Now everything is ready except for the east wind.
There is no need for Fu Zhiyu to do many things himself. For example, the changes in those backward villages are the responsibility of the prefects of each city. The seeds given by Yuan Jiangwen have been transported to various places, and this group of officials must be mobilized from top to bottom for him, and they cannot just be a decoration as before.
Fu Zhiyu is not a cosmic being. No matter how capable he is, he still has to rely on the people below him. Besides, he has other important things to do.
Afterwards, Yuan Jiangwen first sent a group of craftsmen, and then the Qian family, the Deng family and the Lin family also sent a group of craftsmen in.
"The Qian family's craftsmen know the most about looms. The Lin family has the most farms. The best water wheels and plows in Jiangnan are all made by them. They are also excellent carpenters and blacksmiths. The Deng family knows the most about building houses. As for our family, I won't hide it from you. We are indeed not as good as them in terms of technology, but we run a bank and have more cash than them," Yuan Jiangwen laughed. "Yuan Lu did get a group of excellent jade craftsmen in, but jade is precious after all. Many people may never touch jade in their entire lives after learning it. It is not suitable to promote it to ordinary people at the moment, and it is useless even if they learn it."
Fu Zhiyu nodded to indicate that he understood.
These top craftsmen are the treasures of each merchant and are much more valuable than a shop.
Qian Manguan felt pained when he sent it to him, but he turned around and told Fu Zhiyu the truth: "Although they are my family's craftsmen, you should also know that we are actually in an employment relationship. I am usually polite to others and never dare to offend them. After all, their family history is much longer than that of my Qian family. Take those embroiderers for example. Among them, there are legitimate descendants of Suzhou embroidery. It is not an exaggeration to say that they will be recorded in history books in the future. I can send them to King Zhao, but this craft..."
Qian Manguan hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Family knowledge is generally not passed on to outsiders. As you know, this is the rule passed down from ancestors by many craftsmen. If you insist on stealing it, the other party will have to die to apologize."
Fu Zhiyu also knew this. He patted Qian Manguan on the shoulder and consoled him, "Master Qian, don't worry. I'm just borrowing them for a while. I will definitely return them to you in good condition and won't make things difficult for them."
Qian Manguan wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.
Fu Zhiyu found it funny that he was hesitant to speak, so he asked him, "What's wrong? Are you thinking that you're going to lose money again? If you have something to say, just say it."
Qian Manguan didn't dare to say anything, he felt very wronged.
It was just a matter of spending money and energy to play with people he dared not offend. That's what he thought.
"Here, let me show you something."
Fu Zhiyu took him into the inner room and showed him the blueprint of the improved loom he had drawn.
I thought a pampered man would know anything about a loom, but Qian Manguan only took a glance and saw something different.
He didn't care about being respectful and snatched the drawing to look at it.
This improved technology was learned by Fu Zhiyu when he was in the main god space. He carefully weighed the extent of what could be achieved with the current technology, and refined it bit by bit according to his memory. However, he had never done it himself, so it was still just talk. He could only ask craftsmen to come and combine their knowledge to make it.
Therefore, it was not enough to rely solely on the weavers and embroiderers of the Qian family. An improved loom also required the best carpenters and blacksmiths of the Lin family. The craftsmen had to make the frame, but the fine parts used for connection naturally required blacksmiths.
"This is nothing but paper talk!" Qian Manguan looked at the blueprint, then at him, with an expression of disbelief, "Where did you get this, King Zhao? My God! Where did you get it?"
Qian Manguan subconsciously didn't think that this was painted by Fu Zhiyu himself, he just thought that he got it from somewhere with his great power. However, while he was excited, his mind gradually calmed down.
The most important thing for Qian Manguan is the cloth business. He has seen countless weaving machines and has thought about improving them. After all, for a businessman, the more cloth he can weave in the same time, the more money he can make.
But it is easier said than done.
Fu Zhiyu's drawing was so detailed that Qian Manguan could tell its value after just a brief look at it. It was no exaggeration to say that this thing was priceless.
"What do you mean?" Qian Manguan was afraid that he would take the blueprint back at any time, so he could only rely on his memory to remember every important point on it, and then he boldly suggested, "How about you sell this blueprint to me? You name a price, and as long as I can afford it, I will never bargain."
Fu Zhiyu gave him a shallow, very kind smile, and then said, "That's too much trouble. I'll give it to you."
Qian Manguan was so surprised that he could not speak. He stammered, "Really?"
"Really," Fu Zhiyu said, "Just a few small conditions."
There was a hint of cunning in his smile, like a little fox wagging its tail.
Just like what others have said, the wealthy merchants have brought more than just harm to Jiangnan. They have a solid foundation in Jiangnan, and there are some things that are more useful and more easily accepted when done by wealthy merchants than by government officials.
Fu Zhiyu wanted to rely on these machines - taking looms as an example, and based on the merchants' business, build a number of factories to provide the people of Jiangnan with a new means of survival.
The Qian family originally had a weaving workshop, but most of the people there were farmhands who had signed indentures to sell their labor, and there was no rudimentary and active weaving industry like the one Fu Zhiyu wanted.
Handicrafts and agriculture promote each other. Once the weaving industry expands, sericulture, which provides raw materials, will inevitably require manpower. Some farmers can then grow mulberry leaves and raise silkworms without having to work all the time in rice fields.
"Factory?" Qian Manguan was a little confused. "How do you want to do it?"
In fact, it is very simple. Piece-rate wages, employment system and so on are not difficult for Qian Manguan to understand. The last point raised by Fu Zhiyu is to increase the overall salary, to put it bluntly, to give people a pay raise.
"The Qian family is the big boss in the weaving industry. With the Qian family taking the lead, this matter will be much easier to handle." Fu Zhiyu said, "I'm not asking you to make less money. If the efficiency of weaving is improved, you will definitely not make less money."
Qian Manguan scratched his head and said nothing for a while.
"I know that the Qian family's own weaving workshop actually only produces a small part of the cloth, which can't keep up with your family's shipments. A lot of the cloth sold by the Qian family's cloth workshop is actually white cloth bought from outside, and then dyed in the dyeing workshop, cut into clothes, and embroidered by embroiderers," Fu Zhiyu saw him hesitate, and continued, "Although the price of raw cloth is low, the quality is uneven, which is actually a headache for you. But if you run your own factory, you can purchase silk and weave it in a unified way. Fine cloth can be woven by fine people, and ordinary cloth can be woven by ordinary people. When a piece of cloth is sold, you control everything from silk to finished clothes. In this way, you will make a lot of money. Don't be ungrateful. You don't want to do it, but many people do."
Qian Manguan was shocked, and then thought, this guy is still the same, using both kindness and force, and giving a sweet date after a slap in the face.
The last sentence can be considered a warning.
"Do it, do it!" Qian Manguan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "You are right."
But he didn't leave yet, and looked Fu Zhiyu up and down a few more times.
"What are you looking at?"
Qian Manguan is now much more relaxed towards Fu Zhiyu and is not as scared as before when he sees him.
He now thinks that this person is really good, and he has no reason to be dissatisfied with him now, as he is good-looking and capable.
"I see you have a lot of face," he said cheerfully while holding the blueprint, and even dared to joke with Fu Zhiyu, "I also wanted to do something in this area before, and asked the Lin family for a blacksmith and a carpenter, but they were unwilling to give them. The Lin family is in a difficult position."
Fu Zhiyu was stunned for a moment and said, "Really?"
No way, he thought, maybe Qian Manguan and the others just spoke in the wrong way, and they might have made others angry for no reason. He thought the Lin family was easy to talk to.
Fu Zhiyu had not had the chance to go there in person. At that time, Yuan Jiangwen just went to test the Lin family's attitude, and they agreed without asking any more questions. The next day, the craftsmen came.
Before Qian Manguan left, he took a look at Fu Zhiyu's desk, where there were several drawings scattered around, but from a distance, he couldn't see clearly what was drawn on them.
Prince Zhao must be hiding something else.
Qian Manguan is not so confident that he thinks he is so special that he can get this bonus. No matter how close he is to the Yuan family, he can never be closer than them.
Sure enough, not long after he left, Deng Qian went in.
Qian Manguan deliberately parked the carriage at the corner of the alley in front of the door and waited for more than half an hour before Deng Qian came out.
He hurried over to stop him, pulled Deng Qian over affectionately, and asked, "What did you say?"
Deng Qian looked at him warily, pulled his hand back and said nothing.
"It's already this late, so don't be so formal with me." Qian Manguan looked around and knew that this was not the place to talk. "Come on, let's find a quiet place and talk to you."
Deng Qian was helpless. He was still weak and had no strength, so he could only be pulled away by the heavy Qian Manguan.
When they arrived at the private room of the restaurant, Qian Manguan was also straightforward and said straight to the point: "Well, let's be honest with each other, and I'll show you my stuff."
Qian Manguan folded his drawings, hid some key things at the back, and only showed him the top drawing.
"A loom," Deng Qian took a look, curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled, and imitated him by folding his own blueprint again and again, "Mine is much bigger than yours."
Qian Manguan looked down and asked in surprise, "Boat?"
"Yes," Deng Qian said, "Prince Zhao said that there are only a limited number of people in Jiangnan, so we still have to sell things to make money. Caravans mostly use horse-drawn carriages, which have a small transportation volume and high road losses. Although ships are a little slower, they have a large carrying capacity."
There are several rivers in the south of the Yangtze River, which can be used to go to other cities in Jilin, as well as to southern Xinjiang and the ancient countries in the Western Regions. Various caravans have used this means of transportation, and the Deng family even has a special shipyard, but the blueprint in front of him can be considered a small-scale operation compared to the previous ones.
"King Zhao said that he has petitioned His Majesty to build a new canal to connect the Guli River in the capital and the Ming River in the south of the Yangtze River," Deng Qian said. "It will not only dredge the water flow and prevent flooding along the way, but also facilitate trade. In the future, we can even use the water route to reach the barbarian grasslands in the north."