My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 346 The Key is Division of Labor

"This country is naturally our country."

As expected, Zhu Yuanzhang thought excitedly that our descendants will be able to do things that others cannot do!
If China can succeed in the future, then we, Old Zhu, can succeed too!

If this is true, does it mean that our Lao Zhu’s idea is correct?

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help feeling a little complacent. It seemed that our Zhu's brain was also very useful.

Hehe, it is because of your influence, Old Li, that I have reached this level!

In this whole world, only I understand your painstaking efforts. At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that there was no one else in this world but him.

"Future success will also be of great reference value to the Ming Dynasty.

First of all, we need to know, what are the advantages of planned production?

Of course, the fact that all efforts are combined is only one of the advantages. The biggest advantage is that it enables the court to grasp the direction of production of key industries.

What are key industries? Naturally, they are industries that are related to the foundation of the country, such as military industry, railways, etc.

To give a simple example, as an emperor, in order to more stably and firmly control the territory of Ming Dynasty, you will definitely try to build railways throughout Ming Dynasty, including poor mountainous areas and border areas, but merchants will not do so because there is almost no profit there. "

This is the truth, Zhu Yuanzhang said to himself, the significance of railways is not only in trade, it also affects people's livelihood. More importantly, the imperial court controls the land power, but businessmen will not consider so many things.

“It’s not just railways. There are many industries that many businessmen cannot afford but are related to the safe development of a country, such as steel, shipbuilding, weapons, etc. These must be controlled by the court.

Therefore, how to absorb the advantages of planned production to drive the development of Ming Dynasty's industry, my suggestion is that the court should control the main industries, and leave the rest to market competition.

Ultimately, the key lies in four words: macro-control.

The court you lead, Old Zhu, is like the leader of a large ship. You are responsible for steering the ship. If it deviates from the course, you should correct it. Don't interfere too much. It's like educating a child. When they are young, they are under the care of their parents. But when they grow up, if they still need their parents to feed them, then they are really useless."

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but laugh out loud. How come what Old Li says is so humorous? I just love watching it!
“In the industrial layout of large-scale industries, private businessmen can also be fully encouraged to participate.

For example, in the construction of steam engines and ships, some non-critical parts can be made by private merchants, allowing multiple private factories to compete. This will not only produce high-quality and low-priced products, but also increase tax revenue, right?"

Seeing this, a flash of lightning flashed through Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, and he suddenly remembered a key word - division of labor!
When Lao Li explained the assembly line to him, he mentioned the word division of labor. The needle-fired gun was divided into different parts, and each part was then produced by a different workshop and assembled by the workers.

Different workshops produce different parts, which is called division of labor.

As Lao Li mentioned earlier, handing over non-critical parts to private businessmen, isn’t this expanding the concept of division of labor, allowing division of labor to enter the social field, allowing the entire society to divide labor and cooperate, forming huge assembly lines across factories? Isn’t this called, uh…

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered over it, and then an idea suddenly occurred to him, which was called industrial division of labor!
This word is good, this word is good! Old Zhu can also create this kind of words that only Old Li could say before!
"Industrial division of labor, um, not bad, not bad, the meaning is simple and clear, and it is easy to remember."

He couldn't help but read it several times to himself. As soon as he read it, he felt like he was very knowledgeable and professional.

So what Lao Li mentioned before, coordinating regional balanced development and forming complementary industrial chains between regions, is actually a form of industrial division of labor.

If we want to realize a large-scale division of labor in the industry, we must set strict standards for each product, just like setting up an assembly line. The size, appearance, quality, etc. must all be unified. Otherwise, the specifications between each factory will be different, so what is the point of dividing the labor? It will all be useless!

In order to formulate standards, all industries must first be classified, the components required by each industry must be identified, and then standards must be formulated for each industry.

The industrial layout in the Jiangnan area has entered the implementation stage. Before that, the Ministry of Industry must implement it quickly, formulate strict production standards, and then promote them nationwide.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt somewhat relieved and proud. After corresponding with Lao Li for such a long time, he had learned something and could use his ideas to think about and solve problems.

I'll have to talk to Lao Li when the time comes and ask him for his suggestions.

Of course, if Mr. Li could give us a few compliments, Mr. Zhu would reluctantly accept them.

“The advantages of planned production mentioned above can be summarized very simply as macro-control.

Macroeconomic regulation ensures that national development does not go astray, and the market economy ensures that national development maintains appropriate vitality. The two interact with each other and are indispensable, just like a person's two legs. If either leg is missing, one cannot walk well, right?
By the way, I have also read the Jiangnan Industrial Analysis Report, especially the analysis of input and output, which will play a huge reference role in the future planning and layout of the industry. It seems that you, Mr. Zhu, have many talented people under your command!
As an emperor, you are in charge of the overall situation and need your subordinates to do this detailed and tedious statistical work in order to plan the development of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, statistical work is not limited to the economic field, it also plays a huge role in other fields.

Just like in the field of national defense, the annual training consumption of bullets, food consumption, etc., also need to be specially counted to make adequate preparations for the budget for next year.

Not only statistics, but also auditing requires the training of a special team of talents.

Even if the garrisons were engaged in farming during off-season or fighting during wartime, statistics needed to be kept. At the very least, this would prevent the garrisons from underreporting production or falsifying the number of people, right?

I suggest you train talents in this area and build a professional and effective statistical team."

Old Li, your suggestion hits the nail on the head. Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up. Auditing is indeed done by the Censorate and the Ministry of Revenue, and as for statistics, as Old Li said, it is necessary to recruit specialized statistical talents.

The letter came to an end here, but after Zhu Yuanzhang read it, his expression became inexplicably strange again.

"Finally, I have another question for you, Old Zhu. Based on the Jiangnan region industry analysis report, how can we specifically plan the Jiangnan region's industries? How can we achieve balanced regional coordinated development and form a complementary industrial chain?"

Chapter 346 was blocked for unknown reasons. I am applying for unblocking. I am really sorry to all my fellow readers.
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(End of this chapter)