I'm really not doing business

Chapter 471 Steam engines eat people
The Ming Dynasty's attitude towards Fanyi is undergoing fundamental changes. It is not difficult to explain the changes clearly. In summary, it has changed from being an addict to being a father to being extremely conservative now.

Zeng Shengwu is this type of extremely conservative person. When barbarians reappear on the borders of the empire, killing them all is the most effective way. This kind of attitude that is not open and inclusive at all is extremely conservative. This is what he thinks, and it is also true. In the first year of Wanli, only the hanging coffin was left to prove that Du Zhangman survived from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the first year of Wanli.

Being addicted to a father is not a compliment. He wants to save face and suffers. When the war with the Northern Barbarians is clearly unwinnable and peace talks must be held, he has been dragging his feet for four years, just for the sake of the face of who is the father and who is the son. Ming Gong, who was involved in the Jiajing prisoner rebellion and the Japanese invasion, finally completely suppressed the power of the Rouyuan people in the court.

Zhang Juzheng always discusses one issue, that is, overcorrection is inevitable. This kind of thing always happens.

When the civil and military forces were promoted, the troops were sent to Nanshan, and the civil servants who patrolled the local area killed and killed the generals, and the court remained silent; when the people of Rouyuan failed, it suddenly became complete annihilation; when the military was promoted, they were completely wiped out. It is easy to accidentally lead to the separatist state of feudal towns; when we do not pay attention to technological progress, we will trample craftsmen on the list of inferiors; we will criticize strange skills for being obscene and opportunistic; when we pay attention to technological progress, we will praise craftsmen. Higher than gods.

Lin Fucheng's theory that only productivity allows everyone to have freedom, is to praise craftsmen and technological progress higher than gods. The key is to be logically self-consistent. He has completely forgotten how to criticize craftsmen in the first place, and kept shouting: "To use miraculous skills for obscenity" The clever ones will be punished! I have completely forgotten that technological progress was encouraged by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun, who practiced it personally for several years.

The official factory group building method is the vertical scale of history. It is the farming method of the Han Dynasty, the military system of the Tang Dynasty, the military garrison of the Ming Dynasty, the residence of Emperor Cheng Zuwen, and the twenty-seven government-run shipyards of the Great Navigation. The horizontal scale They are Xishan Shengzhou Womagang Coal Bureau, Yongsheng Yongding Lanzhou Woolen Official Factory, five major shipyards, nine municipal shipping companies, and five ocean-going trading houses.

The government-factory group-building method is the dual result of vertical scale and horizontal scale. The court who really listened to Lin Fucheng must not interfere too much, but nothing will be accomplished.

I was full by the time I ate the fifth bun. I said sadly, if I had known that I would be full after eating the fifth bun, why would I eat the other four?
The sun rises when the rooster crows.

Zeng Shengwu believed that the best way to deal with the Toungoo dynasty was to completely conquer the Taungoo dynasty. In this regard, the imperial court Minggong could not say anything to Zeng Shengwu, because Zeng Shengwu came from the southwest and knew the things there better.

Only after the productivity is liberated can there be enough agricultural products to carry out the construction of Chidao. Without money, it is absolutely impossible, but money is not omnipotent. The construction of Chidao also requires a large amount of grain. The craftsmen are separated from agricultural production, and the production relations of agriculture will not change. , and still want to supply a large number of craftsmen who do not work in farming, this is to sacrifice the basics for the last.

In Zeng Shengwu's opinion, there is a disease in Taungoo and a serious disease in Mangyingli, which needs to be treated with blunderbuss and artillery.

The poor coolies have no ability to take risks, and the Ministry of Revenue also said that this is just a simple calculation. If the local government causes a lot of messy troubles, it will be even more troublesome.

It's not that Andahan didn't want to fight against the trapped beast, it was because the entire Bansheng City was frightened.

The powerful leader of Songjiang Prefecture, Haoyou, has experienced so many storms and waves, but returning to the farm this time is nothing more than a little wind and frost.

With Jingying here, even if there is any trouble, Qi Jiguang can clean it up. This is what Wang Guoguang means. Without enough force to deter, if you want to lose your family property in vain, you must have Jingying to suppress the situation.

"Chidao has been built to extend in all directions, and the Chaoguan Branch is located on Chidao. It will not be too late to return the land." Zhang Xueyan's attitude is more conservative. He believes that returning the land at this time is really unnecessary. Wait until the commercial tax is completely crushed. It is time to discuss returning the land to the land.

Zeng Shengwu's meaning has been very clear. Compared with tossing the acres in "Returning the Farm", it is better to focus on overseas development and development. In many cases, it is the best way to solve endogenous conflicts.

Isn’t this rising commodity economy simply stillborn?

In order to buy acres of land, the poor coolies directly exhausted their potential in the next ten years. The Ming Dynasty promoted the development of industry and commerce and produced a large amount of goods that could not be sold and were sold overseas. The overseas countries were all barbaric lands. How could it be so high? needs? If there is no demand, there will be more supply of commodities. Silver is the currency, and commodities are the only thing that will collapse the house.

"Return the fields." Seeing that no one wanted to mention it, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to say it himself.

And this is Zhang Xueyan, regardless of the fact that there are people inside, the price of the land that the court sold and released, is it really the price of the land that goes into the hands of the people? Local officials don't even need to be corrupt, they just need to gently tear open some holes. The powerful and right-wing people will definitely use these holes to free up acres of land for public sale.

The Ministry of Accounts is very concerned about the liquidity problem of silver, and even overreacted.

"It is very necessary." Hai Rui, as a representative of Qingliu and the first person to fight against corruption, definitely expressed his support for returning the land. This is related to the anti-corruption, and naturally related to the rescue of the head of Guizhou. Hai Rui has always been a For a moral gentleman like Hai Rui, these five words, those who care about the people of the world, and land to the tiller, are no less attractive than silver to the Ming Emperor.

Wan Shihe also immediately said: "That's it, it's better to wait for another two years and wait until the money is profitable again before we discuss it."

Shiyao Haoyou also had something to say: My ancestors have worked hard for generations, taking advantage of natural and man-made disasters to accumulate acres of land in their hands, so that I can live a good life today. Your court just wants to take some money away, and you want to take it away for nothing! Why!
Wang Guoguang carefully studied Huantian Shu. He was really bold and dangerous at the same time. He tended to maintain the status quo.

Huan Tianshu's first court meeting failed, and after the year, after various ministries held meetings, there would be another court meeting.

"Is this a long-term plan? Is it better to discuss it slowly?" Wang Chonggu naturally finished reading the book and returned it to the fields. The long book of ten thousand words made Wang Chonggu sleepless and sleepless, and he was stunned for a while. Asking for the equalization of farmland is just to allocate all the four differences of the poll tax to the fields. It is also to force people into working as cows and horses in government factories and troupes. This has already made them one of the treacherous officials, and they are scolded. dizzy.

"Your Majesty, please ship these ten 30-pound artillery pieces to Malacca City this year." Zeng Shengwu suddenly realized that this nail in Malacca City is not easy to pull out. Taste the power of a thirty-pound cannon!

The people over there recognized this. You were so loud and angry and wanted to discuss things. They couldn't understand it. Only the roar of firecrackers and artillery could make Mang Yingli wake up completely.

Any city wall would be in danger under the power of this kind of artillery.

Wan Shihe likes to make peace and make compromises. He really doesn't like this kind of thing where the position is too clear. If this combination of punches continues, the Ming court will completely stand on the opposite side of Shi Yao Hao You. Will the Ming court After learning from the Southern Song Dynasty court, this was an answer that no one knew. Of course, Wan Shihe didn't know that this was the emperor's insistence. After all, only the parties involved knew about the exchanges in the Wenchang Pavilion of the Quanchu Guild Hall.

Fortunately, His Majesty has grown up. If His Majesty was still young, no one would dare to contradict Zhang Juzheng like this.

The opposition attitude of the Ministry of Household Affairs is very clear. In the end, a strange and almost unsolvable situation will inevitably arise. Materials are obviously abundant, but the people just don’t need it. It’s not that they don’t want it, but they can’t afford it.

"Let's start with Songjiang Prefecture. Anyway, Songjiang Prefecture has done this before, and the Zheshe households on the ground in Songjiang are more likely to accept the return of their land." Wang Daokun felt that Songjiang Prefecture was still too liberal.

Zhang Juzheng was not angry. In fact, what the court officials said was also what Zhang Juzheng said. Although he was the one who wrote the "Returning the Land to the Land" memorial, he himself did not agree with it. He even felt that he was a bit like Pandora in Western mythology, who opened the magic box.

Some people opposed it, some supported it, and what everyone said was reasonable. There were a lot of discussions in the court, and everyone had different attitudes towards this matter.

The discussion on "Return to the Fields" can no longer be described as ending on bad terms, but most of the court officials disagreed. This was the result of the court discussion.

This is inevitable. Aren’t the treasuries in various parts of the Ming Dynasty emptied out in this way?

Zhu Yijun rubbed his eyebrows. For example, Zhang Xueyan from the Ministry of Revenue had a very good reason for objecting. The land price was repaid in ten years. Not to mention how many people were involved in this process to make profits. Let’s just say that within ten years this tenant would become a self-cultivated farmer. , there is no spending power, because land prices are constrained, and silver cannot circulate.

Wang Daokun, minister of the Ministry of Industry, immediately asked: "If you don't return the land, can you really build Chidao in all directions? Even Suiyuan Chidao and Suiyuan Mining need to raise funds from the private sector."

The deployment of troops to Toungoo has become a foregone conclusion, but we still have to wait for the city of Malacca to be completely captured. This is a choke point. Even Zhu Yijun, who has zero military talent, knows that under normal circumstances, we must bypass passes and cities to fight. , that is, the act of completely exposing one's supply lines to the enemy and exposing one's back to the enemy is suicide.

"The Gewüyuan has made fifty kilograms of artillery. There are three in total. Let's pull them over together to test their reliability." Zhu Yijun had no objection to the development and approved Zeng Shengwu's proposal.

Zhang Juzheng does not intend to say that it is His Majesty's holy will that will be decided after the concrete results are obtained.

Wang Guoguang thought for a long time before he said, "Let's wait until Qi Shuai's class teacher returns to the court to discuss it."

This thing is really a big deal, and even when it comes to talking about it, the attitude of the gentlemen is to avoid it.

From the perspective of killing, this artillery is useless at all, but from the perspective of the battle line, it becomes very meaningful.

Zeng Xingwu, Minister of the Ministry of War, opened the memorial and said: "Qi Shuai sent back the 24 kilograms of gunpowder for firing. Each round fired kilograms of gunpowder. A total of one hundred rounds were fired, and the total consumption of gunpowder was kilograms, which is equal to rounds of two-coin bird gun were fired, blowing up the wall of Bansheng City. There was a total misfire and a chamber explosion. The reliability was verified. Judging from the number of enemies killed and injured, it was not worth it at all. Probably only the only ones killed directly were There were less than twenty-four people, but the enemy’s morale was completely destroyed.”

Zhang Juzheng was somewhat interested in Western culture. As the chief auxiliary of the empire, a Western civilization that could trade around the world and reach the Ming Dynasty, this condition was enough to attract Zhang Juzheng's attention.

As soon as Zhang Juzheng took action, he wrote "Return to the Fields", and he compiled it in extremely detail, which was obviously based on planning.

The Ministry of Household Affairs is very conservative and does not increase debt unless necessary. This is true for the court, local governments, and the people. The official loans issued by Qingmiao Law and the repeated attempts by the Northern Song Dynasty court directly broke the last string of the Song Dynasty and Guizhou leaders.

It is better to embarrass foreigners overseas than to embarrass your own people.

The annual output of 7.5-horsepower steam engines is units, and these units have already been secured. All government factories, including the Coal Bureau, Woolen Clothing Bureau, Shipbuilding and Weaving Bureau, are seizing the time to get started.

Wang Qian once told the emperor a fallacy: free trade is nonsense, because good things are not circulated.

Wang Qian believes that people who can’t even grab national debt really don’t need to participate in trading. Among all kinds of accounting currencies, national debt is the most reliable accounting currency that can earn interest. This is uncertain. In the ticket market, those who can't even grab national debt, the most certain product, will be harvested if they participate in trading in the trading house.

Wang Qian's good thing is a fallacy that is not popular. It is applicable in many fields, such as marriage. There are many brothel girls who hope to find a good family from their patrons, but they don't want to think about who can go to the brothel. A good family? Go ashore? Wang Qian has never seen many brothel girls come ashore in his life.

Zhu Yijun did know one, named Liu Rushi. Liu Rushi wanted to marry Chen Zilong for the first time and lived in the south building of Nanyuan. Chen Zilong's wife, mother and grandmother came directly to the door and drove Liu Rushi away. Only then did Liu Rushi marry. Gave Qian Qianyi.

In addition, Daming Kaihai Investment pays the most dividends, and the plantation business can be said to be a profitable business. Apart from the businessmen recognized by the leaders of the three parties of Chu, Jin, and Zhejiang, who can participate in it?
The same applies to steam engines, because more reliable and more powerful steam engines are not even enough for the government factories themselves, let alone for private factories. The Ming Dynasty is so big, such steam engines are of no use!
Good things are indeed not in circulation. Although this guy Wang Qian is a dandy, he always has some crooked ideas that make people shine.

There was no discussion at the court meeting about the sea-opening investment in the spring of next year, because the internal accounting had already been completed. Amidst the roars of greetings for His Majesty, the last court meeting in the ninth year of Wanli officially ended.

The courtiers Yan Xing left, and Wang Chonggu rarely came to Wenyuan Pavilion. The cabinet was now empty. After Lu Tiaoyang and Ma Ziqiang retired due to physical reasons, only Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, and Wang Guoguang were left in the cabinet, and Wang Chonggu was the secondary assistant. , and never went to work, which made Wenyuan Pavilion extremely busy with official duties and extremely deserted. People in the Zhongshushe did not dare to speak loudly in front of the ministers.

"Yuanfu, you better forget about your "Returning the Fields"." Wang Chonggu sat upright and said with a solemn expression: "Returning the fields conflicts with the official factory group construction method. The official factory group construction requires craftsmen, but also Farmers are needed in the fields, so who will be the craftsmen? The name of the official factory group seems to be quite new, but it is just a military garrison." "You also want to build a garrison garrison. , I also set up a military garrison, how can there be so many people?"

Zhang Juzheng was very aware of this contradiction. He thought over and over again and said: "It still has to be done. It won't work if we don't do it. No matter how many reasons you say, the craftsmen built by the government, factories and groups still have to eat. In the past dynasties, it has always been to persuade farmers to make the most of government affairs."

Emphasizing agriculture over commerce is a mature experience of the Central Plains. In Zhang Juzheng’s view, agriculture comes first, then industry, and then commerce.

Zhang Juzheng didn't want to bother, but His Majesty had his own opinions. Zhang Juzheng planned to take the blame himself, so he didn't tell Wang Chonggu that this was His Majesty's intention. In the past few days, Zhang Juzheng had also figured out some of His Majesty's considerations.

The method of returning farmland is indeed necessary, and it will not work if we do not return farmland.

"In fact, I have been avoiding confrontation with Yuan Fu. Even in Wenyuan Pavilion, I only came to Dian Mao. You Zhang Juzheng was the prime minister who saved the Ming Dynasty. I, Wang Chonggu, also want to take a chance on this Qingshi Liufang, Yuan Fu, or Stop." Wang Chonggu sounded like a threat, but in fact it was just a bluff.

Wang Chonggu was still very afraid of Zhang Juzheng. He would not start a war if he could. These words were not a declaration of war, but a feeling of powerlessness.

Whatever Zhang Juzheng wanted to do, he would push it forward against all opinions. Yang Bo stopped him from passing the examination and was driven out of the court by Zhang Juzheng with a beating.

No one in Ming Dynasty can stop him, only His Majesty can.

"Wang Cifu, don't be anxious, just listen to me carefully." Zhang Juzheng's attitude towards Wang Chonggu has been changing. He can now patiently explain the necessity of many decrees to this arrogant minister in detail.

"Does Wang Cifu know that the Gewuyuan has presented auspicious signs?" Zhang Juzheng asked with a smile on his face.

Wang Chonggu nodded. The 7.5-horsepower steam engine had even been distributed. Of course he knew it very well.

"This time to offer auspiciousness, before the steam engine, seven tools were presented together. This is the key." Zhang Juzheng said solemnly: "These seven tools have brought a lot to the development of the steam engine. The change."

Wang Chonggu frowned and asked, "Change?"

"Yes, changes." Zhang Juzheng said with great conviction: "Previous steam engines were polished by hand. They were exquisite, but uncontrollable, and mass production was extremely slow. But with these handy tools, steam engines will become more and more popular in the future." Development can be expected.”

"In the years to come, within a year and a half to two years, the steam engine's horsepower will double and its production capacity will double."

Zhang Juzheng was keenly aware of some differences. After communicating with his son Zhang Siwen, he found that it was indeed the case. After Zhang Siwen passed the Jinshi examination, he became a doctor of the Five Classics and has been an assistant to the German king Zhu Zaiyu.

This time, Gewuyuan Xianxiangrui was different from the past. A total of seven types of large-scale processing machinery came out. The machinery for processing various parts made the iteration speed of steam engines exceed everyone's imagination.

In about one and a half to two years, the horsepower of the steam engine will double, and the production capacity will also double. This terrible technological progress can be expected. It is the collective opinion of Dr. Gewu. As for whether it can be implemented How much depends on the court's organizational capabilities.

Gewuyuan jumped out of the Five Elements. They were only responsible for moving forward, not landing. That was the responsibility of the court.

"This is a very conservative estimate. Some radical doctors from Gokuin believe that once the scale of steam engine technology begins to expand, the horsepower may double in just ten days. After reaching a threshold, it will then enter the cycle. "Zhang Juzheng is not an alarmist.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute... let me slow down." Wang Chonggu's brows knitted into knots. He really couldn't imagine such a surge in magnitude.

Zhang Juzheng shook his sleeves and took out a notebook, which contained an internal discussion among doctors from the Institute of Science and Technology and their outlook on the future of steam engines.

Wang Chonggu read it blankly. Even according to the most conservative estimate, in the 768th year of Wanli, the production capacity of the Ming Dynasty steam engine may surge to 6 million horsepower. A three-horsepower machine is almost equal to the productivity of six horses, because the steam engine It can work day and night, with an annual output of 768 million horsepower, equivalent to 1536 million horses.

During the Ming Dynasty, only 20,000 war horses were imported from the Mughal Kingdom.

What a terrifying concept this is? Such terrifying production capacity will inevitably be used everywhere. Of course, in this model, Ming's realization ability will also be tested. The sudden increase in pure mathematical models is not a sudden increase in practice. If a quarter of it can be implemented in practice, then Ming will Agricultural production will no longer be available.

"So so many machines require many craftsmen to use them. Craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty also need to eat. It is not enough to just rely on grain from overseas to flow into the Ming Dynasty." Zhang Juzheng explained his thoughts to Wang Chonggu.

Steam machines can eat people.

"Huh." Wang Chonggu took away the note given by Zhang Juzheng. He could not believe whatever Zhang Juzheng said. He needed to find out for himself. If it was really as scary as Zhang Juzheng said, this wild horse could still run wild. We really need to return the fields to suppress one or two, otherwise agricultural production will not be able to keep up, and no matter how tall the building is, it will collapse.

If people don't eat, they will starve to death and rebel.

Wang Chonggu didn't care about celebrating the New Year anymore. The busy Wang Qian even said that his father was more troubled than the young people. He didn't celebrate the New Year well, so he went around to visit him.

It took Wang Chonggu four days to figure out that Zhang Juzheng was not scaring him. The only restrictions on steam engines were steel, coal and chidao. As long as these were available, the steam engine would dare to double its horsepower and production capacity in two years.

Lin Fucheng, the master of crooked lips, dare not say anything else, but his vision is extremely accurate. The steam engine is indeed so arrogant that it is unreasonable.

"Son, our family has caught a big treasure." Wang Chonggu leaned on the back of the Taishi chair, and he couldn't tell whether it was a blessing or a curse.

The future of the steam engine is promising, but it is also a wild horse running wild. Especially after materials begin to become abundant, where is your majesty's position? This is a major issue that Wang Chonggu must consider.

"What's wrong?" Wang Qian asked doubtfully.

Wang Chonggu told Wang Qian what he had recently figured out.

"As the old saying goes, if you don't have long-term worries, you will have immediate worries. Zhang Juzheng has a long-term vision. I have to admit this, but the development speed of this thing is amazing. Once it reaches a large scale, who can control such an iron horse? ? But it's a pity to set artificial restrictions. "Wang Chonggu has been having trouble sleeping and eating these days.

Wang Cifu's current reliance is on the government and factory gangs. If in a few years, the government factories and gangs on the gangs turn into such terrifying monsters, how will the Wang family deal with themselves?

Setting artificial limits is as abominable as fertile land being left uncultivated and left to fall into disrepair.

After reading the memorial, Wang Qian shook his head and said: "It's not a big deal. If it's a big deal, just grab it. All the places that can be cultivated will be used to grow food. No matter how much the shipping losses are, it will be enough."

"Rob?"

"Robbery!" Wang Qian said viciously, "Let me see it's not a big deal. Our Ming merchant ships are carrying high-quality goods. Doing business with them is to humiliate them! If they refuse to trade, we will kick open their doors and force them to trade freely!"

"It's not robbery, it's free trade."

According to Master Lin's definition of free trade, what is not conducive to the Ming Dynasty is free trade. So when others close the country and refuse to trade, they must learn to use force. In summary, it is one sentence: open the door, free trade!

This is inevitable. When Ming Dynasty's internal conflicts cannot be resolved, it resorts to overseas, which is forming a new path of dependence.

"It makes sense!" Wang Chong thought about it and nodded seriously.

Perhaps Zhang Juzheng despised this kind of behavior, but Wang Chonggu had no such moral burden at all. When he was a young businessman, he looked like a horse bandit when his face was covered.

These remarks are actually very consistent with Zhu Yijun's thoughts, because any primitive accumulation is full of blood, and the process of industrialization is inherently cannibalistic. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun has given all his holy relatives to the people of the Ming Dynasty. Can't give it to Fanyi.

On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Tonghe Palace was filled with joy. When the sun was about to set, all the officials of the Ming Dynasty came to Tonghe Palace to celebrate the New Year. Zhu Yijun, as the emperor, received the courtiers, and the court ladies went to pay homage to Queen Qiantai.

Saying farewell to the old and welcoming the new, early the next morning, Zhu Yijun went to the Ancestral Temple to worship his ancestors. As usual, he gave a duty report. He talked for a long time, and then burned a copied copy of "Returning to the Fields" past.

"Taizu Taizong, if you agree or disagree, let me tell you. If you don't say anything, you will be deemed to have agreed." Zhu Yijun lit three sticks of incense and waited until the incense was burned out. He didn't wait for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di to say anything. Then It means they agreed.

Returning Tian Shuzi is a big deal, and it is not easy to convince more people.

The New Year is a very important day. Zhu Yijun received many New Year's gifts. The Nagasaki Governor's Office sent silver, Ryukyu got a piece of ambergris, Luzon got a bunch of pearls, and Old Port sent the emperor a broken face. The red cross flag is the flag of the Red Mao Fan. After it was broken and stranded by the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Yuanxun took it off. Li Chengliang of Liaodong sent a thousand-year-old mountain ginseng to the emperor, plus twenty heads of Haidongqing.

On the third day of the first lunar month of the tenth year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun received a piece of bad news, and Tan Lun might not be able to bear it anymore.

When Tan Lun woke up, it was a flashback. The long-term pain and suffering had made him a little thin and skeletal. He had been waiting for Qi Jiguang's class teacher to return to the court and ask about the Loop in person, but in the end he could not wait.

Zhu Yijun rushed to Da Sima Mansion as quickly as possible.

"Your Majesty is here." Tan Lun wanted to stand up and salute, but he couldn't do it. He could only give out a wry smile.

(End of this chapter)