At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 712: Controlling the interests of the global industrial chain

The gold mine in Xiyan is something that Xu Fan doesn't even know about, because it was discovered too early, in the Middle Ages. At that time, the Mali Empire dominated the world with the gold mine. The king at that time took the gold on a pilgrimage, which actually directly reduced the gold price in the Mesopotamian region by 30%. From this, we can see that the gold mines in the Xiyan region are abundant and easy to mine.

The second prince Xu Sheng went to Xiyan to be a fiefdom and soon discovered the local gold mines. The production capacity was very large and the difficulty of opening it was very low. Xu Sheng used the gold to attract immigrants from the Han Dynasty, hire workers from Carthage, and develop the country with the help of savages captured in Yanzhou. Over the next ten years, the population of Xiyan increased 20 times to over one million, and tens of millions of acres of land were developed. The local economic plantations can produce economic crops such as oil palm, coffee, dates, sisal, cocoa and cloves, making it one of the most powerful agricultural countries in Yanzhou.

The local five small industries are well developed, with a large number of mines, cement plants, small steel mills, machinery plants, textile mills and other basic industrial systems. Of course, the scale is relatively small and it is difficult to meet local demand. Xiyan still has to purchase a large number of industrial products from countries such as the Han Dynasty, Carthage, and Rome.

At the same time, because of the wealth, Xiyan's welfare benefits are comparable to those of the Han Dynasty. The minimum income of local craftsmen is 5000 coins, and they have an 8-hour work system. Pensions, unemployment benefits, medical insurance, and work-related injury insurance are all extremely complete. Local children can go to school in both primary and secondary schools for free, and if they can be admitted to a school, the Xiyan court will not only cover the tuition for the whole year, but also give a scholarship of 2 yuan each year. It can be said that various welfare systems are comparable to those of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, the consumption capacity of Xiyan Kingdom was stronger than that of Carthage and Rome, both of which had a population of tens of millions. Carthage's textile factories mainly exported goods to wealthy regions like Xiyan Kingdom, and labor exports became Carthage's largest source of foreign exchange income. The funds needed for Carthage's industrial development depended on Xiyan Kingdom.

It was precisely because of the example of the Carthaginians that Chen Mai wanted the Western Yan Kingdom to lead small countries such as Greece.

Xu Aimin pondered for a moment and said, "This is a feasible method. We can recruit more workers to develop the land and special products of Yanzhou to meet the needs of our Han people."

The continent of Yanzhou is too wild and the demand for infrastructure construction is almost endless. However, other vassal states are not as lucky as Western Yanzhou, which has a huge gold mine to provide funds. They can only rely on capturing savages, opening up the wilderness, planting land, and selling cash crops to make primitive accumulation bit by bit. However, it is still possible to provide some labor markets for small countries such as Greece, allowing them to pick cotton, dig peanuts, and herd as cowboys.

The materials needed for the Han Dynasty to support hundreds of millions of people to live a prosperous life are extremely huge. Taking the simplest food as the benefit, the Han Dynasty now consumes 30 kilograms of various oils every year, of which soybean oil and peanut oil are the main sources. One acre of land can produce 100 kilograms of soybeans a year, and the oil yield of soybeans is about 15%, which means that one acre of land can only produce 2 kilograms of soybean oil. The oil yield of peanuts is twice that of soybeans, but the production capacity of peanuts is half that of soybeans, so the oil yield per mu is almost the same. Just to meet the edible oil needs of the Han people, million mu of land is needed, and if the agricultural technology is worse, the land required will be even more.

Two or three hundred million mu of land, this is almost all the arable land of a big country. Even the Han Dynasty occupied one-tenth of the arable land. Just to meet the demand for edible oil for the Han people, the Han Dynasty needed dozens of vassal states to supply it.

Now the per capita meat consumption of the Han people is 60 kilograms, eggs 30 kilograms, milk 70 kilograms, vegetables 300 kilograms, and fruits 120 kilograms. The annual per capita direct consumption of agricultural products is about 900 kilograms, and the daily consumption is two and a half kilograms. It can be said that the productivity of the Han Dynasty has not caught up with later generations, but the quality of life has caught up with later generations (data copied from 2020).

The demand for these agricultural and sideline products is extremely large. Even though the Han Dynasty has a developed agriculture (relative to this world), it cannot support the material needs of the Han people. The Han Dynasty needs to buy all kinds of fruits and spices from Southeast Asia, import beef, mutton, and milk powder from the desert and Yinzhou, buy marine fish and soybeans from Liaodong, and buy cotton, grapes and other crops from the western regions of Tianzhu.

Therefore, the Han Dynasty was keen to promote the progress of productivity, because only when overseas productivity improved could it bring more agricultural products and industrial resources to the Han Dynasty, allowing the people of the Han Dynasty to live a prosperous life. And only the resources of half the earth could bring the people of the Han Dynasty a per capita prosperous life when productivity was relatively backward.

But the population of this era was too small. Even if there were big men selling industrial products and spreading medical technology, because the population base was too small, after a few decades, the global population was probably only about 400 to 500 million. The land was vast and sparsely populated, and primitive wilderness was the scenery of most parts of the world.

The Han Dynasty's transformation of the world has placed almost endless demands on infrastructure, which has resulted in an almost endless demand for labor. Countries selling their own labor in exchange for foreign exchange has become almost the most important weight for them to balance trade.

Zhang Pijiang finally said: "I think that in order to completely solve this problem, the court needs to manage these countries. At the very least, we cannot let Rome and Carthage continue to compete like this. They did not gain any benefits from competing for craftsmen, but Greece and other countries suffered losses. At present, although our Han Dynasty has gained temporary benefits and can get cheaper cloth, this is also undermining our Han Dynasty's industrial foundation and is not good for the court's hegemony."

Then he told everyone about what the Mohists in Kuaiji County had reported, that the textile factory owners in Jiangnan, Kuaiji County, had closed their factories on a large scale and moved their textile machines to Tianzhu. This led to the rapid development of Tianzhu's textile industry, which increased by 3% to 4% every year. Now the Han merchants have discovered that Tianzhu's labor force is a cheap resource.

Under Liu Qi's rectification, it was finally possible to make money by opening a factory in Tianzhu, and the more labor-intensive the industry, the more money one could make. The profits of the textile industry in Tianzhu even caught up with those of the steel industry. For Han merchants, opening a textile factory in Tianzhu was no different from picking up money. As a result, Tianzhu's foreign trade investment increased year by year, and the scale of the textile industry also expanded rapidly.

Indian cloth, clothing, shoes, hats, bags, etc. produced in India were also exported to the Han mainland in large quantities. This led to a sharp decline in the number of textile factories in the Han mainland, which has affected the lives of the lower-class people.

He keenly realized that if India, Rome and Carthage continued to compete in an unorderly manner, they might just be free riders at first, but as their industrial scale grew, they would destroy the global trade system that the Han Dynasty had now built.

The Han Dynasty worked so hard to build a global trade system. In order to ensure the smooth flow of goods around the world, it also spent a huge amount of money to build the Suez Canal and the Yinzhou Canal. This is because this system is most beneficial to the Han Dynasty and also to industrial countries.

Take the simplest iron ore trade as an example. The highest quality Nanzhou iron ore has an iron content of 300%, and the iron content of rusted iron is just that much, which can almost be put into the converter to make steel. However, such high-quality iron ore only costs coins per ton. However, after being smelted in the blast furnace of the Han Dynasty, it can be sold for coins. After being refined in the converter, it can be made into steel and sold for tens of thousands of coins per ton. High-quality alloy steel can be sold for coins or even million coins. % of the profits in the steel industry chain were taken by the Han Dynasty.

The trade system formulated by the Han Dynasty is extremely friendly to industrial countries and can make the Han Dynasty huge profits. Therefore, in recent years, the Han Dynasty's steel production capacity has been transferred to the coast. The Bashang Steel Plant has even been transferred to Linzi County. The steel production capacity of Kuaiji County has increased year by year. Donghai County, Linzi County, Langya County, Yuyang County and other counties have also become new steel centers. The establishment of these steel mills is because there are low-priced raw materials overseas, which can greatly reduce the cost of chain steel.

The current global oil price is 40 cents a barrel, of which 25 cents is the cost of the barrel. These barrels are produced by the Han Dynasty and refined by the Han Dynasty's chemical plants. One liter of gasoline costs one cent. Even though it is so low, the price is still several times higher than that of crude oil.

As for agricultural products such as wheat, rice, and soybeans, and cash crops such as cotton, palm oil, and rubber, it goes without saying that these agricultural products and cash crops have not increased in price in the more than ten years since the Han Dynasty established a global trade system. On the contrary, with the improvement of productivity, a large amount of wasteland has been reclaimed, and the production capacity of various agricultural products has increased. Their prices have also shown a gradual downward trend. In addition, due to the lack of foreign exchange in various countries, in order to compete for the market share of the Han Dynasty, a model of subsidizing the Han Dynasty has emerged.

The big men of this era will not find themselves in a situation where everything they buy is expensive and everything they sell is cheap. This is the advantage of controlling the industrial chain.

The Han Dynasty controlled the theoretical distribution rights of the industrial chain, and moved the profits to the industry, so the profits of the global industrial system skyrocketed. The Han Dynasty was the world's largest industrial country, and its industrial output accounted for most of the world, so it naturally occupied most of the world's wealth. But this system was not only beneficial to the Han Dynasty, but also to other industrial countries, because raw materials were cheap and industrial products were expensive. The Indians, Romans, and Carthaginians could also use the industrial-agricultural scissors gap to harvest the Han Dynasty's vassal states that were mainly engaged in agriculture and mining. The Indians, Romans, and Carthaginians had cheap labor, and as long as their industrial scale increased, they would even threaten the Han Dynasty. This was something Zhang Pijiang could not accept.

After listening to this, Xu Aimin felt as if he had suddenly realized something. In recent years, the industrial output value of Dahan has repeatedly set new highs, and despite its extremely large scale, the industrial added value can still increase by 1-2% every year. At that time, he just thought that this was due to the second scientific and technological revolution.

But after listening to Zhang Pijiang's words, he realized that the Han Dynasty had established a global market. Countries all over the world were competing fiercely for agricultural products and raw materials, so prices fell. The Han Dynasty could provide more than 6% of industrial products, which led to an increase in industrial profits. When there was money to be made, whether it was the Shaofu controlled by the court, local officials, or factory owners, they all increased their investment in industry.

However, due to the high profits in industry, other countries that are ambitious and want to make money are also trying to move downstream of the industrial chain, squeeze into the industrial market, and obtain the highest profits in the industrial chain.

Xu Aimin asked with some concern: "How can I, the Han people, change the situation?"

Zhang Pijiang said: "Of course, we should hold high the banner of the Great Harmony and denounce the forced labor of the Romans and Carthaginians. Your Majesty, as the emperor of the Global Alliance, the people of Rome and Carthage are also under your rule. You should liberate them and improve the situation they face. Request the Roman and Carthaginian Senate to implement an eight-hour work system and provide pensions, unemployment benefits and other basic welfare benefits."

"This method can not only legitimately slow down the pace of industrial accumulation in various countries, but also expand the global market and create a larger consumer market for our industrial products."

"Whether it is to uphold the banner of a harmonious world or for economic benefit, we must promote the eight-hour workday around the world and improve the income and welfare of craftsmen."

"Our Han Dynasty cannot ignore other countries. We must assist them in establishing the Shangji, Shaofu, Da Si Nong and other departments, and include the industrial and agricultural production of other countries in our statistics. This way, our Han Dynasty can better plan and adjust global production capacity."

Yuan Ang hesitated and said, "Not to mention that even Your Majesty cannot manage this kind of thing. Even if Your Majesty manages it, will the court send officials to supervise whether the Romans really implement the 8-hour work system and whether pensions and other welfare benefits are given?"

Zhang Pijiang smiled and said, "This is when the Mohists need to step in. They should not be confined to the Han territory, but should also develop branches in other countries. The Roman factory owners cruelly exploited the craftsmen, which not only hurt the Roman craftsmen, but also the interests of the craftsmen in the Asian countries. If their practices are not prohibited, it will not be long before the interests of our Han craftsmen will be harmed."

"In fact, they have already been hurt, because the bottom line of Roman factory owners is too low. Even if the factory owners of our Han Dynasty set up factories in Rome, they cannot compete with the factories in Rome because they follow the laws of our Han Dynasty and implement the eight-hour work system. As a result, they have to close down. Now Carthaginian cloth and Roman cloth have entered the Han Dynasty market. Many small textile factories have been affected and their craftsmen have lost their jobs."

"If we don't restrict the actions of the Romans and Carthaginians, more and more craftsmen in our Han Dynasty will be unemployed. If the craftsmen in the Han Dynasty want to keep their jobs, they must liberate the Roman craftsmen and keep their jobs."

Chen Mai smiled and said, "I have an idea. The court can first denounce the Romans and Carthaginians for forced labor in the newspapers to make the Romans and Carthaginians have a bad reputation. Then, a special decree will be enacted. Any goods produced by factories in Rome and Carthage that do not implement the 8-hour work system are considered forced labor, and we will not import them. As long as the Romans and Carthaginians want to make money from us, they must improve according to our requirements."

Yuan Ang worriedly said, "I am afraid that this policy will also affect the princes of our Han Dynasty. If their interests are damaged, they will definitely resent the court, which is not good for the court."

Yuan Ang had experience in the Yinzhou Military Governor's Office. He was also good at networking and would deal with a large number of princes at the annual princes' conference. Therefore, he understood the situation of the princes of the Han Dynasty better. The welfare benefits of the craftsmen in the vassal states of the Han Dynasty were not as good as those in the Han Dynasty itself, and were not much better than those in Rome, Carthage and other countries.

Zhang Pijiang said disdainfully: "There is no need to worry about the princes of the Han Dynasty. It is because they treat craftsmen harshly that most of the princes' native lands do not have much industrial capacity, and the impact on them is extremely limited."

Among the vassal states of the Han Dynasty, there were very few that had complete industrial systems. The reason was very simple: the people of the vassal states were unwilling to become craftsmen, as they worked hard but earned little money. However, they could easily earn tens of thousands of dollars a year by reclaiming wasteland and planting cash crops in the vassal states.

Although many princes had the ambition to establish an industrial system, they found it difficult to resolve the income gap between farmers and craftsmen. If the craftsmen's income was low, they would rather be farmers. If the craftsmen's income was high, the factories could not bear the costs, and the products they produced could not compete with the industrial products of the Han Dynasty. It would not be long before the factories went bankrupt.

I have to admit that in this era, even the Han factory was a very harsh environment. Only countries like India, which had a dense population and not enough land, had abundant and cheap labor resources to enter the factory.
Among the princes of the Han Dynasty, that is, India, Xiongnu, Tang, Liaodong, and the Western Regions had a certain industrial base. However, in places like Southeast Asia, the industry could not develop because it was too rich and the local cash crops were too developed, which squeezed the industrial investment.

Xu Aimin thought for a moment and said firmly: "Only when the name is right can the words be justified. It is time to hold a new Global Alliance Conference to promote welfare policies such as the 8-hour work system, pensions, unemployment benefits, etc. around the world. As the leader of the global alliance, our Han Dynasty has the responsibility to bring a better life to the people of the world. After eliminating slavery, improving the living conditions of craftsmen has become the new goal of the global Datong Party."

After making the decision, Xu Aimin was about to give Liu Ruyi an order, but before leaving, Zhang Pijiang whispered, "Your Majesty, the princes have been in the vassal states for nearly ten years. The vassal states have made great progress, and the princes are all talented. You should choose a crown prince."

Although Xu Aimin had seventeen princes, all of them were enfeoffed overseas. This situation caused some concern within the court, who were afraid that there would be problems with the succession of the Han Dynasty. Many ministers had already written to the emperor, asking him to enthrone a crown prince in order to consolidate the foundation of the country.

But Xu Aimin felt that he should pay more attention to the performance of his sons, especially the princes who were enthroned later. They had been in the fiefdom for a short time and their positions were not good, so they needed more time to develop. He also thought that he was still young and had enough time to observe and find a qualified successor.

But in two years Xu Aimin would be almost sixty years old. Even in later times, this was the age for retirement. Xu Aimin felt that he was young, but none of the civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty felt that the emperor was young. They were still a little panicked in their hearts about the fact that the country had no legal heir. There was no way but Prime Minister Zhang Pijiang to persuade the emperor to prepare to select a crown prince and establish the foundation of the country.

(End of this chapter)