Chapter 10 Crossing the Sea
He Xi smiled slightly and said, "You're welcome. I have one more thing to bother you with. You can take me to the countryside to see you. How about that?"
Shopkeeper Zhang said: "Please don't worry, sir. I will make arrangements for it. It's just spring plowing today. Everyone is very busy. I guess I will neglect you."
"It doesn't matter." He Xi said, "I just want to see the real situation."
------
For several days, He Xi took people to the countryside.
Understand the situation in the countryside in depth.
Generally speaking, the violent changes that occurred before Hongwu also affected this place. As a large number of wealthy households moved out, a large amount of land also fell into the hands of ordinary people. Landowners with more than 200 acres of land in Ming Dynasty were all on Zhu Yuanzhang's list at the same time. During the Hongwu period, a large amount of land was reclaimed, allowing most people to own their own land.
True.
People's lives are still very difficult. But it has its own land. Most people can survive.
This is why, it was clear that the Ming Dynasty was in ruins and was lacking everything. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, all the people of the Ming Dynasty missed the Hongwu Dynasty. It is said that during the Hongwu Dynasty, the people were simple and honest. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang has been adhering to the word "equalization" all his life. The land must be equalized and the taxes must be equalized.
This has such an effect.
However, this situation also brought big problems to He Xi.
Because land is distributed relatively evenly, most people are tied to the land.
What He Xi had previously mobilized was the court's manpower and material resources. It's not that obvious. Now I go to the countryside during the busy farming period. What he didn't see was the sound of a loom.
Princess Anqing went to the countryside several times. So tired. Simply stay in Zhujing Town.
The people who have always been with He Xi are Yao Guangxiao and Yang Yu.
Yao Guangxiao saw that He Xi's face was getting more and more ugly, and said, "Sir, what do you think, can I help you solve your doubts?"
He Xi said: "Mr. Yao, I have many things to do when I go out this time. But the first thing is to make money."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Making money?"
He Xi said: "Exactly. Everything in the imperial court requires money. I originally wanted to start in the cotton cloth industry, but now it seems that it is difficult to start."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Master He, how are you going to start?"
He Xi said, "You have also seen these looms. In fact, they can be improved by using mechanical power and adding more shuttles. The benefits will be several times. Even dozens of times. But now in Jiangnan, men farm and women weave. Once I use the new loom, I’m afraid the people will get into trouble?”
Yao Guangxiao said: "Sir, you may have made a mistake. No matter what you do, as long as you don't touch the people's fields, the people will not cause trouble. The land is the lifeblood of the people. Not anything else."
He Xi sighed and said, "When you say this, I feel even more uneasy."
"Sir, there is no need to be like this." Yang Yu suddenly said: "Men farm and women weave. In the eyes of ordinary people, it may be Mr. Wuliu's pastoral home. But only those who have experienced it know the hard work. People will choose A better path for yourself.”
"This is also my lord, what's so clever about developing productivity? It's in line with human nature and natural principles."
He Xi looked at Yang Yu and felt that this was a nice thing to say. That makes sense too. But many things are not like this. He Xi really doesn't know who is better, a few acres of thin farmland, where men farm and women weave, or ordinary workers in large industrial production areas.
However, there was one thing He Xi knew.
Ordinary people actually don’t have a choice in many things.
Likewise, He Xi seems to have a choice. But there isn’t much choice.
Not to mention, if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to make Ming Dynasty stronger, he had to take this path. Even if He Xi doesn't do it. Hundreds of years later, someone will force them to do this. Hard work or not, worry or not, it's all in vain.
He Xi stopped talking about this topic. He Xi said, "Yang Yu, I have a task for you."
Yang Yu said, "Sir, please speak."
He Xi said: "You have seen all these looms."
Yang Yu said: "I've seen it."
He Xi said: "Send samples of all kinds of looms to the School of Engineering and let them improve it for me. For example, I need more shuttles. I need more efficient textile machinery. It can be driven by water or wind. machinery."
In He Xi's opinion, these looms are perfect in terms of mechanics and practicality.
But this perfection is in the context of men farming and women weaving. If a woman is weaving in her spare time. That would be most appropriate. As for adding shuttles, increasing the width of the loom, etc. All will cause problems for weaving in family workshops.
Even such looms can still be found in some remote rural areas in later generations, and there is no difference in shape.
This fully illustrates this point. In the environment where men farm and women weave, today's looms do not need to be modified at all. There is no way to modify it. In He Xi's view, the only thing that could be modified was probably replacing some of the wearing parts on the loom from wood to iron.
It wasn't that I couldn't change it before. It's just a matter of cost.
Weaving looms used at home have even evolved into looms used in large workshops or factories. Similar to the improvement of the spinning Jenny, it is actually not difficult. Even in the Yuan Dynasty, there were similar modifications in Wang Zhennong's book.
So, it was never a technical issue. It's a question of demand.
Because of this, He Xi didn't find it difficult. So let the School of Engineering and Science design it individually. It can also be regarded as tempering their abilities.
Anyway, He Xi also sorted out the basic principles of mechanics and machinery. Moreover, many people in the College of Engineering and Science are craftsmen, and their practical skills are much stronger than that of He Xi. There was nothing for him to worry about.
Yang Yu agreed immediately.
He Xi stopped staying in Songjiang.
After all, although Songjiang has some advantages in the cotton industry, the advantages are not obvious. Even if He Xi feels it necessary, it is not impossible to place the future cotton spinning center near Nanjing. One of Zhu Yuanzhang's great achievements was the promotion of cotton.
Cotton was promoted to all parts of the country. This piece of raw material. They are found almost everywhere, it’s just a matter of good or bad varieties.
It's just that what He Xi did in Songjiang made Princess Anqing a little dissatisfied. Originally, Princess Anqing thought she was going on a sightseeing tour. But as it turned out, it was no fun at all. So, she took the lead and took the first step. She went to join her uncle Tanghe.
Princess Anqing and He Xi parted ways.
There are advantages and disadvantages.
The bad thing is that most of He Xi's protective forces are gone. The advantage is that He Xi can act more freely.
He Xi simply boarded the ship from Zhelin and headed for Ningbo by sea.
This way, the ships used were not official ships, but civilian ships.
If you rely on the mountains, you will eat the mountains; if you rely on the sea, you will eat the sea.
Zhu Yuanzhang already had the so-called sea ban. However, the maritime ban prohibits transactions with foreigners, and it is also to prevent pirates from appearing. There are no restrictions on ordinary people going to sea.
Of course, there are no restrictions here, but it does not mean there are no restrictions.
At the very least, ordinary people don't have to worry about going out to sea by boat.
However, even though there were fewer people around He Xi, there were still dozens of people. A large three-masted ship was chartered directly. It's just that the treatment in this cabin is much worse than that in Tang and on the boat. On Yuwa's boat, He Xi had a separate room. Only ordinary followers live in Datongpu. On this ship, even He Xi does not have a simple cabin. He could only squeeze together with Yao Guangxiao. Not to mention, there was an unpleasant smell throughout the ship.
It smells like fish. As for various places in the cabin, there were stains of one kind or another, which made He Xi very uncomfortable.
And it seems that the storm at sea is much more powerful than the waves in the Yangtze River. He Xi took a boat from Songjiang to Ningbo. It's not too far actually. But He Xi can withstand the bumps in the Yangtze River, but the bumps in the sea are somewhat unbearable.
It made He Xi very uncomfortable.
Fortunately, from Songjiang to Ningbo, you don’t just have to cross Hangzhou Bay. It didn't take a day's work. Arrive at Ningbo Pier.
He Xi breathed a sigh of relief. But even so, when I got off the boat and stepped on the Ningbo pier, my feet were soft. It felt like the earth was surging like a wave, making it difficult to stand.
