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Liu Boquan, Xu Yingjie, Song Yingxing and Yang Shen came to the imperial study. They looked natural, but they couldn't help feeling a little uneasy in their hearts.
People in high positions naturally receive more information than ordinary people. Even if there had not been a disturbance in today's court meeting, they could feel that there was an undercurrent surging between the government and the public.
The second year of the Qin Dynasty had just begun, and such a big disturbance had occurred in the court. This was not a good sign.
The four of them bowed cautiously together: "Greetings, King Qin."
Qin Mu's face was calm and composed. He raised his hand and said, "No need to be polite. Please take a seat."
Qin Mu has always treated his ministers with more favor. In the court, ministers above the third rank all sit down to discuss matters.
In the imperial study, no matter what the rank of the person is, as long as Qin Mu actively calls them to discuss matters, they will be given a seat. This has long been a custom.
Of course, there are some differences. Usually, when ministers below the rank of assistant minister come to the imperial study, they are given a seat but not tea. Only ministers above the rank of assistant minister are given tea.
After the eunuch finished serving tea, Qin Mu asked, "Minister Song, have you ever met Xiang Xi? How was he?"
Song Yingxing originally thought that Qin Mu summoned them because it must be related to the turmoil in the court. He was very surprised that Qin Mu asked about this matter as soon as he opened his mouth.
He bowed and replied, "My lord Qin, I have inquired carefully. Xiang Xi was originally an old craftsman in Shanxi Mining. He is indeed very proficient in smelting. I think the method of improving the steelmaking furnace he mentioned is indeed unique. But whether it can increase the furnace temperature and enhance the quality of steel can only be known after specific verification."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "In this case, since Minister Liu is here, the Ministry of Revenue will allocate 5,000 taels of special funds first, and Xiang Xi will be in charge of building a smelting furnace. If 5,000 taels is not enough, Minister Song will report the additional amount. In this regard, don't be afraid to spend money. You must remember one sentence, technology is the primary productive force."
"Yes, King Qin."
Qin Mu turned to Yang Shen and asked, "Yang Qing, you were the governor of Songjiang Prefecture last year. You know the textile industry in Jiangnan best. Please tell us about the situation."
The disturbance at the court meeting today had a great impact on Qin Mu's heart. He was ready to change his strategy from talking first and then doing to doing first and then talking. He might even do it without saying anything.
Qin Mu has such capital. Among the three aspects of military, politics and finance, the military and finance have always been firmly under his control.
He spent much more time in the army than in the court. When mobilizing troops, he often deliberately bypassed the Ministry of War, and he could override the Ministry's authority at any time.
Apart from the violent institution of the army, Qin Mu controlled the financial power most strictly. Liu Boquan was promoted by him from a minor official and was his die-hard loyalist. Xu Yingjie was born a businessman. He was often marginalized and had to rely on him to gain a foothold in the court.
With the army and money, Qin Mu had the capital to bypass the cabinet and even the six ministries to implement his own plan.
Of course, Qin Mu's plan requires scientific and technological support, and cannot be separated from the cooperation of the Ministry of Industry. Fortunately, Song Yingxing, the Minister of Industry, has a special personality. He is not keen on power struggles, and he attaches great importance to science and technology. He is a practical official who speaks less and does more.
With these foundations, Qin Mu can just “do it first and talk about it later”.
Yang Shen first bowed his hands, sorted out the situation in his mind, and then said: "Your Highness, I have been in Jiangnan for more than two months. Although I am willing to restore the textile industry in Jiangnan as soon as possible, the situation is not optimistic. The war has caused great damage to the textile industry in Jiangnan. It may be difficult to restore it in the short term."
"Well, I am mentally prepared. Yang Qing, please tell me in detail where the difficulty lies."
"The first difficulty is the insufficient supply of raw materials. The King of Qin may not know that Songjiang Prefecture, which is known for its fine clothing, actually produces far less cotton than is needed for textile production. Most of the raw materials for Songjiang cotton cloth are supplied from other places, with the most important cotton suppliers being Shandong and Henan. However, these major cotton producing areas are still occupied by the Tartars, resulting in a serious shortage of cotton supply."
"Please continue, Yang Qing."
"The second difficulty is insufficient funds. Because of the war, a large number of wealthy families went bankrupt, coupled with rising prices and tight food supply, even wealthy families who still had some surplus money were unwilling to invest in textile production, but instead used it to store grain and buy land. Without input, output is naturally low.
The third difficulty is the problem of insufficient manpower. During the period when the Tartars occupied Jiangnan, a large number of people in Jiangyin, Jiading, Songjiang, Wujiang, Taicang, Kunshan and other places spontaneously rose up to resist the tyranny of the Qing Dynasty;
For most of last year, Jiangnan was in constant war. Every time the Tartar invaders conquered a place, they would inevitably carry out large-scale looting and massacres. For example, Jiading and other places were almost completely deserted. More than one million people were directly massacred by the Qing army in the entire Jiangnan region, and the number of people who died of starvation and freezing indirectly due to the war was even more than that. "
Qin Mu frowned slightly and said, "Food, clothing, housing and transportation are top priorities related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and must be taken seriously. The world is in turmoil, and the Qin Dynasty has just been established. No matter what happens, there will definitely be difficulties of one kind or another. Now that the crux of the problem has been found, how to solve it is the focus of our discussion today. Let's talk about how to solve the three difficulties mentioned by Yang Qing above."
Song Yingxing said first: "King Qin, to solve the problem of insufficient silk and cotton supply, I think the court can issue an order that all people with five to ten acres of land can plant half an acre of mulberry, hemp, and cotton, and those with more than ten acres can double the amount. If there is enough land to plant cotton, the tax will be exempted. In this way, I believe there will be no problem with the supply of cotton cocoons this year."
Qin Mu immediately said, "Minister Song's plan is very good, but mulberry and cotton have different growth habits. As far as I know, it seems that the south is better at growing mulberry than the north, while the north is better at growing cotton than the south. Therefore, Minister Song's plan needs to be further subdivided to identify areas suitable for planting, and then let the people plant it."
"King Qin is wise, that's true. It's not difficult to divide the regions. Cotton was planted all over the country in the Ming Dynasty. There are many records of where the cotton yield was and how it was produced. As long as we divide it according to that, it will be appropriate."
"Okay, let's do it." Qin Mu nodded with satisfaction and said, "Next, let's solve the second problem of insufficient funds. Liu Qing, Xu Qing, you guys talk about it."
Xu Yingjie looked at Liu Boquan, who motioned for him to answer. Xu Yingjie immediately said, "King Qin, if the imperial court sets up a weaving bureau, funding will not be a problem. For private merchants, the funding can be solved by raising funds or by lending from banks.
King Qin, in fact, there are chambers of commerce in each province. If you are interested in supporting private merchants to run the textile industry, you can start with these chambers of commerce. In my opinion, the problem is not the funds, but the court's policies and taxes.
Let me give you an example. In the 29th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, a flood hit Suzhou, damaging the harvests of farmland and affecting other tax sources. The local government was forced to pass on the heavy taxes to the weaving industry, requiring local weavers to pay three cents of silver for each loom, five cents of silver for each piece of satin, and two cents for each piece of yarn. All woven yarn and satin had to be stamped by the government before they were allowed to be sold, resulting in the closure of local textile households one after another, and tens of thousands of weavers and yarn workers being plunged into despair.
Such things were common in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in my opinion, the problem to be solved is not the problem of funds, but how to make merchants dare to invest money in the textile industry. "
Xu Yingjie was born into a business family, so he understands the minds of businessmen best. As Yang Shen said, a large number of wealthy households in the private sector went bankrupt, resulting in insufficient capital investment. This problem does exist, but it is only an appearance. Is there really no capital among the private sector
No, it’s just that the war in the world is still unresolved and the court’s policies are unclear. At this time, how many people are willing to invest their money in high-risk industries
It is safer to save the money or use it to buy land. I believe most people think this way.
“This king will order the court to issue the Industrial and Commercial Law as soon as possible. If it cannot be issued in the short term, this king will issue a decree to stipulate three articles of law to protect the rights and interests of industrial and commercial owners;
Xu Qing, I want to build not only a government-run weaving bureau, but also a private textile factory. Remember, I don't want the small-scale form of the past. I want a concentrated, intensive and large-scale industry. As for the private business, I will leave it to you to assist. "
"Your Majesty, I obey your order."
Qin Mu continued, "The last question is, spinning and weaving are both industries that require a lot of labor. How do we solve this labor problem?"
This problem does not seem to be a problem, because spinning and weaving are women's work. No one will object if Qin Mu wants to use women to do this.
But if you think about it carefully, there are still problems, because Qin Mu no longer wants the previous form of individual production, which means that a large number of women will have to leave their homes, and many people will even have to leave their homes to work in textile factories;
The mere fact that women have to leave the house conflicts with the moral norms followed by today's society.
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ps: The end of the month is here, and the competition is getting more and more intense. To be honest, the first thing I do when I get up every day is to turn on my computer to see if I am still on the list. As the month draws to a close, it is common for other books to get one or two hundred votes overnight, so I can only shamelessly ask for monthly votes from everyone every day. There are still a few days left, and I hope that you brothers will help protect my little wish. Monthly votes please!
.(To be continued..)
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