Xu Guangqi naturally agreed to Han Xu's request and said that he would send someone to invite Han Lian to Tianjin.
Then, a group of family members of important officials of the imperial court came to visit Xu Guangqi to find out more about him. Even nobles such as the British Duke Zhang Weixian sent people to look for him.
Xu Guangqi agreed one by one.
Because Xu Guangqi also understood that he could not refuse this kind of thing, otherwise he would cut off people's wealth and die without a burial place.
And Xu Guangqi had to admit that these powerful people were really greedy.
Because Xu Guangqi discovered after traveling to Tianjin that a large number of industries run by powerful gentry had been established here.
Although the industries in Tianjin City belong to the emperor, even the shops built in the city belong to the emperor. Merchants can only rent business in Tianjin City and pay the unique business tax of Tianjin City. However, Xu Guangqi discovered that if he came to Tianjin City to rent shops and sell cloth, The merchants of food, salt, oil, vinegar, etc. are still from aristocratic and gentry backgrounds.
Obviously these powerful gentry are still very good at making money. The imperial court had just spent a lot of money to build a new city here and allowed hundreds of thousands of refugees to settle here and register as households. These people smelled the business opportunities here and used their financial resources and The powerful ones rented the shop first.
Xu Guangqi also knew that this was inevitable, and small traders could not compete with these powerful gentry.
But Xu Guangqi was very happy that after the imperial court resettled hundreds of thousands of refugees here, established households and provided them with work in exchange for relief, the economy here was really active.
Although most of the shops in the city are occupied by the powerful and wealthy gentry, other open spaces are still crowded with many small vendors. Even outside the city are filled with various street stalls, and many restaurants and teahouses have even been added.
After all, projects such as building cities and repairing official roads have brought a lot of benefits to these new households.
It's just that their income is all silver coins, so they have to use money to buy food, clothing, and heating to generate economic activities.
So, consumption here is very active.
"Grain is mainly sold by the Grain Bureau. However, the Grain Bureau does not have that many people directly responsible for grain sales. Therefore, the official still asks merchants to come to the Grain Bureau to purchase grain, and then these merchants rent shops to sell grain to these merchants. New households, but according to His Majesty’s instructions, the price of grain must be determined by the Grain Industry Bureau. In addition, grain merchants cannot transport grain to Tianjin to sell by themselves. They must buy in bulk from the Grain Industry Bureau and then transport it to the city for retail sale. .”
"The same goes for salt. Salt merchants trusted by lower officials sell affordable official salt. Of course, it is difficult for private salt to come in. Only a few traders may be involved, but if they are discovered, it is still a serious crime."
Bi Ziyan, who was stationed in Tianjin, reported to Xu Guangqi after he arrived.
"But the grain stores and salt stores are still in the hands of these powerful gentry. Can they really cooperate with the government's official system?"
Xu Guangqi asked after hearing this.
"You can't help them. This is a place where His Majesty directly intervenes. Who dares to mess around? Have you seen that comprehensive store? It was a business opened by Dongchang under His Majesty's decree. It also gets grain directly from the Grain Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs and from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Directly take Yanyin, which is responsible for selling all kinds of daily necessities at affordable prices. It is not only a place to stabilize the prices of important materials, but also an intelligence collection and resettlement point for Dongchang. It is also used to generate income for Dongchang personnel, including His Majesty himself. Partial profit, there are comprehensive stores, no one can hoard it, or even if it breaks the law, Dongchang will immediately discover it."
Bi Ziyan pointed to the large shop at the intersection of T-shaped street in front and said.
Xu Guangqi nodded and thought to himself: "Who did your Majesty learn this business method from?"
For a moment, Xu Guangqi said again: "I took a look and saw that there were many people nearby who came to Tianjin to do business. There were those who carried firewood to sell, those who sold straw sandals, those who sold insoles, and some who even sold labels and sold their heads. Look. It was quite prosperous up there. As the Ministry said before, the people living in these newly established households obviously gave the nearby people an extra livelihood through work, and they no longer became poorer due to the heavy burden of water transportation to the capital. However, this official road renovation project is related to After the city construction project is completed, what will happen to these people? Will they become refugees again, and will the nearby people become hungry and cold again?"
"So, Your Majesty is wise!"
Bi Ziyan said with a smile, and then said: "I don't know, Mr. Ge, that your Majesty has already asked Shang Gongjian to build many workshops in Tianjin city, including wood workshops, stoneware workshops, ironware workshops and other types of manufacturing and purchasing. The General Administration of Machinery and Ordnance Manufacturing has also set up many branch factories. Your Majesty calls this manufacturing industry. These manufacturing industries currently require a lot of young people. Many refugees who were established at the beginning have now entered these manufacturing industries as workers. , that is a job that guarantees harvests during droughts and floods. As long as the Shanggong Supervisor and the General Administration of Ordnance Manufacturing continue to need these equipment, they will always have work! In addition, Xianguan has set up many carpentry schools, masonry schools and iron engineering schools in Tianjin in accordance with His Majesty's orders. The church specializes in training some young refugees so that they can directly participate in the manufacturing industry. There is still a big gap in these manufacturing industries. I heard that Shang Gongjian will also manufacture a batch of new looms and new hand-operated printing machines. Machines, waterwheels, etc. just need tens of thousands of basic carpenters in Tianjin City. Therefore, these new residents in Tianjin City will not have to worry about having no work. Even these refugees are not enough. According to the Ordnance Manufacturing General Administration, the next step is to build a new factory in Tianjin City. To meet the recruitment needs, in addition to new household names in the city, we will also have to recruit people from the surrounding areas."
Xu Guangqi suddenly realized after hearing this, and thought to himself: "No wonder His Majesty wants to expand the scale of the Xu family's cotton yarn industry, and immediately establish a new government-run weaving industry with flying shuttle looms. Your Majesty also wants to let Shang Gong in the future." The supervisor built more so-called manufacturing workshops in places like Tianjin City so that the settled refugees would always have work to do. After all, Shanggong Supervisor was the one who made these new equipment, such as spinning machines, wooden waterwheels, and looms. It was built by the supervisor of the engineering department, and His Majesty really has far-reaching intentions."
"How is the academic administration going? Are there any activities to express grievances and express gratitude to the emperor?"
Xu Guangqi asked again.
"In accordance with the edict and your request, we have been working on it. Ten social schools have been built in the city. The social schools hang the icons of the emperor. Every ten days, Tianjin General Magistrate Hua Yuncheng will ask the officials of each district to organize various organizations. The residents of each community gathered in the community of each community, and then the residents of each community took turns to complain, telling why they were displaced in the past and what bitter things happened. Then Fang Zheng was responsible for telling them that they are now stable because of the emperor's grace. ! Now, therefore, the newly settled people are very loyal to Your Majesty. Today happens to be a day to complain. Why don't you take you to the nearest workshop?"
Bi Ziyan said and took the initiative to propose.
Xu Guangqi nodded.
So, Bi Ziyan took Xu Guangqi to the nearest square called "Guoen". Naturally, the name of the square was to hope that the people in this square would be grateful for the country's kindness.
Just like the newly built Tianjin City also has "Huang En" Square.
As soon as Xu Guangqi followed Bi Ziyan to the social studies department of "Guoen" Square, he saw a middle-aged woman who was obviously new and was crying in front of the Emperor's Statue, how her husband was beaten to death by a powerful force, and how she was so innocent. The story of how he fled here with his children after all the hardships, and was taken in by the official here.
Because it was a real feeling and they all had similar experiences, the people in the audience felt very immersed and empathized with it, and they all shed tears.
And when Fangzheng said with tears in his eyes that it was the emperor who asked them to settle down now and asked them to shout "long live the emperor," these people really shouted enthusiastically.
"Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
"The Emperor is a good Emperor!"
…
Xu Guangqi looked at all this. He was deeply affected by the environment at this time and couldn't help but said excitedly: "Compared to allowing so many people to settle down, what if I condoned and offended all the gentry in Jiangnan?!"
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