I, Zhu Houzhao, join the US imperialist chat group

Chapter 149 Zhu Houzhao: Ming Dynasty also needs a railway! One hundred thousand kilograms of steel a day! I allow you to join the cabinet!

"I pay homage to Your Majesty."

In the Imperial Study Room, Li Shan, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, visited Zhu Houzhao uneasily.

"Li Shan, do you know the reason why I called you here alone?"

Looking at the information on the desk, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Shan, an ordinary sixty-year-old man.

This Li Shan was a Jinshi in the 14th year of Chenghua. He successively served as the censor of Jinling and the censor of Beijing. Later, his two uncles were impeached and transferred to Henan as the censor of inspection. When the Yellow River burst its banks, he made meritorious service. Then he worked full-time in Hubei and Shandong, repaired the Yellow River and quelled the chaos, and also served as the chief political officer of Sichuan for several years, recruiting Sichuan barbarians. He can be regarded as a person who has made great achievements. Just last year, Zhu Houzhao had an impression that the cabinet proposed He became the Minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing. Strictly speaking, he was also considered a member of the cabinet.

But he is a rare man of action.

"I don't know." Li Shan answered honestly.

"Okay, I called you here mainly for the purpose of going to the Western Ocean. I have checked the information from the Jinling Ministry of Industry and found that the Ministry of Industry no longer builds ships... Now, do you have some confidence that you can let the Ministry of Industry build ships? How long will it take for the Sanbao eunuch’s fleet to be restored to the level of Emperor Taizong?”

Zhu Houzhao had naturally investigated the background of the navigators in Jinling.

Unfortunately, after not going to sea for decades, the shipbuilding sector managed by the Ministry of Works also declined.

There are only some old ships left. Let alone restoring the scale of sea voyages during Zheng He's time, even forming a decent fleet is enough.

"Ahem, Your Majesty... In fact, the Ministry of Industry can also build ships. Many people have gone to Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other places to make a living. If you want to return to the Yongle period... it may take a while, the fastest is three years, the slowest In five years, the court must provide enough money.”

Li Shan was a little embarrassed. Zhu Houzhao asked about this, but he was quite familiar with it.

Although there is water transportation in Jinling, it is not as profitable as Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other places.

Even...since Zhu Zhanji ordered to stop sailing to the West, the shipbuilding department of the Ministry of Industry has failed.

The fleet left by Zheng He, a state-owned asset, also experienced some coincidences and was lost. Anyway, apart from repairing navy ships, they basically don't engage in this business.

Of course, if Zhu Houzhao wanted to, he could still just call those skilled workers back from various shipping companies...

None of this is a problem, the problem is that building ships is expensive.

"Three to five years..."

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to think about it anymore. He could wait, but when he thought that Spain and Portugal had already conquered the world, how could he wait?

But he also knew that this kind of thing would not happen overnight, so he walked on two legs. Since they were temporarily unable to organize an official organization, let the private sector do it...

Or directly attract people from all over the world to delay the discovery of gold in those countries.

This can only be a temporary measure.

"Okay, you will temporarily gather manpower to re-establish the shipbuilding department. Don't worry about money for now."

"In addition, you should also think of a way, whether it's cheating or cajoling, it's best to recruit private fleets for my use."

Zhu Houzhao could only arrange it this way, and at the same time, there was inevitably a sense of luck... Couldn't Taizong and the others just give it to a fleet? We are given a money printing machine but not a fleet. How can we be the world's money printing machine?

"Yes."

Li Shan silently accepted the order, but at the same time he felt helpless. He also wanted to form a fleet.

Their Ministry of Industry... indeed did not have any immediate results, and they all needed time to grind slowly. But after waiting for this period of time, the matter of joining the cabinet has become a matter of time. As for lying and cajoling, how can you deceive? People have fleets and they are not fools. Why should they lend them to you?

He thought Zhu Hou was a picture cake, but he knew after thinking about it...

The emperor obviously knew that this kind of painting was unrealistic and did not say it in court. Instead, he gave him face in private.

"There is a second thing, steel..."

Li Shan thought that was the end, but Zhu Houzhao talked about the second thing: "Li Shan, I remember that our annual iron output in the Ming Dynasty was about 10 million to 20 million kilograms."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Shan came to his senses and responded quickly: "In recent years, some craftsmen have improved their skills. Our steel production and iron production have been greatly improved. If we work harder, we can achieve 20 million kilograms a year." "

This is indeed the achievement of their Ministry of Industry, and it can also be regarded as an important financial source for Ming Dynasty.

After all, excess iron can be made into farm tools and sold to the people, and Ming Dynasty still specializes in salt and iron.

However, compared to necessities such as salt, the demand for farm tools, kitchen knives, and iron pots is not very high. A larger part is used on the armor and weapons of the soldiers, barely maintaining a balance between income and expenditure.

"Twenty million jins a year. Li Shan, do you think your Ministry of Industry can do this to increase our Ming Dynasty's steel production five times a year to 100 million jins?"

Think about it, there is so much steel in the United States that it can be used to pave roads and serve as railways. The Ming Dynasty can barely use this iron for itself, and it can still pave roads. Zhu Houzhao cannot imagine how big the gap is, and he dare not make demands. Iron will break through 100 million first before we talk about it.

"Huh? One hundred million catties a year? Five times..." Li Shan looked at Zhu Houzhao in shock, thinking he had heard wrong.

"Your Majesty, this... this can't be done! Unless we increase mines, increase miners, and increase the current investment by five times, maybe it will work!"

"Also, Your Majesty, we currently have enough iron."

Li Shan refuted it directly. It wasn't that they didn't want to increase production, but... it was already enough. In addition, how much investment and mobilization would be needed to increase production by five times? Li Shan no longer dared to calculate.

"Is it enough?"

In fact, Zhu Houzhao didn't know what he was doing with so much iron. Could it be that there was too much iron to pave the road?

Daming is indeed enough.

But the United States can do it, and Ming Dynasty must do it as well, at least half as well as others.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we do have enough iron. Increasing iron production... will only be used to make more farm tools and iron tools... Also, even if it is used in the army, it will be doubled at most. It's enough for them. Does your Majesty want ordinary soldiers to wear armor?" Li Shan's vision naturally started here.

"Let's not talk about the production issue for now."

"That's right, let's put aside the issue of enough."

Zhu Houzhao had no reason to ask for more iron for a while. Instead, he put it aside for the time being and said directly: "What if one day we run out of iron? Li Shan, have you ever thought about it. During the Han Dynasty, the imperial court used iron for one year." How much was produced? How much iron was produced in the imperial court during the Tang and Song dynasties? Our... iron in the Ming Dynasty should have exceeded that of all previous dynasties. What is the reason for this? "

Science & Technology!
Zhu Houzhao actually wanted to talk about this issue.

The most representative of Ming science and technology at present should be iron.

The Great Ming Fire Gun is entirely made of iron. It seems that because there is more iron, the Shenji Camp was created.

However, the Han and Tang Dynasties had never heard of fire blunderbuss. It seems that they did not have enough iron to make weapons and armor. How could there be excess iron to make fire blunderbuss?

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao felt that the development of iron production may have the shadow of science and technology.

Of course we should pay attention to this.

"This...Your Majesty, what's the reason for this?"

"This, I really asked the old minister about this, and the old minister has never thought about it."

Li Shan was undoubtedly at a loss. Who could go back and summarize the progress of iron-making technology?

"Then Li Shan, you'd better think about it! Think carefully about the reason behind this, and then figure out the reason, and then find a way to double our iron production. Twenty million kilograms seems like a lot, but on average, every It’s only about 60,000 kilograms per day, right?”

"Is sixty thousand pounds a lot?"

"What if we find a way to make 300,000 or 600,000 jins of iron a day? Can one month's output be equal to one year's output?"

"If you have a method, whether you use it or not is another matter."

The steel production level of Ming Dynasty cannot be blocked by the United States.

Whether you have the ability to produce is one thing, but whether you have the method is the question.

"Ah, this...method. This..." Li Shan was dumbfounded and finally followed Zhu Houzhao's train of thought.

"Anyway, that's it! Li Shan, if you can find a way to produce 100,000, 200,000 or even 300,000 jins a day, while keeping the current investment of Ming Dynasty unchanged, if you find this method, I guarantee you Become Vice President!"

After all, this is the key to science and technology, and Zhu Houzhao was unambiguous and promised directly.

The first productive force in the Ming Dynasty was official positions!

In this regard, he believed in the abilities of Ming officials.

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(End of this chapter)