After leaving the palace, Kou Ji did not rush back to the mansion, but went to Yizijiaozipu instead.
Regarding the fact that he wanted to help the refugees build houses, it was spread all over the city of Bianjing under the propaganda of Li Zi and others.
In the city of Bianjing, all the dignitaries and the people of the Li people regarded this incident as a joke.
Over the years, the refugees who have suffered from the disaster have either hid themselves in a place after receiving the government's relief food, or they were assigned to the military status and became soldiers of the Xiang army.
The imperial court has been doing things to give the refugees a bite of food.
But helping the refugees build houses is unheard of.
All people in Bianjing didn't think that Kou Ji could build houses for the refugees.
Building an adobe house requires a lot of money for wood alone, not even the money for craftsmanship.
Ordinary people also have to save up to three to five years before they can build a big house.
Some poor people may not live in a newly built house for a lifetime.
Kou Ji wants to build tens of thousands of big houses in one go, and he needs a lot of money.
The national treasury couldn't afford so much money, let alone he Kou Ji.
Kou Ji understands the thoughts of the people in Bianjing.
But Kou Ji didn't care. If he did, he wouldn't take the job.
After entering Yizijiaozipu, Lu Ming received a report from his buddy and greeted him on his own initiative.
"Master..."
When he arrived in front of Kou Ji, Lu Ming bowed first, then straightened up, and asked worriedly, "Master, I heard that you took a troublesome job?"
Under the leadership of Lu Ming, Kou Ji sat down in a guest room in Jiaozipu and smiled: "Did you hear the wind so soon?"
Lu Ming ordered his buddy to help Kou Ji pour tea.
After the buddy left, Lu Ming said solemnly: "It seems that someone is deliberately spreading rumors, so the villain got the news after the court meeting ended."
Kou Ji smiled and nodded, and said: "Someone deliberately spread rumors, I know, I don't need to care. What do you think of this errand I took?"
Lu Ming hesitated and said in a low voice, "The little man thinks, Master, you never do anything you are not sure about, so you dare to agree to this matter. There must be a way to do it.
Kou Ji said unexpectedly: "Then why are you worried?"
Lu Ming closed his mouth and said nothing.
Because the guy at Jiaozipu brought a cup of tea into the room.
The man put down the tea and left the room.
Lu Mingcai whispered: "The villain just heard Mu Dong's, Qian Dong's, and Meng Dong's talk in the backyard. Listening to the meaning of the three of them, the errand you took this time, Master, is simply impossible.
Not only is it impossible, but it is very likely to get in trouble and be dismissed from office...
The villain is worried about you, Master..."
Kou Ji picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and hummed, looked at Lu Ming, and laughed in a low voice: "You don't care about me?"
Lu Ming hurriedly shook his head and said, "The villain dare not. In the villain's heart, you are the wisest person, Master. The villain just thinks, Master, you should prepare a few more ways for yourself, so as not to make mistakes in your errands. , Falling into a dilemma."
Kou Ji stared at him with a faint smile, and then said, "You still don't care about me?"
Lu Ming hurriedly said, "The villain really doesn't have..."
Kou Ji waved his hand, "Okay, I am teasing you. I know what I do by myself."
Lu Ming nodded awkwardly.
Kou Ji ordered: "Go and call me the three of Mu Chong."
Lu Ming agreed and left the guest room.
Kou Ji stared at Lu Ming's departed back, and said dumbly: "The little guy is not bad! I only stayed in Jiaozipu for a few months, and I am more mindful."
Not long after Lu Ming quit, the three of Mu Chong went to the guest room one after another.
Upon arriving in the guest room, the three salute Kou Ji first.
Afterwards, Mu Chong took the lead and said: "Kou Industry Department, when the refugees come, my Mu family can help you share 10,000 people."
"My money family can share three thousand..."
"My Meng family can share five thousand..."
Meng Weizhong gritted his teeth and said the number five. It seemed that sharing the five thousand refugees was his greatest limit.
Kou Ji asked the three of you to sit down and laughed: "You three thought that I came to find you so that you can share the refugees?"
Mu Chongcan smiled, did not speak.
The same goes for Qian Le and Meng Weizhong.
Obviously, the three of them felt that as soon as Kou Ji took the job, he came to them to help them share the refugees.
Kou Ji saw through the thoughts of the three of them, and still smiled: "I want to know, where are you three going to be resettled after 18,000 refugees?"
Mu Chonggan smiled and said: "My Mu family has a lot of fields in Sichuan and Shu, and lacks some tenants. I am going to send these refugees to Sichuan and Shu to help our Mu family grow the land."
Qian Le cheerfully said with a smile: "My Qian's caravan, going north and south, needs some manpower."
Meng Weizhong said dryly: "Keep it first, and when it's useful, it won't be too late."
Kou Ji shook his head dumbfoundedly and said: "I know the background of the three of you. It is not difficult for you to raise 18,000 refugees. But the three of you seem to be in the hands of tenants and caravans. .
Leading the 18,000 refugees back is a burden for you. "
The smile on Qian Le's face was a bit stiff, and he smiled dryly: "It's not in the way, we can afford it."
Kou Ji smiled and nodded, "I am very grateful that you can take the initiative to reach out to help me when I am in trouble."
The three of Mu Chong smiled and said it should be.
Kou Ji smiled and said again: "The reason why you helped me share the refugees is because you are afraid that if I fall, Jiaozipu will have no pillars, and the money you invested before will be wiped out?"
The three of Mu Chong were taken aback for a moment, the look on their faces was a bit embarrassing.
They took the initiative to help Kou Ji share the refugees, and they did have this idea.
"Are you still afraid that I will give you more refugees and bring down the three of you?"
Kou Ji smiled and said again.
The expressions on Mu Chong's trio's faces were even more embarrassing.
Kou Ji laughed loudly and said: "I don't care what you think, but you can reach out to help me at this critical time. I remember this friendship."
After a pause, Kou Ji smiled and said: "It's not in vain that I think about the three of you when I have money."
"Make money?"
The three of Mu Chong stared at Kou Ji in amazement.
Kou Ji nodded and said: "Yes, make money!"
Before the three of Mu Chong could ask questions, Kou Ji took the lead and asked: "In your eyes, those refugees are troublesome?"
The three of Mu Chong glanced at each other.
Qian Le's chubby face squeezed out a smile and said: "Don't hide the fact that the refugees are not only a trouble in our eyes, but in the eyes of everyone in Bianjing, they are all trouble."
Kou Ji smiled and said, "Why do I think they are gold ingots walking on ingots?"
The three of Mu Chong's eyes widened in amazement.
As soon as Qian Le was about to refute, he was grabbed by Mu Chong.
Mu Chong groaned for a while, and asked suspiciously, "What's the point?"
Kou Ji said with a smile: "Thousands of laborers who don't need money, what do you say?"
The three of Mu Chong were surprised at first, and then lowered their heads to ponder the deep meaning of Kou Ji's words.
They are businessmen, and businessmen first think of buying and selling.
They began to figure out what the tens of thousands of laborers without money could do and what benefits could be obtained for them.
Kou Ji continued to say as the three of them were meditating: "The court will pay for them to eat until the beginning of spring next year. The court will leave the land so that they can have a place to live.
We just need to keep them busy, find them a long-term business, and build some houses for them by the way. "
Qian Le's eyes rolled around, and a long time later, he pondered: "The price is a bit high, far more than the cost of establishing Jiaozipu. More importantly, the court will never allow us to hold these people for a long time. In hand.
In other words, we can only use these labors that do not require money for a while.
Once the spring of next year comes and the court ends its support for them, the money we invest in investment will become more.
So it's not worth it. "
Mu Chong and Meng Weizhong nodded together.
Kou Ji smiled and asked: "I heard that large-scale workshops have begun to appear in your Sichuan and Sichuan silk weaving?"
The three of Mu Chong were a little startled, wondering why Kou Ji mentioned silk weaving.
But they still answered Kou Ji's question.
Mu Chong nodded and said, "The silk produced in large-scale workshops is fast, and the styles are not too deviated. Unlike those of retail traders, the quality of the silk woven is uneven and slow.
The silks of our three families have been bought along with some porcelains from Jiangning Mansion to other vassal states along the coast.
The requirements for quality and quantity are relatively high. If a large-scale workshop is not used, it will not be able to meet the needs of those maritime merchants. "
Kou Ji nodded and smiled: "I heard that you start to weave silk when the Sichuan and Shu farms are idle, and go to the fields to do farm work when the farms are busy?"
Qian Le hesitated and said, "The Kou Industry Department is talking about the small households. Like the three of us, the silk weavers only need to take care of the mulberry field and weave the silk.
We only need to send people from the mansion to manage the female workers, and give them enough wages on a monthly basis. "
Kou Ji smiled and asked, "According to that, you three can produce a lot of silk every ten days?"
The three of Mu Chong gave a wry smile.
Meng Weizhong said dryly: "After the silkworm stage, it will not work. Every year when the silkworm stage comes, our female workers have to work day and night. After the silkworm stage, they basically stop."
Mu Chong nodded and said, "If our three companies produce silk every ten days, the price of silk would not be so expensive."
Kou Ji smiled and said, "Then have you considered expanding your silk weaving workshop?"
"It's too big to manage, and it's easy to lose money."
Qian Le said with a wry smile.
Kou Ji pointed out: "Don't just focus on silk. You can also consider cotton, linen, and wool."
Qian Le was still smiling wryly.
But Mu Chong understood the meaning of Kou Ji's words.
He was slightly surprised: "The Ministry of Industry intends to use the women among the refugees to establish a silk weaving workshop?"
Kou Ji smiled and said: "Not only silk weaving workshops, but also cotton, linen, and wool. As long as we plan properly, women among the refugees can weave all year round. They can support themselves and help us make a profit. ."
Meng Weizhong groaned: "Silk fabrics cannot continue to be spun after the silkworm period, but hemp can. If you plan properly, it is really profitable. It's just cotton..."
At this point, Meng Weizhong hesitated.
Seeing Meng Weizhong's hesitation, Qian Le said: "Cotton can weave thread, I know. When I was doing business in the Western Regions and other places in the early years, I saw local people use cotton to weave thread.
The local people also use cotton to weave cloth.
It's just that the woven fabric is not satisfactory.
Moreover, cotton is never better than silk and hemp, and only a small number of people are growing it.
It simply cannot be used for spinning in large quantities.
Right now there are only a few frontier troops in the northwest. In order to keep out the cold, they borrow cotton woven fabrics, and they can't be seen anywhere else. "
Mu Chong and Meng Weizhong nodded together.
Cotton was introduced to China as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but it was mostly planted in the border areas. Many people in the hinterland of the Central Plains did not know that cotton was good and did not plant it in large quantities.
It was not until the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty that it was planted on a large scale in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and it was also exported for profit.
Cotton has not been planted in large areas in the hinterland of the Central Plains, so many people still don't understand this thing.
As early as in Baozhou, when Kou Ji saw the cotton clothes sent by the court, he asked the local people in Baozhou. Few local people in Baozhou knew cotton.
After returning to the city of Bianjing, Kou Ji also paid attention to this matter.
There seem to be few people in North Korea who care about cotton.
Only a guard of the imperial army guarding the northwestern border felt that this thing was good for keeping out the cold, so he got some for his soldiers, stuffed them into fabrics, and used them as cotton clothes.
The guard of the imperial army also wrote a letter to the court, requesting the court to promote cotton planting on a large scale.
But the court ignored his proposal.
In the eyes of the important officials of the central government, the fertile fields of the Song Dynasty were not enough to grow grain, and there was no vacant place to grow cotton.
Later, when the Forbidden Army changed its defenses, it replaced the cotton-padded clothes and was completely thrown out of the warehouse.
Had it not been for Kou Ji to be anxious for clothes to protect the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou from the cold, these cotton-padded clothes might be piled up in the imperial treasury.
It is precisely because of this that Kou Ji also understands the situation of cotton planting in the Song Dynasty.
Kou Ji smiled and said to Mu Chong's three humanities: "Don't underestimate cotton. The fabric it woven, although not as good as silk, is better than linen.
The most important thing is that this thing does not need to worry about the silkworm stage.
It can be stored, and as long as it is planted enough, the textile workshop can weave cloth without stopping throughout the year. "
The three of Mu Chong's eyes lit up.
Mu Chong asked, "What about the output? Do you have any requirements for the land?"
Kou Ji smiled and said: "Guanshan and other places can grow it, and Jiangning and other places can also grow it... The output is not small."
The three of Mu Chong's eyes lit up again.
Guanshan and Jiangning span the north and south of the Song Dynasty.
In other words, cotton can be grown in most parts of the Song Dynasty.
As for the problem of planting cotton, occupying land, and being unable to produce grain, it is not within their consideration.
They are businessmen.
Businessmen chase profits.
As long as it is more profitable to grow cotton than to grow food, of course they choose to grow cotton.
"Send someone to the Western Regions to get some cotton back?"
Qian Le's enthusiastic proposal.
It's not that Qian Le is foolish, but that he has confidence in Kou Ji.
He is not very optimistic about Kou Ji in dealing with the problem of refugees, but he is very convinced by Kou Ji in business.
Because he has never seen Kou Ji suffer a loss in business so far.