Iron Dynasty

The clanging sound of metal filled the military workshop.

After learning about the production of artillery and muskets, Xiao Ming instructed Song Changping and Chen Qi about the production tasks.

The production capacity of the military workshop has tripled, but it is far from enough for Xiao Ming. The reason is very simple. His current ability is too far from that of the Western powers.

At this time in modern times, there are hundreds of Dutch warships even with a land area of ​​only 40,000 square kilometers. In the previous Anglo-Hoh War, unilaterally invested 8,000 artillery pieces at one time, and this was the first half of the seventeenth century.

Now in the eighteenth century, these imperial navies can only be stronger.

Compared with this terrifying figure, Xiao Ming's current power gap is very large, so now he is ready to vigorously develop trade and continue to expand the number of shipyards, otherwise it would be a lifetime to compete with these old-fashioned empires for colonies.

Therefore, after experiencing the darkness of politics in Chang'an this time, he did not want to waste his energy on intrigues in the court.

Furthermore, he now holds two pieces of land in Youzhou and Qingzhou, and the land area is not inferior to that of Great Britain at that time.

After all, the island of Great Britain was only 240,000 square kilometers at that time. He was only slightly worse. There were still 150,000 to 60,000 square kilometers.

With such a land area, he has no demand for land for the time being, and the remaining problem is to industrialize the land and make the people on the land rich.

While thinking about it, Xiao Ming went to the Chamber of Commerce.

Today, Pang Yukun is in charge of distributing the potatoes, and the prefectures and counties are responsible for entering the villages to publicize the potatoes. To cooperate with this kind of publicity, he needs the Chamber of Commerce to do their best.

The common people are not stupid. If they take something they have never seen before, they will not plant it unless they find that it can be sold for money.

And this requires the Chamber of Commerce to promote potatoes this time. In fact, to Xiao Ming, it doesn’t matter how many potatoes are sold this time, and it doesn’t matter how much they sell. The important thing is that he wants the local people to know that growing potatoes can make money. of.

Entering the chamber of commerce, the smell of potatoes wafted toward the face. In the chamber of commerce, there were about a dozen briquette stoves on top of iron pots, and potatoes were being boiled in water.

Businessmen are eating boiled potatoes in front of the iron pot, which is the most basic way to eat potatoes.

In the Chamber of Commerce, a cook is frying shredded potatoes, and a cook is frying french fries. After the merchant has eaten boiled potatoes, he runs here and waits.

Xiao Ming entered the chamber of commerce, Li Kaiyuan immediately stepped forward, and the merchants immediately gathered around, with a trace of anticipation in his eyes.

His Royal Highness, many merchants proposed to purchase potatoes, but they felt that the price was too expensive. The official discussed it with them just now. They think that five taels of silver and one stone for potatoes are more reasonable. Li Kaiyuan said.

Five taels of silver? Xiao Ming frowned, which was much lower than the price they expected.

Today, the price of a stone of rice is only fifty cents, which is ten times the price of rice. This price can be said to be very high.

After hesitating for a while, Xiao Ming said: Five taels are only five taels. Now, the main thing is to sell potatoes. Five taels per stone, and one mu of land is more than one hundred taels of silver. If this is the case, the people will be rich.

Yes, the lower officials said that they want to go home and grow potatoes. Li Kaiyuan said happily.

Shaking his head, Xiao Ming said, Don't be too complacent. When the output of potatoes comes up, the price of these potatoes will only continue to drop. It would be good to be a little more expensive than the price of rice by then.

Li Kaiyuan took it seriously.

With Xiao Ming's approval, Li Kaiyuan said to a group of merchants at this time: His Royal Highness agreed, five taels and one stone, you can place an order now if you want to buy it.

As soon as these words came out, the merchants immediately surrounded Li Kaiyuan and shouted.

I'll buy twenty stone.

Give me a hundred stones.

Two thousand stones, I want to sell them to Chang'an.

...

The merchants' enthusiasm for purchasing was high, and Xiao Ming was satisfied.

This potato will gradually spread throughout the Great Yu Kingdom. If the fact is as he expected, the Chamber of Commerce will prepare to turn these potatoes into actual profits after purchasing the potatoes.

As a result, merchants who sold potatoes to other places appeared on the wharf. The east and west markets of Qingzhou responded the fastest, and potatoes soon appeared in the market.

The people who entered the city the next day were surprised when they saw the potatoes on the stall.

Yesterday, the government office also sent people to the countryside to promote potato cultivation. Many people are afraid to plant such unfamiliar things.

The land is the lifeblood of the common people, and one season of grain errors is enough to kill them, but when they asked about the price of potatoes, the people's expressions changed.

Five two and one stone. A commoner exclaimed.

The vendor nodded and tried his best to sell it, There won't be any fakes, I just bought this from the Chamber of Commerce, I have to make some money when I sell it, it's five cents a pound, it tastes very good, I'm trying it out in this pot. , you have a taste.

The eyes of the common people turned. In the past two years, his family's grain has been sold to the government office, and he can earn about fifteen or six silver a year.

Compared to before, his family is a lot richer, and these five cents are not expensive, so he said: Come here two catties, take it back and let my family try it, I can't say that I will try to plant a mu of potatoes next year. try.

The street vendor immediately burst into laughter. The potato business is not bad. He has sold a total of three stone potatoes since the morning. From this point of view, it is not a problem to sell the potatoes. Thinking of this, he thought about going again. The Chamber of Commerce purchased some potatoes. This time, the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce provided limited potatoes.

And just as the merchants thought, as the potatoes were sold, more and more merchants came to buy them, and even many people came to buy potatoes and sell them in the village.

The traveling merchants who usually walk around the streets even blocked the chamber of commerce.

These people are not big traders, they are all hawkers. Every time they buy one stone, two stones, but under Xiao Ming's advice, the chamber of commerce is happy to sell potatoes to these small business traders.

There is no other reason, because these traveling merchants and common people are all local people. Now Xiao Ming is supporting local businesses, and he must focus on supporting the common people.

Moreover, these traveling merchants and common people are all from the lowest-level folks. They move around the fief with their commodities, and they can also bring the most direct news to Baixin.

Where some big businessmen are unwilling to go, these traveling businessmen will also set foot in, so that the news of potatoes can truly cover every corner of the fief.

Later, Li Kaiyuan handed over the sales of potatoes for one day to Xiao Ming. Generally speaking, potatoes sold 2,000 stones on the first day, which is a good number.

In the next few days, it is estimated that the sales task of this 10,000 stone will be completed soon, and 50,000 taels of silver will be easily obtained.