Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 72 Preparations for the Emperor's Southern Tour

Xia Lin's eyelids have been twitching these days, but he didn't take it seriously. There was a problem in the steel plant these days, and he, as the main technician, stayed there for several days until he found out that the narrow flue caused tempering, thus affecting the quality of the finished product.

He now knew one thing, that is, even with ready-made technical guidance, it would be very difficult to develop industry from scratch, because even if the equipment was replicated one-to-one, problems of one kind or another would still arise in actual operation, and this would all require exploration bit by bit.

However, he was not the kind of person who was eager for quick success and instant benefits. As a classic pragmatist, he always believed that practicality comes first. It was somewhat crazy, and a serious one, for him to want to produce aircraft carrier deck steel around 623 AD.

If you have steel and cement, you can build a great house. If you can't build a high-rise, then you can build a small building of three or five floors, right? Don't pursue any style. Use a design until you die. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were Khrushchev buildings all over the world.

Once the technical problem is solved, the next step is to solve the production capacity problem. Once these two are solved, the only thing left is technological innovation.

However, our Village Chief Xia is not a revolutionary, and there is no need to kill the craftsmen to create something new. He has generously made the construction method of reinforced concrete open source. It is up to the craftsmen to learn it or not. In any case, wooden structures are still the main ones now. But in a few years, when people realize the advantages of brick-concrete buildings, these craftsmen will probably understand the pain of not learning.

These things didn't change the world, but they could make a lot of money. However, he was very clear-headed. He knew that money could be made by heaven, earth, the government, and the state, but Xia Lin had to be clean-handed, otherwise he wouldn't know how he would die. After all, before the Gatling gun was invented, 500 people were not enough for others to chop him down.

As for whether he is incorruptible or not, the township government spent about 140,000 taels on entertainment last year. How the money was spent was not up to Zhao Da. But entertainment expenses are entertainment expenses. Lord Xia certainly didn't spend a penny. Does the township post station cost money? Does the technician outside cost money? Does the pleasure boats parked at the township dock cost money? Does the floating scenery boat ordered in Jiujiang County cost money?
Oh, speaking of that floating boat, it is 55 feet high, 240 feet long, and has four floors. The top floor has a viewing hall, an inner hall, and east and west banquet halls. The middle two floors have 120 rooms. This lousy boat cost 720,000 taels! 720,000! Five years ago, the Huai River flooded, and hundreds of miles of starving people died. The total cost of disaster relief was 170,000 taels. This lousy boat cost 720,000!

The purchasing power of one tael of silver here is about 2020 yuan in . The cost of building this ship alone is million! If it is not clear enough, the total tax paid by Wei last year was million. The cost of building this ship is one-sixth of the tax amount of the Central Plains Dynasty.

This is the big boat Xia Lin ordered when he stayed in Jiujiang County years ago. The design was copied from the dragon boat of Emperor Yang of Sui. As for why he wanted to build this thing, it was actually to create a tourism ecosystem around Poyang Lake. I believe everyone is familiar with Lushan. The tourism route of this dragon boat is to board the boat at the Ganjiang Wharf in Hongdu, enter Poyang Lake along the Ganjiang River, and tour Poyang Lake clockwise. There will be 17 to 20 tourist spots along the way. Each tourist spot is invested and built by Xinping Township, including natural landscapes, cultural landscapes and shopping spots. What? No specialty? No problem, there will be from now on.

How much does this treasure ship trip cost?
At least thirty or fifty taels, right?
Thirty or fifty taels? That's the cost! People who are willing to spend fifty taels to travel for two months don't mind spending the extra fifty taels to maximize their travel experience! All the things that fool people are arranged, such as delicious tours, customs tours, weird tours, and wonder tours. There will be various performances on the treasure ship every day, such as flying fairies and nine-colored deer. Everything that can be prepared is prepared. Every now and then, there will be a big auction of celebrity calligraphy and paintings and the "Traveling with Talented Scholars and Celebrities in Poyang Lake" event. The story is full, the style is full, first go to Tengwang Pavilion and then visit Poyang Lake, and cross the Yangtze River!

When you come, you are a distinguished guest. When you come, you are a scholar. When you come, you are a refined scholar.

There were countless followers in the world. Looking back at the hundred years before the dynasty’s 300-year deadline, who was not indulged in extravagance and luxury?
Xia Lin earned money from these people and used it to pay wages to poor people. What was wrong with him?

Of course, the largest shareholder of this ship is still Miss Tang, who holds 60% of the shares. There is nothing we can do about it, she is a top wealthy woman, and she is also an angel investor, so if she sees the right opportunity, she will really be willing to invest...

However, when designing this ship, Xia Lin was more careful. In fact, the completion of this ship only required between 40 and 50 taels of silver. The extra taels of silver were actually for his technical verification and reserve for the sea ship.

But no one can say this, because it is basically certain that this is a waste of money. Even if Miss Tang is very easy to talk to, she will not agree to waste more than 200,000 taels. After all, not everyone is called Zhang Zhongchun, not everyone will unconditionally support Xia Lin, and not everyone will understand his ideas and concepts that are ahead of his time.

Therefore, he handled this matter very low-key, and would publicize it with great fanfare only after the product came out. Otherwise, there would always be bastards who would want to get their hands on the fruit before it’s ripe.

"Zhao Da."

"I'm here, sir." Zhao Da laughed and rubbed his hands as he came to Xia Lin: "What can I do for you?"

Xia Lin leaned against the fence of the steel plant and asked, "Why is the progress of the cement plant and the glass plant so slow? Did you withhold their wages?"

"You really wronged me, sir. The construction period has not been delayed for a moment these days, but it was the busy farming season a few days ago, and many workers went back to help with the farm, so we had to stop the work. I saw that you were running around during those days, so I didn't dare to tell you about this."

"Is that so?" Xia Lin looked embarrassed: "This is also a troublesome matter."

"That's right. We are all young and strong workers. We can't leave our fields uncultivated." Xia Lin walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. "Have you heard about the severe drought in the Central Plains?"

"I have heard of it, but it seems that the imperial court's water conservancy is very good and they overcame the difficulties."

"Even after that, production will inevitably decrease. I'm afraid that more than 200,000 people will starve to death next year, or even more." Xia Lin pursed his lips and said, "Well, take some time now to go to Zhengzhou and bring a group of people over there. Bring as many as you can. There's also the Tang Family Business over there. If you need money, go there and withdraw money. I'll top up your account here."

"Sir... I am a rough man, how can I do such a thing."

"If you say you can do it, then you can do it. It's okay if you can't. Recruiting people is what you are good at. I have too many things to do here and can't leave. Otherwise, I will go there myself."

"Okay... Then I will listen to you, sir."

After sending Zhao Da away, Xia Lin stood on the bank of the Changjiang River and looked into the distance. What he saw was the smoke and dust rolling up from the kiln. He sighed softly, lamenting that he had finally fallen into this rolling torrent.

"Speaking of which, what is that little bastard Ye Liangchen doing now?" Xia Lin suddenly remembered that there was such a person. It was said that even if that guy didn't have a cheat, he was still the top scorer last year. This was already quite awesome. It's just that he seemed to have suddenly disappeared and there was no news about him, which made people miss him a little.

At this moment, someone in the county government office of Dantu County, Runzhou, Gyeonggi Province was looking up at the starry sky. He did not feel the vastness of the starry sky, but was thinking about Xia Lin. Where was the man who made him, the top scholar, lose face?

It's like being dead and there is no news of him.

"Sir, time for tea." At this time a pretty girl came out. There was a spring in her eyes and she looked very pretty, like a blooming gardenia.

"I've been seeing this tea a lot lately. They say it's a tribute."

Ye Liangchen smiled and picked up the exquisite porcelain cup: "It's worth a lot, right?"

"Yes, sir. This was sent by the Hong Family Company in the county. This cup alone has been sold for thirty taels each on the black market. If it was in better condition, the price would be prohibitive."

Ye Liangchen held the cup and narrowed his eyes: "Narcissus, what do you think about making one in our county?"

"Sir, Narcissus doesn't understand these things, but I think you can definitely make something better than this."

"Yes." Ye Liangchen nodded: "Tomorrow I will ask someone to prepare this thing. If a poor merchant girl from a remote place can make something, I will not be weaker than her even if I gather the strength of the whole county."

Ye Liangchen was actually full of confidence, because until now the whole world thought that this combination of tea and porcelain was something that the Tang family made. Scholars naturally looked down on businessmen, and now they were jealous and naturally wanted to make something better.

So he started to do it with full confidence, and there were still four days before the second generation of porcelain was produced in Xinping Township, and one month and five days before the first set of glass products in Xinping Township came out of the furnace.

If Mayor Xia was here, if he didn't point at Ye Liangchen's nose and curse "Eating shit is not as good as eating hot shit", then he wouldn't be Mayor Xia...

(End of this chapter)