I studied in modern times

Chapter 717 The Great Shift of the Universe

After seeing Shi Deyi off, Feng Jing brought in Xing Shu, who had been assigned to a shift early on.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully ask how are you." Xing Shu came in front of Zhao Xu and bowed slightly.

Because it is a private occasion, there is no need to perform the hand-bowing ceremony like in the court.

This is also the reason why Zhao officials prefer to summon ministers to discuss matters in private occasions - since there are etiquette for ministers, there should also be etiquette for monarchs.

The minister bowed solemnly, could the emperor sit down and accept it?
This was impossible in the Middle Ages.

This was even more impossible in the Song Dynasty, which ruled the country together with the literati.

If the minister performed the ceremony solemnly, the emperor would need to dress properly to show respect.

In private, the emperor wore casual clothes and a hat, so there was no need for his ministers to be as rigid as moralists.

"Please sit down!" Zhao Xu greeted with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xing Shu nodded and sat skillfully on a porcelain stool in front of Zhao Xu.

Feng Jing brought his men, served tea and snacks, and then retreated.

After Xing Shu drank some tea, Zhao Xu asked, "What do the Liao people say?"

Xing Shu replied: "Just as your majesty expected!"

Zhao Xu chuckled and clapped his hands, praising: "Good!"

Commodity dumping is an unprecedented magical power.

Since no one has ever used it before, naturally no one will be on guard against it.

But Zhao Xu knew that as long as the Liao people purchased large quantities of cheap cloth from the Song Dynasty, what would happen to the Liao Kingdom’s own handicraft industry?
It will inevitably lead to the collapse of the small peasant economy, triggering an economic crisis and causing serious social conflicts.

But the Song Dynasty does not need to worry about this.

Because the populations of the Song and Liao countries were disproportionate.

According to modern research, the population of the Liao Dynasty is about 9 million today (the official Liao population peaked at 1.4 million households, but there must have been a large number of hidden populations and ethnic minorities not included in the statistics).

And what about the Song Dynasty?

In the first year of Yuanfeng, a census of all prefectures and counties in the country found a population of 16.7 million households!
Ten times more than the Liao people!

The total population may have exceeded 10 million after the sixth year of Yuanfeng!

In Kaifeng Prefecture alone, the number of registered households and customers has now reached more than 400,000, or about two million.

It is precisely because of this unprecedentedly large population that the three redundancy problems of the Song Dynasty are difficult to solve!
Because in essence, the so-called redundant officials, redundant staff, and redundant soldiers were all choices made by the Zhao officials in order to ease class contradictions and avoid internal explosion.

This is huge pressure!
It is the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the Zhao officials!
But at the same time, such a large population also means that there is unlimited potential for development (compression) and (exploitation).

The mismatch of economic conditions and inequality of prices among regions have further magnified the development (pressure) and (exploitation) space for the people of the Song Dynasty.

For example, this time Zhao Xu offered the Liao people a price for cloth.

It seems to have broken through the floor price.

But in fact, the profit is two or three times!

why?
Because the silk, ramie and other raw materials used by Zhao Xu for weaving were purchased from the remote military states of the Song Dynasty.

For example, silk basically comes from eastern Zhejiang, while ramie is purchased from prefectures and counties such as Jinghu South Road and Guangnan West Road.

The price is quite touching.

Because these places have inconvenient transportation and are far away from the developed Central Plains region, merchants do not like to go there.

The silkworms raised and ramie grown by local people are basically only for their own use and cannot be sold for any money.

In the ninth year of Xining, the Censor Peng Ruli wrote to the emperor Zhao Xu's father about this issue, saying: In the east and west of Zhejiang, the price of silk is less than four hundred yuan per catty, and the people are suffering from poverty and have nothing to sell.

no way!
All prefectures and counties in the Song Dynasty, and even in local counties and towns, set up checkpoints to extort and blackmail passing merchants.

This is for people from this state and county.

If a businessman from another place does not have a strong backer, it would be unfortunate if he rashly enters an unfamiliar place.

That's gambling with your life!
Both officials and heroes like this kind of young man very much.

They are all willing to eat it up.

Therefore, the ancients said: Don’t sell firewood within a hundred miles, and don’t sell grain within a thousand miles.

But Zhao Xu did not have this worry.

Therefore, he ordered Chen Mu early on to purchase large quantities of lower-quality silk in various prefectures in Zhejiang at the price of 300 coins per catty and medium-quality silk at 400 coins per catty.

Eat as much as you can!

Then, the silk was transported by sea together with grain to transit points such as Haizhou.

It was then transported to Xuzhou by land, and from Xuzhou to Beijing via the Grand Canal.

Because it was brought to Beijing together with the imperial grain, the logistics cost was greatly reduced.

The shipping cost per kilogram of silk is only ten cents.

According to past experience, twelve taels of inferior silk can be used to make a roll of silk, and ten taels of medium-quality silk can be used to make a roll of satin.

According to Chen Mu, the local silk cocoons are actually cheaper!

It just so happened that Shen Kuo was researching the silk reeling machine and was almost successful.

Once the silk reeling machine is available, we will set up silk reeling and textile workshops locally.

They utilize the local cheap silkworm cocoon resources and after the products are made, they are exported overseas through the Mingzhou Maritime Customs.

The same operation is used for the ramie on Jinghu South Road and Guangnan West Road.

However, the logistics costs are more than twice as high as in Zhejiang.

But it's still a miracle!

Because it was Zhao Xu who wanted it, all the ramie was transported using the Gangyun method.

Well, it’s the same method used by Yang Zhi to transport the birthday gift in Water Margin.

It just so happens that the local troops usually have nothing to do.

Now, Zhao Xu assigned them tasks.

The logistics cost of twenty coins per catty was spent on the transportation (the reward for the soldiers and the training of the officers [In the Northern Song Dynasty, a general could accumulate merit every time he escorted a piece of goods, like for the horses, there was a regulation on how many times he could be promoted to a higher rank]).

Therefore, this was equivalent to Zhao Xu raising the price by about 20 coins per catty and transporting local cheap resources from remote military states to Bian Jing.

Only the emperor can do this kind of thing.

Last year, the Grand Canal was temporarily closed due to a severe drought. In order to meet the needs of Bianliang, a large amount of ramie was stranded in canal logistics transit and distribution centers such as Runzhou and Yangzhou, and could not be transported to Bianliang until this summer.

Otherwise, Zhao Xu would have even more linen in his hands.

Another factor that determines the price of cloth is labor.

Weaving is very tiring and exhausting.

In the past, small-scale peasant economy weaving was done by hand, and it would take several days for even a skilled weaver to weave a piece of silk.

But now, the weavers in Lingjinyuan use the Taimu wheel to spin yarn. One person can spin several spindles a day, which is four or five times more efficient than before.

This is still because of lack of skill and failure to fully master the techniques of the Taimu car.

At the same time, it is also because the current Taimu cart has only eight spindles.

In the future, when technology is more advanced, the number of spindles will reach thirty-two, or even more! As weavers become more skilled, it is not impossible for one weaver to spin a spindle in one day that others need a month to spin.

Then you might ask – if the weavers’ production efficiency has increased several times, their income will surely increase several times as well, right?

In response to this, Zhao Xu could only reply with a "hehe".

Of course, it cannot be said that there has been no improvement.

After all, Lingjinyuan has always adopted a piece-rate wage system, which is quite humane.

If there is a female worker who continues to spin yarn without sacrificing her health, then her income can indeed be several times higher than in the past.

However, she had to sacrifice her health! When both raw materials and labor were compressed to the limit.

The fabrics produced by Lingjinyuan are very competitive in the market.

Look, after only a few days of selling, the cloth shop guild in Bianjing City was already beaten to a pulp.

By the way, let Zhao Xu's cotton cloth be shipped at a high price.

The price of cotton cloth was fifteen guan per piece, but the total cost of each piece was only one guan at most.

That’s fifteen times the profit!

Last year, the cotton planting area in Xihe Road was about 60,000 acres, and the amount of cotton bolls finally transported to Bian Jing was 700,000 kilograms.

After removing the husks, impurities and seeds from the 700,000 kilograms of cotton bolls, about 500,000 kilograms of cotton are obtained. Two kilograms of cotton (Song jin) can be used to weave one piece of cloth.

As a result, Zhao Xu obtained nearly 250,000 pieces of cotton cloth, and even at the price given to the Liao people, its value exceeded 3 million strings of cash!
Huge profits!

This also made Zhao Xu sigh that the small peasant economy was indeed a dead end.

To get rich, we still have to develop productivity and improve production efficiency.

That’s right, the wages in Bian Jing are the highest in the country, which makes Zhao Xu somewhat uncomfortable.

Therefore, he has been trying to find ways to reduce costs, increase efficiency and enhance competitiveness in the Bian Jing market.

The best way to achieve this is to introduce cheap labor from remote military states.

Last year, there was a severe drought in Huainan, which gave him the opportunity to relocate a group of Huainan victims to Bian Jing under the guise of disaster relief.

However, the huge demand for food in Bianjing City forced him to give up this idea.

The Grand Canal could transport up to 8 million shi of grain each year.

This has caused the population of Bianjing City to be stuck at its current level.

If there were any more, the price of grain in Bianjing City would skyrocket.

Therefore, unless he has the ability to increase the grain import into Bianliang to 10 million shi or even more, he can only endure the high wages in Bianliang today.

We can only wait for the future.

This made Zhao Xu feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But overall, Zhao Xu made a profit.

As the executor and person in charge of Zhao Xu's policies and guidelines toward Liao, Xing Shu had naturally consulted with Zhao Xu early on and knew Zhao Xu's plans.

Therefore, Xing Shu immediately congratulated him and said, "If your majesty's plan goes as planned, the northern barbarians will collapse, and the land of Youyan will fall into your majesty's hands without any effort."

"That's right..." He thought for a moment and said, "I dare to say that Your Majesty should be on guard against the northern barbarians who may jump off the wall when they are desperate!"

Zhao Xu nodded: "I have made preparations!"

The moment the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade treaty was signed, Zhao Xu knew that the Liao people would tear up the treaty sooner or later.

Because, according to the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade treaty, although the Song Dynasty used its advanced financial conditions and developed commodity society to "help" the Liao people issue Jiaozi with annual tribute as deposit.

However, according to the treaty, each issue of Jiaozi would circulate for three years and would be collected and destroyed after three years.

At this time, the Liao people should take out gold, silver or physical objects of equal value to buy back the three million strings of Jiaozi.

Zhao Xu directly calculated the annual tribute from the Song Dynasty to the Liao people as 1.5 million strings of cash per year.

Therefore, at the end of three years, the Liao people need to pay the Song Dynasty an equivalent of 1.5 million strings of silver, gold or other hard currency.

Otherwise, the Song Dynasty would deduct it from the annual tribute paid to the Liao people in the future in accordance with the treaty.

Therefore, the so-called Song-Liao Jiaozi trade treaty was actually the Song Dynasty using the Liao people's money to lubricate its own economy.

The Bianjing market will therefore be lubricated with an additional three million strings of circulating capital every year.

As expected, the entire market prospered due to the funds injected into the market.

The only problem is what Xing Shu is worried about now -

Those are the Liao people, who can turn the table over.

As the saying goes, if my neighbors store food, I store guns. When doomsday comes, my neighbors will be my granary!
Now, the Liao Kingdom is seeking to expand the issuance scale of Song-Liao Jiaozi.

And a big appetite.

If the new treaty was really reached, the Liao Kingdom would continue to move towards a hell of extravagance and wastefulness.

However, once the Liao people discovered that their debts had accumulated to the point where they could not be repaid no matter what.

At that time, evil will arise from the heart - as long as the creditors are eliminated, then I will have no debts, right?

By then, hundreds of thousands of Liao troops would descend from Youyan.

If they join forces with the Dangxiang and Tibetans again, the Western bandits and Tibetans will rise up in the northwest, and the Song Dynasty will have to face a three-front war.

If the Song Dynasty was still the same Song Dynasty as before.

Once such a situation occurs, it will be really dangerous.

Even if we can win the defensive battle in the end and drive out the three enemies, it will be a pyrrhic victory.

If things go wrong, the Liao people could take the opportunity to write off the debt at the negotiating table, and then blackmail the Song Dynasty.

This is not just a concern about penal forgiveness.

Han Jiang, Lu Gongzhu, Li Qingchen, Deng Runfu... and other ministers in the capital.

The two palaces in the palace...

Many people around Zhao Xu are worried about this.

In other words, the matter is done, and the Liao people are now stationing their troops in Goryeo.

Otherwise, the government and the public would have reacted and prevented the signing of the Song-Liao Jiaozi Treaty from the very beginning.

"Don't worry!"

"Within five years, the Liao people will be unable to move south!" Zhao Xu chuckled.

Could the Liao people conquer Goryeo and digest it in five years?
Perhaps Yelu Hongji was so confident that he might even think that he could conquer Goryeo and establish his rule in three years.

But Zhao Xu was not optimistic!

Because Zhao Xu will add a little difficulty to the Liao people depending on the situation.

Like now, Zhao Xu is constantly showing goodwill on the Hebei border.

They even played a game with the Liao people of informing each other and withdrawing border garrisons.

So that the Liao people could attack Goryeo without any worries.

But believe it or not, once the Liao people make rapid progress, Zhao Xu will become even more anxious than the Koreans.

He even sold his liver and kidneys to support the Korean people's anti-aggression war!
No matter the cost, we will keep the main force of the Liao people on the Korean Peninsula!

"As for five years from now..." Zhao Xu smiled: "I'm afraid it will be time for the Song Dynasty to demand repayment by armed forces!"

Liu Hongji! Pay me back!

If you can’t pay it back, just use Xi (You) Er (Yan) to pay off the debt!

Xing Shu listened and looked at Zhao Xu in disbelief.

Zhao Xu smiled calmly and said, "By then, the strength of the Yulong First Army will be enough to sweep away the main force of Liao Lord Pi Shi's army!"

After five years, no matter what, it’s time for you to come up with a tiger squatting cannon!
At the very least, we should at least develop the muskets and cannons of the early Ming Dynasty!

But Zhao Xu didn't know now that the Liao people had already set sail and even jumped to Japan, where they beat up the Japanese insects who had been playing with both civil and military skills for a long time and could not even defeat the monks of Mount Hiei.

They were actually forced into the era of institutional government ahead of time!

They also found the silver mine on Tsushima Island and were smelting it day and night.

At the same time, the discovery of silver mines made the Liao people go wild.

,

(End of this chapter)