Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 533 Convincing Zhu Yuanfeng

Zhu Yuanfeng stroked his beard and said slowly: "Are you trying to convince me to open a workshop like this?"

"Did the third grandfather feel that there is nothing to gain?"

Zhu Yuanfeng shook his head, "It's not a matter of profit or loss. There are countless such small workshops in the south of the Yangtze River, with five or six looms, at most a dozen looms, but once such a large workshop with thousands of looms is opened, these Small workshops are going to die, have you considered how these small workshop owners can survive?"

Fan Ning said in a deep voice: "I have considered all these issues. I will go to Luzon next. I plan to plant hemp and cotton on a large scale in Luzon, and then import millions of tons of hemp and cotton into Da Song every year. The third grandfather thinks that these small workshops can be digested? Large-scale workshops with thousands or even tens of thousands of looms will inevitably appear, and the price of a piece of fine cloth in the market may be bought for only five or six hundred yuan, which will greatly improve The lives of the common people in the Song Dynasty.

This is the result of the discussion between the Empress Dowager and Zhizhengtang yesterday afternoon. The biggest benefit of overseas expansion is that the basic necessities of the people at the bottom will be improved. Silver and gold imports, cotton and linen imports, grain imports, timber imports, horses and livestock imports, and large workshops need Manpower, bankrupt farmers and farmers who lost their land found a way to make a living again. "

"What if a large amount of supplies are surplus and cannot be sold?" Zhu Yuanfeng asked doubtfully.

"It's very simple. Expand overseas, sell to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and the West in exchange for more gold and silver. As long as we have strong shipbuilding capabilities and strong military force, we will not worry about not being able to sell things."

Zhu Yuanfeng sighed for a long time, "I only now understand that your overseas development will bring about earth-shaking changes in Song Dynasty."

"Actually, something has changed, hasn't it?"

Fan Ning took out a silver coin and put it in front of Zhu Yuanfeng, "This silver coin worth a hundred coins has already appeared on the streets of Quanzhou. In a few years, it will appear in every small county. This is the silver brought by Kunzhou. 30 ponies and donkeys were transported from Kunzhou and Danzhou. Almost every household in the capital has donkeys. There is also a shipbuilding industry. There are dozens of shipbuilding workshops in Quanzhou and Fuzhou alone. The shipbuilding industry along the Yangtze River has emerged. In a few years, large and small fleets will fill the inland river, and the imperial court has decided to require all states and counties to do their best to dredge the river, which will be the most important achievement for the promotion of officials in the past three years."

After talking so much in one breath, Fan Ning said to Zhu Yuanfeng again: "The profound changes in the Great Song Dynasty have already begun to take place, and no one can stop them. If the third grandfather doesn't get involved as soon as possible, the Zhu family will gradually fall behind."

Zhu Yuanfeng was indeed persuaded. He knew very well that the imperial court had been overwhelmed by the heavy financial burden for decades. Otherwise, there would be no Qingli reform that would affect the interests of the rich and powerful. As long as there is still a way to go, the imperial court will never Changes are easily implemented.

However, since Fan Ning opened up Kunzhou nine years ago, the financial situation of the imperial court has gradually improved, which has given hope to the overwhelmed financially burdened imperial court, and also made the battered prime ministers fully support overseas development, even at the expense of giving power to Fan Ning. For the rulers, as long as they can improve the lives of the people at the bottom with the least cost, so that they can live and work in peace and contentment without thinking about rebellion, they will definitely get the support of the rulers.

So no matter from which aspect, Fan Ning's overseas development will get the support of the government and the opposition. What needs to be changed is just another person, but the way of overseas development will not change.

Seeing that Zhu Yuanfeng was already tempted, Fan Ning added a lot of weight, "When I came to Beijing, twelve powerful families had already established commercial firms in Quanzhou, and there will be more in the future. In the front, if you take one step to be passive, you will be passive step by step.”

Zhu Yuanfeng was finally persuaded, he nodded and said: "I don't do weaving, I plan to invest 30 guan to open a large-scale silk-cutting workshop in Pingjiang Prefecture and Yuezhou, and then open a large-scale silk weaving workshop. Not to sell internally, but to cooperate with Mingren and Mingli to export, and when the conditions are ripe, it will be sold internally in Dasong."

"Why in Yuezhou?" Fan Ning asked puzzled.

Zhu Yuanfeng smiled slightly, "I have two manors by the Dongting Lake. I often go there and am familiar with the situation there. There is a large output of cocoons there, but they can't be sold at a good price, and the labor is very cheap. The silk looms are of good quality, so I plan to open a silk workshop with [-] looms over there."

Fan Ning was speechless secretly, as soon as he made a move, there were hundreds of thousands of guns and thousands of looms. This is the power of capital!

He thought for a while and then said: "I suggest that the third grandfather set up a loom research institute in the capital to recruit skilled craftsmen from all over the world to study how to improve the weaving process and create the best new looms and silk cutting machines. If the research can be successful, The third grandfather can gain both fame and fortune!"

Zhu Yuanfeng chuckled, "You have been fooling me all day long. Back then, you persuaded me to buy a stallion and an island. The stallion brought me a title, but the island was a failure. Now you are trying to persuade me to establish a weaving research institute. Courtyard, this will cost a lot of money."

Fanning said with a smile: "I can pay half of the money, but I hope someone will do it."

"You can suggest the imperial court to do it. Their skilled craftsmen are not ordinary."

"The court's energy is all about making military products, and it's not interested in civilian textile machines, but I can ask the court to provide craftsman support, how about it? Third grandfather will continue with this matter!"

Zhu Yuanfeng thought for a while and said: "Money is not a problem. You don't need to pay half of it. I can solve it myself. If I succeed, I hope to pass the title to my son. This is my condition."

Fan Ning said happily: "This condition is not high, I can agree."

In terms of conferring titles, he can indeed convince the emperor now that the key is that Zhu Yuanfeng must be able to build advanced textile machines.

Fan Ning was very busy today. After lunch, he had no time to rest, so he took a carriage to Jinming Pond in the west of the city. Jinming Pond was originally a large pool dug by the Song Army to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty. The extremely beautiful lake became the royal garden of the Song Dynasty.

Not only are the royal gardens, but also the summer resorts of many powerful families are placed here. Both sides of Jinming Pool are full of houses of powerful families.

Jinming Pond is a supplement to the lake in the imperial palace without Yuyuan. The emperor and his concubines can come here to rest or deal with court affairs. For example, in summer, the emperor and Zhizhengtang will come here to escape the summer heat and work.

Gao Taotao grew up in the imperial palace. She liked Jinming Pool very much. She would come here for boating every now and then. After sitting under the curtain for a few months, she finally got a little tired. She stayed in Jinming Pool for the past few days.

His son Zhao Xu also took a few hours off to accompany his mother by the Jinming Pool.

According to the appointed time, Fan Ning arrived at the gate of Jinmingchi. Several eunuchs had been waiting here for a long time. The leading eunuch stepped forward and bowed, "Please come with me, Mr. Fan!"

The biggest feature of Jinmingchi Royal Mountain Resort is that it is built on the water, and you must take a boat to the Lake Palace.

At this time, the Empress Dowager Gao Taotao was sitting on the third floor of the Guanshui Pavilion in the Lake Heart Palace, watching a painting boat approaching from the shore with a smile on her face. Not long after, someone came to report, "Empress Dowager, Mr. Fan is here! "

"The better he is with the official family, take him to see the official family!"

"According to the order!"

The eunuch went down, and after a while, Fan Ning was taken to Zhao Xu's temporary study. Zhao Xu's studies were heavy, and he actually didn't have time to accompany his mother on vacation. He just took two hours to sit with her mother, and then he had to Hurry back to the palace for evening class.

Taking advantage of this time, he met Fan Ning by the way.

"Wei Chen sees His Majesty!"

Fanning saluted respectfully.

Although Zhao Xu met Fan Ning yesterday, he was just listening in. He had too many questions in his mind and wanted to communicate with Fan Ning, so he used this time to summon Fan Ning.

"Fan Aiqing, you are welcome. Please sit down. I hope to have an open and honest talk with you."

Fan Ning was not polite either, and sat down directly, and a maid served them tea.

Zhao Xu said earnestly: "Yesterday, at the Prime Minister's meeting, I didn't understand one of the issues. A large amount of gold and silver was imported from overseas to the Song Dynasty, and then the Song Dynasty exported various materials. Will this cause a shortage of materials in the Song Dynasty? I have been unable to figure this out, I hope Fan Aiqing can clear up my confusion."

Fan Ning smiled slightly and said: "We discussed this issue with Fu Xianggong yesterday morning, but it is relatively simple. In fact, materials are divided into two types, one is renewable and the other is non-renewable, such as gold and silver and various Mineral deposits are non-renewable, such as pig iron, copper, and high-end fired soil for making official kiln porcelain. We should minimize the output of this kind of material. Another kind of material is renewable material, such as grain, cloth, silk, tea, etc. , Farmers can expand planting, planted this year, there will be next year, and there are some worthless ordinary porcelain, these materials can be exported in large quantities, in fact, we are exchanging renewable materials for overseas non-renewable materials.”

Zhao Xu nodded, "I understand, it is to exchange tea, silk, cloth, and porcelain for precious resources, such as gold, silver, and copper."

"Exactly, if we don't have enough for ourselves, we should expand breeding and planting to increase the production of cloth and silk. In addition, there is another very important factor that His Majesty has not thought of."

"What factor?"

"That is, the Song Dynasty has the most advanced technology. For example, a piece of fine linen is worth [-] Wen in the Song Dynasty market, but it is worth [-] Wen in Nanyang. Why is it worth [-] Wen?" The gap is because Nanyang cannot spin such fine and comfortable fine linen.

Similarly, a ship that can go to the deep sea for 1 stone costs [-] guan in the Song Dynasty, but Nanyang is willing to buy such a ship with [-] taels of silver. This means that the superb textile technology and shipbuilding technology are valuable. Foreign trade is not about exchanging surplus and shortage, but selling technology for huge profits. "

"Is there a third point?" Zhao Xu asked expectantly.

"There is indeed a third point!"

(End of this chapter)