Chapter 778 - 776: A Woman’s Perspective
"The matter at hand is still the most important. Let’s discuss the actual issue, the actual issue, alright?" Seeing that the crucial moment had arrived, Ye Xinyan very unimpressively went along with the Emperor’s intention and spoke.
The Emperor let out a cold snort, and the expressions of Prince Fu and the others also relaxed. If she was allowed to speak recklessly, who knew what vexing words she might utter next?
Duke An felt a sourness in his heart. The opportunistic girl knew to strike while the iron was hot, so why had she never shown such compliance towards him, an old man?
"The main goal for this humble woman is to secure protection for craftsmen like us, and then to share some humble opinions on how to widely apply new skills and tools..."
In Ye Xinyan’s memory, the opening of a patent document started with: "Our country encourages invention and creation." That is to say, one of the key purposes of patent protection is to encourage invention and innovation.
Ye Xinyan remembered this line distinctly, as encouraging invention and innovation is to ensure the rights of the inventors, granting them patent rights. And with invention and innovation comes the advancement of productivity. This concept should be of consequence in any era.
"...Your Majesty, in the humble view of this woman, I am afraid that many have fallen into a misconception regarding the promotion of new tools. Shouldn’t we first consider the invention and innovation itself when looking to improve engineering and production efficiency? If we cannot even ensure the existence of invention and innovation, how can we speak of promotion?"
The Emperor’s expression grew solemn, and the hearts of Han Yanhui and the others also took an extra turn as they looked at Ye Xinyan with a complex gaze. Was this really just a woman’s opinion?
"As for whether a craftsman would relinquish his techniques, it is obvious. Taking the Chain Inversion Device as an example, if a craftsman, in order to keep his skills secret, produces them alone or only within his family, with many complex components involved, he could labor over it, possibly making one or two devices a year. Even if one device could bring fifty taels of silver in profit, then, within thirty years of his prime, he could only produce thirty to sixty Chain Inversion Devices, grossing a profit of one thousand five hundred to three thousand taels of silver.
Yet, if these thirty devices were produced by a workshop like the Iron Workshop, with its scale of operations, they could surpass this output in just a month or two. So, wouldn’t that craftsman be willing to sell the manufacturing method for three thousand or even six thousand taels of silver, and then live as a wealthy man, or invest the money and his talents to continue developing new products and creating new revenue?"