The sound of metal clanging filled the military workshop.
After understanding the production situation of artillery and muskets, Xiao Ming gave Song Changping and Chen Qi some production tasks.
The production capacity of the military workshop has tripled, but it is not enough for Xiao Ming. The reason is simple. His current capabilities are too far behind those of the Western powers.
At this time in modern times, even the Dutch, with a land area of only 40,000 square kilometers, had hundreds of warships. In the Anglo-Hotel War, each side invested 8,000 artillery pieces at a time, and this was in the first half of the seventeenth century.
Now in the eighteenth century, the strength of these imperial navies can only become stronger.
Compared with such terrifying figures, Xiao Ming's current power gap is very large, so now he is planning to vigorously develop trade and continue to expand the number of shipyards, otherwise he will really have to fight for colonies with these established empires in his lifetime.
So after experiencing the gloom of politics in Chang'an this time, he didn't want to waste his energy on intrigues in the court. Internal strife would only distract him and drag down Qingzhou's industrial and commercial development.
Furthermore, he now holds two pieces of land, Youzhou and Qingzhou, which are as large as the main island of Great Britain at that time.
After all, the main island of Great Britain was only 240,000 square kilometers at that time. He was just a little short of that. There were still 150,000 to 600,000 square kilometers.
With such a land area, he has no demand for land for the time being. The only remaining problem is to industrialize the land and make the people on the land rich.
While thinking about it, Xiao Ming walked towards the Chamber of Commerce.
Today, Pang Yukun is responsible for distributing potatoes, and has asked the states and counties to go into villages to promote potatoes. To support this kind of promotion, he needs the help of the chamber of commerce.
Ordinary people are not stupid. If they take something they have never seen before, they will not bother to plant it unless they find that this kind of thing can be sold for money.
This requires the Chamber of Commerce to promote potatoes this time. In fact, for Xiao Ming, it doesn't matter how much potatoes he sells this time, or how much he sells them for. The important thing is that he wants to let the local people know that growing potatoes can make money. of.
Entering the Chamber of Commerce, the aroma of potatoes hit your face. In the Chamber of Commerce, there were iron pots set on a dozen briquette stoves, and potatoes were being boiled in water.
Businessmen gathered around the iron pot and were eating boiled potatoes. This way of eating is also the most basic way of eating potatoes.
Inside the chamber of commerce, a cook was frying shredded potatoes and a cook was frying French fries. After the businessman ate the boiled potatoes, he ran over here to wait.
When Xiao Ming entered the Chamber of Commerce, Li Kaiyuan immediately stepped forward, and the businessmen immediately gathered around him with a hint of expectation in their eyes.
"Your Highness, many businessmen have offered to purchase potatoes, but they think the price is too expensive. I just discussed it with them and they think five taels of silver and one stone for potatoes is quite reasonable," Li Kaiyuan said.
"Fifty taels of silver?" Xiao Ming frowned. This was much lower than the price they expected.
Nowadays, the price of one stone of rice is only fifty cents, which is already ten times the price of rice. This price can be said to be very high.
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Ming said: "Fifty taels is five taels. Now the main thing is to sell potatoes. One stone and fifty taels, and one acre of land is more than one hundred taels of silver. If this is the case, the people will get rich."
"Yes. "
Ah, this makes me want to go home and plant potatoes," Li Kaiyuan said happily.
Shaking his head, Xiao Ming said: "Don't be too proud. When potato production increases, the price of potatoes will only continue to drop. It will be good to be a little more expensive than rice."
Li Kaiyuan was convinced.
After receiving Xiao Ming's approval, Li Kaiyuan said to a group of merchants: "Your Highness agreed, five taels and one stone. If you want to buy it, you can place an order now."
As soon as he said this, the merchants immediately surrounded Li Kaiyuan and shouted .
"I'll buy twenty stones."
"Give me a hundred stones."
"Two thousand stones, I want to sell them to Chang'an."
"…"
The merchants were enthusiastic about buying, and Xiao Ming was satisfied.
The potatoes will slowly spread throughout the country of Chongqing. If it turns out as he expected, the Chamber of Commerce will prepare to turn these potatoes into actual profits after purchasing the potatoes.
As a result, merchants appeared on the wharf selling potatoes to other places. Qingzhou's East Market and West Market responded the fastest, and potatoes soon appeared on the market.
The people who entered the city the next day were surprised when they saw the potatoes on the stall.
Yesterday, the government sent people to the countryside to promote potato planting. Many people are afraid to grow this unfamiliar thing.
Land is the lifeblood of the people, and one season's food failure is enough to be fatal. However, when they asked about the price of potatoes, the people's expressions changed.
"Five taels and one stone." A commoner exclaimed.
The vendor nodded and tried his best to sell, "It can't be fake. I just bought this from the Chamber of Commerce. I have to make some money by selling it. It costs five cents per pound. It tastes very good. This pot is for trial use." , try it."
The people's eyes rolled. In the past two years, his family's grain has been sold to the government, and he can earn about fifteen or sixty silver a year.
Compared with before, his family was much richer, and these five cents were not expensive, so he said: "Here are two pounds, take it back and let my family members try it. I might as well plant an acre of potatoes next year to try it." Try it."
The vendor immediately burst into laughter. The potato business was pretty good. He had sold a total of three stones of potatoes from morning to now. From this, it seemed that selling the potatoes was no longer a problem. Thinking of this, he thought I will go to the Chamber of Commerce to purchase some more. The potatoes provided by the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce this time are limited. If I cannot buy them in time, I am afraid they will be gone.
And just as the merchants thought, as the potatoes were sold, more and more merchants came to purchase, and even many people came to purchase potatoes and sold them in the village.
The merchants who usually walked around the streets blocked the chamber of commerce.
These people were not big traders, but hawkers, and each purchase was one or two stones. However, under Xiao Ming's instructions, the Chamber of Commerce was happy to sell potatoes to these small businessmen.
There is no other reason, because these traveling merchants and people are all locals. Now Xiao Ming is supporting local businesses and focusing on supporting the people among the people.
Moreover, these traveling merchants and common people all come from the lowest level of the people. They move around the fiefdom with their goods, and they can also bring the most direct news to Baixin.
These traveling merchants would also venture into places where big merchants were unwilling to go. In this way, the news about Tudou could truly cover every corner of the fiefdom.
Later, Li Kaiyuan handed over the day's potato sales to Xiao Ming. Overall, two thousand shi of potatoes were sold on the first day, which is a good number.
In the next few days, the sales task of ten thousand shi is expected to be completed soon, and fifty thousand taels of silver can be obtained easily.