Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1133 1128 [The buds of capitalism? ]

How much leisure is there? A field of tobacco, a city full of catkins, and plums are yellow and rainy.

Before Zhu Guoxiang left Yangzhou, the plum rain season arrived.

The plum rain season is quite romantic, except for those with rheumatism.

Shen Yourong and the other two imperial concubines silently endured the pain of rheumatism. But they were soon discovered by Zhu Guoxiang, who had no choice but to send guards to escort them back north and meet them in the south after the rainy season.

When Shen Yourong was in the north, her rheumatism was not serious and she did not even take it seriously. But when she arrived in Yangzhou, the plum rains caused her to toss and turn in pain and she could not sleep all night.

Sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy.

Zhu Guoxiang sat in the pavilion, feeling the breeze on his face, and looked around at the surrounding scenery. The temple on the mountain, the city below the mountain, and the vaguely visible canal were all shrouded in misty rain.

It feels so comfortable, as if I am in a landscape painting.

When the rain stopped, the sky and earth became clearer. Zhu Guoxiang became more excited and walked on the slippery muddy mountain path to the foot of the mountain to imitate Su Shi lying on a boat while drunk.

He walked down the mountain with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and almost fell down several times, which frightened the people accompanying him.

But the emperor refused to allow others to support him and insisted on walking slowly with the help of a cane.

After being cautious for two lifetimes, Zhu Guoxiang rarely acts willfully.

The team stayed in Yangzhou until the rainy season was over, and finally set off to continue heading south.

The Yangtze River suddenly flooded, and the group stayed in Guazhou Town for another half a month. Then they crossed the river from Guazhou, and Zhu Guoxiang stayed in Runzhou (Zhenjiang) City and did not leave until he heard that the flood this year was not serious, and then he continued to go south.

Traveling all the way to Suzhou, Zhu Guoxiang was very happy to find many textile workshops in the towns along the way. The largest one employed hundreds of workers.

He met with officials in Suzhou and asked about the specific situation in Jiangnan.

Chen Zaiting, the prefect of Suzhou, was from Renshou, Sichuan. He told Zhu Guoxiang, "As the court relaxed restrictions, more and more people have converted rice fields into cotton fields in recent years. Even though the tax on cotton fields is heavier, the income of farmers growing cotton is at least 20% to 30% higher than that of growing rice. Now that the tax on cotton fields has also been reduced, just like the tax on rice fields, farmers can earn more by growing cotton."

Zhu Guoxiang is a professional and nodded in approval: "It is best to have the same tax on cotton and rice. The court cannot use taxation to disrupt farming."

If the taxes on cotton and rice are different, not only will the government be confused about tax collection, but farmers will also be confused about farming.

Different regions and different soils require different farming methods according to local conditions.

If you are reluctant to apply fertilizers, or the land is poor in fertility, the best way to cultivate it is to plant two cotton and one rice. That is, plant cotton for two years, then plant rice for one year, and then plant cotton for two years... Alternate this cycle, and only apply manure and soybean meal when planting rice. This can improve soil fertility and reduce pests and diseases.

If you are willing to apply more fertilizer, or have extremely fertile farmland, you can plant three crops of cotton and one crop of rice.

There are also farmers who like to grow cotton and rice, or even rotate them with wheat or rapeseed.

With such a complicated planting method, if the imperial court levied heavy taxes on cotton fields, it would inevitably disrupt the farmers' farming plans.

A one-size-fits-all approach is not acceptable.

Zhu Guoxiang asked again: "If we switch to planting cotton in large quantities, can we ensure food security?"

Chen Zaiting said: "Rice production in the area around Dongting Lake has increased year by year, which can fill the food gap in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, more food has been shipped from overseas in recent years."

In the past, maritime trade was not so competitive and merchants looked down upon the small profits from buying and selling grain.

But now the competition in maritime trade is fierce, and more and more merchants are willing to trade in grain. Although the profit is not that much, as long as the grain harvest season is avoided, it is a sure profit to transport it to coastal provinces for sale.

This even includes Taiwan!

Historically, Taiwan was developed in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, and the food there was simply not enough to eat. The Qing government had strict control over Taiwan, but it still couldn't stop Taiwan's food from being exported, and there were even records of it being smuggled to Tianjin for sale.

It's complete nonsense that maritime shipping is risky.

Would the merchants dare to smuggle Taiwan rice to Tianjin if there was not enough profit? This is smuggling!

Today, the registered population of Taiwan (including the Penghu Islands) has increased to more than 50,000. The majority of the population are Fujian boat people who migrated there and their descendants, and there are several thousand naturalized indigenous people in the Taipei area.

The King of Ryukyu (chief of the indigenous tribe of Taipei) was very sensible. He first submitted to the Ming Dynasty and then requested to remove the country's name. In exchange, Emperor Zhu made him a marquis, gave him a large amount of cloth and other goods, and obtained the deed of tens of thousands of acres of land.

Under the guidance of the Taiwan County Magistrate, the chieftain even gave up his land and moved his family to live in Kaifeng. Emperor Zhu also granted him a Kaifeng mansion, two Kaifeng shops, and 800 acres of land in the suburbs of Kaifeng.

Such preferential treatment is intended to naturalize the aborigines of Taipei and transform them into self-employed farmers.

Now, Taiwan already has two counties.

A county located in the Penghu and Taichung areas, with a population mainly composed of immigrants from mainland China.

A county located in the Taipei, Taoyuan, and Keelung areas, with a population mainly composed of naturalized aborigines and gold diggers who stayed behind.

After talking about food security for a while, Zhu Guoxiang said, "I have traveled all the way from Runzhou and found many textile factories of all sizes. I believe there are also many in Huzhou and Hangzhou. Can the silk and cotton from Jiangnan alone supply those factories?"

Chen Zaiting replied: "Shandong cotton and Chu cotton will also be shipped and sold to Jiangnan."

It was normal for Chu cotton to be shipped to Jiangnan for sale because Jiangnan had a more complete textile industry system.

But what is the situation with the transportation of Shandong cotton to the south?
During the Tang and Song dynasties, Shandong's silk and linen weaving industry was very developed, and related practitioners could switch to cotton textile.

Zhu Guoxiang didn't know much about the textile industry and was quite curious about this.

Chen Zaiting replied: "The cotton cloth of the same quality as cotton woven in Jiangnan is generally of better quality than that in Shandong." Why is it better?

Chen Zaiting couldn't explain it clearly either.

The other officials present were also unable to answer.

So they quickly found a cotton mill owner.

The cotton mill owner, whose surname was Hu, was very excited to see the emperor. He explained in detail: "It may be due to the climate. The cotton cloth from the coastal areas of Shandong is of better quality than that from inland Shandong. There are many cotton plants in the prefectures and counties around Jinan, but when those prefectures and counties spin and weave, the cotton yarn is not strong enough, has many short fibers, many flying flowers, many broken ends, and poor yarn dryness. The cotton yarn is uneven in thickness, has many knots, and is very slow to spin."

After that, he added: "This situation is more obvious the farther away from the sea, and even more obvious in winter. Since the rise of Jiangnan cotton cloth, it has steadily suppressed Shandong cotton cloth. Shandong cotton cloth cannot be sold at a high price, so cotton merchants transport Shandong cotton to Jiangnan for sale, and then transport Jiangnan cotton cloth back to the north for sale."

After listening to the cotton mill owner's narration, Zhu Guoxiang probably guessed that it was related to the dry and cold air.

If Shandong's cotton textile industry wants to develop, it must solve relevant technical problems, otherwise Shandong will only become a supplier of raw materials for Jiangnan's cotton textile industry. Even if the technical difficulties are overcome, the cost will be higher than that of Jiangnan due to the increase in textile processes.

What's more, Jiangnan has the advantage of access to the sea, and cotton cloth is more convenient to export, which Shandong cannot compete with.

Of course, at this stage, Daming cotton cloth is still mainly sold domestically, and there is still a large blank market in the country.

When the domestic market becomes saturated in the future, cotton cloth exports will become highly competitive. Cotton farmers, cotton merchants, cloth merchants, and maritime merchants will form a community of interests and are eager to open up more overseas markets.

If the overseas market also tends to be saturated, then more means will be needed, such as destroying the cotton textile industry in various Indian states and grabbing the Indian cotton cloth market.

It's not just about grabbing the domestic Indian market.

India's cotton textile industry is extremely developed, and its cotton cloth is exported to East Africa, West Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia... Once the Indian cotton textile industry is destroyed, Ming Dynasty cotton cloth will have a wider dumping ground.

Historically, the Mughal Empire was militaristic and in order to squeeze out war funds, it destroyed half of India's cotton textile industry. The remaining half was destroyed by the British through colonial means, rather than by industrial efficiency!
The next day, the emperor went to inspect Hu's textile factory.

This textile factory has more than 300 weavers, all of them are women.

The machine is a foot-operated loom.

The owner of the Hu textile mill said: "Initially, cotton cloth was woven in Shandong by modifying linen and silk looms. But cotton yarn spinning is different, and the old methods are often not applicable. Qiongzhou, Nanyang, India and other places also weave cotton cloth. The Holy Emperor sent people to various countries to inquire, and finally the Ministry of Industry's art officer modified the existing machines."

Although India's cotton textile industry is extremely developed, their looms are really backward.

Indians use waist looms, which require them to sit on the ground to weave. This is very waist-breaking, inefficient, and cannot produce complex jacquard patterns.

Historically, it was Huang Dao Po who learned the technology from Hainan and then improved various types of machinery.

Mr. Hu continued, "After the Ministry of Works' art officials made improvements, Shandong craftsmen made further improvements, and Jiangnan craftsmen continued to improve, and finally what we see today is what we have today."

Zhu Guoxiang observed carefully and found that this loom was rather primitive.

Of course, the so-called primitiveness in Zhu Guoxiang's eyes is actually much better than India, which has developed its cotton textile industry for thousands of years!
India is very strange, they like to squat or sit on the ground for everything. Their cotton looms appeared as early as BC, but they always spun cloth sitting on the ground, and there was no breakthrough until the industrial age.

Don’t you feel tired?
Just like when cutting vegetables, you can obviously stand and put a cutting board on the table to save time, effort and hygiene. However, the traditional Indian way of cutting vegetables is to sit on the ground and cut slowly with a knife, or find something to cushion the cutting, or simply use the palm of your hand as a cutting board.

"Don't you spin yarn here?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

The Hu factory owner said: "There are special spinning mills, and ordinary people buy cotton yarn from the spinning mills to weave cloth. There are also some cotton farmers who spin yarn at home and then sell it to ordinary people's weaving mills."

Zhu Guoxiang nodded: "This is good, everyone has their own responsibilities, which can improve work efficiency."

The owner of the Hu family factory said: "Before spinning, the cotton needs to be ginned and fluffed. In the beginning, there was no stirring wheel, so the seeds had to be peeled off by hand. Later, the art officials invented the hand-cranked cotton gin, and Shandong craftsmen improved it to a hand-cranked and foot-operated one, and Jiangnan craftsmen improved it to a stirring wheel."

This way of development is not about who is smarter than who.

Whether it was the cotton gin or the cotton loom, the imperial court initially inquired about the technology of various countries through sea merchants, and then gathered a group of officials from the Ministry of Industry to improve it. At that time, Shandong's cotton textile industry was the most prosperous, and in the actual production process, Shandong craftsmen further improved the Ministry of Industry's technology.

Later, the cotton textile center shifted to the south of the Yangtze River. Shandong was suppressed and restricted by climatic conditions, so it was the craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River who continued to make improvements in their production activities.

Every improvement doubles the textile efficiency!
It can even be increased several times at one time.

Combined with a steam engine?

Sorry, existing textile technology is not yet suitable for using steam engines.

Not even worthy of using hydraulic machinery.

Water-powered linen spinning machines have gradually become popular, causing the price of linen to fall continuously. Linen, which was previously rare in the Goryeo people, was sold cheaply by Ming sea merchants. Now that Goryeo has been incorporated into the Joseon Province, ordinary people there no longer have to go naked.

But cotton fibers are too short, and water-spun cotton yarn breaks easily, not to mention spinning cotton yarn with a steam engine.

The first is to overcome the difficulties in spinning technology, and the second is to cultivate higher quality long-staple cotton.

Zhu Guoxiang said to the owner of the Hu factory: "You merchants who are engaged in spinning and weaving can offer rewards to encourage craftsmen to continue to improve. The "Great Ming Law·Working Law" has already promulgated the patent law. Once improvements are made, the court will protect your interests."

"Always trying to improve." The owner of Hu's factory was actually complaining in his heart.

The patents related to cotton textiles have been involved in lawsuits for more than a decade. Although the craftsmen made some money, they were exhausted by the lawsuits and even suffered physical threats.

In the end, the craftsmen sold their patents to big businessmen, who then took over the lawsuits.

But even for big merchants, it is extremely difficult to sue across prefectures and counties, let alone across provinces.

(End of this chapter)