After leaving the boundary of Kaifeng Mansion, passing by Jingzhao Mansion and Fengxiang Mansion, I traveled for 15 days.
Kou Ji and his entourage entered the boundary of Xining State at the junction of Qingtang and Song Dynasty.
Xining Prefecture is far colder than Bianjing.
It's not just cold weather.
The wind is colder.
The cold wind whizzed across people like a knife.
It's snowing again.
The cold wind is mixed with snowflakes, and it keeps burrowing into the person's neck.
The frozen man shivered.
Some poorly dressed civilian husbands suffered frostbite one after another.
Kou Ji distributed the antifreeze plasters and frozen oil he prepared to the civilians.
Let them be used for antifreeze.
Even so.
Still due to frostbite, there was a small attrition.
There were dozens of civilian husbands, frozen to death on the road.
There were also some civilian husbands who were left in the post along the way because of severe frostbite.
Kou Ji exhaled a breath of white gas, tightened the cotton-padded jacket with his neckline, and wrapped his bearskin jacket tightly. He shouted to the trembling civilians behind him: "Everything... Frozen.
I have ordered people to cook the hot mutton soup in Xining City and heat up the warm kang..."
When the people escorting the grain and grass heard this, they seemed to have more strength on their bodies, braving the wind and snow, pushing the grain truck to Xining City.
Liu Heng leaned on his horse, approached Kou Ji, and whispered: "Fourth brother, don't make any promises. When you arrive in Xining City, if there is no hot soup and warm heating, the folks will make trouble."
Kou Ji glanced at Liu Heng and said calmly, "Why do you say that I am making a promise?"
Liu Heng rolled his eyes, "Since we started, you have been dispatched to Qibaqi. Do you expect them to provide you with mutton soup and Ondol?"
Kou Ji squinted and said: "I am an imperial envoy, and ordered the defenders of Xining City to prepare hot soup and hot kang. They dare not follow it."
Liu Heng shook his head and said, "Four brothers, you have never set foot in the Western Regions. You don't know how proud the frontier army of the Western Regions is. They didn't see your emperor sword, and they wouldn't obey your orders at all.
Even if you report the matter to the court, it is difficult to tell it clearly. "
Kou Ji smiled calmly: "I really want to know how proud they are..."
Liu Heng sighed and said, "Or I will send someone to go to Xining City and prepare a few pots of mutton soup, so I can deal with it first."
Kou Ji glanced at Liu Heng and said, "How long have you not spoken to your people? Or, how long have you not heard from your people?"
Liu Heng was taken aback for a moment, and said with a dry smile: "I've been playing around with the fourth brother what you gave me these days, I haven't asked them.
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "Then you should ask them carefully to see if I can deliver what I promised."
Liu Heng asked in confusion: "Should I ask?"
Kou Ji drew his hand from his sleeve, handed it to Liu Heng, and said calmly: "Give me the things first, and I will help you keep them, so that you won't lose your mind."
Liu Heng reluctantly drew a warm short-barreled musket from his cuff and handed it to Kou Ji.
Kou Ji slipped into his arms.
Liu Heng smiled and said, "You save it for me first, and you have to give it to me later."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "Go away..."
Liu Heng smiled and went to find out about the situation.
After a long time.
Liu Heng returned to Kou Ji with a look of astonishment, "Four... Fourth Brother..."
Kou Ji gave a faint hum.
Liu Hengqiang swallowed and tremblingly said: "How did you do it?"
Kou Ji glanced at Liu Heng without speaking.
Liu Heng asked, "When did you arrange for the person in Xining City? When did you turn nearly half of Xining City into a buddy from the Kou Mansion?"
Kou Ji glared at Liu Heng, "You can't talk nonsense, they are not my Kou Mansion's buddies. They just help me with work, and I give them money."
Liu Hengqiang endured the shock in his heart, and said, "They help you work, aren't they your buddies?"
Kou Ji looked at Liu Heng up and down, and said faintly: "This year, your dividends in the textile workshop will be reduced by 50,000."
When Liu Heng heard this, he was anxious, "Why?"
Kou Ji said dissatisfied: "As one of the owners of the textile workshop, you don't even know the situation of the industry under your own name. What face do you have for taking so many dividends?"
Liu Heng said in surprise: "You mean... the few big textile workshops in Xining are ours?"
Kou Ji said lightly: "It's not a few big... It's all!"
Liu Heng's pupils shrank, and his heart was even more shocked.
His voice trembled slightly: "When did it happen?"
Kou Ji was silent for a moment, and said lightly: "From the time when your dividend in the textile workshop broke through 300,000 sticks."
"that is not… "
Liu Heng hurriedly spoke.
Halfway through the conversation, he was interrupted by Kou Ji.
"Do you really think that the textile workshop outside Bianjing City can help us make millions of profits?"
Liu Heng had the answer in his mind, but he couldn't help but ask, "Isn't it?"
Kou Ji curled his lips and said, "Of course not... The fabrics woven by the textile workshop outside the capital of Bianjing are only used by the people of Da Song Dynasty, and there is not much profit.
It is the textile workshops in Xining City, Baozhou City and Leizhou City that really help us make money.
The cloth woven in Xining City was sold to the Western Regions.
The fabrics woven in Baozhou City were sold to Liao.
The fabrics woven in Leizhou City, along with the silk in Shuzhong, were sold overseas.
The fabrics woven by our textile workshops were too competitive in the Song Dynasty, so they could only sell small profits but could not sell them at a high price.
But in the Western Regions, Liao Country, and overseas, the fabrics spun out of our textile workshops can be sold at a high price. "
Liu Heng grumbled, swallowed another mouthful of saliva, and said solemnly: "I thought the dividends were made by the textile workshop in Bianjing."
Kou Ji said irritably: "The fabric is not gold. Just the dozen or so textile houses in Bianjing can make so much money?"
Liu Heng smiled awkwardly.
As one of the owners of the textile workshop, it was indeed his fault that he did not understand the movement of the textile workshop.
Kou Ji reprimanded him, that's what it should be.
He could not argue.
He occasionally visits Vientiane House and Vientiane Pawn Shop.
However, he rarely set foot in the textile workshop, let alone understand it. He has always been in a state of throwing away his hands.
So I don’t understand the business of textile workshops at all.
Liu Heng opened his mouth to question again.
But Kou Ji said lightly: "Don't ask me why I have to place the textile workshops in four places. If you dare to speak, I dare to deduct all your bonuses."
Liu Heng smiled awkwardly, "Of course I didn't ask this... I'm not stupid enough yet..."
Naturally, he would not ask such a stupid question.
Although he didn't understand the business in the textile workshop, he knew that the guys in the textile workshop rushed to various parts of the Western Regions and Liao Country to collect wool at the end of spring every year.
Kou Ji placed textile workshops in Xining City and Baozhou City nearby to save costs.
It will cost a lot of money to transport wool from the Western Regions, Liao Kingdom and other places to Bianjing.
It would cost a lot of money if it was spun into fabric and transported to the Western Regions and Liao Country.
The transportation costs that come and go will cost a lot of money.
If it is placed in Xining City and Baozhou City, it will save a lot of money.
Of course.
Liu Heng didn't know.
Placing the textile workshops in Xining City, Baozhou City, and Leizhou City not only saves transportation costs, but also reduces labor costs.
The people in the border areas are no more delicate than the people around Bianjing.
Their labor costs are extremely low.
Take Xining City as an example.
When Qian Le led his people to establish a textile workshop in Xining City, he almost died of laughter when he inquired about the wages.
The people of Xining City are very simple.
Simple enough to help people work without paying money.
Just take care of the rice, and take care of the full.
Don’t pick meals.
As long as you are full, you can eat anything.
If Kou Ji hadn't insisted on Qian Le, he would have to pay the people.
It is estimated that the unscrupulous profiteer Qian Le will decisively deduct the people's wages.
Kou Ji glanced at Liu Heng, and Liu Heng smiled and said, "I just want to know, why did the fourth brother set up so many textile workshops in Xining City? Isn't it better to integrate them together?"
Kou Ji quietly said: "The people of Xining City are simple, but also sturdy. Many of them are family members of Xining's defenders. We use them to avoid accidents.
This is the purpose of dividing a large workshop into countless small workshops.
We can't manage all the workshops personally. We can only recruit managers and let them help us manage them.
But in the management, the good and the bad are mixed.
Some are not greedy, and some are greedy.
If it is because of their greed that they squeeze the people too much, cause people's dissatisfaction, and cause riots, it will be difficult to handle.
If there is a problem with the management of the big workshop, then our entire workshop will be overthrown by the people, and the textile business will simply not be able to continue.
But if there is a problem with the steward of the small workshop.
We only need to deal with this small task.
But it will not affect our textile business. "
Liu Heng suddenly realized, "Unexpectedly, there are so many ways in it..."
Kou Ji said calmly: "You will know if you send people to pay more attention to your business in the future."
Liu Heng nodded seriously.
Kou Ji reminded: "Don't use the people of the Imperial City Division. The people of the Imperial City Division are officials, not our private members."
Kou Ji did not speak thoroughly, but Liu Heng already understood Kou Ji's thoughts.
Private use of public equipment is not necessary.
Especially the special yamen like the Imperial City Division, even more undesirable.
Every time a point is used privately, it will jeopardize the trust of a point official in you.
After the official trust in you is lost, you will inevitably be dismissed from office by the official.
Just as the business of Liu Heng Textile Workshop was amazed.
Li Zhaoliang rode his horse from behind the team and rushed to the front of the team. When he saw Kou Ji, he opened his mouth and shouted, "Quickly... Give me a piece of your cotton coat..."
Kou Ji was delighted when he heard this, "Don't you want it? It is said that the cotton-padded clothes are too bloated and affect your combat. It is not as warm as the leather jacket."
Li Zhaoliang became angry and shouted: "Too bloated clothes are of course not conducive to combat. Didn't you see that I didn't even bring the fleece jacket when I came out? If it's not too cold, do you think I would love your cotton clothes?"
Kou Ji smiled mockingly, and ordered the people around him to take a cotton coat to Li Zhaoliang.
After getting the cotton coat, Li Zhaoliang quickly took off the big cloak and leather jacket, following the appearance of Kou Ji, wearing the cotton jacket next to his body, and then put on the leather jacket and big cloak.
Feeling the warmth brought by the cotton clothes, Li Zhaoliang let out a long sigh and said: "I didn't expect...this thing is very warm when worn..."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes.
Just braved the blizzard to put it on, and immediately warmed up
It's obviously your illusion, okay
After tightening the Greatcloak, Li Zhaoliang stared at Kou Ji and asked, "Why are such good things not sold in Bianjing?"
When Kou Ji heard this, he was taken aback and sighed, "There are... but it's not easy to sell..."
Although Kou Ji instructed Qian Le, he introduced cotton to the Central Plains.
But when it came to promoting planting, it didn't go so smoothly.
The people are hostile to this new species.
After knowing that it cannot be eaten or drunk, no one chooses to grow it.
In the hearts of the people, the existing land and food are not enough, so how can it be used to grow cotton
Even if the people of the Qianle School were painstakingly showing the benefits of cotton to the people, no one wanted to plant it.
In the hearts of the people, food comes first.
The only destiny of the land is to grow food.
In the eyes of the rich and powerful, food is also the first, and they will not waste their fertile fields to grow unfamiliar things like cotton.
and so.
till this moment.
Cotton is only grown in large areas in Baozhou, Huazhou, Shuzhong, Leizhou and other places.
Apart from this, there is no race in other places.
If the output is small, there will naturally be less that can be sold.
Knowing that it is good, fewer people are willing to buy it.
Kou Ji also thought about using his influence to promote cotton.
But after considering the consequences, he gave up.
He must really dare to use his influence to promote cotton.
The Manchu civil and military dared to engrave the word traitor and hang it on his forehead.
The folks dared to spread his actions of'causing the country and the people' to spread all over the world.
In the entire Song Dynasty, apart from Kou Ji, there were also merchants.
In the hearts of all the remaining people, land and food are always the first.
No one can disobey this rule.
Anyone who disobeys this rule will end up miserably.
Li Zhaoliang felt the warmth brought by the cotton-padded clothes and laughed: "Is this thing expensive? If it is not expensive, give me a thousand pieces first. There are many people in my house."
Kou Ji smiled calmly: "A little more expensive than a leather jacket, but cheaper than a fur-filled warm jacket."
Things are precious.
Nowadays, cotton is not grown on a large scale.
There is no way for small profits but quick turnover.
Li Zhaoliang nodded slowly, "That's not expensive. If you turn around, you can ask me to send two thousand pieces to my house."
Li Zhaoliang heard that cotton-padded clothes were cheaper than fur-filled warm jackets, and immediately added a thousand more generously.
Liu Heng remained silent on the side, and when Li Zhaoliang and Kou Ji had finished speaking, he had the heart to share his shock with Li Zhaoliang.
"General Li, aren't you curious, can the promise my fourth brother made to the civilians just now be fulfilled?"
Li Zhaoliang glanced at Liu Heng, holding his hands in his arms, feeling the warmth brought by the cotton-padded clothes, and said faintly: "Half of the people in Xining City live on the wages issued by the Kou Mansion. Kou Ji asked them to do other things. , Can they refuse?"
Liu Heng was stunned, "How did you know?"