The seedlings in the field are verdant green, and more than ten horses ride lightly on the path at the head of the field. While walking, Hua Yunfei introduced to Ye Xiaotian: "This Yuji is not only the largest brick and tile shop in Tongren Prefecture, but also the only brick and tile shop. There were two other brick and tile shops in the same industry a few years ago, but unfortunately they are not as good as Yuji It will operate, but it has closed down one after another.”
Yuji Brick and Tile Factory is located at the foot of the Huangtu Ridge. A huge courtyard is built with fences on the open land in front of the ridge. In the courtyard are rows of neatly stacked bricks and tiles. Behind the courtyard is a row of houses. Behind the house is the hillside, and a huge gap has been dug out of the hillside, like being bitten by a giant beast.
Ye Xiaotian led the horse into Yuji Brick and Tile Factory, and stopped in front of a mud pit about a foot lower than the ground with great interest. There are a few old men in the mud pit, each holding a cow in his hand, and they are slowly turning around in the mud pit. They are practicing.
Blending is a key step in brick firing. The loess dug from the mountain is added with water, trampled by humans and animals, and repeated many times until the loess is trampled into viscous thick mud before it can be used to make bricks and tile embryos. The old men in the mud pit have become mud monkeys, still holding the rein of the cow and stepping on it repeatedly.
In the main building of Yuji Brick and Tile Factory, shopkeeper Ding Da respectfully invited Yu Junting to take a seat. Yu Junting heard that Taoist Changfeng of Qixuan Temple in Liulong Mountain has great powers, so he rushed to pay a visit today, and on his way back, he stopped by Yuji Brick and Tile Co., Ltd., which is a property under her name.
Shopkeeper Ding welcomed his owner in, feeling terrified in his heart. This female chieftain's family has a big business. In the industry under her command, the brick and tile factory is really not the main source of income. In the past, he went to the Jianzhou Mansion to meet the boss when the year-end accounts were paid, but he didn't know why the boss surrendered today. Expensive to come here.
Shopkeeper Ding carefully reported the recent business situation to Yu Junting: "Nowadays, a large amount of bricks and tiles are needed to repair the city and expand the granary of the government. The price has to go up a bit to keep people, but the government office still wants to lower our price."
Yu Junting said displeasedly: "I have already given Fatty Zhang a lot of benefits, does he still want to make an inch of it? Don't pay attention to him, if someone in the government office comes to oppress you, just come to me."
With the backing of the proprietor, shopkeeper Ding was determined. Yu Junting said: "I didn't come here today to check the accounts. Today I went to Liulong Mountain and met the real Changfeng of Qixuan Temple. This real person is very good. He intends to build a Taoist temple in Tongren City to promote Taoism. Fa, I have promised the real person that I will bear all the bricks and tiles needed for the construction of the Taoist temple. The construction of the Taoist temple must start in the near future, you must take this matter to heart, and you can't neglect it."
Shopkeeper Ding secretly lamented that the owner seemed to be using a large sum of money recently, and all properties were ordered to hand over the surplus funds. Thinking in my heart, of course I hurriedly agreed.
At this time, someone came in and reported: "Shopkeeper, there is a man who claims to be the governor of the government office and leaves, and wants to see you."
Yu Junting couldn't help but startled when he heard that, Ye Xiaotian? What had he come to the brickworks for? Yu Junting turned his mind for a while, and then said to shopkeeper Ding: "Go and welcome him in. I will hide behind and listen to his reason for coming."
Shopkeeper Ding obeyed his orders and went out, welcomed Ye Xiaotian into the main room, asked someone to serve tea, and asked cautiously: "This old man has always obeyed the law and did not do any illegal acts, but I don't know why the Tuiguan is here today?"
Ye Xiaotian said with a smile: "When I push an official to come, must I come to file a lawsuit? Hehe, you are a businessman, and Ye is here to discuss business with you today. Shopkeeper Ding, you Yuji Brick and Tile Factory is Is it your own estate or another proprietor?"
Shopkeeper Ding was stunned for a moment, and replied: "The business of this brick and tile factory is in the hands of this old man. Feel free to speak up if you have something to say."
Ye Xiaotian took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "It has rained heavily recently, and the city has been flooded. The magistrate is determined to dredge the river for the benefit of the people. Because the project is huge and involves the whole city, I am afraid that the engineering department will not be able to bear the heavy responsibility, so I will send this job to you." Entrusted to the official."
There is a large wooden screen behind the main seat in this living room, and there is a small space behind the screen, which has the same seat furnishings as the front. Yu Junting is sitting there, and the voice in front of him can be heard clearly. Shyly putting gold on his face, Yu Junting couldn't help laughing.
Ye Xiaotian said: "Cleaning up the river, the most troublesome thing is how to deal with the silt that has been cleared out. To clear the silt away, you need to hire vehicles, mules and horses, which is time-consuming, laborious, and expensive. Now I have thought of some methods. , Some silt can be used to fill ponds, some silt mobilizes the villagers to take away the fertile fields, but there is still a lot of silt that cannot be disposed of, so I thought, why not use this river mud to burn bricks and tiles?"
Shopkeeper Ding tentatively said: "Master Tuiguan means that we, Yuji Brick and Tile Company, should set up kilns in the city and use sludge to fire bricks and tiles on the spot?"
Ye Xiaotian clapped his hands and said: "Exactly, turning waste into treasure in this way, isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"
Shopkeeper Ding smiled, shook his head and said, "Master Tuiguan is really too fantastic... Cough, Mr. Tuiguan, it is true that the mud in the river can be used to make bricks and tiles, but the defective bricks and tiles made from mud are too defective." Many, generally speaking, only 70% are available, and this old man is a businessman, so this is not worth it for this old man."
Ye Xiaotian shook his head and said: "Master Ding's account is wrong. You can't just look at the finished products. I have already inquired about it when I came here. When you burn bricks, you must choose sticky soil. After digging out, you have to expose it to the sun. , Crushing, sieving, after leaving the pure soil, add water and refine it, trample it with oxen and horses at least five or six times to make it thick mud before it can be used to make embryos.
So, do you use human and animal power to go up the mountain to fetch soil? Do you need human and animal power to expose, smash, and sieve? Adding water and refining with human and animal power? Don't these cost money? But the silt dug out of the river directly saves you the first three procedures, saving you not only money, but also a lot of time!
Furthermore, the bricks and tiles you make are difficult to sell outside of Tongren because of their thinness and weight. Now they are fired in the city of Tongren, eliminating the need to transport them from the countryside to the city. How much manpower and material resources do you want to save
In this way, if you set up a kiln in the city, even if it is defective by 30%, plus the expenses for building the kiln, you can still make a lot of money. Even the defective products you burn out are not useless at all. I can buy them with some money and crush them into slag to tamp the river bottom. "
Shopkeeper Ding thought about it carefully, and couldn't help but be moved. The dredging of the whole city will take a long time, and it will take a year and a half at the fastest. If he can use the silt in the city to burn bricks and tiles and sell them locally for a year and a half, there will indeed be a lot of profits to be made.
Shopkeeper Ding is a businessman, and the only criterion for calculating whether something is worth doing is whether it is profitable. Now hearing what Ye Xiaotian said, this deal can be done.
Shopkeeper Ding closed his eyes and calculated, and habitually flicked his fingers on the table, as if he was playing with the abacus beads. After a while, he opened his eyes and said to Ye Xiaotian: "I have to go to the city to see for myself. If this method is really feasible, this old man will volunteer to share your worries!"
Ye Xiaotian said happily: "It's no wonder that among the three brick and tile companies in Tongren, you are the only one left standing out now, and shopkeeper Ding is courageous. If that's the case, then I won't talk about it. Please shopkeeper Ding to go and have a look. If you are interested , and went to the criminal hall to look for me."
Shopkeeper Ding was clean and tidy, and Ye Xiaotian was quick to speak. Both of them showed his attitude, and Ye Xiaotian immediately said goodbye and left. This kind of vigorous and vigorous style left a deep impression on Shopkeeper Ding. The officials in Tongren Mansion seem to be really different.
Yu Junting sat behind the wooden screen, at first listening to Ye Xiaotian's words, there was a playful smile on her lips, but as she listened, her expression gradually became dignified.
She put the matter of dredging the canal on Ye Xiaotian's head at the beginning, because she intended to tease and humiliate her. Judging by Ye Xiaotian's attitude at the time, he was obviously unwilling to accept it, but since he couldn't shirk it, he was able to let go of his prejudices and go all out to complete it, which is commendable.
The magistrate only allocated a pitiful two hundred taels of silver, and he did everything possible to find a way, without prevarication, without prevarication, and he actually condescended to ask a merchant for help as a seventh-rank official. This man is very serious. If such a person can for my use...
All of a sudden, Yu Tusi felt pity for his talent.