying, and handed it to the official: "Look, these boots..."

When the official looked at it, he saw that the boots looked like ordinary boots, but the material was different from ordinary cowhide, sheepskin, felt and so on.The upper of this boot is soft and slippery, and the tentacles are quite elastic. I don't know what material it is made of.

The young steward smiled all over his face and said, "These boots are called 'rubber boots'. They are made of a kind of gum. The biggest advantage is that they are impervious to water. If you run on the pier every day, these boots are the most suitable for you." .”

"This pair is for the little people to honor you. As for the tax base, you can decide, look and decide..."

Therefore, in the tax collection list of Jimo Port, in addition to an extra type of monosodium glutamate, a new type of "rubber shoes" was soon added.What new products will come out later, the tax collector really doesn't know.But anyway, he just followed the above and only checked the tax base once, regardless of how the price will rise in the future.