Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 505: Within the rules, Shao clan is invincible!

now,

Li Yu's attention to front-line military affairs has obviously decreased, and he has devoted more energy to considering the future power structure.

As a pure realist,
He could not accept a replica of a feudal agricultural country that was nothing new, nor did he expect to build a fully advanced empire.

The future empire only needs to be less evil.
In order to achieve this goal, Li Yu can remove any necessary obstacles without hesitation.

As an emperor,

He is not bloodthirsty, but he is definitely not kind.

……

Why not play it straight and let the officials and gentry in the Qingtong area think whatever they want~
Anyway,

It is only a matter of time before the Wu army captures 99% of the city, and then they can legitimately implement the "old rules" - destroy the homes of all the officials and gentry in the city~
Based on past experience:
If a resisting county town is destroyed, all property will be confiscated and the silver (including land and houses) will be seized. According to conservative estimates, it starts at 100 million taels.

To capture a city, the starting price is 500 million taels.

To conquer a hub provincial capital, the starting price is 1000 million taels.

If we look at it purely from an economic perspective, there is no need to compromise with these insects.

The business of attacking a city is definitely very profitable.

but,

This will lay a hidden danger of "bloodthirstiness" in the future political ecology of the empire.

Anyway,

The scale here is very subtle and it is difficult to explain in detail.

……

The house-raiding task force was extremely efficient, as they used a "family-destroying net".

Check hidden fields and hidden properties, and calculate and investigate them repeatedly.

and,

It's not a wave.

Maybe after a while, the smell will come back and accurately uncover a batch of hidden fields.

Be very meticulous.

Nobody knows,
On what basis did the house-raiding working group find out what was missing?

Fish scale book? Snitch?

The answer is:
Relying on the Finance and Taxation Bureau composed of Shaoxing lawyers, they check accounts half by data and half by experience and intuition.

……

now,

People from Shaoxing have occupied half of Wu Ting's civil service system and have a huge influence.

These people are literate, good at accounting, experienced in handling affairs and familiar with people's hearts.

Originally in the Qing court, he could only hide in the shogunate and serve as an official behind the curtain.

Arrived at Wu Ting,

Just like a fish taking to water, swimming with ease.

The father-in-law of the emperor, Hu Xueyu, was the main force behind the entry of people from Shaoxing into the court.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with it.

There was no cheating, no leaking of exam questions, and no abuse of personal connections or nepotism.

He just gave the previous exam questions to the brothers from Shaoxing for reference.

These people have a solid foundation.
With just a little guidance and study, he performed brilliantly in the exam and was far ahead in the test.

After taking up his post and entering the government, he was able to integrate into the work quickly and his work efficiency was extremely high.

Even His Majesty can't find fault with it.

……

The Shaoxing legal advisors gang is a very closed and united circle.

E.g,

In the same government office, the older people in Shaoxing are willing to teach the newcomers so that they can get the hang of it as quickly as possible.

Shaoxing people try their best to provide convenience to different government offices and lower invisible barriers.

As a result,
Civil servants from Shaoxing are extremely efficient in handling official business, communication is particularly smooth, and they have broad channels for obtaining information.

The tricks here are known to all the officials in the government.
Anyone with eyes can see it.

The Shaoxing Gang was already the largest gang within the Wu court, with a leader, gang members, and legal principles.

……

Academic cliques - within the existing framework, they use their power to control academic resources and exclude others.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties,
The literati in the south of the Yangtze River are typical examples of the academic clique.

Relying on their finances, connections and experience, they performed brilliantly in the imperial examinations.

after that,

Give back to your hometown, support the younger generation, and form an alliance.

Even the emperor had to make concessions to this group on certain key issues.

Today's Shaoxing Gang can also be called "academic cliques."

Although their rise was short, they are more competitive than their former Jiangnan academic predecessors.

……

First of all,

Shaoxing Gang has a greater advantage~
In an era of empty Confucian talk, legal advisors were rare practical talents.

Secondly,

The area is narrower.

The former civil officials in Jiangnan included Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and southern Anhui, covering a wide area.

Now, it is concentrated in Shaoxing!
Secondly,
The degree of internal unity!

The original civil service in Jiangnan had too large a territory, was loose internally, and had many factions, forming a loose alliance.

Now that we are all from Shaoxing, we are naturally close.

In addition,

Shaoxing lawyers have always maintained a closed circle, working tirelessly to exclude other competitors and leave room for future generations.

Now that they have become officials of Wu Ting, they are even more familiar with their duties.

Except for being slightly polite to colleagues from Suzhou Prefecture, colleagues from other places were ostracized and cried out in dismay!
The key is,
The competition is conducted within a reasonable framework.

Within the rules, Shao clan is invincible!

Breaking the rules?

I'm sorry, but the consequences of breaking the rules are so serious that even Your Majesty would have to think twice.

……

These ones,

Li Yu watched it all without saying a word.

Not only does it look through the list of officials’ native places, but it also looks at the intelligence gathered by the Ministry of the Interior.

In Concubine Yang's bedroom, the emperor and the concubine had dinner at the same table.

I took a look at the briefing by the way.

Li Yu nodded:

"Yeah, very organized."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment."

Li Yu thought for a while and said in a low voice:

"I will allocate another 20 taels of funds to the Ministry of the Interior. This amount of funds will not go through the Finance and Taxation Bureau, but will come from my own treasury."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Concubine Yang's expression was still so gentle.

The Ministry of the Interior, which she heads, has more than 500 hidden informants spread across various military corps and factories and mines.

Now, they have begun to infiltrate various government offices.

……

"Yang Fei, what are your criteria for selecting informants?"

"Your Majesty, I come from an ordinary family, have an ordinary appearance, and am a little dull. I can read, but I have no talent for studying or doing business."

"and then?"

"Concentrate on training for six months, select strong and capable people to sign up for the army recruitment office, and select honest and simple people to apply for odd jobs in the government office."

Li Yu was very interested.

laughed:

"Where's the rest?"

"Your Majesty, send them back to their hometown to serve as spies and submit a report on the local people's situation every month."

"Ah."

……

After a while,

Li Yu asked:

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs' spies are like beans that have been spilled. It is difficult to retrieve them. As time goes by, the control will gradually decrease. Have you ever thought about this?"

Concubine Yang's eyes flickered.

Apologize:
"Your Majesty, please give me some advice."

"If there are people who have done an outstanding job, please report the names to me and I will promote them as an exception. Those who have done a good job can be promoted one level after five years."

"Yes."

Concubine Yang rolled up her sleeves and poured another glass of warm wine.

The temperature has dropped significantly nowadays, and Huadiao wine is very good at warming the muscles and bones when heated.

After dinner,

Li Yu walked to the window and looked up at the lead-gray clouds.

Talk to yourself:

“Many people can’t survive this winter.”

……

When leaving,
Hong'er, a maid in Concubine Yang's palace, was responsible for seeing him off.

When he reached a corner, Li Yu suddenly stopped.

Hong'er stopped in time and squatted slightly:
"This servant has lost his manners."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Yu turned his head and stared at Hong'er.

Suddenly laughed:

"Your brother and sister-in-law are at the business, are everything okay?"

Hong Er was extremely surprised, and then replied gratefully:

"Thanks to the grace of Your Majesty and the favor of Concubine Yang, my brother and sister-in-law have now gone to work at the Jiangning Honeycomb Coal Factory."

……

"Jiangning is a good place, as prosperous as Suzhou and Hangzhou. You should help Concubine Yang with more of the chores of the Ministry of Internal Affairs." "I usually send and receive intelligence for you, and I also file it in written form."

"what about others?"

"I don't know, and Your Majesty has never let me interfere."

Li Yu stretched out his finger and lifted Hong'er's chin, as if smiling.

Then, slide down 3 inches~
Praise:

"It looks like a white jade plate."

"Your Majesty~"

Hong'er's cheeks suddenly turned red and she stammered.

My heartbeat is like a drum~
I wanted to hide but I didn't dare to, I wanted to say something but I didn't know how to say it, so I just stood there stiffly.

……

When I reacted,
Your Majesty has gone far away~
Hong'er stayed there for a long time and finally sighed.

She couldn't understand what His Majesty meant, perhaps he was drunk.

That's it, that's it.

but,

It is always great to have your majesty remember.

There is no woman in the palace who doesn't have ambition.

The White Concubine who smiles all day long is a typical example. Once a mother becomes honored by her son, she is definitely a royal noble.

It is said that

Concubine Bai asked His Majesty for help, and her mother's family became prosperous.

Anyway,

Hong'er completely ignored the conversation between His Majesty and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and did not think there was any intention behind it.

I only remember three words:

"White jade plate!"

……

In the harem, the Queen and Concubine Yang have special statuses and both hold power.

One person controls the Finance and Taxation Bureau.

One person holds the Ministry of the Interior.

These two departments have little contact with the outside world, but they are extremely critical!
The ministers had some complaints, but no one dared to mention it publicly.

Because behind the queen is the father-in-law of the emperor, and behind the father-in-law of the emperor is the Shaoxing Gang.

Concubine Yang doesn't have any power behind her, but since ancient times, it has been an absolute taboo for officials to interfere in the emperor's secret spy agency~
Therefore,
The interference of the harem in politics exists quietly like this.

Maybe,

Existence is reasonable.

Who can say that this is not something that His Majesty did deliberately to strengthen his imperial power? Perhaps these two women are just a cover for the power, but His Majesty is the one who actually controls it?

Conspiracy theories have always been popular.

There is no other reason, human hearts are hard to predict.

……

The reception area of ​​the Wu Palace.

"Your Majesty has arrived."

Thirteen businessmen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui quickly stood up and knelt.

Li Yu walked hurriedly, sat down and waved his hand:

"My dear ministers, today is not a court meeting. There is no need to be polite. Please sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

You can imagine how excited you were to be able to sit in front of the emperor.

in advance,

Li Yu has sent people to investigate the loyalty, qualifications and wealth of these 13 people.

These people gradually became wealthy with the rise of Wu Ting. They have not yet established a very deep network of contacts and have medium financial resources.

……

Looking around at the excited eyes of the crowd,

Li Yu spoke:

"The imperial court has achieved a decisive victory in the Huguang battlefield and is now sweeping away the remaining enemies and clearing up the local areas. I would like to further relax the ban and allow you to invest in opening mines and factories in Daye, Hubei. What do you think?"

Everyone was delighted.

But someone calmed down and asked respectfully:
"Your Majesty's kindness to us merchants is rare in history. We are grateful to you, but we dare not compete with the court for profit."

Everyone nodded.

……

Li Yu smiled, thinking that this group of people were well-informed.

10 days ago,

Minister of Industry Du Ren personally selected relevant officials, craftsmen and apprentices to build the Hubei Daye Iron and Steel Plant, which was put into production a few years ago and reaped huge benefits from the war.

Seeing His Majesty laughing, everyone followed suit and laughed.

then,

Then I heard His Majesty say:

"Daye County has extremely rich iron ore reserves. It would probably take 200 years for the Metallurgical Bureau to mine them all."

"I hope you can become a supplementary force for the imperial court's steel industry."

……

The sunlight shines through the large lead-barium glass onto Your Majesty's face, creating a strange and bizarre look.

Everyone clenched their fists, 3 parts nervousness, 3 parts excitement, and 4 parts anticipation.

"Listen carefully, everyone. Steel production is the foundation of the empire, and there is never too much steel production. Are you willing to share my worries?"

Everyone left their chairs, knelt down and shouted:
"I am willing to serve my emperor."

"Long live, long live, long live."

……

Daye County, just by hearing the name you can tell how many mines there are in this place.

Zhang Zhidong, a famous official in the late Qing Dynasty, founded the famous Hanyeping Company, which used the coal mines in Pingxiang and the iron mines in Daye to set up a factory in Hankou to smelt steel.

Hence the name:
Hanyeping!
Therefore, the path of development is very clear.

But Li Yu did not intend to deal with Hanyeping.

Because he is not Zhang Zhidong, he doesn't want to watch the smoke rising into the sky every day to satisfy his inexplicable narcissism.

From the perspective of cost, Hanyeping Company is wrong. Yeping Company is right.

Locating the ironworks in Hanyang increased transportation costs.

The development of industry must take into account costs. Confucian scholars are ashamed to talk about profits, but Li Yu is keen on talking about profits.

……

Old rules.

These people stayed in the palace and had a simple meal, and Chen Zhuangjie, director of the Metallurgical Bureau, attended the meal.

The official statement is:
During the luncheon, Director Chen and the mine owners exchanged valuable opinions on the current development of metallurgy. Director Chen pointed out that everyone's participation in the steel industry is to contribute to the industrialization of Wu State.

He expressed his appreciation and support for this.

The gossip is:
Director Chen had no expression on his face throughout the whole process and did not drink a drop of alcohol.

Before leaving,
He asked someone to bring a pile of metallurgical process information, and then collected 5 taels of silver as a technology transfer fee.

……

The Metallurgical Bureau dares not disobey your Majesty's order.

But deep down they resist allowing others to come in and take a piece of the pie.

prior to,

Private merchants were all engaged in small-scale operations, making some ironware needed by the public, which was not very serious and they never officially entered the steel industry.

But this time is different.

The businessmen acquired two open-pit iron mines in Daye and 2 acres of land.

The total investment capital is as high as 230 million taels.

among them,

The 13 major shareholders invested 150 million taels and directly participated in the management.

The remaining shares were contributed by Guangdong gentry and merchants, but they did not participate in management.

……

When an industry enters a period of rapid development, all practitioners will reap the benefits.

Workers from Maanshan Iron and Steel Plant received transfer orders to the new Daye Plant and were promoted by at least one level.

This is an ideal model for people with small family burdens.

Trees move to death, people move to live.

The scale of Daye Iron and Steel Plant is definitely not inferior to Ma Steel.

His Majesty said:

Dagang and Magang are the twin stars of the future empire.

According to this logic,

Daye (Min) Iron and Steel Plant is roughly the size of a Boeing 767 aircraft.

To distinguish,

The people of Daye called the government-run iron factory the official kiln and the commercial iron factory the private kiln.

……

In Daye, Hubei, and Dexing, Jiangxi, official kilns and private kilns competed on the same stage.

Black smoke billowed and the place was filled with noise.

slowly,
Smart people smelled something and realized that His Majesty was indirectly expressing his dissatisfaction!

The cost of the official kilns remains high, and Your Majesty intends to use private kilns to put pressure on the official kilns.

in case,

The products of folk kilns are of similar quality, but the prices are much lower.

I'm afraid the Metallurgical Bureau will have a hard time in the future.

……

but,

The people below have a very easy life.

Not to mention the steel industry, it is extremely popular.

Brick kiln business is good~
Construction team business is good~
The people of Daye County were smiling from ear to ear.

The commercial demand generated by the influx of tens of thousands of strangers with fixed salaries into the county allowed any industrious person to get a piece of the pie.

This forms a virtuous economic cycle.

(End of this chapter)