Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 107: Sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone! (Second update)

The next day.

It's just dawn.

Yingtian Prefecture has become lively.

Now the whole street is packed with people, and more people are coming.

All to witness one thing.

That is whether Kyoto Salt Industry’s monthly sales volume can exceed 500,000 kilograms.

Outside the Kyoto Salt Shop, a wooden wall more than two meters high has been erected, hanging down from the eaves of the shop to the ground.

On this long wooden wall, there are pieces of white cloth hanging, hanging in the air, which is a spectacular sight.

On the first piece of white cloth on the east side, there were four huge copper characters nailed to it.

Kyoto Salt Industry!

Below the wooden wall, there was a large desk with a large inkstone, a large brush, paper and ink neatly arranged on it. In front of the desk stood two clerks in simple clothing, who kept loudly announcing to the surroundings: "We are under the order of the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture to supervise the registration of Xia Zhuangyuan's salt industry."

"If the data entry is wrong, or if there is deliberate concealment or false reporting, the residents can report it to us."

"Yingtian Prefecture will not only fine Jingdu Salt Industry, but will also reward the informant generously."

Such a magnificent spectacle also made the crowd gathered around even more excited.

Less than half an hour before the actual counting began, the streets where the Kyoto Salt Shop was located were already crowded with people.

Even the teahouse across the street was crowded.

On some flagpoles on the street, there are some naughty teenagers and some scholars who are here to watch the fun, also joining in the fun, curious about what this number one scholar is up to.

Compared with the scholars and businessmen in the teahouse, the farmers and craftsmen gathered outside were obviously purer and more nervous.

They don’t really care whether Kyoto Salt Shop can sell 500,000 kilograms.

What they care about is whether they can maintain low prices in the future.

Life is not easy, every penny counts.

In the teahouse.

Lian Zining, Jie Min, Wang Ziren and others sat together.

Looking at the lively scene below, Xie Min couldn't help but sigh: "Xia Zhibai, the business official, is much more comfortable and glorious than us, the Hanlin Academy scholars. In just one month, he has created such a big fuss in the city. He really can't stay quiet anywhere."

Wang Ziren shared the same sentiment and said, "Brother Xia is indeed extraordinary."

"When I first heard that he 'quit his official career to do business', I thought he was really going to end his career, but I never thought that in three months, Yingtian Prefecture alone sold 320,000 kilograms of salt. Although I don't know the exact amount, but for one prefecture and eight counties, that's about 400,000 kilograms."

"The key is that Brother Xia can give Hua Lun advice in his spare time."

"This character and tolerance is truly amazing."

Other Jinshi also sighed: "When I first heard that Xia Zhibai was the top scorer, I felt dissatisfied."

"The imperial examination is mainly to test the writings of sages and wise men, and what matters is knowledge. Even if he has contributed high-yield grain, the papers should be mainly judged on the writings of sages and wise men. He failed the first time, so even if he is appreciated by Your Majesty, he should not be named the top scorer."

"But now," the person who spoke gave a bitter smile and continued, "It took three months to win the hearts of the people of Yingtian Prefecture. Although it took some tricks, it was indeed Xia Zhibai's own doing. He deserves the title of No. 1 scholar."

The others nodded in agreement.

Lian Zining, Jie Min and others all worked in the Hanlin Academy.

But unlike Hua Lun, they don’t have many political affairs to deal with, so they have time to come and take a look.

They actually had other ideas in their minds. The last time Hua Lun left Xia Zhibai, he offered a method of unifying accounts, which directly caught the Saint's eye and widened the gap between them.

They are also jealous.

I also want Xia Zhibai to give them some advice.

Not far from Lian Zining and others were the salt merchants such as Luo Gan and Zhang Yuan.

Looking at the farmers and craftsmen discussing enthusiastically below, I felt very jealous.

Although both were selling salt, their situations were completely different.

Zhang Yuan stared coldly at the people below, holding back his anger, and said angrily: "What on earth is Xia Zhibai up to? Did he call us here just to show us how glorious he is?"

"With so many people here today, if he can't reach 500,000 kilograms, I wonder how he'll end up!"

Zhang Yuan was very angry.

Not only can we not sell the salt well, but we are also being bullied by others.

Naturally, I can't give you a good face.

But Xia Zhibai was not someone they could afford to offend, and they had to come here to be humiliated in person, which made them feel very aggrieved.

Luo Gan's eyes were equally cold.

They have been selling salt for decades and have seen many arrogant people, but this is the first time they have seen someone as aggressive as Xia Zhibai. They have already driven them to remote areas to sell salt, and now they want to humiliate them in person?
They probably guessed it in their hearts.

Kyoto Salt Industry made such a big fuss that it must have sold 500,000 kilograms.

Otherwise it wouldn't be publicized so much.

But when he came over, he saw that in addition to them, many merchants running handicrafts in the city were also invited. If they just wanted to humiliate them, they would not have invited these people, otherwise they would only be known as narrow-minded.

Scholars value reputation the most.

There is no reason for Xia Zhibai to do this.

unless
In addition to selling salt, Xia Zhibai also wants to take over other handicraft industries?
But this is not possible.

Xia Zhibai was able to sell salt mainly because he took advantage of the government. The government monopolized the production of salt, and salt merchants like them could only look to the court for approval. However, other handicrafts had little to do with the court, and many were independently run by the entire family.

What exactly is Xia Zhibai planning?
Time flies.

Soon it was time for the scheduled statistics.

The door of Kyoto Salt Shop Yingtianfu Store opened again.

Xia Zhibai walked out with the shop clerk. He first bowed to the officials from Yingtian Prefecture who had arrived early, and then saluted the people who were watching around.

Xia Zhibai stood on a wooden table, put a conical copper trumpet to his lips, and said loudly: "I, Xia Zhibai, was the top scholar in the 18th year of Hongwu. I am currently a merchant official with no specific rank. With the approval of His Majesty, I have started the construction of the Kyoto Salt Industry and the Kyoto Coal Mine."

"I only have one original intention."

"It is to reduce the burden on the people and seek welfare for the world." "This road is difficult to walk, but with the strong support of hundreds of thousands of people in Yingtian Prefecture, we have successfully walked a certain distance."

“It’s the Salt Road!”

"I, Xia Zhibai, always keep my word."

"A month ago, it was announced that as long as 500,000 catties were sold, salt would be sold at 15 cents per catty in the future, and there would no longer be a limit on the number of people in a group. In fact, as the efficiency of the salt manufacturing process improves, the price of salt will continue to drop."

"So whether or not the target is met this time, Kyoto Salt will work hard to push the price down."

“It’s just not realistic in the short term.”

"Good!" The roar of the crowd shook the earth.

Xia Zhibai's eardrums also hurt from the shock. He pressed his hand down and continued, "Listen again!"

"Although there is no official statistics yet, regardless of whether the target is met or not, Kyoto Salt Shop will give away 100 kilograms of ordinary salt, 10 kilograms of refined salt, and 1 kilogram of special salt for free."

"Okay!" The deafening sound rang out again all around.

Xia Zhibai shook his head helplessly. The people were too enthusiastic. He pointed to the white cloth beside him and said, "Listen again!"

"I won't waste any more time talking, let's do the statistics first."

Xia Zhibai jumped off the stage and handed the stage to Fang Mo.

But when jumping off the platform, Xia Zhibai glanced at the teahouse next to it.

The highlight of this event is not the data statistics or the free distribution of salt. It is just a reward to the people who support the Kyoto salt industry.

His real target is these industrialists and businessmen.

Now it's just warming up.

Fang Mo took the brass horn excitedly.

In such a warm occasion, he could hardly hide his joy.

He knew the process and had rehearsed it hundreds of times in his mind. He climbed up to the platform and continued to speak: "Our commander has spoken, so I will not be secretive anymore. Let's start the official counting now."

"Yingtian Prefecture and its eight counties: Shangyuan, Jiangning, Jurong, Liyang, Lishui, Gaochun, Jiangpu, and Liuhe."

“All the data will be displayed on the white cloth.”

"These data are published and compiled daily by Yingtian Prefecture and its eight counties. If you have any doubts or the data is wrong, you can speak up directly. I dare not say anything else, but at least these data are absolutely fair, just and open."

"You all know the reason."

"Yingtian Mansion will announce the specific sales amount after the end of each day's business."

"Yingtian Prefecture and the eight counties are not far apart, but they are not close either. They cannot communicate with each other for at least half an hour."

"During this month, most salt shops were run by groups of ten people, and there were people outside keeping count. At least until the deadline, no one had publicly said that the daily sales figures announced by our Kyoto Salt Shop were problematic."

"This is the reputation of my Kyoto Salt Industry!"

"I will now announce the sales figures for Yingtian Prefecture and its eight subordinate counties for this month."

"Yingtianfu sold 321,230 kilograms of salt."

"Shangyuan: 24,762 jin."

"."

Every time Fang Mo read out a number, scholars who were proficient in arithmetic would calculate on paper, and some accountants would tap on abacus. On the white cloth at the beginning, the two clerks sent by Yingtian Prefecture also wrote on it.

It's just that the two people have different ways of calculation.

One is the regular 'Chinese characters' count, the other is the 'symbols' count.

Not many people paid attention to this scene.

But when Lian Zining, Jie Min and others in the teahouse saw the symbolic calculation, they stopped their gazes at it and stared at it intently.

They were already very familiar with this symbol.

This is exactly the unified accounting method that Hua Lun presented to Your Majesty.

They are all learning.

When Fang Mo counted, the whole place fell silent.

People around were looking up at the two clerks doing the calculations.

finally.

The clerk who was counting with symbols was the first to stop writing.

He said loudly: "The data of one prefecture and eight counties has been counted, and the total is: 497,823 kilograms."

As soon as he finished speaking, the clerk beside him also looked at the calculated data and said loudly: "The data of one prefecture and eight counties has been counted, and the total is: 497,823 kilograms."

After the two men's voices were heard, other accountants and scholars also read out their own results aloud.

The result is the same.

There are only more than 490,000.

It’s just over 2,000 kilograms away from 500,000 kilograms.

When the people around were sighing and lamenting, Xia Zhibai's eyes flashed a cunning look. The appetizer for the people was over, and it was time to start the formal process.

This data is true.

But not complete.

These are just the quantities sold to the people.

In fact, some were sold to vendors, but Xia Zhibai did not include them in the list. He did this on purpose in order to stir up the emotions of the people and take the opportunity to praise the vendors.

The ancients said: Happiness shared with others is worse than happiness alone.

All people are happy.

Everyone feels involved.

This is Xia Zhibai’s original intention today.

(End of this chapter)