Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2122 North and South New Deal ([-])

"Mr. Feng, I fully understand your urgency to get a new machine. Here I can assure you that as long as you are patient and pay me a deposit of three thousand pounds in advance, then I will do my best to get you The required machines will be purchased and shipped, and a batch of parts and tools will also be attached to you.” Hawkes Clifford sat in the backyard of the Haizhou state government office, and said confidently: “I am from East India. The top-ranked second-level agent under the company has also conducted trade in the Xiangshui Port of your country for many years, and has still opened a business for purchasing tea and raw silk. If I miss the appointment, you can report to your country Judiciary, seize my property, I will not have any dissatisfaction."

Three thousand pounds is equivalent to about 1 taels of Pingxue pattern silver, which Feng Yu still knows. 1 taels of silver, no more, no less, Feng Yu could afford it, but he couldn't afford to squander it.That is to say, if Clifford, the English businessman, cheated him and never showed up after taking the money, he would be miserable.Even if Xiangshui seized his assets on shore as he said, then Feng Yu would lose face and have a negative impact on his future career.

But this is also a very good opportunity.Clifford, an English businessman, Feng Yu, also knows something about it. He is mercenary and good at making money.Given enough money, he could even sell the rope to hang himself, let alone anything else!Therefore, out of extreme desire for steam engine equipment, Feng Yu finally decided to trust Clifford once and let him return to England with money to buy equipment.

Yes, that's right!What Feng Yu will buy from Clifford is the famous steam engine (including the attached transmission system).He intends to buy two and try them out to see how they work.If the effect is good, then report it to the imperial court immediately, and ask the imperial court to fund the establishment of a factory that imitates the steam engine, and start large-scale production of this kind of thing.

Of course, Feng Yu also knew that the British steam engine was not very good, the parts were not very versatile, and the reliability of the machine itself was also a problem, so it was really not a good choice.But the problem is that it is impossible for the people on the east bank to sell their relatively good steam engines to the Qing Dynasty, so they are basically doomed to find overseas businessmen to find a solution.However, there are no businessmen in North Germany, where the steam engine manufacturing technology is relatively good, to come to China for trade, so Feng Yu actually has no choice but to find a way with Clifford, and this is what he voluntarily gave up some times in a series of negotiations. key factor of interest.

More and more people know the importance of the steam engine now!The people of the Qing Dynasty learned through their own investigations and the introduction of foreign businessmen that people on the east bank could use steam engines to drive mills to grind flour, forge hammers to forge iron, and booms to lift heavy objects.Of course, the most important thing is to drive ships to sail in rivers, lakes and seas.Especially this last point is very enviable to the people of the Qing Dynasty, and they must get it quickly.It's a pity that the technology of the British is immature, and it is still not very reliable in some key technologies, so it is impossible to transfer and sell the technology to the Qing Dynasty-to be honest, with the virtues of the Congressmen who have the final say in the UK today, As long as you give enough money, they won't do anything to prevent the outflow of technology. As long as there is money to be made, they have no lower limit.

Feng Yu also learned about some of these things through his Italian staff.However, the information of this staff member seems a bit outdated at present. He has lived in Beijing and Haizhou for several years, and he has no access to the latest European technology since he is no longer going to sea. Everything can only be based on previous impressions. Fortunately, So far it seems to have little impact.

The two steam units ordered by Feng Zhizhou are used to drive textile machinery.To this end, he also imported part of the textile technology from the British.Needless to say, what the British sell will basically be the mainstream technology of their own country, and it is unlikely to hide it, because Feng Yu gave enough money, and when Clifford returns to the UK, he only needs to find a few senior textile manufacturers. Engineers, everything is solved, the cost is very low, and the profit margin is huge.

When it comes to British textile technology, the progress in the past 30 to [-] years is indeed very great.Through their own research and the fragmented technical information collected from the east coast, they finally integrated their own things and broke through the long-term technical bottleneck in front of them. The production of domestic cotton cloth and woolen cloth has increased significantly.Moreover, those business owners who have made money on this are still increasing investment, delving into technology, and constantly improving mechanical structure and production technology in order to obtain greater returns.

It can be said that the breakthrough of new textile technology greatly strengthened the power and influence of the British bourgeoisie.The demand for domestic labor has increased, and exports have flourished. A large amount of silver has been absorbed into England. It even took advantage of the bad relationship between the east coast and certain countries to swallow up some textile markets on the east coast. It is indeed very powerful.

Of course, the textile technology of Dongan people has not stopped in recent years, and the country still has not given up on this industry, and continues to allocate funds from the national level to subsidize several major state-owned textile enterprises to improve their technology and craftsmanship.Moreover, the executive committee also unanimously agreed to establish the Ministry of Textiles, which is the only two ministerial-level competent agencies for a single commodity in the country (the other is the Ministry of Coal), which shows how much it attaches importance to.

In addition, after obtaining La Plata from the Spaniards, the Executive Committee also instructed the Government Council to plan a large-scale cotton planting area on the Chaco Plain, increase local cotton production, and build nearby cities dominated by the textile industry to change The original industrial dilemma of the two ends of the cotton textile industry has reduced the cost of logistics and transportation.

In terms of wool textiles, their efforts were earlier, and the wool transportation railway is the fruit of this effort.Although due to factors such as insufficient funds and political factions, the fate of the wool transportation special line railway was ill-fated.However, under the unremitting efforts of people with good intentions, two railways with different starting points but the same ending point to transport wool resources in the Southern Cone region are still firmly built, and it can be predicted that they will definitely play an important role in the economy of the east coast in the future.

The textile industry is indeed the lifeblood of the country, and it must continue to strive for excellence and grow stronger!Now, it seems that the Qing Dynasty also understands this truth.Feng Yu bought steam engines and textile technology, didn't Suo'etu know about it?Doesn't Kangxi know?Now that the finances of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties are so tight, they are still willing to spend money on this aspect, which shows how much they value it!

Coincidentally.When Feng Yu and Hawkes Clifford were discussing the introduction of steam engines and textile technology, in Baling County, a major trading town in the southern Dashun State, Zhang Shaozong, a big comprador, was standing in front of Yu Dachang Spinning Mill, commenting, looking very cheerful .And next to him is Huang Bochao, the owner of Yu Dachang Clothing Co., Ltd., the businessman who founded the business school first.

Zhang and Huang have been cooperating for many years, and they trust each other very much.As the big comprador of Dinghai Textile Factory, Zhang Shaozong purchased cotton and homespun cloth from Huang Bochao all the year round.Cotton yarn is an intermediate product needed by textile factories in Ningbo. Wear-resistant and durable homemade cloth is very popular among the working people, especially those manual workers who are not willing to buy cloth produced by local machines in Ningbo, but buy cheap and good quality cloth Dashun or Tubu of the Qing Dynasty.As a comprador, Zhang Shaozong received a 5% commission even if he did not make a deal. The capital increase was so rapid that he was able to spend a lot of money. He and Huang Bochao co-founded Yudachang Spinning Factory and started machine spinning.

But different from the Qing Dynasty, the machines of Yudachang Spinning Mill were relatively traditional. At most, they were improved by referring to the design of Ningbo Dinghai Textile Mill. This was provided by Zhang Shaozong, the nominal purchasing manager of Dinghai Textile Mill.However, due to technical reasons, more improvements cannot be implemented, because the Dinghai Textile Factory has now adopted full steam power, and the machines for the mechanical transmission part are also imported from the mainland. As far as Shunguo's industrial level is concerned, it may not be possible. imitation.Or even if it can be imitated, its accuracy and durability are not enough, it is better to give up.

Therefore, the technical level of Yu Dachang Spinning Mill is not high. In the future, it may not be as high as the technical level of Haizhou Textile Bureau that Feng Yu is preparing to build.But this is also something that can’t be helped. Who made you Shunguo not have access to the sea?Merchants from Britain, Holland, and France really want to do business with you, but people from the east coast have occupied Chongmingsha, set up cannons on it, and patrol it every day with small gunboats, so they dare not even think about it!To put it bluntly, the root cause of this matter is still the people on the east bank. They regard the Yangtze River as a taboo, prohibit other people from entering and trading, and enjoy the excess monopoly profits exclusively.

If Shunguo wants to introduce technology now, there is really no other channel other than the Dongan family.Therefore, there is a reason why people desperately wanted to fish out of the sea in Guangxi and Guangdong.If there is no outlet to the sea, it will always be controlled by others, and it will always be a poor creature surrounded by forces on the east coast.Foreign advanced weapons, advanced tactics, advanced technology, and advanced ideas cannot be imported, and the future of development is naturally greatly limited.In this regard, they are not even as good as the sworn enemy, the Manchu regime, which is quite frustrating to think about.

Zhang Shaozong is also thinking of a way recently.He has invested a lot of money in Yu Dachang, accounting for about [-]% of the shares, so there is no reason for him not to care about this matter.The breakthrough he thought of was to use his relatively good influence in Ningbo and Dinghai textile factories to persuade them to export some more advanced spinning equipment to Yu Dachang.It doesn't matter even if it's the outdated equipment made of wood and iron produced in Sakhalin Island, they all need it!

The reason Zhang Shaozong gave was that Yu Dachang was a spinning mill, and the spindles produced could be sold to Dinghai Textile Mill, and everyone had been doing this before.The output and efficiency of Yudachang Spinning Mill have increased, so the output of Dinghai Textile Mill can also increase accordingly.With today's market situation, it is possible to make more money, so why not do it?

Zhang Shaozong wasn't sure if the people on the east bank would accept his statement, but how would he know if he didn't try it?He still has many friends in the local area, so it should be possible to ask them to help make peace with some money, right?Yu Dachang Spinning Factory really needs cash textile technology and equipment, otherwise it will still be a country workshop level, a large workshop!

And if Zhang Shaozong succeeds in persuading the people on the east bank to introduce a complete set of spinning equipment and technology—even if it is one or two generations behind, it doesn’t matter, it is advanced enough in China—then Yudachang Spinning Mill can soar into the sky and become a big spinning mill. Shun and even the most successful modern machine spinning mill in the world.Of course, this is because Zhang Shaozong did not know that Feng Yu, the magistrate of Haizhou in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, was also negotiating with the British to introduce a complete set of textile equipment, and it was steam-powered, which was much more advanced than Dashun's. Otherwise, he would not have done so. optimism.

However, we can also see from here that the two most powerful countries in mainland China, Qing and Shun, have almost unanimously started a large-scale modernization of traditional industries.The tea industry, shipping industry, textile industry, food processing industry, building materials industry, etc., are the key objects of the first round of investment of these capitals.The difference between the two parties is that the government of the Qing Dynasty seemed to pay more attention to it, and squeezed out certain resources to invest in these new industries, while the officials of the Shun State ignored it and hardly invested any funds. This may be the same as Their financial situation is far worse than that of the Qing Dynasty.

Zhang Shaozong has traveled to and from Ningbo and Huguang many times in the past year, so he also vaguely knows a little about the situation in the Qing Dynasty through the channels of the people on the east coast.Especially in the past few years, the huge tea business war once surprised the people on the east coast. Although it failed for various reasons, it also left the Qing Dynasty with a little foundation for modern industrial tea production.After all, the factory buildings, equipment and workers of those roasted tea factories are all there. After the tea company has changed a wave of masters, they still need to continue to operate these things, so there are still some benefits.

However, Zhang Shaozong was influenced by people from the east coast, so he was not very optimistic about the Qing Dynasty's industrialization model.It is good for those enterprises in the Qing Dynasty to get funds from the imperial court at the initial stage, and the imperial court may also help solve the problem of technology introduction through diplomatic channels, but the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, laymen command experts, fool around, and finally direct Maybe it will make the factory dirty.

Moreover, a lot of corporate power is held in the hands of officials, and private shareholders do not dare to offend too much for various reasons. In the end, the factory is often stuffed with a bunch of unlearned and incompetent people, but these people often control The result is that corruption is rampant and the production efficiency of enterprises is low.

The enterprises in Shunguo are basically built with private investment.The government has no money and doesn't know how to set up factories, so it can only let go and let the merchants do it themselves, as long as they can receive taxes and fees anyway.Some military leaders saw that the business of the factory was good, and wanted to come in to get a share of the pie, but the good thing is that they only want money, and they don't actually participate in the daily operation and decision-making of the factory. This gives professionals like Huang Bochao and Zhang Shaozong With a great degree of freedom, they can concentrate on the operation of the enterprise without being constrained by laymen, and make the factory bigger and stronger.

The different models of Qing and Shun basically have their own advantages and disadvantages. Who can do better depends on who is better in their actual operations.But one thing that cannot be ignored is that no matter what kind of model it is, whether it is efficient or inefficient, it is actually steadily improving the industrial technology level of the two countries and improving their wealth production capacity.As long as they are not afraid of failure and persevere for a long time, it will definitely produce results, there is no doubt about it!

(End of this chapter)