Jiangxi, Jingdezhen.
Compared with Jingdezhen, the reputation of Fuliang County above it is so much smaller that in the entire Jiangxi, only Jishui County, which is "half of Jiangxi for court officials and more of Hanlin for Jishui", can compete with it.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up a large number of official kilns here to carry out palace production.
However, this kind of government-run economy was not only inefficient due to the shortcomings of corruption, but also had very few good products. It was abandoned by the mid-Ming Dynasty, and the inner court mostly used private companies for procurement.
During the Jiajing period, the corvee shift system for craftsmen was changed to shift work, and the craftsmen were naturally happy to pay a sum of money to avoid the hardship of corvée.
This also resulted in the official kiln having no famous craftsmen, and the costs soaring. The official kiln could not make ends meet and suffered from corruption, so the official kiln naturally declined.
The decline of the official kilns in Jingdezhen led to the gathering of a large number of famous craftsmen in the private kilns in Jingdezhen, which promoted the development of technology and made its flowers bloom.
Blue and white porcelain, known as national porcelain, has become more mature. There are also overglaze, doucai, multicolor, plain three-color and various single-color glazed porcelains. The types and techniques are changing with each passing day.
In the Song Dynasty, official kilns were scarce because they were only supplied to the emperor, while in the Ming Dynasty, they were mostly sold to the private sector.
"Open the kiln——"
The craftsmen and apprentices gathered together and watched the kiln entrance being smashed open by the owner himself. They had mixed feelings for a while.
The leader of the craftsmen, Gongsun Ye, was looking at the pipes with his back straight, while the apprentices on the side were holding pipes in their hands, looking very respectfully.
At this time, an old craftsman came over and said, "Hey, this is the yellow smoke from Shicheng County, Ganzhou!"
"A pound of tobacco leaves may cost one hundred and eighty cents!"
Smoking the dry tobacco, Gongsun Ye said casually: "I don't know how much it costs, it was a gift from my employer, but it tastes really good, much better than ten cents per pound of tobacco!"
Yellow smoke was introduced to the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period and became popular immediately.
After all, most men have been engaged in heavy physical work for a long time. When they are tired from the work, they can relieve their fatigue by eating and smoking.
When you are full, eat cigarettes to help digestion; when you are sleepy, eat cigarettes to refresh yourself.
As a cheap consumption, ordinary people grow tobacco leaves at home and smoke it with any bamboo stick. It is less than a foot long and can only be called a short gun.
For those with status, smoking yellow cigarettes is a symbol of status: the smoking pot is several feet long, longer than an arm, and cannot be reached by oneself to fill the tobacco leaves and light the fire, so he has to rely on others to serve him.
This kind of proof is the same as foot binding. Women from ordinary families need to go to the fields. Foot binding is unrealistic. Only middle-class families and above will raise a woman who does not work.
As the head craftsman, Gongsun Ye used Xiangfei Bamboo to smoke his pipes, second only to his master who used purple bamboo, silk carvings and agate mouthpieces.
Naturally, he would have apprentices to serve the pipes, which was a symbol of his status.
The middle-aged man's face was full of envy: "My boss is so kind to you!"
"It's good, but I won't listen to others' advice!"
When Gongsun Ye said this, his liver ached a little.
In order to make money, the owner actually imitated the folk kilns along the coast and specially accepted custom-made porcelain from Westerners, producing some porcelain with random patterns.
You know, their kiln mainly produces blue and white porcelain and doucai, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs has purchased customized porcelain many times to supply to the emperor. What an honor is this?
Now that he is acting in such a mess and flattering the Xiyi people, I am afraid that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not even come to purchase it.
This is a huge blow to the reputation of their kiln!
"The boss has his own considerations."
The middle-aged man comforted him: "After all, this is his family's private business..."
"That's good!" Gongsun Ye whispered: "I'm afraid it will affect us..."
At this time, there was a loud noise.
Immediately afterwards, a pile of porcelains printed with those Western characters and scenes were pushed out.
This makes people feel disgusted.
The owner, who was in his thirties, looked at the intact porcelain and couldn't help but smile: "This is a good one, everyone has a reward——"
"Thank you, boss!"
"Happy boss!"
The craftsmen and apprentices were very happy, and no one could live with money.
At this time, the eldest apprentice came over and saw the unhappy master, and couldn't help but said: "Master, please be more relaxed!"
"I don't need your comfort!" Gongsun Ye said casually, then put away his cigarette and prepared to leave.
At this time, the boss finally came. Seeing the dull Gongsun Ye, he explained again:
"Master Gongsun, our kilns are sold overseas. This is something to be happy about, but we can make more money!"
"As long as the reputation lasts, the boss can earn tens or even hundreds of years and pass it on to future generations. But if the reputation is gone, only one generation can earn, so what about the future generations?"
These words immediately attracted everyone's attention.
You must know that the craftsman profession is very special. Although there are often apprentices, most of them are passed down from father to son, hereditary replacement, and the skills are retained in the family.
Therefore, in folk kilns, hair-washing craftsmen are basically father and son, or even work in the same family for several generations, and they have deep feelings.
The craftsmen's faces turned ugly when they thought that their children and grandchildren would have nothing to eat.
Seeing the ugly expressions on the faces of his subordinates, the young boss immediately said: "How could the business be cut off? I want to pass it on to the next generation!"
"Let me tell you the truth!"
"Ours is just the first family. Other families have already had such a plan, but it hasn't been exposed yet. I think it will come to light in a few days."
Hearing this, Gongsun Ye was stunned: "Really?"
"Is this still fake?" the boss said with a smile.
Gongsun Ye's expression softened and he glanced at the porcelain: "The glaze on this is not very good, but you can't fool those Xiyi people. Master, our reputation at home and abroad must not be lost!"
"Hahaha!" The boss smiled: "You are right, this furnace needs to be refired!"
Everyone also breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as everyone is doing it, reputation doesn't matter.
After everyone left, the boss left Gongsun Ye behind:
"In recent years, there have been more and more private kilns in Jingdezhen. There are only 28 kilns now, and there were 60 kilns at the beginning of this year. They are all those gentry who are eager for us to make money overseas!"
"Although there is a lot of kaolin, overseas demand is limited. After all, porcelain cannot be eaten!"
"Master, do you mean you want to steal food?"
Gongsun Ye whispered.
"That's right!" The man said with a smile: "Our Jiangxi province is not as good as those along the coast. I went to Songjiang Mansion to see it, and it was customized for overseas customers as early as ten years ago!"
"Both the Korean royal family and the Japanese royal family like customization."
"We have many overseas vassal states in the Ming Dynasty, but they are all in remote areas. Only Xiyi has money and is willing to spend money!"
"One furnace of theirs can make us earn three furnaces. Our skills are good, but Songjiang Mansion can't compare with us!"
Hearing this, Gongsun Ye said proudly: "You are right. Let's not mention the private kilns in Songjiang Prefecture. How many times has the Ministry of Internal Affairs made an order? Not once."
"The palace utensils are all in our Jingdezhen."
As soon as word spread that Luojiayao made custom-made porcelain for the Xiyi people, it immediately set off a craze in Jingdezhen.
Folk kilns, large and small, rushed to build them.
When the Ministry of Internal Affairs saw this, they naturally could not ignore it and said directly:
"The Queen's birthday is in August, so we can't delay it. You can make high-quality porcelain to celebrate her birthday!"
For a moment, there were endless cries of distress.
Making porcelain for the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not to make money, but to gain fame.
With the word "palace" in mind, the porcelain sold is several percent more expensive than other kilns, and can even be sold at several times the price.
No one dared to delay.
The Queen is forty-five years old and no one dares to mess around.
Regarding the gift, Tao Liushan was not worried at all.
Although he also said that the ringing bell field was often purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but who gave it to him on his birthday?
No one in the Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to live a long life.
Therefore, unlike other industries that immediately threw themselves into enthusiasm, Tao Liushan was wandering around in the factory.
Over the years, he has studied the self-ringing bells borrowed from the West and hired a large number of talents.
As a result, there were Medicine Master Tathagata Bell, Guanyin Bodhisattva Bell, Guan Gong Bell, and even a specially made Sun Wukong Bell.
Loved by many people.
The same is true. His clock factory in Tianjin employs hundreds of craftsmen and is constantly busy.
But even so, there are not many orders that can be completed and no more money can be made.
For a businessman, this is life-threatening.
It was precisely because of this that a lot of business went to his competitors. He simply couldn't think about food and drink and lost several pounds.
Sitting still, however, was not in his nature.
Craftsmen are scarce, there are not many watchmakers to begin with, and it takes several years for a new apprentice to be a master, which is the result of careful teaching by the master.
Otherwise, it will take ten or eight years to harvest an ordinary craftsman.
If this method doesn't work, then we can only start by increasing efficiency.
As a businessman, he is keenly aware that many places that are responsible for the army's food and clothing are never in short supply and are extremely fast.
You must know that there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Beijing camp outside Beijing, and there are hundreds of thousands of border troops. Summer and autumn clothes cannot be delayed.
So learning from them is the best way.
After looking for some connections, he finally contacted a man who was the team leader.
After the pleasant meal and drink, Tao Liushan asked without hesitation: "There are only a few hundred people in your factory, how can you make tens of thousands of clothes in a short time?"
"People who are temporarily recruiting odd jobs!"
The man said without hesitation: "When the time comes, we can recruit hundreds of people at once."
"They are all novices, can they do it well?"
"It's not like we're asking them to make clothes directly. Who doesn't know how to cut fabrics and mend them?"
"This saves a lot of time."
"When we make shoes, some people pick up soles, some cut cloth, and some thimble, and everyone has his or her own job..."
At this time, Tao Liushan suddenly realized.
It turns out that by breaking down one task into many tasks, everyone can concentrate on doing one thing, and the speed will naturally increase.
Why didn't he think of such a simple thing?
It's just a little bit and you'll be at a loss.
And his workshop is a natural fit.
Some make springs, some make hour hands, some make watch frames, some make gears...
You can save a lot of time by waiting until the end and then pretending together.
"The other chiming clock takes at least a month to complete. If you break it down, you can put it together in about ten days. It can save a lot of time!"
Tao Liushan was very happy, this meal was really worth it.
And upon debugging, he noticed an obstacle!
If the standards are different, the pieces will not be neat when put together.
Therefore, he had to limit the size, and each part must meet the standard, otherwise the money would be deducted.
After half a month of stumbling, his watch shop was finally up and running.
Originally, it could only sell about a hundred chimes per month, but now it has increased to 300, and its profits have more than doubled, which can be said to be a huge profit.
Everyone's division of labor is different, so the requirements for apprentices are naturally not high, and they can start training as soon as possible.
"Hahaha, two thousand silver coins!"
Tao Liushan was pleasantly surprised.
After deducting costs, he made a net profit of two thousand yuan, and his profit was staggering.
"If I had known earlier, wouldn't I have made more money?"
Suddenly, he regretted it.
"My boss, two tax collectors are here!"
"What?" Tao Liushan was startled and his face looked ugly.
Limited by productivity, Ming Dynasty's business tax is very simple and divided into three types.
Monopoly, tariff, tax.
The monopoly includes four categories: salt, wine, tea, and iron. At the same time, mining of minerals will also be heavily taxed, which belongs to the category of monopoly.
The customs duties were simple. At important places such as passes and ferries, the court would impose a tax of 1% to 5%.
Sitting tax refers to businessmen who own shops or stalls, cloth merchants, vinegar merchants, grain merchants, etc.
Since it is difficult to make the accounts public and it is difficult for the local government to check the increase, there is a monthly limit on how much money should be paid.
For example, the monthly fixed payment is ten yuan for a grain store, one yuan for a tea shop, and twenty yuan for a tavern.
This is a time- and effort-saving way to pay taxes.
But with the development of the commodity economy, especially the emergence of factory construction, collecting taxes has become easier.
A monk who can run away cannot run away from the temple.
The position remains unchanged and there is no way to avoid paying taxes.
At the beginning, the Commercial Tax Department set a tax rate of 30% of its profits, but it was unable to adapt.
The accounts are too difficult to check.
Therefore, for factories, the Commercial and Taxation Department has specially formulated a tax collection system:
Taxes are paid based on the number of workers employed.
You can do the accounting, but the factory is there and the workers are there. Just count them and you will know how many there are.
Therefore, for factories with less than ten people, the monthly payment is ten yuan; for those with less than fifty people, the monthly payment is one hundred yuan; and for those with less than one hundred people, the monthly payment is two hundred.
For more than 100 people, it is 300 yuan.
For the current Tao Liushan, three hundred yuan is nothing compared to a profit of two thousand.
But he was afraid that these tax collectors would want to charge more money when they heard that he had made a lot of money.
Unexpectedly, two tax collectors came to the door and directly announced the new tax collection policy:
Taxes were levied on each worker as a silver dollar.
It is also a quantitative tax, but this amount is obviously much lighter.
Tao Liushan was a little unbelievable: "Is this true?"
This allowed him to pay half the tax. How much land would he have to buy?
"Of course!" the tax collector said, feeling the cold silver coins in the purse he handed over, he couldn't help but continue:
"This is His Majesty's kindness to reduce tax pressure, so that some people will not hesitate before recruiting workers for fear of exceeding the standard..."
"Your Majesty is merciful! The Holy King is here!" Tao Liushan smiled with joy from the bottom of his heart.
After sending the tax collector away, Tao Liushan couldn't restrain his laughter and laughed for half a quarter of an hour.
At this time, he suddenly understood the emperor's meaning:
Is this to encourage factories to recruit workers?
This is impossible, right? Then someone will farm in the future?
The imperial court's efforts to develop both agriculture and commerce seems to be more than just talk!
There will be a night vigil tomorrow, so there won’t be any updates.
