"Enough!"
The emperor was furious, and the court fell silent.
"Tang Ke, explain yourself clearly to me what exactly happened!"
Once Tang Ke calmed down, he recounted the whole story of what had happened.
“Your Majesty, I have absolutely no intention of colluding with Zhang Qingyuan. The Huaxing spinning wheel is indeed a marvel. I cherish talent, which is why I summoned him. After listening to his story, I instructed him to file a lawsuit in accordance with the laws of the Great Song Dynasty. As for whether he will donate the patent to the Ministry of Commerce, I have no plans. If he does donate it, it will naturally be a good thing for the court. If he does not donate it, that is his own right.”
Tang Ke spoke with great emotion and eloquence, and his words were quite moving.
Xu Churen said, "Your Majesty, please entrust this matter to me!"
"No need for Prime Minister Xu, I will handle this matter personally. This is a matter of great importance. The patent law of the Great Song Dynasty is related to the prosperity of science in the Great Song Dynasty. Anyone who dares to act recklessly in this matter will have their head taken!"
The emperor's voice was like the wrath of the heavens, echoing in the court and chilling all the ministers to the bone.
They hadn't expected the emperor to value this matter so much.
Looks like someone's going to die!
After the court session ended, the ministers began to discuss the matter.
The emperor did not punish or blame any official in court, but this was only the beginning.
At least, immediately after the court session, Gu Yongzhi, the assistant director of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, was arrested; it was an order personally given to the Censorate by the emperor.
In the afternoon, the emperor personally went to the Censorate and questioned Gu Yongzhi.
That evening, the Zhang family's property was raided, everyone in the family was expelled, and Zhang Qingyuan was thrown into a death row cell.
The next day, the headlines of both the Song Dynasty Gazette and the Song Dynasty Express were about Zhang's Cloth Shop and Huaxing Spinning Wheel.
Not only that, the outcome of the case against Gu Yongzhi, the Assistant Director of the Ministry of Commerce, was also reported: he was executed immediately!
The Gu family's property was confiscated, and everyone was expelled from the Gu residence.
Although people didn't quite understand why the imperial court attached such importance to this matter and treated it so severely, they were all aware of the seriousness of the problem.
At the beginning of the implementation of the patent law, the heads of Zhang Qingyuan and Gu Yongzhi were used to set an example for the Song Dynasty: do not try to challenge the patent law of the Song Dynasty!
This incident shocked the business community in Tokyo and also caused a stir in Jingzhao Prefecture, Youzhou, Hangzhou and other places.
Next, the official gazettes of the Song Dynasty and the Song Dynasty Express reported on the ownership of the Huaxing spinning wheel patent.
At the end of the first industrial revolution in the Song Dynasty, someone wrote in vernacular Chinese: At that time, the court's report on the ownership of the patent for Huaxing spinning wheels was not understood by many people. In that stage when patent awareness had not yet sprouted, people could not understand what kind of attitude it was until Huaxing spinning wheels were put into large-scale use.
Regarding the punishment of Tang Ke, the Vice Chancellor, and Li Daochen, the Acting Prefect of Kaifeng, they were each fined one month's salary!
Clearly, the emperor did not want this matter to affect the existing official system.
A few days later, Li's Cloth Shop officially opened for business.
The Zhangji Cloth Shop, which had previously been incorporated into the imperial court, was then taken over by the imperial court.
The wind shifted so quickly that wealthy businessmen like Zhu Qing couldn't react in time.
After they realized what was happening, they understood that the imperial court genuinely intended to promote patents and encourage the development of engineering and science among the people.
This undoubtedly gave private businessmen a strong boost.
What made the merchants of Tokyo City green with envy was that in April, Li's Cloth Shop opened ten branches in Tokyo City in one go.
People were surprised to find that, unlike other cloth shops, Li's cloth shop had a continuous supply of goods, and there was always something available no matter when they went to buy it.
Even Zhu Qing, who ranked tenth among the wealthiest men in the Song Dynasty, was driven mad with envy.
They marveled at how the world had changed, how they had made a fortune by reselling grain thanks to the government's policies, and how their future prospects were even greater.
However, in the eyes of these merchants, it was nothing compared to the Li family's cloth business.
Because next, the imperial court's manufacturing bureau will use Huaxing spinning wheels, and that's where they'll make a lot of money.
Sure enough, a few days later, the Song Dynasty official gazette published the news that the Ministry of Commerce had purchased the right to use Huaxing spinning wheels.
Taking the Song Dynasty Imperial Garment Bureau as an example, for every thousand garments produced by the Song Dynasty Imperial Garment Bureau using Huaxing spinning wheels, the revenue from five of those garments had to be paid to Huaxing Trading Company.
This caused a sensation in Tokyo and quickly spread to other places as well.
People then began to pay real attention to the Huaxing spinning wheel, and couldn't help but wonder what it was that made the Imperial Workshop of Imperial Products pay for its use.
According to official information, the clothing sales bureau sold 1 million units last year.
If Huaxing Textile Machinery is paid according to this rule, it will cost 5,000 guan per year.
In other words, Huaxing Trading Company could receive 5,000 guan without knowing anything about it.
Subsequently, a well-known business commentator in the Song Dynasty Gazette made the following prediction: Once the Product Manufacturing Bureau uses Huaxing spinning wheels, its output will increase by at least six times, and its corresponding labor costs will be reduced by at least half. From any point of view, the Product Manufacturing Bureau will make a fortune.
For a time, the Song Dynasty Gazette even created a special section on commerce for this purpose.
In the warm spring of March, many new terms emerged in Tokyo: payment, revenue, cost, market, clothing...
What's even more unfamiliar to ordinary people are: innovation, science, patents...
This commentary even directly predicted that Huaxing Textile Machinery would receive as much as 100,000 guan from the Bureau of Manufacturing next year!
If the imperial court hadn't been involved, no one would believe it was true.
This completely overturned the traditional rules of commerce in the Song Dynasty. On one side was the Bureau of Goods and Products of the Ministry of Commerce of the Imperial Court, and on the other side were emerging private trading companies.
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