Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 540, civil servants please fight
In the Qianqing Palace of the Imperial Palace in the capital, in the huge study of Emperor Hongzhi.

The elders of the three cabinets, British Duke Zhang Mao, Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu, plus six ministers, ministers, etc., more than a dozen important officials from the court gathered together to discuss state affairs as usual.

Recently, the prosperity of the country and the peace of the people, the Haiqing River Banquet, Emperor Hongzhi is in a good mood, with a smile on his face, there are fewer things to worry about, and Emperor Hongzhi has fewer things to worry about. His whole complexion is also much better, and his face is more rosy.

However, compared to Emperor Hongzhi's ruddy complexion, the ministers present all looked sad, as if they were preoccupied.

"What's the matter, you guys?"

Hongzhi quickly noticed the strangeness of these people, and asked after thinking about it.

It seems that there is nothing to be worried about. Under the reform of land reform in Southwest China, the chieftain issue that has not been resolved for a long time has also been quickly settled down.

The Tatars in the northern grasslands were seriously injured, and now they dare not even approach the Great Wall for a hundred miles. After the Japanese kingdom in the east was dealt with severely, the Japanese pirates disappeared completely.

This year, the weather is good again, and Daming is thriving, and there is really nothing to worry about.

Hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, everyone looked at each other, and finally Liu Jian stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, I wonder if you have heard of the soaring price of cotton?"

"Well, I heard about it and saw it in the newspaper."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly and said.

In his opinion, if the price of cotton rises, let it go up. It’s not food. It’s summer again. The price increase of cotton will not kill the common people.

So he didn't care when he saw that the price of cotton was rising in the newspaper, and he didn't even ask about it.

"Your Majesty, the price of cotton has increased several times now. It used to cost only 150 renminbi, but now it has risen to 600 renminbi. However, the cotton on the market is still very tight, and there is no cotton to buy at all."

Liu Jian thought for a while and also told the current situation of the cotton market.

"Is someone hoarding cotton behind their backs to drive up prices?"

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and asked.

"No, but because there is really no cotton in the market, and there are too many people who need it."

"In the entire Beijing-Tianjin area, there are thousands of large and small textile factories, and the amount of cotton consumed every day is very large. Although my Ming Dynasty grows a lot of cotton, it still cannot withstand such a large-scale cotton consumption."

"That's why the price of cotton is soaring now."

At this time Li Dongyang stood up and added.

"So it's like this~ Rare things are more expensive. Does it have an impact on the lives of ordinary people?"

"It's summer now, so it shouldn't affect the common people, right?"

Emperor Hongzhi said suddenly, and then asked rhetorically.

"Your Majesty, there are thousands of large and small textile factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area. The large textile factories employ tens of thousands of people, and the small textile factories employ dozens of people. Counting it, there are enough people working in the textile factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area. There are hundreds of thousands of people."

"Now that the price of cotton has risen sharply and there is a shortage of cotton, the textile mills here in the capital have had to shut down on a large scale. The hundreds of thousands of people who depend on the textile mills for a living suddenly have nothing to rely on for their livelihood."

"The ministers are worrying about this right now. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people are no small matter."

Liu Jian said the matter very seriously, with a sad face.

"There are hundreds of thousands of people relying on textile factories to survive?"

Emperor Hongzhi was shocked when he heard this.

I didn't think there was any major problem at first, but now I heard the seriousness of the matter immediately.

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the textile factory for their livelihood. Once the textile factory shuts down, they will have no support for their livelihood. This will definitely cause problems.

It is a matter of hundreds of thousands of people, no wonder everyone is worried.

Of course, Emperor Hongzhi didn't know. In fact, everyone was not only worried about this, but also worried that everyone's investment would be in vain.

The military general Xungui Group invested in various businesses from the beginning, made money, and has strong capital, so these losses can be borne.

These civil servants are belated, and they invest relatively late, so in the textile industry, civil servant groups invest more and account for a relatively large proportion.

They all attach great importance to this investment and have high hopes that these textile factories can lay golden eggs for themselves.

Who knows that there is no cotton now, which makes people hurt.

"Your Majesty, the total population of the entire Beijing-Tianjin area has exceeded [-] million. Cement factories, textile factories, shipyards, fishing industry, ocean trading companies, coal factories, etc., there are hundreds of thousands of people in any industry. People, even millions of people are working, and the population involved is huge."

"The textile industry only started last year, and the scale is not too large. The real large-scale is the cement factory. There are tens of thousands of large and small cement factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area, employing millions of people, and involving several Millions of people."

Li Dongyang thought for a while and replied.

"There are so many people engaged in these industries~"

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately nodded slightly.

At this moment, he suddenly realized something, Da Ming seemed to be no longer the former Da Ming, and a huge change had taken place,

In the previous Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to have such a large group of people engaged in a certain industry in such a small area. The largest number of people were farmers, but they were also distributed all over the Ming Dynasty.

It is simply impossible to gather such a huge crowd in such a small place.

"It is a big event that concerns the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people~"

Then Emperor Hongzhi knew the importance of the textile industry, which was related to the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people, enough to attract his great attention.

"Have you come up with any way to solve this problem?"

After thinking about it, Emperor Hongzhi also asked.

"Your Majesty, although cotton is grown in many places in my Ming Dynasty, the area under cotton cultivation is still very small. In most places, people grow cotton just for their own use, and very few people grow cotton specifically for sale."

"So in a short period of time, my Ming Dynasty's cotton will be in short supply."

Liu Jian and everyone looked at each other, and when they saw everyone nodding slightly, they also replied.

"So to solve this problem, we have two ways, one is to obtain cotton from outside Daming, and the other is to find cotton substitutes."

"You mean the Western Regions and wool?"

As soon as Emperor Hongzhi heard it, he knew it immediately, and soon remembered what he had read in the newspapers these days, and they were connected together at once.

"Yes, Your Majesty~"

"The Western Region has a vast territory, the climate is very suitable for cotton cultivation, and there is a tradition and history of cotton cultivation. The cotton production is very high, which is enough to meet our demand for cotton in Daming."

"In addition, wool can also be used to replace cotton and be used for spinning and weaving."

Now that Emperor Hongzhi saw this matter from the newspaper, Liu Jian said it directly without hiding it.

"I understand~"

Emperor Hongzhi smiled immediately, and then understood the cause of the incident.

"The Western Regions and wool are under the control of the prairie people. It may not be so easy to obtain them."

"Your Majesty, the Western Regions have been an inseparable part of us since ancient times. During the Han and Tang dynasties, the Western Regions belonged to us."

"Your Majesty is an emperor through the ages, and my Ming Dynasty is the orthodox Han Dynasty. I should inherit the style of the Han and Tang Dynasties and restore the rule of the Western Regions."

At this time, Li Dongyang stood up and said very solemnly.

The reason is very simple, that is, the Western Regions have been ours since ancient times, there was no way to fight them before, but now that my Ming Dynasty is powerful, it is natural to take it back, and by the way, I also flattered Emperor Hongzhi.

You Emperor Hongzhi is one emperor through the ages, with three emperors and five emperors of high virtue. How can you not restore the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties?
"Yes, Your Majesty~"

"Last year we severely damaged the tribes of the Tatars, and the vitality of the Tatar tribes was greatly damaged. Oala is ambitious and wants to dominate the grassland with one picture. If Oara once unified the tribes of the grassland, it will definitely seriously threaten the northern frontier of our Ming Dynasty again."

"I believe that we should take advantage of the victory and pursue the pursuit, wipe out the entire northern grassland in one fell swoop, bring all the ministries of the northern grassland under my Ming's jurisdiction and rule, and completely solve the problem of border problems in the northern grassland."

Xie Qian also stood up and expressed his opinion.

He is a representative of Jiangnan Shilin. He was originally the most opposed to the use of force, but now the situation has changed. The Jiangnan Shilin knew that they could not fight, so they simply changed their thinking, chose to cater, and set up various factories.

In Beijing and Tianjin, there are many factories, commercial houses, etc., which were funded and built by southerners. Wang Hua and Wang Shouren's family can also be regarded as representatives of southern scholars.

"Since the beginning of the Wara tribe, they have actually been dispersed and acted independently. Now it is the Heshuote tribe in the north and the Junggar tribe in the west who intend to unify the Tatar tribes. Their strength is much worse than that of the original Tatar prince. .”

"Our Ming Dynasty is fully capable of defeating them, we can defeat them one by one, and finally wipe out the Oirat tribes completely, bring the grassland tribes into our Ming dynasty, and at the same time restore the rule and management of the Western Regions."

"Once it can be realized, there will be no border troubles in the north of my Ming Dynasty from now on."

Liu Daxia, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, also stood up and said.

"Tsk tsk, the stinky boy is so good at predicting things. He really made the point. There is no need for us to talk about it. These civil servants have taken the initiative to invite the battle one by one, and they are even more active than us."

Zhang Mao and Zhu Fu looked at each other, and they both saw smiles in each other's eyes, and couldn't help sighing in their hearts.

In the past, when these civil servants heard about the war, they would firmly shake their heads and firmly oppose it. Now, they are the most active in the war. In the end, it is the same as what Liu Jin said, and interests determine everything.

　Civilian: Anyway, the emperor pays for the military expenses. If I win the battle, I will enjoy the benefits. Why don't you support it?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)