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

Chapter 416: Poaching and Disappointment

Since the construction of the steam manufacturing plant, the equipment in Chang'an City's textile industry has been rapidly updated, and more efficient steam textile machines have begun to completely replace water-powered textile machines.

There is one thing that these prefects were wrong about. When they first started to clear their stocks, the workshops of the Shaofu were indeed selling at a loss. But after they started using steam looms, even though the price of cloth dropped by one third, the steam loom factories still made a profit.

Especially now that 60 to 70 percent of the Han Dynasty's textile industry has collapsed, these steam textile workshops in Guanzhong are becoming more and more prosperous. The textile factories in Chang'an not only occupy the entire Guanzhong, but also quickly seize the market outside Guanzhong.

But the Shaofu's workshop was getting more and more prosperous, and the local government could not bear it anymore. If the Shaofu had built a textile factory on their territory to sell cloth, it would have been fine. Although they lost control of the textile factory, at least they would have collected some taxes. However, the Shaofu simply bankrupted and liquidated their textile factory, gave them a small amount of money and left, and then came back with the Guanzhong cloth. This was a bit intolerable.

They then began to think of various ways to prevent the dumping of Guanzhong cloth in their counties. The simplest way was to set up checkpoints on the roads and find various reasons to prevent the entry of these cloths. At the same time, they warned local carriage and cloth shops and prohibited them from buying cloth from other places. It can be said that they tried every means.

This made Chen Chui very angry. Everyone competed fairly by their own means, and Guanzhong Cloth lost, so he couldn't say anything. But now you are using dirty tricks and using them against your own people, completely disregarding the friendship between old brothers. This is treating him as an enemy.

So the county governors of these places blamed Chen Chui, and Chen Chui vented all his dissatisfaction in the local area.

But in the face of Da Tiechui's questioning, the governors did not show any weakness and refuted: "You still have the nerve to criticize us. If you were a decent person, we would not be so ruthless."

"You, the Shaofu, ate the meat but didn't even want to leave a mouthful of soup for your brothers. I admit that we are not as good as you, the Shaofu, in developing the workshop. We do have our own little thoughts and didn't listen to what the court said. We have lost, but we admit it. We have handed the workshop over to you, the Shaofu, to handle.

So how did you, the Shaofu, deal with the situation? You sold the cloth in the warehouse at a 5% discount, and as long as there was someone willing to take over the machine factory, you sold it without even bargaining.

It's not that you built a workshop, you really don't feel any pain at all, we spent 100 million to build the workshop, and you sold it for just a few hundred thousand. It really proves the old saying, "A son sells his father's land without any pain."

"If there were any workshops in the local area, we would not have gone to protect the textile factories of the workshop owners. All this was caused by your aggressiveness."

Chen Chui said: "You can't blame me for this. Your textile factory is already outdated. It's useless to keep it here. Clean it up early and you can recover some of the costs."

"Nonsense! Our textile machines and spinning wheels are all up-to-date, and most of them are only two or three years old. How can we be behind?"

The big hammer mocked, "Your looms can't even weave a batch of cloth in three days. Now the new steam looms can weave a whole piece of cloth in a day. How can your old machines compare?"

At this time, Xu Fan brought Xiao He, Ye Teng, Shang Nong and Wu Guang to the venue.

After hearing their arguments, he said, "Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. I will take you to see the new steam looms so that you can understand the future development trend of the industry. Don't go back and build some backward textile factories again."

After saying this, Xu Fan led the governors who came to offer advice out of Chang'an City.

Because steam looms burned coal, Xu Fan was worried that these textile factories would cause too much pollution if they remained in Chang'an City, so he established a new textile industrial zone near Bashang in Chang'an City and moved all the steam looms to this area.

"Boom boom boom!" When the governors approached the textile factory, they heard a loud roar.

"Steam engine!" The governor who followed Xu Fan was a little surprised. The noise was so loud, obviously there were quite a few steam engines in this textile workshop.

Since the emperor attached so much importance to steam engines, they naturally knew something about them.

This is the steam engine they have seen. It has always been expensive, has low horsepower, and is not practical. Apart from the emperor's experiments in Guanzhong, the only places where steam engines were used on a large scale were mines that had no shortage of money. Each steam engine also had to be equipped with a repairman because you didn't know when it would break down. Therefore, people of this era viewed steam engines as something of strange and erotic technology.

When they walked into the factory, they were stunned by the scene in front of them. Dozens of steam textile machines and steam spinning wheels were neatly arranged together. They saw that the spinning wheels were driven by the curved rods to quickly produce yarn. A female worker wearing a white cloth mask was in charge of three spinning wheels. As long as one spindle was full of yarn, she would replace it with an empty spindle. Her hands were quick and her movements were skillful.

On the other side, the shuttle in the steam spinning wheel swayed rapidly from side to side. They only stared at it for a while and it wove three inches of cloth. This efficiency terrified the governors.

The textile industry is a big hit in the country because of its small investment, quick results, and high profits. Local Han officials like to build textile factories the most. They have seen water-powered spinning wheels and water-powered textile machines. But this is the first time they have seen such an efficient textile machine.

No wonder Big Hammer said that their textile machines were outdated. Compared with steam textile machines, their textile machines really became outdated.

Chen Rui complained: "Your Majesty, you can't just leave the good things to Chang'an. We are also your people."

The textile industry in Sanchuan County was also hit hard by this economic crisis. However, if they had obtained steam textile machines earlier, the textile industry in Sanchuan County would not only not be hit hard, but might even have counterattacked to Guanzhong.

Xu Fan said: "You can't blame me for this. You saw the Steam Expo two years ago. The workshop owners and merchants of the Han Dynasty saw it and knew that investing millions of dollars would give them a technological advantage. You don't take it seriously, so how can you blame me?"

Chen Rui and the others were speechless. Who could have imagined that what was once just a useless thing with strange and lewd techniques could completely replace the water-powered textile machine in just two years.

Chen Rui immediately said: "A certain Sanchuan County wants to buy this steam loom, the steam spinning machine."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we are wrong. We also want this steam loom and steam spinning wheel."

Xu Fan shook his head and said, "It's too late. The imperial court's steam equipment workshop has already received full orders. Even if the imperial court has expanded its production capacity, it will take more than a year to complete the orders on hand. You will have to wait a year for the new machines."

Then Xu Fan looked at them disappointedly and shook his head, saying: "This is the consequence of you not following the latest cutting-edge technology. I have always told you that you can't look at problems with a static perspective, thinking that everything will be fine if you only build a textile machine and you can keep collecting money.

This idea was correct before the Qin Dynasty, but it is wrong in the Han Dynasty. The textile machines of the Han Dynasty have been constantly improving and innovating. Those who cannot keep up will be left behind.

The reason why so many local textile workshops have been closed down this time is not only due to the economic crisis, but also due to the lower production efficiency of your textile workshops. The economic crisis will only eliminate those textile factories with high production costs and low technology, just like the law of nature will eliminate those old and weak beasts, leaving room for those young and strong beasts to develop.

You should just focus on your own duties. Governing a place and developing a workshop are two completely different industries."

"It is also good that the workshops in your local counties have been hit hard this time. It will allow you to spend more energy on governing the local areas."

Chen Rui and others were disappointed when they heard this, but at this time they still had to rely on the court for help, so they naturally did not dare to refute the emperor's words.

Then Xu Fan said to Li Shang: "As the host, you should take them to see other steam factories, so that they can also understand the development of the cutting-edge technology of our Han Dynasty. Don't let them become the people who are looking for swords on the boat."

The door to the steam age has been opened, and it has begun to spread in bits and pieces throughout the world, but few of the Han Dynasty's governors have paid much attention to it, and many of them don't even know about steam engines. How can this work? Let's not talk about how these governors can use steam engines to make money, but they must understand these things.

Li Shang nodded and said, "Yes!"

So Li Shang led the governors of the Han Dynasty to inspect the steam industry zone. As the scale of steam engine use became larger and larger, the steam projects of various experimental groups began to be put into production, and the previous experimental groups expanded and established their own factories. The original laboratory workshop was naturally not enough, so Xu Fan simply built a high-tech industrial park next to the steel plant and placed all the steam engine production workshops here.

Li Shang first took the Han governors to see the steam machinery factory that they were most concerned about, and then they saw a steampunk scene.

A huge steam hammer forges a ball of red-hot iron into shape with a few thumps, and then enters the next process. The craftsmen use machines that the governor cannot understand to drill inside, and finally make it into something like a bucket, and then move on to the next process. They cannot understand the various machines in this workshop at all, but these huge machines can make them feel the beauty of power.

"How come I have never seen these machines before?"

Li Shang smiled and said, "These machine tools are specially developed for producing steam engines. They have only appeared in the past few years, so you naturally haven't seen them. I will ask the chief craftsman of this steam workshop to explain them to you."

Compared with other depressed prefects, his Neishi County could be said to have taken advantage of the best time and location. During this crisis, the houses in Guanzhong not only did not decline, but took the opportunity to expand to more places. The total amount of cloth produced surpassed that of Sanchuan County in one fell swoop, and it became the world's number one textile center.

At the same time, the steam industry emerged and began to mass-produce steam textile machines, steam spinning wheels, steam locomotives, and steam ships. It should be noted that the prices of these machines ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 yuan. This is a high-tech, high-profit industry.

Steam quickly replaced water power as a power machine in Guanzhong, and the production efficiency of major workshops in Guanzhong increased rapidly. This wave of economic crisis actually created room for the development of the steam industry.

This year, the taxes paid to Nei Shi County not only did not decrease, but increased a little. Although it was not much, compared with other counties that made great strides backward, Nei Shi County's advantage was too obvious.

"Li Lei greets all the county governors." Li Lei, dressed in craftsman's clothes, paid his respects to Li Shang and other county governors.

Li Shang smiled and said, "Come and introduce our steam equipment factory to the county governors."

"promise!"

Chen Rui pointed at a big thing and asked, "What kind of machine is this?"

"This is called a steam hammer, powered by steam. This hammer weighs 300 kilograms and can knead those red-hot iron ingots into shape like dough, making it easier for our steam plant to forge in the next step."

"What kind of machine is this?"

"The boring machine is used to polish the cylinder of the steam engine. The steam engine is mainly powered by steam to push the piston to move, so the cylinder must be made extremely smooth and sealed. It is extremely time-consuming to grind it by manpower, but using this boring machine can increase the efficiency dozens of times."

Next, the governors asked questions one by one, and Li Lei answered their questions one by one.

Finally, Chen Rui asked, "What is the annual output value of your steam workshop?"

Li Lei frowned and said, "This factory has been under construction for less than a year, so I am not sure, but in the past six months, our steam equipment factory's turnover has exceeded 60 million yuan. The profit is not high for the time being because we are still designing new machines for production. As far as the current situation is concerned, the income and expenditure are barely balanced."

Chen Rui immediately said, "Master Li, the steam engine is a treasure for people all over the world. The machine you produce is far from meeting the needs of people all over the world. The governor of Sanchuan County sincerely invites you to build a new steam equipment factory in Sanchuan County?"

Nanyang County Governor Zhang Qiang also immediately responded and said, "These machines are all made of steel. Nanyang County is the center of steelmaking in the world. Master Li should go to Nanyang County and build a steam machinery factory. Steam engines and steel factories are a perfect match. The steam machinery factory will surely develop greatly if it goes to Nanyang County."

Although this steam machinery factory has not yet made a profit, its annual output value has exceeded 100 million yuan, which is considered a large workshop in the Han Dynasty. Not to mention that the machinery produced by this machinery factory can also drive the development of the textile industry.

In the eyes of Chen Rui and his colleagues, this workshop is simply a hen that lays golden eggs. What else is there to say? Naturally, they have to find a way to move this hen to their own territory to lay eggs.

Li Shang said angrily, "You guys are going too far. I took you to visit the workshop, but you poached me right in front of me."

Zhang Qiang said, "What do you mean by poaching? That's so harsh. What has the construction of this workshop got to do with you? Don't think I don't know that the emperor spent money on the research and development of the steam engine at the beginning. He invested thousands of gold every year to achieve some results. Later, the emperor even held a steam expo and invited merchants from all over the world to invest. Only then did we have the current results. What did you have to do with it?"

Xiahou Ying also said: "Li Shang, you already have several steam workshops in Guanzhong. You have already taken advantage of them. You are still not satisfied. If you keep taking advantage of them alone, it will cause public outrage."

The other governors also glared at Li Shang. He was the only lucky guy among the unlucky ones. If he wasn't envied, then who would be? If he had escaped with his own ability, it would be fine, but this was the credit of the emperor. How could the other governors not feel angry? Now Li Shang wanted to stop them from making further progress. This move was simply infuriating.

Li Shang was frightened by this look and took a step back, but he quickly glared back and said, "What do you mean Guanzhong didn't contribute? Aren't all the people in Guanzhong who developed these steam engines?"

Zhang Qiang said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. Why do you have more than a dozen schools in Guanzhong, while our other 50 counties don't even have five? This time, I will unite with the wise men to seek justice from the court. Education must also be fair. You guys in Guanzhong can't take all the good things."

As the high school entrance examination showed a trend of replacing the imperial examination, various counties and prefectures also attached more and more importance to the high school entrance examination. However, what made them helpless was that, apart from Guanzhong, there were very few universities in the world. There were two naval academies in Kuaiji County and Guangyang County, and two steel academies in Chen County and Hedong County. The remaining universities were all in Guanzhong, distributed near Chang'an.

Li Shang said: "Academic institutions have always been located near the capital city. It has been like this for thousands of years."

"You also said that this is an old tradition, but my Han Dynasty is the greatest in the world, and what we are talking about is innovation. If it is called an old tradition, my Han Dynasty would not have compulsory education, nor would there be so many middle schools and institutions of higher learning. Why can people in Guanzhong receive a good education, but we can't?"

Seeing that the debate was becoming more and more intense, Li Shang did not dare to continue arguing. After all, his qualifications were not as senior as Chen Chui's. Chen Chui dared to scold dozens of prefects, but he did not dare to do so.

He could only leave here angrily and did not take them to visit the remaining factories.

But the Han governors thought this was a better idea, so they went to visit it themselves and see what treasures they could find and bring back.

Not far away while they were arguing, at the steamship factory, Hu Hai enthusiastically led Zhu Pei and Zhuzi to inspect the steamship factory he invested in two years ago, and wanted to take out some money to help him make a comeback.

When Hu Hai saw that this steamship factory had ten docks, he was extremely surprised. His Fei Hai Shipyard had only five docks, but it was worth 5 million coins. This shipyard was twice as big as his and had more advanced technology, so it must be worth hundreds of millions of coins.

Hu Hai remembered that the contract he signed was for a 30% stake in the steamship experimental group. If converted, this would be worth tens of millions, and he would be able to come back to life immediately.

With this excited mood, Hu Hai found the master craftsman of the shipyard and explained that he had lost all his capital in the economic crisis and wanted to share the profits of the past two years first.

But the master craftsman shook his head and said, "Brother Hu Hai, your calculation is correct. With the patent for steamships, our shipyard is definitely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, or even far more than that. But we really don't have any money in our shipyard's account, and it's impossible for us to give you dividends. All we have is debt."

Hu Hai couldn't believe it and said, "How is this possible? You have developed so fast in two years, how is it possible that there is no money in the account? Could it be that you, the Mohist School, are also going to do such a deceitful thing?"

(End of this chapter)