The Great Industrial Ming Dynasty Started from Beiping

Yang Pu has a great responsibility. He needs to use deeper principles to let Taisun understand the logic behind the operation of things. Many normal things made Zhu Zhanji feel strange through Yang Pu's language.

"The refined division of labor in factories not only changed the nature of traditional craftsmen, but also changed the meaning of work in the past. In the past, people used to determine their identity through social division of labor. For example, the group of craftsmen used to be a small number. But now most people are like this, at least in the city."

"The new industrialized economy took advantage of this change, creating a society that catered to the needs of workers who were cooped up in factories for more than ten hours a day. Cities were transformed by closely packed factories and new housing."

"Shops, theaters, parks, and squares all changed to accommodate people's new lifestyles, just as they did in cities and villages. The large gatherings of workers eventually led to some kind of political change."

Zhu Zhanji tried his best to make himself understand, while Yang Pu tried his best to make his grandson understand.

In the past, the dynasty organized civilians to manage the Yellow River, and the changes brought about by the concentration of personnel gave rise to the basis for resistance to the imperial court, as well as the relationship between them, and even the similarities between the two after the rise of factories, which led to some changes.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believes that water can carry and capsize a boat, but water can only show its power when the overall situation is out of control. A cup or a basin of water cannot arouse people's attention."

"So before that, how to manage small rivers and prevent them from flooding? A new understanding of the pattern makes people more impatient about their social status and other people."

Beijing.

Zhu Gaochi was also discussing social issues with Zhu Di.

In the eyes of later generations, the rulers of modern Western civilization thought so.

In pre-industrial societies, the country was seen as an organic whole in which everyone had value and cared about each other, which formed the idea that everyone had something to contribute to society. However, the new concept holds that the vitality of an individual is the key to the success of his life and the entire social economy, and that individuals and countries should not help those who do not help them.

The idea that the poor are not just simple people left behind in hard times, but people who are fundamentally different from everyone else. Economist Joseph Townsend noted in his 1786 book "A Treatise on the Laws of the Poor": "The poor know not what motivates men—pride, pride, ideals."

In short, only hunger can stimulate them to work.

In other words, poor people are not human beings and do not have noble human rights. They are just animals.

After years of social oppression, the poor people began to resist, and many new social theories were born. Everyone gradually united, and the proletariat was the greatest and so on.

The former is the true face of capitalist society, not the modern society and humanities of later generations, which is already the background of compromise after fierce struggle, and is also supported by the explosion of science and technology.

But even so, due to the inherent shortcomings of civilization, even later Western societies do not believe that the overall responsibility is to help individuals with their problems. Therefore, what maintains the morality of Western society is actually the economic level.

The prosperity over the years has greatly improved the bottom line of ordinary people's humanity.

So on this basis, whenever the Western social economy collapses or regresses a little, it will without exception lead to disorderly smashing, looting, and killing, and a great regression of human nature.

Because they know individually that they cannot count on the whole.

What about Ming Dynasty?

What is Confucianism?

You can say Confucianism is good or bad, but under the Confucian system, clan is a product of the times that cannot be ignored. The overall responsibility and obligation to the individual, and the individual's responsibility and obligation to the overall.

This is also the reason why Zhu Gaochi initially believed that he had an advantage in Peiping.

"The population in the north has been declining for many years. Although the population in the north has recovered quickly, due to immigration, the power of the clan has declined. On the contrary, it is the south. Because the initially harsh natural environment in the south has promoted people to be more united, the power of the clan is very strong. .”

Zhu Gaochi said seriously.

Zhu Di strongly agrees with his son's views. He has been to the south for many years and sees the huge difference in social customs between the north and the south.

One of Wang Yangming's greatest achievements in history is that he made an agreement with the clan and brought the clan into the scope of government governance, forming a complementary relationship with pros and cons, but overall the pros outweighed the cons.

It not only requires the clan to strengthen moral governance, but also requires the clan to take into account the law. For clan members who break the law, the entire clan needs supervision and supervision for the sake of the clan's reputation and rights.

Overall, it has improved the quality level of the clan and provided great help to the stability of the country.

Even during the Qing Dynasty, contradictions were created where there were no contradictions. Not only did the clans in the south fight against each other, but the conflicts between different ethnic groups in the north also deepened greatly and they became mortal enemies and perennial enemies.

"So although I have been strengthening the local management system for many years, the Ming Law still cannot be fully implemented, especially in areas such as inheritance tax. The resistance in the south is still strong."

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but sigh.

Zhu Di smiled and said: "If you want to take other people's money, of course they won't want to. It's just that the south is not like the north. The clan power in the north is weak, so no matter which business it is, it will be difficult to violate your request."

"More than that." Zhu Gaochi shook his head.

The influence of the Ming Dynasty Industry Bureau in the north is more powerful, and although the private commercial banks in the south are not as powerful as the private commercial banks in the north in the energy and other industries, in other industries, the south has developed rapidly relying on the advantages of its strong traditional economy.

Especially with the rise of sea trade, merchants in the south have developed faster overseas and have gradually caught up with the private business capital in the north.

Commercial firms in the north developed early. Many old merchants, such as Zhang Dehui and Zhou Yourong, although they also resisted property laws, were generally unable to resist, and the court was able to suppress them quickly.

Nowadays, the scale of commercial banks in the south is getting larger and larger, so how to collect inheritance tax has become a current problem for the court.

They incorporate property into family property and fight against inheritance tax in disguise.

If things go on like this, their capital will become larger and larger, and their power will become stronger and stronger, which is not conducive to the future stability and development of the Ming Dynasty, and they will even eventually be controlled by southern businessmen.

How the future will develop, Zhu Gaochi cannot see.

But what he hopes is to increase social productivity as soon as possible, starting from the economy and ideology, and trying his best to protect the rights and interests of the people, instead of the interest class losing control and swallowing all the cake before the plate is bigger.

This time, sending the eldest son to visit the south not only increased his knowledge, but also allowed the ministers to get a feel for the development of factories in the south.

Zhu Gaochi hopes that through this investigation, he will have a clearer understanding and formulate targeted measures. The inheritance tax must definitely be implemented. If he cannot control the capital while he is alive, then no one can control it after his death. He doesn’t think he can always control it, but he hopes to at least lay the foundation and point a direction instead of turning around and engulfing the country.
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There are many factories in Yingtianfu. Unlike the Daming Industrial Bureau, which has a unified plan, the competition among factories in various industries is fierce. In order to survive, each factory does its best, which also leads to factories in many industries being chaotic and full of repetitive tasks. Waste of resources.

"This is a large mule machine driven by a steam engine and operated by six workers. It can spin as much thread as the traditional thousands of hand spinners, and the quality is better. One steam engine can drive more than a dozen mules. machine or hundreds of looms.”

Shangguan Bridge, Yangzhou.

Lee Kee Weaving Factory.

The prosperous flower boat industry here suffered successive blows and was replaced by the prosperity of other industries.

Zhu Zhanji and the ministers followed the guidance of the businessmen and visited the largest local weaving factory here.

Seeing the huge and complex machine, the incredible intelligence perfectly displayed in the detailed component process, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but wonder how those craftsmen did it.

Next to the weaving factory is the silk silk factory, and next to it is the silk silk factory.

This factory is a five-story building, also powered by a steam engine. The embryo yarn and fabrics produced in this area are sold as far as seven western provinces.

The smallest factory has thirteen spinning machines, each with one hundred and twenty spindles, seven looms, three carding machines, twenty runners for making roving and other equipment.

Factory after factory, hundreds of factories throughout the region.

Hundreds of thousands of people work and live here.

The factory provided dormitories and canteens. Because of the considerable profits, businessmen donated money under the organization of the local government and built beautiful squares and parks. The local schools were also very large.

There is no shortage of people playing on the Cuju court and bamboo court.

Every night, when the weather is nice, there will be quite a few people here.

In the market formed, many vendors do business. During the late night snack time, it is even more lively. Food from all over the world can be eaten here, with cheap prices and generous portions.

Rice rolls in the south and pancakes in the north.

The development of towns was affected by the factory areas, and the population was absorbed. More and more people lived in the factory areas, and the city was also affected. Many students in the schools only attended county schools and did not continue their studies.

Because of the need to operate machines, more children are interning in factories, and they will eventually join the factory.

There are pros and cons to the block well system.

The disadvantage is that many people have lost their acres of land, and their source of livelihood can only rely on cities and factories. If there is no livelihood, their problem is not poverty, but lack of food.

"According to the survey, the number of factory workers in Yingtianfu Private Commercial Bank is more than 336,000, and the number of hand spinning workers is approximately 240,000."

Zhu Zhanji was shocked when he heard this number.

It's only one place, and the area of ​​influence of private trading firms is surprising.

Many large cotton spinning mills generally have five to six-story buildings. In the earliest steam spinning machine factories, the lower two floors were usually used to house the spinning machines because these machines were very heavy and vibrated violently.

The third and fourth floors are used for carding machines, drawing machines and sliver machines; the fifth floor is used for winding, folding and twisting yarns and other processes on finished products; the sixth floor is usually the top layer, which is used for To place the flocculant machine, bale opening machine and cotton picking machine. There are many of these machines in a large cotton spinning factory.

In the southern suburbs of Yangzhou, there are brick buildings with more than ten floors high. Businessmen worked together to build the buildings. This attracted the attention of foreign business banks. More and more people became aware of Yangzhou's reputation, which led to more orders.

A factory can absorb light from the surrounding labor force.

The newly opened large factory is not only seven stories high, but also has more than 150,000 spindles, driven by two steam engines with a cylinder diameter of 24 inches. It is also equipped with a lifting system for transportation between different floors. People and goods.

No matter how much knowledge he had learned and heard in the capital, Zhu Zhanji still deeply felt the power of the present.

He often heard the word "private trading houses". Through his visit to Yangzhou, Zhu Zhanji gained a deeper understanding. No wonder his father paid more and more attention to private trading houses.

From Yingtianfu to Zhejiang.

Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Shaoxing.

The emerging woolen textile industry eventually became the same as the cotton textile industry. Similar large factories began to appear in towns across the country, and the scale of towns expanded rapidly like Yangzhou. The population near some towns was almost entirely engaged in the woolen industry.

Zhejiang Province accounts for up to 70% of the silk industry, cotton spinning industry, wool spinning industry, etc. Countless merchants buy goods here, and countless raw materials are transported here.

Jute and other raw materials from Goryeo were transported to various ports in batches of ships. Wool from the north and cotton from the northwest were transported here in trains. Trains and ships brought Zhejiang's commodities back to various places.

Because of the special nature of the industry, there are a large number of female workers locally.

Factory owners prefer to hire women because women are easier to manage. Because of the Workers' and Civilian Union, the wages they give to female workers are no less than those of male workers. However, women's slender fingers are better at handling very fine cotton threads.

However, due to traditional reasons, people are not very accepting of married women working in factories. However, people have gradually accepted that work is a matter for women when they are unmarried, and women who are still working at an older age are the objects of ridicule and pity.

However, with the changes in the traditional silk industry, a large number of family workshops lost orders, and the bankruptcy of the fields gradually broke the tradition, and women and children from every family joined the factory.

With changes in economic status, the status of local women has also greatly increased, and there is even a women's Cuju team. Some men could not find work within a short period of time, so they took care of babies.

"Workers are dependent on factories, just as tenants were dependent on landlords in the past. Therefore, the social resource allocation model and the collection of inheritance taxes are the main reasons to prevent factory owners from monopolizing social resources."

Yang Pu explained to Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji also understood why his father said that it was inevitable for businessmen to improve their status. (End of chapter)