Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 052: Climbing the Technology Tree Together (I)
"Your Highness, the accounts of the manor have been calculated last year."
"Well, read it."
"Yes, last year, our Honghe Manor launched soap, candles, fruit wine , new porcelain (bone china), bacon, sausage and other products. After nearly a year of sales, after deducting various costs and labor, the actual profit was 230,000 taels."
"That's all?"
Seeing Zhu Youdong's dissatisfied expression, Cao Sanxi broke out in a cold sweat: "Oh, my dear, it's already quite good to have so much. Silver is so valuable these days!"
"Your Highness, these 230,000 taels are what's left after distributing dividends to the Emperor, the Crown Prince, the gentlemen, the Duke of Ying, and the Earl of Ningyuan."
"Oh, you should have said so earlier. But it's still too little."
"Your Highness! This year, I and the shop assistants have..."
"I know you're having a hard time. I didn't mean to blame you when I said less."
It should be said that Cao Sanxi's performance in the past few months has impressed not only Zhu Youdong, but also several adults in his court, such as Wei Zhongxian and Li Shizhong.
After he took office, he first optimized the production process of Honghe Manor, saving a lot of material waste. The second is waste utilization. Honghe Manor slaughters no less than 100 pigs every day. In addition to making bacon from the meat, all the pig bristles are collected. The pig offal is sold to various restaurants in the capital, and the bones are made into bone meal for feed or fertilizer. After the porcelain craftsmen in the manor made bone porcelain according to Zhu Youdong's instructions, pig bones were effectively utilized.
Externally, he increased the management of the seven stores in the city, requiring the shop assistants not to wait for customers to come, but to visit every store with products. For distributors in other provinces, he further improved various contracts and made clear regulations on the distributors' annual sales, number of complaints, etc.
However, as I said before, on the one hand, silver is very valuable these days. On the other hand, Honghe Village only has so much land and so few people, and its production capacity is limited. Therefore, after a year of tossing and turning, Zhu Youdong only saw more than 200,000 taels of silver.
What does this more than 200,000 taels of silver mean?
The central government of the Ming Dynasty collected taxes every year. In addition to taxes in kind such as grain, there were also monetary taxes. During the Wanli period, more than 5 million taels of silver were collected directly. During the Tianqi period, more than 4 million taels were collected , and during the Chongzhen period, more than 2 million taels were collected.
During the Jiajing period, Yan Song and his son were considered the most shameless officials in making money. When their property was searched, they only had more than 30,000 taels of gold and more than 2 million taels of silver.
Therefore, the net profit of more than 200,000 taels that Honghe Manor earned for Zhu Youdong in one year was already quite remarkable.
"I remember that when the exclusive rights to sell various commodities were auctioned, a lot of money was collected, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Last year, from various auctions, the manor received a total of more than 300,000 taels of silver. 100,000 taels were given to the Imperial Palace, 50,000 taels were given to the Ciqing Palace, and 50,000 taels were given to the Cining Palace."
"In other words, I have about 300,000 taels of silver available now?"
"Your Highness, the total amount of silver available in the manor is 367,320 taels."
"Hey~~" Looking up at the sky, Zhu Youdong sighed desolately: "I'll keep an integer, the actual 60,000 taels, should I divide it among everyone?"
"Your Highness, I disagree with this. The year-end bonus ... according to what Your Highness said, it's called a year-end bonus or something, it has already been paid. I know that Your Highness has always been kind to his subordinates, but it really can't be too generous, otherwise it will make people have undue expectations."
"Hmm... you're right. Well, then, Sanxi, what do you think about this year's production?"
"Your Highness, there is still a lot of vacant land in the manor. But the manpower has reached its limit. Therefore, I think we should send people to some places in Ming Dynasty that have been hit by disasters to buy people."
"Can't we hire landless tenants from nearby farms?"
"Your Highness, let me say something disrespectful. Our manor can earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year, relying on the fact that these things are produced exclusively by us. But the technology of these things is actually not too difficult to imitate. Once the production technology is leaked, the profit will be reduced by at least 70%! This Honghe Manor belongs to Your Highness. The people in the manor have used it for a year and have basically become loyal to Your Highness. But if you hire local people from outside the manor, it is inevitable that some with ulterior motives will sneak in."
Zhu Youdong believed what Cao Sanxi said. After all, money can move people's hearts. There are so many powerful people in Beijing. It is impossible for Zhu Youdong to let everyone share such a huge profit. And those powerful people who cannot enter the venue will definitely covet it.
In recent months, as the variety of output from Honghe Manor has increased, more and more strangers have appeared around the manor. Li Shizhong, who was responsible for security, was forced to repeatedly transfer people from Ningyuan Bo's Mansion, and Zhang Shize also repeatedly transferred people from Yinggong Mansion. But even so, because the people who came to inquire were getting better and better, Li Shizhong was forced to write a letter to Liaodong, and Li Chengliang sent another 100 servants to guard the manor. Only in this way could the safety of the manor be barely guaranteed.
Now, except for the old, weak, sick and disabled who still take care of the crops, all the other able-bodied laborers in Honghe Village no longer farm. More than 370 laborers have all gone to work in various workshops.
And how many people were there protecting the manor? There were also nearly 300 people.
Of course, on the surface, it seems that there are too many guards, but Zhu Youdong knows that these 300 guards are basically enough. Even if the number of workers in the manor increases to 1,000 in the future, the guards will still only need these 300 people. Therefore, although a large amount of profits of Honghe Manor are consumed by labor costs, Zhu Youdong still thinks it is acceptable.
However, as Cao Sanxi said, if you want to increase profits, you must expand production. To expand production, you must introduce manpower. And for safety reasons, you can't use local people.
But buying disaster victims?
Zhu Youdong is not a saint. He has no worries about engaging in human trafficking in this era. He is entangled because he feels that it takes too long to train an illiterate farmer into a skilled industrial worker. On the other hand, he still feels unsafe: Honghe Village is now the target of public criticism.
"Shizhong."
"I am here."
"You are to go to Liaodong in person soon and discuss something with your grandfather on my behalf."
"I wonder if Your Highness has anything to tell Grandfather?"
"It's not really an order. What I mean is that in addition to your family's dividend, I will give your family another 30,000 taels of silver. Please ask Earl Ningyuan to contact the dignitaries of Korea and ask them to sell us 300 skilled royal craftsmen."
"Your Highness, this is a good idea! Those Koreans came to our place, they are unfamiliar with the place and cannot speak the language. They will definitely be able to keep the secret. But 30,000 taels of silver for 300 people is still too much."
"Haha, tell Earl Ning Yuan that if he wants to buy something, buy the good ones. The rest can be regarded as my honor to my elders."
"I am terrified! I will get this done as soon as possible."
"Yes, Otomo."
"Master, I am here."
"You have to go out again. In recent years, the Yellow River has been turbulent, and there are many disaster victims along the river. Go to Henan, Huai'an and other places. Buy me 500, no, 1,000 children. As for age, I will be six this year, so I have to be over six and under twelve. Let's budget 10,000 taels first. I know that the children of disaster victims are not worth much these days, but our profits come from the people after all. Give them a little more and let their parents or relatives live a better life, and I will feel at ease."
"I obey your command. But I still need to be on guard against impeachment by the censors."
"Humph, who dares to impeach me now? If anyone wants to impeach me, it's those guys in the Ministry of Works. This matter is settled. Old Wei."
"The servant is here."
"Go find some craftsmen outside, and make use of all the abandoned farmland in the village to build houses! I'll give you the blueprints myself later!"
