I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 268 Chen Ji's Background

After finishing speaking, he raised his hand and made way for Li Tian and the others.

"Among the three please!"

"That's annoying."

As soon as they cupped their hands, Li Tian and the others walked into the workshop with the two of them.

In fact, Li Tian didn't have to come at this time.

But just for a moment, he thought of another possibility, which made him more interested in the current private iron smelting workshop.

Compared with government-run workshops, private workshops pay more attention to efficiency, so they pay more attention to product quality and optimize the production process than government-run workshops.

Instead of trying to renovate a state-owned workshop, it would be more convenient to buy or support one in private.

This Chen Ji iron smelting workshop is conveniently located in the capital.

Moreover, whether it is an experienced craftsman or a complete set of facilities, as long as I raise a little bit at that time, I believe this workshop can quickly enter the track and produce steel that meets my requirements.

After figuring this out, Li Tian began to think about how to intervene in this transaction.

Following the guidance of shopkeeper Chen and others, they walked through the steaming front yard and came to the study in the backyard.

It may be because I have more confidence in my own workshop.

When the third wife and shopkeeper Chen were discussing the transfer of the workshop, they did not avoid Li Tian and others.

Li Tian was also happy to hear what they thought of him. While drinking tea pretending not to care, he pricked up his ears and listened carefully.

The third lady asked while flipping through the various accounts of the workshop,

"How many craftsmen are there in the workshop?"

Shopkeeper Chen skillfully opened a directory and pointed to the detailed records on it.

"Currently there are 28 craftsmen in the workshop who can control a stove alone, and there are more than 70 apprentices following them. These people have been working as fire heads in the workshop for at least seven or eight years, and they have very rich experience."

"The rest are two or three hundred ordinary stokers. Apart from their strength, these people don't have much ability. If the third lady doesn't want them, the villain can dismiss them at any time."

Li Tian smacked slightly, and there were nearly thirty master craftsmen, each with three craftsman apprentices, plus a dozen or so ordinary laborers, they could control a blast furnace.

In other words, although Chen Ji looks small, he actually has nearly thirty blast furnaces.

According to the monthly production of 1 catties of wrought iron for each blast furnace, that month would be more than [-] catties.

A year is [-] jin. It seems that although it is a lot, it is actually nothing compared to the overall output of Daming at this time.

According to the information found some time ago, about 30 years after Hongwu, after three years of smelting across the country, an inch of iron was more than 3000 million catties.

In other words, even more than 20 years ago, the Ming Dynasty was actually able to achieve an annual output of 1000 million jin of wrought iron.

This is only an official record. If the private iron workshops with dozens or even dozens of people scattered all over the country are included, the number may be three to five times higher.

But the Chen family is just an iron smelting workshop located in the capital.

There is no ready-made iron ore here in the capital, and there is no coal necessary for iron smelting.

To be honest, being able to reach this scale is actually pretty good.

The sigh in Li Tian's heart was unknown to the third lady and others.

She still lowered her head and checked various bills in her own pocket.

"What was the monthly salary of the previous craftsman!"

Shopkeeper Chen lowered his head and pondered for a while, as if he was considering whether to report the truth, but finally he gritted his teeth and told the truth.

"To tell the truth, Third Madam, although the real owner of the Chen family is the Duke of the State, the salaries we give to craftsmen are still very high."

"Big craftsman, five and a half taels of silver a month. Depending on the year the craftsman came to the workshop, the price ranges from two and a half to three taels a month. An ordinary fireman is about eight hundred taels a month."

Hearing this salary level, not only the third wife frowned slightly, but even Li Tian was surprised.

A master craftsman can earn five and a half dollars a month, which is almost comparable to that of a seventh-rank official, and twice as high as that of a soldier of the Imperial Army.

No matter where this salary is placed, it can be regarded as high-tech.

I thought the third lady would complain, but I didn't expect that she just frowned, and then she showed her face and said,

"It's no wonder that Chen Ji earns so much money every month, it's all thanks to these skilled craftsmen."

Shopkeeper Chen chuckled, looking a little embarrassed,
"What did the third lady say? The more skilled they are, the more money you will make in the future!"

The third lady just smiled casually, and did not continue to answer.

Hearing this, not only did Li Tian and the others have a question in their minds.

Since Chen Ji is making so much money, why is he in a hurry to cash out Tiefang at this moment?

But not long after his question arose, the third lady gave the answer.

After looking through it for a while, I felt that there was nothing wrong with it. The third lady and shopkeeper Chen finally got to the point.

"There are basically no problems with the accounts. Based on the relationship between my Chai family and Duke Dingguo's mansion, I also believe that my master will not do anything about it."

Shopkeeper Chen gave a wry smile in embarrassment,
"Third Madam was joking, even if the villain has the guts, he wouldn't dare to lie to you about this matter!"

"Okay, shopkeeper Chen, you are a man, and I have heard about it."

"Since there is no problem, let's talk about Chen Ji's price!"

Shopkeeper Chen couldn't help but glanced at Li Tian and the others when he heard the words, as if he didn't want to talk about such a very secret topic in front of outsiders.

The third lady smiled and said,

"Shopkeeper Chen, you also know the principles of my Chai family's business. There is nothing you can't say to outsiders. You can directly ask for a price!"

Shopkeeper Chen cupped his hands, no longer entangled, and said sternly,

"My master means that less than 5 taels is not acceptable."

Hearing the price, the third lady laughed, and the smile was flaccid, which confused a certain kind of people.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Shopkeeper Chen, don't you think that the concubine's female class is easy to fool!"

"Chen Ji was indeed worth the price in the past, but since the news of His Majesty's investigation of the Tianxia Guards came out in the middle of the court, not only Chen Ji, but also the Song family in Foshan and the Sun family in Qingyang have all been punished. Not a small shock."

"It is estimated that in the future, Chen Ji's business may not even reach half of what it was before!"

"Shopkeeper Chen, we Ming people don't speak dark words, the Chai family can give up to 5000 taels..."

Shopkeeper Chen's face paled suddenly, he stood up excitedly, and said loudly,

"Third Madam, how can you talk about business like this? No matter how bad Chen Ji is, it is the largest iron smelting workshop in the capital. Even if there is no business in the Weisuo, it will not be worth more than 2 taels!"

(End of this chapter)