After Ren Baqian and the empress finished talking, the court continued to discuss the issue of the Department of Commerce for the next few days.
On one hand, many people felt that the Department of Commerce was completely unnecessary.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue both hoped to include the Department of Commerce in their respective areas.
For the next few days, there were arguments in the court every day, and it was said that a lot of bricks were cleared from the hall every day.
In the end, even Ren Baqian went into battle with a loudspeaker and used his volume to reason with the court officials. The empress used force to ensure that these people would listen to Ren Baqian's reasoning.
After arguing for five days, Ren Baqian and the empress, who were superior in both volume and force, won. Finally, the matter of the Department of Commerce was settled. The Department of Commerce was directly responsible to the empress, and Ren Baqian became the first minister of the Department of Commerce.
There was another side effect, which was that the officials in the court had different degrees of tinnitus.
The first thing Ren Baqian did was to find a courtyard in the city and decide on the location of the Department of Commerce. Before he could even summon Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng over, unexpectedly, someone came to join him.
This was indeed beyond his expectations.
When he left the academy, he was surprised to see that man outside the door and hear the purpose of his visit!
Standing outside the door was a middle-aged man in a long gown. He was "thin" and weighed about 100 kilograms. When he saw Ren Baqian coming out of the academy, he cupped his hands and said, "Minister Ren, I'm Zhu Zhuo, and I'm here to recommend myself."
"Recommend myself?" Ren Baqian repeated before opening his mouth.
"May I invite Minister Ren to come in?" Zhu Zhuo asked.
"Come in and talk." Ren Baqian waved his hand and asked him to follow him into the academy. He was curious about what this person could say.
After all, it was quite rare for someone to recommend themselves to be his subordinate.
Furthermore, this person had come looking for him right after his appointment. He was really well-informed.
He wondered if this person had anything that caught his eye.
Ren Baqian sat in a chair with his arms folded and sized him up. He looked like someone from the Yun Nation or Great Xia. He looked like a scholar, unlike the typical aboriginals who were full of wildness.
"Speak."
"Sir Ren, to tell you the truth, I'm currently serving as the minister of agriculture and livestock. It's really rash of me to recommend myself. However, I have always been fascinated by what Principal Ren has done. I have heard about the iron mine at Mount Damo and other things.
Now that I've heard that Sir Ren is establishing the Department of Commerce, I feel that I can be of some use to you. Hence, I'm taking the liberty to recommend myself. "
"I have traveled in the Yun Nation for many years …"
Zhu Zhuo's words moved Ren Baqian.
He didn't expect it to be a turtle.
Since he was able to become a minister counsellor, he must have the ability. He had traveled in the Yun Nation for many years, so he had some knowledge.
Subsequently, Ren Baqian asked Zhu Zhuo a few questions. Even though Zhu Zhuo's answers weren't completely satisfactory to Ren Baqian, this was because Ren Baqian had seen all kinds of business models on Earth and had high standards. In this world, it was impossible to find someone who could completely satisfy him in terms of business.
In reality, Zhu Zhuo's experience and way of thinking were much better than the average aboriginals.
"You go back first. I'll think about it." At this moment, Ren Baqian was very tempted. However, he didn't show any expression and simply asked the other party to go back.
"Yes, Sir Ren. I shall take my leave then." Zhu Zhuo cupped his fists and left without any hesitation. This made Ren Baqian think highly of him.
After Zhu Zhuo left, Ren Baqian shook his head and said, "I didn't expect there to be such a person in the Ministry of Works. It's such a waste to leave him in the Department of Agriculture and Livestock."
That afternoon, Ren Baqian got someone to investigate Zhu Zhuo. He then asked the empress for an appointment to transfer him from the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and promoted him to the director of the Department of Commerce to be his assistant.
Subsequently, Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng, the two former shopkeepers of the caravan, were transferred to the Department of Commerce as minister counsellors.
The two of them were promoted from shopkeepers of the caravan to Secondary class, Rank 5 minister counsellors. It could be said that they had reached heaven in a single bound, so they were naturally very grateful to Ren Baqian.
After that, Ren Baqian transferred some people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue to be the backbone of the Department of Commerce. He then asked the Rearguard Commandery to find some experienced businessmen in Tianjing Basin and send them to Lan City.
In some ways, these profit-driven businessmen were much more useful than the officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.
Ren Baqian divided the Department of Commerce into three parts. They were responsible for factories, trade routes, and financial planning. The three parts were completely separated. In this way, when the Department of Commerce was promoted to the Ministry of Commerce, it could be divided into three departments. This way, the framework would be set.
After that, Ren Baqian became a hands-off shopkeeper. He set the direction and threw the rest to others.
He was preparing for another matter at the school, which was the hot air balloon.
Li Fu's ascension to immortality depended on it.
After all, the materials in this world weren't at the level of those on Earth, and there weren't any products like nylon cloth. Ren Baqian simply chose to use two layers of coarse cloth that were strong enough and brushed a layer of rubber in the middle to increase the density and reduce air permeability.
As for the fuel, Ren Baqian chose coal and a type of wood that could burn for a long time.
Ren Baqian estimated that such a hot air balloon should be able to take Li Fu up 10,000 to 15,000 meters.
As for the heat control valve, there was none at all.
How was Li Fu going to come down after he went up … Ren Baqian simply didn't consider this problem. At most, he would prepare another piece of cloth for him and let him jump down while dragging the four corners.
In any case, with his strength, he shouldn't fall to his death.
If he fell to his death, the empress would naturally become the third most powerful person in the world.
Ever since Li Fu saw Ren Baqian release the Kong Ming Lantern during the New Year, he had been studying how the Kong Ming Lantern flew and whether it could take him to the sky.
For this matter, he had looked for Ren Baqian many times, but Ren Baqian had always pushed him away with the excuse of materials.
At this moment, when he heard Ren Baqian say that he wanted to make a hot air balloon to send him to the sky, Li Fu immediately couldn't hold back.
For a full 200 years, he had been searching for a way to ascend to the sky. After he had searched all the places that were rumored to be haunted by deities and ghosts, the hot air balloon had become his greatest hope.
Even though Ren Baqian had repeatedly told him that the current hot air balloon could only reach a certain height, he was still elated. It was just like how he felt when he saw his fiancée when he was young.
In his eyes, it was good to be closer to the sky. Even if he couldn't touch it, he could at least see a glimmer of hope.
Perhaps, he would be able to see the deities in the sky.
This number one person in the world, who kicked people's balls whenever he had nothing better to do, had never left the academy since the materials were sent there.
After figuring out how to make this hot air balloon, he became the supervisor. Every day, he would watch as the people brushed a layer of rubber liquid on the cloth and pressed two pieces of cloth together to stitch them together.
Every day, he would check if there were any problems with the finished cloth. If there were any mistakes, he would fly into a rage.
Every day, he would take the blueprint and repeatedly compare it with Ren Baqian, asking him about the various obstacles, and Ren Baqian was never tired of it.
As the area of the stitched cloth grew larger and larger, a ball made of cloth and animal tendons was gradually completed. Li Fu finally calmed down.
Half a month later, the hot air balloon was finally completed!
"Hey, you are going to ascend to the sky the day after tomorrow. Shouldn't you teach me your [God's Finger]? If you fall to your death, you will be brought to the coffin. "
Ren Baqian stood in the courtyard and looked at the hot air balloon with the slogans "One World, One Dream," "If the heart is there, the dream is there!" and "I want to fly to the sky and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun!" as he patted Li Fu.
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