After Li Si came in, he explained in detail that he wanted to follow Huo Guang, because Huo Guang had mentioned to him once before that he wanted to recruit him.
Judging from his previous performance, Li Si is a reliable person. Huo Guang has a good impression of him. Now that Ah Hao is gone, Huo Guangzheng lacks a helper.
But unlike his trust in Ah Hao, Huo Guang only thought that Li Si was reliable, but he didn't know whether he was really reliable, so he still had to do the salt refining himself.
"Tomorrow you come to the salt shop to work. The salt will be sold according to the marked price. The main thing is that all sales must be recorded in the account. My father is the young master. We can't evade taxes ourselves. Simple accounting is fine.
Bar."
Li Si nodded.
Huo Guang's current salt shop sells a certain amount of pearl salt every day. Ordinary salt is no longer sold, so the transaction is actually very simple. He just makes some money for daily expenses. According to Huo Zhongru's spending habits, he basically makes money every day.
It was already used up before I even got home.
Although mosquito legs are small, they are still meat. Huo Guang still has to maintain its operations.
I took Li Si to get acquainted with the salt shop and asked him to start selling salt. There was still an endless stream of people who wanted pearl salt. They had a tacit understanding with the Sang family's salt shop and kept the same price, taking over Xiahe County.
for all pearl salt businesses.
Li Si was a little frightened at first, but gradually he became familiar with it. This job was much simpler than his carpentry work. It didn't even require any physical labor. It just weighed, collected money, and kept accounts, and every day
With just a little bit of pearl salt, it's basically done in half a day.
Huo Guang gave him a monthly salary of 400 yuan, which was definitely a high salary. He worked as a carpenter all day long and could not earn this amount in a month.
Li Si was dazzled by the constant flow of money coming in, but he knew that it was not his money. The Huo family was now a big family, and the salary for him was very high, and the work was not tiring.
In prison, his family was also implicated.
Li Si, who is honest and responsible, does his job conscientiously.
Seeing that Li Si was relatively satisfied, Huo Guang returned home to continue making steam engines and continue to plan the blueprint for a horseless world.
The piston, connecting rod, steam engine chamber, pipe for introducing steam, pressure relief valve, and make the inside smooth enough.
After a period of continuous polishing, Huo Guang has now roughly figured out the structure of the steam engine. After completing the parts, he started assembling them. Any place that needs to be welded is done with Qi. He feels like he is a human-shaped electric welder.
He also imagined that if molten iron could be used for molding at one time, the sealing performance of the steam engine would be almost perfect. Of course, he did not have this ability yet, so he assembled the parts first.
While having dinner, Huo Guang's first steam engine was completed.
Huo Guang introduced the steam engine to Huo Zhongru with great satisfaction: "Father, this thing can make the wheels turn as long as water and coal are added."
Huo Zhongru held his rice bowl and looked at the iron lump carefully. He had no idea what the concept of this thing was. It seemed to be just a pile of iron, but it seemed a little unusual.
Men always have an innate longing for industrial machinery products.
Huo Guang then began to demonstrate that coal began to boil water. As the temperature increased, the steam in the sealed space passed through the pipes and entered the inside of the steam engine, pushing the piston to start moving.
And what Huo Guang is doing is a reciprocating piston. The conduits pass through the conduits on both sides through the movement of the screw plugs, and there is a diverter device in the middle.
As the heating continues, the piston continues to do work, driving the connecting rod, which in turn drives the wheel, and the wheel visible to the naked eye begins to rotate.
As the wheel turned, Huo Zhongru was also surprised.
"Is this what you think of when you see boiling water?"
"That's right, Dad, I just need to improve it a little bit and make four wheels. If I put it on the ground, it can run."
"Doesn't that mean we don't need horses anymore?" Huo Zhongru became curious.
Huo Guang nodded seriously.
"It's incredible, it's incredible, can this thing run fast?"
"It's quick, and you just need to add coal and water."
"That's not the same as Iron War Horse."
"But it is simple to make. You see, I have refined it in the past few days. Although it is not a finished product yet and needs to be polished and improved, I can make it as a beginner. The threshold is much lower.
Mechanical creatures like steel war horses cannot be made by anyone other than a stylist. Even if I am not a scholar, you have seen these parts. Any scholar can make them."
Huo Zhongru became happy: "My son is smart. If this thing is made, wouldn't it be sold for a big price?"
"Father, there is still a long way to go before it can be put into use."
Huo Guang thought about it again. Steam engines are more suitable for making trains. Trains require a lot of iron, and the Han Dynasty has a lot of iron left by its predecessors. In theory, it should be possible to make it.
For such a big project, there is no rush, you can take your time and continue polishing the steam engine first.
Huo Zhongru said worriedly at this time: "Aguang, you said before that you would set rules for the merchants in the county. What kind of rules are you going to set?"
Huo Guang has been busy with other things during this time, but Huo Zhongru, the young master, is still obsessed with investigating tax evasion, and after becoming an official, he wants to do something for the people.
"Father, are you serious about checking the salt tax?"
"Not only the salt tax, but also other taxes, I have to check. I have visited many places these days. The rich and powerful families are extravagant and wasteful, but the ordinary people can only have food and clothing. And these ordinary people still have a lot of money.
When it comes to taxes, the rich and powerful have evaded a lot. I think this is not good. If things go on like this, the conflicts will get deeper and deeper."
Huo Guang looked at Huo Zhongru with an expression of admiration. Although Huo Zhongru was undisciplined and did nothing well, it did not prevent him from being a good official who wanted to do things for the people.
"Father, it won't be long before pearl salt will dominate the market. If dad really wants to control the salt tax, then let's start with pearl salt and monopolize the entry channels of pearl salt in the name of the county's Shaofuyuan.
All the salt merchants have to buy salt from you, add the salt tax to the salt price from the source, and let the subordinates take on the work of the salt gang."
Huo Zhongru looked at Huo Guang in surprise: "Start from the source? Doesn't that mean opening a salt shop in the county?"
"It can be understood this way, but the county does not interfere in retail sales. The stick gang is responsible for transporting the salt in Xiahe County. If we take the responsibility, we can ensure that all the salt is posted and all taxes are collected."
"Maybe my father can think bigger and have a monopoly on the entire county's salt."
"Ah Guang, follow me to see the county governor tomorrow."