Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 332 Land
When Li Qiang left Changchun Palace, he still wore the "Daqian Sword" around his waist.

It was enough for the retired emperor to know that the "Da Qian Sword" had been recovered by the royal family, and he had no intention of asking for the "Da Qian Sword" back.

When Li Qiang became the emperor of Daqian, many more affairs came to his attention.

In the past, many things did not need to be done because there was no emperor.

Now that he has become the emperor, he needs to reward some of his ministers from time to time, just like Emperor Jingwen did in the past, to show the emperor's favor.

This is the emperor's way of thinking, through this method, he wants to split some of his subjects.

These rewarded ministers, because they are favored by the emperor, will be sought after by other ministers, but this is also equivalent to being isolated.

Some ministers, out of jealousy, interests, power, etc., would try to replace the emperor and work hard for the emperor in the hope of becoming one of them.

Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for the ministers to band together to fight against the emperor, and the emperor would be able to better manage the court.

Of course, this is the simplest method. There are many other ways that can allow the emperor to control his subjects.

Although Li Qiang did not want to waste too much time on government affairs, he also knew the benefits of controlling the court. Therefore, after becoming emperor, he used rewards to win over some ministers to serve him.

In the main hall of Daming Palace, Lin Daiyu was holding her child and looking to the side with a smile on her face.

On the other side, Li Qiang and Lin Ruhai were sitting and drinking tea and chatting.

"Your Majesty, the first batch of fifty steam textile machines have been installed in Yangzhou, and are currently in the stage of training apprentices!" Lin Ruhai reported to Li Qiang.

Li Qiang entrusted him with the matter of the Yangzhou textile workshop.

Now that the first step has been taken, Lin Ruhai will naturally come to report.

Although he also understood that since the matter concerned Chase Bank, Chase Bank would also report it, the significance of his report and that of Chase Bank was different.

Lin Ruhai was very clear about his identity. He was the emperor's father-in-law, but he was also a subject. In front of Emperor Li Qiang, he could only be a subject.

"The speed is still a bit slow!" Li Qiang shook her head and said.

"The workshop in the suburbs of Beijing that specializes in manufacturing steam textile machines already has 2,000 people. I've also been there. It's still in the stage of talent training. Only once a group of skilled workers have been trained in the workshop can it start full-scale production!" Lin Ruhai explained.

"Don't sell the cloth produced in Yangzhou for now. Store them all in the warehouse. I plan to use them for other purposes!" Li Qiang instructed.

He had no intention of making profits from cloth, as these cloths were a powerful weapon for economic invasion of other countries.

In this dynasty, cloth could be used as currency to a certain extent, which gave him more room for maneuver.

"If this happens, the huge investment made before will be difficult to recover!" Lin Ruhai reminded.

This was intended to produce one thousand steam textile machines, and a special manufacturing workshop was built to produce them.

Although it is an investment from Datong Money House, the silver of Datong Money House is equal to Li Qiang's silver.

"It's just a little money!" Li Qiang said indifferently.

He had long passed the stage of counting how much silver he had. The industry now managed by Datong Money House was a huge industry combined from six major merchants.

The profits that this huge industry can generate are astronomical figures. Moreover, with the current emperor as the background, and without the official constraints that businessmen worry about the most, this huge industry is expanding rapidly.

In addition, since all the managers, both top and bottom, are 100% loyal to Li Qiang, the enthusiasm they have for work is incomparable to before.

Not to mention the hundreds of millions of taels of silver that Li Qiang originally had in his hands, even the silver produced by this huge industry would make Li Qiang need to consider how to spend it.

Li Qiang is not a miser like those big businessmen. After earning money, they will take out a part of it to continue investing, and the rest will either be kept at home or used to buy extremely precious treasures.

Whether keeping the silver at home or exchanging it for precious treasures and keeping them at home, it is all about preserving the wealth as a family heritage.

But Li Qiang’s idea was different from theirs. All the money had to be spent so that it could be put to the best use.

Lin Ruhai looked at Li Qiang speechlessly. Li Qiang was really too rich, which made him have no passion in doing things.

As a minister, the right thing to do is to help the emperor solve his problems. However, Emperor Li Qiang holds all the military power in Daqian and does not need to rely on the Ministry of Revenue for finances. How can a minister display his best abilities?

Emperor Li Qiang could solve all the most difficult problems with money.

Just like the matter of the workshop with one thousand steam textile machines this time, Lin Ruhai didn't need to intervene much. He just contacted Yangzhou. He didn't need to ask about the rest of the production of steam textile machines and their transportation to Yangzhou.

"By the way, there is something I still need to discuss with you!" Li Qiang said, thinking of another thing.

"Your Majesty, please speak!" Lin Ruhai sat up straight and said.

"I still have 100 million taels of idle silver in my hands, and I plan to use it all to buy land!" Li Qiang said with a smile.

When Lin Ruhai heard about the 100 million taels of idle silver, he couldn't help feeling dizzy.

What is idle silver? It means that Li Qiang keeps the 100 million taels of silver in his hands and will not use it.

Li Qiang originally had 90 million taels of silver, and with the addition of the industries managed by Feicui, the silver produced in recent months added up to 100 million taels of silver.

As for the recent investment in steam research and manufacturing, as well as some other investments, they were all funded by the silver confiscated from the ancestral homes of the six major merchants.

The amount of silver was too huge and had been injected into Datong Bank.

There were also rare treasures seized from the homes of the six major merchants, which were used to enrich Li Qiang's inner treasury and would be used as rewards from the emperor in the future.

"Your Majesty, do you know what consequences will arise from buying and selling land?" Lin Ruhai woke up from the shock of the huge amount of silver and asked back.

"Do you think I'm planning to become a big landlord?" Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Isn't it?" Lin Ruhai asked puzzledly.

When Li Qiang was studying with Lin Ruhai, the two discussed the reasons for the fall of the dynasty.

A large amount of land was annexed, and farmers could not guarantee their survival without their fields.

Land annexation is a difficult problem to solve. Officials and large landowners take advantage of natural disasters, and every natural disaster becomes their best opportunity to harvest land.

When natural disasters occur, farmers are unable to harvest from their fields and cannot feed themselves, so they have no choice but to sell their fields.

Over time, farmers had less and less land, while officials and landlords had more and more land.

Farmers who lost their land could only rent land to cultivate. The high rent made it difficult for farmers to make ends meet. Eventually, when farmers could no longer make a living, unrest would break out, the country would be in chaos, and the dynasty would collapse.

The new dynasty was established, and the previous cycle was repeated again. "Haha, my idea is to buy land from those big landlords, and then rent it to farmers in the name of Daqian officials, charging a relatively reasonable rent to ensure the interests of Daqian farmers!" Li Qiang explained with a smile.

This was the solution he came up with to solve the problem of land annexation. Of course, this method was something only he could implement.

Who can blame him for having a huge amount of silver in his hands and being able to do things that other emperors cannot do.

As a person with memories of his previous life, he doesn't want too many ways to earn money.

But now that he is the emperor, he has long since disdained those small businesses.

When he sold large quantities of cloth to foreign countries, that was when he really began to make huge wealth.

"I'm afraid those big landlords won't agree!" Lin Ruhai said as he thought of an important issue.

"They will agree!" Li Qiang assured calmly.

A dangerous look flashed in his eyes. He had the means to make all the big landlords in the world agree to this.

"Are you planning to force it? This won't be good for your reputation!" Lin Ruhai reminded quickly.

"There is no need for me to show up. There will be military officers in various places to cooperate in purchasing land. They will deal with the landlords who don't obey!" Li Qiang explained with a smile.

Another thing he didn't say was that these 100% loyal warriors would also be his spies in various places.

Anyone who dares to do anything excessive in his affairs will be known by him under the surveillance of these 100% loyal warriors, and accountability will be waiting for those people.

Since ancient times, whatever strategies were formulated in the capital would often change their tone when they reached the local level, turning a good thing into a bad thing.

But Li Qiang has an advantage that others do not have. Among the troops stationed in various places in Daqian, there are 100% loyal generals. These generals ensure that his orders will be fully executed even when they reach the local level.

The most important thing is that the generals have the army at their disposal. Anyone who disobeys them, even if they are local tyrants, is nothing more than a small character in front of the army.

"This has never happened before, but it might be a good idea!" Lin Ruhai thought about it carefully and finally nodded.

All things come together, except for money and people. Now Li Qiang has enough money and enough people, as well as the means to monitor these executors, so things can be done.

Lin Ruhai has been considering how much land he can buy with 100 million taels of silver. Although 100 million taels of silver is an astronomical figure, it is still not enough to buy enough land to influence Daqian.

"One hundred million taels of silver is just the initial investment, and we will continue to invest in purchasing land in the future!" Li Qiang continued.

When the Yangzhou textile workshop was built and large quantities of cloth were sold to foreign countries, a large amount of silver would flow back.

This is just the first step. After the steam textile machine, there will be more types of machines. For example, in coal mining, machines can completely replace manual labor and increase the speed of coal mining.

In metallurgy, steam engines can play a huge role, making metallurgy simpler and easier.

In terms of hydraulics, drainage machines driven by steam engines can increase the irrigation effect many times.

Li Qiang mastered the steam engine, and all these wealth would be seized by him. He would then invest the earned wealth back into the people to reclaim land, build roads, etc.

When steam engines were widely used, the entire Daqian took off.

Li Qiang slowly told Lin Ruhai about the grand blueprint he had envisioned, and Lin Ruhai's heart was filled with emotion as he listened.

Compared with Li Qiang's idea, the intrigues in the court seemed so ridiculous.

Lin Ruhai looked at Li Qiang. Perhaps only an emperor like Li Qiang could have such a grand blueprint.

You have to know that most of the things Li Qiang does will encounter great resistance. Even if he has the power of an emperor, it will be difficult to get things done.

But the military force and wealth in Li Qiang's hands made him fearless of any resistance, and he even dared to eliminate all resistance.

"Your Majesty, I will do my best to get things done!" Lin Ruhai stood up and bowed to assure.

"Okay, now that we've finished our business, let's go see the kids together!" Li Qiang waved her hand and said with a smile.

Lin Ruhai also walked towards Lin Daiyu with a smile and took the child from her hands.

Although Jia Min's health was treated by Li Qiang, both Lin Ruhai and Jia Min had suffered from serious illnesses and had not had children for many years, so he loved his grandson very much.

Apart from non-official matters, Li Qiang was very relaxed about the rules of the Daming Palace, so Lin Ruhai could enjoy family happiness here.

"After Sister Lin has been raised for a while, Sister Lin and I will have another child. If it's a boy, we will give him the surname Lin!" Li Qiang said with a smile.

"This is absolutely not possible!" Lin Ruhai quickly refused.

Li Qiang did make such a promise at the beginning, but Li Qiang was just an ordinary person at that time, so it was not a big deal even if she let her second son have the surname Lin.

But things are different now. Li Qiang is the emperor and his second son is a prince. If he asks the prince to change his surname, I am afraid the royal family will not agree.

Besides, letting the second son have the surname Lin would be tantamount to cutting off any possibility of his succession and might even make his status as a prince unstable, which was definitely not what Lin Ruhai wanted to see.

"There's nothing to worry about. Even if the child's surname is Lin, he is still my son!" Li Qiang waved her hand and said.

"This..." Lin Ruhai was still a little hesitant.

"That's settled!" Li Qiang decided.

Lin Ruhai sighed helplessly in his heart and could only bow to express his gratitude.

"Brother Qiang, Heng'er is the only child now. How come there is no news about the other sisters' pregnancies?" Lin Daiyu asked, gently pulling Li Qiang.

She knew that Li Qiang was no ordinary person, and she suspected that Li Qiang might be able to control the matter of having a child.

"Let's wait until the second son is born!" Li Qiang replied without explaining anything.

Lin Daiyu was finally certain that Li Qiang had controlled the situation and prevented the other concubines from getting pregnant.

Li Qiang's idea was very simple. He was not in a hurry to have a child. Since he had just ascended the throne and he also had to practice cultivation, having a child would take up too much of his time.

Once you have a child, you have to accompany the child all the time. He doesn't want the child to be affected by the lack of fatherly love.

Only after the affairs in Daqian are sorted out and certain achievements have been made in cultivation, will we consider the issue of all concubines giving birth to children.

However, his ideas are somewhat different from those of people of this era, so he didn't want to explain much.

(End of this chapter)