The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 146 The emperor broke free from the cage

In the luxurious manor, there is no usual singing and dancing, and there are no famous prostitutes from Qinhuai River to accompany them. Everyone's face is full of sadness, and the atmosphere is depressing.

"Everyone, there must be some people who don't know much about the specific situation. Here, the old man will first introduce. According to the news from the capital, His Majesty has built a large-scale group of workshops in the west of the city. The area is as large as the city of Yangzhou. .

Now there are hundreds of large workshops built, each of which can accommodate dozens of spinning machines. Calculated according to the number of female workers who enter and leave the city every day, there may be no less than [-] to [-] spinners. "

As the old man at the top finished speaking slowly, the hundreds of non-official gentry around him gasped, obviously most of them didn't understand the details.

"hiss!"

"6 or [-] people spin yarn, how much will you spin this day?"

The old man's surname is Xu, and his ancestral home is Fengyang. He is of the same clan as Xu Da, the founder of the country. For more than 200 years, he has maintained a close relationship with Wei Guogong. The family mainly operates the textile industry and is the largest cotton cloth merchant in Jiangnan.

There are tens of thousands of women spinning and weaving under their name, hundreds of large and small workshops, and hundreds of thousands of acres of mulberry fields in the family, which can produce more than [-] pieces of cotton cloth and satin every year.

It is also the family that pays the most attention to the trend of cotton cloth in the capital, and is also one of the initiators of this gathering. After everyone quieted down, they continued: "Not only that, according to the survey, almost every farmer and military household near the capital has cloth weaving. machine, the number is as high as 30 million, and His Majesty also united with the local gentry and dignitaries to open hundreds of cloth dyeing workshops outside the city. In just half a year, it will have such a scale, and in another year and a half , the consequences are unimaginable!"

The crowd was in an uproar again.

Obviously, they were all shocked by the emperor's handwriting. Almost all the families here have cotton cloth business.

But they have worked hard for tens of hundreds of years, and the efforts of several generations, there are only tens of thousands of looms, and there are thousands of looms, but they are nothing compared to the emperor.

"Old Xu, I've seen the cloth from the north before. It's so rough that it can't compare with my cotton cloth from the south. I just don't know how efficient the spinning is. If it's not high, don't worry too much."

"That's right, this old man reckons that if you sell this piece of cotton cloth like this, His Majesty won't make much money, or even lose money. It's definitely not a long-term solution. At worst, I'll lower the price a bit to deal with it."

Some people also calmed down, feeling that although His Majesty has made a big splash, most of them are still making money and shouting, which cannot last long.

When it comes to doing cloth business, how can the northerners be their opponents in the south?Even if His Majesty took the lead, it would be too much for a long time, and it is impossible for His Majesty to put all his energy on the cotton cloth.

"Everyone, the cotton cloth from the north is really rough, but don't forget that it's only been half a year, and according to the number of spinning machines and looms, the spinning machines built by His Majesty may be more efficient than mine. Much higher."

Xu Lao said with a serious face.

"What? How is this possible?"

"Mr. Xu, did you make a mistake? How could His Majesty create a spinning machine that is more efficient than us?"

While everyone was shocked, they couldn't accept that their looms and spinning machines had been improved from generation to generation to achieve today's efficiency.

Of course, the spinning machines of various companies are all hidden, and the specific efficiency can only be guessed roughly.

"If it weren't for that, why would His Majesty work so hard to produce cotton cloth?"

"Then I'll go back and improve the spinning machine. I won't believe it. I can still lose to the northerners in weaving and spinning."

"Yes, as long as you don't hide it, and are willing to present the skills of each family, and then gather the skilled craftsmen of each family together, you will definitely be able to create a better spinning machine than your majesty!"

Everyone is confident about this.

Mr. Xu poured cold water on it and said with a sneer, "We built a better spinning machine, and then what? Your Majesty's decree, do we dare not hand it over?"

"Wake up, folks, it's not about the spinning and looms, or the price of cotton.

It was His Majesty and the nobles in the north who were eyeing the fat piece of cotton cloth and wanted to eat it all. This year, all the cotton in Shandong has been taken away by the imperial envoys sent by the imperial court. "

In a word, everyone's fantasy of wanting to have a business competition was completely shattered. Obviously, those who can come to discuss the matter are not fools.

"Old Xu, from the perspective of scale, His Majesty's determination is conceivable, so what can we do to resist?"

"That's right! Today's people are not as good as the kings of past dynasties. It is true that the king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die. If one is not good, I am afraid that the family will be ruined in the end."

Everyone looked helpless, feeling powerless from the bottom of their hearts.

Everyone actually understands.

The reason why the commerce in the south of the Yangtze River is so prosperous, dare to open a large workshop, and take care of tens of thousands of people to work, it all started after the Civil Fortress Change.

The Xungui Group was completely suppressed, and the civil officials had the military power and the right to speak. To put it bluntly, the emperor was just a puppet kept in the deep palace by the civil officials.

No matter how many civil servants are killed, no matter how many eunuchs are sent south to plunder, nothing will be changed in essence, nor will they be able to break free from the invisible shackles.

But today's Son of Heaven once again directly controlled the military power, and broke free from the cage completely.

Where is this to grab the cotton cloth business?
It is clear that the imperial power will start to suppress the big families in the south of the Yangtze River again, eliminate all the existence that can threaten the imperial power, and restore the scene in the early Ming Dynasty.

Although none of the people here have experienced the situation in the early Ming Dynasty, they can only understand what kind of scene it was from the lessons passed down from their ancestors. Almost no one wants to live under the pressure of imperial power all the time.

Thinking of this, everyone was sweating profusely and terrified.

"Everyone, we are far from being able to fight this matter alone, and it is definitely not just a matter of cotton cloth. I believe that the entire gentry in the south of the Yangtze River can see this, and they will not ignore it. .”

Old man Xu stood up with squinted eyes, and said slowly.

Wei Guogong has fallen, and his Xu family has no backing. Although there is still a Ding Guogong in the capital who is also surnamed Xu, he has not been in contact with him for more than 100 years.

Now that His Majesty is using cotton cloth again, you don't need to ask to know that he will definitely attack his Xu family by then.

Everyone also understood what Elder Xu meant, that is, everyone went back to contact other rich merchants.

The officials and businessmen in the entire Jiangnan must unite to force His Majesty to give up, otherwise they will never have a good life in the future.

In fact, other large merchants in the south of the Yangtze River have naturally noticed that His Majesty is not just trying to make money, or to seize the cotton cloth business.

Instead, they want to take the bottom line and completely suppress the big families in Jiangnan, or not allow Daming's lifeblood to be controlled by Jiangnan.

If your majesty is short of money and food, you can send some eunuchs to collect business tax and mine tax. Everyone can accept it, even if you copy a few salt merchants and cloth merchants, you can tolerate it.

But the only thing that everyone can't accept is that His Majesty opened a workshop and produced goods for sale. This is not to compete for profit with the people, but to compete for profit with all the rich people in the south of the Yangtze River.

Today it is producing cotton cloth, but tomorrow it is possible to open a workshop in Nanjing to directly produce silk and satin. In the end, the salt industry in Lianghuai will also be brought under the name of the inner court.

As all parties connect together, more and more people understand the real intention of today's world, and also realize an unprecedented crisis.

I also understood the purpose of the noble concubine's wanton recruitment and training outside the city of Nanjing.

But no matter how clear it is, if the big guys directly rebel, no one is willing to do it.

In the end, we can only organize the spinners, weavers, and dyers in those workshops to go to Nanjing to petition.

Then organize scholars to kneel at the gate of the palace to ask the queen mother to come forward to uphold justice for these people who have lost their livelihood.

Various places responded one after another, inciting the people to create public opinion, putting pressure on the emperor, and striving to take a step back.

(End of this chapter)