Chapter 100 The Privy Council wants us to advance money? Don't even think about it!
Hearing the words of this noble man from the mint, the workers present looked at each other in shock. The dark old man thought of something, his eyes lit up and he said:
"Noble sir, noble sir, we have this, do you think we can bake bricks here?"
Philpovich took out a piece of well-protected parchment from his arms and handed it to Avel with shaking hands.
Avel was impatient at first and just glanced at it subconsciously, but he saw a circle of red stuff on the corner of the parchment.
When I took it and unfolded it, I couldn't help but be stunned.
It was stamped with the seal of the Privy Council.
Moreover, the above order stated that the Privy Council authorized the direct opening of the brick smelting plant, and that the key equipment for brick smelting should be built first, and other facilities would be completed later.
Avel took another look and finally confirmed that this was really an order from the Privy Council.
He looked embarrassed and stopped sitting on the horse. He jumped off the horse with his legs raised, coughed dryly and returned the parchment to Philpovich and said:
"Since you have this order, why didn't you take it out earlier? And you suddenly came here to make bricks, right next to the mint. You should send someone to say hello."
Avel bullied all the serfs here, so they would never talk back to a noble master like him.
Sure enough, when he opened his mouth, the workers present all smiled submissively.
Now Avel became interested in this brick-making place. He asked others to do what they should do, leaving Philpovich to ask:
"Can this thing you burned be sold?"
Unexpectedly, Philpovich showed his yellow teeth and grinned:
"Noble sir, our bricks don't need to be sold. They are purchased directly by the Privy Council. The Privy Council seems to have established a, what is it called..."
Philpovich thought hard and scratched his head, but he couldn't think of that keyword.
A small voice came from behind and said:
"Call the Transportation Bureau."
Philpovich clapped his hands and said:
"Yes! It's the Transportation Bureau! The Privy Council said that the Transportation Bureau wants all the bricks we produce, but the quality must be acceptable and there are certain standards."
Then Filpovich looked back and saw that it was his little apprentice. He couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that this little apprentice's learning was not in vain. Although he had only been there for a week, he was already much smarter than before.
Now that I work here, I take one day off every week.
Avel did not pay attention to Filpovich's apprentice, his eyes fell on the fired bricks.
Some are neatly stacked aside, while some crooked or bulging ones are thrown in a corner.
Avel pointed to the bricks thrown in the corner and asked:
"Are these unqualified?"
Philpovich nodded repeatedly: "Yes, sir."
Avel said:
"In that case, the Transportation Bureau doesn't want anyone who is unqualified, wouldn't you..."
Thinking that these industrial serfs were not the direct recipients of the profits after all, he changed his words:
"Then your brick smelting factory will have to pay compensation?"
Philpovich shook his head and said:
"No, the nobles in the Privy Council said that even discarded bricks will be weighed according to their weight and paid for scrapping, but the price will be much, much lower."
Avel was silent and waved to Filpovich to do his work.
He watched for a while longer, then mounted his horse and galloped back and forth along the bank of the Neva River.
He soon saw that there was a brick-making place every one kilometer or so.
Avel was a very curious person, so he asked the leaders of these places and found that not only St. Petersburg, but also Moscow and other places were engaged in brick smelting on a large scale.
Avel couldn't help but take a breath of air.
He saw this kind of red brick when he went to the West to study. It looked beautiful, but it was not practical. Who came up with this idea?
Isn't this a waste of the country's money?
And it was actually ordered from the Privy Council.
Avel was surprised and doubtful. Are the two important ministers of the Privy Council, Vorontsov and Bestudev, such short-sighted people?
And since the Transportation Bureau has been established to purchase this kind of red bricks on a large scale, it must pay a lot of money, even a huge amount. Where does the money come from? It's not the mint.
But the money in the mint cannot be minted randomly, otherwise it will be worthless.
And thinking that copper mining might have to increase the task in a short period of time, Avel couldn't stay still.
He returned to the mint and gave an explanation, then rode directly back to the city. When he returned to his residence, he immediately asked the butler to arrange a carriage for Moscow.
Avel set off in the afternoon and did not arrive in Moscow until the next morning.
Avel, who was not sleeping comfortably in the carriage, looked at the morning sun and tried his best to drive away his fatigue.
He then returned to his home in Moscow.
Arver is a count, and his brother is also a count.
Aweil is not married yet, but his brother is already married and has several children.
In the past, he would always bring something for his children, but now he doesn't care.
But when Avel returned to the mansion, he found that his nephews and nieces who were supposed to run up cheering after hearing the noise were nowhere to be seen. When he walked inside, he was surprised to find that many people had gathered here.
Avel's brother's name is Astero. At this time, Astero was raising his arms and shouting:
"We will never pay for these broken bricks!"
"Yes! No payment!"
"The Privy Council has gone too far. Why should we have to pay for bricks when we set up a transportation bureau?"
Avel recognized that the people around his brother were all counts, and the well-dressed people surrounding him were all nobles.
There is dissatisfaction on everyone's face.
"What do you mean by the Minister of General Affairs? Even if he is the Minister of General Affairs, he can't just ask us to pay for it. From Peter the Great to the present, there has been no law requiring nobles to pay for useless things!"
"Yes! We won't pay for it. Even if Vorontsov is embarrassed, it's none of our business!"
Avel got a general idea from the words.
In the end, these nobles collectively reached a consensus that they would never pay for those red bricks. It is not easy for noble gentlemen to make money!
In the midst of the high-pitched discussion, Astero suddenly noticed his younger brother and couldn't help but came up to him with a face of joy and said:
"Avel, when will you come back? Why don't you inform me in advance so that I can hold a welcome party for you and invite some noble ladies."
Astero joked.
Everyone around him who knew Avel well laughed out loud. Avel was not young yet, but he was still a libertine. Astero, the elder brother, was thinking hard about which aristocratic lady his brother could marry.
Whenever Avel comes back, it's the time to hold a grand party.
Avel was not interested in this. After chatting with the nobles around him, he found an opportunity and temporarily excused the two brothers.
Returning to the study room inside, Avel couldn't help but ask:
"Brother, what is going on? When I was in St. Petersburg, I saw many brick smelting factories."
He had just heard a general idea, but he still hoped to get the complete cause and effect from his brother.