Steel Dynasty - Chapter 448

[Chapter 448 Year-end Reconciliation]

The light snow fell for three days and suddenly turned into a heavy snowfall.

Overnight, Qingzhou was once again covered in a layer of crystal white, but unlike previous years, the merchants refused to stop what they were doing even in the cold and snow.

There is an endless stream of merchant ships plying back and forth on the dock. They unload coal, iron ore, cotton, grain, fur, saltpeter, sulfur and other commodities, and also transport soap, glass, fine wine, cotton clothes, briquette stoves and other commodities produced in Qingzhou. .

They all want to take advantage of the Chinese New Year to make a fortune. After all, the Chinese New Year is the busiest few days for businessmen.

“Your Highness, the intimate clothes designed by the princess are really popular in Chang’an. The 8,000 sets of clothes we trafficked to Chang’an this time were completely sold, making a total of 80,000 taels of silver.”

Every time during the New Year. It was the time for the fief to audit its accounts. He and Pang Yukun had been busy with this matter for the past two days, while summarizing the lessons of the past year and making plans for the next year.

For this matter, he asked Pang Yukun to let all the six state government offices and the Youzhou government office added this year go to Qingzhou for reconciliation.

In addition to government offices, the army, chambers of commerce, mines, shipyards, military workshops and other institutions are no exception. In order to prevent officials from corruption and bribery, Xiao Ming has always maintained a high-pressure posture in this matter.

From now on, the audit of accounts will be done every year.

After reviewing the accounts of the chamber of commerce that had been verified by the government, Xiao Ming picked up a pen and signed his name and stamped his seal. The accounts of the chamber of commerce were approved.

“Eighty thousand taels of silver? Well, yes, this is only from Chang’an. If it is sold in other places, it will be a considerable amount of income.” Xiao Ming said.

“Your Highness is absolutely right. The cotton-padded jackets and clothes sold in the textile mill are now sold well in other places in the Chongqing Kingdom. Our prices are cheap and the quality is also superior. This year, we have made three hundred thousand taels of silver, plus With this new type of clothing, Xia Guan estimates that the textile shop will earn at least two million taels of silver per year next year.” Li Kaiyuan analyzed.

Xiao Ming nodded in agreement. The textile workshop had just been established this year, and most of the time it was producing military uniforms for the Qingzhou Army. It would only start foreign trade in the second half of the year.

Taking advantage of the fact that Jinling, Jizhou, Chang’an and other places do not charge taxes, his products have an absolute advantage in price.

After signing, Xiao Ming handed over the accounts of the Chamber of Commerce to Li Kaiyuan, and Li Kaiyuan suddenly felt relieved.

The audit of accounts at the end of this year is the most stressful time for the entire fiefdom. If there are any mistakes in the accounts, the year will not be comfortable. There were some problems with the accounts sent to Yizhou two days ago. Yan Changhao, the governor of Yizhou, was ordered to immediately Come to Qingzhou to reconcile the accounts in person. If there is really a problem with the accounts, Yan Changhao will be in trouble.

“The textile shop is booming now, but other products cannot be ignored. This year, the sales of soap and liquor are still normal. The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce brought in an income of 3 million taels, but the sales of glass have dropped a lot.”

Recalling the accounts .

Xiao Ming frowned.

Li Kaiyuan explained: “Your Highness, there is nothing we can do about it. Soap and liquor are all consumables. You have to buy them after they are used up. But this mirror may not need to be replaced for a long time. If you want to expand sales, you must find new ones.” The market is the only one. I dare to ask His Highness when we can conduct maritime trade.”

Xiao Ming frowned at the mention of this.

Rhodes had just left, and he didn’t know whether the Dutch would accept this negotiation condition, but after Rhodes saw Qingzhou’s strength, he believed that the Dutch would have a new understanding of him.

In fact, he had no intention of completely driving the Dutch away from the beginning, otherwise he would not negotiate with the Dutch at all.

The reason for negotiation is to avoid a complete rift between the two parties.

Compared with the conditions in Dengzhou City, after Rhodes came to Qingzhou this time, he lowered his requirements for the Dutch. He had already allowed the Dutch to maintain their presence in Relanjia City.

The only thing that the Dutch need to do is that they cannot retain such a strong military force in the city of Jelandja, because they will not station too many troops in Ryukyu in the future. If the Dutch army stays 100% in the city of Jelandja, this will It will be a threat to him.

His minimum requirement is that the Dutch retain necessary self-defense forces in the city of Geranje. However, negotiation is like buying something. First, you must see the price to a degree that the other party cannot accept, and then slowly bargain. If you can get a low price, It could not be better.

“This can’t be determined until the negotiation is over.” Xiao Ming said to Li Kaiyuan: “But it won’t be too long. We will win Australia’s trade routes by April next year at most.”

Li Kaiyuan smiled, “Hey, then. The officer is just waiting for good news.” After that, he resigned and left.

Turning over the next account, Xiao Ming reviewed it again. This was the army’s account, which listed the army’s food consumption, ammunition consumption, and equipment purchases for a year.

The huge expenditures in the accounts made him a little frightened. The army was really a big spender of money. He finally understood why a country had to keep disarmament during peacetime, because its finances would be dragged down by the army.

After auditing the accounts for half a month, Xiao Ming’s third Spring Festival in this world finally arrived.

This time is different from the Spring Festival of the previous two years. He has a wife who will accompany him throughout his life and someone with whom he can spend the Spring Festival together.

On the night of New Year’s Eve, Xiao Ming took Fei Yue’er to celebrate the festival with the servants of the palace, and the officials also celebrated the New Year at their respective homes.

Last year, Xiao Ming came to them to relieve his boredom because it was Zi Ran alone. In fact, they still wanted to reunite with their families for the New Year.

A sumptuous meal was prepared, followed by a series of events such as fireworks performances and plays. The palace was bustling with excitement, and everyone’s face was filled with smiles.

“Your Highness, these fireworks are so beautiful.”

Looking at the fireworks exploding over the palace, Fei Yue’er’s eyes flashed with a psychedelic color.

“Yes, she is as beautiful as you.” Xiao Ming spoke glibly, which made Fei Yue’er smile sweetly.

At this time, he and Fei Yue’er were standing side by side, with brilliant fireworks and the deep night sky above their heads, and a stunning beauty beside them.

Drunk and lying on the knees of a beautiful woman, he wakes up and holds the power of the world. This scene makes him suddenly feel heroic. Looking at the sky, Xiao Ming’s eyes are filled with stars and a sea of stars.

If he lives one more life, he should live it freely and without any regrets.

Closing his eyes, Xiao Ming seemed to be able to see little bits of star-like light. This was the evidence of the existence of technological crystals in his mind. He had struggled hard for the past two years and finally gained a foothold.

In the coming time, he will truly play the role of the creator of his own civilization and lead this civilization to glory.

(End of chapter)