As the redevelopment plan progressed step by step, all sorts of unexpected problems began to emerge. One of the first problems to arise was the textile mill.

Just after talking with Zhou about the problems of the Western Regions, Sima Shu didn't have time to catch his breath, and the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Xie Department came over. This Xie system used to be the Yongzhou Assassin of the imperial court, and later after the fall of King Liang, he and Ouyang Jian took refuge with Sima Shu. Over the years, he has been assisting Jiang Tong in Guanzhong, and after Sima Shu ascended the throne, he was transferred to the central center as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry.

"Is there anything wrong with Xie Aiqing?" Sima Shu looked at the other party's anxious face, thinking that something big had happened, but as soon as the other party opened his mouth, he was startled.

"Your Majesty, there's something wrong with the textile factory!" I blurted out before I had time to catch my breath.

"Huh? What's wrong with the textile mill? Sima Shu was shocked when he heard this, this textile industry was his killer weapon to revitalize the economy of the Great Jin Dynasty, and if something went wrong, it would definitely destroy his overall strategy.

"Oh? Shi Chen did not make it clear that there was nothing wrong with the textile mills, but that we did not have enough wool. Since the establishment of a large number of water-powered textile factories in various parts of the Central Plains, the production efficiency has been greatly improved, and in the first half of this year alone, 30,000 pieces of cloth were produced, and more than 1,000 kilograms of wool alone were consumed. ”

"Not only did these mills drain the wool from all over the country, but they also filled in the wool they bought from the north. As for the farms built at the beginning of the year, we can't count on them in the short term, so Your Majesty we must find new sources of raw materials as soon as possible, otherwise these textile mills with excellent benefits will have to stop production! ”

"Shhh Sima Shu gasped. The production efficiency of the machine industry is high, and the textile industry of Dajin has reached a higher level in half a year. Regarding the shortage of raw materials, he decided to listen to the opinions of his subordinates first.

"Do you have any suggestions from the Ministry of Works?"

"Your Majesty, after a short period of deliberation, the Ministry of Industry believes that it can be started from two aspects: first, the imperial court should increase the purchase of wool from the northern grasslands, which is the only way to alleviate the current predicament; The Second Ministry of Industry believed that the imperial court should adjust the autumn agricultural planting plan and transform some of the relatively barren fields into breeding farms, which was a long-term solution to the problem of raw material shortage. ”

After hearing what the Xie Department said, Sima Shu was obviously stunned, he didn't expect the phenomenon of 'sheep eating people' to appear so quickly. However, Sima Shu had other plans in mind. So he muttered for a moment and said, "Hmm." Both of these suggestions from the Ministry of Industry are very good, but I still have some doubts about the second point. ”

"The most important thing for the imperial court at present is to restore agriculture in the Central Plains as soon as possible, agriculture is the foundation of the country, and only agriculture is stable. Only all walks of life in a country have the foundation for development and growth. Therefore, your suggestion to adjust the area of farmland is not realistic. ”

"But. But. But if this is the case, won't the textile industry of the imperial court be shut down next year? "Xie is not very satisfied, and the textile industry has become the most important project of the Ministry of Industry. Of course, he hoped that the imperial court would lean a little more towards them.

"There is no way to do it, the contradictions between workers and peasants, the court can only take care of one side for the time being. At present, the agricultural foundation of our dynasty is still very weak, and until the agricultural foundation is consolidated, the imperial court will not lean towards other industries. For the lack of raw materials in the textile industry, we can only increase procurement efforts from the northern grassland peoples! ”

Sima Shu was also helpless, and when Britain faced this kind of problem in history, it was not completely solved until the expansion of overseas colonies. The Western Jin Dynasty had just come out of the war, and various undertakings had just started, and they could not withstand any waves at all. Taking agriculture as an example, it can only be said that it has just improved, and has not yet recovered to its peak, and if there is a little wind and grass at this time, it is very likely that the agriculture that has just picked up will suffer a major blow.

"Your Majesty, it's not easy to buy from the north! Whether it is Bingzhou or Youzhou, it has cut off my passage to the Tongwai grassland, and if you go to the northern grassland from these two places, it is very likely that you will be robbed by the Huns on the way! At the moment, we can only take the road of Guanzhong-Shangjun, but this road is very far away, and we have to worry about being attacked by horse thieves on the way. ”

"This is not the most critical factor, the most important of which is what products we use to exchange for the wool in the grassland tribes, for the grassland peoples, they are not rare copper coins and gold and silver, they want most iron products, steel knives, food and other living materials. Porcelain, iron pots, etc. are good to say, but steel knives ......"

Sima Shu was silent and carefully thought about the solution, the northern steppe was vast, and the entire area was basically equivalent to another Great Jin Empire. Moreover, there are many tribes in the grassland, and the specific number of large and small tribes is even difficult to count!

Life on the prairie is far more difficult than in the interior, and every time a large-scale natural disaster occurs, it is a nightmare for the people living on the prairie!

This is also the main reason why the grassland peoples always continue to invade the Central Plains, they have an unusual desire for life in the Central Plains, for thousands of years for the land, countless wars broke out between the two sides, the most recent example is the recent war between the Xiongnu and the Han Empire that lasted for a hundred years!

Due to the superiority of the grassland peoples in terms of physique, their soldiers generally have amazing physical strength, their individual combat effectiveness is incomparably strong, and the quality of their army is far superior to that of the inland army. The only advantage of the inland army is that it far surpasses the steppe army in terms of weapons and tactical execution.

Although the fighters of the grassland people far exceed the inhabitants of the hinterland, they do not have the best iron-smelting technology, and the level of weapons and equipment is obviously inferior to that of the hinterland.

It was this situation that made the court full of doubts about whether to sell arms in the northern steppe tribes! If it is only sold in small quantities. It will not make any profit, and there will be no obvious benefit to promoting the country's economic development, but if it is sold on a large scale. The consequences are hard to say!

In the past ten years, due to the support of Sima Shu, the smelting technology and manufacturing level of the Great Jin Dynasty have been greatly improved, and the weapons manufactured in its arsenal are famous far and wide, and even the Huns in the state are trying their best to get the standard weapons of the Jin army.

Sima Shu was worried that if such a sophisticated weapon flowed into the steppe on a large scale, it was likely to improve the combat effectiveness of the grassland tribes, and in the future Northern Expedition, he would add a major enemy to himself. In case he loses this war in the future, then Sima Shu is really dead!

In view of this situation, although he knew that there was a huge value hidden in the trade with the grassland, the court, including Sima Shu, hesitated......

Seeing that the emperor was silent, the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Xie knew what the other party was worried about after a little thought, and asked cautiously at the moment: "Your Majesty, is it worried that the flow of sophisticated weapons into the grassland will bring us disaster?" ”

"Yes, I do have concerns about this, the Aiqing tribe has a natural advantage in the ranks, if the quality of their weapons also improves, how will our warriors fight against them in the future? According to the news from the Military Intelligence Department, on the Mobei grassland, the overlord Tuoba Xianbei alone has more than 200,000 cavalry, and if they are all equipped with the same weapons as the Xiang army, this ......"

"Your Majesty, I have other opinions on this."

"Oh? Aiqing is coming quickly, and I am listening. ”

"Your Majesty, Wechen has investigated and visited a number of arsenals, steel plants, cement factories, etc. in Guanzhong, and after some investigation, Wechen found that now the ironmaking industry and weapons manufacturing industry in our dynasty have formed a complete system, which is by no means surpassing other separatist forces in a short period of time."

"And the speed of technological upgrading of our dynasty is extremely fast, even if the grassland people obtain our standard horizontal knife, it cannot be said that they surpass us in the manufacturing level. Moreover, in the event of a war between the two sides, our DPRK can completely cut off the other side's supply of goods, and in addition, our DPRK will emerge in an endless stream of new weapons, which will definitely not allow the grassland people to gain the upper hand. ”

"Aiqing said it very well, but even then we can't open our mouths to sell to the grassland people, I hope that this dynasty will control the types of trade, the quantity of trade, the objects of trade, and the way of trade when doing business with the grassland peoples!"

"Among them, long-range strike weapons such as repeaters and crossbows are never allowed to appear on the grassland, let alone muskets. If I find out that official, family, and merchant dare to sell crossbows, muskets, and artillery to the grassland people, I will never mind punishing the nine clans! Xie Shangshu, after you go back, explain clearly to those factory owners that if they betray the interests of the country and the nation for the sake of profit, I will definitely make him regret coming to this world! ”

Sima Shu said this is not without purpose, how many traitors in Chinese history betrayed the country and the nation for their own interests, the most famous of which is probably the late Ming Dynasty Jin merchants, these Jin merchants who brought disaster to the country and the people while being the people of the Celestial Empire, while secretly selling all kinds of military materials to the old enemies of the nation.

Xie Xie listened to Sima Shu's murderous declaration, and cold sweat broke out. This is not the first time he has felt Sima Shu's murderous aura, when Sima Shu slaughtered tens of thousands of people in Guanzhong in order to implement the new policy. It seems that after going back, I will have to take a good vaccination with the people below, and in the future, they will accidentally pierce the sky.

"Although standard weapons such as horizontal knives and sabers are not high-end goods, they are of high quality and can be sold at a high price on the grassland. In terms of quantity, we will control it, and scarcity is expensive! In addition, when choosing a trade partner, everyone must be skillful, and it is best that our merchants can use commodities as weapons to provoke disputes between grassland tribes, and the more chaotic the grassland, the better it will be for us! ”

"Weichen understands, please rest assured, Your Highness, the minister will do it, and immediately increase the procurement efforts on the grassland!" (To be continued......)