Zhuanshe, Pei Ji, who came to Xuzhou (Hanshan), to talk to his shopkeeper Ma Qin. When talking about the transaction of honeycomb coal, Ma Qin spoke with a tremolo.

"Langjun, this honeycomb coal is now well promoted. The coal is convenient to transport and the price is cheap, so it's all crazy!"

"After the downstream of Si Shui, pass the Huai River, walk from Hangou to Guangling, let alone Xia Pi, Suyu, Huaiyin, Guangling, and other cities along the way, even small cities and villages along the coast, there is no need to worry about selling coal."

Pei Ji has seen honeycomb coal and coal stoves that burn honeycomb coal, but he finds it difficult to understand: "Honeycomb coal is always easy to break, so it is not easy to sell for a long distance, right?"

Ma Qin replied: "Mr. I don't know that what the merchants sell is not honeycomb coal, but coal powder."

"The coal mined in Xuzhou coal mine was transported to Hanshanyan by ship, and ground it into coal powder on the site, and loaded it into ship to various places downstream."

"Everywhere is using hydraulic or manpower coal-making machines to make honeycomb coal for sale."

"The state government has been paying for money to reduce the price, so that the price of honeycomb coal transported to Guangling by water is not much higher than that of firewood, it is resistant to burning, and the cooking water heats up quickly. With an iron pot... the iron pot is not worried about selling it now."

When Pei Ji heard the word "iron pot", he couldn't help but lower his voice: "I heard that Xuzhou is selling iron pots to Qiguo?"

"Sell, sell openly." Ma Qin smiled, "Your husband doesn't have to do this. Now the court doesn't say anything. The state party opened up selling iron pots to merchants in Qi."

"If they buy the cast iron pot, even if they want to melt the weapons, they will have to work hard. After all, cast iron cannot be used as a knife, armor leaves."

"And, the villain heard that the Shaofu is in Xuzhou, the income from selling iron pots is amazing. Last December, the monthly income was this number..."

Ma Qin made a gesture and compared a number. Pei Ji was a little surprised when he saw it: So many?

I heard Ma Qin say again: "The revenue from the sales of iron pots and iron nails, the income Shaofu obtained from Xuzhou has exceeded that of Dongye."

"But Dongye does not produce coal. There is a lot of coal here, and the income from selling coal is more, which makes the officials of Shaofu laugh from ear to ear."

"My husband think about it, if your Majesty's inner treasury has such an income, how could he blame Li Envoy for some gossip?"

Pei Ji sighed: "That's right, but I didn't expect that Li Envoy Li could do this to the point of running the industry."

Ma Qin agreed with this statement: "Of course, after all, wasn't it managed by Li Enjun in Poyang? Now that Poyang's new Pingbai porcelain is shipped to Xuzhou, it is open to sales to Qi State, and it is also in short supply."

"Envoy Li can do business. Before, everyone saw that Xuzhou was Pengcheng and Hanshan were soaked in the lonely cities of Pengcheng again, and they could not plant the fields. They thought it would be difficult for the official army to gain a foothold here."

"As a result, in a year, Envoy Li opened up the situation. Who would have thought of it beforehand?"

"The state government carried out a system of pot and coal induction to attract merchants from both Huaihe River to transport grain, salt to Hanshan, and exchanged iron pots, coal, and iron nails. Now Xuzhou is not short of grain, and the imperial court does not need to allocate a large amount of grain and grass to provide assistance."

The changes that have taken place in Xuzhou over the past year are indeed incredible. Pei Ji had heard all kinds of discussions before he came to Hanshan.

Now that I have arrived in Hanshan, I feel really different.

The Hanshan City he imagined should be a fortress that focuses on defense, like a large military camp. But when he came to Hanshan, he found that the scale of Hanshan City (South City) was no less than that of Guangling.

Near Hanshanyan, there are wharfs and a large number of workshops. The two cities on both sides of the north and south are quite large in scale. In addition to the public halls and military camps, there are also chessboards.

Not only officials, soldiers, but also a large number of people and merchants who live in Hanshan. Because coal and iron attract a large number of foreign merchants, there are a large number of residences, restaurants, and restaurants in the city.

Among the two cities in the north and south, more than half of the buildings are built by bricks and tiles. The city walls are covered with bricks and rammed earth walls, and there are towering enemy towers and arrow towers. From a distance, Hanshan City is of great momentum.

However, the scale of the two cities in the north and south is still expanding. The original exterior has been demolished and brick-clad earth city walls have been built, which is said to attract more people to settle in Hanshan.

So many people who have settled can farm in areas around Hanshan, or work in various workshops and docks near Hanshanyan to earn money to support their families.

At the beginning, Pei Ji did not believe that Hanshan could support so many young and strong people who were out of production (without agricultural production). Now, seeing the prosperity and development of various industries in Hanshan with his own eyes, the doubts in his heart disappeared.

"I will go to the public office to do business tomorrow and meet Li Envoy."

Pei Ji looked at Ma Qin and asked seriously: "If you have anything you want to inquire, I might be able to inquire about it."

Ma Qin replied: "The villain heard that the state party will issue some franchise 'licensing' in a while, so I want to ask the husband for help and ask..."

"How many business licenses will be released for Iron Nail..."

"Iron Nail?" Pei Ji felt strange. He thought Ma Qin was focusing on coal franchise.

"My husband doesn't know that Xuzhou has become a treasure pot now. Not only does the Shaofu make money here, but there are also many powerful people, and the powerful people from all over the country, making money here, which is very lively."

"In Hanshan City, there are many shopkeepers and masters who manage industries for the powerful and powerful, and they all follow the rules set by Li Envoy... and make a fortune together, and they are very busy..."

Pei Ji became curious: "Tell me carefully."

Ma Qin told the story.

As the saying goes, the world is prosperous and profitable. Xuzhou has made the coal and iron industry very popular. Iron pots and coal are sold well, which naturally attracts profit-seeking merchants.

Li Li, the governor of Xuzhou, copied the system implemented in Poyang that year, implemented licenses, issued "licenses", and set various rules so that all parties can have the opportunity to make a fortune while abiding by the rules.

Make a fortune by all means. Those who get a franchise license (license) make a fortune. Among them, the licensed operation of coal and salt is huge profits, and the Shaofu and the provincial government each have one.

The remaining licenses were divided up by several local powerful people in Xuzhou, Huaibei, and the agents of the vassal kings.

Among the vassal kings, there is the Poyang king.

As coal production increases significantly, the number of licenses will also increase. Previously, the licenses issued in the second round were divided up by more powerful and powerful people.

But it is still not enough, because coal production continues to increase, and the royal family, powerful and powerful people are eager to make a fortune.

Therefore, every round of license issuance is fierce. Ma Qin weighs the pros and cons and decides not to grab coal or iron pot business license, but to get iron nail business license.

Since Li Li offered the wire drawing process to make piano strings, this wire drawing process has quickly become other uses, one of which is to make iron nails.

Iron nails are inconspicuous, but they are very practical. Using a hydraulic wire drawing machine to make iron nails is cheap and sufficient, so they can achieve "small profits but quick turnover".

Dongye has an iron nail field, and the supply of products is in short supply. The Hanshanyan site in Xuzhou is the only one in Lianghuai that can produce iron nails in large quantities.

Therefore, the iron nails produced here do not have to worry about selling them. In addition, the output is extremely large, which allows more merchants to make profits by selling iron nails.

Pei Ji understood, but remembered something: "Since you can pull out iron wire, can you even make embroidery needles? Why didn't you see the official workshop of Hanshanyan make iron needles?"

"Mr. Lang Jun doesn't know that the iron needle is made a bit special. Nowadays, its craftsmanship is only mastered by Li Jun's workshop, and only Li Jun's workshop can produce iron needles of high quality and low price in batches."

"However, others can purchase goods from Li Jun's workshop, which does not require a license. In addition, the transaction looks inconspicuous, so it is not very popular."

"By the way, Li Enjun's workshop also made fish hooks. After all, this is similar to iron needles. It is nothing more than one that is straight and the other that is curved."

"My husband, don't underestimate the iron needles and fish hooks. Many small merchants make a lot of money by selling iron needles and fish hooks."

"Businessmen gather, and the demand for food has increased. Those who raise chickens and ducks and fish can also make money. Because the demand for employment has increased greatly, ordinary people can support their families by relying on helping servants."

"So, today's Hanshan, the powerful, wealthy merchants, and powerful households eat meat, ordinary merchants can also eat minced meat, and the people can drink meat soup, and everyone is happy."

"When it comes to Li Envoy, everyone praises him for being 'good'. After all, the rules of Xuzhou are determined by Li Envoy. Everyone can get rich safely and steadily. Whoever dares to mess up will be in trouble."

"Whether it is the Shaofu, the powerful, or the powerful people from all over the country, who is weak in his mouth and short in his hands, who will make things difficult for Li Envoy?"

This makes sense. Pei Ji knew that although his family had been in Huainan for several generations and was considered a wealthy family in Huainan, the industries he operated on weekdays could only be said to be self-sufficiency.

After all, relying on land output, it is difficult to accumulate wealth quickly, unless you do business.

But doing business is not easy. To make a lot of money, you have to find business opportunities and business paths, and have the powerful as your backer.

The so-called "powerful and powerful" refers to the power and powerful in the capital. After all, the business has become bigger and the business is not protected by the power and powerful in the capital, it is easy to be slaughtered as a fat sheep.

Now, in Xuzhou, there are very good business opportunities. Even if you really can’t get any ‘licenses’, you can still make money by doing some resale business.

The money lending income is quite good, but in Xuzhou, you cannot lend money without a 'license'.

However, you can lend money to big merchants with "licensed" and the other party can absorb funds to lend money to make profits. "Retail investors" can earn interest from big merchants.

Although the interest rate is not as high as direct debt lending, it is due to stability and worry-freeness. As long as you lend money to those good-for-goods businesses, you can steadily "money makes money".

Isn’t it easier to lend money to big businesses than to hire someone to do business?

After all, you may lose money when doing business. Lending money to big businesses to earn interest is a sure profit.

Because these big businesses have powerful people as their backers and have to be supervised by the public, it is relatively stable.

For example, a large business that is now running in Xuzhou is one of several business names with Poyang background. Its owner is Li Li's wife's family. With such a backer, how could he not be credible?

Pei Ji lent some of the money and grain to a certain business at his own home, and he received interest income regularly.

The same is true for his brother Pei Ji. However, there are many people in the Pei clan. For the sake of the family, someone has to come to Xuzhou to operate the industry, get a certain "license" as much as possible, and make more money.

Ma Qin was in charge of this matter. As Pei Ji spoke, he mentioned his brother Pei Ji. Then he remembered that Li Li, who Pei Ji met five or six years ago, was just a talented general at that time.

At that time, the official army recovered Shouyang, Zhongli and Li Li's official camps followed the army to fight and were responsible for building siege equipment.

Li Li, who is famous for his good at siege, deserves his name and helps the official army recover the second city in a short period of time.

But no one expected that in just five or six years, Li Li changed from a talented general to a governor of Xuzhou who was in charge.

The rank of the governor of Xuzhou is the same as that of the governor of Jiangzhou, and the status is extraordinary. Although there are only a few lonely cities at present, looking at the current situation of Hanshan, the future will inevitably be very different.

The young Li Li is now Fang Bo, who is the only one, and is different from that back then.

In contrast, Pei Ji felt that the career progress of his and his brother Pei Ji was really slow.

But Li Li has achieved his current status through unquestionable military achievements. What else can others say besides envy and jealousy?

In the Huainan area, those founding ministers and families of the founding ministers, such as the Pei family and the Xiahou family, were of course mixed feelings when facing such dazzling young military generals.

However, besides envy and jealousy, they actually have expectations.

Li Li was the only one in Huaibei and Xuzhou, so he would definitely need the help of the two Huai family, so they had a great chance.
Chapter completed!