Chapter 23: Lucky Xu Duan

  Xu Duanhe is here."

  Xiaomin is here. Xu Zhong stepped forward and paid his respects.

  "How much does it cost to build with blue bricks compared to red bricks?" Yang You asked.

  I report to Your Majesty, the green bricks take a bit longer to burn and also consume more fuel than red bricks. Red bricks are relatively cheaper, in terms of total construction cost, red bricks are 30% cheaper than green bricks.

  30%.

  Su Sheng exclaimed. In his view, the difference between red bricks and green bricks was not great, if something had similar quality and function, but one was 30% cheaper, then the impact on the more expensive side would be quite large.

  The method of making red bricks, do you still remember? Yang You looked at Xu Dang with expectation.

  The humble folk will never forget; Xu Zhong said somewhat awkwardly.

  Hehe.

  Yang Jier heard this and covered her mouth with a smile, making Xu Dang even more embarrassed.

  "This king needs this formula now, name a price!" Yang You said directly.

  The king's highness has already killed the little people, the king's highness likes the little people's brick-making method, that is the little people's good fortune, how can they ask the king's highness for money!"; Xu Dang said in a panic.

  Yang You was stunned for a moment, and there were also people who gave him money but refused to accept it.

  Everything under heaven belongs to the imperial family, and the method of making red bricks originally belonged to Your Highness. If you want to make up for Xu Dang, just grant it to him." Su Sheng explained, seeing Yang You's confusion.

  After Su Sheng's explanation, Yang You finally understood the meaning. In this era, there was no protection of intellectual property rights, and the emperor didn't need to spend money. The royal family taking things from ordinary people was a favor to you, and if they felt uneasy, they would casually bestow something on you.

  What kind of nonsense is this, it seems like everything in the world belongs to the royal family, Yang You disagreed with this view.

  But on second thought, being a beneficiary myself doesn't seem so bad after all.

  "This king won't take your things for nothing, what do you want?" As a modern person, Yang You certainly wouldn't be greedy for this small convenience.

  "I, a humble commoner, have no other desires! Originally, I, a humble commoner, mistakenly made red bricks and was ridiculed by fellow villagers. If His Highness Duke Wang appreciates my recipe, that would be a vindication for me! I'm grateful just thinking about it! If there's any other idea, that would be being too greedy." Xǔ Duì said firmly, his tone revealing sincerity.

  "There is merit but no reward, this is not the character of this king! How about you take a look at the brick road I built?" Yang You asked.

  His Royal Highness is wise and enlightened, the brick road is durable and can be used in all weather conditions, greatly facilitating the travel of merchants and travelers, it's a truly remarkable achievement. said Xu Dang flattering.

  Since it's such a good thing, of course, we should build more. Moreover, the refugees are about to pour into Jingzhao County continuously, and building a large number of brick roads is already inevitable!" Yang You continued after a pause.

  "A large number of bricks are needed to build this road, if all the green bricks are used, the cost is really too high. Red bricks replacing green bricks is a trend, the court will set up a disaster relief agency, why don't you join the disaster relief agency and be responsible for the allocation and quality control of bricks?"

  Xu Duan was stunned, letting himself enter the disaster relief department, wasn't that being an official? Had he misheard?

  Just a moment ago, he was still a laughing stock as a brick young master, but in the blink of an eye, he entered the Disaster Relief Office and became an official!

  "Are you unwilling?" Yang Jier said mischievously from the side.

  "I'm willing, of course I'm willing." Xǔ Duō hastily replied, "Thank you, Crown Prince Dài Wáng, thank you, Princess Chūyún."

  Xu Duan usually dressed like a scholar, loved reading books, but unfortunately he was the son of a merchant and couldn't take part in the imperial examination. This had always been his lifelong regret. He never expected that an unintentional mistake would lead to a stunning reversal in his life.

  He was destined for a lifetime of brick-burning business, and he had become an official. Although he still didn't know what rank he was or whether he was an official or a clerk.

  Tomorrow, the Disaster Relief Agency will be established. You can go there to report and this secret formula for making red bricks will belong to the agency from then on. Of course, you'll be in charge of keeping it safe. If any kiln factory wants to make red bricks, you can provide them with the formula, but they must keep it confidential and pay a patent fee of 50,000 bricks.

  "What is patent fee!" Yang Jier asked curiously.

  Xu Dang and Su Sheng also looked at Yang You with a confused expression, no one had ever heard of this term before.

  The patent is for this fired red brick, which is Xu Dings' invention and the result of his labor. If others want to use this secret formula, they must pay a certain fee to Xu Ding." Yang You tries to explain in the simplest terms.

  Su nodded, indeed so, but after thinking again, he had doubts.

  What if another person also made red bricks by himself and didn't steal Xu Dings secret formula, but instead figured it out through his own exploration?

  "That's right!" Xu Dang and Yang Jier nodded in agreement.

  Well, it's only polite, after all, first come, first served! Anyone who comes up with something later is just out of luck." Yang You smiled slyly.

  Of course this patent also has a time limit, let's set it at twenty years!

  The so-called "Patent Law", one of the flying treasures of the Great Sui Dynasty, was settled here by Yang You in a few words.

  "This is also okay, it's quite fair." Yang Jier said, don't look at her usual cheerful and talkative self, when she's being astute, she doesn't lose to anyone.

  ……

  "I apologize for arriving late, Your Highness." Minister of Works, Ping Honggui, arrived at the scene led by the guards.

  "What is Ping Shilang doing here?" Yang Jier asked in surprise.

  Of course, he came to pay us. Haven't you seen the brick merchant waiting for settlement over there? Yang You pointed at the city gate and smiled, referring to a dozen or so merchants.

  Under the city gate, a dozen or so merchants were waiting leisurely, and as early as when they started pulling bricks, the guards had said that they would pay by market price. No one worried that the royal family would default on their debts.

  Did you bring things?

  Please look, Your Highness.

  Ping Hong Hui stretched out his hand and beckoned, only to see about fifty four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages lined up in a long procession, winding their way out of the city, stretching far away on the brick road.

  At this time, the four-wheeled carriage at the front slowly emerged, and several guards were loading sacks onto it, with the sacks filled with sand.

  Two guards lifted a sack together, and judging from their strained expressions, they knew that the sack was not light.

  The first cart had ten sacks loaded, a worker inserted a red flag at the back, and with the driver's loud shout, the two horses started to exert force, and the vehicle quickly started.

  As the vehicle moved rapidly, the flag behind it still fluttered in the wind, and four golden characters appeared in everyone's line of sight.

  "A whole thousand catties!" someone exclaimed.

  Others also started making a fuss, one thousand catties is not a heavy load, an ordinary cart can pull it.

  But that was just a pull, slow as a snail. And galloping like a four-wheeled horse carriage on a brick road was impossible.

  Then, the second one also started running, with a bright red flag still fluttering behind.

  "One thousand five hundred catties." The crowd let out another burst of exclamations.

  "Two thousand catties."

  ……

  "Two thousand five hundred catties."

  Ten carriages galloped out in succession, and the load of the carriage had increased to two thousand five hundred catties, which was already the limit of the wooden carriage.

  The heavy carriage has passed over it, but the brick road is still intact.

  Looking at the reactions of the people on both sides, Yang You and Ping Honggui exchanged a glance, and with that, the four-wheeled carriage fired its first shot.

  Behind were forty four-wheeled carriages, ten of which were brought out for people to try, and the remaining thirty carriages began to be sold, each priced at thirty guan.

  Such a high price is beyond the reach of ordinary people, but for those aristocratic families in Daxing, it's just a drop in the bucket. In a short period of time, they were snapped up, and even the last 20 trial carriages were sold out.

  Fifty carts were sold for a total of 1,500 guan. After paying the brick merchants 300 guan, there was still 1,200 guan left over.

  Ping Hong handed over all 1,200 yuan to Su Sheng as funds for continued road construction. He couldn't bear the thought of his children being left behind, and only by building a longer brick road would his four-wheeled carriage become more popular, and in the end, he would reap far more than 1,200 yuan.

  After Ping Honggui left, Su Sheng finally settled the account. It seemed that instead of spending money, they had made 1,200 yuan by building a five-mile brick road for Wang Gongzi today.

  What's wrong with this world! Su Sheng was a bit stunned.