Three days later, Feng Yuan and the other two were holding the cooked fur and were overjoyed. On the other hand, the tanning craftsman Zhong Ada and three companions watched coldly.

Du Zhongxiao coughed and said to several people: "How? In just three days, your fur will be tanned. Now you sell it to the Northland, and the price will increase several times. In this way, buy raw skin from the Northland, cook it here, and then sell it back, saving thousands of miles to the Central Plains."

Feng Yuan nodded repeatedly: "What the officials said is. In the past, we sold fur to the Central Plains, then sold incense and medicine, and silk to the north, and traveled thousands of miles apart. Not only was it hard, but the price of goods did not change frequently. If one was not good, it would cost money. From here, it would take only 300 miles to Yanmen Village, and it would take a few days to go back and forth, saving a lot of trouble. With this road of life, why do we have to go to the Central Plains?"

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "It's okay, if you don't go to the Central Plains, you will have other merchants. Are you afraid that no one will do a profitable business?"

Feng Yuan Lianlian said that in the future, the business will only grow bigger and bigger, attracting more businessmen.

Several people were talking lively, and Feng Yuan said: "Before we have decided on this business, we still need some things to help the officials. First, the officials came forward to recruit fur merchants in Bingzhou, redefine the guild rules, and prepare for this business. Another recruits tanning craftsmen as soon as possible and establishes the guild. If we do it smoothly in the past two years, the business can be started quickly. It is August, and the autumn and winter season is the time for fur to be sold, so we must not miss it."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Don't worry, I will go back to Bingzhou tomorrow and make clear the matters on the official side. You can go back with me and recruit fur merchants in Bingzhou City, and set up a special venue if necessary."

Speaking of this, he turned to Zhong Adao on the side and said, "Zhong Da, how many tanners are nearby?"

Zhong Ada looked at everyone, with distrust in his eyes and said, "There are two other families in the town, just like me, who bring a few apprentices to do business. As for the city of Bingzhou, the young ones are not clear. As for the mountains around him, there are many hunters who can learn this skill, and the young ones are not clear."

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "Okay, go back and tell the other companies in the town that the government has to use them recently, so they should not travel far away, and they are all waiting for instructions at home. You will all benefit from this business."

Zhong Ada sang a promise, a little reluctant, and said, "I'm not hiding the officials, there are only a few small families in the town to make tanning, and life is acceptable. If you go to the government and delay your own business, where can you find the family of people?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "What are you thinking! I am looking for business for you, not taking away your food and clothing."

Zhong Ada just didn't believe it and looked cold.

Du Zhongxiao was a little annoyed, but he did not show it on his face. The people were tempted by the government to be recruited for labor and were really afraid. Although Du Zhongxiao gave Zhong Ada a reward this time, who knew what would happen next time? In particular, Du Zhongxiao asked Zhong Ada to go back and notify a few craftsmen to obey the orders at home and look like he was going to recruit labor and Zhong Ada resisted it from the bottom of his heart.

I was too lazy to pay attention to Zhong Ada, Du Zhongxiao and Feng Yuan and the other two said goodbye, and returned to my own room in the inn.

Tao Shiqi and Shisanlang sat at the door, each of whom took a piece of cooked sheepskin. This one said that the jacket was good, and the other said that the skirt was good, and they argued endlessly. Du Zhongxiao sat in the room, closed his eyes and rested, and sorted out the things that happened in the past few days.

The troops of Bingzhou and the surrounding prefectures have always been dominated by earth and salt for thousands of years. Although there are salt ponds in the north and south, due to the rugged roads and inconvenient transportation on the north side of Hedong Road, the soil and salt have not decreased, but are becoming more and more prosperous. The salt in Yonglijian is not easy to sell, and the price is still high. The government collects six cents per catty from salt households and sells thirty-six cents. There are many people cooking salt in the countryside. Who would buy such expensive salt? In order to ensure salt profit, the government has implemented a policy of suppressing distribution and forcibly levied according to household registration. In this way, the government's income is guaranteed, and the production and market are also destroyed.

The purchase price of six cents per kilogram is that the salt households are not profitable and have no enthusiasm for production. The government has specially listed them for household registration and forced them to produce, which is ultimately like a servant. How can the quality of the salt produced in this way be guaranteed?

To solve the chronic disease of salt in this area, the entire production and circulation system must be changed, otherwise it will only rot day by day. If you want to change the salt system, it is absolutely impossible to have no money. The fur business brought by Feng Yuan and others is a breakthrough. If you operate well, you can not only receive generous taxes from the fur business, but also use the by-products of earth salt to increase the value of earth salt in disguise. The government no longer makes money directly from the salt, so that the production and circulation system of earth salt can be gradually straightened out.

This is a difficult task, Du Zhongxiao sighed slightly. The so-called freezing three feet is not a day's cold. Now many disadvantages are formed over time and are catalyzed by the war against Dangxiang that lasted for eight years. To solve it, even if you have more knowledge for a thousand years, it is very difficult.

On the second day, Du Zhongxiao and Feng Yuan and the other two brought the prepared fur back to Bingzhou City.

When he arrived in the city, Du Zhongxiao asked Feng Yuan and the other two to stay in the inn, and he brought the tiger skin to the state yamen.

The public official went to report to Xia Shu, and Du Zhongxiao was holding a leather hand and was waiting quietly in the flower hall.

As soon as Xia Shu entered the flower hall, he was attracted by the tiger skin in Du Zhongxiao's hand and kept looking at it.

Du Zhongxiao stood up and bowed, handed the tiger skin on: "This time I went to Wynn Supervisory, I happened to have a few fur merchants, and I got this tiger skin. It was late autumn, and my husband was cold and afraid of the cold, so I came to offer him a gift."

Xia Shu did not refuse, took the tiger skin in his hand, kept touching it, and said, "A good thing. It's rare that this fur is complete, very rare!"

After playing for a while, Xia Feng handed over the tiger skin to the public officials around him and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Is there any way to sell the backlog of salt this time when I go to Yonglijian? There are many troops stationed in Bingzhou and urgently need money and food. This matter cannot be delayed."

Du Zhongxiao bowed: "I came back to my husband, and I thought of a way to ask for advice from me."

Seeing Xia Feng quietly looking at him, Du Zhongxiao explained in detail how to meet Feng Yuan, how to make Glauber's salt from earth salt, and how to make grocery salt from cooked fur. Finally, he said: "I saw the made fur, which was very exquisite. I heard from those fur merchants that such cooked fur can be replaced with several raw skins in the north. If this is true, it would be a rough idea. The northern part of the country raises cattle and sheep, likes to wear sheepskin clothes, but lacks the skill of making fur. If you can start this industry in Bingzhou, you can charge a lot of taxes every year. With this business, it is profitable to make salt from earth salt, and the hundreds of thousands of kilograms of salt accumulated by Wynn Supervisory will be useful. The refined salt after making the nitrogen is as white as snow and has no odor, so it will be easy to sell."

Xia Feng was silent for a while, digested the news, and then said, "There is indeed such a good thing to sign the verdict? I understand that I have made salt and made salt from the ground, but I have never heard of it. If you hadn't watched it there personally, how could I believe it?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "My husband doesn't know that earth salt is made by scraping salt and soil. In addition to mud and sand, the first ones are alkali and nitrate. However, the government only collects salt from the salt owners, and throws away alkali and nitrate. It's a pity. Alkali can be the same as in Yongcheng, and adds oil to make soap. This is very profitable. As for nitrate, tin can be used to make gunpowder, and Glauber's salt can be used to make fur. These low-level jobs have been tried. If the industry can be made, salt owners can make more money, the salt price can be reduced, and the government and the people can benefit both the people and the people, which is the way to last."

Xia Feng was very interested when he heard this: "Discrimination, do you want to build another commune here in Bingzhou? Although many officials in Yongcheng Commune said that it was leaking the wealth of the court, it was convenient for the place and was extremely useful."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "The commune says that officials and citizens do not distinguish between them, and there is not much dispute, so it is better not to build them. However, those shops can be built with the financial resources of the government. The states are not as good as counties, and the income can be entered into the military fund warehouse or the ministerial warehouse, which is much more convenient."

Speaking of making money, Xia Shu became interested and asked Du Zhongxiao to tell his ideas.

Du Zhongxiao bowed: "If an official says that making money by doing business is nothing more than three steps: making money, it is only about making, saving and selling. What the government is better than the private households is about making and saving, and selling is irrelevant. It is also possible to sell by yourself, or entrusting merchants to sell. Whether it is salt, nitro, or fur, many local products are scattered in the hands of the people. In the past, they relied on taxes on local products or bribed in the field, and the efficiency was not high. If the government set up salt services widely and used money to buy, it was not comparable to merchants. The most important step in the two steps of upgrading and saving is that there is more goods, which is even more comparable to ordinary merchants."

After all, Du Zhongxiao means setting up shops in each county that specializes in purchasing local products, and purchasing local products such as nitrate and fur. Some can be made into industries like fur, while others can use scale effects to wholesale by the government. In this way, the government gains benefits, and at the same time stimulates local people to form industries and revitalize the economy. By directly obtaining profits and collecting taxes, the government can obtain large amounts of income.

Xia Feng was very interested in hearing this and asked Du Zhongxiao: "If you do this, it will be beneficial to you. I wonder if there are any disadvantages?"

"There are naturally disadvantages, and everything is too much. Doing so will focus on encouraging the people to produce, rather than doing business. In other words, the business done by the government must make the people profit, otherwise they will not do it. Otherwise, officials will inevitably seize profits from merchants in order to make profits, drink poison to quench their thirst, and eventually lose their industry. The degree here is the most difficult to grasp."
Chapter completed!