Chapter 93 He Xi’s plan
Things at home are always more troublesome than abroad.
For foreign countries, there is no need to worry about the consequences of dumping a large number of industrial products. Because it is not under the control of Ming Dynasty, even if something really goes wrong, it is still a perfect opportunity for Ming Dynasty to intervene. As for something happening in the country, it would be a big deal.
It was a big event that He Xi couldn't control.
Moreover, to build a fleet, all preparations are sufficient.
Timber, Liaodong has sufficient timber reserves, as explained before. In the case of large timber, prices have begun to slide. This also reduces costs.
Technology, though, is needed for new ship models to be designed. But the problem is that in this era, the so-called ship types are just passed down by word of mouth among many craftsmen. Together with students from the College of Science and Technology, we dismantled the original Fu Chuan, Guang Chuan, Sha Chuan and other ships, and based on various calculations, added the vessels obtained through experiments in the pool. I can't guarantee that it will work well. But it is also difficult to come up with big mistakes.
And sooner or later we will face the ocean.
Therefore, the various cloths used on ships are also very important.
It's just this matter that He Xi needs to discuss with Fu Youde. He Xi doesn't know how to explain it to Liu Jing so that Liu Jing can understand that it will take millions of taels or even more military expenditures to build one. A huge fleet that can transport tens of thousands of people or even more troops at a time.
In terms of specifications, it is not much different from the size of Zheng He's fleet.
But He Xi found that what was more difficult for him to explain was why all military expenditures had to be spent?
The issues involved are more difficult to explain.
Upon seeing this, Huang Zicheng said: "This is the need for the war against Japan. An army of hundreds of thousands crossed the sea and landed, which required a large number of ships. Now there is no problem with the wood and iron used in shipbuilding. The biggest problem is other aspects. The entire In the Ming Dynasty, among all the industries, only cotton is in short supply. And the shortage is the largest. Even last year, the price of cotton in the entire north was raised by us. It would cost too much to purchase it from outside. Therefore, we can finally be self-sufficient in Liaodong. Self-sufficient.”
Liu Jing glanced at He Xi. He didn't know anything about military affairs. He didn't delve into this statement and said, "Sir, cotton is the worst for the fields, especially continuous cotton planting. Now the land has just been reclaimed. , it is the time to cultivate the fields. If we plant cotton on a large scale, I am afraid that the official will ------"
Different crops have different land requirements.
He Xi is actually not too clear about this matter.
However, since Liu Jing said this, it should be true.
He Xi pondered for a moment and said: "Which is the lesser of the two harms, try to use as many types of cotton as possible."
He Xi's desire for agricultural machinery grew in his heart. Without enough agricultural machinery, farming will always require manpower, and manpower is the most difficult to improve. It takes at least fifteen years for a person to grow up. He Xi has so many things to wait for.
Liu Jing said: "I will obey my orders."
He Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Mr. Liu, please sit down. Huang Zicheng will speak next."
"Yes." Huang Zicheng said: "In your opinion, the destination of these more than six million silver has already been determined. First, the grain is stored in warehouses such as Liaodong and Korea to serve as military rations. A sum of money is also allocated to purchase grain from Nanyang. The specific amount has yet to be determined. Secondly, all the silver is invested in the bank account, and the bank account is changed to Liaodong Bank, which is responsible for the reserve of silver coins, banknotes, and the management of various bills. In the entire Liaodong and Goryeo territory. Only Use banknotes. Merchants entering Liaodong need to exchange them for banknotes at the bank. They can take them with them when they leave."
As for the circulation of banknotes, He Xi did not say. Huang Zicheng didn't say anything either.
In He Xi's view, there were nearly one million taels of silver in the original bank account, plus this allocation. He Xi felt that a total of more than ten million taels of silver notes could be issued. The bank notes that were overdrafted before have returned to the normal range this time.
As for greater leverage, He Xi still doesn't dare to mess around. On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty is no better than later generations, and many places are primitive societies. There is no social basis. What a leverage of dozens or hundreds of times. That was courting death. On the other hand, in He Xi's opinion, banknotes were too important.
He Xi is preparing to replace the Ming Dynasty Baochao system. In this matter, he would rather be cautious than make a mistake. I don't dare to cause trouble.
This point is ambiguous.
Wu Gao didn't feel this at all, but Liu Jing's family background meant that he could see that there was important information hidden in it. But he is very sensible. For things that are none of his business. Not paying much attention.
Huang Zicheng said: "In terms of expanding production, we are preparing to expand the Lushun Shipyard and build large ships with tens of thousands of materials. There is no problem with this. There are also ordnance, hundreds of thousands of armor weapons, firearms, and various artillery. This is also no problem. Even the inventory is It is enough. The biggest problem is that the warship cannon, in my opinion, wants a heavy cannon with a range of more than five miles. This is the largest artillery in the entire Ming Dynasty. This will take some time. "
"The biggest problem in all aspects is cotton. There are no problems with other production."
Liu Jing said: "I can only do my best with cotton."
He Xi said: "Let's do this. This winter, write letters to major merchants and order next year's cotton. The more, the better."
Wu Gao listened for a long time and said: "Sir, if I am not wrong in my estimation, although I don't know how big the fleet you want to build and how many more people you want to build, I still can't spend so much money."
He Xi also had to admit this.
Because ordnance is priced internally by the imperial court. It can be said that the most technologically advanced products can cost ten times as much externally, but domestically, they are almost as cheap as cabbage. Just like armor, Ming Dynasty's armor is heirloom level in Japan. But within the imperial court, the armor equipment rate of many elite troops has exceeded 100%. In other words, there are a lot of spare armors.
This is not just an isolated case.
If He Xi were to build a cannon, in terms of range and power, it would already be comparable to later Hongyi cannons. He Xi didn't know the specific performance of the Hongyi cannon. Even in some requirements, it is better than Hongyi Cannon. But even so, such advanced weapons are a national treasure.
Thousands of taels per door to the outside world are not a problem. Anyway, this is what happened when the Portuguese sold artillery to the Ming Dynasty.
But for the Ming Dynasty's army, it was just the cost of materials plus the craftsmen's rewards, plus a little profit. Five or six hundred and two doors. The highest.
Of course, a fleet that He Xi wants must have at least hundreds of such cannons, which is also a lot of money. But it is impossible to spend all the money.
This is why He Xi pays attention to cotton.
Because of the production capacity of ordnance, there is limited room for growth, even if the Ming Dynasty goes to war with the world. The current military equipment of the Ming Dynasty is more than sufficient. Countries around the Ming Dynasty, including Japan, faced millions of armored men, thousands of cannons, and hundreds of warships. There is no ability to resist at all.
But cotton is different.
Textile capabilities can be converted from military to civilian use at any time. As the first world economic species, cotton has influenced changes in globalization for hundreds of years, and it is not without reason. After much deliberation, He Xi still felt that the textile industry had the greatest potential.
Other industries have great potential as well. For example, oil extraction industry, oil extraction from soybeans, paper industry, etc. None have as much potential as the textile industry.
However, Wu Gao was right. He Xi said: "Marquis Jiangyin is right," He Xi nodded to Huang Zicheng and said, "Go on."
Huang Zicheng said: "The most important thing here is the construction of Yingkou, Lushun, Jianghua Island, and other eighteen cities and ports along the coast, as well as ancillary equipment. It is planned to build three to five cities in Japan."
He Xi thought about it a lot and decided to make a bigger move. That's infrastructure.
Wu Gao said: "This is not good. The new land of Goryeo and frequent recruitment will make the people below rebel. It is not conducive to the Eastern Expedition."
In fact, Wu Gao was also referring to the large number of people who migrated from Korea. Since ancient times, this kind of forced migration has brought great suffering to the people. Not to mention, we still need to build a city now?
