According to the common view of later generations, the first industrial revolution occurred in the 1860s!
But in fact the steam engine appeared and was applied much earlier.
The industrial steam engine, the Newcomen steam engine, which could be used to pump water from mines and was still in its earliest stages, had been invented and started to be used in the early 18th century...but this did not bring about the first industrial revolution.
So...the invention and application of the steam engine was not the beginning of the first industrial revolution.
So what was the beginning of the first industrial revolution?
One kind of hand-spinning machine that is very simple in the future is the spinning jenny!
This thing directly increased the production efficiency of spinners by several times or even dozens of times. Coupled with the shuttle loom that had been invented before, it directly caused the textile industry to explode instantly.
This kind of explosive improvement in production efficiency has never happened before in human history, and it cannot be brought about by steam engines.
Steam engines, to put it bluntly, are just a source of power. There is no essential difference between water power and animal power.
Why was the invention of the Jenny loom the beginning of the first industrial revolution?
Because it has brought about the explosive development of the textile industry, and the development of the textile industry has directly driven the wave of mechanized production and brought more demand for industrialized products, such as various mechanical equipment.
Then all kinds of machinery and equipment sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain, allowing the entire production system to quickly enter the era of machine production!
The emergence and application of a large number of mechanical equipment also prompts people to want to obtain stable power that is more stable, more efficient, and less restrictive than hydropower.
At this time, the steam engine has ushered in its real spring!
The steam engine improved by Watt eventually replaced water power and became the source of industrial power, thus kicking off the steam engine era.
The industrial development of the Chu Empire was actually very similar to the industrial development process of the original time and space in later generations.
They all start with the textile industry, and then trigger the entire industrial system to enter mechanized production, greatly improving the production efficiency of all walks of life.
The difference is that the explosion of the textile industry in the original time and space was full of chance and the spontaneous guidance of the market.
The explosion of the textile industry in the Chu Empire was purely the result of official guidance and promotion.
In the early days of the founding of the Dachu Empire, even before it left Huguang, it had already begun to develop various textile machinery and vigorously promoted the promotion and application of textile mechanization equipment.
Eventually there was Hantian Textile Company, and then there was the private Suqin Textile Company.
The emergence of the new textile industry, relying on the low cost brought by the huge production efficiency, instantly defeated the traditional textile industry, and then like a tiger emerging from the cage, it blossomed all over China in just a few years, and was exported in large quantities, becoming The main export products of the Dachu Empire.
Even the strong dumping of the empire's textile industry directly led to the indigenous people of various countries blocking the market from the merchants of the Chu Empire to protect themselves. In order to protect the interests of the domestic textile industry, the top brass of the Chu Empire launched a series of Nanyang wars without hesitation. He has the whole of Nanyang in his hands, and now he is still thinking about fighting in India, just to protect the empire's machine-made cloth!
The explosive development of the textile industry not only brought mechanized production, but also brought war!
This is why the mere invention and application of the textile machine will be the beginning of the first industrial revolution. The impact of this piece of crap on human civilization exceeds any other invention in human history!
Within the Great Chu Empire, the vigorous development of the textile industry not only allowed a large amount of capital to enter it, but also absorbed a large number of population jobs, and the textile industry became the driving force for industrial development!
The demand from a large number of upstream and downstream industries brought by the textile industry directly drove the development of all walks of life in the Dachu Empire.
The textile industry needs more and better machinery and equipment, the textile industry needs more and better means of transportation, the textile industry needs more and better roads, bridges, factories and other infrastructure, the textile industry needs more and better...
Today's medium and large textile factories are all equipped with water-powered equipment. These water-powered spinning machines and looms produce cloth with an efficiency unimaginable in the manual era.
Where did these mechanical equipment come from?
Naturally, they are produced by those mechanical factories.
How do these machinery factories produce these equipment? Naturally, materials and better processing equipment are needed, that is, industrial mother machines.
The industrial master bed has promoted the development of a series of advanced machine tool equipment R&D enterprises represented by Hantian Machinery Company, and also promoted the development of a series of raw material production R&D machinery represented by Daye Steel Company.
The interlocking and intersecting needs eventually led to the current mechanized production of the Chu Empire.
The Chu Empire, which had already applied mechanical production on a large scale, had actually entered the stage of the Industrial Revolution before the steam engine was invented and applied.
Now, Luo Zhixue is going to add another booster to the industrial revolution of the Chu Empire: the steam engine!
Luo Zhixue can already predict the grand occasion that will occur after the large-scale use of steam engines at the industrial level.
It is precisely because of this that he looks forward to the large-scale application of steam engines more than anyone else!
On October 20, the 16th year of Chengshun, the Dachu Empire's Dibao officially published reports on many supportive policies to support the research and application of steam engines and further promote mechanized production.
However, many people don't feel much about this. After all, many people don't know what a steam engine is. Even other companies in the machinery industry are unlikely to get involved in the steam engine industry at this time.
It’s not that it can’t be done, it’s just that it can’t be done…
The industrial mass production of steam engines is an extremely large project that requires the support of huge funds and technical capabilities. Ordinary machinery companies simply cannot handle it.
Even if Dangtu Machinery Company, Guangzhou Machinery Company, and Tianjin Machinery Company want to start a business, although their own funds are huge, they still need to apply for special loans from financial banks, and the loan data is not small.
In terms of application, apart from mineral companies, especially coal mining companies, which are more concerned, only some companies that are far away from rivers and cannot effectively utilize water power are paying more attention.
But then again... In fact, there are really not many places without rivers... After all, hydropower equipment does not have to be driven by big rivers.
In fact, small rivers are also possible. With appropriate diversion canals and sufficient height, even small rivers can be dammed and used as a source of power.
There are too many small rivers in the land of China.
This is also the reason why hydropower equipment can develop rapidly. Hydropower seems to have geographical restrictions, but this reality is much smaller than people imagine.
In terms of county-level areas, it is rare to say that there is not even a small river in a county... In the early days of the Chu Empire, a large number of local small machinery factories with government-run capital and local financial investment were established. These small machinery factories that produce farm implements, tools, and cooking utensils for daily use are all built along the river.
This is also the reason why the three major machinery companies that have entered the steam engine industry have unanimously set their sights on mineral companies, especially coal mining companies.
With the formulation of policies to support the development of the steam engine industry, Luo Zhixue temporarily shifted his attention from steam engines.
Although the steam engine industry is important, it is only a part of the many affairs of the huge empire. Luo Zhixue cannot spend all his time on it for many years. It is an exaggeration to be able to continue to pay attention to it for more than a month, and it is enough to express his gratitude to the empire. Officials said they took steam engines seriously.
When the officials knew Luo Zhixue's serious attitude, they would naturally handle the next matter.
Even if these people don't know what the purpose of steam engines is and what strategic significance they have, it does not prevent them from working hard to support the development of steam engines.
Come on, it’s normal!
In late October, after initially finishing the steam engine and other matters, Luo Zhixue resumed his daily work and life schedule.
On weekdays, I just hold a morning meeting, review documents, meet with some senior officials, and hold some special meetings.
Every five or six days, Luo Zhixue would also give himself a holiday. After the morning meeting, he would not do anything else, but would return to the harem to spend time with his concubines and children.
Of course, he also often went to watch the Royal Ensemble's dances.
The Royal Music and Dance Troupe has already choreographed a lot of dances using new costumes, which look quite innovative. Sometimes when they see a rise, Luo Zhixue will personally guide their dance movements, contributing to the development of the empire's dance culture. Make some contribution.
Other concubines in the harem gradually heard about the new dance costumes of the music and dance troupe, and then they also obtained styles or simply brought ready-made clothes, and then put them on for Luo Zhi to learn and taste.
Luo Zhixue also expressed his tacit approval of the concubines' conscious pursuit of higher artistic aesthetics and better clothing culture.
As time went by... even the always dignified Queen Wang would occasionally blush and put on various new clothes that she had previously regarded as immoral.
This made Luo Zhixue have to lament that no matter what era, people's pursuit of beauty is the same.
But then again, it's quite interesting to see Queen Wang wearing some clothes that she thinks are weird, and it can also make Luo Zhixue rekindle some of his passion for this wife who has been blessed all the way.
Even Queen Wang reluctantly came into contact with these new clothes, which meant that the cultural reform of women's clothing in the Chu Empire had already formed a small wave in the harem.
Luo Zhixue boldly predicted that in the near future, this kind of clothing culture reform will gradually spread to the outside world.
First, it was introduced to those powerful women who were qualified to enter the palace and had access to the harem and concubines, then to ordinary middle- and upper-class women, and then to ordinary families.
This kind of top-down reform is not the first time in the Chu Empire, and it will not be the last!
There are good things and bad things, and it is impossible to use a unified standard to measure the quality of this phenomenon.
When the Great Chu Empire began to set off the steam age revolution, the Great Chu Empire also ushered in the cold winter. In Luo Zhixue's opinion, this winter seemed to be colder than in previous years.
Over the past ten years, Luo Zhixue has gained a profound insight into the fact that the winters of this era are colder than those of later generations.
These days, even Guangzhou in the south can give you a heavy snowfall...
In Jinling City in the Jiangnan region, there is a long period of severe cold with heavy snowfall every winter. Although the temperature does not drop to dozens of degrees below zero like in the north, heavy snowfall is also a problem for the Jiangnan region. It's quite cold.
Winters during the Little Ice Age were colder, which is actually nothing...
The real problem is the frequent extreme, freak weather!
For example, it doesn't rain when it's supposed to rain during the rainy season, but when it's not the rainy season, there's a sudden heavy rain that lasts for several days...
This has led to either drought or floods... Especially abnormal weather during spring plowing and summer busy seasons will bring great trouble to agricultural production.
Every year in the Chu Empire, more or less places were hit by extreme weather, extreme cold, persistent drought, or widespread floods, which in turn led to reduced local food production or even no harvests.
As a result, the Chu Empire invested a lot of manpower and material resources in disaster relief every year, and the "work-for-relief" program for disaster relief has never stopped for more than ten years, and the scale has always remained relatively large. .
This year's winter cold wave seems to be more severe. Luo Zhixue looked at the heavy snow falling continuously outside the window. He didn't need anyone to tell him. He knew that many places would be affected by snowstorms this year.
However, what he is worried about is not the so-called snow disaster. For the northern areas where wheat is mainly grown, more snow in winter will be more conducive to the next year's harvest. In the cold winter season, snow can keep the soil warm in severe cold weather of dozens of degrees below zero. , accumulate water and benefit farmland, and also suppress insect pests.
Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest!
Even in the central and southern regions, many places will plant winter wheat in winter, and snow is also beneficial.
As for the rice-growing areas further south, rice is not grown in the winter...cultivation usually starts only after spring.
Simply getting colder will be beneficial to the grain production of the Chu Empire, especially wheat production.
As for things like colder weather freezing people to death...these things are actually small things...even if this kind of thing seems very big in later generations, in this year of the seventeenth century, even in the Great Chu Empire, even In normal winters, there are a large number of people who are homeless or don’t have enough clothing to keep warm. People with weak constitutions freeze to death... This is normal.
In the early days, Luo Zhixue would frown at the reports of how many people froze to death in severe cold weather in a certain place.
But now... when he sees similar reports, if the number of frostbite injuries is not too exaggerated, he usually just ignores them and transfers them to the relevant departments for normal processing.
However, this winter is colder, which is considered abnormal even in the Little Ice Age. This makes Luo Zhixue a little worried about whether there will be a large-scale extreme abnormal climate in the coming year.
After all, extreme climate does not exist alone, but is often followed by a series of related reactions.
Luo Zhixue’s worries will become a reality in a few months!
Following the winter of the 16th year of Chengshun, after spending the severe cold, in the spring of the following year, it did not rain in many southern areas where it should have rained!
In January of the 17th year of Chengshun, many places in the south reported that local rainfall was less than in previous years, making it difficult to sow rice in spring.
This is especially true in Jiangxi, where several of the most severely affected counties have not even had rain since last summer. Even the widespread snowfall last winter was perfectly avoided in these counties.
Local officials reported that water levels in many local rivers have dropped severely, and several water storage lakes used for irrigation have dried up.
The governor of Jiangxi Province even reported that the ongoing large-scale drought has caused the water level of the local river artery Ganjiang to be far lower than in previous years. Even large areas of the peripheral lake surface of Poyang Lake have disappeared, leaving only a dry and cracked lake bed.
This level of drought has exceeded the disaster resistance capacity of the local water conservancy facilities built for many years in Jiangxi. In the memorial, the governor of Jiangxi has formally applied for a large amount of funds and a large number of water conservancy tools from Jinling in a very serious tone to alleviate the local drought. , Keep spring plowing as much as possible.
At the same time, it is also warning Jinling: Jiangxi's grain production will be significantly reduced this year. If decisive and effective measures are not taken, it will lead to widespread famine!
After seeing the report, Luo Zhixue couldn't help but sigh. He had worked hard for more than ten years to build various water conservancy facilities, but he still couldn't withstand this extreme and abnormal weather.
Xiao Glacier is so ridiculous!
In the past ten years, Luo Zhixue has built a large number of water conservancy facilities throughout the empire through various methods, such as work-for-relief and infrastructure construction in the three five-year plans for agricultural development.
This includes building water storage lakes, diversion canals, drilling wells and many other measures.
All to combat the extreme and abnormal climate of the Little Ice Age and ensure the stability of food production as much as possible.
However, in the current era of lack of modern construction machinery, construction capabilities are actually very limited. It is impossible to complete the construction of large amounts of earthwork with just a few excavators and some muck trucks like later generations.
When we could only rely on hoes, poles and baskets, and all work could only be done manually, our infrastructure construction capabilities were actually very limited. Even though it seemed that a lot of manpower and material resources had been invested and it took several years to dig out the diversion canal, the actual effect was It would be better for later generations to randomly recruit a construction team to work for ten days and a half.
Jiangxi's local water conservancy facilities are no exception. Compared with other feudal dynasties, Jiangxi's local water conservancy facilities have far surpassed them. This kind of surpass is not just a little bit more, but several times better.
However, I still can’t handle this extreme weather where it didn’t rain since last summer, and now it’s spring, and it still doesn’t rain!
A large-scale reduction in grain production in Jiangxi, especially in the central region, this year has become a foregone conclusion. Even if the Chu Empire organized a large-scale rescue operation, there is no water in the local rivers... How much impact can emergency water tankers have in the past? effect?
Of course, what needs to be rescued still needs to be rescued, and Jinling should provide no less funds and various tools. It will try to preserve as much grain output as possible.
However, now for Luo Zhixue and even the senior officials of the empire, the core issue now is not to save the local food production. Anyway, not much can be saved...
God, it won't rain in a large area for a long time. Why do you feel helpless?
The question now is how to solve the relief problem after a large-scale reduction in grain production.
On the one hand, there is the problem of farmers’ income falling due to reduced grain production or even no harvests.
The other aspect is actually more important, that is, a large area of local food production is reduced or even fails, which will lead to an imbalance in the local food supply. Large-scale food shortages will lead to large-scale famine.
Once famine occurs, there will be big trouble.
A large-scale famine will form a large-scale wave of hungry people. After all, people don’t want to starve to death... They will go out to escape famine in order to survive.
This is how large-scale refugees come, and large-scale refugees can easily evolve into insurgents or rebels, etc. At that time, the disaster will not be tens of thousands of people, but hundreds or even tens of millions of people. implicated.
Just like the continuous turmoil in the Shaanxi-Gansu region during the late Ming Dynasty!
The Chu Empire was built on the corpse of the Ming Dynasty, and the factors leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty will naturally be studied in detail in order to learn lessons and make changes.
Large-scale famine caused by natural and man-made disasters is what the Chu Empire values the most, and it is also the most wary of the source of disasters.
In the eyes of the senior officials of the Dachu Empire, they would rather suffer a complete defeat in foreign wars and lose thousands of miles of territory... than see the hinterland provinces fall into turmoil.
The foreign war was defeated and the empire was forced to cede territory and pay compensation. As long as the empire was given some time to recover, it would be possible to fight back sooner or later.
If it loses control internally, it's really doomed.
Therefore, the upper echelons of the Dachu Empire, whether it was the emperor Luo Zhixue or the senior officials, were all very wary of such internal out-of-control matters.
In addition to the rebellion of careerists, the main and most important reason that can lead to internal loss of control is naturally the large-scale reduction in food production caused by natural and man-made disasters, which then leads to famine.
Therefore, after receiving the warning report from Jiangxi, Luo Zhixue immediately convened a meeting of all the imperial staff. Except for the ministers and co-organizing ministers who were on daily duty, no other ministers were on duty in the palace. Ministers in Beijing were also called in.
More than twenty important imperial ministers, including military generals, gathered together to discuss how to solve the famine problem that is bound to occur in Jiangxi this year.
In the usual imperial meetings, Luo Zhixue usually just sat there watching the show, eating melon seeds, and listening to the ministers arguing about different things.
But in today’s meeting, Luo Zhixue set the tone from the beginning:
"First of all, we must save as many local crops as possible. If local grain production capacity can save a grain, the relief pressure of a grain of grain will be reduced in the future."
"When necessary, the military must provide cooperation and coordinate with local construction engineering companies to carry out necessary emergency construction such as diversion canals and well drilling."
"As for funds and other resources, I think there is no need to say more. You will discuss a detailed plan later."
"Second, and most importantly, we must prepare from now on for the inevitable reduction in local grain production. The most important thing is grain transportation, and there must be no mistakes."
"God can stop the food harvest in Jiangxi, but I can never allow the people of Jiangxi to have no food to eat!"
"This is my bottom line!"
"All subsequent policies and guidelines must be closely centered on this bottom line."
Having said this, Luo Zhixue raised his head and looked around:
"This matter is related to the life and death of millions of people, and I will be the first to say something ugly."
"If anyone tries to trick me into this matter, I will kill his whole family!"
(End of chapter)
