novelSusiti Chapter 010 Honest and Fair Business Practices – Paying for Services, No Deception of the Young or O
Chapter 010 Honest and Fair Business Practices – Paying for Services, No Deception of the Young or O
Chapter 010
Thousands of miles away, at the Yongcheng County Construction Bureau.
Chen Ying was directing the craftsmen to load the newly forged iron plows onto the oxcart, completely unaware that his name had already quietly fallen into the eyes of the deepest part of the Forbidden City.
Inside the office of the Manufacturing Bureau, Song Xianze was like a tool, silently calculating the various lists of incoming and outgoing supplies. He didn't even dare to look up.
"Do not look at what is improper..."
At this moment, Song Xianze really wanted to throw away these account books and escape from this place of trouble. Just a few steps away, on a rattan chair, his sister Song Yanniang was fanning Chen Ying with a palm leaf fan while wiping the sweat off his body.
However, the way he wiped her was a little ambiguous, making Song Xianze wish he could disappear into a crack in the ground.
Just eight days after the establishment of the Manufacturing Bureau, which was two days ahead of the agreed time with Sun Chuanting, the Bureau had already completed the production of all one thousand iron-shafted plows.
Having completed Sun Chuanting's task, Chen Ying completely relaxed. Even though the sun was scorching outside and the air was sweltering, Chen Ying was still fast asleep in his office, snoring loudly.
"Commander-in-Chief, Commander-in-Chief..."
Song Yanniang's sharp eyes fell on Chen Daniu, who was hurrying in through the door. Only then did Chen Daniu realize that Chen Ying had fallen asleep. He quickly lowered his voice and said, "The County Magistrate is here!"
"Chen Lang, Chen Lang..."
Song Yanniang raised her voice, and Chen Ying groggily woke up: "What's wrong? The county magistrate is here!"
Fifteen minutes later, Chen Ying changed into a brand-new blue round-necked long gown and wore a square scarf on his head, which indicated that Chen Ying was now at the level of a clerk.
At this moment, County Magistrate Sun Chuanting looked at the production workshop of the Manufacturing Bureau with great shock. In just eight days, this Zhang Family Warehouse had become a huge workshop.
In front of six towering refining furnaces, dozens of laborers, their upper bodies bare, were pulling the bellows with all their might. The air from the bellows blew into the furnace, and the flames inside the furnace suddenly rose higher.
This cycle repeats itself endlessly, creating a truly spectacular scene. The scorching air blurs the view, making it seem as if space itself is distorted.
"Open the furnace!"
With the furnace foreman's command, the molten steel in the refining furnace flows through the cooling tank into the mold. As the mold is pulled by manpower, it slowly turns into the cold water chisel. Under the quenching of the coolant, an iron plow is cast.
After some simple polishing, a brand new iron plow was completed.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
Sun Chuanting turned around and looked at Chen Ying in surprise.
At first, he thought Chen Ying was a skilled craftsman. In general, skilled craftsmen tend to be stubborn, inflexible, and not good at management.
The Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau now has over 600 laborers and displaced people, over 70 military households, 20-30 clerks and miscellaneous servants, plus the yamen runners who assist in its management, totaling over 740 people.
However, under Chen Ying's command, these 700-plus people were like an army. What surprised Sun Chuanting even more was Chen Ying's attitude towards the craftsmen and laborers.
There was no scolding, no whipping.
If an old blacksmith offers suggestions for improvement, he will squat down, listen carefully, and if he thinks they make sense, he will make the changes on the spot.
When a laborer twisted his ankle while carrying iron, he immediately had someone help him to rest, replaced him, and ordered mung bean soup to be made.
Sun Chuanting discovered Chen Ying's strengths: although he was educated, he was not pedantic like a scholar; although he came from a military family, he was not reckless like a warrior; he understood technology, command, and, more importantly, human nature.
He is a capable person.
Sun Chuanting felt a sense of appreciation for talent.
"Boying, you did a great job!"
Sun Chuanting smiled faintly and said, "This county is very satisfied."
"This is not the place to talk. Please, Your Excellency, move to another location!"
Chen Ying had actually figured out Sun Chuanting's true intentions. He initially thought that by using the iron materials and resources of the county government to build a thousand new plows, plus the curved plows of the Ming Dynasty, it would basically meet the needs of Yongcheng County's autumn grain planting.
The problem is, without comparison, there is no harm.
As the iron-shafted plows were produced and gradually distributed, practical operation revealed that their efficiency far exceeded 40%, at least doubling.
Especially in the muddy fields after floods, the surface is severely hardened. A regular curved plow with one ox can only cultivate a little over one acre a day, and even in fields with good soil moisture, it can only cultivate two or three acres.
However, this iron-shafted plow could easily plow five acres of land. It was efficient and time was tight, so the iron-shafted plow became a hot commodity. The four major families and wealthy households in Yongcheng all came to Sun Chuanting, wanting to obtain more iron-shafted plows.
Upon arriving at the construction site of the supervising bureau, Song Xianze, accompanied by several accountants, bowed to Sun Chuanting.
Sun Chuanting then looked at Song Xianze properly. He had long heard of Song Xianze's great name. He was a local prodigy in Yongcheng who passed the county-level examination at the age of twelve. He originally wanted to take the provincial examination at the age of fifteen, but was rejected because of his height.
The Ming Dynasty was an era that valued appearance, and a dwarf like Song Xianze would not be able to become an official.
"What a pity!"
Although Song Xianze was a dwarf, his facial features were exceptionally well-proportioned, even handsome. It was just a great pity that his height was a fatal flaw.
On the contrary, Chen Boying, who is over six feet tall with a wasp waist and a broad back, is pleasing to the eye.
"Bo Ying!"
Sun Chuanting pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid this county will have to break its promise. The prefect has ordered the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau to produce another 20,000 iron-shafted plows!"
"Your Excellency, our ironworks are almost depleted. We can't even build two hundred, let alone twenty thousand. Even a skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients!"
"There's no need to worry about iron, coal, or the necessary food!"
Chen Ying breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If there are no problems with the materials, the Supervision Bureau can complete it!"
"Twenty thousand bodies, not two thousand!"
"Understood, sir!"
Chen Ying explained, "The Bureau of Manufacturing has already built ten refining furnaces, four of which are not yet in use. The craftsmen are gradually becoming more skilled at operating them, and if we have enough raw materials, it can be completed in half a month! However..."
"But what?"
"However, we'll need to add more manpower for 20,000 bodies!"
"We'll provide you with as many staff as you need from within the county."
Sun Chuanting laughed and said, "As long as Boying completes the production of 20,000 new plows, the county will reward him handsomely. What do you want? As long as it's within the county's jurisdiction, we will certainly not hesitate to offer a generous reward!"
"Bo Ying truly wishes to ask the county magistrate for a favor!"
Chen Ying said calmly, "This humble servant promised Miss Song that we would have a proper marriage with proper betrothal gifts and formal arrangements. I beg Your Excellency to act as matchmaker for this humble servant..."
"this one?"
Sun Chuanting looked at Chen Ying in disbelief: "You can think this through..."
"This humble servant has made up his mind; I will marry Yanniang in grand style!"
"Okay, okay, okay..."
Sun Chuanting left laughing.
"Respectfully seeing off the County Magistrate!"
To Chen Ying's surprise, Sun Jian did not leave with Sun Chuanting, but instead looked at Chen Ying with a smile.
"Brother Sun, what can I do for you?"
Sun Jian looked at Sun Chuanting's retreating figure and lowered his voice, saying, "There really is a small matter..."
"Brother Sun is thinking..."
"clever!"
Sun Jian lowered his voice and said, "Besides the 20,000 iron plows that the prefect wanted, could we make another 5,000... within half a month?"
"Iron materials..."
"The iron ore will be delivered tonight!"
Chen Ying guessed that once the iron plow was successfully produced, everyone would know about its effects. Of course, it wouldn't be difficult to replicate this iron plow.
The difficulty lies in the manufacturing cost. Whether using the frying method, the Suzhou steel method, or the crucible steel method, the cost is far higher than that of the refining method.
Even if ten-fire steel is used, each pound would cost two and seven-tenths of a tael of silver, and the entire iron plow would require at least fifteen taels of silver in material costs.
After obtaining the iron-shafted plow, it was not difficult for the gentry of Yongcheng to imitate this new plow. Any craftsman with a few years of blacksmithing skills could make it by simply copying the design.
The problem is, the cost is too high.
As more and more iron-shafted plows appeared, the gentry and wealthy families became restless. If no such new plows appeared after the flood, and everyone was on the same level, there would naturally be no problem.
The problem is that some people now have new plows, while others do not. They are not worried about scarcity but about inequality.
The first person to approach Sun Chuanting was Zhang Chengzong, the grandson of Zhang Xin, the Earl of Pengcheng. Sun Chuanting was actually in a difficult position. Earl Zhang Xin entrusted all the money, grain, and cloth in the Zhang family's warehouse to Sun Chuanting for disaster relief. These money, grain, and goods were worth more than 30,000 taels of silver.
It can be said that the Zhang family's generosity was enormous. It was perfectly reasonable for the emperor to reward them with a memorial archway. But now they only need five hundred iron plows. Is that really going too far?
The answer is yes, and that's not an exaggeration.
If Sun Chuanting's superior, Zheng Sanjun, hadn't given the order, this matter would have been very easy to resolve, given that he had his superior on one side and the Zhang family, one of the four prominent families in Yongcheng on the other.
Sun Chuanting had no choice but to ask Sun Jian to sound out Chen Ying's opinion.
"Even with the iron and coke, this won't be easy. If we fail to fulfill the prefect's request, we could lose our heads. This is no small matter!"
Sun Jian looked disappointed: "Alright, I'll think of another way..."
"Unless... more money!"
Chen Ying feigned seriousness and said, "As the saying goes, a generous reward will surely bring forth brave men. As long as the money is right, the craftsmen will definitely work their hardest!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Jian became interested: "How much more?"
"One thousand taels of silver!"
Chen Ying gritted his teeth and said, "I'll take two taels of silver for each iron plowshare I make, and I'll go all in!"
"Okay, we'll do it your way!"
Late that night, two carriages, escorted by seventeen or eighteen guards, arrived at the Yongcheng Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau. However, instead of entering through the main gate, the two carriages went around to the back gate.
The office of the Bureau of Construction was brightly lit, not by candlelight, but by more than a dozen tung oil lamps, making the room as bright as day.
Song Xianze, accompanied by several accountants, was calculating the iron, grain, and other data needed to forge 20,000 iron-shafted plows. This was the preliminary accounting to be handed over to Sun Chuanting, and the amount of pig iron to be publicly claimed to be 85%.
Although the Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau only employed a little over 700 people, it actually spawned many industries. This was different from manufacturing two iron plows. Each batch of 1,200 catties of molten steel required 800 to 1,000 kilograms of coke.
This energy consumption ratio was much higher than in later generations. Of course, there was no other way. In addition to consuming the largest amounts of pig iron and coke, a large amount of cotton cloth and cotton clothing were also needed.
The temperature near the smelting furnace reached as high as 70 or 80 degrees Celsius, making it impossible for craftsmen to get close. They could only wear thick cotton-padded clothes, gloves, and masks, all of which were consumables.
Because of the hot weather and even hotter working environment, the craftsmen who work also need to drink mung bean soup to prevent heatstroke and cool down, and they also need to prepare medicines. This is the real cost of investment.
Excluding raw material costs, without paying workers' wages, each person needs to consume two and a half to three liters of grain, as well as vegetables and sauces, and also salt.
In summary, it would cost at least one tael and eight mace of silver for a farm implement factory to process an iron-shafted plow.
"I hope Director Chen is doing well!"
Chen Ying looked up and saw an elderly man who looked like a steward in the hall. He was about fifty or sixty years old and very thin. In front of the old man was a young man dressed in brocade.
"Who are you……"
"My name is Zhang Zhengyu, and my father is Zhang Hanwen."
"So it's Young Master Chen in person! I apologize for not greeting you properly!"
"General Manager Chen, you're too kind!"
"Young Master, you can just call me Boying or Xiao Chen!"
Chen Ying pointed at Li Xiaojie and said, "Young Master, let me introduce you. This is Lord Li, the supervisor of the Construction Bureau!"
Li Xiaojie quickly waved his hand and said, "I dare not address you as 'sir' in front of you, Young Master Chen... Director Chen, I will not disturb your visit any longer, I will take my leave now!"
Li Xiaojie usually liked to nitpick at Chen Ying, but in front of Zhang Zhengyu, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, and he and several accountants hurriedly left.
"Boying, this is just a small token of my appreciation!"
Two servants in blue robes carried a large camphor wood chest into the hall. They opened the chest, revealing a gleaming silver interior.
These are silver ingots privately cast by the Zhang family. They are shaped like boats, and each ingot weighs a standard fifty taels. There are eight ingots on the top layer, and a box contains a total of sixteen ingots.
"Young Master, you are too kind. How could I possibly accept such a generous gift?"
Chen Ying smiled faintly and said, "If I, Chen, were to refuse, it would be disrespectful to the young master. Bo'an, please accept the young master's generous gift!"
Zhang Zhengyu thought Chen Boying wouldn't dare accept the Zhang family's money and wanted to make a good relationship with them. Unexpectedly, even though the Zhang family gave him an extra six hundred taels of silver, he accepted the money without the slightest bit of embarrassment.
Of course, what Zhang Zhengyu didn't know was that, in Chen Ying's understanding, his work of forging the iron plow for the Zhang family was considered overtime, and overtime work should naturally be paid overtime.
"Bo Ying is such a straightforward person; Zheng Yu loves dealing with straightforward people!"
Zhang Zhengyu was very clear about Zhang Xin's attitude: things that could be solved with money were never a problem. The Zhang family was no longer what it used to be, and they would avoid trouble if possible.
Although the Zhang family wanted the iron plow, they were willing to engage in a fair trade rather than use their family's power to coerce others.
Yongcheng was a place of great literary tradition, and many of its people held official positions in the capital. If any member of the Zhang family committed any wrongdoing, they would be impeached.
Chen Ying smiled and said, "Young Master, please rest assured. As long as the iron and coal arrive, we will start work immediately. At the latest, we will have five hundred iron plowshares ready in five days!"
"I won't stand on ceremony with you."
Zhang Zhengyu handed the materials to Chen Ying. Chen Ying took the list and saw that in addition to iron and coke, there were two extra vats of meat sauce, ten live pigs, three hundred catties of sesame seeds, one hundred shi of wheat, and two hundred shi of millet.
"On behalf of my fellow workers, Mr. Chen thanks the young master for his generous gift!"
"Boying, once you're done with this busy period, I'll invite you to Zuixianlou to listen to music!"
Zhang Zhengyu arrived quickly and left in a hurry.
Before leaving, he gave Chen Ying a drawing, which depicted a charming young girl dressed in light gauze with gentle eyes.
A note was also written on it: "A generous reward will be given if it is cast to life size!"
"Holy crap..."
Chen Ying stared at the painting in disbelief, never expecting that the young master of Pengcheng would have such a peculiar hobby.
Song Xianze walked over, and Chen Ying hurriedly put away the blueprints.
"Boying, you shouldn't have accepted the Zhang family's money!"
Song Xianze said, "The Zhang family is one of the four prominent families in Yongcheng. If..."
"If I don't accept it, how will Lord Sun accept it?"
Chen Ying replied matter-of-factly, "I neither stole nor robbed. If I didn't accept the Zhang family's money, that would only invite resentment!"
Song Xianze seemed to understand: "You mean..."
"That's right!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly and said, "Our Supervision Bureau has become a hot commodity. We want to take money from the Zhang family, and we'll take money from the Li family, the Wang family, the Ding family, and the Lian family if they offer it to us. We're honest and fair in our dealings with people of all ages."