I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1017 Mutual support and companionship are hard to abandon; weathering storms together, one can grow old together.

Xu Chengchu is no longer the same person who just passed the imperial examination. Back then, when Hai Rui showed Xu Chengchu Wang Chonggu's book, Xu Chengchu refused to read it, believing that upright officials should not listen to the slander of corrupt officials and treacherous ministers. Now, he is a key official in the Anti-Corruption Bureau. With Lu Guangzu gone, he is the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

He went through complex struggles and oversaw several major anti-corruption cases before achieving his current status.

He was a subject, while His Majesty was a monarch. Their different statuses determined their different perspectives on the issue. The emperor would naturally think that this was a rebellious act to sabotage the Anti-Corruption Bureau, but Xu Chengchu believed that it was more of a gamble.

Fan Yuanshan had experienced something similar before. His father-in-law had bet on him and supported his studies, but back then, he had no choice. Now, he had a choice.

Xu Chengchu thought it over carefully and told His Majesty his reasons. He had three reasons for his judgment.

First, if it were just a hunting expedition, there would be no need to place such a heavy bet on Miss Lin. Someone like Miss Lin is extremely difficult to cultivate, and it would be a waste to invest in a seventh-rank censor like Fan Yuanshan.

The essence of a hunt is the exchange of chips—using the chips in one's hand to eliminate or corrupt someone in a certain position to facilitate actions.

If Miss Lin were truly to be exchanged like a bargaining chip, she would at least be a fifth-rank official or higher.

Secondly, in their interactions with Fan Yuanshan, the person behind Miss Lin was always very careful, afraid of offending Fan Yuanshan, and directly used her beauty to seduce him without any coercion or enticement.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau just took away an anti-corruption censor who was targeted. However, it didn't involve a honey trap; it was just a combination of enticement, gradual corruption, and some predicaments that ultimately succeeded.

Third, Fan Yuanshan is worthy of such attention. His talent has long been noticed by His Majesty and ministers such as Lu Guangzu. This attention is due to the implementation of the performance evaluation system. Fan Yuanshan's performance evaluation is far ahead of others, making him the undisputed king of examination papers. He is fully worthy of such high regard.

There is a Chinese idiom called "囊锥露颖" (náng zhuī lù yǐng), which means that if a sharp awl is placed in a bag, it will surely pierce through the bag and reveal its sharpness.

Fan Yuanshan was an outstanding student at the Imperial University of Peking, who was favored by His Majesty. He never abused his power or bent the law in the Tax Bureau, which is in line with the saying that impartiality breeds clarity and integrity breeds authority. Such a person might have been too rigid and easily broken in the past officialdom, but under the grand circumstances of the Wanli Reform, he would certainly be promoted quickly.

"Your Majesty, since the implementation of the civil service examination system, the officialdom of our Great Ming Dynasty has been divided into two factions based on their background. One faction can be regarded as the old Confucian scholars, who were selected as officials in the past through the imperial examination system. The other faction consists of those who were selected through the civil service examination system and are now new national students trained by the Imperial Academy. Fan Yuanshan is a dragon among men who graduated from the Imperial Academy." Xu Chengchu added another reason after thinking for a moment.

Fan Yuanshan has another identity that His Majesty may not even be aware of: he is a prominent figure in the new civil service examination system, or the new selection method for officials. He is a representative of the new nation. The emperor is betting heavily on Fan Yuanshan's meteoric rise to power and great success, and the chances of winning are very high.

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "What Imperial Censor Xu said makes sense."

“This is actually a kind of hunting.” Xu Chengchu didn’t think there was any essential difference between betting and hunting. He was an upright and honest official, and in his view, these were all acts of using power for personal gain, only slightly milder. He shook his head and said, “Moreover, these people never asked Fan Yuanshan whether he was willing or not.”

Admittedly, Fan Yuanshan's wife was an ignorant woman, while Miss Lin was renowned for her talent. No matter how you look at it, Miss Lin was the right person for Fan Yuanshan at the moment.

It doesn't matter if Fan Yuanshan doesn't want to be a Chen Shimei (a notorious figure in Chinese folklore known for abandoning his wife). As long as things are going well between him and Miss Lin, there are plenty of people who can help him do some shady things, such as his father-in-law being seriously ill or his wife having an accident while returning to her hometown.

In this way, Fan Yuanshan could have a clear conscience and marry Miss Lin properly, making her his second wife, without having to worry about being criticized as a modern-day Chen Shimei (a notorious figure in Chinese folklore known for abandoning his wife).

That's power. As long as you want it, without even having to express it, as long as you need it, someone will help you do it. And the price you have to pay is simply to use your power selectively, or even to be lenient within reasonable and negotiable limits.

That's why everyone's desperate to get in.

Throughout the entire process, no one asked Fan Yuanshan whether he was willing or not, or whether he wanted to live that way. If it were an ordinary person, they might not have noticed, or they might have simply gone with the flow. But clearly, Fan Yuanshan was not willing. If he were willing, he wouldn't have told Xu Chengchu.

Hunting involves removing or corrupting officials and then using their power for personal gain. This kind of pre-emptive heavy bet is also a form of hunting, only it's more deeply hidden and involves a greater investment. Essentially, it's about enabling officials to use their power for private benefit.

The matter was resolved by giving Fan Yuanshan a badge of loyalty to the emperor. Fan Yuanshan had no powerful backing, which made him feel like he was walking on thin ice. With the badge, any further attempts to hunt him down would be a direct conflict with the emperor.

Xu Chengchu thought about the process for a moment and realized that it was mainly because Fan Yuanshan himself was determined. From the beginning, Fan Yuanshan was vigilant enough and never treated Miss Lin as just a chance encounter. Secondly, Fan Yuanshan found the key to the problem, which was that his wife's change came from her new sister.

If Fan Yuanshan were even slightly less intelligent, he would have already fallen for it.

Zhu Yijun and Xu Chengchu discussed several cases from the Anti-Corruption Division in detail before Xu Chengchu took his leave.

After Xu Chengchu left, Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao, "Have the imperial guards investigate and see if this Miss Lin is related to the Marquis of Wuding's mansion. I will tell the Marquis of Wuding to his face not to make things difficult for Fan Yuanshan."

If Marquis Guo Dacheng of Wuding ignores the emperor's words, then the Marquis of Wuding's mansion will suffer the consequences of disobedience.

Xu Chengchu walked out of the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace. He stood in front of the Tonghe Palace gate, took one last look at this supreme hall of power in the Ming Dynasty, got into his carriage, and the carriage slowly started moving. It passed the golden tiles and red walls of the palace city, the paved road shaded by trees, the market, and the Left Chang'an Gate, and got off at the gate of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Along the way, almost every vehicle would instinctively give way. Even though there were no markings on the vehicles, the drivers all knew each other. The anti-corruption department was in full swing, and no one dared to stand in its way.

Xu Chengchu had the steward summon Fan Yuanshan, handed him the vermilion imperial party badge, and then said, "This is given to you by His Majesty. If you encounter any trouble in the future, just go to Tonghe Palace. The guards will let you in."

Fan Yuanshan carefully put away the waist token; it was his greatest asset.

"His Majesty said that whether or not you take the bait of Miss Lin is entirely up to you, but it cannot delay the important matter of anti-corruption." Xu Chengchu explained to Fan Yuanshan, "His Majesty cannot do everything personally. It was only because Chen's Sugar Shop offended the Marquis of Wuding's mansion that His Majesty personally inquired about it."

"It's like sifting; if it passes, it passes; if it doesn't, it doesn't."

"Your humble servant understands." Fan Yuanshan carefully considered Xu Chengchu's words. His words were straightforward and easy to understand. This time, His Majesty intervened because the Marquis of Wuding was behind the Chenji Sugar Workshop case, as well as the forty-four tax evasion cases he supervised, all of which were subject to the law.

In fact, Fan Yuanshan also suspected that it was the Marquis of Wuding's mansion. This move was really too big, which is why he didn't dare to retaliate on his own. After all, this was a hereditary official position, and it had to be dealt with by His Majesty.

When Fan Yuanshan returned home and saw his somewhat anxious wife, he smiled and said, "You don't need to be so worried. It's all in the past."

"I'll go get you some rice." Seeing that Fan Yuanshan didn't scold her for being clumsy, his wife happily went to get the rice.

The theory of contradiction is a methodology—a methodology that sees through phenomena to the essence.

Fan Yuanshan was actually a little scared. If he had just been a traditional Confucian scholar who firmly believed in the husband's authority, the conflicts between him and his wife would have gradually escalated with trivial matters, and in the end, in a state of great frustration, he would have fallen into the trap.

Yesterday, his wife's nagging made him keep seeing Lin's gentle smile and expressive eyes.

Fan Yuanshan noticed the significant change in his wife and realized that someone was whispering nonsense in her ear. He also saw the danger behind Lin's disguise and realized that he was being hunted.

The contradiction is something you have to read.

The investigation by the Imperial Guards was swift. The very next afternoon, Commander Zhao Mengyou informed His Majesty the Emperor of the entire process, revealing that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Marquis of Wuding's residence.

The cultural aristocracy, through academies, private schools, and tutors, controlled the selection of the old bureaucrats. In other words, the cultural aristocracy was the old bureaucrats and Confucian scholars themselves, and thus controlled most of the power.

The opening of the sea in coastal areas led to the formation of a new bourgeoisie. This new bourgeoisie found it difficult to wrest power from the old cultural elites, and instead turned their attention to the new bureaucrats and new national students, who were mainly graduates of universities.

Miss Lin was born into the Lin family of Xinhui, Guangzhou. The Lin family itself was a powerful local clan, and in the sixth year of the Wanli reign, wealthy households migrated to the capital.

After the opening of the sea trade during the Wanli era, the wealth of the Lin family in Xinhui expanded rapidly, making them one of the newly rich. However, they suffered from not being able to access the core of power. The larger the scale of their business, the more people were watching them, making them like lambs to the slaughter.

"I didn't expect Fan Yuanshan to be so popular." Zhu Yijun finished reading all the files.

Miss Lin had to compete several times to get exclusive access to Fan Yuanshan. She only had six months. If she failed to succeed within those six months, then someone else would be chosen, and there was a specific order. All of them were from prestigious families, and there was bound to be one who would suit Fan Yuanshan.

Wang Qian repeatedly told His Majesty that good things don't circulate easily, and Fan Yuanshan was undoubtedly a similar high-quality resource.

Interestingly, the investigation by the intelligence agency revealed that this Miss Lin genuinely wanted to marry Fan Yuanshan, and wasn't just joking around.

Fan Yuanshan only passed the provincial examination and did not pass the imperial examination, not because he lacked talent, but because of a severe lack of educational resources.

Fan Yuanshan's background was actually worse than Xu Chengchu's; he was practically a son-in-law. His father-in-law was just a rural landlord. Fan Yuanshan had no famous teachers and no way to study hard for years, so he wasted so much time.

But Fan Yuanshan's talent was undeniable; he was learned, upright, and had a bright future. After meeting Fan Yuanshan, Miss Lin became even more enamored with him. Someone like him was very attractive to an educated woman.

Fan Yuanshan was already a seventh-rank official in the capital when he was twenty-seven years old.

But in the end, it was a case of unrequited love; Fan Yuanshan had clearly told Miss Lin that their relationship had come to an end.

"Why didn't Fan Yuanshan choose Miss Lin, who was more suitable for him, but instead chose his wife who had shared his hardships?" Zhu Yijun clicked his tongue in amazement. He had issued an imperial decree that Fan Yuanshan could take the bait, but Fan Yuanshan completely avoided it.

Feng Baozhen thought about it seriously for a while before saying, "Your Majesty, isn't this a wife who has shared hardship with you? You've eaten chaff and drunk thin gruel together and suffered so much. No matter how good Miss Lin is, she doesn't belong to Fan Yuanshan."

"We will never abandon each other in times of hardship, and we can grow old together through thick and thin."

Feng Bao was able to understand Fan Yuanshan's choice because he clearly saw the relationship between His Majesty and the Empress. When His Majesty was young and a little conflicted, he would go to the side hall to listen to Empress Wang play the zither.

"Feng Bao is quite talented." Zhu Yijun affirmed Feng Bao's literary cultivation. After all, he was the one who used the Analects to stun the scholars in the court. Feng Bao liked to defeat the scholars in the areas they were best at, which made them even uglier.

The Secret Service's investigation also uncovered a list, which was quite interesting. It was called the "List of Worthy Sons-in-Law," a roster of officials that the newly rich were trying to get close to. The vast majority of them were graduates of the Imperial Academy, and the old selection system meant that the scholars and officials had no chance of getting close to them.

The problem is that many of the men on this list of potential husbands are already married.

Zhu Yijun looked at the list for a long time, and finally decided not to interfere. This was also a kind of filter to filter out the real talents.

Hunting is also a screening mechanism.

Moreover, the emerging bourgeoisie is still at a disadvantage when facing the old cultural aristocracy, especially in the struggle for power, where they are at an absolute disadvantage.

The strength of the spear and the shield must be matched; otherwise, it will not be a series of contradictions, but a one-sided crushing defeat. Zeng Shengwu of the Ministry of War submitted a report, which was a report on the situation on the Liaodong border that the emperor had personally inquired about, and more specifically, the situation of the Jianzhou Jurchens.

His Majesty inquired about Liaodong and even specifically about the Jianzhou Jurchens. The Ministry of War didn't quite understand His Majesty's purpose. What was so special about a small Jianzhou Jurchen? The Emperor seemed to be overly concerned about the development of the Jianzhou Jurchens.

But when His Majesty asked, the Ministry of War naturally reported in detail. In addition to the Ministry of War, Wang Rulong, the General Commander of Liaodong, also responded to the imperial decree.

The Jianzhou Jurchens began to be registered and organized into households starting in the ninth year of the Wanli Emperor's reign. Now, the Jianzhou area has become a military settlement for the Ming Dynasty. The Jianzhou Jurchens that Your Majesty asked about are a thing of the past; they are now all Ming citizens.

To be a Ming dynasty citizen, one had to grow their hair long. They could no longer wear that somewhat ugly money rat tail braid, mainly because it was really too ugly. Most of the Jianzhou Jurchens cut off the braid at the back of their heads and let their hair grow long.

By the twelfth year of the Wanli reign, Jianzhou had already been transformed into a prefecture and county. Now, Jianzhou has a prefectural government and is garrisoned by 3,000 Liao soldiers. Jianzhou governs three counties and is divided into seven townships and twenty-nine villages, all of which are established according to the military regulations.

If we calculate the timeline, in the original historical timeline, in the 20th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Nurhaci had already begun to unify the Jurchen tribes with thirteen suits of armor.

Zhu Yijun, citing Nurhaci's disrespect, sent him to the execution ground to be used as a specimen. Now, all the prefectures have been transformed into actual local counties.

However, the emperor's inquiry was quite reasonable. The changes in the heavens were still ongoing. If the Ming Dynasty had not undergone the Wanli Reforms, Liaodong would have become the place where the Ming Dynasty rose to power. This was a conclusion that the generals of the Five Military Commissions had all agreed upon.

Shanhaiguan is the fulcrum; the difference in strength between the inside and outside of the pass will rapidly narrow due to changes in the weather.

The Ministry of Revenue submitted a memorial stating that the implementation of the farm system in Henan and Shandong was not as successful as in Jiangxi.

The reason for the failure was not that the people of Henan and Shandong were cunning or lazy and disrupted the collective production of the villages, but that these places had always valued agriculture over commerce and lacked sufficient accountants.

This military settlement lacked an accounting office, making it impossible to calculate work points, allocate agricultural output, and manage agricultural surpluses, resulting in a chaotic situation regarding the settlement system.

"This year, the Ministry of Revenue plans to allocate 1.5 million taels of silver to select quick-witted, abacus-savvy, and calligraphy-skilled individuals from Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, and other places to enter the newly built universities and normal schools in various regions to train accountants, so as to promote the implementation of the system of managing estates."

"Consort Feng, allocate 500,000 taels of silver from the Imperial Treasury. This year, the national treasury has reduced land taxes by 1.5 million taels of silver. This 500,000 taels of silver is a token of my appreciation. Allocate another 200,000 taels of silver, including Beizhili." Zhu Yijun gave an extra 700,000 taels of silver, adding Beizhili to this policy.

Hebei served as the moat of the capital, and the prefectures of Beizhili suffered far more losses than they enjoyed. Naturally, when something good happened, Beizhili would be included.

Zhu Yijun gave 700,000 taels of silver because he intended to reduce land taxes, but it was also a double-edged sword. The powerful and wealthy local gentry had taken the opportunity of the Emperor's birthday celebration to publicly promise in the official gazette to reduce rents during famine years.

If the emperor insists on taking the lead in making concessions, and the court makes concessions to the lower levels, but the powerful and wealthy do not keep their promises, driving the people to rebellion and causing a civil unrest, then it is reasonable for the emperor to execute nine generations of his family.

How dare they openly mock His Majesty the Emperor, treating his words like dirt? They just launched their attack on Rongcheng last year!
"Your subject obeys the decree." Feng Bao bowed his head and accepted the order. The imperial treasury was indeed short of money, but there was still enough for education.

These accountants were trained from the fields and villages. After finishing their studies, they returned to the countryside and, in addition to accounting, had to undertake three other duties: explaining the imperial edicts and decrees, promoting literacy, and acting as medical personnel.

To publicize the imperial decrees and prevent rural gentry from taking advantage of the common people's ignorance of the imperial decrees;
Cultural literacy campaigns aimed to educate rural people to read and write, and to select intelligent and talented students from among them. The main purpose was to select talented individuals and geniuses, as geniuses cannot be cultivated but can only be selected.
Medical personnel were responsible for hygiene and prevention in rural areas. For example, the rules for women included that midwives should wash their hands before giving birth and that women should stay in bed for seven to fourteen days after childbirth. These seemingly insignificant rules were life-saving.

In essence, it was about training grassroots village and township officials. When they returned to their hometowns, because they had official status recognized by the imperial court, the government would seek their help for all kinds of matters, big and small. This was a way of indirectly extending imperial power into the countryside, rather than limiting it to prefectures, states, and counties.

“Every time Luzon sends a memorial, it’s to ask for people. Where am I supposed to get so many thugs and ruffians for Lord Guoxing? And this year they’ve doubled their demands. Do they think I’m a Buddha statue in a temple? Are they making wishes to me?” Zhu Yijun processed a new memorial.

Yin Zhengmao lacked manpower, but not gentry. The free-flowing and exiled gentry in Luzon were enough to support the Luzon gentry and meet the educational needs of various Han towns.

Yin Zhengmao was looking for thugs who cracked whips. Zhu Yijun initially didn't understand why Yin Zhengmao repeatedly asked for such people, as they were the kind of people who caused social unrest. Only after Zhu Yijun inquired did he understand the reason.

Yin Zhengmao didn't just want it for himself, but for the entire Southeast Asia region.

The expansion of plantations in Southeast Asia has been extremely rapid in recent years. Before the expansion was even complete, the Governor-General's Office of Jinchi was also poaching people, resulting in a constant shortage of local thugs and ruffians.

Moreover, the person cracking the whip expends a lot of energy.

Because the slave stewards who cracked whips served as a buffer zone between the plantation owners and the slaves.

The plantation owner rarely caused trouble for the slaves himself; he would put pressure on the steward instead. The slaves also rarely saw the plantation owner, since the plantation owner spent most of his time living in the Han towns rather than on the plantation.

Therefore, in slave riots, the first people killed were these slave supervisors.

Once the riots have been going on for a while, the manor owner can step in and play the good guy, promising to give them a few more bites of food, and naturally the unrest will subside.

This led to Yin Zhengmao having to ask the emperor for these local ruffians every year; in short, they were all consumables.

“Even if they are local thugs, they are still living, breathing people. Do you think I can conjure them up? Last year they asked for two thousand, and this year they want four thousand. These are not crops in the field that can grow in a year!” Zhu Yijun was not being stingy.

It's because Yin Zhengmao asks for it every year, and the imperial court has prepared two thousand this year. Luzon wants four thousand, which is a bit too much.

“Hasn’t this increased the number of plantations? Your Majesty, Southeast Asia is an important granary. If all else fails, we can gather some from Fujian and Guangdong.” Feng Bao also felt that Yin Zhengmao’s doubling of demands had disrupted the court’s plans, but plans couldn’t keep up with changes, so they could only look for supplies in the prisons of Fujian and Guangdong.

"That's all we can do," Zhu Yijun wrote in vermilion ink on the memorial.

Plantations in Southeast Asia were indeed increasing rapidly. Any economic phenomenon, during a period of rapid expansion, is rife with chaos, and plantations were no exception. The Ming Dynasty did not have the ability to directly manage Southeast Asia and could only rely on the Governor-General's Office to manage it, which led to even more of this chaos.

The disorderly situation led almost all the plantation owners and their families to live in Hanxiang Town. These plantation owners took most of the profits from the plantations and spent them in Hanxiang Town, which further boosted the town's prosperity.

Some Han-style towns can no longer be called towns. For example, Tongxiang Town has a population of over 100,000 and is qualified to be established as Tongxiang County.

Only those who live in Hanxiang Town are considered human.

Songjiang Governor Li Le and Songjiang Prefect Wang Qian reported on the construction of the Huangpu Imperial Palace in Songjiang Prefecture. The palace has been fully completed, and the remaining work mainly involves landscaping, flowers, and the creation of the manor landscape.

Wang Qian submitted an additional memorial concerning the development of the cotton textile industry in Songjiang Prefecture.

In order to reduce costs, the cotton textile industry in Songjiang Prefecture began to use steam engines extensively. However, because the Songjiang Machinery Factory moved to Xuzhou, Songjiang Prefecture is now facing a shortage of steam engines.

A single iron horse (a type of motorcycle) is often sold at a 20% premium, and the high demand and limited supply have made it a new favorite in the cotton textile industry.

The widespread use of iron horses also brought new contradictions, namely the dismissal of a large number of weavers, with female weavers being the first to be dismissed. In addition to the dismissal of industrial artisans, family workshops were going bankrupt.

The application of iron horses accelerated the concentration of production and assets in the cotton textile industry. Coupled with the already serious market concentration, this accelerated the bankruptcy of small and medium-sized cotton textile workshops.

If you can't afford to use motorcycles, your product costs will be high, and even the quality will be poor, ultimately leading to your elimination by the cruel market.

After the bankruptcy of family-run workshops, small and medium-sized cotton textile mills with 30 to 50 employees went bankrupt and withdrew from the competition.

This worried Wang Qian greatly. Once production, assets, and markets were concentrated, a monopolistic giant would emerge in the cotton textile industry. Wang Qian hoped that the Ministry of Industry would take the lead and invest state funds to build the Songjiang Cotton Textile Factory to deal with this situation.

Wang Qian had considered splitting up this behemoth, but he felt that such a split would only be superficial.

There are many ways to circumvent this split. Wang Qian, who comes from a powerful and wealthy family, came up with three ways to perfectly avoid the split, stay behind the scenes, and continue to monopolize cotton spinning.

The way to deal with monopoly capital is to prevent it from creating a monopoly, and state-owned cotton mills became an inevitable choice.

This brings up another issue that needs to be discussed: are government factories really less efficient than private factories?
According to Labour Party leader Wang Chonggu, government factories face two dilemmas: bloated and rigid. Almost all problems stem from these two issues. Wang Chonggu spent the latter half of his life trying to avoid the bloatedness and rigidity of government factories.

Both of these predicaments point to one thing: inefficiency.

According to Wang Chonggu's argument, Songjiang Cotton Mill was bound to lose in the competition because a workshop needs high efficiency to prosper.

But Wang Qian didn't think so. He felt that his father, Duke Wencheng, was wrong, and that Wang Qian was a rebellious son. Even though his father had passed away, he was still disobedient.

In fact, based on Wang Qian's observations, private workshops were indeed more efficient than official factories during their initial and continuous expansion phases. However, once their industrial scale reached a certain level, private workshops became more bloated and rigid than official factories.

Both are organizations made up of people. The larger the organization, the more likely it is to become bloated and rigid. This is not fundamentally different from belonging to the imperial court or to the people.

However, the public could not correct errors as forcefully as the government could.

The problem of Duke Wencheng's excessive use of personal relationships was quickly corrected after his death, and the chain of problems caused by the excessive use of personal relationships were also rectified to varying degrees.

Wang Qian's viewpoint was quite novel. In summary, the imperial court would execute people, but the common people would not.

Households also breed woodworms, but there is no effective way to get rid of them.

Therefore, Wang Qian did not believe that the state-owned cotton mills would lose out in market competition. They were all behemoths with problems of being bloated, rigid, inefficient, and corrupt. The state-owned mills were not necessarily going to lose.

Of course, some unscrupulous individuals, in order to seize state-owned assets, deliberately cause the official factories to fall into operational difficulties, and then substitute one for another. That is a separate matter that deserves the execution of nine generations of their families.

How dare they steal His Majesty's assets!
The shareholding system in government-run factories was more likely to motivate artisans and lead to better improvements in production tools.

"Official factories and private workshops, isn't this just the Ming Dynasty using its left hand to fight its right?" Zhu Yijun hesitated slightly when reading this memorial. The court was accumulating too much wealth; a pound of coal was selling for two hundred coins.

(End of this chapter)