Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 426 Extra: Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in Ming Dynasty?

It is 4912 in the Yanhuang calendar and 1912 in the Western calendar.

Wozhou, Ming Yin State, Mocheng Academy.

In the literature and history class, an old man with white hair and beard was explaining his point of view.

"The traditional view is that the main reason why the Ming Dynasty entered the steam engine era is that the production of the Ming Dynasty's handicraft industry in the middle Qianxi period could no longer meet the huge market demand, which put forward technical reform requirements for the factory handicraft industry."

"As for why the Ming Dynasty took the lead in entering the steam engine age, rather than the European and Western countries, scholars of all ages have summarized the following factors."

“The first is the premise of the advanced nature of the political system.”

"The Ming Dynasty broke the shackles of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business earlier. The guidance of a series of policies of Qianxi's New Deal gave unprecedented vitality to the agricultural, industrial, and business classes except officials. Rich businessmen, great masters, giant farmers, etc. The social and political status of the emerging class in the Ming Dynasty is increasingly strengthened."

"The more progressive political system provided a relatively stable domestic and international environment for the development of the Ming Dynasty's economy. From the 25th year of Hongwu to the 30th year of Qianxi, there was no large-scale war in the Ming Dynasty."

“Then there were huge advances in agriculture.”

"The Ming Dynasty basically completed its agricultural reform during the Yongle period, which was specifically reflected in the promotion of crop rotation, the advancement of production tools, the cultivation of new crops, and the use of fertilizers."

"Sinongtai (farmers' guild), together with giant businessmen and large landowners, obtained large amounts of land by leasing farmland, which improved production efficiency."

"And a large number of farmers who rented out their land moved to cities and towns or served agriculture under the control of Sinongtai, thus expanding the domestic market."

"It is worth mentioning that the life-long system of tenant farmers in the Ming Dynasty was almost extinct as early as the early Yongle period. The development of the agricultural society in the Ming Dynasty was hindered by the old forces to a lesser extent than some countries and regions in Europe and Asia."

"The agricultural output of the Ming Dynasty has increased and the prices of agricultural products have dropped, which means that the people of the Ming Dynasty can obtain more living resources through lower consumption."

"The second is higher remuneration levels."

"First of all, affected by natural disasters, plagues, famines, wars, etc. in the late Yuan Dynasty, the population of the Ming Dynasty was only more than 6000 million in the early Hongwu period. By the early Yongle period, after more than 30 years, the population of the Ming Dynasty experienced a long period of slow growth."

"Although it barely reached more than 1 million, the vassals changed their feudal status to overseas countries and took away many people, so that the number of local labor forces in the Ming Dynasty was not sufficient."

"At the same time, the basic characteristics of the Ming Dynasty's agricultural society also further restricted the number of manual workers. Before the implementation of the Qianxi New Deal, even the emergence of the system of sharing the land from one person to another could not change the high industrial labor costs caused by the small number of workers in the Ming Dynasty. One reality.”

"The high labor cost in Ming Dynasty determines that the wages of workers in Ming Dynasty are higher than those in European and Western countries."

"In this case, with Huangzhuang taking the lead and Sinongtai leading the national agriculture, it is imperative to develop advanced production tools in order to increase productivity on a large scale to meet domestic and foreign markets."

"I have said before that due to the impact of the great agricultural reform, workers in Daming can enjoy a lower cost of living, lead a more decent and comfortable life, and invest more energy in the research and development of production technology."

"Once again, it is the experience accumulated during manual labor in the factory and the progress of production technology."

"Because the Qianxi New Deal encouraged the development of handicrafts, the development of urban handicrafts is not only not restricted by old local forces, but also receives protection and support from the government, creating a freer environment."

“Moreover, Emperor Qianxi’s support and rewards for inventions and creations in the form of imperial decrees and laws (ranging from giving money to giving titles) mobilized the enthusiasm of labor producers for production and invention, and promoted the birth and development of the steam engine era.”

"The vigorous development of industry and commerce in the Ming Dynasty made merchants and workers richer. At the same time, the expansion of overseas vassals in the Ming Dynasty provided a huge overseas market and abundant raw materials for the development of industry and commerce."

"In addition, many overseas vassals of the Ming Dynasty also have rich textile experience. The competition between the cotton cloth of the Ming Dynasty and overseas vassals has also become one of the driving forces for the Ming Dynasty textile industry to continuously improve production tools." "Of course, in order to improve seagoing ships The transportation time is very fast, so it is reasonable that the merchants under the Royal Merchant House and private sea merchants have spent huge sums of money to improve steam ships and improve the efficiency of steam engines."

"And the Ming Dynasty has the largest warships in the world to protect the security of overseas trade and market order."

"Also, the Ming Dynasty has abundant coal resources, and the energy cost of using machine production is lower than that of Western countries. This makes the production cost of using machine production instead of manual production lower, which is conducive to the promotion of advanced production technology."

"This condition is also not available in some European and Western countries with deep-rooted small-scale farmer economies. After all, low labor costs and high energy costs have restricted their industrial development."

"In this way, as the domestic and foreign market demand continues to increase, factory manual production can no longer meet the demand."

"Recruiting more servants will not only increase labor costs, but will also violate the Ming court's ban on limiting the number of servants in large handicraft factories."

"Therefore, whether it is private wealthy businessmen or major companies under the royal trading house, faced with this situation, they are all in urgent need of large-scale factory production, and a major innovation in machine production is bound to break out."

"Modern scholars generally believe that steam engines, coal, and steel are the three main factors that contributed to the accelerated development of the Industrial Revolution, and that the Industrial Revolution all started with light industry and developed into other industries."

"Before Zhu Zhantang, the Xingde Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, improved the steam engine as a vassal in the early years of Qianxi, the production power of the entire Ming Dynasty society relied on human and animal power."

"With the invention and improvement of the steam engine, factories are no longer built along rivers or streams. Many jobs that previously relied on manpower and manual work have been replaced by mechanized production since the invention of the steam engine."

"I think the industrial revolution was a huge change that is incomparable to ordinary political revolutions."

"Its influence involves all aspects of human social life, causing huge changes in human society, playing an irreplaceable role in promoting the modernization process of mankind, and pushing mankind into a new steam era."

"From this point of view, without Qianxi's New Deal, there would have been no original steam engine, and there would have been no improvements in steam engines and the advent of steam trains, let alone the subsequent industrial revolution and the birth of the steam age."

"Therefore, modern scholars unanimously believe that Ming Dingzu was the first emperor of the ages to stand shoulder to shoulder with Qin Shihuang."

The old man stroked his beard and said: "Of course, the traditional members of the Huazong Alliance on the five continents of Shenzhou, Hanzhou, Australia, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou do not recognize the temple name of Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty as 'Ming Dingzu'."

"These traditional members of the Huazong League adhere to the so-called 'tradition of etiquette' and believe that the most respected temple name is 'Taikoo Shi'. Emperor Yongle is Taizong of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, based on the achievements of Emperor Qianxi, the temple name Gaozong is well-deserved. .”

"The members of the Huazong Alliance on the three continents of Wozhou, Xianzhou and Europe insist on calling Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty the Ming Dynasty Dingzu. This is another topic and will not be discussed in detail here."

"I believe that Qin Shihuang annexed six countries and established a unified empire, ushering in the imperial era in Chinese history."

"Dingzu of the Ming Dynasty started the layout from the 26th year of Hongwu to the 30th year of Qianxi and led the Ming Dynasty into the steam age, which lasted 60 years."

"The following year in the 42nd year of Qianxi, which was the first day of the first month of the first year of Xingde in the Ming Dynasty, Ming Dingzu officially abdicated. After that, he served as the Supreme Emperor for 24 years and the Supreme Emperor for nearly 20 years."

"In the last 40 years of his life, Dingzu of the Ming Dynasty wrote books and theories, leading the Ming Dynasty to realize the second industrial revolution and ushering China into the electrical age."

"In other words, Ming Dingzu created the steam age in China and even human history, laid the foundation for the electrical age in later generations, and is a well-deserved emperor of China through the ages."

"At the same time, he is also recognized by historians from all over the world as the most influential emperor since 2000, and there is no one."

PS: Extras are updated from time to time, and the time is uncertain. If you like it, feel free to check it out.

(End of this chapter)