Water Margin people

"How dare you go out to sea with such a small boat? Moreover, this boat is not strong enough. It is fine in rivers, but it will fall apart if it encounters wind and waves at sea."

Ruan Xiaoer took a look at the ship situation on the memorial and immediately shook his head, saying that inland ships are completely different from sea ships, let alone ships going to the open sea.

"Your Majesty, they have surrounded the entrance to the shipyard, carrying boxes of gold and silver to buy ships. Now the price of a ship has risen to tens of thousands of coins!"

Chai Jin said, these are just the most ordinary merchant ships.

"Ten thousand?"

Sun Lei was also a little surprised. The cost of building a sea-going merchant ship was about 1,500 guan, and the previous selling price was 3,000 guan. Now it has tripled?
"Not only that, the orders are scheduled for three years later! Nowadays, many people in the private sector have begun to imitate sea vessels, and the local customs offices are asking whether to ban it."

Chai Jin said.

"Banned? Why should we ban it? Private shipbuilding is also good, but the quality must be up to standard and no accidents will occur, which will cause trouble."

Sun Lei shook his head and said that currently Qi's industry is all driven by the state, and this cannot go on for such a long time. The state cannot do everything.

"How about this, you tell the Maritime Customs that all civilian ships must be inspected before launching, and only those that pass the inspection can go out to sea. In addition, there is no need to interfere too much with their shipbuilding, and they just need to pay taxes normally."

Sun Lei looked at Chai Jin and spoke.

"Your Majesty, will this leak secrets?"

Chai Jin asked with some concern, shipbuilding is also a state secret, it would be bad if the technology leaked out.

"It's okay. It's just some outdated technology. Ironclad ships will dominate the sea in the future."

Sun Lei shook his head and said that it was impossible for the folk technology to surpass that of the imperial court. One must know that the technology all came from school research and the folk technology could not compare.

"Also, tell all places that there is no need to suppress private workshops and factories too much, as long as they are legal. In addition, we will soon issue laws to manage these private workshops and factories."

Sun Lei went on to say that the seeds of capitalism had already appeared in the Song Dynasty, and with his help, it seemed that the progress was quite good.

After drinking, Chai Jin said goodbye and left. He wanted to get rid of those merchants.

……

The day of spring ploughing is approaching, and spring ploughing is very important. Sun Lei brought civil and military officials to the fields outside the city.

"Oh, that's quite interesting!"

Sun Lei laughed as he looked at the scholars who were doing corvée labor not far away. These people no longer had the arrogance they had before. Now they had disheveled hair, ragged clothes, and looked like a group of beggars.

"It looks so pitiful!"

Hua Chan was soft-hearted and felt a little sorry for the elderly people.

"Don't feel sorry for them, they are just pretending. Although corvée labor is hard, it doesn't have to be like this. This is not a slave camp."

Sun Lei took Hua Chan's hand and said, women tend to be overly compassionate.

"Pretend?"

Li Shishi looked at those "poor people" in surprise.

"Look at them. Although their clothes are torn and their hair is messy, their lips are fine. There is no sign of cracking or peeling. There are no bloody cuts on their hands either."

Sun Lei pointed at those literati who were pretending to be pitiful and started talking.

"You're really pretending!"

Li Shishi watched with great interest.

"What should we plant this year? The peppers and corn grew well last year!"

Cheng Wan'er asked curiously while holding the golden hoe.

"It's easier this year. We'll use a machine to till the land and sow seeds later. We just need to use a few symbolic hoes."

Sun Lei said with a smile.

"You're not going to dig the ground this year?"

A few children were a little disappointed holding the small hoes, as they really liked digging the ground.

"I'll let you dig later!"

Sun Lei smiled speechlessly. The children didn't want to plow the land at all. They just wanted to play like digging in the sand.

During the Spring Ploughing Ceremony, all the villages around Liangshan City sent people to watch the ceremony and exchange farming experiences with each other. "The sun has risen, why haven't we started yet?"

"Yes, it will be bad if the time is too late!"

"Does Your Majesty wish to speak?"

Many people who came from afar were whispering that according to past habits, farming would start in the morning, and now it was already noon.

"Boom!"

With the roar of the steam engine, the steam tractor officially appeared.

The people watching the ceremony stared at these huge mechanical creations in amazement. They didn't know why such things appeared at the Spring Farming Ceremony.

Sun Lei climbed onto the platform amid everyone's puzzled gazes.

"Are you curious about why this year's Spring Ploughing Ceremony hasn't started yet? Because I want to make a bet with you to see who is faster! The winner will get a bounty of 100 taels!"

Sun Lei looked at everyone and spoke.

"Your Majesty, how do you compare?"

Everyone was excited. One hundred taels of gold was an unimaginable amount of money for a peasant family. It was enough for them to be rich for the rest of their lives.

"Compared to these machines, you have a team of ten, with oxen and farm tools!"

Sun Lei pointed at the huge tractor and spoke.

"Ten men, and some oxen and farm tools!"

Those old farmers were eager to try, they thought they had a chance of winning, after all, they had been working in the fields for decades.

"What's this for? Why are we having a competition during the Spring Ploughing Ceremony? How shameless!"

Those literati who pretended to be pitiful were a little angry. The spring ploughing ceremony was a solemn and grand event. Not only did the emperor miss the time, but he also failed to let Hou Tu and Shennong down. It was simply a child's play.

"Strange and lewd techniques can cause great harm to people!"

Those old scholars even pointed at the machines and started cursing.

But no one paid attention to their accusations. The imperial court looked down on them, thinking they were uncivilized old-fashioned people; the peasants also looked down on them, thinking these literati were incompetent at anything, ate everything without leaving any residue, and were simply waste.

"Your Majesty, the tractor seems to be bigger this time!"

Xiao Jiasui asked with a smile.

"Of course, the game is to win, and ten old farmers are no joke."

Sun Lei smiled and said that he would not underestimate these farmers, so he used the largest machines to ensure victory.

Everyone's attention was focused on the competition. The old farmers were arguing with each other until their faces turned red. Each of them wanted to play in the competition and claimed that they were the best farmers within a hundred miles.

After some arguments, ten teams with a hundred people stood up.

Sun Lei also sent out ten tractors.

"Are you all ready?"

Sun Lei asked as he looked at the old farmers who were leading cows and holding farm tools.

"Your Majesty, everything is fine!"

The old farmers spoke in unison, their voices as loud as a bell. It was obvious at first glance that they were all experts in the fields.

"You have also checked the fields. Is there any problem?"

Sun Lei asked with a smile again.

“They are all good fields!”

The old farmers replied that this was the emperor's field, the best and most fertile land around Liangshan, and the place where the annual spring ploughing ceremony was held.

"start!"

With Sun Lei's order, the competition between man and machine began. (End of this chapter)