June 14, 320 of the Great Song Dynasty. Hu Yuelian and the Shiban team went to the land royal city of Srivijaya Qi. In the later Ming Dynasty, the Old Port Propaganda Division was set up here, and during the existence of the Old Port Propaganda Division, it was Chinese territory.

Hu Yuelian didn't know about the afterlife, she just looked at the surrendered crowd with interest, trying to identify who was the king of Sriwijaya through her clothes. After identifying it, Hu Yuelian lost her patience and asked the fleet commander next to her, "Have you caught the king of Srivijayajaya?" ”

"Nope." The commander replied crisply.

Hearing this unfortunate news, Hu Yuelian couldn't help but speak, "Tsk! We're not going to stay here and fight with the Sriwijaya people, are we? ”

The commander of the fleet sighed: "Even if the king is caught, it will not save much trouble. We need to build our ports on both sides of the strait, and we must also have full control over the Indochina Peninsula. It's not a year or two, but I'm afraid I can't even control the situation. ”

For such veterans, they are so experienced that they are too lazy to tell nonsense in front of people who understand. So Hu Yuelian said: "I'm this age, and I'm not going to go out to fight again in the future." This time I'm going to be promoted to major general. ”

"Take the Shiban team to level the city on the Indochina Peninsula, and you will be promoted to major general."

"Conquering the Water King City is not enough?"

"Plus the cities on the Indochina Peninsula are enough. After this war, the next war will be in the north. Earn enough credit this time, and next time you can be promoted to lieutenant general. ”

The upper echelons unabashedly exchanged merit and ranks, while the soldiers watched the queue of prisoners with great interest. And the flock of pigeons flew to the homeland of Siam with the news. Many pigeons will die along the way, but the message is based on the bet that only one of these pigeons will make it back to Siam alive with the news. As long as you return to Siam, you rely on the cable telegraph that has been laid to Siam.

Seven days later, the latest news of the war was delivered to the morning meeting. Two fierce battles conquered the water and land kings of Sriwijaya, killing and capturing more than 40,000 Sriwijaya troops. The captives destroyed thousands of large and small ships, and at least in the short term, there were no foreign ships in the strait that could threaten the armed merchant ships of the Great Song Dynasty.

Sun Qing, the head of the household, was not surprised by the progress of the war in the south, and after listening to the views of the Zhao official family on the monopoly of the route by the Great Song Dynasty, Sun Shangshu understood the key to the determination of this war. Since the officials have the requirement that they must win, there is nothing else to talk about.

When I returned to the office building of the household department, I saw an acquaintance sitting in the waiting place for reception. That was an important source of tax revenue, the head of Da Song Paper. As soon as he saw Sun Qing, he immediately got up to greet him, "Sun Shangshu, I have something urgent to find you." ”

Sun Qing thought for a while and said to him, "Follow me up." ”

Entering the office, Sun Qing said, "I only have ten minutes, you hurry up." If you can't say enough, then go ahead and apply. ”

"Sun Shangshu, have you heard that we have broken through the two royal capitals of the Three Buddhas?"

Sun Qing was stunned, he didn't expect the news to go so fast. Nodding, Sun Qing replied, "I heard about it." ”

"Now that we have broken through the royal capital of Srivijaya, I think we have captured a lot of prisoners. We wanted to work in the paper mill in Siam to work in the paper mill. ”

Sun Qing was stunned, and he hurriedly began to verify, "Where did this news come from?" ”

According to the person in charge of the paper business, the news came from the Siam paper mill. The news consists of two parts, one is that the paper sold by Siam to Tianzhu and other places has been shipped. From June to November, the bamboo paper mills in Siam will produce all kinds of paper for the Great Song Dynasty. The other part is that Siam's paper mills need labor.

The person in charge of the paper was afraid that Sun Qing would not understand the reason, so he introduced it in the most concise words. The output of the Fujian paper mill in the Great Song Dynasty is high, which is because Fujian has many mountains, water, and bamboo. The power system relies on turbines propelled by small dams to mix the pulp, and with enough coal, the cost of burning lime is greatly reduced. In addition, Zhao Guanjia canceled the tax on shipping, that is, the price of paper in the market has plummeted, and the paper mill is still profitable. As a result, papermaking manufacturers frantically increased production capacity, but they still could not fully meet the demand for Dasong paper.

Siam is watery and bambooy, but lacks power. Coupled with the fact that Siam's plantations are desperately competing for labor, paper mills are facing a shortage of labor.

When it comes to the explosive development of Dasong Paper, Sun Qing, the head of the household department, has mixed feelings in his heart. He replied, "You write me a report......

The person in charge of the paper has already handed over the written report. After Sun Qing took the report, he replied, "I'll give you a message in the next few days. ”

Look at the back of the person in charge of paper. Sun Qing sighed, he took the toilet paper in the drawer of the desk, he wanted to get a newspaper, but in the end he only took a cigarette and went to the toilet.

When it was convenient, Sun Qing was very emotional in his heart. Before the Zhao Guanjia made the explosive growth of Da Song Paper, paper was a very precious thing. Not to mention that it is used to make toilet paper, in other places, even if it is waste paper, everyone has to burn it and bury the paper ashes.

So paper is expensive, and everyone accepts it. When Zhao Guanjia proposed to develop the paper industry on a large scale, many people had great doubts. With so much paper, how can you sell it? Then they got the toilet paper.

In the past, after the tuba, it was used with leaves, with grass. These things are easy to scratch those weak spots, so in the town they use 'toilet chips'. Chip! It is a flat piece of bamboo or wood. After sanding, it will not bruise or cut soft parts. It can be used again and again after washing.

For the average person, the rich man cut the silk into small pieces and finished the wiping work. Historically, many people have used this to show their wealth.

The wealthy people of the Great Song Dynasty and the people in the system were the first to come into contact with toilet paper, and before using toilet paper, they felt that it was disrespectful to use paper in this way. After using toilet paper, they no longer talk about the sanctity of paper. When it comes to sacredness, one's own body may be more sacred. After the sharp drop in paper prices, everyone can afford to pay for it.

Now paper is no longer a pure cultural item, but has become a daily necessities, becoming an important source of tax revenue in the Great Song Dynasty. Originally, the paper produced by the Great Song Dynasty was sold overseas, but now the Great Song Dynasty has become an import area for paper. Siam, a region located between the Tianzhu Ocean and the Great Song Dynasty, supplies half of the annual output to the Great Song Dynasty and half to export it. The local paper mill is making a lot of money.

Should they be allowed to continue earning like this? Sun Qing felt that the household department could not receive the taxes of these guys, which was really a pity for him, the household department.

Coming out of the bathroom, Sun Qing went to Zhao Guan's house, ready to discuss the matter with Zhao Guan's family.

Zhao Jiaren was listening to the report of the Water Affairs Bureau, and the secretary handed over Sun Qing's business card to see, and Zhao Jiaren ended the report, "This matter has to be done step by step, I think your steps are very good." Start with the rich, small in scale and with little negative impact. Go for it. ”

Not long after the water bureau left, Sun Qing came in. After Zhao Jiaren listened to Sun Qing's introduction, he was quite happy in his heart. The investment in the construction of a cable telegraph was huge, and many people had very opinions when the money was spent. Zhao Jiaren was still in military considerations at the beginning, and had to invest this money. However, the people's acceptance of the cable telegraph was much higher than Zhao Jiaren's imagination, and the original money-losing business began to make a profit in a short period of time. Those commercial establishments have a large proportion of it.

After Sun Qing finished speaking, Zhao Jiaren said with a smile: "The commodity market in the South China Sea is the Great Song Dynasty, and the imperial court controls the shipping lanes, so if they want to transport things to their destinations, they have to spend money." In order to be able to sell things, their asking price had to be cheaper than the local price of the Great Song Dynasty, at least not more expensive. The most important thing is that we give them money instead of copper money. So the money eventually had to go back to the Great Song before it could be used. When they went overseas with the money, the barbarians did not recognize the money at all. ”

"But they make too much money, and it always makes me feel wrong." Sun Qing said stupidly.

"The term of lease set by the imperial court is thirty years, and after thirty years, the land must be returned to the imperial court. So it doesn't hurt to let them earn more now, if there is no such benefit, who has enough to eat and support to open up overseas. ”

This explanation also makes sense, Sun Qing said helplessly: "If this is the case, can the official family give the Siam side a prisoner." ”

"What they lack is not captives." Zhao Jiaren replied.

"What do the officials think they lack?"

"What the paper mill lacks is motivation. Power is not necessarily manpower. Zhao Jiaren replied confidently.

Sun Qing heard this term and thought for a moment before he understood. In the past, everyone used 'manpower' and 'animal power', but now Zhao Guanjia calls these all 'power'. Fujian and other mountainous areas that were supposed to be poor areas have become rich because they have the conditions to build dams and use water to drive machinery and equipment. With machinery and power, you can start work every day. The output is far better than that of the handicraft workshop, and the quality is even better than that of the handmade. The paper industry and the textile industry are representative industries.

Zhao Jiaren smiled confidently: "When will the official family give them a response." Now you go to the mechanical hall of the Ministry of Industry and ask the mechanical hall to coordinate some steam engines for the Siam side. ”

When it comes to the Ministry of Works, officials have two thoughts. The first is the gathering place of the disciples and grandchildren of the Zhao official family. The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War were all brought up by the Zhao Guanjia, and there was no place for simple literati in it. Second, there are a lot of real fanatics.

Sure enough, Sun Qingshang asked the director of the Machinery Department of the Ministry of Industry about the steam engine. The director immediately replied: "There is no stock." ”

"This is an official order." Sun Qing tried to communicate with these fanatics.

"It's not about the official family. Now it's completely out of stock. The Director stood by his opinion.

Fortunately, he had known about the style of these people for a long time, so Sun Qing was not angry. At this time, Sun Shangshu was very curious, this official family was very proud, and the Ministry of Industry said what kind of equipment was the steam engine that was out of stock.