Chapter 606: Unusual Movement

Yancheng.

Within a month, except for the officials who were still on their way to Yunzhou, other officials returned one after another.

First it was the State of Qi, then the Xie family, then Nanliang, and finally the State of Wu.

After all four families agreed to the matter, Zhao Xu's blackmail was basically successful.

As for whether the Fan family finally agreed or not, it had nothing to do with the overall situation. After all, the Fan family was too far away. It would take a year and a half to travel from south to north.

It has little impact on commerce.

And as each family lifted restrictions on wounds, Yanzhou City became more lively than usual.

Yang He's sad face also turned into a smiling face.

"Your Highness's method of plague blackmail is really great. Unless they find a way to resist smallpox from now on, even if they are beaten to a bloody head by us, they will have to hold their noses and trade with us."

Yanjun Trading Company.

At this moment, merchants gathered in the trading house, so crowded that they couldn't touch their feet. Yang He was spitting and dancing.

After coming out of the trading house, Zhao Xu looked at the sparkling golden scale pond and felt relaxed.

Yanzhou's business is gradually recovering, which makes him feel relieved.

Otherwise, Yanzhou's industrial expansion into the city will really be affected. After all, no one can support a bunch of money-losing workshops.

In particular, Yanzhou is at a critical moment of the first revolution and war.

He was very fortunate that the powerful people did not understand the importance of the industrial revolution. Otherwise, even if they died, they would not have allowed Yanzhou to successfully cross the gate of the industrial revolution.

"While trade is recovering, sell the backlog of goods as soon as possible." Zhao Xu said to Yang He as he thought of something.

Fortunately, the goods they sell, such as wine, perfume, soap, glass, etc., will not go bad for a year or two.

Otherwise, they would really suffer heavy losses.

"Your Highness, you don't need to tell me, even if I don't sleep or eat, I will still sell the things I have hoarded and exchange them for silver and raw materials."

"Well, this period of time can only make you work hard, thank you for your hard work." Zhao Xu said while looking in the direction of Chengdefang.

There are several white smoke pillars rising into the sky, which are the smoke emitted from the steam boiler chimney.

"In addition to the previous goods, it seems that cotton yarn, cloth and other commercial goods can also be sold." Zhao Xu reminded again.

"Of course, Xiaguan has always remembered that our cloth is of high quality and low cost. As long as we sell it, we can definitely quickly occupy the local market." Yang He said with great pride.

Zhao Xu nodded. It can only be said that it is not easy to maintain business relationships in troubled times.

Taking advantage of this period, of course, we must try our best to make maximum profits during the recovery period of business.

One of the ways to make profits is to sell the hoarded goods, and the other is to increase the categories of goods, which is to create demand.

Moreover, in the past, Yanzhou's goods were targeted at Dasong's powerful class.

Now cotton yarn and cloth are targeted at all classes.

Although profits are thin, large quantities can also bring huge profits.

But he didn't give up on the high-end market.

Steam engines, lathes, precise vernier calipers, and glass from which magnifying glasses could be made.

These conditions allow workshop craftsmen to master a certain level of precision manufacturing.

In his opinion, two types of time machines can now be created.

These are pendulum clocks and pocket watches.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, pendulum clocks had been developed.

It can be said that as long as you master the process of making flintlock guns, you can make a pendulum clock.

Because the main structural spring in the pendulum clock uses spring steel, and this steel was originally used in flintlock guns.

However, the pendulum clock is just a decoration in the home. The pocket watch, a small and easy-to-carry machine, could not be called an absolute luxury product until the 20th century.

This kind of machinery also appeared around the 16th and 17th centuries. However, due to the craftsmanship, the first pocket watches were only very large and were called pocket watches.

Later, as the craftsmanship became more and more refined, the pocket watches became smaller and smaller, eventually becoming the style we see today.

Thinking of this, he returned to the palace and drew the design drawings of the pendulum and pocket watch as well as the size and style of the parts.

In the past few years, as he has drawn more and more pictures, his ability to draw pictures has become stronger and stronger, and he is more like a professional.

And, these days he has been drawing in pencil.

The principle of a pencil is very simple. You only need to grind graphite into powder, stir and heat to solidify into the shape of a pen, then find a wooden rod, drill a hole, and insert the refill.

So the pencil's appearance caused no waves, just like the chalk.

It just makes it easier for students in the school to draw and study.

After completing the drawings of the pendulum and pocket watch, Zhao Xu sent them to the workshop.

He was not going to leave these two machines to Wang Chong and the others to develop.

Instead, it will be handed over directly to the old craftsmen in the workshop for production.

The machinery that Wang Chong and the others are responsible for is related to industrial development. It is enough to leave this small matter to the craftsmen.

Moreover, Zhao Xu is also very confident in the craftsmen under his command. He has always believed that the craftsmen from the East will not lose to the craftsmen from the West.

The reason why they didn't create something like a pocket watch was not that they couldn't do it, but that they didn't get the right guidance.

The drawings have just been sent away.

At this moment, Tsui Hark hurried in with a serious face.

"Your Highness, there is something strange happening in Qi." Xu Ke said.

Zhao Xu frowned. During this period, he had been staring at Qi and Japan.

I also learned that Japan sold a batch of flintlock guns to Qi.

In response, he scolded Zhou Yi and blamed him for not stopping it.

However, he also knew that Zhou Yi's troops were really stretched thin, so they were not afraid of gathering together to fight.

But it is very troublesome for the Japanese and Han families to play sparrow tactics.

The entire sea area and many routes are filled with their merchant ships and warships, and the twelve warships are simply too busy.

However, they didn't gain anything.

During this time, they seized several boatloads of potatoes.

He has asked Zhou Yi to transport these potatoes to Yancheng, and is preparing to let agricultural officials from the Department of Agriculture cultivate potato seedlings.

The Ningjin Dusi we just won is very suitable for planting soil potatoes. After all, potatoes like cold but not heat.

In hot places, potatoes will grow smaller each year; colder places can slow this trend.

"What's going on?" Zhao Xu asked.

Xu Kening said in a loud voice, "A Qi army composed of a thousand people has sneaked into Yanzhou. It is estimated that they can enter Yanzhou in a day or two."

Zhao Xu shook his head, "I thought it was such a big deal. These few men and horses are not enough to fill the gap between the palace's thousands of troops."

Xu Hark said: "If His Highness were so simple, I wouldn't have come in such a hurry. Our people found that there are many soldiers in this army speaking Japanese."

"Really?" A fierce light flashed in Zhao Xu's eyes, and in an instant, he realized the purpose of this army.

Japan is preparing to test his strength.