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Chapter 362 Misfortunes never come singly

"Everything is done according to the instructions of the craftsmen of the machinery factory. Your Majesty still owns shares in the factory. If I exaggerate, I would not be deceiving you. Although I did not see it with my own eyes, several stewards responsible for building the factory are already on their way back to Beijing. This I have been guarding the construction site for half a year and have not been lazy for a moment. It is indeed completed. Your Majesty, please take a look."

Faced with the emperor's doubts, Ye Xianggao quickly explained in a low voice, presenting facts and reasoning, both as testimony and as a witness, and finally took out a scroll and unfolded it as physical evidence.

"Okay...very good! I will ask Mr. Xu to send people to Songjiang Prefecture as soon as possible, and the machinery factory will also step up the production of spinning machines. But personnel training cannot be sloppy, and it will take as long as it takes.

I would also like to remind you that you must not be eager for success, greedy, or exploit workers excessively. If you are found to be working overtime, being too young, or deducting wages and food at will, don’t blame me for being unkind! "

Inside the scroll is a meticulous painting that clearly depicts the appearance of a spinning mill. Not only has the factory building been built, but the heating stoves and water supply and drainage ditches have also been repaired and neatly repaired. As long as the water wheel and transmission device are installed, the spinning machine can be connected to start work.

But looking at this painting, Hong Tao felt no joy at all, and was filled with depression. In half a year, just half a year, these ministers built a large factory that accommodated 200 spinning machines without asking for a penny from the court or using a single laborer from the court. And in full compliance with the standards, the efficiency is probably higher than the expansion of Haihe Machinery Factory.

But before that, it was difficult to get them to do something. For example, when choosing the location for the Songjiang Prefecture Shipyard, the local officials said that the feng shui was not right, that they had invaded someone's ancestral grave, and that there was a shortage of manpower and excessive labor force recruitment. Hurt people.

Anyway, it’s just one word, drag. They are kicking each other's balls, no one says no, but no one wants to reach out. If the Navy was not too independent and did not need to listen to the opinions of any department, it would probably still be on the drawing board.

Shipyards and spinning mills are both large-scale infrastructure projects. Why are there two completely different results? There is only one difference. The shipyard was built by the emperor and used by the navy. Not only did the officials not get the slightest advantage, but when there were more ships in the sea, the interests would be usurped.

The spinning mills include their own shares, and the earlier they start work, the earlier they will make money. Working for others and working for yourself are opposites in terms of mood and motivation.

Therefore, it is not that Ming officials were stupid or incompetent, which caused the country to become weaker and weaker. On the contrary, there are too many smart people and too many calculations, and no one regards the country as their own. They scramble to be the first when it comes to poaching, and they push each other when it comes to construction.

If they could devote half of their efforts and energy to building spinning mills to their own work, the Mongols and Jurchens would have been defeated without waiting for their own rebirth, and North Korea and RB would have been defeated long ago. Any tooth that comes will have to be captured and used as a coolie.

In July, the Ministry of Industry delivered another good news. After more than two years of visits to the areas of Fuxian and Yanshui in Shanxi, Bi Maokang, a doctor in the field division, finally discovered two relatively shallow oil-bearing layers.

Now we have successfully drilled a well, which is self-effluent. The daily output cannot be measured. Anyway, it keeps bubbling every day, and a small black lake is formed in a few days.

"You two are temporarily assigned to the position of Jinyiwei Qianhu, select ten internal officials from my chemistry class, and immediately go to Fuxian County to meet up with Bi Langzhong, and choose a place close to water sources with convenient transportation but far away from villages and towns to build a factory.

You are already very familiar with how to fractionate coal tar. Don’t be afraid. Do it boldly. It doesn’t matter if you fail. You must pay attention to safety. You can continue as long as you save your life. I hope you can build a local refinery larger than the Yongding River Alkali Plant. If you have any difficulties, please feel free to ask me directly! ”     Finally, there is oil. Although the current demand for petrochemical fuels is basically zero, and the demand for raw materials in the petrochemical industry is also basically zero. A small amount of fuel can be replaced by fractionated coal tar products, but Hong Tao was still very excited and immediately arranged manpower to support Bi Maokang.

The petrochemical industry must not be lost and should be developed as early as possible. Let's build a refinery on a small scale first. Even if it doesn't make a big name, it would be good to take the opportunity to train a group of junior petrochemical workers.

In order to put the refinery in Shanxi into operation as soon as possible, Hong Tao not only transferred Zhang De and Wang Xing, the technical backbones who were the first to learn from him, from the alkali plant, but also gave him the position of Jinyiwei Qianhu.

With the help of their technology and the title of Jinyiwei, whoever dares to push back and obstruct the local government will not be doing something wrong with the Tuntian Division of the Ministry of Industry, but will have to ask whether Jinyiwei's imperial edict will be agreed to.

As the saying goes, extreme joy brings sorrow. The emperor smiled all summer long, but at the end of July his lips finally closed. Bad news came from Guangdong. Li Zhi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, fell asleep at the age of 85 while inspecting Wuzhou, Guangxi.

The urgent documents from Guangdong were sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies in the middle of the night. In the early morning of the same day, Li Dai, a bachelor of the Cabinet and Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, also passed away at home at the age of 75.

According to Wang An, the veteran minister had a memorial lying beside his pillow. The content in it was to advise the emperor on who should choose to succeed Li Zhi, so as to avoid an accident due to old age and frailty, which would cause the court to be in a hurry and delay the New Deal. .

"This damn weather, it's because God is trying to keep people away..." The emperor, who was still sleeping, was woken up from his dream. After hearing the two bad news, he wandered around the palace several times with his hands behind his back, but in the end he couldn't hold back any classic sentences. Come.

"They died after working hard. They have made great contributions to the country and to me. They are both great ministers of the Ming Dynasty. The court must not treat them lightly. We will discuss how to bestow posthumous titles on them. I think Wenzheng and Wenzhong are worthy of each other." The life of Li Zhi and Li Dai.

In order to let future generations remember him forever, steles were erected on both sides of the Meridian Gate to engrave his achievements. In addition, people were encouraged to build imperial archways in their hometowns, and the specific operations were left to Ma Jinglun of Tongzhou. "

However, the emperor was very happy at the imperial meeting and gave Li Zhi the highest posthumous honor of Wenzheng, the highest posthumous honor that a civil servant could enjoy. Li Dai's Wenzhong was not bad, just like Zhang Juzheng, which made the officials present envious. With the emperor's attitude, no one would dare to cut corners in subsequent posthumous titles and gifts. The one with the highest score would be chosen.

As for whether it was appropriate to place the stone tablet commemorating officials, which was unprecedented and unprecedented, at the place waiting to go to court outside the Meridian Gate, no one mentioned it. Breaking the laws of the ancestors and being unconventional have become the characteristics of Emperor Jingyang. This is not the first time and certainly not the last time. Just get used to it slowly.

(End of this chapter)