"By industry, it means the work of craftsmen, right?" Wang Xijue understood, "Although our dynasty is based on agriculture, this craftsmanship has never been wasted. Like the land in the south of the Yangtze River, weaving as the industry, the sound of the machine, than the household to hear. Speaking of which, it is this style of valuing business over agriculture that makes it worry. ”

"What kind of climate can this industrial scale become?" Su Hao said disdainfully.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was also a period of extremely rapid development of China's handicraft industry, including textile, printing and dyeing, papermaking, printing, oil extraction, sugar making, porcelain burning, iron smelting and other industries, all of which had vigorous development, and many places formed prosperous cities due to the agglomeration of handicrafts. Regarding the situation in this regard, Su Hao has seen it with his own eyes from Jiangxi to Sichuan and from Sichuan to Beijing in the past six months. In these two RI, through the exchange with Xiong Ji and others, he learned a lot.

In the eyes of those years, the development of industry to this extent is already very considerable. But in Su Hao's eyes, this is not even the initial stage of industrialization. Both in terms of employment imports and the value of output created, the handicraft industry accounts for only a small proportion of the economy as a whole. The most important thing is that the machine industry of later generations did not even have any signs at this time, and all production was done by hand, which determined that the production efficiency was extremely low and difficult to become an important support for the national economy.

"In other words, what kind of scale does the industry you are talking about have to reach in order to be considered a climate?" Wang Xijue asked leisurely, this is also to Su Hao, if it was replaced by another one who spoke like this, Wang Xijue would not ask so politely at all, but directly pointed at his nose and reprimanded.

"To put it simply, now my Daming produces only 60 million catties of iron a year, and it is evenly distributed to each head, only less than 1 catty, what kind of industry is this? If it is a real climatic industry, 10 catties of iron a year is the minimum requirement. Su Hao said.

Regarding the pig iron production of the Ming Dynasty, there was a rough calculation in the early Ming Dynasty, which was used as the basis for taxation. According to this calculation, the total output of the country should be about 20 million catties. However, due to various reasons, for a long time, the actual annual output of the country was less than 10 million catties.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the gradual liberalization of private iron smelting, private iron factories in various places sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain. By the time of Jiajing, Guangdong, where the iron smelting industry was the most developed, had an annual iron output of 20 million catties. Pushed to the whole country, it is said that the annual iron output is 60 million catties, which is basically more reliable. At that time, the number of imports in the country was about 60 million, so Su Hao said that the average income was only 1 catty of iron.

Su Hao originally didn't know much about the development of the iron smelting industry in the Ming Dynasty, but a few days ago he mixed with Dong Yaozhang and Yang Laizhen, and listened to them talk about these things in the circle, and gradually learned something, and now he just took it out to Wang Xijue.

The annual output of 60 million catties is equivalent to 30,000 tons when converted into weights and measures for later generations. This figure can be proud if compared with European countries in the same period, but if you consider that China produced 600 million tons of steel a year in later generations, this figure is pitifully small. Su Hao proposed that the output should be increased by 10 times, but this still took into account Wang Xijue's psychological endurance, and he didn't dare to say more.

"One hundred thousand catties of iron is 600 million catties a year, so much iron, where is it used?" Wang Xijue asked.

Su Hao put on a look of hating iron and steel, and said: "Wang Ge Lao, coal and iron are the foundation of industry, how can they be useless?" Think about it, what kind of agricultural tools, weapons, and tools used by craftsmen do not need to use iron? When building a house, if you can use an iron frame as a support, you can save countless pieces of wood. When building a river embankment, if steel bars can be added, the river embankment will be stronger and more reliable. We don't see the use of iron now, it's all because iron is so scarce. ”

Next, Su Hao began to tell Wang Xijue about the introductory course of modern industry, and Ma Yu, Xu Guangqi and others also gathered to listen attentively. Su Hao started from the steel industry, and then talked about the chemical, machinery, textile and other industries, and when he talked about using the steam engine as the power to drive the equipment, all the people were stunned.

"Is there really such a machine that can rotate without force or animal power?" Xu Guangqi asked eagerly.

Since Su Hao dared to say it, he was naturally prepared. He pulled through a piece of paper and drew a diagram for the crowd. The principle of the steam engine is not complicated, and everyone has seen the scene of the steam lifting the lid of the pot when boiling water. The people in the room are all extremely high IQ, and when they heard Su Hao say this, everyone understood.

"Anyway, you're saying that Franc has already made this steam engine?" Wang Xijue asked.

"I also heard the Franc machine missionary talk about it, and I guess it has already been made." Su Hao said vaguely.

The invention of the steam engine in Europe was in the 17th century, and it was in the second half of the 18th century that Watt improved the steam engine, and Su Hao actually put forward such a concept 200 years in advance. He explained the principle and key technology of the steam engine so thoroughly that if this thing does not actually exist, I am afraid it will be a little too much. Fortunately, the Franc machine is an unattainable place for the entry of the Ming Dynasty, and no matter how it is arranged, it can be distinguished from the fake.

Wang Xijue was silent for a moment, shook his head and said: "I didn't expect that the technology of the Franc machine has reached such a point, and my Ming is really lagging behind." ”

"Brother Gai, since you already know the truth of this steam engine, why don't you draw a picture and let the craftsman make it according to the drawing." Xu Guangqi suggested.

Su Hao said: "The principle of this steam engine is not difficult, but to build a steam engine, it takes a lot of technology. These technologies are not available to me at present. ”

"Let's talk about it, which technologies I don't have." Wang Xijue said.

Su Hao then began to explain the problems of materials and processes to everyone. To build a steam engine, it is necessary to solve a series of technological problems in casting, machining, etc., and to cast qualified cylinders and other components, it is necessary to have a specific quality of cast iron, which involves metallurgical technology. Su Hao doesn't know much about the details of these technologies, but the basic concepts are there, such as lathes, milling machines, etc., which are very advanced in this era.

"All these technologies need to be accumulated step by step, and industry is a system that needs to be built with overall planning." Su Hao finally concluded.

"Listening to what he said, the old man realized that he had been sitting in a well and watching in the past." Wang Xijue sighed, "The old man now understands, why is he so disdainful of the court's discussions, it turns out that his vision is higher than that of Chang Jino." ”

"The elder has won the award." Su Hao said, "Hao just thinks that life is short, but there are so many things worth doing." Instead of wasting time on this pointless dispute, it is better to do something in a down-to-earth manner for the benefit of the people. ”

"I know what to do in order to establish the industry that Gaizhi said, please teach me." Wang Xijue said. When he first came, he said that he was here to ask Su Hao for advice, but at that time it was just a polite remark, and he didn't think so in his heart. Now, when he asks for advice again, he is sincere, these things that Su Hao said are something he has never heard of, in front of Su Hao, he feels the lack of knowledge.

Su Hao said: "Students don't dare. Since Meng Ge Lao asked, the students dared to say it. The students believed that the imperial court should have a comprehensive plan, first of all, to actively promote agricultural technology, improve the country's agricultural output, and ensure the livelihood of the people. After this is done, the surplus input and money can be used for the development of industry. The development of industry, in turn, will be beneficial to agriculture, so that the two promotions will eventually make the wealth of our Ming Dynasty increase exponentially. ”

Wang Xijue said: "I heard that when I changed it in my hometown in Jiangxi, what kind of Han's stove was made, as well as improving the red soil and building reservoirs. ”

Su Hao said: "These are just some of them. The scope of agricultural technology is also very extensive, which can be summed up as soil, fertilizer, water, seeding, density, protection, management, and work. In this regard, Brother Duwen and Brother Zixian all have some experience, otherwise, please let them talk about it. ”

"Oh, what is a secret custodian of soil and fertilizer and water seeds, can you teach the old man?" Wang Xijue asked Ma Yu, Xu Guangqi and others.

Ma Yu and the others knew that this was an opportunity for Su Hao to create for themselves, and they looked at each other, and introduced the things they were familiar with one by one. What Ma Yu has done this year is to build the Luoshan Reservoir, which has now begun to store water, and has successfully played a role in flood control during this year's rainy season. After Xu Guangqi arrived in Fengcheng, he did a lot of research on the red soil improvement work done by Su Hao, and he had some experience, and at this time, he also put it together in front of Wang Xijue, so that Wang Xijue couldn't help but sigh when he heard it.

"It's a real thousand prosperous countries, empty talk is misleading the country, Wang Ge Lao, we need more real thousands of families." Su Hao said.

Wang Xijue nodded: "What I said is very true, but I have been in the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, and many things are difficult to return." If you want the courtiers to accept the concept of change at once, I'm afraid it's not easy. ”

Su Hao smiled slightly and said, "This point has already been taught by the students. It is more difficult to change the concept of entry than to change the course of a river. ”

Wang Xijue said: "It's good to know this, by the way, the old man has something to ask for." ”

Su Hao said: "Wang Ge has something to do, just give orders. ”

Wang Xijue said: "If you change what you said today, can you write a text and send it to the old man?" The old man persuaded the courtiers, but he was afraid that he would not be able to understand the true meaning of what he said. If there is a text written by the hand of the changer, the old man can read it according to the book. ”

Su Hao replied solemnly: "The student obeys." ”