"Well, we have to collect money!" Zhang Mingwei nodded and said, "But there is still a certain way to collect it!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixi couldn't help but be very curious, and quickly asked: "Sir, how do you pay attention to the law?"
Everyone else was also pricking up their ears to see how Duke Xingguo was going to collect the money.
After all, Duke Xingguo said before that he came out publicly to benefit the people. If we collect money again, there will certainly not be much conflict with this. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a slap in the face?
Most of them thought that Xing Guogong meant to charge less money.
At this time, Duke Xingguo signaled Zhu Cixiang to go to the top of the city. At the same time, he expressed his thoughts and said: "I am happy to let the people of Ming Dynasty use these things for free."
Having said this, he paused and raised his voice a little: "But why should these things be spread outside for free, to places other than the Ming Dynasty? You think so, right?"
The thoughts of these people present did not keep up with Duke Xingguo's thoughts at all. For a moment, everyone was a little stunned.
Their previous thinking had always been within the country, that is, within the Ming Dynasty. But who would have thought that the Duke's thoughts would go beyond the Ming Dynasty. The perspectives they considered and those of Duke Xingguo were fundamentally different.
While they were still stunned, they heard Zhang Mingwei say to them again: "If you don't talk about anything else, let's talk about this weaver! Think about it, after we Ming people used this kind of loom, for example, , one person can weave twenty pieces of cloth a day, while people in other countries can only weave one piece of cloth a day, so if we people in the Ming Dynasty can't use up these pieces of cloth, can't they be sold to their countries? "
He tried to speak slowly, and even paused deliberately before continuing: "Would it be possible to sell it cheaper than them, because the cost of weaving has been greatly reduced. In this case, they will definitely buy our Daming The people’s cloth, in this way, the money will be earned by us Ming people, and won’t our Ming people’s lives become better and better?”
After he finished speaking, he stopped talking and let them digest it first.
In fact, this is actually dumping. When any country encounters this situation, it will raise trade barriers to protect its own companies. However, in this era, there is no such concept!
At this time, including the prince Zhu Cixiang and others, regardless of whether they were erudite or not, and whether they had read books or not, they all thought carefully for a while, and then based on their respective intelligence and experience, they came to understand one after another: It turns out that in the middle, there are still Such a huge profit!
Seeing their expressions, Zhang Mingwei knew that it was almost done, so he continued: "But if someone takes these formulas and other things to other countries, then their side will be the same as our Ming side. In this way, Won’t we not be able to make any money? If we, the people of Ming Dynasty, want to live a better life, how easy can it be?”
"That's absolutely not possible!" Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixi said without hesitation, "This is our Ming Dynasty's recipe..."
At this point, I felt something was wrong, so I glanced at Zhang Mingwei and saw that he didn't care. Then I shouted coldly: "Whoever dares to take him to other countries will have his whole family confiscated!"
"..." Others were a little surprised when they heard it. So for a while, no one spoke.
Along the way, they all saw the prince smiling and thought that this was what the prince was like. At this moment, they realized that even if he smiles again, he is still the prince!
Zhang Mingwei listened and smiled and said: "But things will be more complicated. If people from Ming Dynasty take the formula out, they can be punished. But what if foreigners take it out privately? This will definitely happen of!"
When he finished speaking, he had already reached the top of the city. He strolled to the battlements and looked at the scenery outside the city.
"This..." After hearing this, Zhu Cihong, who followed him to the battlements, didn't know how to deal with this situation.
But when I think about it, a lot of money is involved. It can be said that if this is really the case, it will be like a treasure tray being stolen. How can that be allowed!
Therefore, he immediately said bitterly: "That won't work either!"
"Yes, that's not okay!" Zhang Mingwei nodded and said, "If a foreigner does this, he must pay the price. Of course, we can't punish him without teaching him!"
"Oh?" Zhu Cixi asked curiously after hearing this, "Why don't you tell me your thoughts, sir? I'm a little dizzy!"
After hearing this, the others felt uncomfortable interrupting, so they all nodded.
Zhang Mingwei listened, smiled, and then said: "I will report to the emperor and set up a patent office under the Ministry of Household Affairs. No matter who has unique skills, such as the formulas I contributed, they can go to the patent office Register here. If the patent office verifies that it is indeed my invention, then it can be registered. Then, if other people, including other countries, want to use this formula, they must pay the inventor a remuneration, which can be a one-time amount of money, or it can be The share will be divided according to the sales of the product. If anyone dares to disobey, the court will come forward to ensure the interests of the inventor."
At this point, after a pause, he continued: "For example, I contributed these formulas. Therefore, I do not charge money. However, this is only limited to the Ming Dynasty. If foreigners want these formulas , then you have to pay, and this money will be donated to the court, and I will still fulfill my promise not to accept money. If foreigners don't do this, the court will come forward to put pressure on their monarch. If they still don't believe it, then the court troops will be dispatched. Time! It is justifiable to pursue the money stolen from Ming Dynasty!"
"..." Everyone heard this in a daze, and then were collectively dumbfounded.
Is this the rhythm of the imperial court sending troops to conquer? Is this an exaggeration? But looking back, it seems that Duke Xingguo was not wrong!
But no matter what, for this kind of matter to rise to the level of the imperial court, or even send troops for this, it is still a bit beyond their imagination.
After Zhu Cixi came to his senses, he frowned and thought for a while, and then couldn't help but said to Zhang Mingwei: "If these formulas of the Duke are stolen and the imperial court sends troops, I believe that my father will definitely agree, and neither will the princes in the imperial court." Is there any big opinion? But if the imperial court also needs to send troops for other formulas in the patent office, wouldn’t it be... wouldn’t it be..."
For a moment, he didn't know how to express his thoughts accurately.
But Zhang Mingwei understood it, and immediately said with a smile: "With the patent office, originally a unique skill could earn one hundred taels of silver in a lifetime, but after it is made public, as long as the unique skill is good enough, those who are willing to use this unique skill can It will be more, and it is possible that you can make several lifetimes of money in one year. And for all these transactions, the court has to collect taxes, commercial taxes. Therefore, the court actually obtained great benefits from it. If the court does not guarantee This unique skill makes money, so who is willing to disclose the unique skill, and where will the court collect more business taxes?"
At this point, seeing Zhu Cixiang thinking deeply, Zhang Mingwei continued to say in a cajoling tone: "With this patent office, if someone can invent a new formula, even if he has little money, as long as he applies for a patent, that's it. It’s a money tree. In this way, will there be more people thinking of ways to invent new formulas? And if there are more new formulas, will the people also benefit from it, there will be more good things, and the price will be certain It will come down, and the imperial court will receive more taxes!”
When Zhu Cihong heard this, he suddenly understood that this was a new way to make money for the treasury that his husband had found. According to Mr. Wang, it seems to be really feasible, and the prospects will be great!
In the future, maybe, even if there is a natural disaster and it is difficult to collect the land tax, the court will still have a place to make money!
Just thinking of this, Zhu Cixiang didn't think much about it. He clapped his hands excitedly and said, "Sir, this is a great idea! How about you and I play together!"
In fact, Zhang Mingwei did not say that there were many supporting details for the establishment of a patent office. For example, Ming Dynasty's commercial taxation may need to be changed, as well as the establishment of confidentiality levels for patents, and what patents are allowed to be disclosed and which are not, and many other things. However, there is no need to state it so clearly now. We will plan it more carefully in the memorial later.
The reason why he proposed this patent office now was, firstly, because of the textile machine, and secondly, to pave the way for other things.
If the Ming Dynasty established a patent office, people would see the benefits. Then later, when he promotes new learning, it will definitely be the time when patents explode, and it is expected to apply for a patent.
As a result, there will definitely be countless times more people willing to learn new things than before the establishment of the Patent Office. After all, this is a benefit that can be seen with the eyes!
Only by inducing such benefits instead of emphasizing the importance of new learning can more people be mobilized to learn and study.
Taking this path is more practical than the emperor’s support!
Seeing that Zhu Cixiang was so active at this time, Zhang Mingwei smiled and nodded and said: "It would be best to have the prince perform together!"
This also means that even if the Ming Dynasty changes its emperor, the affairs of this patent office will never change.
After finishing speaking, he pointed to the military camp outside the city and said: "So, we must also build our army. Only a strong army can ensure that foreign bandits obediently abide by the laws of our Ming Dynasty and dare not steal our patents!"
Upon hearing this, the generals who were already a little groggy suddenly became energetic.
They don't understand anything else. Just what the Duke said just now guarantees that even if they pacify the world in the future, they will not be afraid that they will have no military exploits to build and will not be taken seriously by the court!
