The Great Industrial Ming Dynasty Started from Beiping

In the entire Ming Dynasty, including the seven western provinces, Nanyang divisions, Nurgan and other areas, the total number of formal employees of the Railway Engineering Department, excluding eunuchs, prisoners of war, and cheap overseas labor, was two million.

Two million young people, no one would have dared to imagine thirty years ago, not to mention that the average annual income of each worker was 22 yuan. After conversion, the annual wages alone are as high as 40 million yuan, and the annual income is as high as 40 million yuan. Not to mention the cost of track maintenance.

In addition to eating food, people cannot do without salt.

Traditional agricultural societies were unable to support complex management systems due to the efficiency of local governments, so they collected taxes through salt, and salt merchants were undoubtedly the wealthiest group.

The Ming Dynasty entered the industrial society, and the guarantee of food and people's livelihood became the prerequisite for industrial development. Therefore, the price of salt must be suppressed. With the supplement of the industrial and commercial tax, the Ming Dynasty no longer needs to regard the salt tax as a top priority. Of course, the salt tax It was still an important tax for the imperial court.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal crosses the Qiantang River and the East Zhejiang Grand Canal. Although it does not belong to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal water system, it is an extension of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and plays an important role in the economic circulation of Zhejiang.

The East Zhejiang Canal starts from Xixing Town, the ancient ferry port of the Qiantang River, in the west, flows through Xiaoshan, Shaoxing, Shangyu, Yuyao, and Ningbo, and flows into the East China Sea in the south of Zhenhai City. With a total length of nearly 600 miles, it is a major transportation artery in eastern Zhejiang.

Nowadays, canals, post roads, and railways go hand in hand. Among them, canals are still the oldest, with a history of more than one thousand and hundreds of years. However, railways, the shortest in history, tend to catch up from behind.

Merchant ships transporting refined salt in the canal are constantly shipped from Taizhou, Yangzhou Prefecture.

In the past, food was precious, materials were unevenly distributed, and output was limited. It was difficult for any non-agricultural labor force to be maintained on a large scale. Therefore, although Taizhou was already a production base of sea salt in an early period, the salt output was still not high.

Historically, Taizhou was adjacent to the river and the sea and was rich in sea salt.

Liu Bi, King of Wu in the Western Han Dynasty, "cast money from the mountains and boiled the sea into salt." For this purpose, he dug a salt river to transport sea salt from the seaside salt field in ancient Hailing. In the Tang Dynasty, Taizhou was already the largest sea salt production base in the country. .

By the Song Dynasty, Taizhou's salt production and sales ranked first in the country. In the Ming Dynasty, the Salt Transportation Department of the Lianghuai Capital was transferred to Taizhou. In the early Qing Dynasty, Taizhou was still the main distribution center for salt trading and marketing by merchants along the Yellow Sea.

Therefore, in the Yongle Dynasty today, Taizhou salt supplies the world.

One after another, the salt factories affiliated to the Ming Dynasty Industrial Bureau not only provided refined salt to the Ming Dynasty, but also provided many jobs, including families with two workers and families with one worker.

Brand-new and beautiful buildings have been built in the new city. The eaves on the balconies are made of yellow glazed tiles, with white exterior walls and black roofs. The three-color small buildings are decorated with locust trees and are as dazzling as pictures.

When the children came home from school, they took the bus back home. The new town soon became lively. Children played in squares and parks, and the elderly helped with housework and taking care of children at home.

Many children who have just learned to walk are babbling in groups in the square.

There will be vendors in densely populated areas. Snacks from all over the country exude tempting smells, making children salivate. There is always something attractive about Monkey King and Zhu Bajie’s sugar figures, hair cakes, tofu curds, candies, raisins, etc. of.

The focus of the East Zhejiang Canal is Xixing Town. This ancient town is a prosperous commercial port on the edge of the Qiantang River. Important products in the prosperous Ningshao Plain are all transported to Kyoto through the Xixing Ancient Ferry into the Qiantang River.

Envoys and merchants from the Gonu Kingdom, the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Koryo Kingdom, various Southeast Asian countries, and even unknown people from the outer seas disembarked from Ningbo and took river boats. They also entered the Qiantang River from here to pay a visit to the Ming Emperor.

Due to the growth of transportation, the carrying capacity of the canal could not be supported. Although there was a railway, many officials in the court were still unwilling to give up the canal and believed that expanding the canal was necessary.

Zhu Gaochi did not do it himself. No matter how he governed, he still needed the experience of officials. After generations of exploration, the accumulated experience was recorded in Wenyuan Pavilion, which would be the precious wealth of the Ming Dynasty.

In the early Yongle period of history, the imperial palace was destroyed by thunder and fire, and Wenyuan Pavilion was implicated. Officials risked their lives to save the books of Wenyuan Pavilion. The greatest wealth is always knowledge, not gold, silver and jewelry.

Therefore, the Ministry of Engineering undertook this major project. During the period of canal expansion, ship transportation became even more inconvenient. Most transportation methods were changed to railways, but the railways were not blocked. Some related scholars believed that the court's move was quite wasteful and greatly The canal seems to be of little use.

In fact, this was indeed the case. By later generations, this canal was already a broken river overgrown with water and grass and full of duckweed.

However, the repair capital had already been repaired, and it could not be abandoned half-finished. The court could only bite the bullet and continue the construction, and the officials who had supported the repair of the canal also began to keep silent and no longer regarded it as their own merit.

anyway.

The workers on the canal and the workers in the salt factory are still working hard.

Just like the trackers who still exist on the canal, no matter what era they are in or what kind of goods they are hauling, hauling trackers is not just a leisurely stroll after all. Of course, now they are not doing it to fill their stomachs, and there are no whips flying in the air, but just to get wives and build new houses.

So, no one can tell how much sweetness and how much bitterness this shoulder has.

In the square, several elderly people were complaining together, while children not far away were playing by themselves.

"It costs at least two to three hundred yuan to build a two-story house, decorate it, and purchase furniture. Although food prices have not increased much, the money has been spent. A single trip to the city will cost you one yuan."

"It's not expensive to study in school, but you have to pay for study tours and buy new clothes every year. Children are greedy, so you can't give them nothing. If someone at home has pain or something, go to the hospital. Although the doctor's treatment is not expensive, the cost of medicine is But not cheap.

"Life is getting better and better, but it is also getting harder and harder. Our family cannot be much worse than other people's families, otherwise no one would be willing to marry their daughter over and suffer hardships. We old people can only help with housework and help Look at the kids.”

The old people chatted a lot and basked in the sun. Although they were complaining on their faces, they were wearing the local fashionable hemp handicraft shoes. Almost every person has a pair. They are comfortable to walk on, and they are light, dry and comfortable. Tie, hence the name "Sheng, Feng". Now it has spread with the wind to the feet of women at home and abroad. This shoe is very popular in Southeast Asia.

Some of the more industrious old people are still weaving. The baskets they have woven can be sold at the market to make some money to support their families.

The ancient imitation Song Dynasty official kiln ceramics nearby have simple glaze patterns, mature colors and vivid shapes. They are also a traditional local craft and are sold at home and abroad.

The acres of land were concentrated in the hands of the guards. Although the military households with hundreds of acres of land at home were farmers, they were already an enviable group. They worked on their own. Although the price of food was not high, they had many acres of land and lived a good life. Be stable and comfortable.

The weir in the distance is a dam across the river.

Since the East Zhejiang Canal is blocked between the Qiantang River, Cao'e River and Yongjiang River, the water levels in each section are different, so a series of weirs and dams must be built to solve the water level gap problem.

On the East Zhejiang Canal, there are many larger Yandai ship locks. Moyan, the so-called "grinding", is to use the bottom of the boat one end at a time as a fulcrum to move forward step by step.

If the ship is to be loaded with cargo and passengers, the ship must be emptied and then reloaded, which is time-consuming and laborious.

This ancient shipping project is a remarkable pioneering work in the history of world shipping. It has since connected the voyages of different water systems.

A winch is used to tug the ship across the dam. Mud is the lubricant and water is the lubricating oil. In order to reduce the friction between the bottom of the ship and the stone dam, ropes are then used to drag the ship up the dam little by little. When manpower cannot pull it, oxen are also used. Towed.

It then became a sluice gate, releasing water to transport ships.

The huge turntable of the sluice gate required more than twenty oxen to pull up the heavy and huge iron gate. The principle of later modern canals is exactly the same, but the difference is the electricity used.

The Ming Dynasty had no electricity and relied on animal power. Now that steam engines are available, steam engines can naturally be used. This is also the main reason why the officials in the imperial court made wrong judgments.

They saw the advantages of steam engines, but ignored the power of railroads. The canals here are replaceable, unlike canals elsewhere.

The opinions of professional scholars have once again proved that large-scale projects by the imperial court are no longer something that imperial officials can easily decide, but must be fully investigated and planned.

At that time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince liked to use various theoretical organizations and investigation departments, such as the Social Theory Research Laboratory, the Workers and Peasants Population Distribution Project Team, the Social Population Distribution Estimation Numerical Model Calculation Team, etc.

After this big lesson, the cabinet began to take it seriously and adopted the model of His Royal Highness.

So this lesson seems worthwhile in Zhu Gaochi's eyes.

So back to the north.

There were many large-scale coal-producing areas in ancient China. Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other places all have historical records of coal mining.

But we have to mention Shanxi. The coal seams in Shanxi are mainly distributed in the Taiyuan Formation of the Upper Carboniferous, the Shanxi Formation of the Lower Permian, and the Datong Formation of the Middle and Lower Jurassic. There are also a small amount of coal seams distributed in the Datong Formation of the Mesozoic Jurassic and the Old Cenozoic. The third series.

Due to the perfect cooperation of the four conditions for a long time, Shanxi Province has unique coal resources, which eventually formed the six major coal fields of Datong, Ningwu, Xishan, Hedong, Qinshui, and Huoxi, as well as Hunyuan, Fanzhi, Wutai, and Yuan Quzhou and Pinglu are the five major coal-producing areas.

The low cost of coal mining, the concentration of coal resources, and the high quality of coal have played a vital role in the industrial development of the north. Very early on, Zhu Gaochi did not really want to develop Shanxi's coal mining industry.

However, on the one hand, there is too little industrialization in Shanxi, and economic development needs to be stimulated, which cannot be separated from the driving force of the industry. On the other hand, the north also needs Shanxi's coal mines.

So now, with the supply of coal mines in the Saibei area and the Goryeo vassal state, Zhu Gaochi has once again raised the issue of controlling the development of coal mines in Shanxi and Beiping areas.

"Although the northern Saibei region and Korea are rich in coal resources, the conditions are not as good as those in Shanxi. If the production chain is transferred, the cost of mining will increase. Also, because of the lack of supply from Shanxi and other places, I am afraid that there will be a coal mine shortage across the country."

In the Wenhua Hall, Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, said worriedly.

Counting from the 25th year of Hongwu, Ming Dynasty's industrialization has entered its 30th year. Changes that were unimaginable in the past have taken place. People have realized the power of industrialization. Even children in social studies talk about it. superior.

The core of industrialization is energy, and the energy source of Ming Dynasty is coal mines.

"Although maritime transport has developed and the transportation cost of coal mines from Goryeo to Daming has reached the extreme, compared with railways, the advantages of continuing to develop Shanxi's coal mining industry are still incomparable."

Xia Yuanji also put forward his ideas.

However, compared to Shangshu Song Li, Xia Yuanji is particularly low-key.

This official who was famous for his water control in history was also one of the officials who promoted the canal expansion project. Because of the misunderstanding of this matter, he became somewhat unconfident.

Zhu Gaochi certainly knew what they were thinking.

But he has to consider leaving a rich "legacy" for future generations.

Later generations will say this about the United States. In fact, in Zhu Gaochi's view, the United States has indeed done well in many aspects. However, when it comes to how advanced the United States is, Zhu Gaochi does not take it seriously.

The operating efficiency of the United States is too low. It is the country that wastes the most energy in the world. Similarly, if 10% of energy is 10% effective, the United States can only achieve 50% of the energy efficiency. The reason why the United States is rich and powerful is mainly because it occupies unique conditions and is rich in various resources per capita, rather than how advanced the country is. Looking back at the East, Guanzhong a thousand years ago was undoubtedly one of the richest places in the world. However, due to development for thousands of years, the original rich resources were undoubtedly lost.

But there is one thing that the United States did pretty well in the last century.

Taking advantage of his advantages, the country mainly uses the world's resources, but saves its own energy.

However, just a few years ago, the United States, which has so many massive advantages, has found it difficult to sustain. It has relaxed its restrictions on its own energy exploitation and has become the third largest oil producer in the world.

In short, money is lost too quickly.

And if China maintains its own civilizational advantages, learns from its strengths and offsets its weaknesses, bases itself on the present, develops with all its strength, and forges ahead together, it will be a country that can conquer others without fighting, leaving its opponents helpless and crushing.

Therefore Zhu Gaochi patiently explained.

"The coal resources in Shanxi Province seem to be unlimited, and this is indeed the case at present, but I think they are limited. Every point that is mined means that future generations will lose one point."

Zhu Gaochi made the beginning, Song Li and others' eyes lit up, smart people are still smart people.

"Coal mines are not a specialty of the Ming Dynasty. I believe there are many coal mine-rich areas around the world. If we use them up and others still have them, it will leave hidden dangers to future generations, so we need to walk on two legs."

"The first is to explore the world's coal resources. We must occupy any area rich in coal resources. The second is to give priority to the development of coal mines outside the mainland and try to create more comfortable conditions for future generations."

The Chinese nation has a tradition of dedicating everything to the family, and of course this family is for future generations.

Even in later generations, there was no shortage of food and clothing. The reason why he continued to work hard was mainly for his children, hoping to leave more wealth to them.

The firewood has been passed down from generation to generation, so no matter where the Chinese nation goes, whether it is in the virgin forests of Africa or being sold to the Americas, even if they are excluded and suppressed, it will not take many generations to still become one of the rich local groups. one.

As for the idea proposed by Zhu Gaochi, no one raised any objections.

How to divert the development of the coal mining industry while avoiding the relocation of employment opportunities and not harming one's own interests while supplementing the interests of others has become a matter of discussion among the imperial court.

If it were a group of businessmen, they would definitely be opposed because it harms their interests.

The most panicked are the domestic coal mine businessmen.

After thirty years, who is the richest in Ming Dynasty? .

Coal yard owners are the richest.

Children who have not yet entered social studies can answer this question.

With the rise of the coal mining industry, the domestic coal field owners have become the richest people. They can guard the cornucopia without worrying about the coal mines being sold. The unique conditions have prevented the coal field owners from keeping up with the development of the times.

The most famous trading houses in China, such as He Zhong, He Zhong, etc., He Zhong's main business is not the coal mining industry. He Kee has also transformed a long time ago and is no longer a traditional coal mining company. In the fiercely competitive environment, it has taken on a different style. of brilliance.

The most powerful Zhangjia Coal Mine twenty years ago disappeared because of inheritance tax issues.

Ten years ago, the owner of the Zhou Dynasty in Peiping also suffered from inheritance tax issues. The family was ruined and the coal mine was auctioned.

Domestic businessmen cannot oppose inheritance tax and have begun to accept it.

However, after the new news from the imperial court came out, many businessmen could not sleep. On the other hand, foreign businessmen gloated over the misfortune. The one who laughed the loudest was Wu Hong. He left Peiping in despair because of those who relied on luck to occupy the capital early. The group of businessmen who had obtained a good position in Peiping excluded him.

Otherwise, why didn't he do business in the most profitable place in the country, but left the country and came to Goryeo?

"It's true to the old saying, Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. Now the court wants to transfer the coal mining industry. I have occupied a good position in Goryeo early. Now let's see what those old guys will do."

Hearing Wu Hong's complaints, the owner of Heng Yun Lai Trading Company worried: "They are still rich. If they come to Korea to grab mines from us, I'm afraid we really can't compete with them."

Wu Hong couldn't help but laugh.

"Everything in the world can be accomplished by anyone with money."

"This is the reason."

The boss of Heng Yun Lai Trading Firm nodded in approval. They have been rooted in Goryeo for many years. Whether it is the Goryeo Governor's Office, the King of Goryeo in Seoul, or even the local Yangban, the relationship has long been inextricably linked. How can we It's something that the old guys in China can handle.

However, no one can say for sure. The owner of Heng Yun Lai Trading Company said carefully: "It still depends on the attitude of the court. If the court supports those old guys, it will be difficult for us to resist."

Wu Hong frowned. His old friend's worries were not unfounded.

"We have made great efforts in the management of the imperial court in Goryeo, including the trade model led by the Ming Dynasty Industrial Bureau. We have always supported it. We have to be merciful."

"When it comes to domestic relations, those old guys are better than us. What if they persuade the court?"

Wu Hong couldn't sit still and made an appointment with several big businessmen from Goryeo to rush back to the capital to inquire about the imperial court's attitude. Similarly, a large number of businessmen from the north went south to inquire about the imperial court's attitude.

The total length of Nanyang's railways is ultimately planned to be no less than 100,000 miles.

Not counting the cost of railway bridges, etc., and only considering the flat rails, every mile of railway built in the Ming Dynasty is also a second-generation railway. From the perspective of later generations, it is still a simple railway, but even so, pig iron is needed to make steel. It is 60,000 jins, and 100,000 miles requires 6 billion jins. If the consumption of railway bridges and other consumption is included, it will probably be doubled.

Refining one hundred kilograms of iron requires fifty kilograms of coking coal, and one hundred kilograms of coal can be used to burn sixty kilograms of coking coal, which means nearly ten billion kilograms of coal are needed.

At the end of Britain's first industrial revolution, the annual coal output was 88 billion pounds.

The Mubang Xuanwei Division, the Burmese Xuanwei Division, the 800 Great Burmese Xuanwei Division, the Lichuan Pingmian Xuanwei Division, Siam, the Gadot Division, Chenla, etc., together have an area that is more than ten or twenty times that of the United Kingdom, and a population It is also far more than ten times higher than that of Britain at the same time.

When the Nanyang Railway project is completely completed, Ming Dynasty's national power will undergo new changes.

There are no new forces in the north, east, or south.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty has completed the "closure" on land, leaving only the declining Japanese country overseas. The Ming Dynasty will completely free up its hands and start a real vassal world.

Not to mention cement and other commodities, the demand for coal mines will be a new source of wealth. If you seize this opportunity, you can turn over and establish a large trading house that is no less than those of the original Zhang Ji Zhou Ji.

The distance between Goryeo and Nanyang is too long. Shanxi's coal mines can be transported to Nanyang at the lowest cost through railways. However, the imperial court wants to reduce the mining of coal mines in Shanxi, so where does the huge gap come from.

There is no shortage of smart people in the world.

While many people were still entangled with Goryeo, those businessmen doing business in Nanyang quietly set their sights on the New World based on foresight and foresight.

The New World, which later became Australia.

Many scholars searched for historical materials, and finally deduced from the records in the books that during the Yuan Dynasty, Quanzhou merchants and sailors who sailed between the east and west oceans all year round believed that the new land that was happening now was the island at the end of the world, and called it "Jue Dao".

Based on the local indigenous language, the sailors transliterated the local continent as Roosos, and called the Darwin Port area in northern Australia Manali.

The merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty also landed at Manali and found this place recorded in history books.

After years of trade, merchants brought back news of rich mineral resources in the area. After fermentation and the promotion of the Nanyang Railway Project, people finally discovered the huge business opportunities here.

Compared with exchanging some gold from the local indigenous people, the local minerals are the most drool-worthy wealth.

The Ming court was best at using domestic goods to lure overseas countries into becoming vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

From top to bottom, Ming merchants were also the best at obtaining land from the natives with the help of commodities.

Unlike the natives in some parts of Southeast Asia, the natives on Losos Island are generally very enthusiastic.

It is different from the cannibals on Taiyuan Island, and it is also different from the fiercely competitive tribal wars in Southeast Asia, including the strife caused by the cultural gap among the Native Americans.

Because the population of Losos Island is small and there are no large livestock, such as no cattle or horses, the environment is extremely closed and does not form a harsh competitive environment. Therefore, when they first saw the Western colonists, the indigenous people were frightened and confused. Curious, yet friendly, he helped sailors who lost their way.

For the same reason, Ming merchants quickly established themselves locally.

Everything brought by the merchants of the Ming Dynasty was very attractive in the eyes of the natives. They exchanged gold for decoration with the Ming Dynasty people for goods. Over the years, they became accustomed to this method.

The products of the Ming merchants also changed the lives of the indigenous people. They began to wear clothes, drank tea like the Ming merchants, and learned to use tools such as fire sickles. The pottery of the Ming Dynasty was one of their favorite products, and they cooked for them. Cooking food provides convenience.

Another year, more Ming merchant ships arrived.

The indigenous people have limited mining skills and there is not much gold left in the open pit. When they heard that the Ming merchants wanted to mine locally, and if they agreed, they could give them a batch of goods, the indigenous people did not object.

What's the use of those barren deserts?

Ming merchants took advantage of information asymmetry to acquire land ownership at extremely low prices for vast tracts of desert. (End of chapter)