Among today's Great Chu officials, Liu Tongxun, who is in his early thirties, has always been regarded as the first assistant in the future, and is unanimously favored by the emperor and even cabinet ministers, the reason is also very simple, this person's resume is too rich, whether it is in the center or in the locality, he has done some commendable achievements.

Therefore, when Liu Tongxun stood up, he naturally attracted everyone's attention, especially when he was currently in the important position of director of the Department of Industrial Resources, which should have been an official of the fourth grade, but because Liu Tongxun was not old enough, he was temporarily in charge of the Department of Industrial Resources as a fourth-grade official, and this identity was naturally for the purpose of the steam engine.

Ning Yu glanced at Liu Tongxun and said slowly, "You might as well talk about it." ”

Liu Tongxun bowed, there was no expression on his face, and said in a deep voice: "How to determine that Xue San's case has its own division to deal with, but the minister does not agree with what Lord Xue said, how can people's sins be blamed on the utensils?" What a big fallacy! ”

Everyone was in an uproar in an instant, Xue Haiyun was the imperial history of the left capital, but he was an upright member of the first rank, and even the first assistant Cui Wancai could not help but give face above the court, but now there is a small director of the fourth grade who dares to speak out about his big fallacy, which really makes people feel more or less funny....... Why are you?

Xue Haiyun is upright and upright, even if Ning Zhongyuan did something wrong back then, he would speak out and advise, he was really not afraid, but he was also extremely generous to his subordinates, and he did not take his subordinates as outspoken, so he would not blame this young man who dared to touch his beard, but just looked at Liu Tongxun seriously, waiting for his follow-up advice.

Liu Tongxun arched his hand and said in a low voice: "My subordinates used to serve in the local government, and I often saw that some people were poorly clothed, and the family could only take turns to wear a sackcloth to go out, are they shameless?" No, it is because clothing is too luxurious for them, even if it is a sackcloth, it is difficult for them to afford. ”

When Ning Yu heard this, his heart felt a little uncomfortable, not because Liu Tongxun said it was very bizarre, but because there were too many such scenes, the world was so big, and there were too many people without clothes....... Even in modern times, this kind of scene is not uncommon.

When Liu Tongxun said this, his voice was slightly excited, and he said softly: "The minister knows what it is, and he wants to know why it is, so he personally searched and found that the difficulty of weaving clothes is really indescribable. ”

Xue Haiyun took over the conversation and said in a deep voice: "It is precisely because the people's survival is difficult, let alone destroy the people's fields because they seek the benefits of industry and commerce. ”

"What Master Xue said is that he only knows one thing, but he doesn't know the other."

Liu Tongxun still shook his head, "The reason why clothes are expensive is largely not because of raw materials, but because the weaving process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the labor cost is too high. However, since the advent of the steam engine, with the help of machines, the efficiency of weaving has increased by a hundredfold, and the price of woven cloth is extremely low, even ordinary people can afford to wear clothes made of woven cloth......."

Speaking of this, Liu Tongxun raised his head and looked directly at Emperor Ning Yu, his expression was still very calm, but there was a little excitement in his eyes.

"The minister thinks that the steam engine has no fault, not only can it not be stopped, but it must be promoted to speed up, which is the way to enrich the country and the people!"

"How can it be!"

"How dare a child speak out about national politics?"

"The steam engine is an artifact, how can the artifact be at fault?"

"What Director Liu said is very true, how can people pass the buck?"

Soon, there were intermittent quarrels in the State Office, with ministers on both sides, with the new ministers mostly supporting the steam engine, while the old ministers were still stubborn, and the two sides were arguing and the smell of gunpowder became stronger.

Ning Yu smiled and looked at everything in front of him, he was not annoyed by the quarrel of the ministers, after all, the reason why he chose to work in the State Department was to allow the ministers to speak freely.

What's more, things have gone more smoothly than he imagined so far, that is, although there are still many traditional courtiers who oppose industrialization, there are also a large number of ministers who support the New Deal for industrialization, which is a sight not to be seen five years ago - this fully shows that at least for the time being, the court is not a backwater, and the new courtiers are on the rise.

"Alright—"

Ning Yu slowly stretched out his hand to stop everyone from continuing to argue, and said softly: "I think Liu Tongxun has a good saying, this matter is a human sin, so it should not be blamed on utensils - the steam engine is a tool, or a good tool that can help industrial production, Da Chu not only can't ban it, but also vigorously develop it!" ”

"But Your Majesty, if it is a sin, who should be guilty of what?" Xue Haiyun didn't give an inch.

"The case of Xue San and Wang Xiu will be dealt with according to Xue Qing's words, and as for the Shen family weaving factory in this case, it should also pay to eliminate the disaster."

Ning Yu said in a deep voice: "I think that industry and commerce also need to show sincerity, not only this case, but also need to learn lessons from it, Dachu wants to industrialize, to develop industry and commerce, but it must not be at the expense of the environment and the health of the people, this point also needs to be studied by the division to come up with a feasible plan." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Liu Tongxun didn't have too much excitement on his face, he had been preparing for the day for a long time, so all this happened in his heart, in fact, it had been repeated countless times in his heart.

As for the eyes of everyone looking at him at this time, there was a little surprise, maybe from today, this young man has taken another solid step towards the road to the cabinet, and some people looked at Xue Haiyun, their eyes were more or less full of concern, this time it was really a big fall!

........

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Xue Haiyun left the State Department as usual, he did not suffer much blow, this time the result of Xue San's case was also within his expectations, and the appearance of the new minister was not difficult to guess, but he didn't expect that the person who stood up this time was actually Liu Tongxun.

Before the Great Chu Liding, the then Fu Han Army Metropolitan Governor's Mansion held an imperial examination, and this time the top five in the imperial examination are all outstanding people, the champion Peng Qifeng as the director of the Department of Press and Publication, like the current "Qingliu Daily" and a series of newspapers and periodicals is his arm, Wu Jingzi is in the center of the left and right, praised by many ministers, the rest of Wang Youdun, Chen Dashou are also in the cabinet and local exercises, and Liu Tongxun can be called one of the outliers, in the merit has been ahead of others a lot.

However, these five people were originally the backbone of Shilin, especially Liu Tongxun was praised by Shilin in many ways, but now, except for Wu Jingzi, who has an unclear attitude, the other four have all become reformist ministers, and even Peng Qifeng, who used to put the words of the saint on his lips, has now become the mouth of the reformists, and has been advocating the advantages brought by industrialization in the past few years.

These young scholars collectively switched to the reformers, which made Xue Haiyun feel more or less anxious, he didn't feel that he had to suppress these young people - in fact, he still admired these people from the bottom of his heart.

After returning to his mansion, Xue Haiyun got a reply from his subordinates, claiming that a man had come to visit, claiming to be Xue Haiyun's deceased, and his subordinates did not dare to slack off, so they placed the guests in the flower hall and waited.

Xue Haiyun was a little curious in his heart, so he washed his hands and face with hot water under the service of his subordinates, then changed into civilian clothes, and went to the flower hall, but saw a middle-aged scribe sitting in the flower hall, his eyes suddenly showed a hint of surprise, and he hurriedly stepped forward.

"Brother Wenshan, when did you go back to Nanjing?"

When the middle-aged scribe heard the voice, he quickly stood up and whispered with a humble expression: "My lord, the student just arrived in Nanjing today, and he immediately came to the adult's mansion. ”

It turned out that this person's surname was Luo Mingqian, the word Wenshan, and he was originally a landed talent, but he had a literary name, and he had several acquaintances with Xue Haiyun, and later Da Chu recovered the world, and this person followed Xue Haiyun to be half a think tank, and sometimes he would go around to inquire about some news.

Looking at the trace of loss that had just disappeared in Xue Haiyun's expression, Luo Qian had some understanding in his heart, and he said softly: "My lord, has something happened to Xue San's case?" ”

"There has been no accident, Your Majesty has given the old man's decision, but in the matter of the steam engine, it has not been able to change Your Majesty's mind after all."

Xue Haiyun didn't hide it in the slightest, he quickly informed Luo Qian of everything that happened in the court, and then sighed lightly: "Wenshan, the old man is by no means such a fool, at the moment, my great Chu year is getting higher and higher, and some of them also have the power of steam engines, but the reason why the old man insists on going his own way and does not hesitate to anger His Majesty is really understandable." ”

Luo Qian nodded lightly and said in a low voice: "Are you worried that there will be a civil uprising? ”

"That's right, among the people of the world, there are too many weavers who rely on the loom at home to eat, these people are almost as many as a million, if they are completely defeated by the steam engine, I am afraid that there will be unspeakable things in the future, today Your Majesty did not let the old man open his mouth to talk about it, but the old man is a little relieved after all."

Xue Haiyun stood up and said with a resolute expression: "No, the old man still has to be folded, no matter what, he will have to stop him after all." ”

Luo Qian's face was filled with a wry smile, and he said softly: "My lord, I'm afraid that this matter is difficult, in fact, the students have come all the way, only to see chimneys erected everywhere, and there are no less than hundreds of steam engines used in Suzhou alone, and the local people have now relied on the steam engine to live, and the cloth they weave has completely destroyed the entire local cloth market in northern Jiangsu, and the students have never heard of anyone weaving cloth on the market." ”

"This ...... So how should those weavers live? Without a livelihood, wouldn't it be Xue San again? ”

Luo Qian sighed and described softly what he saw, "Those weavers have now entered the weaving factory, and they will work for six or seven hours every day, eating black smoke all day long....... Although they could take twenty large copper plates a day, their lives were not as good as they used to be. ”

"Originally, the students thought that this would be a difficult livelihood for the people, but they also learned from the Suzhou government that the local government has a lot more local revenue than before, and after the deportation of the center, the surplus money was not only used to build schools, but also built many orphans and widows to support those abandoned orphans and the elderly."

Hearing this, Xue Haiyun's face showed a hint of contemplation, and after a long time, he said softly: "Wenshan, I understand what to do." ”

"My lord, the fact that the steam engine is a big deal, and it should not be taken lightly."

Luo Qian's face showed a hint of anxiety, how could he not understand his own owner, it could be said that the other party was the most considerate and good official he had ever seen, so he naturally didn't want him to get involved too deeply in this matter, so that he lost his holy family.

Xue Haiyun smiled lightly, "Wenshan, don't worry, I understand what Your Majesty means, this time I'm afraid Your Majesty will also want to borrow my sword." ”

In fact, for these top-level elites of Da Chu, this game in the court is not the end, but an intensification of contradictions and conflicts in the past five years, and Xue San's death only completely tore the paper that was originally covered on it, exposing all the contradictions directly in front of everyone.

Especially in the newspapers, the verbal debate around this case has not stopped, but the question has gradually shifted from the case to the essence, that is, whether industry and commerce need to take more responsibility while developing? Is it necessary to allocate more of the profits to make up for the debt to society?

As a newspaper under the command of the industrial and commercial circles, the "Industrial and Commercial Daily" proposed an article saying that although industry and commerce have great profits, but the taxes themselves are very high, and the profits are also given to the imperial court and the national treasury.

As for the "Qingliu Bao", it is slightly radical that although the current financial growth of the imperial court is largely due to the development of industry and commerce, this development itself also contains the efforts of many people, and they believe that industry and commerce need to pay more for it.

Naturally, no one on both sides can convince anyone, or everyone understands that the whole thing will end in the end, and I am afraid that it will still require the emperor's will.

On July 27, while the newspaper industry was fighting a war of words, the original weavers gathered in front of the major textile factories in Suzhou Prefecture, some of them were too old, some of them were too thin, they stood silently on the street, holding long sticks and short sticks in their hands, listening to the rumbling sound of the machines inside, and their faces were a little hateful.

Strictly speaking, these people are all workers who are not wanted by the textile factory, and in the face of the gradual erosion of the textile factory, they have almost no resistance, not even as arrogant as Xue San, they can only passively watch the local cloth being completely driven out of the market by the machine-made cloth in recent years, and they can only watch their income getting lower and lower.

However, when Xue San's matter was completely made bigger, they finally didn't want to continue to sit idly by, but chose to come to the door of these textile factories, although they had weapons in their hands, but no one dared to really take a step into the factory.

After all, if it's not for survival, who wants to make trouble to the point of killing their heads?