Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1789 The Gradually Clear Situation ([-])

A transport ship belonging to the Bank of Taiwan just sailed into Ningbo Dinghai Port Wharf from the north, and began intense unloading work.In addition to standard-sized ship planks, rigging, lead pipes, skins, wood tar, sulfur and other necessary parts for repairing ships, there are also many urgent supplies including machinery and ammunition.

Among them, the arms were to be transported to Madang, Hukou, Yuezhou and other places and handed over to the Shun army to support their war against the Qing state.As for the machinery and equipment, some of them are for their own use, and some of them also need to be exported to the territory of Shun country, so that they can operate coal mines, brick kilns, wood processing factories and other enterprises to produce various materials urgently needed by the front line to maintain the continuation of the war.Considering that Shunguo may not have enough cash to pay for the purchase of these equipment and military resources, the Southern Exploration Team even instructed the Bank of Taiwan to provide them with a certain amount of loans, so that the above-mentioned batches of these items can be transferred as soon as possible. The supplies were shipped to Huguang.

Of course, many of these machinery and equipment were ordered by Ningbo, mainly some textile machinery, designed and produced by Heishui County, and imported early domestic technology.However, even the early technology is still commendable in this land of the Far East. It can greatly improve the efficiency of spinning and weaving, greatly reduce the cost of a piece of cloth, and rapidly increase its competitiveness.

The main reason why the mainland agreed to set up a state-owned textile factory in Ningbo and lifted the ban on some corresponding textile technology and equipment is that the Europeans have also made breakthroughs in this area, and there is no need to keep the technology secret: the breakthrough was made by the British. Textile enterprises, through their own painstaking research and digestion of the technology of the Netherlands across the strait, and at the same time sorting out various textile information from the east coast, they finally invented a spinning machine similar to the spinning jenny that is of great significance. At the same time, combined with the long-invented weaving technology such as flying shuttle, England's textile technology has made revolutionary progress, and industrial expansion is imminent.

For the people on the east coast, after enjoying the technological dividend for nearly 50 years, everything is finally over.From now on, there is no big difference between the textile technology of the East Coast and Europe in terms of principle. The leading position of the East Coast is nothing more than more optimized design, larger scale, more mechanized production, and better quality. The management system and product competition are much more difficult than before, and they need to redouble their efforts in the future - of course, there has been no dynasty since ancient times, and the textile people on the east coast have enjoyed a good time for 50 years. If they can't compete with Europeans in the future , then there is nothing to say, they deserve nothing to eat.

However, the State Textile Administration considered that the English had made a breakthrough (in fact, this is a matter of time), and felt that it was meaningless to implement a technical blockade. The three places including Huaxia (cotton textile), Australia (wool textile), and Ningbo included the proposal to transfer textile technology and sell textile machinery, and immediately began to put it into practice.

The machines will be installed at the factory on the Cixi River near the wharf in Dinghai County.There is no doubt that this is water-powered equipment. For this reason, Dinghai County has invested in an additional reservoir and power canal to serve as the power source for all spinning and weaving equipment in the factory area.Even in order to improve the efficiency of the use of these powers, the government of the Southern Exploration Team plans to invest in the construction of a semi-mechanized silk reeling factory here, but it has not yet been officially put on the agenda.

With the investment and establishment of these textile enterprises by the government of the Southern Pioneering Team, this also means that Ningbo Prefecture, which is increasingly populated and land-less, has begun economic transformation, that is, it will continue to maintain a certain scale of traditional agriculture (providing a certain amount of food, which may not be enough for consumption, However, under the condition that the lower limit must be stabilized), a large number of cotton fields and mulberry fields will be opened up as in the late Ming Dynasty, the cotton textile industry and silk weaving industry will be developed, and exports will be profitable. At present, the export market is still dominated by the Far East San Francisco. Silk products may be sold to North Korea, Japan and other places, but most cotton textiles can only be digested by themselves.

Some people may say, why not sell these cotton cloths to the Qing Dynasty?Cough cough, this is a bit embarrassing to say, just as the British could not explain why the cotton textiles produced in Bangladesh could not compete with the Chinese homespun in the late Qing Dynasty, the people on the east bank are currently facing a somewhat embarrassing situation, that is, cotton smuggled into the territory of the Qing Dynasty There are relatively few textiles (shipped from the local area). One is that the overall cost is relatively high, and the other is actually due to quality.

Yes, you heard it right, it is because of the quality!According to the historical records of later generations, at the end of the 19th century, the compradors who represented foreign cloth all day long advocated that "seven to eight out of ten are clothed in foreign cloth" (such as the big comprador Zheng Guanying), but foreign businessmen complained to the consuls of various countries that it was difficult to enter the Chinese market. , even textiles produced by machines around China cannot be sold for the simple reason that "the strength of the hand-loom industry is the main obstacle preventing every Chinese from wearing Lancashire cotton".

But why?

According to the data of the Lancashire Blackburn Chamber of Commerce in later generations: "The fact that tens of thousands of lower-class Chinese who worked hard in 18 provinces and other large tracts of land did not wear foreign cloth but handed down homemade cloth has long been known...the poor wear homemade cloth Clothes, because they are three to five times more durable than foreign cloth, because they are not so torn, and because they are much warmer in winter. Therefore, when a rich merchant wears out three or four beautiful foreign cloth suits, Workers, farmers, porters, and boatmen will be, and will be, satisfied with a coarser, but in fact better, suit."

The British at the end of the 19th century could not solve this conundrum.Because of the characteristics of machine textiles, it is difficult for them to achieve the ultimate like handicraftsmen, not to mention that they have even greater problems in terms of cost.You must know that the cost of transportation, insurance, import and export duties, and sufficient profit margins for compradors is already high for cotton cloth from India to China. , that is unacceptable to them.

In contrast, spinning and weaving are completely sideline jobs of Chinese farmers, that is to say, they do not take their own time and labor costs into account, which makes the cost of homespun cloth extremely low. Coupled with the Chinese people's emphasis on cash, they are not very willing to spend cash to buy daily necessities, so the earthen cloth that can be exchanged for eggs, grain, fruit, salt, leather, medicinal materials and other items has a very high competitive advantage. It is normal for the foreign cloth to be beaten to pieces.At this time, the British had no choice but to use non-economic and market means as they did in history.

People on the east coast will encounter the same troubles as the British in history.Therefore, the cotton cloth brought from the mainland has been sold locally in the Far East and San Francisco for many years. On the contrary, some woolen products will have some sales in the Qing Dynasty. Setting up a factory to produce is mainly to deal with the local market. I really don't have much confidence in entering the territory of the Qing Dynasty to make profits.

Of course, the textile industry is somewhat a special case.In this industry, the machine textile industry on the east bank is shamefully unable to compete with homespun cloth, but in industries such as steel and metal products, the people on the east bank can easily beat Manqing, Nanming and Dashun, and Heishui's Ironware and steel rods are sold everywhere, and even the Qing Dynasty is trying to smuggle them back from Denglai or Ningbo, because they are so easy to use.

In addition to setting up a textile enterprise in Ningbo, Dong'an people have also attracted foreign and private capital through patent authorization and joint venture capital raising, and invested in many small-scale workshop-style enterprises, such as Fenghua Xikou Paper Mill, Yinxian Chengxi Felt Blanket Factory, Dinghai Brick Kiln Factory, Simingshan Roasted Tea Factory, Nanfang Printing Factory, Ningbo Gas Company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dong'an Gas Company), Yinxian Water Factory, etc.

These enterprises are basically set up to take advantage of the trend of technology lifting in recent years, just like the factories in Shandong on both sides of the rubber cigarette line and Yantai, Weihai, Jiaozhou and other port cities have sprung up like mushrooms. The results of the Commission's relaxation of restrictions on the industrial development of the Far East San Francisco.Although most of these companies currently produce daily necessities related to national life, and companies with technological content are basically locked within the scope of Sakhalin Island (especially companies that use steam power production), compared with before, they are already quite large. Not bad.

The establishment of these enterprises is undoubtedly crucial to the prosperity of Ningbo's local economy and the increase of jobs.Take the Coastal Garment Factory in Dinghai County as an example. This year, the factory has received orders for more than 3000 sets of woolen military uniforms (custom-made for officers) for the Li Shun regime. To provide a list of [-] sets of military uniforms, the production scale had to be expanded on the original basis, and dozens of people were hired to work overtime to make military uniforms.

Another example is the Siming Mountain Roasted Tea Factory, which was jointly invested by the Southern Pioneering Team Government, Fenghua County Government, Bank of Taiwan and some Ningbo businessmen with a huge investment of 25 yuan. It employs more than 700 workers and produces more than 50 kinds of brick tea, with a daily output of nine More than a thousand baskets, through the semi-mechanized production method, the production cost of tea has been reduced a lot, so that more and more people in Ningbo and Denglai can afford this cheap brick tea.

The government invested more than 2 yuan to establish Yinxian Nanfang Printing Factory, which employs more than 1 workers and has an annual output value of more than 5 yuan.There are also quite a few workshops engaged in printing and lithography among the folks in the county who follow suit. They often only invest a few thousand yuan and hire 10-[-] small workers to open a lettering shop, and the profit is not bad.

The Zhaoxing Rice Milling Factory in Cixi County invested 7.5 yuan and hired nearly 150 workers. It produces about 20 tons of rice per day on average, with an annual output value of about [-] million yuan. Eggs can be broken up to [-] eggs per day, and the egg powder produced is sold throughout Ningbo, Denglai and Heishui areas, making a lot of money.

A large amount of idle funds and a population of hundreds of thousands in Ningbo prefecture have provided good conditions for these industrial enterprises that seem to have sprung up overnight. Of course, these are not the original ones, but the East Coast people have been working hard to manage Ningbo for 30 years. accumulated wealth.This kind of wealth has been accumulated for 30 years. Once it was unshackled, it immediately developed explosively under the guidance of the government, which in turn provided new impetus for the development of the local economy.

As Ma Wenqiang pointed out at the cadre work conference he presided over: "Mechanized large-scale industrial production is a symbolic product of human beings leaving the Middle Ages and entering a modern society. Brand-new production models, brand-new management systems, and brand-new technologies have long been in full swing in the local area. After 50 years of local development, although Ningbo cannot achieve the same level as the local area, it is still possible to give priority to the development of some basic industries related to people's livelihood. Reacting to the increasingly elusive situation in mainland China."

In fact, as Ma Wenqiang said at the meeting, the most direct benefit brought about by the local lifting of the ban on civilian industries in the Far East San Francisco is the great increase in the productivity of the San Francisco area, which naturally corresponds to the enhancement of the pioneering team's ability to allocate resources. Because they have more wealth at hand.The increase in wealth, in addition to improving people's livelihood and developing infrastructure, can naturally support more troops, and while maintaining their own security, they can better perform their inherent strategic tasks-to collect more soldiers. The more people immigrate to the East Coast, the more the better!

According to the recently handed over to the Far East San Francisco by the mainland, in the future, the jurisdiction of the Southern Development Team will basically focus on light industry and daily necessities production, and the jurisdiction of the Denglai Development Team will focus on manufacturing with a certain content such as machining.As for the most eye-catching area under the jurisdiction of the Blackwater Pioneering Team, there is no doubt that the most advanced and sensitive technology is still given priority to settle here. It can be said that it is dominated by high-tech heavy industries. But it is the foundation for the development of industries in Ningbo and Denglai.

There is undoubtedly a certain degree of technological gap between these industrial enterprises and the locals (for example, the core power is still not a steam engine, which makes the performance of the machine impossible), but for mainland China and Europeans, it is still It is breathtaking, especially the beauty of industrial production they display, which is even more breathtaking.

Their existence may not be an opportunity for the ancient continent of China. It depends on whether they can take the opportunity to change their minds, change their attitudes, and learn humbly.After all, this kind of opportunity does not come often. Historically, the Manchu and Qing courts did not open their eyes until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Now the Chinese have this opportunity 200 years in advance.

(End of this chapter)