At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 412: The workshop owner's different choices and the first industrial crisis

The figure of 4400 million horses shocked the whole audience. The sages couldn't believe that they could produce million horses a year. You have to know that the entire Han population is only million, with an average of more than one horse per person. How could this business be easy to do!

"Is this true? How could the Han people produce so many bolts of cloth?"

"How did the imperial court come up with this number? How can I believe this number is true?"

You have to know that in the feudal era, the production capacity of cloth could not keep up with the demand, so it has been used as money for thousands of years of history. It was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties when the textile industry technology developed greatly that cloth gradually lost its financial attributes.

Therefore, in the minds of all Han people, cloth has always been a scarce commodity. Now, suddenly someone tells them that there is too much cloth and they can’t sell it all. It is still difficult for the sages to accept this fact in their minds.

Xiao He clapped his hands, and a dozen Han officials brought a stack of statistical reports and distributed them to the wise men.

The sage opened the report and found that it contained statistics on textile workshops, textile machines, spinning wheels, and the amount of cloth produced each year in each county of the Han Dynasty. The statistics were very clear, with specific figures for each district and county.

Neishi County produced 4.5 million pieces of cloth a year, Sanchuan County produced 5.5 million pieces of cloth, and these two counties produced more than 10 million pieces of cloth in total.

Then came Chen County's 3 million pieces of cloth, Kuaiji County's 2.6 million pieces of cloth, Yanmen County's 2.4 million pieces of cloth, and Linzi County's 2.2 million pieces of cloth.

These huge numbers are dizzying, but when the wise man recalls the textile workshops in his hometown, the numbers are not much different.

Xiao He said: "This is the textile industry data collected by hundreds of accountants sent by the court over a year. Although I dare not say it is completely accurate, it can roughly illustrate the situation of the textile industry."

"How come there are so many textile factories and so many pieces of cloth?" Even with such precise numbers, many sages still find it difficult to accept this fact.

Because everything changed so quickly, in 10 years, cloth went from being a financial equivalent to a commodity with overcapacity. Such a drastic change would have been almost impossible in the feudal era.

Zhang Cang, the chief accountant, said, "My fellow sages, you should open your eyes to the world. All this has been inevitable since the development of the water-powered spinning wheel. Now the most advanced water-powered spinning wheel in our Han Dynasty can spin a hundred spindles at the same time, and can spin hundreds of kilograms of yarn a day. The efficiency is a hundred times that of a hand-cranked spinning wheel. Animal-powered spinning wheels are also dozens of times faster than hand-cranked spinning wheels. At the same time, pedal-type looms, flying shuttles, and water-powered looms have also appeared, and the efficiency of weaving has also increased by more than ten times."

"In the past, our Han Dynasty lacked raw materials, which made it difficult for the textile industry to fully utilize its efficiency. But after acquiring the desert, the abundant wool filled the textile workshops. The sounds of weaving in the major textile factories never stopped from morning to night. It was inevitable that something like this would happen today."

"That's why the imperial court restricted the expansion of textile workshops. If they continue to increase, the textile industry will face the structural overcapacity that Your Majesty mentioned, and everyone will be left without food."

The wise men finally understood the court's actions over the past year and recognized the court's new prime minister. It turned out that the Han Dynasty's textile industry was already in an extremely dangerous situation, and Xiao He had been solving the problem for the past year.

After the sages finished reading the statistical report on the textile industry, the first day of the sage meeting ended. The textile industry data also spread throughout Chang'an City with the end of the sage meeting.

In Chang'an City, at the Juxian Tower, the princes of the Han Dynasty gathered here. They sat together in groups of three or four according to their relationship.

Liu Bang was surprised and said: "My Han Dynasty can actually produce so much cloth in a year. No wonder the price of cloth has been getting lower and lower in the past two years."

For Liu Bang, this was just a matter of watching the fun. There was nothing he could do. There were many wild people in Pei State, and these people couldn't even farm well, let alone do technical work such as weaving.

At the same time, the geographical environment of Liaodong also restricted the development of the textile industry. The key to water-powered spinning wheels and water-powered textile machines is water. However, Liaodong is covered in ice and snow for half of the year, and the animal husbandry is not large. This geographical environment is naturally not suitable for large-scale textile workshops to take root. The people of Liaodong generally buy cloth from Linzi for use.

Now Liu Bang's Pei State relies on whaling and shipbuilding to make money. At the same time, most of the Liaodong princes are the same. There happens to be a whale habitat in the north of the Han Dynasty. These princes can make millions of money by catching a whale. Naturally, they are unwilling to spend the effort to train craftsmen and upgrade the industry.

Lu Chen smiled bitterly and said, "I just established a large textile workshop, but I didn't expect to encounter such a thing."

Because there was no textile industry in Liaodong, the price of local cloth was slightly higher than that in the Han Dynasty. Lu Chen wanted to open a textile factory. After all, Liaodong had a market of over a million people, so he was not afraid of not making money. However, he did not expect to encounter overcapacity.

The world is so helpless. Those who are ambitious may not necessarily succeed, but being a salted fish is definitely very comfortable.

Chen Xiao said: "Brother Lu Chen, you only have a few looms. The textile industry in my Chen country is a pillar industry. I just thought that silk has been a little difficult to sell in the past two years, but I didn't expect that there would be so many textile factories in the Han Dynasty."

The silk of the State of Chen was not as good as the brocade of Shu. It was of relatively poor quality and won by price wars and quantity advantages. However, in the past two years, the silk of the State of Chen had become increasingly difficult to sell.

Liu Bang smiled and said, "Duke Chen, find a way to continue going south and sell silk to those barbarians."

Chen Xiao rolled his eyes and said, "You also said that they are savages. Where do they get the money to buy silk? It seems that I can only plant more lacquer trees and tung oil trees in the future."

Xu Chongzhao said, "Duke Chen, you southern lords have many specialties, so even if you sell less silk, it's no big deal. But we lords in Liaodong can't do that. Duke Lu finally found a way to make money, but it was cut off before he could make any money."

Ying Bu asked: "How do you think the court can solve this problem? The textile industry is the pillar industry of the court. If the textile industry is not profitable, the court will have to endure a long period of hardship."

Faced with this problem, everyone fell into deep thought, but still couldn't think of any good solution.

Liu Bang said: "I am afraid that the textile industry will become like the grain industry, and it will be hard work. It will be difficult to make money like it was a few years ago."

The Minister of Internal Affairs Li Shang and the Prefect of Sanchuan County Chen Rui went to the emperor and raised the same question.

Xu Fan thought about the practices of later generations and said, "Two methods."

"Two methods?" All the Han governors were cheered up.

"The first method is to reduce overcapacity and close down all the workshops with outdated textile machines, low production capacity and low efficiency. The market vacated by these outdated small workshops will naturally be used by everyone to make money."

"Ah!" Obviously Li Shang and the others had not expected that the emperor would come up with such a method. Ruining someone's job is an extremely taboo thing at any time.

Xu Fan said helplessly: "The market is so cruel. If these backward workshops don't take the initiative to withdraw from the market today, they will be eliminated from the market tomorrow in the cruel competition. This is the way of market competition."

This is also the case with steel in later generations. No matter how helpless or cruel it is, this production capacity has to be obtained, otherwise everyone will be buried with it.

Chen Rui asked anxiously: "Your Majesty, what is the second method?"

Xu Fan said: "Increase the income of the people so that they can have money to buy more cloth. If the average Han people can consume two pieces of cloth per year, this will be a market for nearly 9 million pieces of cloth. As the market expands, everyone will naturally make money."

Chen Rui and the others were even more speechless. This method was even more unfeasible. If increasing income was so easy, the people of the world would not have been poor for thousands of years.

It was difficult for Chen Rui and his companions to imagine what the common people would do with two pieces of cloth. In that era, the common people had not yet gotten over the mentality of material scarcity. Their clothes were always patched up. Two pieces of cloth were consumed a year, and many people did not even know how to use them.

Xu Fan also understood that the second point was more difficult to achieve, otherwise so many countries in the market would not have come up with installment payments, consumer loans, and used methods of living beyond their means to create false prosperity.

The next day, Xiao He reported the Han court's plans for the next year.

"In the coming year, the court will optimize the industrial structure, eliminate backward production capacity, make the textile industry healthier and more prosperous, and guide money to more promising industries. At the same time, the Han Dynasty will also strengthen the construction of infrastructure, such as renovating new cities, building railroads, docks, highways and other infrastructure. The court will focus on investing in livelihood facilities that are closely related to the people."

In simple terms, one is to reduce overcapacity, and the other is to increase people's income through infrastructure construction and promote the growth of the consumer market. The choices made in later generations are almost exactly the same. It can only be said that facing the same problem, the choices available are extremely limited.

This year's Sages' Meeting caused a sensation throughout the world, especially the survey report on the textile industry, which made some textile workshop owners feel like they had found a treasure.

These workshop owners could feel that cloth was difficult to sell, and they also felt that the increasing number of textile factories in the Han Dynasty made business difficult. However, it was the first time that the imperial court had compiled data on the entire industry, allowing everyone to clearly understand why business was difficult.

But some things are very frustrating. Even though these textile workshop owners already know the current situation of the industry, they have no way back.

It is easy to say that overcapacity should be reduced, but if one leaves the track that one is familiar with and goes to compete with others in other industries, the outcome will be even worse. Even if these textile workshop owners know that the industry is difficult, they have to grit their teeth and hold on. Only if their peers can survive can they survive.

October 15th, the eleventh year of the Han calendar.

Yanmen County, the headquarters of Mo Nan Trading Company.

Kuai Che and his colleagues obtained statistical data on the textile industry from the imperial court.

This is an extremely desperate data for the shareholders of Mobei Trading Company. Their industry is the desert grasslands, desert wool, spinning wheels, textile machines and other textile industries.

When the textile industry prospers, their family prospers; when the textile industry declines, their family declines.

"What should we do?" All the shareholders of Mobei Trading Company were extremely terrified and could not see tomorrow coming.

Kuai Che said with red eyes: "If we kill the others and clear them out of the textile industry, we can survive. Not only can we survive, but we can also live better."

"The textile factories in Jiangnan are more efficient than ours and their cloth prices are lower than ours. Except for woolen cloth, we simply cannot compete with them."

Kuai Che sneered and said, "We have mastered the new weapon of the textile industry. It is time to sweep out some backward textile workshops."

"The spinning wheel manufactured by the imperial court has been successful. It can now spin fifty spindles at the same time. In addition, the imperial court has also developed a steam loom, which is three times more efficient than the best pedal loom. As long as we are equipped with these new machines, we can crush other competitors."

"The spinning wheels and textile machines we are waiting for are all new machines. The cost of many of them has not been recovered. Now we are using new machines again. Isn't it too wasteful?" asked the shopkeeper Wang unwillingly.

Because of Xu Fan's plug-in, the development speed of the Han Dynasty's textile industry is not inferior to that of later generations. There will be new improvements almost every two or three years to improve the efficiency of the textile industry. The Han Dynasty's textile industry has made a thousand years of progress in just 10 years.

Of course, there is gain but loss. The speed of machine replacement was so fast that many textile workshops had just adapted to the new machines and had just earned back the cost of the looms, but the court developed more efficient machines, forcing these workshop owners to buy new machines again. This was the biggest headache for all workshop owners.

Kuai Che said coldly: "If we don't use the new machines from the court, we will be the ones to die. I have planned to buy 100 steam spinning wheels and 50 steam looms. At the same time, I plan to reduce the price of woolen cloth by another 300 coins and the price of linen cloth to coins."

"300 coins, this price is already lower than the cost price!" Everyone was frightened by Kuai Che's madness. This was no longer a business.

Kuai Che sneered and said, "I have calculated that with the efficiency of steam spinning wheels and steam looms, this price is just enough to break even."

Then he looked around with a cold face and said, "We are almost dead, what do we need profit for? The current situation in the textile industry is either you die or I die. Do you want to die and give up the market, or do you want others to die and give up the market to us?"

"Have you studied the lecture notes of the Emperor's Course carefully? Have you read the lesson on commodities seriously? The cloth we weave cannot be called a commodity unless it is sold.

What the emperor said is right. To become a commodity, one must go through that thrilling leap. Now we are facing that thrilling leap. If we can't jump out, we will die.

If we want to turn items into commodities, we have to make them more attractive and cheaper than others. How can we make the price of cloth even lower? The only way is to improve productivity and make our production costs lower than others. "

Speaking of this, Kuai Che admired the emperor very much. The emperor seemed to have seen the future of the textile industry and gave them sufficient warnings in advance.

Kuai Che continued, "Although we have invested in the steam engines, other merchants have also invested in them. We don't have much time left. If we can't buy all the steam engines of the imperial court, every steam engine that leaks out will create a powerful enemy for us. Now that we have broken off the time for close combat, do you want to be destroyed by the enemy's steam engines, or do you want to destroy the enemy with your steam engines? You can decide for yourself."

The shareholders of the Mo Nan Trading Company thought for a long time and then gritted their teeth and said, "The president is right. Our situation now is just like that of Zhao She. We have no way out. We can only fight bravely and win.

The merchants in Jiangnan and Central Plains can afford to fail, as they have other industries and the rich Spice Islands. All our wealth is in the textile industry. We have no way out and cannot afford to fail. I will also follow the president's example and order 100 steam spinning wheels and 50 steam looms. "

"A certain order is for 80 steam spinning wheels and 40 steam looms."

"I also ordered 50 steam spinning wheels and 20 steam looms."

The major shareholders of Mo Nan Trading Company have begun to invest their entire fortunes in a final struggle.

October 20th, the eleventh year of the Han calendar.

The newly established steam workshop in Chang'an City suddenly received a sky-high order. Mo Nan Trading Company ordered thousands of steam spinning machines and more than 1 steam textile machines from them. The total value of this order was as high as 5 million yuan.

Before this, the imperial court had already ordered 500 steam spinning wheels and 200 steam textile machines, with a total order value of 7000 million coins.

The Chang'an Steam Machinery Factory was established less than a month ago, and the three-year production capacity was determined. A large workshop with an annual output value of over 100 million yuan was born, which caused a sensation in the entire Chang'an City.

The two orders made the Chang'an Steam Machinery Factory's turnover surpass that of the Chang'an Carriage Factory, making it one of the most profitable workshops in the Han Dynasty.

Faced with such a huge order, Li Lei, the chief craftsman of the steam workshop, customized new planers, milling machines and boring machines from Chang'an Iron and Steel Plant to improve the production efficiency of the steam engine.

And a large number of core components were handed over to other experimental groups to build in order to improve production efficiency and speed up the delivery of steam spinning wheels and steam textile machines.

Practical steam engines began to roar across the land.

At the same time, the situation in the world began to change. After the Conference of Sages, some textile workshop owners became alert and tried to find ways to survive.

But most people simply don't believe this number. It is ridiculous that the cloth produced cannot be sold. Cloth can be used as money. Does anyone think that they have too much money?
Many workshop owners in the textile industry believed that their private textile workshops were becoming increasingly powerful and had begun to affect the official textile workshops of the Han Dynasty. In order to protect the interests of the Shaofu, the emperor fabricated the lie of overcapacity.

Just as the turmoil in the financial industry ended, the small money houses that were supposed to be bankrupt and liquidated had already gone bankrupt, and the deposit deposits that were supposed to be paid had also been paid.

The money houses began to resume lending business. After all, due to the financial rectification, most of the money houses' loan business had been suspended for more than half a year. If they did not find ways to make money, they would not even have enough money to pay the interest to the people. Therefore, after the Sages' Meeting, the production capacity of the textile industry not only did not decrease, but there was a small wave of entrepreneurship, and the production capacity of the Han Dynasty's textile industry was further improved.

But by May of the twelfth year of the Han Dynasty, the market had reached its limit in terms of the amount of cloth it could accommodate. The cloth from all the major textile factories was difficult to sell and had to be piled up in warehouses.

The impact was transmitted to the upstream wool industry, and the wool purchase price plummeted by 30%. Even so, a large amount of wool was still difficult to sell.

(End of this chapter)