The Young Dragon of the Ming Dynasty: Bound to an Industrial Blueprint from the Start

Twenty-five thousand taels.

Six months ago, he was just a restaurant manager and had never had more than a hundred taels of silver.

Now, he manages a business worth 25,000 taels.

"Master, what is this?"

"Don't panic," Zhu Zhanji said. "The bigger the business, the more stable we need to be. Just do as I say, and I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

Qian Lai took a deep breath and nodded emphatically.

The monthly meeting was held ten days earlier than scheduled on December 15th.

Inside Tingxue Pavilion, the charcoal fire was burning brightly.

Sun San, Wu Langzhong, Lin Xiuniang, and Guo Sheng all arrived, with Qian Lai being the last to enter, carrying an account book.

This month's balance: 8,721 taels of silver.

It's only 1,279 taels short of 10,000 taels.

Zhu Zhanji closed his eyes and entered the resource map in his mind.

Below the "Foreign Exchange" technical node, the three lines of text remain the same:

Unlock condition: Own your own silver vault (0/1) - Gray

Unlock condition: Gain the trust of at least three merchants (3/3) - all lit up

Unlock condition: Complete one intercity money transfer (1/1) - all points highlighted

Only one thing is missing: 10,000 taels of capital.

He opened his eyes.

"It'll be soon," he said softly. "One more month will be enough."

Qian Lai nodded emphatically.

Zhu Zhanji looked at Sun San: "Master Sun, besides Tongyuan Carriage Company, has anyone else inquired about detachable carriages?"

Sun San replied, "Reporting to the master, several carriage companies have also come to inquire. I told them to wait until Tongyuan Carriage Company is familiar with the carriages before making a decision. Manager Han's carriages are working very well, and he said that he will modify all the remaining carriages next spring."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and then looked at Wu Langzhong.

Doctor Wu said, "Several carriage and horse shops in the north of the city have placed long-term orders for the anti-rust oil, requiring fifty bottles every month."

Old Wan also ordered thirty bottles. We haven't been able to get through to the border troops yet, but a messenger from Xuanfu Town came; they heard about this stuff and want to get some to try.

Zhu Zhanji's eyes lit up: "Xuanfu Town? That's good. Doctor Wu, prepare some samples and have Manager Qian send them over. If the border troops use them, it will lead to big orders in the future."

Wu Langzhong agreed.

Zhu Zhanji then looked at Lin Xiuniang.

Lin Xiuniang said, "Reporting to the master, the production of flower dew is now 1,200 bottles per month. The ten newly recruited female workers are learning, and next month it should reach 1,500 bottles."

Of the two thousand bottles the Shen family was supposed to receive, one thousand have already been distributed, leaving one thousand remaining. That should be delivered by the end of the year. As for the one thousand bottles in Nanyang, we're ready to start production anytime we hear from the Shen family.

Zhu Zhanji nodded: "Good, Madam Lin, remember, no matter how high the output, the quality cannot be compromised. Only you know the core formula for the floral dew. New workers can only handle soaking, filtering, and bottling. Understand?"

"I understand."

Zhu Zhanji finally looked at Guo Sheng.

Guo Sheng said, "Boss, the three transit points in Tongzhou, Liangxiang, and Changping are already in use. The Shen family's goods can now be shipped from Beiping to Nanjing three days faster than before. If a few more points are set up, it will be even faster."

Zhu Zhanji said, "No rush. Let's stabilize these three points first, and then consider expanding southward next spring."

Guo Sheng agreed.

Zhu Zhanji stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the snow had stopped, and the sunlight shone on the snow, creating a dazzling white effect.

"I should be able to make another profit before the New Year." He turned around.

"Manager Qian, when will the final payment be made for the Shen family's batch of floral dew?"

Qian Lai said, "As agreed, we will pay 3,000 after the second batch of goods is shipped; 3,000 after the third batch is shipped; and 2,000 for the last batch. The second batch has just been shipped, and the third batch is being prepared and will be shipped by the end of the month."

"That means we can still make three thousand by the end of the month."

"right."

Zhu Zhanji did the math in his head: 8,700 plus 3,000, that's 11,700.

enough.

He looked at everyone and said, "Everyone has worked hard. Before the New Year, let's try to save up 10,000 taels."

The four of them stood up together, bowed, and withdrew.

Only Zhu Zhanji and Chuntao remained in Tingxue Pavilion.

"Chuntao, tell me, how big would ten thousand taels of silver be if piled up like this?"

Chun Tao thought for a moment: "I have never seen it, but I have heard that one thousand taels of silver can fill a small box, and ten thousand taels can probably fill ten large boxes."

"Ten large chests," Zhu Zhanji smiled. "Enough to open a money exchange."

Chuntao blinked: "Your Highness, what is a money exchange?"

"That's right," Zhu Zhanji thought for a moment, "a place that helps people deposit money, borrow money, and exchange silver."

"Like a pawnshop?"

"It doesn't seem like it." Zhu Zhanji shook his head. "Pawnshops exchange goods for money, while money shops exchange credit for money."

Chuntao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Zhu Zhanji didn't explain further and turned to leave.

He stopped abruptly as he reached the door.

"Chuntao, what do you think will be the first thing Grandpa asks when he returns?"

Chun Tao thought for a moment: "They might ask, 'Has Your Highness grown taller?'"

Zhu Zhanji smiled.

Yes, in the eyes of the Emperor, he was probably just a four-and-a-half-year-old child.

But in his own eyes, he had already seen a very, very far place.

That place had rumbling machines, long railway tracks, and cities larger than ten capitals.

On December 26th, as winter grew colder and the demand for coal in the capital was high, Zhu Zhanji stood by the coal mine in Xishanzhuang and glanced down.

It was pitch black, and you couldn't see anything, except for the faint sound of water below.

"How deep is this well now?"

Eunuch Wang approached and said, "Your Highness, it's a little over thirty zhang deep. If we dig any deeper, we can find even better coal, but the water level is too high."

"Take me down to have a look."

As you walk down the inclined shaft, it gets damper and stuffier the further you go.

The miners lit oil lamps and stuck them into the mine wall; the dim light barely illuminated the path beneath their feet.

Upon reaching the coal face, Zhu Zhanji stopped.

Six miners, shirtless and bent over, were scooping water from a puddle at their feet with large wooden ladles.

A ladleful is scooped up and poured into a wooden bucket behind him; when the bucket is full, another person lifts it up and carries it up the inclined shaft.

They kept scooping water, but the water in the puddle didn't seem to decrease.

Zhu Zhanji stood by and watched for a quarter of an hour.

Six strong laborers worked in shifts, from morning till night, just to keep the well from flooding.

He squatted down, reached out and touched the water; it was icy cold.

A miner straightened up, saw it was him, and quickly tried to bow.

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand.

"How long have you been scooping like this?"

"Replying to my esteemed sir," the miner wiped the sweat from his face.

"We started scooping water from this well when it was twenty feet deep, and it's been almost three months now. If we don't scoop water for a day, the pit will flood."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and turned to walk upstairs.

As he emerged from the well, a gust of cold wind blew, and he took a deep breath.

Eunuch Wang followed behind, saying, "Your Highness, this water is really troublesome. Why don't we stop digging and just dig the shallow part?"

Zhu Zhanji did not respond.

He stood by the well, gazing at the hazy sky in the distance, his mind racing.

Waterlogging, manpower.

If there is something that can replace manual pumping of water.

He closed his eyes, and the resource map automatically appeared in his mind.

Steam engine?