Chapter 411: Promote Potatoes
"Leather boots."
Niu Ben and other generals suddenly came to the spirit.
Lu Fei then asked, "Your Highness, what are leather boots?"
Now the Qingzhou Army wears cloth shoes, and this kind of shoes paired with the dark green uniforms of the Qingzhou Army always makes Xiao Ming a little awkward, so he plans to develop the leather shoe industry in Qingzhou.
After all, leather boots are more wear-resistant than cloth shoes, and adding a layer of velvet can keep them warm, so that soldiers are not afraid of the cold.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The development of the shoe industry can also provide a large number of jobs for Qingzhou, thereby further digesting the refugees. Besides, he also has a complete production process from cowhide to leather shoes.
"I can't tell you right now, but when the leather boots come out, you will understand." Xiao Ming snorted.
When the generals heard the words, they let out a low sigh.
In addition to the food issue, Pang Yukun also talked about the current resettlement of fiefdom victims, the development of each state and county, and the income and expenditure of the fiefdom this year.
Generally speaking, because the Northern Expedition received a large number of businessmen's financial support, Qingzhou's finances were surplus this year, and the surplus money was put into infrastructure and public establishment.
For Xiao Ming, his advantage is the dissemination of knowledge, so the popularization of education is particularly important. The more talents, the more they can be distributed to all walks of life and promote the development of the industry.
Then Xiao Wenxuan reported on the government's own situation.
After Xiao Ming proposed that officials perform their respective duties, and gave Pang Yukun a set of teaching materials for the establishment of the government agency, he refined the functions of the government agency.
According to Xiao Ming's idea, the prefectures are now equivalent to a city government, and the city government will set up departments in charge of construction, agriculture, and commerce to refine the management of fiefs. This will not only reduce some officials' monopoly of power, but also reduce unprofessionalism. random interference.
"Well, in general, all the affairs of the fief are progressing, not bad." Xiao Ming looked excited, he then looked at Li Kaiyuan and said: "Kaiyuan, this time this king signed a business agreement in Chang'an, from From the beginning of the royal land, neither King Wei nor King Yong will collect taxes on the Chamber of Commerce, and now the Chamber of Commerce can be said to be free from the burden of heavy taxation, so you have to fight to keep expanding the profits of the Chamber of Commerce."
"The agreement is signed!" Li Kaiyuan almost jumped up from his chair, he said excitedly: "Your Highness, is this true?"
"Of course it's true." Xiao Ming tapped on the table with his finger, "This king is now doing his best to open the way for your chamber of commerce. If you can't bring enough profit to this king, I can be careful that this king punishes you."
Li Kaiyuan laughed and said: "His Royal Highness, if this agreement is signed, the profit of our Chamber of Commerce will definitely triple. Your Highness can rest assured that if it can't bring His Highness three times the previous profit, the lower official will come to see you."
Xiao Ming nodded when he heard the words, "Well, it's good that you have an idea."
Li Kaiyuan laughed happily. This business agreement is not only as simple as tax exemption. At the same time, the businessmen of the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce also have extraterritorial rights at the place where the agreement was signed. The local government arrested him for various unprovoked reasons.
Compared with tax exemption, Li Kaiyuan valued this more, because there have been several incidents of businessmen being arrested and blackmailed by the local government in the Chamber of Commerce. Because of this, Xiao Ming added extraterritorial rights to the agreement.
After learning about the basic situation of the fief, Xiao Ming announced the meeting, leaving only Li Kaiyuan and Pang Yukun to stay.
"His Royal Highness, the reason for leaving the two of us is for potatoes?" Pang Yukun asked.
Xiao Ming nodded, "Yes, now that the potatoes are down, the promotion of the potatoes will be carried out next. Your government office is responsible for bringing the potatoes down to the fief to popularize the potatoes. This king and Li Kaiyuan are trying to sell the potatoes. go part."
"Sell! Your Highness, even 32 stone per acre of 3,000 acres of land is only 96,000 stone of potatoes. These potato fiefs are not enough, so why sell them?" Pang Yukun said anxiously.
He now regards potatoes as treasures, and whoever touches them is anxious.
Xiao Ming naturally has his own reasons. A potato is not easy to store. Under normal circumstances, a potato can be stored for several months without sprouting. However, once a potato sprouts and turns green, it is poisonous and cannot be eaten.
At the same time, according to Xiao Ming's understanding, when potatoes first appeared, they belonged to high-end food and were eaten by nobles, which means that the price was not cheap, and it was not worth taking advantage of the freshness of potatoes.
After telling Pang Yukun his reasons, Pang Yukun suddenly realized.
"96,000 stones are sold for 16,000 stones. The remaining potatoes are selected from high-quality seeds to raise seedlings, and the rest are used as dishes for the army and academies, how about that?" Xiao Ming said.
Pang Yukun nodded at this time, "Alright, the reputation of this potato spreads out, and a large number of merchants will come to buy the potato harvest next year."
Li Kaiyuan was summing up how much the potatoes would sell for, and he said, "Your Highness, these potatoes are so delicious, why don't you sell them for thirty taels of silver per stone."
"This price is dozens of times more expensive than rice. These businessmen may not buy it. Let's say that the chamber of commerce will post the news about the potatoes. At the same time, this king will let the newspapers focus on the potatoes, and the hot air balloons will also be advertised." Xiao Ming said.
The three agreed to go back to prepare.
Xiao Ming returned to the palace to write a manuscript. This manuscript was naturally an introduction to potatoes. At the same time, he also introduced some characteristics of potatoes. For example, green sprouted potatoes cannot be eaten. How to save potatoes and other common sense have been written down.
The reason for doing this is the same as when he asked the newspaper to issue the precautions for the use of coal ball stoves a few days ago, in order to avoid fatal accidents caused by wrong use.
When the manuscript was finished, he had the servant deliver it to the newspaper, where it would be printed overnight.
At the same time, Pang Yukun went to the slave plantation. Kui Wu had been harvesting potatoes all day. When he arrived at the plantation, he asked about the harvest of potatoes.
This time, the potato Kuiwu was planted with high-quality potato seedlings. However, because of the uneven fertilizer, the harvest was still high and low, with a low of 20 stone and a high of more than 30 stone. Overall, it is still good.
A total of 90,000 shi has been harvested from the 3,000 mu of land.
When Li Kaiyuan returned to the chamber of commerce, he immediately spread the story of potatoes among the merchants of the chamber of commerce. At the same time, he also posted a notice on the door of the chamber of commerce, officially launching the brand-new Qingzhou product of potatoes.
The next day, as soon as the newspaper came out, the word potato immediately became a popular term in Qingzhou City, and the hot air balloon swaggered past Qingzhou with a huge potato advertisement, which made the smart businessman immediately smell the business opportunity and hurried to the chamber of commerce. run away.