At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 453: Changes in Different Places and Doing Business
Zhang Jie's praise made the atmosphere of the blind date more friendly. Jia Yi smiled proudly and said, "It's mainly because my son has caught up with a good era. If the emperor hadn't paid attention to him, he, the son of a craftsman, would not have achieved his current status."

He is still a little dizzy that his own son could become a noble.

Then Zhang Jie continued to ask: "I heard from Brother Lu that Lord Jia is an official under Duke Ji. I wonder what his official position is?"

Jia Sheng said: "He is currently the Minister of the Imperial Household, responsible for developing the oil fields of Ji State."

"oilfield?"

Jia Sheng talked eloquently, "There is a kind of fierce fire oil that comes out of the ground in the Western Regions. In the Western Regions, we call this kind of place an oil field. Last year, when someone went to Ji State to serve as a rose husband, he extracted kerosene from the fierce fire oil and found that this kerosene is more durable and brighter than soybean oil, and the price is only one-seventh of soybean oil. Because of this invention, the emperor conferred him the title of baron, and the king has already asked the emperor to build a railway from the Western Regions to Guanzhong. Once this railway is built, Ji State's kerosene will replace soybean oil in large quantities and become the lamp oil of our Han Dynasty."

Zhang Jie was surprised and said, "No wonder the Tongzhengsi is so busy. It turns out that the court wants to build a new track."

Jia Sheng said confidently: "There are still a lot of residual materials of fierce fire oil. If we continue to research and develop, we may be able to find something as beneficial as kerosene. The Western Region is extremely vast and has huge potential. In the future, it will definitely provide more than just luxury goods such as Hetian jade and agate to the Han Dynasty. As long as it is properly developed, the Western Region will definitely become as important as the Han Dynasty's inland areas."

Facing the talkative Jia Sheng, Zhang Jie was very satisfied with this son-in-law. During the Qin Dynasty, the Shaofu was a high-ranking and powerful department that managed the royal property. In the Han Dynasty, due to the booming industry, the Shaofu had even greater power. Half of the Han Dynasty's fiscal revenue was provided by the Shaofu. It managed many workshops and government offices, and was already the first of the Nine Ministers' Offices in the Han Dynasty.

The princes of the Han Dynasty also basically adopted the court system of the Han Dynasty. Jia Sheng was so young that he could serve as the second in command of the Shaofu in Ji State. It can be said that he had a promising future. More importantly, he had his own opinions and would definitely be valued by the Duke of Ji State in the future. Naturally, the father-in-law was more and more satisfied with his son-in-law.

But Jia Sheng said at the end: "I want to go back to Ji State, and I need to talk to my uncle about this in advance."

Zhang Jie said calmly: "A real man should focus on his career. If this marriage is to be completed, my daughter will naturally follow her husband."

Hearing this, the girl looked at her father with obvious dissatisfaction and said, "My daughter also has her own career."

Jia Sheng asked curiously, "Weaving?"

The most common industry for women in the Han Dynasty was the textile industry, so he had such an idea.

The girl rolled her eyes and said, "It's the doctor."

In the Han Dynasty, doctors have always been a profession with relatively high status, especially since the queen of the Han Dynasty was also a doctor. Over the years, both the Han court and the inner treasury have invested a lot of money in training doctors, so this profession has developed very quickly. Most counties in the entire Han Dynasty have an official clinic.

Because of Chen Xiu, the president of the medical school, there are a large number of female students in the medical school, and being a doctor is also a relatively high-status profession for women in the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Jie said: "The Western Regions are in greater need of doctors than the Han Dynasty. You can become a doctor if you marry there."

Then Zhang Jie introduced Jia Sheng and the other two, "My daughter Zhang Mo graduated from medical school last year and is now a doctor at Chang'an First People's Hospital."

Father Jia smiled and said, "Hello, doctor. Doctors are good at taking care of people."

After having a basic understanding, both parties communicated pleasantly and it was a relatively friendly blind date.

In Chang'an City, besides being busy with his blind date, the most important thing for Jia Sheng was to order a batch of oil refining equipment from the Chang'an Machinery Factory. When he first refined kerosene on a small scale, an iron pot was enough, but now he wanted to refine tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of kilograms of kerosene, so he needed special equipment. Ji State did not have such industrial capacity yet, so he could only have it specially customized at the Bashang Iron and Steel Plant.

Moreover, it is very troublesome to customize such kerosene refining containers. Logically speaking, the larger the container, the lower the cost of refining kerosene and the higher the output. However, transportation is limited. The distance from Chang'an to the empire is more than 4,000 miles, and they can only use horse-drawn carriages to transport these containers back to Ji State. The size of the container is naturally limited by the carriage.

September 25th, Chang'an City, a street tavern.

Jia Sheng and two other people got together.

Jia Sheng couldn't help but complain, "It's too troublesome to transport a factory's equipment to Jiguo. It's four thousand miles, and I don't know how much the freight will cost. Do you know what I am doing at Changan Machinery Factory?"

Wan Yu asked, "Did you see the emperor?"

Jia Sheng said: "I saw an oil refinery tower that is several times larger than the one customized by our Ji country."

"Oil refining tower?" Chen Cheng didn't understand. In that era, Buddhism had not yet been introduced to the Han Dynasty, so the word "tower" did not exist.

Jia Sheng explained: "It is an enlarged version of an oil refinery barrel. Your Majesty named it a tower."

Then Jia Shenghai dipped some wine on his hands and wrote the word "Tower" on the table.

Then Jia Shengyou said helplessly: "It is said that the court has also found the Menghuo oil field in Gaonu County of Shangjun. All these equipments are transported to Shangjun. Chang'an City has a track that can be connected to Shangjun. The court's equipment can be made bigger, but our Ji country's track has not been built yet. I am afraid that Gaonu County's kerosene will be sold all over the Han Dynasty, and our Ji country's oil refining equipment is still on the way."

Chen Cheng said: "There is nothing we can do about this. The imperial court has more resources. But we don't have to worry. If the oil fields in the Han Dynasty were as abundant as those in the Western Regions, we wouldn't have never heard of fierce fire oil in Guanzhong. After all, Shangjun is not far from Guanzhong."

Jia Sheng said: "My Ji country still needs to build a heavy industrial zone in the Western Regions. We need to solve the problem of iron smelting and manufacturing machinery and equipment. At least we can manufacture oil refining equipment. My Ji country still needs to rely on oil refining for food. If the equipment is replaced, do we have to wait for the court to transport 4000 miles to get new equipment?"

Wan Yu said: "We can write to the Duke. This is indeed a problem that needs to be solved."

A distance of four thousand miles is enough to make the freight cost dozens of times more expensive than the equipment.

But Chen Cheng disagreed, "Jiguo doesn't have much money to begin with. Now we have to build wooden tracks and an oil refinery. How can we have money to build a steel plant? You also know the cost of building a steel plant in the Han Dynasty."

Jia Sheng said: "Even if we can't do it now, we still have to build a heavy industrial zone when our country becomes rich. I have realized that heavy industry is the foundation. Otherwise, even if we have good ideas and goods, we can't produce them."

October 15th, the sixteenth year of the Han calendar.

At the Han Dynasty Sages Conference, a proposal to build a railway from Chang'an to the Western Regions was formally passed, and it was also approved for the Han Dynasty to build an oil refinery in Gaonu County.

October 25th, the 16th year of the Han calendar.

At the meeting of princes, the Xiongnu prince Junchen formally bid farewell to the emperor. Then Junchen led a dozen brothers and hundreds of craftsmen of various kinds who he had recruited at the Bashang Iron and Steel Plant, completed his studies, and left Chang'an City.

On January 25th, the 17th year of the Han calendar, in Anling Fort, Nanjun.

Jiang Zhi and Yin Qun reported the good news to Li De and Zhou Chang: "Your Majesty, we have successfully completed our mission at this expo and have attracted 15 merchants. They will come to inspect Nanjun soon. If it is suitable, they will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Nanjun to build orchards, tea gardens and canning factories." Li De was surprised and asked: "Hundreds of millions of dollars?"

This number really exceeded his imagination. He thought that Nanjun was a wild place and not many people were willing to come here.

Yin Qun said: "What we have offered is too little. The merchants in Sanchuan County have jointly invested 3 million yuan. They will build a 50-jin blast furnace. They say they want to build the largest blast furnace and the largest steel plant in the Han Dynasty."

Zhou Chang was stunned and said, "Three hundred million coins, the merchants in Sanchuan County are really brave enough to invest."

Yin Qun said: "After all, they are merchants from Luoyang City, where the Zhou emperor resides. They have always been very courageous. Now they are no longer satisfied with the profits of the textile industry."

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the Zhou emperor was no longer worthy of his title and had become a mere memorial arch, Luoyang City had always been the most prosperous commercial city in the world because of its special geographical location and political status.

The business was extremely developed, and it was the most important commercial city in the world. The moneylenders here even dared to lend money to the already declining Zhou emperor to fight against the tyrannical Qin. It can be said that one dared to lend and the other dared to give. Later, the Zhou emperor was beaten up and had no money to repay the debt. The moneylenders dared to come to collect the debt, which gave rise to the idiom "debt-ridden". This can be said to be the peak of the merchants. This is because the location of Luoyang City is too important, otherwise it would have become a merchant autonomous city.

Jiang Zhi said: "There are tens of billions of dollars of investment intentions in this expo, and what we have is nothing."

Then he enviously said, "These heavy industries are still good. A steel plant costs 300 million yuan, and other equipment factories cost either several million or tens of millions. We can't compare with the big counties of the Han Dynasty at all."

Li De said calmly: "Don't compare yourself with those counties with good foundations. They developed more than ten years earlier and have already gained advantages in these industries. We can't compare with them at all. But if we develop our advantages well, Anling Fort can also become as prosperous as the Han mainland."

"We are not merchants, nor are we doing business in Nanjun. We are doing business. The court gives us 15 billion yuan every year. Our main task is to develop. If we can develop places like Qianzhong County and Changsha County, it will be enough for us to be famous for generations."

Zhou Chang nodded in agreement and said, "Exploration is the foundation of our existence. Turning this thousands of miles of wild land into a fertile land, a land of fish and rice, is our greatest achievement."

Jiang Zhi and the other man expressed their gratitude.

Then Yin Qun smiled and said, "There is also a wealthy merchant coming to Anlingbao this time. He is Kuai Che who is at odds with the Mohists. He told me that the geographical conditions in the south of the Yangtze River are more advantageous than those in the desert. Once it is developed, it will definitely be a land of abundance. So he plans to establish his business in Anlingbao. It is said that he plans to invest 5000 million yuan in us this year."

Zhou Changyou was surprised and said, "5000 million yuan? I can only say that he is worthy of being the richest businessman in the Han Dynasty. He is indeed rich."

Li De was surprised and asked, "He is a native of Yandi, and his family business is also in Yanmen. Why would he spend tens of millions in my Nanjun?"

Yin Qun gloated, "Master Qin has revealed his true identity to Kuai Che, and the gentry of the Mobei Trading Company have also abandoned him. I guess he feels that he can no longer stay in the north, so he wants to hide in the south from us."

Li De said sternly: "Nonsense! Who dares to force a law-abiding merchant to flee in the open and aboveboard world of the Han Dynasty?"

Yin Qun immediately bowed his head and admitted his mistake, saying, "I spoke nonsense."

On February 15th, the 17th year of the Han calendar, in Anling Fort, Nanjun.

Kuai Che was the first businessman to arrive in Nanjun to invest. Li De and Zhou Chang attached great importance to this richest businessman in the Han Dynasty. They personally took him to visit Yunmengze, took Kuai Che to visit Xiangshan, and told him the story of "Xiangfei Bamboo".

Li De was very important to attracting investment this time. Although the court attached great importance to their reclamation government office and invested more than 15 billion yuan a year, as the reclamation team continued to advance southward, more and more people were stationed in the reclamation, more and more cities and villages were built, and the cost was getting higher and higher, especially in places far away from the rich places of the Han Dynasty, such as the construction costs of the highway and the docks. The expenses of the reclamation government office became larger and larger, and the income was not enough to cover the expenditure, and the participation of private capital from the Han Dynasty was needed.

He hoped to follow Kuai Che's example and attract more businesses to build factories here to boost the local economy.

Kuai Che was also well-read, so he was naturally familiar with this story, but he still enjoyed it. Li De was also one of the high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty. The way he received him now was not to say humble, but very respectful. This was very rare. In more than two years, it was the first time that an official of the Han Dynasty did not treat him as a pig.

Kuai Che said, "I want to buy mountain land in Changsha County and Qianzhong County to plant fruit trees and build tea gardens. The amount is quite large, at least 10,000 acres. If the wasteland can be sold, I also want to get tens of thousands of acres. However, the court does not allow private individuals to own too much land. I want to know how your Majesty can protect my rights."

Zhou Chang was amazed. He was worthy of being the richest businessman in the Han Dynasty. He easily owned tens of thousands of acres of land. You should know that the cost of reclaiming wasteland is not low. One acre of land costs thousands of coins. If the supporting facilities are well built, the cost will continue to rise.

Li De thought for a moment and said, "Government management of land is the national policy of the Han Dynasty. I cannot change it, but it is also a huge waste to leave the land uncultivated. The reclamation office can sign a 50-year lease contract with Kuai Che. As long as the Han Dynasty is still there, Kuai Jun will not have to worry about the loss of his rights and interests. After 50 years, my reclamation office will also give priority to signing a contract with Kuai Jun."

"50 years!" Although Kuai Che felt a little disappointed, as these lands did not belong to him after all, he also knew that this was Li De's greatest authority. If Li De really said that these lands could be bought and sold, he would not believe it.

The Han Emperor almost purged all the nobles of the old era. He completed the state-run farmland system on the shoulders of the First Emperor. How could he easily abandon this national policy? If one wanted large tracts of private land in the Han Dynasty, the only way was to establish military merits and become a military merit aristocrat of the Han Dynasty. Only then could one have a fiefdom in the Han Dynasty.

Kuai Che said, "Okay, since Li Lingjun is so sincere, I will cooperate with the reclamation camp, lease the mountain land, and build tea gardens and orchards. With the climate in the south of the Yangtze River, this place can become the largest canned fruit and tea production base in the entire Han Dynasty."

On March 5, the 17th year of the Han calendar, Sanchuan County, Xingyang County.

After inspecting the terrain of Sanchuan County, Zhang Ying finally decided to build the steel plant in Xingyang. The Yellow River is better than all the roads in the world. The steel plant needs a large amount of iron ore, and coal mines both need water transportation to reduce costs.

Zhang Ying directed Ren Ming and his team to explore the minerals needed by the steel plant, or to produce the machinery and building materials needed by the steel plant. The requirements for each material were very high, so high that the local workshops in Sanchuan County could not manufacture them, and they could only be purchased in Guanzhong or Chen County.

To be honest, Zhang Yuan was a little disappointed with the so-called wealthy businessmen like Ren Ming. Apart from making money, they did not have any unique technology of their own.

Influenced by later generations, Xu Fan is accustomed to professional teams doing professional things. Steel mills make steel, machinery factories make machinery, and textile mills weave cloth. At most, factories related to the industrial chain will expand, like the Bashang Steel Mill, which also owns several coal mines and iron mines. Textile mills have also entered the dye industry and carried out deep processing.

But in the past decade or so, all the workshops in Dahan have been developing towards the direction of becoming more refined and stronger, so the steel mills can continuously produce new blast furnaces, and the textile industry can also quickly complete the upgrade, because they all have their own high-tech and sophisticated technology, occupying the most profitable areas in the market. This is the advantage that the Dahan Shaofu factory has over the folk workshops.

However, these wealthy merchants in Sanchuan County did not have the idea of ​​becoming more specialized and stronger, but they did whatever they could to make money. For example, Wu Yande was not only the owner of a textile workshop in Dahan, he also owned kilns that produced bricks, kilns that produced porcelain, and cement factories. He was involved in all the industries that had made money in Dahan in recent years.

The same is true for other workshop owners in Sanchuan County. They are all-encompassing. Each family has more than a dozen workshops of all sizes. These merchants in Sanchuan County are allies externally but competitors internally.

But the flaws of doing so are also very obvious. These family workshops are very large and can only rely on people from their own family to be shopkeepers, but not everyone is a qualified shopkeeper. Their workshops are small but not weak. Compared with the workshops under the Shaofu, the gap is even greater. Not only are they not as large in scale, they don't even have a technical advantage.

It is not obvious now when the economy is doing well, but if there is another economic crisis like the one a few years ago, I am afraid that a large number of workshops of wealthy merchants in Sanchuan County will go bankrupt.

After Zhang Ying got to know the merchants in Sanchuan County in depth, he found that the emperor was right: they were the ones doing business and pulling the entire Han Dynasty towards a world of great harmony, while the merchants in Sanchuan County were really making money, and their scale was far inferior to that of the workshops under the Shaofu.

However, the merchants in Sanchuan County also hit the jackpot unexpectedly. If their steel plant was well built and the industry upgraded, perhaps this steel plant would become the foundation for the future business of these merchants in Sanchuan County.

(End of this chapter)