Shipin Dalizheng

Rong Tang stroked his chin and looked at him, which made Sima Xin feel uneasy.

"What's wrong? Did my uncle speak rudely?"

"Not really. I'm just wondering why you didn't ask me to take care of the Sima family's child, but this naive nephew?"

"Hi!" Sima Xin wiped his face and patted his shoulder. "My sons are all smart, but a little dumb. They can only be ordinary craftsmen, not master craftsmen. If Fuyun has you to guide him, he will definitely have a place in the officialdom in the future."

"Tang Fuyun's brain is not suitable for officialdom."

"I know. If he doesn't get involved in government affairs, I'll let him stay in the Ministry of Works and have a respectable official position. In the future, he can marry and have children, and become a supporter for his mother and sister. What do you think? Do you agree?"

This is actually a win-win situation for Rong Tang. Many of the pictures he drew cannot be understood by most craftsmen of the time, but Tang Fuyun has no pressure at all. It seems that he was born to do this job.

"It's easy to talk about."

Sima Xin smiled happily, "I knew my nephew-in-law was reliable. And that, that..."

He winked at the fan and said, "Let my uncle do it. How about that? You'll definitely benefit from it."

Rong Tang glanced at Lao Wen, then walked a little further away, estimating that he couldn't hear him, and asked in a low voice, "How much does this fan cost?"

Sima Xin snapped his fingers and said, "I just made it, so my hands are not used to it. I'll make it faster if I do it again. The cost is five or six taels of silver, and I can sell it for eight taels, no, ten taels, no problem."

"One hundred taels."

Sima Xin almost bit his tongue until it bled, "Nephew-in-law..."

Black!

"Listen to me, ten taels of silver, can ordinary people afford it?"

Sima Xin shook his head.

"That's not the end of the deal! Since they're all sold to high-ranking officials, why not make some money? I'll revise the blueprints for you, make them more beautiful, add some decorations to the workshop, and make it gorgeous. A hundred taels is no problem, and we'll split it in half after we're done."

Sima Xin gritted his teeth and said, "I'll listen to you. Even if I can't give you half, I'm just a director of the Ministry of Works. The people above me, and the people above me, will all be stripped of their skin. The most I can give you is 30%."

"Okay then, don't forget Brother Fuyun. Without him, understanding the pictures will be useless."

To be honest, Rong Tang can draw blueprints, but he is not very good at it.

Sima Xin had already cut the cake into proportions in his mind, and his eldest nephew's share was certainly indispensable. Now that things had come to this, it was easier for him to speak up, "Nephew-in-law, I'm not trying to take advantage of you. The ironmaking method you gave me is indeed good. I made a few knives for your fourth uncle. He cut off the weapons of a hundred-man team in the military camp, and Duke Du reported this to His Majesty. Because it was a weapon, it was classified as top secret by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War. I thought you came from the south, and if I brought you up, there would be no unnecessary misunderstandings. So I left a handle, saying that this method was developed by Fuyun with the guidance of an expert. If you feel it's necessary in the future, just ask Fuyun to report you again."

Rong Tang also didn't want to work as a craftsman in the Ministry of Industry. It didn't matter whether others knew about it or not. The fewer people knew about it, the fewer people would investigate and try to win him over. The best way to develop was to develop in a sneaky way.

"I don't care about this matter. When I am useful, you and Brother Fuyun have to help me make something."

Sima Xin's eyes were filled with complex gratitude. "I was told you were a refined person. Our Sima family has been craftsmen for generations, and Fuyun took after our family, so no one would suspect he had improved his blacksmithing skills. His Majesty has promoted Fuyun's rank, and he is now a ninth-rank official. Of course, you don't care. Don't worry, Fuyun has the fame and position, and all His Majesty's rewards will be yours."

Rong Tang perked up, "How much?"

"One hundred taels."

"..."

Sima Xin also felt bad, "The treasury is out of money, and it's good enough that Your Majesty gave me cash instead of an IOU."

Rong Tang patted his chest, pushing away the depression, "Forget it, I don't want it anymore."

Sima Xin laughed heartily, "Don't worry, use this money to buy flowers for Tiantian. I know you wanted to give it to her, but you were too embarrassed to say it."

Rong Tang: "..."

When did I show it?

Sima Xin walked up to Old Wen and said, "One hundred and fifty taels a piece, no bargaining."

Old Wen smiled wryly, "One hundred taels, use some good materials and decorate it beautifully."

Sima Xin: “…”

He coughed twice and said, "Deal, how many do you want?"

Old Wen Mo calculated and said, "Three."

One for him, one for the young master, and at most one for the prime minister.

After the deal was settled, Sima Xin and Rong Tang went to a small hall to watch him draw the blueprints. He was obviously a craftsman, and this was obviously a modified version of the fan, so why couldn't he understand it?

Brain-burning.

Rong Tang explained each one to him, "This is the pedal type, this is the hand-crank type, and this is the wind-powered indoor automatic type. Install one for my aunt's palace, and one for the seventh princess. The hot weather is only here for two months, so work harder and make some extra money. If someone learns from us next year, we won't have this good fortune any more."

Sima Xin put the blueprints away and sighed, "Once this thing was made, it was quickly copied by other craftsmen. It's really infuriating."

"That's easy. The Ministry of Industry is the government. Let's see if we can use our full power to deter those counterfeiters. I estimate that next year, this stuff will flow out of the imperial city and into the provinces, and the Ministry of Industry will be unable to control it even if they want to. Why not start recruiting franchisees this year and charge each one a certain fee? This way, we can maximize our first pot of gold."

Sima Xin's heart skipped a beat. His nephew-in-law was quite cruel.

He gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go find the Minister."

Sima Xin was furious and could no longer sit still, so he hurried back. Lao Wen glanced at the fan reluctantly and was about to leave.

"Wait a moment."

Rong Tang had someone bring a few small porcelain jars of sweet wine and a small jar of white wine and threw them to him, "Senior Wen, these are homemade. I'll give you some extra rice."

As a man of the underworld, there is no one who doesn't like wine. Lao Wen secretly spoke well of him, and he would report it if he knew about it.

Except for stuffing him into Tiantian's bed.

Everyone in the farm took the fan to the workshop to re-fix it. Xiao Ba, the young man without hands, was so happy that he scratched his head with his bare arms and kept stepping on the pedal to cool everyone down.

All the people from Rongjia Village had been settled, and Rong Tang assigned a task to Rong Dahai alone.

"We need to build a wall around Fuxin Village. You can take these few dozen people to do this work. When you're done, we can redistribute the work."

Then he said to the group of servants who looked like they had lost their parents, "You have been quite obedient these days. Once the wall is built, we will assign you other jobs. If you are obedient and do your job well, you will still get paid and have a place to live. It is not impossible for you to get married and have children in the future."

The servants were cheered up, their eyes lit up again, and they all said, "Prince, we will work hard in the future and strive for leniency."

They had long envied Boss Tian because he could identify sweet sorghum and was promoted by the prince. He wore new clothes, ate good meals, and was paid a high salary.

The assignment was completed in a short time. I had nothing to do in the afternoon, so I decided to cut a field of sorghum to try my hand.

When Old Wen returned with the wine jar to the willow tree at the head of the village, Xuan Que angrily said, "Old Wen, you've been gone for so long, and you're back with this filthy thing? When have you ever seen the young master eat food from outside?"

Old Wen ignored her and reported to Zheng Changzhi about the good stuff he had seen. "Sir, Prince Rong designed and made something called a fan. On hot days, it blows air with a whooshing sound. It's much more powerful than a folding fan or a cattail leaf fan, and the whole lobby is chilly. I heard him and Sima Xin say that they want to set up a franchise and teach people how to make it for a little money. We won't fight for it in the capital. Outside the capital, it gets hotter the further south you go. The sooner you start, the more you can make a fortune."

Zheng Changzhi was so hot that he was wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief. He paused when he heard this.

"Old Wen thinks that the young master is not short of money, but he won't accept too much money!"