Chapter 1415 - 1324: Soaring (Part 2)

Zhao Hu was somewhat excited and hurriedly asked, "Are you willing to sell me the blueprints?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "I have only one requirement."

Zhao Hu looked at her with bright eyes.

"The workshop cannot be opened in Si Province and Yu State."

But he was in Si Province, and his foundation was in Yu State.

The already planned seven or eight textile shops in Si Province and Yu State made Zhao Hu freeze and ask, "Then where else can I open them?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "The world is vast, Uncle Ancestor, where can’t you go?"

Seeing Zhao Hu frowning, she said, "If you can’t think of a place, I have a suggestion here."

Zhao Hu looked at her.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Jiangnan."

Zhao Hu frowned slightly, but after considering all the provinces, he found that Jiangnan was indeed his second choice.

The best choices were Yu State and Si Province, but she blocked the way. Although Jiangnan is not as developed as the Central Plains, it is wealthy.

Moreover, the climate there is mild, suitable for planting hemp or mulberry.

However, the craftsmen and skills there are far inferior to those in the Central Plains, and their aesthetic is also lacking.

Transportation is also an issue. Besides local sales, the produced fabrics and clothes need to be transported to Yu State and Si Province. Placing the workshop in Jiangnan would incur an additional cost. No, even more than one cost; transporting goods north from Jiangnan requires tolls and other expenses.

Zhao Hu looked at Zhao Hanzhang suspiciously, "You, are you trying to earn that bit of toll money from me?"

Zhao Hanzhang: ... He didn’t mention it, and she almost forgot about that money.

Zhao Hanzhang: "Seventh Uncle Ancestor, am I such a shortsighted person? What I value is your ability and influence."

"If you put the workshop in Jiangnan, it will inevitably bring more skilled craftsmen and advanced technology. Jiangnan will develop," Zhao Hanzhang enumerated the benefits: "The current economic center is still in the Central Plains. If Uncle Ancestor strives to stand out, the spinning machines, looms, and produced fabrics will definitely be brought back to the Central Plains for sale. This way, the economies of the Central Plains and Jiangnan will have more frequent exchanges."

"The economy is like water; only by flowing does it have vitality. Flowing water thrives, and the people become prosperous." Doesn’t that outweigh the toll money?

Zhao Hu rolled his eyes and immediately made a request, "I can open a workshop in Jiangnan, but you must also allow me to open one in Yu State and Si Province."

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head with a smile.

Zhao Hu gritted his teeth and said, "I can give up Si Province, just allow me to open one in Yu State."

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile faded slightly as she asked, "Do you want to buy the blueprints or not? Forget it if you don’t."

"Alright, alright, I’ll do as you say. I won’t open workshops in Yu State and Si Province." Zhao Hu could only take a step back.

Zhao Hu sent a steward to discuss the price with Fu An. To his surprise, Zhao Hanzhang was very generous this time, not asking a high price. A spinning machine blueprint and a loom blueprint only cost 250,000 coins each, totaling 500,000 coins. If silver was used for settlement, it would be just 500 taels.

After obtaining the blueprints, Zhao Hu looked at them seriously and found he couldn’t understand them, so he handed them to Sanjin, "I thought she would price them at thousands of taels."

Sanjin: "If the blueprints exceeded 2,000 taels, it wouldn’t be worthwhile. After all, the court is also in this business, pressing the profits of a spinning machine and a loom. The costs have not been calculated yet, and it’s uncertain how many machines need to be sold to break even."

Zhao Hu: "Do you think I’m getting the blueprints to do the ordinary people’s spinning machine and loom business?"

He said, "I aim to earn money from merchants and those noble families. The court’s spinning machines and looms have queues and quantity limits. As I heard from Zheng’er, the county government takes a portion of the weaving machines annually for lease to the poor, with priority given by the Weaving Bureau. Some big merchants and noble families simply can’t wait."

"I’m earning from those who can’t wait," Zhao Hu said. "Besides, I can’t buy enough weaving machines. Now it’s good; I can produce them myself. My textile shops can open ahead of theirs, which is all profit."

Sanjin suddenly realized that, in essence, they were seizing the advantage of time.

He immediately said, "I’ll go invite the craftsmen to study the blueprints."

"Go ahead, gather all kinds of craftsmen, and give them three days to study it, then start work. Also, send a team to Jiangnan to buy land and build houses. Oh, we can’t buy land now," Zhao Hu gritted his teeth and corrected, "Rent a suitable piece of land in Jiangnan and set up the workshop. Coordinate wood supplies and start construction immediately once the craftsmen figure it out."

Sanjin agreed.

But things turned out to be unexpectedly difficult.

Some connections of the looms required very fine craftsmanship, which his family’s craftsmen couldn’t figure out. Zhao Hu had to spend extra money to borrow two craftsmen from the Observing Things Department to teach his family’s craftsmen.

By the time the craftsmen finally learned and reached Jiangnan, it was already mid-autumn.

The rice in the fields was yellow, soybeans were ready for harvest, and the autumn harvest began nationwide.

The court, schools, and even workshops started their autumn harvest break, and the soldiers stationed across the lands wielded scythes, charging into the golden sea.

After ten days of autumn harvesting and returning from the break, everyone in the court, from the Emperor to the officials, was tanner and thinner but very pleased.

Receiving harvest telegrams from various places, Zhao Hanzhang was delighted and said to Fu Tinghan, "We can finally breathe easy."

Fu Tinghan knew how difficult these years had been for her; the curse of having no money always surrounded her, with debts pressing down on her. Even in her dreams, she worried about money.

He reached out to hold her hand, squeezing it firmly, conveying everything without words.

Zhao Hanzhang replied with a firm grip, her eyes slightly red, "Thank you for your hard work over these years."

She dared not relax, and Fu Tinghan had been tense with her all along. Over these years, he had solved many challenges for her, and most money-making projects came from his subordinates.

Fu Tinghan returned with a smile, and the two silently gazed at each other for a moment before looking up at the sky together.

Nationwide, people were immersed in the joy of this harvest. This autumn and winter, Zhao Hanzhang still ordered local governments to reduce corvée labor. For new residents, tax exemptions remained in place, and for areas severely affected by disasters in previous years, part of the taxes was reduced, and miscellaneous taxes were strictly prohibited by local county governments.

The news spread everywhere through county government notice boards, schools, and newspapers, bringing cheers and joy to the people.

Nowadays, schools have become auxiliary institutions for publicizing court decrees, and Zhao Hanzhang plans to keep this function.

The future she desires, the kind of court she aspires for, depends on the officials who will stand in court in the future.

Therefore, controlling education equates to controlling the future.

She requires every school-age child to attend school, teaching them loyalty, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith, and benevolence; to see every life with equality; to be brave and resolute.

In twenty years, they will be the most steadfast youth in the world, and the most brilliant too.

In her New Year’s speech to them, Zhao Hanzhang wrote: The future of this world is yours. Hua Country and I will be proud of you.