Ren Yuande knew who Zhu Xuan was and also knew that the kiln had changed owners.
The grandson of the Ming Dynasty Emperor, a member of the royal family and a nobleman. It was the first time for a low-level commoner like him to see such a big shot in so many years of life, and his attitude was so respectful.
"Your Highness, please come inside!"
This kiln factory is said to be a factory, but it doesn't look like a factory.
It's more like a kiln-burning village.
The people who burn kilns here are all individual households, villagers in this village. Each of their households basically has a cave dwelling. If they can't afford to build a cave dwelling, several families share one.
This place has existed since the Song Dynasty. Over the years, they have made a living by burning kilns, which continues to this day.
Although there was a maritime ban before, there were still many people smuggling, and there was always a market for porcelain.
In order to regulate them, unify their control, and maintain the stability of the porcelain market, the local government appointed Ren Yuande to manage them. However, Ren Yuande had no official position and was equivalent to an outsourced employee.
Zhu Xuan walked into the village and took a brief look. He saw that the kiln here was not large in scale. It was not an assembly line production. It was a family-based kiln. The output was not high. The porcelain produced was good. There are also bad ones.
Quality varies.
The people here looked at Zhu Xuan curiously.
After making the rounds, Zhu Xuan said, "Gather everyone together. I have some plans that I want to talk to them about."
Ren Yuande arranged for someone to notify them, and finally everyone gathered in an open space.
Zhu Xuan saw that everyone had almost arrived, so he said: "From now on, I will manage this place. I just inspected it and found that your kiln is too scattered and the quality of the porcelain produced varies. Qi, it’s difficult to scale, even if you can make money, the money you make is limited, right?”
As soon as these words came out, many of them nodded.
The quality of their porcelain is indeed not the best, which has led to many foreign trade merchants recently reducing the amount of their purchases, and some merchants even built their own kilns for firing.
Their income has dropped a lot in recent years.
Zhu Xuan added: "In addition, when you sell porcelain to merchants, the price will definitely be reduced. The merchants will buy it at a low price and then sell it at a high price. You will not make much profit. I am not wrong, right?"
According to his understanding, this is indeed the case.
Not only in ancient times, but also in modern times hundreds of years later, many businessmen go to villages to purchase agricultural products, lowering the price and income, and then selling them at a higher price. It is always the farmers who suffer.
It's a similar situation here.
"That's right!"
A villager couldn't help but asked: "Your Highness, if you take over our West Village, can you help us in any way?"
"Of course there is a way!"
Zhu Xuan said loudly: "I am going to integrate you all. You will no longer open a kiln for each household to bake. Instead, I will build a large kiln. You will come to work here and help me with the firing. No matter. Whether the fired porcelain can be sold for money, I will pay you wages as usual. The month when more sales are made, I will also increase your wages. You will have a guaranteed job. You no longer have to worry about losing money, and you don’t need to come forward. Go Talk to the merchants.”
Many of them don't know how to talk about business.
It is easy for merchants to lower the price, and I have suffered a lot of losses.
Sometimes the fired porcelain is not always sold, and lacks stable sales. During the off-season, the porcelain has to rest on its laurels.
The benefits proposed by Zhu Xuan now seem to be very friendly to them.
They don't need to negotiate business, and they can have a fixed job and get a stable minimum income, which is much better than making it themselves.
"is this real?"
someone asked again.
They couldn't believe that Zhu Xuan could give such good benefits.
Zhu Xuan said: "Of course it's true. If you believe me, you can sign up with Ren Yuande later. If you don't believe me, it doesn't matter. I can also buy the porcelain you fired. I won't force anyone to do so." People, everything is voluntary.”
After saying this, he left the clearing and waited for them to discuss.
The gathered villagers were suddenly in an uproar.
The voices of their discussions came and went, all discussing whether they should believe it or not.
Such a pattern was something they had never seen before.
"Ren Yuande!" Zhu Xuan said.
"The villain is here!" Ren Yuande quickly followed.
Zhu Xuan walked outside the West Village and took a look, pointed to a barren wasteland, and said: "Here, build a new kiln. When the time comes, I will ask someone to send money to you. The matter of burning the kiln will continue to be up to you. Take responsibility, but don’t think about messing around. I brought a lot of royal guards with me when I went south this time."
Hearing the words "Jinyiwei", Ren Yuande trembled instinctively.
Even in the distant Lingnan, they knew how terrifying Jin Yiwei was.
"The villain doesn't dare. Whatever His Highness asks the villain to do, then do it."
Ren Yuande immediately showed his loyalty.
Zhu Xuan took out a copy from his body. The new kiln firing methods were summarized by people in the Science Pavilion based on the various knowledge and requirements he provided.
With technology, it’s just different.
Here, there are cloisonné, enamel and pastel, etc., some of the firing methods of exquisite porcelain after Hongwu.
There is also some glass.
The emergence of these porcelains, Zhu Xuan believes, will definitely trigger a new round of craze for porcelain overseas and make a lot of money.
Ren Yuande took it in his hand, looked at it briefly, and then put it away solemnly.
"Go back and prepare for the next registration."
Zhu Xuan warned: "Those porcelains have been fired. First bring a few to me to see."
He has to check first to ensure that the porcelain is in good condition before it can be sold overseas.
"yes!"
Ren Yuande wrote it all down.
Zhu Xuan was almost done with this matter, and returned to the city to continue writing the next plan.
——
Yingtian.
"Your Majesty, everything has been found out."
Jiang Wei walked into the hall, presented a copy of the clues about the White Lotus Sect found through Xuanyue Ze with both hands, and said: "According to our investigation, we have determined that two White Lotus Sect strongholds are located in Sichuan. There are also two guardians among them."
Yunqi took the investigation results and sent them to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at it for a while, then punched the table hard, and said angrily: "Under our eyes, the white lotus sect monsters still dare to do whatever they want? Jiang Yu, please give us the order to mobilize the Jinyi Guards from the two places, as well as the guards. soldiers, kill them all!"
"I accept your order!"
"Hasn't it been discovered?"
"There is a guard in Jinyi who sneaks into them and sends the news out. He does it very covertly and will not be discovered."
"well done!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "When the thing is done, we will give you a big reward. Bring Xuanyueze to see us, and then go and arrange the matter immediately. Don't let them live!"
"yes!"
After Jiang Wei finished speaking, he left.
After a while, two royal guards brought Xuanyueze into the palace.
Xuanyue Ze has been in Yingtian for a while, and he has only been cooperating with Jin Yiwei's investigation. This is the first time he has been summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang.
When he walked into the hall, he appeared a little nervous.
