Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 71 Cost, Cost, Cost
After a little intoxicated by the beauty of the courtyard, Zhu Yuan told Xieyi to arrange follow-up, and Zhu Yuan still had to start work in the afternoon.

When Wu Zhen arrived, the grain transportation plan was about to be accelerated.

When he arrived at his own office in the Outer Court, Zhu Yuan was the first to call the former Taicang City Ship Deputy Prosecutor’s Report, inquiring about and urging the progress of the drafting of the new City Ship Law.

These days, according to Zhu Yuan's request, Chang Bao has been drafting a brand new Daming City Ship Law by collecting the relevant laws of Tang, Song, Yuan and other dynasties, as well as some suggestions put forward by Zhu Yuan referring to the memory of his previous life.

Because of the experience in his previous life, Zhu Yuan knew very well that the most basic prerequisite for promoting the development of an industry is to have clear legislation.

Only when the rules are established, there are laws to follow, and they cannot be changed overnight, can people invest, develop, and grow with confidence.The government can also collect taxes from a steadily developing industry, and transfer part of the taxes to continue to support the development of related industries, forming a virtuous circle.

After a general discussion, Zhu Yuan asked Chang Bao to complete the first draft of the decree within three days, and just after sending the other party away, Yao Feng came to look for him again.

The shipyard is running out of hemp.

Tung oil, lime and hemp are three essential materials for wooden sailboats in this era, and they are basically used for caulking and waterproofing.

On the first day Zhu Yuan left Jinling, he learned about this matter on the giant boat.

The gaps in the wood during the shipbuilding process are first filled with finely twisted hemp silk, and then the outer layer is glued with a mixture of lime and tung oil. The corresponding mixture is also used to seal the holes of iron nails, so as to prevent the iron material from being rusted through isolation. rust.Finally, another layer of waterproof tung oil will be applied.

So, is there a better material for these things?
Have!
The problem is that, from Zhu Yuan's perspective as a businessman, it's very simple.

cost!

It’s like learning from an old boatman on the Juzhou on the first day after leaving Jinling that Zhang Shicheng used the bitumen brought by a big food merchant all the way to brush the bottom of the boat for waterproofing.

The old boatman didn't know the price.

But just think about it, a barrel of asphalt, after thousands of miles of transshipment, is probably worth the cost of a small boat.

Therefore, tung oil, lime and hemp are the most economical and easily available raw materials for shipbuilding solutions that coastal residents have summed up for thousands of years.

This is also one of the reasons why Zhu Yuan lamented in his diary that day that he had nothing to say about the current shipbuilding technology.Under the current conditions, the ancients thought of everything that the ancients could think of in the field of shipbuilding. From the perspective of later generations, Zhu Yuan felt that what the ancients could not think of, perhaps, was just impossible to do within the allowable range of the existing cost.

After discussing with Yao Feng, Zhu Yuan drew up two official documents and sent them out.

The first one is to inform the coastal states and counties that they must continue to send the hemp materials in stock to Mingzhou, without prevarication or delay.

In this era, hemp is actually a kind of tax, and all states and counties have reserves.

The second is for Jinling.

It is hoped that Lao Zhu will send an order to all states and counties in the Yangtze River Basin, and also send the hemp materials in stock that are still available for personal use to Mingzhou along the Yangtze River.As for other provinces and regions, they were too far away, or land transportation was inconvenient, so they had to give up.

Zhu Yuan also discussed with Yao Feng the possibility of publicly purchasing hemp materials.

After all, if you have money in hand now, there will be a bigger income in the future.

After discussing the results, I temporarily gave up this idea.

The problem remains cost.

In this era, the logistics system is very backward. Therefore, if you want to purchase hemp materials extensively, you must send enough people across the state and counties, collect and transport them, and finally send them to Mingzhou. The price of a catty of hemp may be equivalent to It's worth a catty of cotton.

Therefore, it is more convenient to collect through the government.

However, the two initially decided on another idea, intending to promote the scale of hemp planting in coastal states and counties, just like the large-scale planting of tung tree along riverside roads in Mingzhou.

These two things are different again.

Aloe tung tree will not occupy the cultivated land, and Ying Haisi can make the decision by himself.

mahjong.

This requires permission from Jinling.

In fact, Zhu Yuan is also gradually perfecting another idea recently. If it is to be implemented later, the amount of hemp material required will be very large.Because hemp is not only a shipbuilding material, it can also be used to make cables and weave fishing nets.

The sudden lack of hemp here in Mingzhou is because Zhu Yuan embezzled a part of it to weave large fishing nets, and let the thousand-material sea boat he brought from Jinling try to go fishing.

On the one hand, this is to provide additional meals for the busy soldiers and civilians everywhere, and on the other hand, it happens to be related to the idea that Zhu Yuan has been brewing.

Zhu Yuan and Yao Feng were talking about something, and another official came to report. Tao Qian, the governor of Mingzhou, personally escorted a batch of iron ore to the shore of the shipyard.

The two rushed to the west of the city together.

Iron materials are also necessary for shipbuilding.

Still out of cost considerations, the source of iron material is best to be nearby.

Through inquiries, Zhu Yuan learned that there is pyrite in the western mountainous area of ​​Mingzhou, and the quality is average, but fortunately, it is not far from the Yanjiang River, which is a tributary of the upper reaches of the Yongjiang River. , into the Yongjiang River, straight into the sea.

Therefore, after the relevant iron ore is mined, it can be transported down the river to Dinghai.

There is also a small episode in this matter.

According to Zhu Yuan's proposal, the imperial court has just issued a decree prohibiting random mining, even if the local government needs it, they must notify Zhongshu for approval.

Zhu Yuanneng acted cheaply, but he still followed the rules and went through a special process for this purpose.

While Tao Qian personally escorted the first batch of pyrite, he also brought some coal samples.After Zhu Yuan saw it, let alone using it for ironmaking, he even gave up the idea of ​​speeding up the drying of shipbuilding wood through baking.
The quality of the coal is so poor that it cannot be regarded as coal at all, but only barely burnable stone.Moreover, mining is not as convenient as the pyrite mine near the Yan River.

It's better to use the nearby logging.

In the final analysis, it is still the cost.

It's like baking wood.

Onlookers might think, isn’t it just firewood, it’s all over the hillside, can’t it just be cut and used?
The problem is, cutting wood also has a cost.

In this era, firewood was a fairly common commodity, and there were woodcutters who specialized in chopping firewood for a living.Even if Zhu Yuan can use civilian husbands, civilian husbands are not perpetual motion machines, and they have to eat, which is also a cost.

Zhu Yuan and Yao Feng calculated carefully.

To build a kiln, each cave dwelling should not pile too much material, otherwise the heat will be uneven. Based on the calculation of ten pieces of wood in one hole, low fire and slow roasting will consume ten bundles of wood every day, and each bundle of wood costs 10 Wen. Different, on average two months and 60 days, that is equivalent to an increase of 600 cash for each piece of wood.

This does not include the cost of mining and transporting the timber itself.

At the same time, it did not consider the loss part of the wood that was dried and cracked due to improper control of the fire.

Therefore, it is better to purchase directly from the private sector at an average price of 1000 Wen per material.

All in all, any matter, if it is too much trouble, making a piece of tofu into the price of meat, even if it can be expedient in the short term, it will not last for a long time.

What Zhu Yuan wants is long-term, sustainable and virtuous circle.

To some extent, this is also a standard business thinking.

Any business, if it always loses money and has no possibility of big returns in the long run, then it cannot be done, because it will definitely not last long.

Many of the things Zhu Yuan is doing happen to be standard labor-intensive industries.One more person means more cost.The scale is very large, and there may be a certain cost reduction through efficient management, but it is limited.

Not to mention the labor cost in this era is basically just the level of food management, how can it be compressed?

Deducting food rations was indeed a major way for ancient engineering officials to make a fortune.However, unless Zhu Yuan is not afraid that the very hungry soldiers and civilians will take him to cook, or be caught and cooked by Lao Zhu after the incident, otherwise, there is no way to go lower.

It was already evening after dealing with the affairs of the shipyard.

Zhu Yuan rushed to the nearby Chengdong Wharf to join Huagao and Wu Zhen. When the two generals saw him, they first congratulated him on his birthday.

Wen Zao returned from Jinling in such a big way, other people may not know the inside story, Hua Gao will definitely not ignore it.

When Hua Gao knew it, Wu Zhen naturally knew it too.

Zhu Yuan bowed back with a smile, and asked the two to keep quiet.

I also promised that this year is too busy, if I have time next year, I will organize a banquet for everyone.

Speaking of birthdays, Zhu Yuan has never had much feeling. Birthdays in the last few years of his previous life have basically become business communication, and often the next day dawns after getting drunk.

Quickly turned to business, and got a preliminary understanding of the general situation of the [-] sailors brought by Wu Zhen.

2 people, divided into two parts.

The first part is Tianxingwei officers and soldiers from Jiangyin.

About 8000 people.

At first it was close to [-], and they marched south all the way, losing [-] in the battle.

As for Tianxingwei, it was originally Tianxingyi.

After crossing the river that year, Lao Zhu changed the armies to "wings", set up Marshal Yi's mansion, and the commander under his command was Marshal Yi.

Huagao once served as Marshal Qin Huaiyi, commanding the water army.

Besides, Tianxingwei was originally Tianxingyi set up by Lao Zhu to defend Jiangyin. It and Yongxingyi led by Geng Bingwen faced each other across Taihu Lake from north to north, forming an eastern barrier against Zhang Shicheng.

After Yi changed to Wei, Tianxingyi and Yongxingyi became Tianxingwei and Yongxingwei.

Zhang Shicheng calmed down, and the two of them didn't tell Zhu Yuanming in the next period, so Zhu Yuan could guess it.

Wu Liang, who is as thoughtful as a saint in everything, has a high probability of being stripped to bare poles and named the commander of Suzhou Guards. The tens of thousands of elite Tianxing Guards who have experienced battles were sent by Lao Zhu to Wu Liang's younger brother Wu Zhen, together with Tang He south levy.

In the end, the Wu brothers are still in charge, and it will not appear that Lao Zhu crossed the river and demolished the bridge.

This time, Wu Zhen brought Tianxingwei to Mingzhou again.

It is expected that it will also become a direct descendant of the Navy in the future.

The other part of the 2 people is about [-], of which [-] are the former Ministry of Fang Guozhen, and [-] were brought to the south by the folk husbands of eastern Zhejiang.

This part of the soldiers and civilians did not have a clear organization of the guards, and belonged to the sequence of township soldiers.

Zhu Yuan remembered that he had learned before that the Southern Expedition Army took away Fang Guozhen and the Shuibu armies with a total of 3000 soldiers, including civilian husbands, more than [-].This time only [-] came back, even if some of them were taken to the north by Tang He, or some stayed on the southern front, but how much damage was lost during the battle can be imagined.

This is also the norm.

If the attached army doesn't wear it down, they will have no way out, and repetitions will inevitably occur.

Then there are the ships that Zhu Yuan cares most about.

Not counting the fast-oared light boats attached to large ships for sea contact or landing operations, there are a total of 379 large-scale ships, including 29 large ships with more than 77 materials, 273 large ships with [-] materials, and the remaining [-] ships with [-] materials. Inland ships.

Zhu Yuan plans to eliminate all sea-going ships with less than 500 materials. After all, the size of the ships is too small to be safe for ocean-going voyages. The rest, according to preliminary estimates, have a theoretical total load of 26 shi.

The actual number of ships that can go to sea with simple maintenance in the near future needs to be checked and evaluated in detail.

Zhu Yuan discussed these matters with the two generals from the east pier of the city to the Huagao mansion in the city, and used dinner briefly during the discussion.

It wasn't until the end of the Xu Dynasty that He Xuan came to remind his little master that it was time to rest. It was the first time Wu Zhen saw the eunuch next to Zhu Yuan in shock, so Zhu Yuan got up and returned to his mansion next door.

When I came to the main room of the inner house, I got off my shoulders. This time, the ladies of Xieyi didn't come out to greet me.

There was a light on in the bedroom.

Entering the door, you are greeted by Nuan Niang who pointed out to Qing Niang as a maid when she was leaving in the afternoon. She took off her coat and came to the bedroom. , with low eyebrows and bowed head, gorgeous and gorgeous.

(End of this chapter)