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Chapter 387 Industrial Base

"...I would like to ask Your Majesty where the woolen mill should be built?"

Now Zhou Daodeng has personally experienced the power of this emperor. Compared with the bad deeds mentioned by his colleagues before, it is really even worse. He does not have the slightest bearing of a benevolent emperor, and is worse than the most aggressive cook in his hometown.

"It was built in the lower reaches of Tianjin Wei to combine two woolen mills into one. It will be larger and more efficient."

It was said that they were discussing the location of the woolen mill. In fact, Hong Tao had already made up his mind and even asked Wang Zheng to lead people to start the survey work before the meeting was held. Of course, if the courtiers can suggest a more suitable site for the factory, they can move it there.

"But... Tianjin Wei has a dense population. What should I do if it pollutes the water source and harms the fields?" This answer not only made all the officials in the room look at each other, but also shocked Zhou Daodeng.

Didn’t I just say that woolen mills are toxic and will pollute water sources and must be kept away from villages and towns? Why do you turn around and deny it? Even if you don't like him, you shouldn't be tricked so blatantly. It would be easier to just demote him.

"Didn't I say that we should build it downstream, even if some of the poison was washed into the sea by the Haihe River. It's getting late, I'm exhausted. Ministry of Rites, don't be too enthusiastic about the envoys of the Haraqin and Chahar Ministry. Do it. Business is a skill, and being too enthusiastic will make people suspect that we are up to no good. Treating us normally is enough."

Hong Tao didn't want to teach him such a mentally retarded problem. He had a lot of things to do these days. He went to bed a little late and suffered from very little sleep. He ended the meeting early and went back to make up for an hour. In the afternoon, he had to summon Li Ruzhang, who had returned to Beijing victoriously.

Zhou Daodeng, the supervisor, didn't know what to do. It was easy to handle. When he met the official from the Ministry of Works who was responsible for the specific construction, everything became clear. Labor-intensive enterprises such as woolen mills must not only consider safety, but also pay attention to production costs and social benefits.

If we choose a place in the middle of nowhere with no villages or shops, the environment will be protected, but what about the supporting living facilities for the workers? Building all new buildings is impractical and uneconomical.

Choosing Tianjin Wei will not only provide employees with convenient living security, but also promote the prosperity and development of Tianjin Wei. As for toxic wastewater, just discharge it into the Bohai Sea. In this era, wanting to develop industry without destroying the environment is almost a wishful thinking, so we must focus on it.

Why must we promote the prosperity of Tianjin Wei? It’s very simple. This place has been listed as the largest industrial base in the future. In addition to the existing Liuguangzhai Glass Factory, Haihe Machinery Factory, Haihe Shipyard and Time Workshop, the next step will be to add woolen mills, dye factories, tanneries, alkali plants, fertilizer plants, etc.

In addition, the Machinery Factory and the Royal Gunpowder Factory also had to be split into two parts to strictly separate civilian and military uses. With Haihe River as the boundary, military factories are located on the north bank of the river, and civilian facilities are all built on the south bank of the river.

Tianjin Wei was chosen as an industrial center by Hong Tao before he became the crown prince. After a period of investigation after he ascended the throne, no more suitable location was found.

From a national strategic perspective, as the center of defense in the north, at least one large industrial city is needed to mobilize resources and population from across the country. This job was originally the most suitable and convenient for the capital city to do, but the imperial city was in trouble and was in a smog all day long. Tianjin Guards were almost the shadow of the capital city, so it was their duty to do some dirty work on behalf of the capital city.

Starting from the national economic layout, if there are more and more factories in Tianjin, the population will naturally become more and more concentrated. Business, service industry and handicraft industry will gather. Capital will soon follow, quickly creating a prosperity.

This prosperity will also drive the gradual upgrading of supporting industries in surrounding areas, resulting in a radiation effect, further attracting population, and laying the foundation for the next development of Liaodong. More than 200 miles east of Tianjin Wei is the Luanzhou Ironmaking Plant under construction by Li Zhizao. Although it is said to be a factory, it is actually a collection of supporting industries such as coal mining, iron mining, coking, ironmaking, steelmaking, casting, and heavy chemicals. Heavy industrial base.

The coal, coke, fuel oil, iron ingots, steel billets, rough castings, iron slag cement, etc. produced here will be used as raw materials and flowed along the Luan River into the Bohai Sea, and then transported by sea to Tianjin Wei for further processing.

With Tianjin Wei's light industry, machine processing products and population, it can also promote the development of Luanzhou heavy industry base, allowing the two industrial bases to have effective linkage and promote each other to increase efficiency.

Tianjin Wei also has unique advantages in terms of production costs and transportation costs. It not only has a seaport but is also the northern hub of the canal. It also relies on the capital's network of post roads extending in all directions to facilitate the entry of raw materials and the output of products.

The most important thing is safety. The first industrial base must be firmly in your own hands and cannot be interfered by other forces in the slightest. Right now, there is only one safest place in the entire Ming Dynasty, Tianjin Wei. This is the location of the Navy Governor's Mansion and it is close to the capital. The emperor's orders are the only ones and no one can interfere.

"Thanks to your majesty, I have fulfilled my mission. Long live my emperor!"

Li Ruzhang and Yuan Keli probably entered the palace without even having lunch, and ended up waiting in Xiyuan for an hour in vain. However, when Hong Tao entered the Qingfu Hall, Li Ruzhang was still very energetic, and he immediately knocked on the carpet with a big gift.

"I have read the memorial. It is very detailed and the battle is very good. I have no other intention in calling you here this time. I just want to know more about the frontline soldiers' feelings about the new weapons and see if there is any room for improvement.

On this issue, we must not avoid the easy matter. I made them to kill the enemy and win. Whether they are good or not does not count for me, nor does it count for you, nor does it count for even Zhao Shizhen’s words. Only the soldiers fighting on the front line count. Only what we say counts, and we must seek truth from facts. "

Li Ruzhang is not a low-level general who has never seen the world. To make him so excited can only show that this expedition was very successful, and further recognized the emperor's ability. This is a good thing, and it doesn’t hurt to kowtow a few more times.

But in addition to needing the commander's surrender, Hong Tao also wanted to hear a few words of truth, especially about the combat details of front-loading rifled guns and breech-loading smoothbore cannons. These two weapons were useless in previous lives and were skipped directly. I really didn’t study their combat performance much, so now I have to make up for it.

"Your Majesty is too humble. The whole army regards the new muskets and field artillery as treasures. I have followed my father and brother in the war for several years, and I have never been so relaxed and content whether I faced the Mongols, Jurchens or Japanese pirates. It is really a blessing for the Ming Dynasty to obtain this sharp weapon. The soldiers at the border are so lucky, how can we be picky about it?"

Li Ruzhang was indeed not faking it. Although the Marine Guards had experienced actual combat tests in raiding Annan and going deep into the North Korean border several times, their opponents were too weak. They were either Annan soldiers who collapsed at a touch or a small group of Jurchen rangers. It could not be considered a serious battle. This time, they only led 2000 people into the hinterland of Mongolia for a sneak attack, which could barely be considered a head-on confrontation.

(End of this chapter)