Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 137 Potato Ripe
The recruitment office of the Manufacturing Bureau is located on the west side of the south entrance of the Manufacturing Bureau.

When Cao Wei came here, Zhao Heng immediately stood up and saluted Cao Wei. The people behind him quickly filled in and took over Zhao Heng's work.

"grown ups."

Cao Wei waved his hand,

"How many people have been recruited so far?"

"Sir, as of now, we have recruited more than 800 workers."

Cao Wei calculated it and found that this speed was not too slow.

It has only been more than half a month since the recruitment started. Basically, it can recruit [-] to [-] workers steadily every day.

At this time, the trains were not widely available. In addition to workers from around Yingtian who came to respond to the recruitment, people from other places began to rush to Yingtian after the government released the news. It also took time.

There can be more than 100 people every day, which is not low.

After all, Cao Wei had previously established a manufacturing bureau, a steel mill, the imperial court organized a shipyard, and recruited five thousand craftsmen to go to Japan to mine silver mines.

Some of the craftsmen from Yingtian Mansion and surrounding provinces have been recruited, and naturally the number cannot be compared with the beginning.

When recruiting workers again at this time, although the conditions were relaxed, the main force came from further away.

It takes time to travel, so people come one after another every day. Although it is not too many, it is still stable.

According to this momentum, within one or two years, the gun manufacturing factory will be able to recruit the required number of workers.

After chatting with Zhao Heng for a few words, Cao Wei returned to the room and continued to formulate the functions and charters of the national bank and regulatory agencies.

The role of banks is to facilitate the raising and financing of social funds and to act as an intermediary between lenders and borrowers.

And this intermediary, which had never appeared before, had no credibility at this time in Ming Dynasty.

In addition, banks also serve as payment intermediaries. They transfer deposits on their books and act as payment agents, forming a payment chain and creditor-debt relationship that has no beginning or end in the economic process.

There is also the credit creation function. Banks can accept demand deposits, open checking deposit accounts, and circulate their own liabilities as currency, so they have a variety of credit creation functions.

The last point is the financial services function, which provides various financial services and absorbs idle money in society and invests it in various sectors of the economy to form capital financing.

In fact, in the Tang and Song dynasties, rudimentary institutions of money banks were established one after another.

To be precise, banks in the Tang Dynasty were set up for the rich to save money.

In the Song Dynasty, due to the influence of paper money, institutions similar to banks appeared, but neither of them survived for a long time.

It was during the mid-Ming Dynasty that large-scale banks were truly popularized in the market.

The national bank that Cao Wei wants to open will directly skip the initial model of a bank and be in place in one step.

But it will definitely be more difficult to do so, because Ming Dynasty does not yet have decent financial and economic institutions, and no one has a clear understanding of it.

There are also market regulators,

But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

As long as you start working on it, you'll get there one day!

No matter how difficult it is, the establishment of national banks and regulatory agencies is extremely necessary!
After three days of revision, Cao Wei finally drafted the charter.

It was just past noon, so Cao Wei took the drafted charter with him and went to the imperial study room, where he handed the charter to Zhu Yuanzhang for review.

Zhu Yuanzhang was wearing reading glasses, holding a stack of papers and flipping through the pages.

“Is this the national bank and regulator you’re talking about?”

After Zhu Yuanzhang read it, he handed a stack of papers to Zhu Xiongying beside him for him to look at.

The national bank and regulatory agencies are related to the financial and economic markets of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Xiongying, as the next emperor of the Ming Dynasty, must have sufficient understanding.

"Your Majesty, that's right. What is written above is what I have thought of at the moment. If there are any shortcomings, I can add them in the future." Cao Wei replied.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and asked again:

"We just looked at it, and we can probably understand what the national bank and regulatory agencies do, but why does the charter not indicate which department the national bank belongs to?"

Institutional departments such as the economy have always been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of a country's finances.

The National Bank is an important support for the country, and according to common sense, it should be under the management of the Ministry of Accounts.

However, in the charter he just obtained, Zhu Yuanzhang did not see Cao Wei's ownership of the national bank and regulatory agencies.

According to Cao Wei's style of doing things, such negligence would not occur, so Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"Your Majesty, the bank is not affiliated with the Ministry of Accounts. It is a separate and independent institution. The Ministry of Accounts is in charge of taxation and food taxation, and the function of the bank is to collect the savings of the people under the world. It also involves credit lending business and is closely related to the Ministry of Accounts. The functions are different.”

"Therefore, the National Bank needs to be separated and independent. It can be under the Ministry of Accounts, but it will not be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Accounts."

Zhu Yuanzhang was secretly shocked after hearing this. As a result, the importance of this bank directly increased by several levels!

Although the Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of taxation, there are still a few taxes, and most of them are grain and silk.

And the savings of all the people in the world that go in and out of the bank are all real money!

Cao Wei continued:

"And... because of the functions of the bank, the imperial court can also deposit large sums of money in the bank, such as silver shipped back from Japan, or tax revenue from the Ministry of Accounts. This is also easier to manage. If other ministries need to spend money, they can Submit the funding request directly to the bank, and after the bank calculates it, decide whether to approve it, so that the market will not be disrupted."

"Naturally, the National Bank is an institution of the imperial court, and His Majesty is also the top decision-maker."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he took a deep breath.

According to this, wouldn’t the bank become Ming Dynasty’s real money bag?

Although the Ministry of Revenue was still in charge of finance before, they had to live a tight life relying only on taxes.

However, the bank is responsible for storing the savings of all people in the world, and even the silver shipped back from Japan. The money it holds far exceeds that of the Ministry of Accounts!

The difference between the two is worlds apart!
But what Cao Wei said makes sense. The accounts department and the bank each perform their own duties, so it would be good to separate them this way.

"Okay, we agreed to this charter, you hurry up and get it done."

"I obey the order!" Cao Wei cupped his hands and said.

"Also, when we were at the dock in the morning, the poppy you mentioned wanted to discuss with us. What did we discuss?"

"Your Majesty does not know that the poppy seeds have the effects of strengthening the spleen and appetizing, clearing away heat and diluting water, but the poppy fruit can be made into poppy paste, which is extremely addictive and is regarded as life-threatening! It can also be damaged to a great extent. A person is in good health, but long-term smoking makes a person look like a withered ghost!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned after hearing this.
"This poppy is so poisonous to people, how can we keep it?" It makes people extremely addictive and damages the body greatly...

If those merchants were allowed to grow opium poppies, Zhu Yuanzhang could not even imagine what harm they would do to the Ming Dynasty.

Naturally, the imperial court could legislate to prohibit the private cultivation of opium poppies, but the addictive nature of opium poppy is destined to make some people willing to take risks for it. When the imperial court makes a crackdown, it will have to use manpower and material resources. It is better to just abandon the opium poppy.

Cao Wei said,

"Your Majesty, poppies are harmful to the human body. I think this is a double-edged sword!"

"Ok?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him doubtfully, "What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty, you might as well think about it. The Ming Dynasty was in a stalemate with its enemy Beiyuan for decades. I don't know how many soldiers were lost and how much military expenditure was spent."

"If the Ming Dynasty can legislate to regulate the cultivation of opium poppy and sell opium poppy paste to enemy countries, within ten years, the enemy country's national power will be greatly weakened..."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately understood Cao Wei's intention, and his eyes lit up.

"Furthermore, the addictive nature of opium poppies is unprecedented. Once ordinary people get addicted to it, it will be difficult for them to get rid of it for the rest of their lives. This is also a business opportunity!"

"Now, my Ming Dynasty has stationed a large army in the Japanese country to mine silver mines. Although it is not obvious for a while, it is because of the civil strife in the northern and southern dynasties of the Japanese country. Let us take advantage of it. One day, when the people of the Japanese country learn about the silver mines, I, the Ming Dynasty, will There will definitely be a battle with Japan!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly asked, "What do you mean... use poppy paste to weaken the Japanese country's national power?"

Cao Wei nodded,
"In doing so, we can not only earn a lot of money for Ming Dynasty again, but also weaken the enemy country, allowing Ming Dynasty to reduce our losses in war."

Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent, his heart moved.

If this is the case, then the poppy has a strategic role, it is worthy of legislation, and it is worthy of the court spending some manpower and material resources.

After half an hour,

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head.

"Then... let's keep the poppies for now, and you will be responsible for planting them first. Remember, you must not let them fall into the public!"

Zhu Yuanzhang struggled for a long time before making this difficult decision.

Although poppies have a significant strategic role, Cao Wei described the harm poppies do to the human body as horrific!

Makes people look like bitter ghosts...

Once the poppy is not strictly controlled, it will be a big disaster for Ming Dynasty!

Since ancient times, businessmen have made great profits.

In the past, those businessmen dared to put their heads in danger for the profit of reselling salt. I am afraid that if they were replaced by poppies, they would be even crazier!
"I will obey your Majesty's will!" Cao Wei replied seriously to Zhu Yuanzhang.

As a modern person, Cao Wei knows the dangers of opium better than anyone else and will only be more cautious!
If you don't do it right, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot...

In the following days, Cao Wei started to be busy, the kind of busy that spanked him with his heels.

He needs to be responsible for the firearms manufacturing factory, and he also needs to make decisions on the establishment of the national bank and regulatory agencies. The various grains that Ma He retrieved from overseas must be planted as soon as possible. The Ministry of Revenue often comes to Cao Wei for advice. Different When should food be cultivated, plus the cultivation of poppies...

Cao Wei is usually busy all day long, and when he returns to Cao Mansion, he is as wilted as an eggplant beaten by frost...

Busy days are repeated day by day, summer passes and cold comes, and before you know it, half a year has passed quietly.

In half a year, the steelmaking plant has recruited more than 1 workers, and together with the original [-] craftsmen, the total number is almost [-].

The national bank and regulatory agencies were also successfully established, and within half a year a prototype began to take shape. Branches were set up in Yingtianfu and surrounding provinces.

At first, Cao Wei thought that with the bank's banner, only a few people would be willing to go to the bank to save their savings. However, he did not expect that when people learned that Cao Guogong was responsible for founding the National Bank, many people were willing to save money.

Although the bank did not have much credibility in the early days of its establishment, Cao Wei had a very high reputation and credibility.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has already planted sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other crops before. Corn and sweet potatoes have a long maturity period and have not yet been harvested.

After potatoes are planted in spring, it takes more than three months for them to be harvested.

this day,
After going to court, Cao Wei reported the news that the potatoes were ripe, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately became energetic after hearing this!
Potatoes are a high-yielding grain that Cao Wei said could be used as a staple food. Now that they are finally mature, how can he not be excited about them?

"Move to the household department!"

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately gave the order.

Immediately, all the civil and military officials followed Zhu Yuanzhang, shouting in front of him and marching in the direction of Hubu.

Arriving at the Tuntian Department under the jurisdiction of the Household Department, all the staff fell to the ground and saluted when they saw Zhu Yuanzhang's arrival.

"Everyone, get up," Zhu Yuanzhang said, "We heard that the potatoes are ripe. Someone will take us over to have a look."

It was still the steward who respectfully led everyone to the potato planting area.

I saw ditches dug out in this field, which were dug before to facilitate fertilizing and watering the potatoes. The stems and leaves of the potato vines on the ground have turned yellow, which indicates that the potatoes under the ground have matured.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not hesitate and actually rolled up his sleeves and bent down to dig!
He was reluctant to dig with a hoe for fear of damaging the potatoes underneath.

The potatoes that have matured this time need to be bred and planted. Damaging any of them will be an immeasurable loss to Daming!
Zhu Xiongying was very familiar with farm work, so he rolled up his sleeves and dug in the soil with Zhu Yuanzhang.

When many ministers saw this scene, they couldn't let the emperor work alone. They didn't care about being dirty. They rolled up their sleeves and walked into the soil to start digging.

Because Ma He brought back a small number of potatoes from overseas and traveled a long distance back to Daming, some of them were damaged.

Later, under the guidance of Cao Wei, personnel from the Ministry of Revenue selected the damaged potatoes and planted them, only one-third of an acre of land was planted.

This small area is just right for the officials of the dynasty. People are crowded together digging their own things. Since there are not many, it is not tiring.

Cao Wei was also among the diggers. He pulled out the dried stems and leaves of potatoes and turned over the soil with his hands. Gradually, the potatoes under the soil were exposed.

Cao Wei dug out the potatoes and weighed them in his hand.

It's really not that big.

In the vegetable market of later generations, Cao Wei saw potatoes that were about the size of a child's head.

In this comparison, the potato in front of you is too small, only two circles larger than a child's fist.

However, Cao Wei knew that this was because the potatoes had not been cultivated, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Within an hour,
Finally all the potatoes were dug out,

Under Zhu Yuanzhang's order, the weighing began...

(End of this chapter)