The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 246 A generous move

It was already past noon, and Wanli was still wandering around the Longjiang Treasure Ship Factory.

Building a ship is really not easy, there are so many things to prepare.

He is now only preparing to build some thousand-ton ships, and he doesn't know how much more he needs to prepare.

He even had to consider the food and accommodation issues of the craftsmen.

At this moment, there are only more than 400 craftsman households in Baochuan Factory, and it is no problem for each household to have a small courtyard.

The problem is that there will definitely not be enough space for 20,000 craftsmen to gather here. The Baochuan Factory is only this big, and a small half of it is used for ponds, docks and various workshops. There is not much open space to begin with, and jute and tung oil seeds used in shipbuilding are also grown there. The remaining space may not be enough to accommodate a barracks-like house for each family, let alone a yard.

He was just thinking about how to arrange food and lodging for the 20,000 artisans when Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan suddenly whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, it's already past noon. Aren't you hungry? I've seen many people secretly touching their stomachs."

Is it past noon?
Wanli looked at the setting sun, touched his stomach, and suddenly felt a strong sense of hunger, so hungry that his chest was sticking to his back.

If this were dinner, it would be fine. At least I had eaten at noon and there was still some food in my stomach, so it wouldn't be a big deal to eat it later.

Lunch, however, must not be eaten too late, because he only had some porridge in the morning.

Some people probably don't eat in the morning, not because they don't want to eat, but because they can't afford it. For poor people, the rice and even the firewood used to cook porridge in the morning are a burden, so they try to save as much as possible.

Now the craftsmen in Baochuan Factory probably can't afford breakfast. Just look at their clothes and you will know that they are all patched.

It is obvious that their wages are much lower than those of the craftsmen in the capital.

He is so hungry, can these people hold on?
The problem is that it will take an hour to ride back for a meal, and he still has a lot of things to deal with.

Wanli thought for a moment, then simply raised his hand to wave over Deng Zilong, who had rushed over after hearing the news, and asked directly, "Yunqing, how did you and your men manage dinner last night?"

They were so busy yesterday that they rowed here until dark. It was inconvenient to cook on the boat, so they probably didn't have time to set up camp and cook.

Deng Zilong heard this and said without hesitation: "This general and my soldiers all ate at the small restaurant near the dock. It was too late and the soldiers were too tired to set up camp. There was no place to set up camp near the dock here."

Did you, tens of thousands of people, solve the problem in a small restaurant?

How big is that restaurant?
Wanli was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Are there many small restaurants here?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, there are many small restaurants near the docks here. Moreover, most of the people who eat there are coolies who load and unload cargo at the docks. The prices are also very cheap. You can eat a full meal for just a dozen coins, and the food tastes pretty good."

Can you eat your fill with just a dozen cents?

The navy officers and soldiers are all young and strong. They are tired after a day of work and eat late. I estimate that each of them can eat several kilograms of rice.

By the way, food here is cheap. The price of rice in the capital is about one tael of silver per stone, but here one tael of silver can buy at least two stones. Moreover, rice is not rice, so one kilogram of rice can be used to cook several kilograms of rice.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Is there a restaurant near the dock?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "There are quite a few restaurants near the dock. Those wealthy vendors all go there to eat."

That'll do.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Go get one thousand taels of silver from General Shan. No matter what restaurant or inn it is, have them prepare the food immediately and then bring it directly to you by navy warship."

Oh my God, one thousand taels of silver!

Yesterday, tens of thousands of their soldiers only spent more than a hundred taels of silver on food.

However, they brought more money this time.

In order to build naval warships, His Majesty brought gold and silver worth over one million taels.

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong quickly bowed and said, "Okay, I'll go right away."

Their food problem was solved, but how to solve the food and accommodation problems for the 20,000 craftsmen?
Building a ship is not a matter of one or two days. He cannot let the craftsmen live together like they do in a barracks. Building a ship will take at least several years, maybe even ten or eight years. He cannot let the craftsmen be separated from their families and come alone to build the ship.

Wanli looked around and suddenly found a place.

He simply extended his hand and said, "Telescope."

An officer of the imperial guards who was following behind him quickly took out a telescope from his pocket and handed it over.

Wanli raised the telescope and scanned the other side of the river, a hint of excitement appearing on his face.

To be precise, that is not the other side of the Yangtze River, but Jiangxinzhou opposite Jiajiang.

The island in the middle of the river is very big, and it is empty.

He took a closer look and then asked, "Old Yang, why is there no one on the other side? It seems there is no dock there."

This. Old Yang thought for a moment before explaining in detail: "Your Majesty, the other side is mostly sandy land, with little room for growing crops. Furthermore, it's too troublesome to transport things over here. Just building a yard alone would require hauling tons of cargo. There's no bridge here, so anyone has to take a boat to get here. Therefore, no one lives on the other side."

It’s better if no one lives here.

If you are an ordinary person, it is indeed inconvenient to live on the other side. They cannot grow crops there, and you have to cross the river to buy firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. You have to row more than a mile to go out, which is too troublesome. Moreover, the boat is not free, and not many people can afford it.

They are different. He can completely develop the other side.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Old Yang, there are many craftsmen near Jinling City, right?"

Old Yang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, there are many craftsmen outside of Jinling City."

This is related to the artisan system of the Ming Dynasty. Generally, artisans, unless they worked in various factories under the Ministry of Works, had to perform three months of labor in the northern and southern capitals every two years.

The so-called forced labor means working for free, without any wages. Some corrupt officials with black hearts do not even provide the craftsmen with food and accommodation, let alone travel expenses.

If the craftsmen were a hundred miles away from the two capitals, it would be okay. But if they were a thousand miles away from the two capitals, that would be terrible. Each time they performed labor, the time spent on the road would be more than three months.

That is to say, during the year they served their labor, they had no source of income for most of the year.

Craftsmen are already poor, and it is considered lucky if they can barely have enough to eat. How can a family survive without any income for most of the year?

Therefore, many craftsmen simply did not return to their hometowns after arriving in the Northern and Southern Capitals. Some craftsmen whose families had many unemployed men simply left one to serve as laborers near the Northern and Southern Capitals.

This led to more and more craftsmen gathering near the two capitals of the north and the south.

At present, each of the thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty may not be able to gather 50,000 craftsmen, but there are 200,000 to 300,000 craftsmen near the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty.

Wanli took another good look at the other side of the river, then asked, "Old Yang, how much are you making per month now?"

Uh.

Old Yang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, our wages are five cents a month, but we also get one stone of grain every month."

This will only ensure that these craftsmen do not starve to death.

Wanli estimated for a while, then asked, "I will give you two taels of silver a month, and two dan of grain every month. This should be enough for you to support your family, right?"

what?
This is not just barely enough to support the family, this is going to be a good life.

Old Yang excitedly bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Wanli was actually calculating how much silver he could spend in a month to support the craftsmen.

He made another estimate and then asked, "The land across the way is mostly sandy. Digging a pond shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Your Majesty, is he thinking of building a ship on the other side?

Old Yang pondered, "Your Majesty, it's relatively easy to dig a pond in sandy ground, but the sand tends to flow toward the center, so once you've dug the pond, you need to surround it with stone slabs."

This is easy. Just let the stonemasons go and quarry the stones.

Wanli asked again, "What do you think about us building the dock and the pond to the other side?"

Sure enough, His Majesty wanted to go to the opposite side to build a ship.

Old Yang thought for a moment, then nodded repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. Actually, clearing the dredging pond here is more troublesome than digging a new one over there. We might as well go dig across there."

You probably don't know how troublesome it is to build a ship on the other side.

He simply didn't dare to disobey the emperor's will, so he found a random excuse to do it.

Wanli nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "Well, after dinner, you should go to the opposite bank and build a dock to accommodate the navy's 800-ton centipede ships. I will first recruit 100,000 craftsmen to come over and build a larger shipyard on the other side. The old shipyard here can be used exclusively for ship repair."

what?
One hundred thousand craftsmen!

How can this be considered a larger shipyard?

With these four or five hundred craftsmen, it would be considered a large shipyard.

Old Yang was stunned by the generosity of this act.

Wanli considered that there was another reason why the other side went to build ships. He did not want the Zhejiang Party to know how many ships he had built for the navy.

If we build it here, people can just send someone to watch nearby every day and see everything clearly. But it will be different if we build it on the other side.

He did not allow any outsiders to pass through, and built a high wall to cover the dock and pond. It was so far away, how could they see clearly without a telescope?

(End of this chapter)