Hou Gongchen was still shrewd after all. As soon as he heard Gao Pragmatic's words, he immediately pointed to the glass mirror and asked, "Does Brother Qiuzhen mean...to make a mirror?"
Gao Pragmatic nodded and said: "Absolutely not bad."
"Absolutely not bad?" Hou Gongchen's heart moved, and suddenly he looked a little hesitant: "But the art of making mirrors is originally a method for you, Brother Qiuzhen. Even if you want to make it, it is a business of Jinghua. What does this have to do with Zongfan? "
Gao Pragmatic smiled slightly and said: "What if I am willing to cooperate with the Tianjia and even the sect to build a mirror?"
Hou Gongchen was really surprised when he heard this: "Why is this?"
According to Hou Gongchen's idea, this glass mirror is so precious, and the profit of the mirror-making business must be very high. Just like what Gao Pragmatic just said, that Venetian in the far west values glass manufacturing technology more than God. It is also important, which shows how precious it is. In this case, why does Gao Pragmatic need to share this profit with others? Is it really just for Ming Dynasty and the emperor?
If this is true, Gao Gongbao is really the most loyal minister in the world.
Of course, Gao Pragmatic would not directly state his purpose. He just smiled and said calmly: "Brother Hou, you know that making money is nothing to me. Jinghua's business is really not small. I don't Lack of money.”
"That's natural. Brother Xiu is the only one who can conquer the world. No matter in academics or business, no one in the world can be better than you."
Gao Pragmatic smiled and waved his hand: "I only want to prove the effectiveness of practical learning when it comes to making money, and it is not what I want. The art of making mirrors is something I only get by chance in my spare time. It doesn't matter whether I make it or not. But This thing has its own uses, but if it is made, it can also be used for the convenience of the people, and it can even be used in the military, so it can be made.
Moreover, the treasury is currently in a tight situation, and the imperial court also needs some means of open source in order to lift the vassal ban... Of course, the imperial court should focus on the overall situation, and should not think of these small artifacts, so I thought, it would be better to work with the emperor and The clan members jointly make mirrors, and the funds from selling the mirrors in the future can also make up for the shortage of the court, so it is the best of both worlds."
Hou Gongchen was overjoyed, but immediately became a little confused and said: "It is true that as Brother Qiuzhen said, the initial funds required to open the vassal ban are probably quite huge. Even if the emperor wants to contribute, the internal funds are really stretched... ...However, I am afraid that making this mirror will require a lot of money, and I am afraid that I am also a little short of money..."
Gao Pragmatic shook his head slightly: "There is no need to contribute internal funds."
Hou Gongchen was stunned: "No need to contribute capital? How can it be called a joint venture?"
Gao Pragmatic chuckled: "There are several types of investment, one is to provide money directly, the other is to provide technology, in addition to providing land, materials, etc., they are all capital contributions."
Hou Gongchen suddenly realized: "Oh, what Brother Qiuzhen means is that you provide money and technology, and internal funds... provide land and materials?"
Gao Pragmatic nodded and said: "That's probably the case."
Hou Gongchen understood clearly and immediately asked: "But I don't know which place Brother Qiuzhen has chosen and what kind of materials he needs?"
Gao pragmatically said: "There is no need to find another place. We only need to expand the land near the three major factories in Kaiping. However, that is the land of the guard station. It must be approved by the emperor... Well, that land can be regarded as Internal funds have been invested. As for the materials, they are all strange ores, but some of the larger quantities are also available near Kaiping. As long as the land is in place, the materials can be left to Jinghua."
The main materials for making glass are nothing more than quartz sand, soda ash, limestone, feldspar, etc. Except for soda ash, which must be obtained from Tumote (the so-called "kou alkali" at this time, kou refers to "kouwai"), the other several
It was produced in Tangshan in later generations, which is near the three major factories in Kaiping.
Therefore, Gao Qingjing only needs to continue to expand the mining areas of the three major factories in Kaiping, so that these materials can be easily obtained, and there is no need to even leak the formula.
As for the issue of oral alkali, I have mentioned it a little before. The Mongolians in Tumut basically don’t need much cost to sell these things. They only need to load them directly in the alkali lake and transport them to the Ming Dynasty. In addition, they are highly pragmatic.
Due to Tumut's special status, Jinghua's price for purchasing alkali is very low, and the supply of supplies is also sufficiently guaranteed.
As for the manufacturing of glass, Gao Pragmatic originally only remembered a few outlines. Over the years, through his own efforts to remember, and at the same time searching for glass-making craftsmen from various places, he finally figured out the most common float glass method in later generations.
Gao Qingpang originally thought that the difficulty in making glass might be melting. Who knew that the technical level of the steel-making furnace at Jinghua Iron and Steel Works was much higher than that required for making glass? He could easily complete the melting step by simply modifying the furnace accordingly.
, so this point actually did not bother Jinghua at all.
However, although glass was produced later, the defective rate was astonishingly high. On the one hand, the glass molding technology was unskilled and made it very fragile. On the other hand, the problem of glass bubbles was very annoying.
Of course, these two points are basically not technical issues, but issues of operational proficiency. Gao Pragmatic believes that as long as he is willing to invest and spend the cost to train skilled workers, they can be solved in a short time.
It's just that this "not long time" is not a day or two after all, but at least a few months, so he initially set the time to solve the vassal issue to three years - although the glass is good, Jinghua's logistics and sales system is strong.
, but it still takes time to open the market, and counting the time to recover the capital, at least one year has passed.
It is precisely because of this that he said before that the first year is mainly a pilot project - on the one hand, the practical school likes to conduct pilot projects first when carrying out reforms, and on the other hand, it is due to financial considerations.
If the vassal ban is completely lifted in the first year and more than 100,000 clan members apply for initial funds, then unless Jinghua personally advances the money, Zhu Yijun probably won't be able to get the money even if he sells the palace.
There are more than 100,000 people. Even if all are calculated according to the minimum standard of 100 taels of silver, it is still tens of millions of taels of silver. With Zhu Yijun's little internal money, can he give it to him with his head?
Even if Jinghua goes out in person, it may not be able to directly spend tens of millions of taels of cash in one go. Maybe it will have to do equity swaps from various industries to settle the matter. This is too embarrassing.
Therefore, you have to wait for time, and you must take the steps that need to be taken, and you can't be distracted.
After hearing Gao Pingshi's brief introduction, Hou Gongchen made some calculations in his mind and found that this deal was actually quite good.
On the ground near Kaiping, although Gao Jingshi asked for a lot of money this time, Kaipingwei had already moved away as a whole, and the original bad land had really become a bad land - some households had also lost control of the three major factories in Beijing.
Because of the attraction, I went to settle down near the three major factories. I could usually sell some agricultural and sideline products to the workers of the three major factories to earn some small money.
In this way, except for the surrounding areas of the three major factories, there are almost no people in the dozens of miles outside. When there are no people, it is naturally a wasteland, and the wasteland is naturally worthless, and the emperor will not take it seriously. If you can take so much
To exchange the useless wasteland for the solution of the vassal issue can be called a pie falling from the sky. Anyone who refuses to agree is a fool.
However, Gao Pragmatic only promised to give 30% of the net profit as dividends. Hou Gongchen did not dare to make the decision. Although he thought it was absolutely fine and it was all "free money" anyway, after all, the "wasteland" was also the emperor's wasteland. In the end, he would take
The emperor has to be the one to make the decision, so how could he dare to overstep his authority in such a matter?
So Hou Gongchen only agreed in principle and said that he would ask the emperor for instructions on the specific issue of division. Gao Pragmatic also agreed very reasonably.
Hou Gongchen then asked Gao Jingshi why he mentioned the vassal capital investment just now. Gao Jingshi simply said: "This is a back-up left for the emperor. In case some vassals become nervous, the emperor can use part of the glass to buy and sell it."
Divide the dividends to appease me.”
Hou Gongchen hesitated and said: "Is this part of the dividend coming from the emperor?"
"Whether the emperor wants to go out or not depends on the situation. In short, I will set aside a separate dividend for the sects - but again, this is reserved for some sects who are nervous or... special.
, and whenever the emperor wants it, I will give it to him. Before the emperor takes it away, it will still be handled by Jinghua."
Hou Gongchen was a little confused as to why Gao Pragmatic wanted to explain the last sentence, but he felt that it was not the time to think about it now, so he agreed first and then left with satisfaction.
The next morning, as soon as Gao Pingshi arrived at the Ministry of War, the Superintendent of Ceremonies sent someone over, saying that the emperor had called him and asked Gao Gongbao to go to the palace immediately to pray.
Gao pragmatic had expected this. He estimated that Hou Gongchen might have gone to the palace overnight to report the results, which was why the emperor's summons came so quickly.
This also shows how seriously Zhu Yijun takes this matter - of course this is not surprising. Anyone who has the opportunity to throw away a large burden that accounts for a quarter of the imperial court's annual expenditure will be as anxious as Zhu Yijun, not to mention that it is still in urgent need.
When using money.
When they arrived at the palace, Zhu Yijun did not see him in the Wenhua Hall this time, but summoned him in the West Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace. Gao pragmatically quietly asked the Xiaohuangmen sent by Chen Ju to lead the way and found out that Zhu Yijun was a little "satisfied" again today.
disease".
Gao pragmatic couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. In later generations, he heard that the Wanli remains in Dingling had bad teeth. It seemed that this guy really lacked restraint in eating and drinking.
Gao Pragmatic had long known that Zhu Yijun's so-called "foot disease" was actually caused by gout, and he had told Zhu Yijun many things to pay attention to. Unfortunately, the effect seemed to be average, and this guy was not very able to keep his mouth shut.
It's enough to just talk about this kind of thing. Talking about it every time will definitely make the emperor unhappy, and being pragmatic is not good enough to bring it up every time, so I can only pretend not to see it.
After all, eating and drinking have never been easy to restrict in China. Ordinary people have pursuits, let alone an emperor. Just mention it when it is convenient and you have fulfilled your obligation.
When they arrived at Xinuang Pavilion, Gao Jingshi found that Zhu Yijun was in good spirits, but he just refused to get up. He just sat there and let Chen Ju watch Gao Jingshi's seat.
He stepped forward and bowed, and Shi Shiran sat down.
Zhu Yijun put down the memorial in his hand and waved his hand towards Chen Ju. He and Gao Pingshi were the only two people left in the huge Nuan Pavilion.
"How much revenue do you think the glass mirror business can bring in a year, and can 30% of the revenue support the opening of the vassal ban?"
After all, it was not an ordinary relationship. Zhu Yijun got straight to the point when he opened his mouth. Of course, this was what Gao Pragmatic liked.
"If it were ten years from now, I think it should be enough, but I'm afraid it's still not enough in these two years."
There is a process required for market promotion and acceptance. Although the unit income will theoretically be higher in the first one or two years, the output will definitely not reach its peak, and the market cultivation is not yet in place. The income will definitely not be as good as in the later period, so it is not surprising that it is not enough.
.
Zhu Yijun said worriedly: "Is it still not enough? What should I do?"
Gao pragmatically said: "The emperor still has other income that can be temporarily used to support the expenses of opening the vassal ban in the past three years."
"Where is it?" Zhu Yijun was stunned.
"The Liaodong Salt Farm has started to make net profits this year, and the amount is not small. I received the statement a few days ago, and I roughly calculated that the emperor can get more than 700,000 taels."
Zhu Yijun was really overjoyed: "Is this true?"
"Your Majesty, I never joke about this kind of thing." Gao Pragmatic said calmly: "If it weren't for the fact that I left office, if I had personally intervened in the Liaodong Salt Farm, maybe the efficiency could be even higher, at least eight people could be made up.
One hundred thousand taels."
"Hey, seven hundred thousand taels is already very good. To be pragmatic, not everyone has your ability. Don't be too picky about the people below. To be honest, this amount of money has far exceeded my expectations - yes
Now, can the income from this salt farm reach this amount next year?"
Gao Pragmatic nodded: "As long as there are no interference from natural disasters and other factors beyond human control, I think it will not be lower than this year's number at least."
"That's great!" Zhu Yijun laughed excitedly: "The whole court almost pointed at each other and started scolding each other because of Prince Lu's incident. In the end, you gave me most of the money Prince Lu spent on this salt farm.
. Now this money can indeed be used as a cushion for the restructuring of the vassal. When we solve the problem of the vassal, this money can also be used as a reward for the battle against Chahar."
Gao pragmatic smiled, cupped his hands but said nothing.
Zhu Yijun thought for a while and said thoughtfully: "The income from the salt farm plus the income from the glass mirror... can probably support the restructuring?"
Gao pragmatic replied: "It should be about the same. Even if there are still some small gaps, I should be able to cope with it if I come up with some ideas."
Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "That's good, then I'm relieved. As long as we solve the vassal issue... Well, now we have two more incomes, which will be enough to pay for the Chahar War."
It’s not difficult.”
Gao pragmatic asked: "So, has the emperor agreed to sell the land?"
"Of course." Zhu Yijun was very open-minded about this and waved his hand: "It's only the size of a county, and it's a deserted place. Since it can be used to solve such a big problem, why not sell it?"
After finishing speaking, he may have felt that this sentence was a bit inappropriate, so he added: "Besides, it's not like you Jinghua doesn't pay taxes, so the land is worth selling."
Gao pragmatic smiled: "Originally, this involves me, and I shouldn't interrupt. But... haha, the emperor is wise, this is indeed the truth."
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