Suzhou's sons and daughters have a long relationship, although it makes people linger, but there is actually no point in staying in Suzhou.

The officials here are too capable, and their absolute loyalty to Hou Xuanyan allows them to carry out the orders of the imperial court without compromising in the slightest.

Hou Xuanyan personally sat in Jinling, and the intensity of the blow was like this, doubling his relatives and old department, Hou Xuanyan continued to set off and went to Songjiang Mansion.

Songjiang Mansion is the smallest mansion in Yingtian, and it is not very prosperous at this time, at least it cannot be compared with Suzhou and Jinling. Two hundred years later, this is the world-famous ten-mile ocean, of course, that's a story for later.

After getting off the boat, the scene that caught his eye made Hou Xuanyan a little dazzled. Everywhere there were busy crowds, shirtless men, and towering chimneys. If it weren't for the fact that these people were all long-haired scarves, Hou Xuanyan would have thought that he had arrived in the factory area of the later generations.

Zhang Mingzhen came with Songjiang officials and naval generals to greet him, which was completely different from the previous state capitals, and everyone looked very pragmatic.

Hou Xuanyan followed the local customs, directly avoided politeness, and asked with great interest: "What do these workshops do?" ”

Zhang Mingzhen said with a smile: "Xia Guan has been in the water division for a long time, Yao Yiyao is responsible for these things, and the Guogong can inquire about him." ”

Hou Xuanyan and the officials present all applauded him together, it is not clear where this is, this is the credit of not robbing his subordinates.

Yao Yiyao is still the same, but on a formal occasion like today, when officials of all sizes have arrived, he is also a little more serious.

"Guogong, please look, that is the Shanghai Iron Works over there, and there is the Arsenal." After speaking, he pointed to the east and said: "The shipyards are concentrated in Wusongjiang and Baoshan, which are not easy to be attacked by other sailors at sea. ”

When Hou Xuanyan heard about it, there was also an iron factory, and his interest doubled.

Yao Yiyao shook his head and explained to him, it turned out that Daming had its own iron factory, and the Zunhua Iron Factory at that time in the Wanli period was the largest iron factory. Zunhua Iron Plant is the largest and longest iron plant in operation of the government-owned iron smelter, located in Zunhua County, Jizhou, Beizhili, and belongs to the Ministry of Industry.

Its iron furnace is one foot and two feet deep, and the sunrise iron is four times, and the products are not only raw wrought iron, but also steel. In its heyday, the annual iron-making constant was 200,000 catties, and by the time of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, it reached a maximum of 300,000 catties. At that time, it can be said that the technology had reached a very high level, but unfortunately, because of the emperor and civil officials, this iron factory was closed.

Emperor Wanli took the Zunhua Iron Works under the supervision of the Inner Court, and the Ministry of Industry did not get any benefit from it, and also had to bear the huge expenses of iron mining and the operation of the iron factory. So in the indiscriminate bombardment and abuse of the household officials, the Wanli Emperor was overwhelmed and closed the iron factory in a fit of anger.

After the closure of the iron factory, these craftsmen who originally relied on iron smelting for a living had no food and clothing, and slowly lost more than 2,000 craftsmen, who had no skills, lost the stage to display, and gradually became ordinary people. And since then, almost all the iron used in the north has been transported from the south. It was mainly purchased from Foshan, Guangdong, the center of iron smelting in southern China at that time, which was long distances and expensive, and the armament level in the north also began to decline, and qualified weapons and armor began to be in short supply.

Hou Xuanyan was dumbfounded when he heard this, the Wanli Emperor and the Wenchen of the Manchu Dynasty, for their own interests, murdered the Zunhua Iron Works that was ahead of the times, it was really a faint monarch and a mediocre minister, and it was very short-sighted.

Yao Yiyao continued: "Whether it is armor or weapons, a lot of steel is needed. In particular, the requirements for steel are very high. If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools, and I think these mines and smelters are more important than arsenals and shipyards. It's a pity..."

Hou Xuanyan immediately asked, "It's a pity? What a pity? Just say that I will give you my full support. ”

Yao Yiyao laughed treacherously: "Hehe, it's a pity that the money is a little insufficient." ”

Hou Xuanyan pondered for a while and said, "How much do you want, make a list, and explain the usefulness and number in detail." ”

When Zhang Mingzhen heard this, he immediately took out a list from his sleeve and said, "We have long expected the National Guild to say this, and we have already opened the list in advance." ”

Hou Xuanyan rolled his eyes and scolded with a smile: "Lao Tzu has gone all the way, and he is the most treacherous in your Songjiang Mansion." ”

Yao Yiyao said with a smile: "This is also a matter of no choice, the other rich people naturally don't have to reach out to the prince to ask for silver." Only we in Songjiang have invested all our money in shipbuilding and cannon building, and these things cannot be sold for money. ”

Songjiang Prefecture is the residence of the sailors, and it is also the port where the sea is located, and its own income should not be low. However, it is true that their investment is too high, and the firearms cannot be sold, and they are equipped to various battalions, and there is basically no profit.

Thinking of this, Hou Xuanyan said: "Gong Zifang's income is allowed to be kept for your own use, and you don't have to hand it over anymore." ”

When the Songjiang officials heard this, they were all overjoyed, and now Gong Zifang is like a god of wealth. With Hou Xuanyan's words, the available finances of Songjiang Mansion instantly rose several grades.

Next, Hou Xuanyan followed Zhang Mingzhen, Yao Yiyao and others to go around the docks and arsenals in various places.

Hou Xuanyan led people to board the largest of them, and the black barrel on it looked very majestic. Lu Zhenming, the director of the Ordnance Bureau, gave him a detailed introduction to the advantages and disadvantages of these guns and how to use them.

Hou Xuanyan was pleasantly surprised to find that his warship already had the ability to sail far. This also shows Yao Yiyao's foresight, when his main enemy, the Manchu Qing Dynasty, who did not have a sailor, he already had his eyes on the future.

After inspecting the semi-industrial Songjiang Mansion, Hou Xuanyan was satisfied, and as the sun set, Hou Xuanyan followed Yao Yiyao to his house.

The lazy big yellow dog at the door pounced on him with his tail wagging and was kicked away by Hou Xuanyan.

Xu Jinfeng hasn't seen her for a while, and she is a lot more tender, which shows that being an official wife is very suitable for her. Said happily: "How can Master Hou have time to come to Songjiang today." ”

"I'm on official business, so I just came to Songjiang to visit you."

The little fat man Xu Yuanbao has been arranged by Hou Xuanyan as a mine supervisor, and he has resumed his state of running around.

When Hou Xuanyun saw him coming, he was overjoyed, and stepped forward and saluted, "Brother." ”

Hou Xuanyan saw that her improvement was obviously much better than in Suzhou, and quipped: "Haha, it is still the water and soil of Songjiang Mansion to raise people, and the food of our Hou family is not as sweet as the Xu family." ”

Hou Xuanyun's face turned red, and he twisted and said, "Brother will laugh."

Hou Xuanyan looked at the sunset on the seaside, and said secretly in his heart: After this rectification, the next step is to prepare for the baggage.