The Ming Dynasty was a small-scale peasant economy, and its initial development always depended on the outside, which was similar to Zhu Houzhao's later generations.

But the theme of this era is not peace and development, which forces the Ming Dynasty to first earn peace by himself. Therefore, it cannot be said that the first ten years were wasted, on the contrary, the cultivation of national strength in the first ten years is absolutely indispensable.

And the end point of the war in the northwest was indeed designed according to what Zhu Houzhao said.

Therefore, at this stage, it is indeed appropriate to push the cabinet and the imperial court to start discussing the word industry.

In fact, if there was no Xing Guan, Zhu Houzhao would have been ready to do this.

The difference is that he is not a businessman and does not have a strong business concept, so he just wants to create a good environment, and then use the vitality of the people to let it grow freely.

However, through his own research and thinking, Xing Guan analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the cotton textile industry with him.

Before that, he didn't even care carefully about the difference between linen and cotton, because Zhu Houzhao's own living conditions were good, and when he became an emperor, he couldn't touch the people who wore linen.

That's why it's only been delayed until now.

With Xing Guan's words as an introduction, Zhu Houzhao can quickly understand, because only he knows that the British relied on the cotton textile industry to dominate the world back then.

The word industry is too important, when we say that a certain place has a developed economy, it must be supported by one or several advantageous industries.

For some small countries and regions in modern times, it is often one or two advantageous industries that can make the whole country enter the ranks of developed countries.

For example, the gaming industry in Macau and Monaco.

The so-called economic competitiveness can also be understood as industrial competitiveness in a narrow sense.

“…… The term "industry" was not originally spoken by Xing Guan, but was summed up by His Majesty after listening to Xing Guan's words, and then slowly spread. Gu Zuo was under the gaze of everyone, with one hand behind his back, and the other hand kept gesticulating, "Xing Guan's original intention is to expand the scale of maritime trade, which is his duty as the head of Ningbo Port." Taking silk as an example, if we want to expand the scale, it is not only how many mulberry trees are planted in Zhejiang, how many weavers and looms, and how many silk horses can be produced every year, but also how many people will buy the silk produced.

The price of silk in Jiangnan is about seven to ten taels, and even a few families who live a worry-free life are basically reluctant to buy it, not to mention that there are ancestral restrictions on silk wearing in this dynasty. And after the silk goes to sea, the price is more expensive, even if it is cheap inferior silk, each horse must reach more than sixteen taels, how many people can afford such a price? Are the people of such barbarian lands richer than the people of the Ming Dynasty? Presumably unlikely. ”

The four cabinet members and the six ministers nodded their heads after hearing this, this truth is not difficult to understand, and they are all smart people.

He Jian, the head of the household, said: "Under these conditions, it is difficult to expand the scale of silk. Even if it can be produced, it cannot be sold. If production is really increased, it will make the price fall, and eventually hurt the Ming itself. ”

"That's it." Gu Zuo emphasized, "Not only silk, porcelain, tea are the same, porcelain is unique to our country, some of these exquisite porcelain is especially popular with Westerners, but ordinary people who are worried about food and clothing, maybe it would be good to have a pottery bowl, where can I use porcelain?" Based on this, Xing Guan began to communicate with businessmen from all over the world in Ningbo a few years ago, and inquired about many ways to verify it, so that today's Jane Zai Dixin is today. ”

"Wait."

Gu Zuo turned his head to face the source of the voice, "What doubts does Elder Ge have?" ”

Wang Wei stroked his beard, "After talking for a long time, the old man still doesn't understand why the word is so important?" Elder Yang Ge also said that this is related to Japan, how important is it? ”

Gu Zuo pursed his lips, he had the bottom in his heart for what he said just now, because they had discussed it with Xing Guan, Jiang Yong and others many times.

But the next words are not so confident.

"Ge Lao, the next thing is to speculate with a few others, because no country or dynasty at home and abroad has really achieved the prosperity of the industry so far."

Wang Hua was surprised, "Han and Tang are not counted?" ”

"Strictly speaking, it doesn't count."

Yang Yiqing said: "Let Liqing speak first." ”

Gu Zuo nodded, "According to the assumption, once the industry develops, it will give rise to the rapid expansion of the scale of maritime trade, you may wish to think about it, if suddenly there is a country with this financial resources and buys 10 million taels of silk from Daming every year, then how will Daming change?" ”

He gestured with 'one', "First of all, the imperial court will have a large amount of income, and the same is true for private merchants. And in order to supply such a large amount of silk, the Ming Dynasty has to increase the loom, more looms, it is necessary to hire more weavers, but also need more raw materials, if the raw materials are not enough, it will lead to a rise in prices, the original people sell a load of silk 2 taels of silver, this year suddenly became 4 taels, not to mention the increase in income, it will also prompt the people to plant more mulberry trees. ”

"But if there are more mulberry trees, there will be fewer rice fields."

Gu Zuo immediately said: "If you have silver, you can buy food." Buy from neighboring provinces, so that even if the people in neighboring provinces do not earn a living, they can still farm land in exchange for silver. Besides, I don't know if you have thought about it, how did the loom come about? ”

So he made a gesture of 'two', "The development of the silk industry will drive the growth of the demand for looms, and the production of looms also needs workers and raw materials, which is a link that we know, in fact, such links are more complex and the chain is longer, for example, more cargo transportation requires more ships and more sailors, and shipbuilding itself also needs raw materials and workers......

In this way, the number of people who depend on this chain for survival will reach tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. These people do not farm, but live in towns, and they need basic food, clothing, shelter and transportation. In the end, the power of one industry alone can make big cities like Hangzhou and Ningbo prosperous. ”

"Thirdly, this is what His Majesty has in mind. The reason is that the businessman is heavy on profits, and since he is heavy on profits, he will want to save costs, how to save costs? How can you weave more silk with fewer people? Improving looms, optimizing production processes, etc., is a process that stimulates creativity and no one knows what will be born. Just like in the Han Dynasty, people used bamboo slips, and now they use paper, and the progress of skills will make people's lives more convenient.

With these two or three points, I wonder if you can understand why the industry is important? This is the foundation of the prosperity of a town and a country. These things are easy to think about, and the reason why that Xing Guan can let His Majesty mention them in front of you is because he has found an industry that can turn these ideas into reality. I don't know if you remember, as I said earlier, silk is not the right industry. ”

Yang Yiqing raised his eyelids, "Then what's appropriate?" ”

"Cotton textile industry."

"Cotton?"

"Yes, so understandable. The source of raw materials is sufficient, because cotton is very easy to grow; The production process is simple, and the cotton is made into cotton cloth, and such craftsmen are not difficult to find; The transportation process is also simple, light and will not deteriorate; Finally, there is great demand because the price is cheaper than silk, and everyone needs to be clothed. Just now, I took silk as an example, and now I change it to cotton cloth, if cotton cloth can be sold for 10 million taels a year, then everything can become a reality? ”

In fact, he said that 10 million taels was less, because he said it casually.

But despite this, it is still frightening.

"It turns out that Your Majesty has such a big picture in mind."

Yang Yiqing was unusually calm, and he said in that slightly hoarse voice: "Not only that, the treasury is abundant, the soldiers are full of food, and the Ming Dynasty can be invincible, and the prosperity at that time can also be as far as the Han and Tang Dynasties." It's a pity that this Xing Guan went to Japan, otherwise he should have been allowed to go to Beijing to see him. ”

"After the conquest of Japan, can this cotton textile industry take off? And so it is as ...... It's like ......" Mao Ji is still a little sad about the level in his heart.

Fortunately, he didn't say the last two words.

In fact, the conquest of Japan really has nothing to do with the cotton textile industry, and it is just an excuse. But how to put it, albeit irrelevantly, it is still profitable. However, everyone is civilized, so there are some things that should not be said explicitly.

Wang Bing was originally dissatisfied with his previous words, so he was not polite, "Mao Shangshu, you are Your Majesty's Ministry of Works, a Ming official, not a Japanese official." ”

That's a terrible sound.

"It's useless to say anything more." Wang Wei stopped in time, "Elder Ge, since the matter has been explained clearly, Your Majesty's holy will has also been clarified. The lower officials think that the cabinet should give His Majesty a recital? ”

This is the act of picking fruits.

Yang Yiqing did not give in, "Naturally, as a courtier, he should be worried about the king." The situation in Japan is not yet known, but the war in the northwest is going well, and it will soon be disposed of after the war, and according to what has just been said and Your Majesty's long-term plan, the cabinet should gather the strength of all people and present a concrete and feasible charter for Your Majesty, so that it can be quickly implemented and the national strength of the Ming Dynasty will be raised to a higher level. Rank, this is not a matter of one Yang, but a matter of all of us. ”

"Yes!"

The first time to speak, naturally there is no more nonsense to say.