Chapter 60 Making Money
In the manor on Shang Yuan Shang, a group of people were waiting anxiously outside Yinfang. Two officials from Jingzhao County were rubbing their hands and stamping their feet anxiously.
Finally, the door of the sealing workshop slowly opened, and Li Taidang went out first, followed by Huanqu pushing two carts with several boxes and cages filled with paper stacked on the carts.
"Excuse me, Li Lang, those books..."
A Jingzhao County official came forward in a hurry. He didn't have time to bow, so he asked first.
Li Tai turned around and pointed at the two carts, and said with a smile: "Here are thirteen thousand types of account books and documents. Please order them."
Several Jingzhao officials were even more happy after hearing this. They didn't have time to say any more polite words. They rushed forward and inserted their hands into the box to look through the neatly cut and stacked books. The more they read, the happier they became. In the end, they were even more happy. I couldn't help but burst into laughter.
It's no wonder these people are so happy, because this is not only related to whether Cui Fan's Jing Zhaoyin can be stable, but also closely related to their respective futures.
Nowadays, state and county officials have very strong autonomy. Many state and county officials are self-employed and have a close relationship with their chief officials. They are highly dependent on their personal and official career. If Cui Quan cannot become Jing Zhaoyin, it will naturally be difficult for them to stay in the county and work.
Just like Li Tai himself, he is still Gao Zhongmi's personal staff, and his organizational relationship is not with the Western Wei Dynasty. Even if he has a public title, he cannot be considered a serious official.
This was also caused by the insufficient administrative strength and talent reserves of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Yuwentai had to compromise with these officials. Even if he wants to strengthen centralization, he does not have that much grassroots administrative talent at his disposal.
After laughing, the Jingzhao official who spoke earlier turned back to look at Li Tai eagerly and said, "How many more books can be produced here before the end of the month?"
"There are about 70,000 volumes, of which 15,000 will be delivered to certain envoys in Beihua Prefecture, and the rest will be lost to Jingzhao."
After Li Tailloe made an audit, he replied that the format of these official documents was simple and fixed, and the printing was not difficult. What was more tedious was cutting the paper and drying the printed materials.
"This is great, great! My envoy, thank you very much Li Lang, thank you very much Li Lang!"
The official was even more happy when he heard this. As Li Tai expected, although Cui Quan said it was 10,000, Jingzhao County, as the capital, has a huge demand for such official documents, so the output doubled again. I can eat it even if I’m afraid.
"I am deeply honored that I can support my family by working at home, and it can be beneficial to your government. Living up to your expectations is a joy for both of you, and I can't thank you enough."
Li Tai replied with a smile, handed a list to the official and said: "The materials and labor required for the work here are briefly calculated, and the valuable materials are recorded in the book. Please forward it to Cui Shijun. . I know that your government is very busy, so I don’t dare to disturb you rashly. After your inspection, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.”
No matter how polite you are, the accounts that need to be settled still have to be settled. Li Tai didn't discuss the price with Cui Quan in detail before. Now that he has considerable production capacity, he is naturally confident in making an offer.
Li Tai discussed with He Basheng and made his own calculations to draw up a stepped quotation. The first 30,000 pieces have the highest price, and every subsequent 10,000 pieces have the lowest price. The price of less than 50,000 pieces is about 3,000 pieces of silk. The more you buy, the cheaper it becomes.
This price is not only high, it is a huge profit compared to the production cost. At least the government made 50,000 accounts by itself. The total cost of labor and materials would never cost so much.
But technology is priceless, especially these seals that bought Cui Quan the most precious time.
Without the support of these official documents, he would never have been able to complete such a large-scale expansion of household registration before this year, and he would not have been able to create considerable political achievements. Moreover, Cui Quan also requested exclusive supply this year except for North China, which of course must be included.
Of course, Li Tai's offer still leaves some room for negotiation, and it is acceptable even if it is cut in half.
Cui Fan worked vigorously and resolutely. After receiving the first batch of goods, news came back on the third day: the price of the first 50,000 pieces was reduced to 2,500 bolts of silk, and 100,000 pieces were directly ordered, totaling 3,800 pieces. supplies of silk.
Through this word, Li Tai could imagine his cousin gearing up and preparing for a big fight. With 100,000 account books, even after deducting the cost of paying from top to bottom, at least 15,000 households can be expanded.
As the core of Kansai Gyeonggi, Jingzhao wants to increase the number of households by 15,000 in a short period of time, which is far more significant than expanding tens of thousands of households in other states. It seems that Cui Qian is determined to keep Jingzhao Yin. Official position suppresses all competitors.
These supplies were not only paid for in silk. The county government could only provide a maximum of one thousand pieces of silk, and the remainder was paid in other materials. The cover letter also included a list of materials, which marked the current prices of various materials specified by the government. Li Tai could choose freely from the list.
Without a stable currency as a medium of exchange, large transactions in ancient times were so troublesome. As for what materials to use to offset the bill, Li Tai doesn't plan to decide on his own.
He had already planned to give up the dividends from this first business. Although the ideas and technology were provided by him, the actual establishment of the production line and its launch mainly depended on He Basheng and Shuo Hui.
Moreover, these two people also gave him a lot of help in other aspects, including providing military rations to the township regiment. Without a certain amount of water from Hui's family for his own use, Li Tai alone would not be able to complete it.
The processing of tens of thousands of kilograms of grain cannot be completed by Li Tai's family members in a short time.
Previously, He Basheng listened to Li Tai's suggestion and rented or returned part of the manor to Dahangtai, gathering a large number of laborers, a considerable part of whom were involved in the processing of military rations.
Even if the two people didn't care, Li Tai couldn't accept it shyly without making any remarks.
He Basheng has been living in the manor during this period. Li Tai took the cargo list provided by Jingzhao County and informed him of his intention. He Basheng was also very pleased after hearing this.
"This year we are really in need of money, so I will help you."
After saying this, He Basheng read the inventory carefully and checked the required supplies.
His family has many members, and the proportion of veterans who are disabled is also high. Especially after this year's Battle of Mangshan, the deceased were provided with compensation and the injured were provided with food, which put even greater pressure. In particular, there are not many private reserves for the medicines needed by the sick and wounded, making it difficult to search and buy them, and the deployment of Daxingtai cannot be left to private parties.
When Li Tai saw that there were many medicines for injuries and illnesses on the list of goods provided by Cui Fan, he realized that his cousin was also cold-hearted and warm-hearted. Although he did not accept He Busheng's gift, he still had feelings for his old boss in his heart. , those materials were obviously prepared for He Basheng.
Sure enough, He Basheng finally selected these materials, which were worth about fifteen hundred pieces of silk.
After making the selection, He Basheng's brows felt much more relaxed, and then he looked at Li Tai and entered the praise phase: "This boy has done an excellent job, I wish I couldn't have met him earlier! If we could have gotten together early and had such a good assistant, my career would have been better." Not to be expected.”
Li Tai smiled after hearing this, not to mention that he came to this world not long ago. Even if he traveled through the mother's womb, it would not be able to keep up with He Basheng's extraordinary years of wandering around and flying around!
Now that He Basheng has made his choice, the rest will naturally belong to Shuohui, and there are still more than 2,300 horses of supplies.
In addition, more than 15,000 official documents will be supplied to North China in the middle of the month. According to Li Tai's previous pricing standards, this is also the price of several hundred pieces of silk.
Added up, that’s an income of nearly three thousand bolts of silk. This is just the first dividend in less than a month. Anyway, it makes sense.
Two days later, Shi Heland, the former head of Situ Gong's palace, arrived and said goodbye to Li Tai.
At the beginning of the month, Gao Zhongmi followed Yuwentai to the court and was officially awarded the title of Taiwei. At that time, Li Tai was still busy making military rations for the township regiment and did not follow him.
As the main staff member of the former Duke Situ's palace, and because Gao Zhongmi's judgment was not low, Heland was given a new official position after returning to Daxingtai and went to Longyou to serve as the governor of Lueyang County.
From being a mere official in the palace to becoming a prefect of a county, this was naturally a huge improvement. Although Lueyang County was far away from Longyou and had just experienced the Dihu rebellion, no one would resist such an arrangement as long as they wanted to achieve success.
Therefore, Heland also had a happy face and said to Li Tai: "Business matters are urgent and I have no time to stop. I have to rush to Renzhi now. The time I spend with my husband is short, but our friendship is long. I can only ask my husband to pay my respects to me on my behalf." Sir, thank you for your recommendation!"
Heland was so busy that he didn't even have time to stop for a meal. After entering the village, he said a few words in a hurry and then left.
After sending Heland away, Li Tai was about to leave. At the beginning of the month, Yu Wentai entered the court and officially announced the regulations for this year's parade. The armies will gather in Yueyang, Weibei, in October.
After Gao Zhongmi was promoted to Taiwei, Li Tai's title also changed to join the army in the Taiwei's office and lead the tent. To put it more bluntly, he was the leader of Gao Zhongmi's personal soldiers.
The day after Li Tai sent the army rations, Zhou Changming led the township regiment to set off and slowly headed towards Yueyang. He Basheng also left Shangyuan the day before and went to Chaoyi to gather with his soldiers.
Gao Zhongmi followed Yu Wentai directly to the north at the Chang'an court, and Li Tai also rushed to join him.
After arranging the affairs of the manor, Li Tai began to select his entourage and pack his luggage.
Gao Aocao was not allowed to take the pole with him. It was too conspicuous, and many of the Western Wei generals and their family members had died under this pole. Bringing him to the Western Wei Dynasty's parade was purely to bring trouble to himself.
He Basheng thought that the bow he gave to Cui Fan and Cui Fan gave to him could be taken with him. If he really encountered someone who was looking for trouble, he could just shoot him with an arrow. Maybe Yuwentai saw how brave and strong he was, and was happy to let him be the official in charge of the government.
Just as Li Tai was getting ready and was about to set off, a young man from the manor rushed over, threw himself in front of Li Tai's horse and shouted: "Please follow me to attend the grand parade together!"
Li Tai looked at this young man who was a little unfamiliar. After thinking for a while, he remembered that he was one of the people who had bought an official position in the Situ Mansion and arranged to learn official skills in the manor. His face immediately sank: "How much did you learn in the school? Exit." !”
"I have learned all the official skills taught in the school, and I have been ahead of all my classmates. However, my husband's achievements are only in bows and horses, and the use of swords and pens is not what he expected. I sincerely ask your husband to tolerate and support me!"
Yang Yu said quickly after hearing this.
Li Tai turned his eyes and saw Li Zhusheng, who was in charge of the school, also nodding. Knowing that this boy was quite talented, he motioned to the villagers to bring in another horse and tacitly allowed him to follow him to the grand parade.