In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 1000 The Heavenly Staircase
As mid-October approached, the entire city of Yingtian was enveloped in a chill.

A gentle breeze was blowing, but the sun was still high overhead; the temperature was pleasantly cool, making the air exceptionally comfortable.
Pedestrians walking on the road felt exceptionally refreshed.

But at Yingtian Trading Company, this coolness quietly dissipated.

The reason is simple: Yingtian Trading Company is closed for renovations today.
Many shoppers found the stores closed.

This stirred up unpleasant memories from the past, and everyone began to complain.

In response, the officials of the capital were patiently explaining the situation, daring not to slacken their efforts in the slightest.
If the situation isn't explained clearly, these people might spread the news in all sorts of ways when they get back.

When the Yingtian Trading Company closed down last time, the people cursed the capital government vehemently.

From officials to clerks, no one was spared.

Kong Rui, the Tongpan (assistant magistrate) of Yingtian Prefecture, stood at the entrance of the trading company.
Despite the cool weather, my forehead was covered in sweat.

He kept fanning himself with a fan, and as more and more people gathered at the door, he gradually became anxious.

He looked at the clerk beside him and gave the order:
"Post a few more notices, find someone to read them aloud, read them loudly, use a loudspeaker."

"Yes."

The clerk hurriedly ran away.

Kong Rui looked back at the five-story Yingtian Trading Company and sighed helplessly.

He simply couldn't understand what was wrong with the trading company.

How much money will be lost if the store is closed for two days?

Can't we operate while renovating?

Moreover, the kind of crazy ladder they're installing is something no one in the entire capital has ever seen before.

If we use it now without warning, and something goes wrong, the capital will be in trouble.

"Ugh"

Kong Rui sighed again.

He only dared to think about it in his heart. Now that the trading company had the support of the Market Exchange Bureau, it was fearless, and even the capital city government had to treat it with utmost respect.

Otherwise, if taxes were cut, the entire capital would starve.

It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality

At this moment, the northeast corner of Yingtian Trading Company was also filled with restlessness and sweltering heat, with the air mixed with anxiety and the smell of sweat.

Liu Sili stood not far away with Feng Kezhao from the capital and Yu Wensheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

The three men had different expressions, but their postures were almost identical.

They all stood upright, leaned slightly backward, and looked up at the sky.

The once smooth bluestone slabs had been dug up, revealing four large pits nearly three zhang deep.

Four silver-white pillars, thicker than a person, stood in the pit.

It leads straight up to the fifth floor of Yingtian Trading Company, level with the roof.

A dozen or so laborers in T-shirts were busy around the pillar, drilling holes, making openings, and inserting rivets, their movements never stopping.

Upon seeing this, Liu Sili's brow twitched violently.

He looked at Yu Wensheng beside him and asked:

"Minister Yu, is this really going to work? What if it fails? That would be a disaster."

Yu Wensheng adjusted his posture, put his hands on his hips, and said calmly:

"Don't worry, Lord Liu, the workshop has tested it many times."
As long as the number of people carried at one time does not exceed ten, there is no risk of collapse.

"Ten? Would it collapse if it carried more than that?"

Yu Wensheng smiled and shook his head:

"Don't worry, they are all designed with redundancy. These types of equipment are usually made to a standard of ten times redundancy."

Even if there were a hundred people, it wouldn't fall.
With too many people, not only could the laborers not turn it, but the gears wouldn't last long either.

"One hundred?" Liu Sili nodded in realization.

"That makes sense, but why are such novel items being used by Yingtian Trading Company first?"
"If anything goes wrong, you can forget about selling this equipment."

Upon hearing this, Yu Wensheng's expression turned strange, and he sighed:
"Lord Liu, I heard from my colleagues in the Ministry of Works that..."

Lord Lu initially spent money to research this thing, saying it was for the purpose of building large granaries to facilitate grain storage.

Before the granary could even be used, it was used to transport people.

"If anything really goes wrong, Lord Liu, please don't come looking for trouble with the Ministry of Works. This was all Lord Lu's idea."

Liu Sili shook his head:

"Yunyi, that child, always has a wildly imaginative mind."

But let's use it then. Yingtian Trading Company is the number one trading company in the Ming Dynasty.

If it is not used, how can others dare to use it with peace of mind?

"But this thing is too expensive. With the money spent on an elevator, you could build a three-story building. Why bother adding height to the existing structure?"

Yu Wensheng smiled:

"Lord Lu's considerations are beyond my comprehension. Since this is the arrangement from above, we will simply follow it."

By the way, I heard that the shower equipment they developed in the military is selling very well?

Mentioning this, Liu Sili's eyes widened slightly, and he nodded gently, his tone full of emotion:
"They're selling really well! The company recently hired over a hundred new craftsmen specifically for installation, and even then, we still don't have enough manpower."

"so good?"

Yu Wensheng looked pleasantly surprised.

The shower facilities were made by the Ministry of Works workshop.

The process is simple, but the profit margin is high.

A complete set only costs ten taels of silver from the workshop, with an actual cost of no more than three taels.

If sales are good, the workshop can earn more money.

"The supply can't keep up with the demand! And this is only available for sale in the Gyeonggi region."

There's no way around it, there are just too many wealthy people in Beijing.
Fifty taels of silver was an unattainable sum for ordinary people.

To them, it was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

"That's so profitable!"

Yu Wensheng's expression was complicated.

Only after taking up his post at the Ministry of Works did he finally understand why the Yingtian Trading Company was so profitable.

Items produced by the Ministry of Works.
Once it reaches the merchants, it can be sold for five or ten times the price, and even then, demand still exceeds supply.

The documents urging delivery of goods were piled up on the desks of the three ministers of the Ministry of Works, which shows that business was booming.

After expressing his feelings, Yu Wensheng changed the subject:
"This elevator costs one thousand taels of silver. How much do you plan to charge the merchant for it?"

Liu Sili carefully examined the tall pillar in front of him and the beautifully decorated large iron box next to it, his expression strange:
"Do people actually buy this?"

"That's hard to say," Yu Wensheng said with a smile.

"I heard that the people who bought the showers back then were all large-scale pig farmers from outside the city, who bought them to bathe their pigs."

Upon hearing this, Liu Sili nodded:

“You’re right. If someone really comes to buy it, and so many people come to install it, it would have to sell for at least three thousand taels.”

"Done!" Yu Wensheng declared firmly.

"The workshop set the price for the merchant guild at one thousand taels."

"If anyone wants to buy it, Lord Liu, please let me know in advance. This thing is too troublesome to make; we need to prepare stock beforehand."

"Hehe." Seeing his straightforwardness, Liu Sili laughed.

"Lord Yu, if the workshop sells for a thousand taels, can you make five hundred taels in profit?"

"I can't earn that much now, only a little over a hundred taels."

Yu Wensheng did not hide anything and told the truth.

"But if there are more orders and the craftsmen become more skilled, the cost can be reduced further, and then the profit can go up."

A single large gear now costs tens of taels of silver, and the machinery workshop is already improving the process.
Once the technology matures, reducing the cost to ten taels of silver shouldn't be a problem.

Liu Sili nodded:

"We must hurry up and make improvements. The current atmosphere in the court is not right. Many people want to shut down the machinery workshops. Who knows what will happen in the future?"

I'm just baffled. I didn't spend their money, so why are they worrying about this?

"Lord Liu, be careful what you say!" Yu Wensheng quickly reminded him.

"Minister Yan has brought up this matter several times in the yamen. It's already quite remarkable that I've managed to hold out until now."

"Lord Yu, you must hold on! The trading company has invested over ten thousand taels of silver in various ways."

If we stop now, all this money will be wasted.

"Don't worry, Lord Liu, I can handle Minister Yan's situation, but if it drags on for too long, things might get complicated."

"It won't be long. Hasn't the Duke of Liang already returned to the capital?"
Many people have been arrested today, and things will calm down soon.

Yu Wensheng's eyes lit up, and he began to discuss news from the capital.

He, a mere Vice Minister of Works, was far less as astute as the man before him.
"Arrested people? How many were arrested?"

"Many of them are merchants who jumped on the bandwagon and bought land last time."
There must be at least a hundred of them.

Look at them, not only have they lost a huge sum of money, but now their people are going to jail too. What's the point?

Although Liu Sili said this, his tone was full of schadenfreude.

For him, the fewer the merchants in the capital, the better.

The faster Yingtian Trading Company can expand its scale and seize the market.

The two chatted for a few more minutes.

Seeing that the sun was rising higher and the elevator was almost finished being installed, Yu Wensheng looked at Liu Sili:

"Lord Liu, I have other matters to attend to at my office, so I will take my leave now."

Liu Sili nodded:

"Please take care, Lord Yu. Oh, and don't forget to install one at Xingyuan Tea House as well."

Yu Wensheng paused, moved closer, and spoke with a probing tone:

"Lord Liu, whose business is this Xingyuan Tea House?"
"Their information network is so efficient; the Yingtian Trading Company hasn't even installed it yet, and they've already come knocking on our door."

Liu Sili smiled and shook his head:

"I don't know, but the person who came to my door is no ordinary person, and I can't refuse."

"Oh?"

Yu Wensheng's brow twitched. Even Liu Sili couldn't refuse, could it be a nobleman?
He suppressed his surprise and replied with a smile:

"Don't worry, Lord Liu, I will send someone to survey and draw up the blueprints tomorrow."

"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Yu."

"Farewell."

After Yu Wensheng left, Liu Sili stood there, gazing thoughtfully at his departing figure.

These past few days, this Lord Yu has been frequently visiting the trading company.
He always felt that the other party was there to spy on him.

He summoned a trusted aide, took a letter from his pocket, and handed it to him:
"Approach these businesses under the guise of cooperation."
Find out their origins, the funds behind them, and who their owner is; do it quickly.

The confidant took the letter, his face serious:
"Yes, sir! I will investigate immediately."

"Ah."

After his confidant left, Liu Sili stared blankly at the tall pillar in front of him, lost in thought.
It's unclear when this turmoil will subside.

The Hanlin Academy is located on the southeast side of the Imperial City.

It is separated from the Wenhua Hall, where the Crown Prince lectures, by only one wall.
It facilitates the drafting of documents and the compilation of historical books.

At this moment, in a side room of the Hanlin Academy, the newly appointed top scholar, Xu Guan, was engrossed in reading local gazetteers sent from Yunnan.

Most of them were recompiled in the last two years, but they still use the old records from the Yuan Dynasty.

As a compiler, his task was to slightly modify the records that were unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty.
For places like Yunnan that have been pioneered and expanded,
It was changed to "It has belonged to the Central Plains since ancient times" to legitimize its legitimacy.

Even though Xu Guan has an excellent memory, working non-stop all day still made him dizzy and lightheaded.

He slowly raised his head, gently leaned back in his chair, and slowly squinted his eyes.
I slowly opened my eyes only after the dizziness in my head had completely subsided.

This is a little trick that everyone in the Hanlin Academy knows.
Slow down your movements and get up slowly to avoid dizziness.

He slightly opened his eyes and looked at the pile of documents on the long table not far away, which was taller and wider than him. His dizziness worsened.
That's a local county gazetteer from Guizhou, which hasn't been compiled yet.

Yunnan and Guizhou, these two newly expanded territories,

It almost crushed Xu Guan's high spirits.

He achieved six consecutive top honors, making him the first person in history to do so.
How come I only got a job as a compiler, dealing with these tedious documents all day long?

"Ugh"

What angered him even more was that some of his classmates who had also entered the Hanlin Academy...
Although it was also a compilation, the work was much easier.

They either had to organize the memorials submitted by the court officials or process the memorials that His Majesty had already reviewed.

This job is not only easy, but it also allows you to learn about important court affairs.

This could even lead to acquaintances with many high-ranking officials in the court, promising a bright future – this is true nobility.

Unlike him, who works in a side room and is forgotten by everyone.

Xu Guan's breathing gradually quickened, a surge of resentment welling up inside him.
He was the top scholar in the imperial examination, how could he have fallen to such a state?

I don't know!

After resting for nearly a quarter of an hour, Xu Guan straightened up, drank the cold tea in his cup in one gulp, and then continued reading the documents.

Although I was resentful, I couldn't shirk my responsibilities.
The situation is already difficult enough; if we can't even do our jobs well, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Time passes little by little.

As evening approached, the candlelight in the side room had dimmed considerably, and the writing on the documents had become blurred.

Xu Guan looked up, intending to light another oil lamp to make it brighter, but then heard hurried footsteps outside the door.

A young man in white robes, also dressed in the attire of the Hanlin Academy, hurried in.

"Brother Xu, still busy?"

Upon seeing him, Xu Guan's gloomy mood eased slightly, and he smiled:

"I have to be busy, there are so many documents to organize. What brings you here? Aren't you busy today?"

The young man in white smiled:
"I'm just a librarian, I can't get busy even if I wanted to. When are you leaving office?"

Xu looked at him, her eyes filled with a hint of envy:

"It'll have to wait until later. What did you need me for?"

The young man surnamed Kong leaned closer and said mysteriously:

"Aren't you tired of being so busy all day? Come on, I'll take you out for some fun today."

"Happy?" Xu Guan stared at him blankly, then shook his head helplessly.

"Brother Kong, your family is large and powerful, while my small family can't afford to suffer any losses."

"Let's go, let's go to a teahouse instead of a brothel today!"

The young man surnamed Kong quickly explained,

"You don't know this, but news just came this afternoon that a new resident has arrived at Qingfeng Teahouse."

I heard she's from a prominent family in the Suzhou and Hangzhou area.
She was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and also knowledgeable in classical studies. In addition, she was extremely beautiful.

Besides, she really likes scholars; don't you want to go see her?

Upon hearing this, Xu Guan was taken aback, feeling both intrigued and curious:

"Why would someone like him sit in a teahouse?"

The young man surnamed Kong raised an eyebrow, a wicked smile spreading across his face.
"I heard their family fortunes have declined; she was a pampered young lady last year."

Brother Xu, haven't you always looked down on those vulgar women?
How about I find you a refined and elegant lady from a prominent family today?
Given your status as the top scholar, that gentleman might even offer himself to you.
It also saves you from being busy with official duties all day, exhausted and dizzy, only to come home to an empty house, which is extremely boring.

Xu Guan's face flushed red instantly, and his mind began to wander.

But then he thought about it again and sighed.
How come no one tries to recruit him as a son-in-law when he's the top scholar in the imperial examination?

He had heard that several of his classmates had already arranged marriages, and that they were marrying daughters of prominent families in the capital.

Thinking of this, Xu looked at the documents on the table and lost all interest.

He casually flicked through the documents and asked:
"Was that woman really that beautiful?"

The young man surnamed Kong curled his lip:

"I heard about it this morning. Usually they talk about the top courtesans of each family, but today they mentioned this one for the first time. I don't need to think to know that she is as beautiful as an angel."

Let's go, let's go take a look first, otherwise the city gates will be closed.

Even if we can't accomplish anything today, it doesn't matter. I'll take you to the Lotus Pavilion; the women there are extremely beautiful.

This will save you from spending all your time dealing with books; you're practically a bookworm now.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, the young man surnamed Kong pulled him to his feet:
"Hurry up, hurry up, or there won't be any good seats left."

(End of this chapter)