"Leather boots."
Niu Ben and other generals suddenly became energetic.
Lu Fei then asked: "Your Highness, what are leather boots?"
Nowadays, the Qingzhou Army wears cloth shoes. This kind of shoes paired with the dark green military uniform of the Qingzhou Army always makes Xiao Ming a little awkward, so he plans to turn the leather shoe industry into Developed in Qingzhou.
After all, leather boots are more durable than cloth shoes, and adding a layer of velvet can also keep them warm. This will ensure that soldiers are not afraid of the cold.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The development of the shoemaking industry can also provide a large number of jobs for Qingzhou, thereby further absorbing the refugees. What's more, it also has a complete production process from cowhide to leather shoes.
"I can't explain it right now. You will understand it when the leather boots come out." Xiao Ming laughed.
All the generals sighed softly after hearing this.
In addition to food issues, Pang Yukun also talked about the current resettlement situation of the victims of the fiefdom, the development of various states and counties, and the income and expenditure of the fiefdom this year.
Generally speaking, because the Northern Expedition was funded by a large number of businessmen, Qingzhou's finances were in surplus this year, and the excess money was invested in infrastructure construction and the establishment of public institutions.
For Xiao Ming, his advantage is to spread knowledge, so popularizing education is particularly important. The more talents there are, the more they can be distributed to various industries to promote the development of the industry.
Then Xiao Wenxuan reported on the government's own situation.
After Xiao Ming proposed that officials should perform their own duties and gave Pang Yukun a textbook on the establishment of government agencies, he refined the functions of the government agencies.
According to Xiao Ming's idea, each state government office is now equivalent to a municipal government. The municipal government will set up departments in charge of construction, agriculture, commerce, etc. to refine the management of fiefdoms. This will not only reduce the monopolization of power by some officials, but also reduce unprofessionalism. random interference.
"Well, generally speaking, all matters in the fief are making progress, which is good." Xiao Ming looked excited. He then looked at Li Kaiyuan and said: "Kaiyuan, this time I signed a business agreement in Chang'an. From then on, From now on, King Wei and King Yong will not tax the Chamber of Commerce on the royal land. Now the Chamber of Commerce can be said to be free of the burden of heavy taxes. You have to argue and continue to expand the profits of the Chamber of Commerce."
"Sign the agreement. Yes!" Li Kaiyuan almost jumped up from his chair, and said excitedly: "Your Highness, is this true?"
"Of course it is true," Xiao Ming tapped the table with his finger, "I will do my best now. Your Chamber of Commerce will open the way. If you cannot bring enough profits to me, I will punish you."
Li Kaiyuan said with a smile: "Your Highness, if this agreement is signed, the profits of our Chamber of Commerce will definitely be tripled. Your Highness, don't worry .
, If it cannot bring three times the profit to His Highness, I will come to see you."
Xiao Ming nodded when he heard this, "Well, you just have an idea."
Li Kaiyuan laughed happily, this business agreement is not only. It is as simple as tax exemption. At the same time, the merchants of the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce also have extraterritorial rights in the place where the agreement is signed. In other words, the Qingzhou merchants are not restricted by local laws and avoid being arrested by the local government for various unprovoked reasons.
Li Kaiyuan valued this more than tax exemption, because there had been several incidents in the Chamber of Commerce in which businessmen were arrested and extorted by the local government. Because of this, Xiao Ming added extraterritoriality to the agreement.
After understanding the basic situation of the fiefdom, Xiao Ming announced the adjournment of the meeting, leaving only Li Kaiyuan and Pang Yukun to stay.
"Your Highness, are you keeping us two here just because of Tudou?" Pang Yukun asked.
Xiao Ming nodded, "Yes, now that the potatoes have arrived, we will start promoting potatoes. Your government office is responsible for taking the potatoes to various parts of the fiefdom to popularize potatoes. I and Li Kaiyuan are trying to sell the potatoes. Take some of it."
"Sell it! Your Highness, even if there are 32 shi per acre, it's only 96,000 shi of potatoes. These potato fiefs are not enough, so why sell it?" Pang Yukun said anxiously.
He now regards potatoes as a treasure, and whoever touches them will be anxious.
Xiao Ming naturally had his own reasons. A potato is not easy to preserve. Under normal circumstances, a potato can be stored for several months without sprouting. However, once a potato sprouts and turns green, it means it is poisonous and cannot be eaten.
At the same time, according to Xiao Ming's understanding, potatoes were a high-end food when they first appeared, and they were eaten among the nobles. This meant that the price was not cheap, and taking advantage of the freshness of potatoes was not a waste of money.
After telling Pang Yukun his reasons, Pang Yukun suddenly realized.
"Selling 16,000 dan from 96,000 dan, some of the remaining potatoes will be selected from high-quality seeds to raise seedlings, and the rest will be used as dishes to supply the army and academies. How about that?" Xiao Ming said.
Pang Yukun nodded at this time, "That's good. If the reputation of these potatoes spreads, a large number of businessmen will come to buy the potatoes next year."
Li Kaiyuan was calculating how much the potatoes would sell for, and he said: "Your Highness "These potatoes are so delicious, why not sell them for thirty taels of silver and one stone?"
"The price is dozens of times more expensive than rice. These merchants may not buy it. So, let the chamber of commerce publicize the news about the potatoes, and at the same time, I will let you know." Newspapers focused on potatoes, and hot air balloons also advertised them," Xiao Ming said.
The three of them agreed to go back and make preparations.
Xiao Ming returned to the palace and wrote a manuscript. This manuscript was naturally an introduction to potatoes. At the same time, he also introduced some characteristics of potatoes, such as green sprouted potatoes that cannot be eaten, how to preserve potatoes, and other common sense.
The reason for doing this is the same as when he asked the newspaper to issue precautions for the use of briquette stoves a few days ago, both to avoid fatal accidents caused by incorrect use.
After finishing the manuscript, he asked his servant to send it to the newspaper office, and asked the newspaper office to print it overnight.
At the same time, Pang Yukun went to the slave plantation. Kui Wu had been harvesting potatoes that day. When he arrived at the plantation, he asked about the potato harvest.
This time, Kuiwu selected high-quality potato seedlings for planting. However, due to uneven fertilizers, the yields were still high and low. The low ones were twenty stones, and the high ones were more than thirty stones. Overall, they were good.
A total of about 90,000 shi was harvested from three thousand acres of land.
When Li Kaiyuan returned to the Chamber of Commerce, he immediately spread the news about potatoes to the merchants of the Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, he posted a notice at the door of the Chamber of Commerce to officially launch potatoes, a brand-new Qingzhou product.
The next day, as soon as the newspaper came out, the word potato immediately became a hot term in Qingzhou City, and the hot air balloon swaggering over Qingzhou with a huge advertisement for potatoes made the astute businessmen immediately smell the business opportunities and hurriedly reported to the Chamber of Commerce. Run.
(End of chapter)