Jiajing Chengming

"Jiangnan is the economic center of the world, and the advanced skills of industries such as weaving and smelting are mostly concentrated in these places."

"Therefore, raw silk, iron materials, and cotton from all over the country were transported to Jiangnan, where they were turned into silk, steel, and cotton cloth, which were then sold to various places and even overseas."

"After the land survey, a large amount of silver from Jiangnan will inevitably flow into the hands of the court, affecting the local economy and, in turn, the people's livelihood throughout the court."

"If the big families in Jiangnan simply go on strike because of declining profits to express their dissatisfaction with the land survey, it would be worse than simply falsely reporting the amount of land. After all, going on strike does not violate the law."

"Therefore, the court had to distribute the silver collected from the local areas through land surveys in the form of silver dollars, so that the people's livelihood in Jiangnan would not be affected, and then the people's livelihood in the entire court would not be affected."

"In short, we want Jiangnan to be better governed and more beneficial to the country and the people, rather than causing chaos in Jiangnan and causing people's livelihood to suffer."

"To achieve this, what Yan Song did in Huaiyang is very important. We need to use what he did in Huaiyang to make the court distribute the silver collected from the local areas in the form of silver dollars!"

"Turn the collected silver into more craftsmen, more scholars, more factories, more roads, more food and cloth."

Royal study room.

Zhu Houcong explained to Zhang Cong his expectations of what Yan Song would do in Huaiyang.

Zhang Cong listened carefully and was shocked by Zhu Houcong's idea of ​​"taking from the people and giving back to the people".

But he also didn't know how the emperor could be so generous and willing to spend the huge amount of wealth collected from the reform to benefit the people.

Zhang Cong could only believe that the current emperor was truly benevolent and kind, and that he would truly treat all the people of the world as his own subjects.

Zhu Houcong himself actually knew why he was so generous.

This is naturally because his goal is more ambitious, and he intends to pocket all the wealth in the world and allocate it.

In his eyes, the wealth of the country is nothing.

He reformed internal affairs not for the purpose of increasing his own wealth, but to strengthen his real control over the entire empire and make central power more centralized.

In short, Zhu Houcong always carried out reforms for the purpose of increasing power rather than wealth.

As for financial gain, he could give it up.

Huai'an.

This place has become a big construction site.

Dust was flying everywhere, fireworks were burning on the river bank, huts with thatched roofs were like clouds, and singing and cursing with accents from all over the place were boiling on both sides of the river, making it very noisy.

Because a large number of young and strong refugees from all directions are being gathered here and assigned to do various jobs.

Those with skills were assigned to various types of state-owned factories.

Those who had no skills were sent to carry wood and lay the foundation.

Young boys were even sent to schools everywhere.

Women were also arranged to work in various government-run weaving workshops.

Orphans were gathered together and transported directly to the capital on official ships to be adopted by the Xingming Academy.

At the same time, Yan Song also recruited a large number of skilled craftsmen to come here. These craftsmen were responsible for teaching these refugees to master and improve weaving, dyeing, and smelting skills. They also recruited many old Confucian scholars to popularize the literacy rate among young people here.

All the money and food spent came from the government treasury.

When the land was surveyed, almost all the tax money and grain collected were used here.

Because the court's current spending on military and disaster relief does not require the silver obtained from land surveying, but instead relies on the income from the monopoly of maritime trade and trade income with Japan and Korea to maintain large expenses such as military affairs and royal family expenses.

By the 16th year of Jiajing, a large amount of cotton cloth, silk, porcelain, steel, sugar and other popular commodities had been produced here. They could be transported north and south to meet the daily needs of wealthy families in various places, and west to meet the daily needs of local chieftains, and even go out to sea to be sold to overseas indigenous nobles.

But at the same time, in the Jiangnan regions such as Suzhou and Songjiang, due to the comprehensive land survey by the imperial court, the expenditures of many local tycoons were greatly reduced, and the incomes of many large industrial and commercial households and handicraftsmen dropped sharply, so they began to take the initiative to strike.

After all, in this era, commodities such as silk, cotton, and porcelain were still handicrafts that only the wealthy could afford.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the most affluent people could only afford to have enough food and clothing.

Moreover, these people are mainly self-sufficient.

In fact, most people could not even be self-sufficient, and could only ensure that their family did not starve to death. When there was a famine, they even had to use wild vegetables and tree bark to make ends meet.

Therefore, after the comprehensive land survey, coupled with the fact that the court had previously adopted a series of reforms to seize the profits of maritime trade and grain transport, the domestic demand market formed by local big households was greatly reduced.

On the contrary, there is overcapacity in commodities such as silk, cotton and porcelain.

The profits of many businesses began to drop sharply, and some even started to suffer losses, which forced the large businesses running these businesses and the handicraftsmen involved in the production of these goods to lay off employees and reduce workload, or even choose to go on strike directly.

These people were also landlords in the past in Jiangnan. When the land tax was unclear, they used the money they earned from business to purchase land.

Therefore, after the land survey, they also need to pay more taxes, and their expenditures will increase instead, which will further stimulate the reduction of the domestic demand market for silk and cotton cloth.

"Tell the local authorities to provide assistance to those on strike."

"For those who are unable to continue their business, we will persuade them to lower their prices and make small profits but quick turnover. At the same time, we will sell them new machines to help them achieve larger-scale factory-based mass production. We will also purchase their goods in bulk at low prices in the name of the Ministry of Revenue, and use the money to provide additional subsidies to bureaucrats, soldiers, and workers in major engineering workshops, in order to achieve the goal of stimulating the market."

"In addition, we encourage major workshops to develop new technologies, promote the emergence of more technologies and equipment that can mass-produce corresponding commercial products, and provide them with lower-interest loans and more bonuses to encourage research and development."

Zhu Houcong also made his own arrangements for this.

Therefore, after receiving the imperial edict, Tang Shunzhi, the governor of Suzhou, specially persuaded Zhang's private weaving workshop, which was quite famous in Suzhou:
"Mr. Zhang, your weaving workshop employs thousands of weavers. If you really close it, thousands of families will be left without food and clothing. How can you bear this?"

"Your Excellency, this is because the imperial court wants to conduct a land survey, so it makes little difference whether my weaving workshop is open or not."

Zhang Wen, the owner of this weaving workshop, replied with a sneer.

Tang Shunzhi said: "Can't you lower the price and let the government purchase a large number of looms to subsidize the people, and also purchase new looms from the court to achieve small profits but quick turnover?"

"The cotton cloth woven by my Zhang family weaving workshop is the best cotton cloth for the rich and powerful to wear, not for the common people to wear!"

"I would rather not open this weaving workshop than let the Zhang family's cotton cloth be worn by common people! The government should either confiscate my weaving workshop directly or send someone to burn it down."

Zhang Wen replied.

After hearing this, Tang Shunzhi took a deep breath and had to leave Zhang's weaving workshop.

Zhang Wen smiled coldly, ignoring the pleas of thousands of weavers, and drove them away with his family:

"All of you, all of you, go! It's good to survey the land, but it's not a blessing for our Zhang family. We really can't open this weaving workshop. You should go to the government to ask for a living!"

Tang Shunzhi could not really confiscate Zhang Wen's weaving workshop in the name of the government, nor could he stop Zhang Wen from making decisions about how to deal with his weaving workshop.

After all, the government is responsible for maintaining order, and it cannot break the rules itself, which would make the place more disorderly and reduce the motivation of businessmen to do business.

Therefore, Tang Shunzhi only persuaded other weaving workshops that were about to close down.

"Mr. Mao, as long as your weaving workshop is willing to continue operating, the Ministry of Revenue's Supply and Marketing Store will send people to purchase your cotton cloth in bulk and sell you more efficient looms. But you have to lower the price to achieve the effect of small profits but quick turnover. After all, the way for the court to solve the problem of unsalable goods in Jiangnan is to make small profits but quick turnover. The cotton cloth and even silk that were once only affordable to the nobles should now be available to ordinary people through the wages they earn from their labor." Not long after this, Tang Shunzhi persuaded Mao Yisheng, the owner of the Mao Weaving Workshop, who was also famous in Suzhou, to get up.

Mao Yisheng looked at the weavers in his weaving workshop and said, "Well, if we don't move the trees, they will die, but if we move the people, they will live. We will just listen to the imperial court. If we really close the workshop, thousands of villagers will be left without food and clothing. We can't just let the imperial court solve the villagers' livelihood problems."

"Mr. Mao is indeed a Confucian businessman."

Tang Shunzhi was quite happy and praised Mao Yisheng.

Mao Yisheng bowed hurriedly: "I am not worthy of such high praise from you, Lord!"

Zhang Wen, the owner of the Zhang family's weaving workshop, came to join in the fun because his weaving workshop was not far from the Mao family and he also knew that the prefect had come to the Mao family to persuade them. He also knew Mao Yisheng's choice and said to Mao Yisheng after Tang Shunzhi left:

"Brother, why do you have to let those corrupt officials make money for the lives of those weavers, and let those common people who work for the court wear cotton clothes from now on? You should let more weavers and common people make trouble because they have nowhere to go, let His Majesty give up the survey, and dismiss Zhang, Gui and other ministers who presided over the survey from the court!"

"Although the land survey has caused great losses to big households like us, we can't really ignore the lives of our subordinates just for the sake of momentary emotion, right?"

"Besides, it's a good thing to let more people wear cotton clothes! This way, fewer people will freeze to death in winter. The climate is getting colder every year. Last year, many people froze to death in Suzhou. Why should we care about the rich and the poor? As long as we can make money and live a better life, that's enough!"

Mao Yisheng's ideas were different from Zhang Wen's, so he asked Zhang Wen a question in return and expressed his own views.

Mao Yisheng went to the weavers who were begging him not to fire them and said, "You can continue to work. We will not close the workshop."

"Yes, sir!"

The weavers were delighted.

Zhang Wen snorted, flicked his sleeves and left, muttering:

"What's the point of being kind? If there is no hierarchy in the world, then what's the point of making so much money? There's no point in even living!"

"Since ancient times, the only correct way is to follow etiquette, and profit comes second!"

"The imperial court is now only seeking to enrich the people and destroy the great etiquette of respecting the noble and the humble. This is not the right way, nor the trend of the times. Your Mao family should just wait to be liquidated in the future when etiquette returns to the right path!"

……

……

Huai'an.

In order to encourage the workers who were building the tracks to take less leave, Yan Song ordered the government offices under him to gather together all the workers who had met the full attendance requirements for that month and directly gave them a piece of cotton cloth as a full attendance bonus for that month.

“Make some winter clothes for yourself and your family!”

"The Emperor can see your hard work, and so can I."

Yan Song even went to a construction site and talked about this to the workers who were receiving cotton cloth.

There were many officials like Yan Song who distributed large amounts of cotton cloth.

Even Emperor Zhu Houcong gave large amounts of cotton cloth to soldiers and elderly people over 70 years old in the capital, under the guise of demonstrating benevolence. In fact, he was taking advantage of the falling price of cotton cloth and the increased productivity of cotton cloth due to new spinning machines and looms, so that cotton cloth could play a greater role.

Anyway, the imperial court is now purchasing large quantities of cotton cloth at low prices to prevent the weaving industry from being reduced in size due to land surveys, so there is no shortage of cotton cloth.

In addition, Zhu Houcong also planned to consume cotton cloth through external expansion, while solving the contradiction between population and land and the deflation problem caused by the large influx of silver into the national treasury.

"Your Majesty, Annan has not paid tribute for 20 years. The governors of Guangdong and Guangxi said that 'Le Xuan and Le Xun are not the legitimate heirs that Le Xuan should establish, and Mo Dengyong and Chen Hao are both ministers who usurped the throne.' You should send officials to investigate and seek justice from the guilty. Moreover, since the previous envoys were blocked by the road, you should suspend the mission now."

On that day, Xia Yan reported to Zhu Houcong about Annan's failure to pay tribute and the rebellious ministers' usurpation of power.

Zhu Houcong therefore considered sending troops to Annan, and asked:
"Besides not paying tribute, what other bad things has Annan done?"

Zhang Cong then followed up by saying, "They have also repeatedly plundered our people and attacked our imperial merchant ships."

"Then I will ask for it!"

Zhu Houcong said, "In the past, Emperor Taizong changed the location of Tujiao and established a provincial government. Later, Emperor Xuanzong abandoned it because the treasury was insufficient to station troops there and completely civilize the area. But now the country is strong and financially sufficient, so we should follow the ancestral law and continue to change the location of Tujiao. But whether it is appropriate now should be discussed by the Ministry of War first."

"Yes!"

But a few days later, the Minister of War wrote in a memorial: "Altan Khan is causing trouble in the north. We need to raise a large number of soldiers in the nine border areas to fight the bandits. We also need to suppress Kaikou in Guizhou, subdue the chieftains, and use troops in Annan. It is difficult to have enough troops at the moment."

Zhu Houcong said: "The shortage of soldiers is a problem. What do you think of recruiting and conquering the barbarians to serve the court?"

"Anyway, what the court lacks now is not money, food, or cloth, but people who can fight."

Zhu Houcong added.

Zhang Cong agreed, "Your Majesty, what you said is a solution, but if you do this, the northern barbarian nobles will probably be very dissatisfied. In that case, they will not only plunder us, but will also directly prevent us from sending troops to the south. In addition, the great families in the nine northern borders will also prevent us from sending troops to the south."

"Why should I consider their expressions when I act?"

"If they have the guts, they can start a rebellion. I am not afraid of sending troops everywhere, but I am afraid of not having enough money to spend."

Zhu Houcong said.

Xia Yan therefore cupped his hands and said, "I think what your majesty said is a good strategy. Using the barbarians to suppress the barbarians can not only solve the problem of the barbarians, but also solve the problem of the barbarians. It can be said to be a win-win situation! However, the court's own troops must be strong enough and the treasury must be sufficient, otherwise it may be difficult to control."

Zhu Houcong nodded: "When the army is not strong and the financial resources are insufficient, we can restore the old system. Now that we have no shortage of money and strong soldiers, let's use this method."

……

……

Liaodong Mingshui Pond.

Zhang Bin rode over and glanced at the Tatars recruited by Wei Changgui's troops.

Zhang Bin saw that most of these Tartars were unkempt and ragged, sitting on the ground, chewing on bread distributed by the imperial guards. If it weren't for the fact that they were leading horses and holding bows and arrows, he would have thought they were beggars.

Zhang Bin also discovered that these Tatars did not seem to have any objection to being arranged to fight in the south, and seemed to be quite looking forward to it, because several Tatar leaders were listening carefully to Wei Changgui's explanation in Tatar language about the precautions for going to Annan.

"Annan is not cold, but it is very hot. There are many miasma and it is easy to get malaria. Fortunately, the Imperial Hospital has already produced quinine and other medicines, which will be provided to the military doctors of each department. You don't have to worry, just go and make merit and earn the reward silver."

Wei Changgui was talking to these Tartars when Zhang Bin came over and asked him, "How much did you raise?"

"Three hundred riders."

Wei Changgui replied.

Zhang Bin nodded after hearing this: "That's enough. Let them wash up and change clothes tomorrow, then take a boat to Shandong. Someone there will pick them up and take them to Guangdong and Guangxi."

"Yes!"

Half a year later, the first batch of recruited Tatar cavalry arrived in Annan and served as scouts.

This group of Tatar cavalry had long been employed by Han generals in the Nine Frontiers, so they could speak Chinese. After arriving in Annan, they constantly brought back the latest geographical information about the border areas of Annan to the court. (End of this chapter)