Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 318 Those who do not consider the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a specific area!
The next day.

The weather was getting colder.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier. When I opened the door in the morning, I saw a sea of ​​white outside.

The whole place is covered in silver, and there is a chill in the air.

Xia Zhibai got up early. After a night's rest, he felt much more energetic. The days of traveling by boat and train were really exhausting. Even after a whole night's rest, he still felt a little tired.

He made himself a cup of strong tea.

There was no rush to drink.

Press your hands tightly against the wall of the teacup and use the temperature of the tea to warm your hands.

Soon.

Fan Xin came over.

As one of the four clerks originally arranged by Zhu Biao, Fan Xin had been responsible for relatively minor matters in the past and was far less valued than Fang Mo and Jing Man. Now Fang Mo was far away in Peking, responsible for matters related to Zunhua Iron Smelting, mainly liaising between the ironworks and the Prince of Yan's Mansion, while Jing Man was arranged to go to the south this time to track the reform of the salt administration.

In the past two years, Fan Xin has been working in the salt factory for a while and then in the coal factory for a while.

Fan Xin is actually tall and strong, but he has always been gentle in nature. He rarely does anything impatient, and he doesn't like to show off. He doesn't fight or compete, but just quietly does his job.

Seeing Xia Zhibai, Fan Xin's eyes flashed with excitement, and he stepped forward and said, "Bachelor."

Xia Zhibai smiled and teased, "How does it feel to be the shopkeeper?"

Fan Xin blushed and said embarrassedly, "Please don't laugh at me, Master. I used to think it was very novel to see Fang Mo and Jing Man in charge of all matters related to the store. But when I really opened one myself, I realized that it takes a lot of effort to do it well."

"It is the coal shop I opened on my own initiative."

"On the tenth day, I turned a blind eye to some people taking a little more, but more and more people followed suit."

“It was only then that I realized that saying something and doing something are completely different.”

"It's like what the scholar said about loving the people."

"But for those people who always want to take advantage of others, it is hard to love them. In the end, you have to be ruthless. You can't achieve the effect by talking. It is also difficult for the people to really listen. Only by showing your attitude can you make them quiet down and obey."

As he spoke, Fan Xin kept nodding.

As a clerk, he used to just process some data and read some books, and he could sit back and relax. Now that he is really responsible for something, he knows how difficult it is to make progress, and he also knows the "restlessness" of the people.

Xia Zhibai laughed and said, "You underestimate yourself."

"I took a look yesterday and thought you did a great job."

"When public affairs are handled impartially, it is already a great fairness to the people."

"Putting fairness aside for the sake of so-called benevolence and righteousness is the greatest injustice. Nowadays, the moral decline in the world is very serious, and basically all we have to do is to rely on various verbal and physical threats. You were able to make people afraid to act rashly in such a short time. Isn't this a skill?"

Fan Xin shook his head.

He still knows his situation.

Not that capable.

Then, he looked at Xia Zhibai anxiously and asked, "My Lord, do you not blame me for acting on my own?"

Xia Zhibai said: "What's so strange about this?"

"The right to act comes from urgency."

"You are not using this to make a profit for yourself, nor are you putting the money you earn into your own pocket. You are just doing this to help the people of Yingtian Prefecture have a better winter. What's wrong with that? If you didn't do this, I might blame you."

"As an official, one should be able to make decisions based on the circumstances."

"If someone always follows the rules, has no opinions of his own, and only knows how to make far-fetched connections, I look down on such a person." At this time.

Qingzhi took the initiative to defend Fan Xin, saying, "Brother Xia, Clerk Fan has been working hard recently. When you went south, Clerk Fan has been traveling around to promote our Jingdu coal. In just a month, he has already contacted salt merchants in Yangzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Changzhou Prefecture. Many salt merchants are interested in buying coal from us."

"A rough estimate is that we can sell over a million kilograms of coal a month."

"In the past, the coal factory relied on the salt factory for relief, and also relied on the salt shop to maintain production, but this may not be the case in the future."

"As long as these deals can be negotiated, the coal from our Kyoto coal plant can be delivered to all directions."

"At least they can be sold near Yingtianfu."

"This business will be much bigger than selling salt."

"It's just that transporting coal is a problem, and the clerk has been worried about it recently."

Aokiji's face suddenly drooped.

Selling coal is a skill, but how to reduce costs is more instinctive.

With the help of steam engines, their current coal production is actually not low. In addition, they produced a lot in the past, but no one bought it, so they stockpiled a lot. Now, with the help of Fan Xin's active recruitment, they have customers, but transporting coal has become a problem.

It can be delivered to Yingtianfu on foot.

But for cities like Ningguo Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture, it would be too difficult to just rely on foot.

The cost is also very high.

We can't hire hundreds or thousands of people just to transport coal, as the cost would be sky-high.

What's more, their business covered all directions of Yingtian Prefecture, and the number of people transporting coal would have to be increased. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons many times, Fan Xin gave up Taiping Prefecture in the east, Chuzhou Prefecture and Fengyang Prefecture in the north, because the waterway was inconvenient and upstream.

Xia Zhibai nodded.

Transportation has always been a big problem since ancient times.

Even if it is a war, it will test the logistical capabilities. There is a saying that the longer the war lasts, the more it will test the logistical capabilities. For example, Yang Guang conquered Goguryeo three times and Li Shimin also conquered Goguryeo many times. In order to ensure logistics, they had to conscript Ming civilians.

Fan Xin’s consideration is correct.

The steam locomotive has not yet been officially put into operation.

The railways had not been built, and the Ming Dynasty was short of horses, so the most convenient means of transportation was still water.

Whether it is Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, or Ningguo Prefecture, there are either water flows from west to east or waterways from north to south. They are all considered to be flowing with the current and can all be transported by ships, which will reduce the cost a lot.

But it’s still very high.

Xia Zhibai said: "The issue of transportation costs cannot be resolved in a short time."

"But it's not a bad idea to expand the business first. Now the prototype of the steam locomotive has been established."

"When Zhou Ning and other engineers come back from the south, I will ask the court for dozens or even hundreds of people to work together to overcome the difficulties of the steam locomotive. When the steam locomotive is officially put into operation, although the cost will still be very high in the early stage, even higher than manpower, but when the technology becomes more mature, the cost will be greatly reduced."

“We don’t look at the gains and losses of the moment.”

"It takes a long time!"

“Those who do not plan for the overall situation cannot plan for one area.”

Hearing that Xia Zhibai did not blame him, Fan Xin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

His self-assertion was actually very bold, and it would make the already tight fiscal revenue even tighter, so he had to find ways to fill the gap from other places. However, coal was still too expensive after all, and it was not suitable to sell it at a high price in the short term. He could only make small profits but quick turnover.

He was also worried about this.

(End of this chapter)