Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1744 Untitled
"Actually, the issue of raw materials is relatively easy to resolve, and the price isn't much higher. The main problem lies in the firing technique!"

"The most difficult step in firing blue bricks is the final step of pouring cold water into the kiln. If this step is not done properly, many blue bricks will be ruined!"

At this point, Liu An instinctively felt a pang of emotion and said:
"Your Highness, I have spent my whole life firing blue bricks. When it comes to the technique of firing blue bricks, I dare not say that I am the best in the world, but in Licheng, I, Liu An, am second to none. But even so, when I fire a kiln of blue bricks, the success rate is only 60% to 80%!"

Upon hearing this, Jingren blinked and asked with some curiosity:
What is the success rate of producing finished red bricks?

"Because red bricks cool naturally in the kiln without needing to be sprinkled with cold water, the yield rate of finished red bricks is over 90%, and some skilled craftsmen can even achieve a yield rate of 95%!"

Jingren said with some surprise:
"Is the yield rate really that high?"

Liu An nodded and said:
"In fact, not only is the yield rate higher, but red bricks are also fired faster than blue bricks. In particular, I heard that some brick factories in Yijing have developed something called a rotary kiln. Now, it takes about ten days to fire a kiln of red bricks, while it takes us almost a month to fire a kiln!"

"Our brick factory only produces about 50,000 to 60,000 blue bricks a year, but brick factories of similar size can produce nearly 200,000 red bricks a year. Now, many brick factories that used to produce blue bricks have switched to producing red bricks..."

Hearing Liu An say this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but ask:

"Master Liu, since firing red bricks is low-cost and high-efficiency, why don't you switch your brick factory to firing red bricks?"

"Your Majesty, it is true that firing red bricks is low-cost and highly efficient, but our brick factory fires bricks to make money!"

"Oh? So, according to you, firing green bricks is more profitable than firing red bricks?"

"Yes! Although red bricks have low production costs and high efficiency, they are inferior to blue bricks!"

“You can use these blue bricks normally. They won’t break down for a hundred years if there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities. But red bricks will definitely have problems after a few decades. Nowadays, many people who use red bricks to build houses are poor. They don’t care about much else. They just want to build a new house as soon as possible.”

"But wealthy families generally don't use red bricks; they all use blue bricks to build their houses. Houses built with blue bricks are not afraid of wind and rain and are more durable!"

"Because many brick factories have switched from firing blue bricks to firing red bricks, there are fewer blue brick factories on the market now. There are only two brick factories like ours in the entire Licheng area that fire blue bricks, so the price of blue bricks is relatively high now. One hundred and fifty blue bricks cost one tael of silver!"

Upon hearing this number, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat surprised and continued to ask:

"How many red bricks can one tael of silver buy?"

"Now there are many people making red bricks, and the cost of making red bricks is low while the output is high, so the price of red bricks is getting lower and lower. It seems that now five hundred red bricks can only be sold for one tael of silver..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng asked again:

How much silver do your workers earn in a year?

Liu An answered without hesitation:
"We ordinary workers earn three taels of silver a year, and the factory provides us with food and lodging most of the time."

"Some skilled craftsmen earn at least ten taels of silver a year, and they are provided with room and board at the factory. They also receive red envelopes during holidays!"

Hearing Liu An say this, Ye Mingsheng also did a rough calculation in his mind. Liu An just said that they produce about 50,000 to 60,000 bricks a year. Let's say they produce 60,000 bricks. At 150 bricks per tael of silver, that means their brick factory's annual income is about 400 taels of silver.

This income is not low for a factory of their size. Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng looked around at the factory workers. He didn't count them carefully, but he estimated that there were about 30 ordinary workers and about 5 or 6 master craftsmen in the brick factory. Including wages, food, lodging and other miscellaneous expenses, 200 taels of silver a year would be enough, leaving a profit of 200 taels of silver.

Of course, taxes must be paid on the money, and if the factory land is rented, rent must also be paid, etc. However, all these things added together, the net profit of this brick factory is still very considerable. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly.

After chatting with the brick factory foreman for a while, Ye Mingsheng left the brick factory. After leaving, Ye Mingsheng originally wanted to visit the textile factory next door to see the quality of the fabric produced in the Dakang Industrial Park. However, time flew by, and it was already noon, so Ye Mingsheng decided to have lunch first and then visit the textile factory…
Since they were eating in the industrial park, they weren't too particular about the food. Ye Mingsheng and his group went to a small food stall in the industrial park.

Perhaps it was because Ma Runchuan, the Shandong Provincial Governor, was too famous in the industrial park that the owner of the snack stall recognized him and was somewhat apprehensive.

However, Ye Mingsheng didn't interact with him much and went to the private room on the second floor to order food.

Because it's just a small food stall, its main customers used to be workers from the industrial park, so the food wasn't anything special, and the private rooms weren't very nice either. But overall, it was clean.

When the waiter brought over the menu, Ye Mingsheng didn't stand on ceremony and started ordering.

Since there were four people at the table, Ye Mingsheng ordered eight dishes. Since he had come to Shandong, he definitely had to try the Shandong cuisine, which is the top of the eight major cuisines. So Ye Mingsheng ordered sweet and sour carp, braised pork intestines, stir-fried double crispy meat, and four-happiness meatballs. Ye Mingsheng originally wanted to ask Ma Runchuan, Zhang Hu, and Jing Ren what they liked to eat for the remaining four dishes.

However, Ma Runchuan and Zhang Hu felt that as subjects, they should not dine at the same table as Ye Mingsheng. Although they sat down at Ye Mingsheng's request, they were both quite apprehensive and dared not order any dishes. Jingren did order a dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions, but the snack shop did not have sea cucumber, so he gave up on that idea.

To make up the eight dishes, Ye Mingsheng ordered four signature dishes randomly from the TV and had them served.

Although the snack shop was small, it served food quite quickly. In just fifteen minutes, a cold dish and a Mapo Tofu were served. In the time it takes to burn an incense stick, all the dishes were served. Ye Mingsheng, who was already a little hungry, took the first bite, and everyone else followed suit and began to eat heartily.

Perhaps out of respect for Ma Runchuan, the food stall served very generous portions. Ma Runchuan initially tried to be reserved, but seeing Ye Mingsheng, Zhang Hu, and Jing Ren eating and drinking heartily, he stopped trying. In the end, the four of them were full before they had eaten about half of the eight dishes. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng teased Ma Runchuan:

"Ma Runchuan, we're really benefiting from your good fortune today!" "Your Majesty, you flatter us. If the restaurant owner knew you were here, he would be even more excited."

Ye Mingsheng smiled and shook his head upon hearing this. As an emperor, he had experienced too many formal occasions with a large entourage. To be honest, at first he quite enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by people and holding great power, but after a while he also got a little tired of it. So now, unless it is necessary, Ye Mingsheng does not want to be surrounded by a large entourage.

After chatting with Ma Runchuan for a couple more minutes, Ye Mingsheng noticed that Jing Ren, who was standing to the side, seemed to be lost in thought, so he asked:
What is Jingren thinking about so intently?

Disrupted from his thoughts, Jingren looked at his father and said:
"I wasn't thinking anything, I just felt that you seemed particularly interested in this brick factory, Dad!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said upon hearing this:

"Why do you think so?"

"It just feels like you ask a lot of questions about this brick factory, Dad! And you seem to know a lot about the brick production process!"

Hearing Jingren ask this, Ye Mingsheng smiled, while Ma Runchuan spoke up:
"Your Highness, you may not know this, but the red bricks that are currently in vogue were developed by the Da Dong Sheng Trading Company under His Majesty's guidance. His Majesty is not only a man of great talent and ambition but also a man of profound learning and ability, a rare genius in the world..."

Hearing Ma Runchuan say this, Jingren looked at Ye Mingsheng with some surprise, while Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:

"What great talent? I just traveled all over the country when I was young, and I happened to see someone burning a torch and I remembered it!"

After finishing his sentence, Ye Mingsheng looked at Jing Ren and asked:

"Jingren, what industry do you think this brick factory is closely related to?"

After thinking for a moment, Jingren said:
"The construction industry!"

Although Jingren gave the correct answer, Ye Mingsheng was still somewhat displeased that he had taken so long to think about it, but he patiently continued:

"Brick factories are closely related to the construction industry. If the construction industry is doing well, these brick factories will have no trouble selling their bricks, and vice versa!"

"Many of the houses in Daqian have actually suffered from the ravages of war over the past few years. To be honest, they are in terrible condition. Many of them are even dangerous buildings that need to be demolished and rebuilt. But they are still being used. Jingren, do you know why?"

Faced with this problem, Jingren pondered for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea before finally speaking:
"Is it because Father is broke?"

"If you've thought of an answer, just say it. Don't dawdle. Right now, many people in Daqian are struggling to make ends meet. They're lucky to have any food to eat. So for them, having a place to live is enough. As for whether the house is a little dilapidated, that's not a big deal. Filling their stomachs is the most important thing for them..."

"However, I believe this situation will not last long. As long as we persist in reform and work hard from top to bottom for a few years, I believe the situation will change dramatically. When the people have solved their food problem, they will start to focus on the housing problem!"

"Human nature is driven by profit and ambition; the pursuit of a better life is everyone's instinct!"

"So when people get rich and start building new houses, that will be the golden age of development for the construction industry, including brick factories!"

Upon hearing this, Jingren pressed for an answer:
"How many years will it take for Dad to work hard before he can live a good life?"

Upon hearing Jing Ren's question, Ma Runchuan, who was standing to the side, also glanced at Ye Mingsheng. Ye Mingsheng pondered for a moment and said with some emotion:

"When I was reading the memorials in the Imperial Study, the situation was very promising and good news kept coming. At that time, I thought that it might only take three to five years to lay the industrial foundation!"

"But when I actually stepped out of the Imperial Study and went down to see for myself, I found problems everywhere. The situation was far from as good as described in the memorials. Many places were facing extremely difficult problems. However, I believe the future is bright. In the next five to ten years, the country will be able to fully recover its vitality, and that will be the golden age of the Great Qian Dynasty's development!"

As soon as Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, Ma Runchuan was about to flatter him, saying that under His Majesty's wise leadership, the Great Qian Dynasty would surely recover its vitality and usher in a golden period of development, when Ye Mingsheng interrupted his thoughts with:
How much tax revenue can this industrial park generate in a year?

Faced with Ye Mingsheng's question, Ma Runchuan's expression immediately became somewhat awkward...

Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Ma Runchuan quickly organized his thoughts and said:
"Your Majesty, we have adopted the approach taken by the Fengwu Army in supporting local industry and commerce in Liaoyang. Therefore, in this industrial park, we have generally implemented the policy of tax exemption in the first year, tax reduction of half in the second and third years, and tax reduction of 30% in the fourth and fifth years!"

"This industrial park has been established for less than a year, so it is still within the tax-free period!"

Although Ma Runchuan did not answer directly, Ye Mingsheng understood what he meant. The industrial park looked quite good, but in reality, not a single copper plate of tax revenue had been collected. Although somewhat disappointed, Ye Mingsheng could understand, as this was what he had done in Liaoyang back then.

For farmers to reap a harvest, they must first sow seeds, loosen the soil, fertilize, and water regularly every day. Only in this way can they harvest grain in the autumn.

The same principle applies to supporting industry and commerce. In an environment like the Great Qian Dynasty, where the government controls the vast majority of resources, it is impossible for businesses or factories to grow and thrive without the support and assistance of the government!
Despite having this thought, Ye Mingsheng asked again:

"Then who owns this land?"

"Your Majesty, it's like this. This land in Dakang Industrial Park originally belonged to a landlord surnamed Wei. He was rich but heartless. He used to rely on a few powerful figures to act like a tyrant, bullying the local people. Although the people were outraged, they dared not speak out!"

"After I learned about the situation, I communicated with the Provincial Procuratorate and, after more than a month of investigation, brought the Wei family to justice. All the people involved have been arrested, and all of the Wei family's illegal assets have been confiscated, including this land!"