Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 97: Satisfied Zhu Yuanzhang! (Subscribe)
Zhou Ning's eyes narrowed slightly.

He was an official in the Ministry of Industry and knew nothing about cotton.

I was surprised to hear that one acre of land can produce six kilograms of cotton.

Six pounds is not a small amount.

But as Xia Zhibai said, since ancient times, the Chinese have valued silk and hemp, namely hemp and mulberry.

Cotton is a foreign product. Although it was introduced during the Han Dynasty, it did not attract much attention. It was not until the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty that it was truly taken seriously. At that time, it was mainly because the population was too large and people had to find ways to solve the problem of clothing, so it was widely planted in the Central Plains.

Cotton has only been in existence for about a hundred years.

Xia Zhibai, however, was a man of great skill and courage. He actually wanted to directly elevate cotton above hemp and mulberry, and even had the idea of ​​replacing hemp and mulberry with cotton products.

The idea is too bold.

Zhou Ning smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Xia, I'm afraid I can't do anything about this. I know very little about agriculture, and I don't know much about the situation of cotton, so I can't give you any advice. But if Mr. Xia insists on doing it, I can't dissuade him. I can only suggest that Mr. Xia be cautious."

"I don't know the details."

“But in terms of daily life, I don’t hear much about cotton.”

"Although your majesty has issued a relevant edict, China has always valued mulberry and hemp since ancient times, and the people also like to grow mulberry and hemp. The price of mulberry and hemp is also higher. I am afraid that if the world stipulates the planting, those who grow cotton will eventually be a minority, and those who grow mulberry and hemp will be the majority."

Xia Zhibai nodded.

The facts are indeed as Zhou Ning said.

The Ming Dynasty did indeed stipulate that those who owned five to ten acres of land should plant half an acre each of mulberry, hemp, and kapok.

But those who have so much land like to plant mulberry and hemp, because the extra space can be used to plant other things. If they want to plant kapok, they can basically only plant kapok. In comparison, the economic benefits of planting kapok are too low.

It has only been a short time since cotton really came into the world's attention.

Cotton spinning was too crude compared to the mature silk reeling and hemp spinning technologies, and ordinary people did not have enough time and money to replace hemp spinning wheels. Naturally, the efficiency of using existing hemp spinning wheels to spin cotton would not be high.

But this is what Xia Zhibai wants to change.

The people did not have the extra money to replace the weaving machinery, but he had the ability to do so.

For ordinary people, cotton spinning is not as profitable as silk weaving, but cotton and linen, as popular clothing materials, have a very broad market.

He could simply collect cotton from the people, and then use new weaving machinery to spin cotton, effectively improving the production capacity of the looms.

Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "Of course I know about this situation, but I have also learned that the current cotton looms are basically the same as the hemp looms, that is, waist looms and foot-operated inclined looms."

"If we can produce a batch of weaving machines specifically for cotton, I believe the future of cotton will be extremely bright."

"Because there are many people in Daming."

"There are very few people who can really wear silk clothes, and the production of linen clothes is not enough. Cotton can just fill this gap."

"I came here this time to ask Governor Zhou for help in improving the loom."

Zhou Ning frowned.

He actually didn't want to help.

His focus now is on improving the steam engine.

Don't want to be distracted.

It’s indeed not easy to improve the steam engine, and it can’t be done in a short time. Improving the loom doesn’t seem that difficult and it’s nothing.

After thinking about it, Zhou Ning agreed.

Zhou Ning said: "Since you have made up your mind, how can I not agree?"

"But I don't know much about looms, so improving them may take some time. I also need to ask other people for help and ideas, just like the steam engine did in the past."

Xia Zhibai smiled and nodded: "Of course it should be so."

Zhou Ning smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I feel like I'm on a pirate ship now. I originally only wanted to work here for a while and then go back to the Ministry of Industry. Now, I can't go back to the Ministry of Industry, and I have to think of ways every now and then. My old bones will have to rely on you sooner or later."

"Haha."

Xia Zhibai laughed and said, "Governor Zhou is joking."

"As the saying goes, people are put to good use. With the ability of Governor Zhou, it is a bit of a waste of talent to be assigned to the Ministry of Industry."

"The vast world is where Governor Zhou can maneuver freely. If Governor Zhou had not left the Ministry of Industry, how could he have seen the wisdom of the people?"

“Knowledge must ultimately be put into practice.”

Zhou Ning pointed at Xia Zhibai and shook his head helplessly, saying, "Mr. Xia, please don't embarrass me this time. You have to send me a replica machine so that I can improve it. If I have to make a replica based on the blueprint, I really don't have the energy to do that."

Xia Zhibai laughed and nodded in agreement.

Fengtian Temple.

Zhu Yuanzhang was reviewing memorials.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the hall. The footsteps were urgent, but also steady.

Although he didn't look up, Zhu Yuanzhang already knew who was coming.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao entered the hall and bowed respectfully, saying, "Father, I have something to report."

"speak."

Zhu Yuanzhang never stopped reviewing, and his eyes were always on the memorials on the desk.

Zhu Biao said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, after more than two months of governance, the disaster relief in Shouzhou and Chuzhou has basically ended. However, Shouzhou and Chuzhou were severely affected by the disaster. I ask your Majesty to order the reduction of the land rent in the two places for two years."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "You can handle this little thing yourself, no need to ask me."

Zhu Biao said again: "I obey your order."

"Recently, I asked many editors of the Hanlin Academy to sort out the disaster relief accounts of Shouzhou and Chuzhou. However, I found that some of the accounts were wrong and the relief was not in place. Ultimately, the disaster expanded and the people were displaced. Therefore, I have ordered that all officials related to Shouzhou and Chuzhou be investigated and punished."

"Other officials who knew about the incident but did not report it will all be exiled to Yunnan." "After the relevant accounts are checked, if there are really serious problems, they will be directly handed over to the Ministry of Justice for discussion and execution in the autumn."

Zhu Biao's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

He is only kind-hearted compared to Zhu Yuanzhang.

He never tolerated mediocre, incompetent, or corrupt officials.

All in one word.

kill!

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyes, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, and he asked in a cold voice: "Is there a problem with this disaster relief?"

Zhu Biao cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Father."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, a fierce look flashed across his eyes, and then he asked in confusion: "The disaster relief has just ended, how did you find out?"

Zhu Yuanzhang became somewhat interested.

Zhu Biao said: "This was not discovered by me, but by someone from the Hanlin Academy."

"The Hanlin Academy sorted out the data reported by officials from Shouzhou and Chuzhou counties, as well as the money and grain allocated by the court, and conducted a detailed comparison. In the end, it was found that the data reported by several counties were very different from those of other counties. I was suspicious and sent the Jinyiwei to investigate secretly. In the end, the problem was found."

“Local misreporting and false reporting are very serious.”

"It's just that the court was busy with disaster relief, so I didn't report it."

"Now that the relief is over, it's time to clean up."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked deep in his eyes and said in a cold voice, "It seems that we are too soft-hearted towards these local officials. They dare to take our money. When they submit petitions, they complain bitterly, as if the country will perish if we don't provide disaster relief. But they are secretly trying to deceive us in various ways."

"We work so hard to govern the country, hoping that the people can live and work in peace and contentment. When Shouzhou and Chuzhou were hit by floods, we sent people to provide disaster relief and transport money and food. But there are these people who only care about money and not their lives, and they turn a deaf ear to our words."

"If they don't want to listen, then there's no need to listen."

"Tell the Ministry of Justice that there is no need to investigate."

"Just kill all nine clans!"

"We in the Ming Dynasty do not lack these officials."

Zhu Biao's face changed slightly. He wanted to persuade him to at least wait until the matter was thoroughly investigated and let these people die clearly. But when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's sharp eyes, he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. His father had never tolerated corrupt officials.

There will be no mercy.

"I understand, son." Zhu Biao nodded.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't take this matter seriously. Killing corrupt officials was no big deal to him.

He looked at Zhu Biao and asked, "Just now you said that the problem was discovered by the people from the Hanlin Academy. It seems that these old scholars from the Hanlin Academy are still useful."

"It's worth it that we've raised them for so long."

Zhu Biao hesitated for a moment, then said slowly: "Father, this is not a problem found by those old scholars."

"But he is a newly promoted Jinshi."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment and was also a little surprised.

He smiled and said, "It seems that we have really selected some good talents in this imperial examination."

"Tell us more about it."

Zhu Biao said: "The one who found the problem was Hua Lun."

"The runner-up in this imperial examination."

"Hua Lun." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes darkened slightly, and a strange color flashed in his eyes.

He knows Hua Lun.

If it weren't for Xia Zhibai's incident, Hua Lun would have been the top scorer.

However, he never wanted Hua Lun to be the top scholar from the beginning. Hua Lun was too young, and he was not comfortable working with such a person.

It was just that due to Xia Zhibai's sudden emergence, the top spot fell to Xia Zhibai, so he did not touch Hua Lun and let him become the second place. However, Zhu Yuanzhang actually did not like Hua Lun very much.

And it's not just Hua Lun, there's also Lian Zining and Huang Zicheng.

He doesn't like any of them.

The imperial examinations he organized were to select talents for the Ming Dynasty, not to allow these people to gain fame or create momentum.

When he heard the rumor that 'Hua Lian Huang, Huang Lian Hua' would get the first place, he had already thought of an excuse to disrupt the rankings of these three people and would not let them succeed.

It was not yet time for scholars to rank his Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Biao nodded, took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, he unfolded the memorial, and after just one glance, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Because this memorial is concise and sharp.

Except for a few sentences at the beginning, the rest are graphics, and they are all very simple and clear. Basically, you can see the key points just by taking a few glances. In these tortuous graphics, several counties in Shouzhou and Chuzhou are compared.

Among them, the data trends of Shou County and Zhang County are significantly different from those of other counties.

Zhu Yuanzhang took the memorial and the more he read it, the more he liked it and found it more interesting. He pondered it over and over again, nodded with satisfaction and smiled, "Not bad, not bad. This memorial is interesting. It seems that the ministers of our Ming Dynasty can write memorials."

“This is well written.”

“Well written.”

"This memorial is well written."

"Boss, it seems that we were wrong about him. Hua Lun is really capable. We underestimated him. He deserves a reward."

“You deserve a reward!!!”

(End of this chapter)