open sea

Chapter 272
In the fifth year of Longqing, the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.

Xu Jue didn't lie, the location of the house given to him by the emperor is really good, he can't sleep at night since the lights are turned on, and there is a lantern festival just across the street, and the fireworks will explode into the sky at every turn. The night is full of the sound of drinking and laughing by the dignitaries who have rented out the house... This is the longest holiday for officials throughout the year, and Chen Mu doesn't want to spoil people's elegance.

But he really couldn't help it. Usually he was very excited to hear the sound of cannons, but when he was sleeping, he couldn't stand it.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Duke Ding Xu Wenbi rented a house outside his house. He didn't even ask for money. In the middle of the night, Xu Wenbi's stupid son set off a cannonball on the roof, which exploded into blooms. Chen Mu, who was sleeping soundly, came from the Guangzhou mansion Waking up from the nightmare of being bombarded by Japanese pirates during the night battle outside the south gate, he hugged Yan Qingyao and kept crawling under the bed, and it took him a long time to wake up.

The next day, the rent of 400 taels of silver for one night was withdrawn from the Dingguo Mansion according to the market price.

From the eighth day of the first lunar month to the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the house outside brought him an income of 300 taels of silver, even with rent. Some people did not pay the market price.For example, Du Gao, a wealthy coal businessman in Changping, asked for 500 taels of silver to rent for one night. If you said 400 taels for two people, he would rent your building for 800 taels.

After the rent is over, I will send out invitations, asking General Chen to show respect.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world, especially the palace, it is a big sieve, and nothing can be hidden from those who are interested.

In Chen Mu's imagination, it would be very difficult to persuade Emperor Longqing to send officials to Wanquandusi and divide the accounts, but he did not expect to encounter almost no obstacles. The emperor agreed in the blink of an eye, and told himself very clearly that he was short of money .

According to Chen Mu's original opinion, it is good for the emperor to be short of money, but it is different now.

When he was in this era, he came out of Zhenxuan Mansion as a general defending the emperor, and the emperor he served told him very clearly that he was short of money, and Chen Mu thought it was a shame for him.

Yes, when poverty drove his emperor to admit that he was short of money regardless of face, Chen Mu thought it was a shame for everyone in the entire Ming Empire who lived well below the emperor.

It is high-ranking officials and nobles who give each other thousands of gold and silver, and the famous Sagara will spend thousands of dollars to buy famous concubines for fun. They are shameful.

It was the rich merchants from Yangzhou who went up to the top of the mountain and sprinkled gold leaf to compete with the wind. When the beauties in the capital compete to wear imperial clothes and set up the wine lamp market, they are disgraceful.

It was also when Chen Mu thought that he had buried 10,000+ taels of silver in Weigang, but his emperor was worried about lack of money, which was even more shameful to him.

In the feudal era, no one could stay out of this matter.

So he moved very quickly. The letter was sent to the Xuanfu years ago. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, there were already carefully selected and eloquent soldiers walking around the streets on Jingshi Street, selling briquettes and coal stoves door to door with donkey carts. and take the order.

It is conceivable that this has an impact on the inherent coal business in Beijing and China. How do they know what sales are, or even what marketing is!
So a merchant named Du Gao came to his door, asking nothing but Chen Mu to leave them a meal.As you can imagine, the negotiation was very pleasant.

Coal stoves are divided into three types: five cents and silver, one tael silver, and three taels of silver. Honeycomb coal is priced at one tael and eight cents of silver per thousand catties. Chen Mu directly told them the coal-making method of the original coal merchants in the Shuntiandijie, and they made a comparison between honeycomb coal and coal. The coal stove is printed with the three characters of Hexingsheng, and Wanquan will draw six cents of silver for every thousand catties sold.

"Aren't you afraid that they will blackmail your money?"

Outside General Zhenshuo's mansion, on the lamp-watching building facing the street, Xu Jue chuckled and said, "How do you know how much coal they can sell?"

"That's a matter for the internal officials. Chen only needs to believe that the internal officials can get the registration of the entry and exit of the coal donkey carriages in various cities and traffic arteries in Shuntian. It would be easy for brother Xu to do it, right?"

Chen Mu slapped his legs, raised his head and lifted the pot to drink the spirits, and leaned over the railing to look at the gorgeous fireworks exploding in the sky in the dark night. He laughed and said, "Of course, you can also go deep into the mountains and old forests with the coal car to avoid the money. If they really want to With such hard work, Chen agrees—I never thought that money would be so easy to earn!"

"Xu should say this!"

Xu Jue curled his lips and said to Chen Mu: "How did your hand come about? Godfather said you just gave someone a broken shovel in a strange shape, and they have to give you seven or eighty thousand taels for this year."

"You can be regarded as a strange person. Before you set off cannons under the capital, your godfather said that if you were a man of Wenju, you should be the servant of the Ministry of Industry; this meeting is good, do you know You Qi? The old man who works next to Zhang Ge, my brother a few days ago Drink with him and say that you are smarter than Zhang Bifeng."

Zhang Bifeng is Zhang Shouzhi, Minister of the Ministry of Households who is in charge of the country's money and food in the capital.

"Yo, this can't be done!" Chen Mu smiled and teased: "How can Chen Mou have any virtue? If this little cleverness wants to be in the position of Zhang Shangshu, it will bring disaster to the country and the people... In other words, when will my brother have a chance?" Kong, just here at the Lantern Tower, my younger brother will be the host, and the older brother will be the one to recommend that Mr. You, how about it?"

Xu Jue smiled and said nothing, pushed away the beautiful woman who was drinking with him, and walked to the front, without answering Chen Mu's words, said: "It's a disaster for the country and the people, but what you're saying is that you don't have to do anything, just rely on a few insiders." Guaner, the price of coal in Shuntian has been raised by [-]% in a few days after the year, and the common people don’t know what’s going on, but if they know what’s going on, they will scold you in the back!”

"Let's be an outsider!"

Chen Mu imitated Xu Jue's tone with a smile, and spread his hands to count for him: "In the past, when burning briquettes, a family of five boiled water for cooking, and planed off charcoal and straw. Generally, four to five hundred catties of briquettes were used to calculate the cost. Silver is four points; now burning coal balls, the same consumption only needs two to three hundred catties, which is about three points of silver."

"You thought that the common people were victims of Chen's sale of coal balls, no, the common people benefited, Chen benefited, the internal officials benefited, and His Majesty benefited. Do you know who lost?"

Xu Jue was confused by Chen Mu's words, his fat face wrinkled into a ball, he pondered for a long time and said to Chen Mu: "If you lower the book, spend less money, and use it longer, then no one loses, who loses? "

"The rich merchants lost money, and those who brought coal shovels to Chen Mu's hands lost money a few days ago."

"No!" Xu Jue was very serious, and he had the pleasure of catching Chen Mu's mistakes, and said, "You made a mistake. You said it. In the past, the coal price was one tael per thousand catties, and the coal merchants could earn one or two cents. Now the coal price is one tael." Two or eight, even if you take away six points, they can still earn four or five points, and the merchants have no loss."

"But I didn't make any money!"

Chen Mu smiled, looked up at the fireworks for a long time, and then said quietly: "The total number of briquettes used by the common people will be reduced by half. They are all smart people. Now they think they have made money, but in the future they will find that they have not made money. It's a loss."

"In the future, it's definitely not ordinary people who will poke Chen's backbone, but these people. I have already arranged their names for them-Chen Papi!"

Xu Jue pursed his mouth, and was choked by Chen Mu for a long time without speaking, before he finally said: "You Qi doesn't like to meet strangers, forget it, if you want others, you can just prevaricate. He likes to meet strangers, but I won't give it to you. People in the middle, unless... our brother of Jin Yiwei, wow, you, Zhao Gongming, are going down to earth, don't you want to give your brother a trick?"

Chen Mu laughed while holding the jug, and turned to pat Xu Jue's big belly stretched out by his python robe.

"It's easy to handle, I'll fry it up for you bro, Brother Jinyi, at least say that you don't need to buy oil for five years!"

(End of this chapter)