Chapter 100 Choose the Ocean
After Zhang Du left, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "You did a good job. The Taiping Iron Works is on the right track. I read Zhang Du's report. The Taiping Iron Works can supply enough steel to the Ministry of Works. Next spring, it is estimated that all the warehouses of the Ministry of Works will be It's almost full. Most of the wood has been abandoned by iron, especially bows and arrows. The Ministry of Industry has reported that starting from this year, the Ming Dynasty's bows and arrows will all be iron-tired bows. By the way, with pulleys added, all arrows will become Killed the Iron Arrow. This is something I never dared to think about before."
In fact, when it comes to processing long arrows, iron is easier to process than wood.
Turning wood into arrow shafts requires several processes. But the iron arrows can be cast directly. Even if there are burrs in the casting, the craftsmen can ignore it and give it directly to the soldiers, who will polish it carefully themselves.
It's just a matter of cost.
Moreover, steel production skyrocketed, and soon there were not enough craftsmen. Using iron arrows instead of wooden arrows is more expensive in terms of materials, but it saves labor costs.
The long arrows of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty changed from wooden arrows to iron arrows. This was just the beginning.
It is also the epitome of change.
He Xi said: "This is what I should do."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay. Have you thought about where to go?"
He Xi said: "I have thought about it."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Where?"
He Xi said: "Songjiang Mansion."
Zhu Yuanzhang said; "Songjiang? Shanghai?"
"Exactly." He Xi said.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked with interest: "Why?"
He Xi said: "The ocean is the direction of the future. The only world empire must be an ocean hegemon. And ocean management has always been a matter of hundreds of years. I feel that the ocean should be managed now."
This is the result of He Xi's repeated thinking.
He analyzed what Zhu Yuanzhang cared about most? After thinking about it, I'm afraid it's the ocean policy. Because when later generations evaluated Zhu Yuanzhang, they criticized and regretted the maritime ban policy. Moreover, before He Xi, he would also be granted the title of king overseas as a way out for the Ming vassal king.
In this way, how could Zhu Yuanzhang not care about the sea?
In addition, He Xi faced the actual dilemma.
He always thought that he wanted to build the industrial revolution in Ming Dynasty. The biggest problem was ideological or technical, but it was only discovered after the actual construction of the Taiping Iron Works. The biggest problem is capital.
It's money.
The Ming Dynasty taxed more than 33 million shi a year. Among them are taxes from various places and grain turned over by military camps. Various tax revenues amounted to more than 3 million taels. This is the Ming Dynasty Zhengfu. Income from other aspects, including house confiscation, stolen goods, excessive issuance of treasure notes, etc., are difficult to calculate. Zhu Yuanzhang must have private money.
But not many.
The Taiping Iron Works is only the first phase of the project.
The cost is more than one million taels. Why was Zhu Yuanzhang particularly interested in minting money? He didn't ask them to report on output, production capacity, etc., but mainly reported on the issue of money? It is because the other outputs of the Taiping Iron Works are just to improve finished products for other departments of the imperial court and will not generate any money.
That's all that can bring in money.
At this point, He Xi already knew that more money should be drawn from the Ming Dynasty's finances to develop this kind of heavy industry. It's no longer possible.
The three elements of industrial revolution are technology, capital and resources.
If there is one thing to be subtracted from these three elements, it is technology.
Because under normal circumstances, spending money will produce technology.
If you reduce one more, it's resources.
Because resources can be purchased, it is nothing more than a matter of cost.
The only thing that is indispensable is money.
Of course, money and capital are still different. Money invested in industrial production is capital. Otherwise it's just money.
So where to get money? The entire Ming Dynasty only covers Jiangnan. It is impossible to have much money in other places. After all, there has been war for many years and everything is in ruins. There is no oil or water in all parts of the Central Plains, and only Jiangnan has accumulation.
Where are you going if you don't go to Jiangnan?
Of course, money can not only be sought from within, but also from outside. Attract foreign investment? Although there may not be much foreign investment in this era, sea trade is still quite profitable.
In addition, the aforementioned overseas expansion. Wait for the question.
Why does He Xi think that he should deal with the ocean, and he is worried that if he doesn't do this, no one will be willing to do it.
In many things, He Xi is not irreplaceable. After all, at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were many generals. The civil servants were a little weaker, but there were actually quite a few who were good candidates. Such as Zhangdu. It's just that he is not as famous as the generals of the same period.
But in some things, He Xi is really irreplaceable.
In terms of ocean development, there are many things that other people probably don’t know what to do except He Xi.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Yes, these days, I have been thinking about the best place to put you, and after thinking about it, it is also the seaside. However, the place I chose is not Songjiang, but Ningbo."
He Xi said: "Ningbo?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said; "Perhaps, in your time, Shanghai was the center of the southeast coast, but now, Ningbo is the center of maritime navigation. Only Ningbo has everything you want, enough manpower, shipyards, sea guides, merchants etc."
He Xi was startled, as this somewhat broke his plan.
He went to Songjiang not only for sailing, but also for Songjiang cotton.
Songjiang was originally a cotton production center. In the Yuan Dynasty, the famous Huang Daopo brought cotton textile technology to Songjiang. After the Ming Dynasty, cotton textile technology developed well in Songjiang. Of course, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was not as powerful as it was in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. However, He Xi is confident in promoting the formation of Songjiang Textile Center.
The head office is in Zhou.
Light industry is the most profitable.
It is enough to bring He Xi a source of capital to build heavy industry.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw the hesitation in He Xi's heart, smiled faintly, and said, "You can also ask for Songjiang first." Zhu Yuanzhang wrote a line on the imperial case: "Add Secretary Cheng He Xi to supervise the censor and inspect the affairs of the southeast coast. Governor of Songjiang and Ningbo."
Then he showed this line of writing to He Xi.
He Xi looked at it and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled softly, and then wrote two lines of words on this piece of paper: "Also supervise the maritime affairs, and send the vassal affairs to King Jingjiang. Give the king an order to flag, and all the naval forces along the coast will obey the order. He has the right to kill first and report later."
When He Xi looked at it again, he couldn't understand some of it.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Do you know about the war in the north?"
He Xi said, "Of course I know."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "After Wei Guogong came back from the north, he had several detailed discussions with me. In his opinion, the situation in Monan has reached a stalemate. Monan is too big, and our army can only defend a few key points, but everything else is Two little bits of land. It is estimated that the Tatars will cross the vast sea and plunder southward every year in the future. Monan has become a battlefield. Unless Mobei is defeated in a battle, this situation will not change, even if there are several major victories."
"It would be too risky to cross the vast sea directly into Mobei. The five-year battle of Hongwu is a lesson."
"Now that I think about it, I am a little scared. If it hadn't been for Xu Da, hundreds of thousands of elite troops would have lost their troops in Mobei, and the world would have been in trouble."
Zhu Yuanzhang remembered that at the beginning, when the world was initially settled and there were many hidden dangers in various places, his original intention was to seize the residual yuan in one fell swoop and declare the world. Consolidate the orthodox position of Ming Dynasty. But I never expected that it would end up like this. Fortunately, Xu Da withdrew his army. Otherwise, the world would be unimaginable. Although Zhu Yuanzhang was confident that he would conquer the world again. But I'm afraid it will be chaotic for two or three years.
After learning this lesson, Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da did not want to take risks.
"So, he hopes to move to the northeast and first destroy the remaining arm of the Yuan Dynasty, the so-called Liaoyang Province. That's what I mean. And if this is the case, shipping will be very important. I don't trust you to leave this matter to others. And take care of it.”
He Xi secretly added a small reason for Zhu Yuanzhang, that is, the Jurchens are now in Liaodong. Zhu Yuanzhang had endured it for more than a year before he was ready to sharpen his sword. I just didn't know that when the Liaoyang Province was destroyed, the Jurchen clan was wiped out conveniently. The people who destroyed the Jurchens easily defeated Liaoyang Province.
It's the same anyway.
He Xi said: "I understand. It's just that King Jingjiang------"
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said: "My family is unfortunate."
