Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 250 Salt Iron Division

On the third day of August, Jiamu's birthday.

Because Ningguo's house was raided, Jia Zhen and his son were about to be executed, and Jia's mother was no longer in the mood to celebrate her birthday.

However, the Lai family seemed to be deliberately embarrassing her, so they decided on this day to give the dowry gift and hand over the marriage certificate.

Except for the bride price, Lai Shangrong left all his own regulations to his parents.

It was not that he was hiding from his job, but that he was also appointed by the Salt and Iron Department. After the day before, he was really unable to do anything else.

Fortunately, in ancient times, not modern times, parents always brought matchmakers, so I didn't expect him.

The distance between the two families is not far away. According to Lai Shangrong's intention, he simply put the dowry in the new house, but as soon as he said this suggestion, he was scolded by Lai and his wife.

It was just dawn, and the gong was sounded to clear the way. Mr. and Mrs. Lai led the matchmaker with both children at the head, followed by a 36-carrying dowry. They walked around the periphery of the Second Mansion in a mighty manner, and then entered the Rong Mansion.

How Rong Mansion receives guests and arranges them has its own set of procedures, so there is no need to go into details.

But Lai Shangrong came to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry and met with Shangguan first as usual.

Due to the corruption case of the Hedao Yamen last year, the left servant Yang Anze came back from disaster relief, and he finally paid for his merits, but even so, he was dismissed from his official position. This year's corruption case of the Department of Construction and Repairs made the right servant return to his hometown.

The huge Ministry of Industry was only chaired by Shangshu Xu Wen.

"Old Xu Ge!"

The six ministers of the Great Xia Dynasty were all cabinet ministers, so Lai Shangrong was called the elder of the cabinet. Although the two were old acquaintances due to the flood last year, they still had to be courteous.

"Shang Rong, don't be restrained, come and sit down."

Xu Wen greeted him to take a seat, and said with a smile: "Our Ministry of Industry is also in troubled times, and we need young and promising ministers like you, who have a heart for the country, to come here and set things right."

As far as Lai Shangrong knows, Xu Wen may not be clean, but he took advantage of the flood last year to turn around in time, and he did not personally participate in it, but turned a blind eye and condoned corruption.

The emperor thought that his work was relatively reliable, and a group of officials had been purged. It was a time when there was no work, so he simply rejected his resignation.

"Elder Ge's disgraceful dismissal, the lower official only has a little knowledge of some strange and obscene skills, and I have to ask the elder to teach you more in the future."

"The emperor sent someone to show me the farm tools you made. If they can be implemented in the Salt and Iron Division, they will definitely benefit the people and the merits will be immeasurable!"

After some courtesy, Xu Wen personally brought Lai Shangrong into the Salt and Iron Division.

Wu Qinian and Jiang Maocai had already arrived in advance.

During this period, he learned about the main responsibilities and work procedures of the Salt and Iron Department from the two of them in advance.

Looking at the crowd of people in Yantiesi courtyard, Lai Shangrong cleared his throat.

"Everyone is a Jinshi of the two ranks, and has been an official for many years. Regardless of knowledge and experience, you are much better than the official. In the future, everyone will work together to serve His Majesty and the court..."

He said a lot of high-sounding words, and specially placed the emperor in front of the court to highlight his reputation as a lucky king.

After Xu Wen left, Lai Shangrong called a group of officials and officials to go into the hall to reply.

The Salt and Iron Department is in charge of the production and sales of salt, iron, tea and official kiln porcelain.

As we all know, in ancient times, salt, iron, and tea were all exclusive to the government. Salt and tea were mainly produced because of their huge profits.

And iron refers to metal in general. In the era of cold weapons, rebels often carried iron weapons on their shoulders, and the control was only to kill the source.

Lin Ruhai's patrolling salt censor is not actually an official position in the Ministry of Industry, because it has the suffix of censor, which is equivalent to the emperor's imperial envoy, but it is a permanent position.

In such a large government office, changes cannot be achieved overnight, so we must first focus on the key points.

"My subordinates will not tolerate people who are just serving corpses. Although I came here to improve the smelting technology, I have to come up with some regulations in other places. I am not bragging, most of you are from the Salt and Iron Division. An old man, how come there has been no improvement at all under the deputy's rule for so many years?"

There are three fires for new officials, and Lai Shangrong is not immune.

He pointed at Wu Qinian and Jiang Maocai and said, "You guys will cooperate with Mr. Wu and Mr. Jiang on the technological improvement of the smelting plant."

Hearing this, the officials below began to whisper.

"What a formality!"

……

Lai Shangrong snorted coldly: "There is no priority in learning, the master comes first. You have also read the books of sages, don't you understand this truth?"

Lai Shangrong was quite satisfied when he looked down and immediately fell silent.

"The resume of this official must be very clear to everyone. Please think about it, how long you have stayed in your respective positions. Other officials dare not say, but as long as you do your job well, the matter of asking for credit will include On me."

If you hit the big stick, you will naturally lose two carrots.

Although the Ministry of Industry has a lot of wealth, it is a low-ranking ministry among the six ministries. Not to mention the noble yamen such as the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, even the other three ministries are inferior.

The Salt and Iron Department is a yamen at the back of the Ministry of Works. These people are neither greedy nor embezzling. In just one year, they earn much more ice and carbon than other yamen, so there is no shortage of money.

But what you gain is what you lose, because in a yamen like Yantiesi, it is difficult to make a difference.

After all, they all only read the books of sages and can't avoid strange and obscene techniques, so who is willing to delve into them.

Even if some achievements are made, the superiors will not take them seriously, so they are often Xiao Gui and Cao Sui, just waiting to die in the yamen.

Now, Lai Shangrong has been promoted from the chief to the doctor in charge in just two years, and he is also a part-time member of the two yamen, which also gave them hope.

There are also a group of people from the Ministry of Industry who were transferred to the State-Owned Department. For example, Yuan Chengtao was only an eighth-grade official, but now he is on an equal footing with most of the people present.

There are also Jiang Maocai and Wu Qinian in the field, both of whom are craftsmen. They are all living examples before their eyes. How can they not be moved?

"What I have taught you is that subordinates must do their best to cooperate with you!"

"I never care what you say, only what you do!"

Lai Shangrong didn't bother to tell, how many of the officials below were sincere.

"Technology is the primary productive force. Whether it's new ironware or our porcelain-making technology, we need to keep it secret so that it won't be stolen by Xiyi or the people."

Having said this, he paused and said: "I have requested the Emperor's order, and a security department will be established in the near future. But for the time being, we have to supervise all factories and official kilns to do a good job in prevention."

"Hey! Hey! I'll do it soon!"

"Okay, you go down first!" Lai Shangrong waved his hand.

After leaving the hall, a group of officials surrounded Jiang Maocai and Wu Qinian.

"What do you mean when adults say that technology is the primary productive force?"

Figuring out the superior's meaning is an essential skill for officials. If you can't understand what the superior is saying, how can you guess it?

"Probably, if you want to attack something first, you must sharpen your weapon first..." The two people explained hurriedly.

"Oh!~"

……

(End of this chapter)