He smiled and said: "After listening to the governor's words, I have a little idea."
Zhang Anshi said: "Mr. Yang always has a way. I have told you so much, doesn't Mr. Yang have anything to say?"
"You want your subordinates to find fault with you?" Yang Pu couldn't help but smile.
Zhang Anshi said: "Many people below me have some doubts about what I want to do. Not only Zhu Jin, but also Gao Xiang also thinks it is quite risky."
This is also true. The investment is too big. To be honest, Zhang Anshi knows that he is a little reckless.
But Zhang Anshi had no choice. There was no way out when he implemented the New Deal. He had almost completely offended to death the rentier class that had dominated the world for thousands of years.
The only way at the moment is to continue to advance aggressively. As long as you run fast enough, the interest groups that have emerged as a result of the New Deal will become even larger. In the future... it will be possible to truly and completely liquidate the old gentry and implement the New Deal to every corner of the world.
.
Time waits for me!
Yang Pu smiled slightly and said: "Some people will definitely tell the Governor that this matter is too expensive, and some will say... It is still unclear whether the railway will be useful in the future, or some people may even think that the Governor is too greedy for merit, right?
"
"Yeah." Zhang Anshi looked at Yang Pu. He knew that Yang Pu was fairly fair and he was willing to listen to Yang Pu's opinions.
Yang Pu said: "Actually, I have heard a lot of such voices these days. Of course, these voices are just worries. They don't mean to stop the governor, but they are afraid that the governor will go astray. But it seems to Yang...
…These words…actually don’t need to be ignored.”
"Why?" Zhang Anshi looked at Yang Pu strangely.
Yang Pu said: "Anything in the world will be difficult to achieve once you start looking forward and backward! Since the governor is determined to do this, he must have gone through repeated weighings. Now in the world, no one understands the New Deal better than the governor, let alone the governor.
I understand this railway. Others don’t understand it, so they are worried. Then since the governor understands it and thinks that there is a good chance of winning in this way, he is determined to do it. If this is the case, then why doesn’t the governor stick to his own opinion? "
"In this world, there are very few smart people. The vast majority of people cannot see the way forward clearly. I don't mean to look down on people, but the reality is like this. Just like this new policy, it is unprecedented.
, unprecedented, it was only thanks to the governor that such a new path was opened. Then the governor should understand that at this point, the governor is the leader. What to do next, what to do, the governor must make his own decision. After making the decision
, we must never waver. If the Governor himself cannot believe in himself, then...why should others believe in the Governor?"
After hearing this, Zhang Anshi couldn't help but nod his head; "You are right. I firmly believe that I am on the right path. If this is the case, then I must stick to it. Mr. Yang's words have enlightened me."
Zhang Anshi looked at Yang Pu with bright eyes, looking very sincere.
"You're welcome, Governor."
Zhang Anshi continued: "Mr. Yang, please be my deputy for the construction of this railway. There are some things I need to discuss with you."
Yang Pu stood up and saluted: "How dare you disobey your orders."
When Yang Pu resigned, Zhang Anshi looked at his back and couldn't help but sigh.
Indeed, he is worthy of being one of the Three Yang Cabinets in history, and will be the chief minister of the future Ming Dynasty Cabinet.
None of these three poplars are fuel-efficient lamps.
The entire Right Governor's Mansion was busy.
Plan after plan, as well as the situation of land exploration and technical training, are all started.
In addition, several steel-making workshops under Qixia Trading Company, as well as some steel and mechanical tools, have begun bidding.
The reason why I went to the steel workshop under Qixia Trading Company was actually to lower the price.
Zhang Anshi needs a lot of steel, but once he purchases it on a large scale, it will inevitably lead to a skyrocketing price of steel.
But with his own steel workshop, things are obviously different. Zhang Anshi directly sets a price limit. If other workshops are unwilling to reach this price, then Zhang Anshi will simply hand over everything to Qixia Trading Company for refining.
But even if there is an upper limit on the price, after all, the amount of steel required to lay the rails is astronomical, and almost all workshops want a piece of the pie. Even at this price... in their opinion, there is really not much profit!
But all fools understand that such a large-scale transaction, even if the profit is less, cannot support the large purchase volume and is still profitable. Moreover, in the future, once the scale is expanded, scale effects may occur and the cost can be reduced.
Even... as long as you get a big order, you will hire someone later... to make a fuss about cost savings, whether it is using a new steelmaking method or improving the process, there is always a way.
So all of a sudden... all over Qixia, merchants were recruiting people everywhere. The craftsmen needed to refine steel suddenly became the most popular ones. Even those without skills were still competing for them. After all, people can be trained and trained.
Learning and expanding production are imperative.
The market for various mechanical tools has suddenly become hot.
Whether it is refining steel, future steam engines, or laying railways, the demand for tools must be massive. Anyone who does business must be a cat that smells fishy.
The bank's business also began to flourish.
Not only the right governor's office is entrusting banks to issue public bonds, but many merchants are also looking for banks to raise funds to prepare for expansion.
As a result, bank loan interest rates have increased a lot, but they cannot curb this trend.
In addition, the hardwood, kerosene, tung oil required for construction, as well as all kinds of clothing, food, housing and transportation items are suddenly in full swing.
On the surface, Zhang Anshi's plan was just a plan worth millions of taels a year, but it seemed like he had leveraged tens of millions of taels of funds in an instant. Everyone was looking for opportunities, and a large number of people were hired at high prices.
This has caused a boom in consumption, and the prosperity brought about by consumption has greatly increased the demand for consumer goods.
After the price of labor skyrocketed, Zhang Anshi's steam engine workshop ushered in the first wave of dividends before the railway was repaired.
"Have you finished tinkering?" Zhang Anshi was grabbing Xu Jingchang's ears at this time: "How are you doing?"
Xu Jingchang uttered an ouch, but hurriedly said: "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law... almost, almost. It's just... the output is a little less!"
Zhang Anshi said: "Then train some more craftsmen. Let me know how many people are needed."
"That's it..." Xu Jingchang said, pointing to a huge steam engine not far away, and said with a wry smile: "It's no fun tinkering with it."
Zhang Anshi stared at him and said: "Your Majesty has already said that you have wasted a lot of money, and he can't wait to eat your flesh. If you don't make money now, do you want to change the world?"
Xu Jingchang is now very frustrated. He hopes to come up with a more powerful machine and test whether there is more power than steam.
Unfortunately, the order Zhang Anshi gave him was to enrich his steam engine products.
Now, in addition to the improvement of the steam locomotive, which is to make some improvements on the basis of steam power to make the steam locomotive more powerful and carry more weight, he now has to complete the following:
Steam loom on hand.
To put it bluntly, a steam loom uses steam to replace manpower, and its technology is lower than that of a steam locomotive. After all, a steam locomotive has to consider the size and weight of the boiler and cylinder, but this steam loom, if you want to be more powerful, just
Just add more cylinders and boilers.
For Xu Jingchang, this is simply killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.
But Zhang Anshi saw the potential of this thing, because many workshops now lack manpower, and the price of manpower is getting higher and higher. If railways are built in the future, a large amount of labor will inevitably be recruited.
In this situation of manpower shortage, it may have been impossible to replace manpower with machinery in the past, but now... it is the right time.
Once this kind of steam engine can be promoted to all walks of life, then... the steam engine workshop established by Zhang Anshi's family is bound to make a fortune.
The most important thing is that this thing is like this. Once various types of steam engines are sold well, the cost of production can be greatly reduced in the future. At the same time, with the improvement of different types of steam engines, various processes can be improved unknowingly.
.
This is a harmless thing.
Zhang Anshi's threat still had some effect, Xu Jingchang could only say: "Brother-in-law, don't worry."
Zhang Anshi let go of Xu Jingchang. At this time, he looked at the huge machine suspiciously and couldn't help but said: "Is this thing...useful?"
"Of course it works." Xu Jingchang couldn't help showing a bit of pride and said: "Actually, this spinning machine is much simpler than a steam locomotive. Brother-in-law, you see, here is a steam engine, which provides power, and then through gears and belts, it communicates with
This celestial axis is connected, this celestial axis..."
Xu Jingchang pointed to the pipe above his head and said: "The gears and belts are connected to drive the shuttle on the spinning machine... In this way, continuous production can be achieved, but... the only flaw is this thing...
…Occasionally it breaks…”
"It doesn't matter, just recruit more people and provide them with after-sales service." Zhang Anshi said: "What about efficiency? How does efficiency compare with manpower?"
Xu Jingchang said: "Compared with previous spinning machines, the efficiency is at least five times more than human power."
Zhang Anshi nodded with satisfaction and said: "That's enough. I'll let the people from Qixia Textile Workshop try it out first. You can recruit more maintenance workers and train a group of people."
Xu Jingchang looked reluctant and said: "I still want to teach ordinary craftsmen... these simple knowledge?"
Zhang Anshi said: "Then find someone to teach you. In short, don't slack off on this matter."
Xu Jingchang frowned, and finally compromised under Zhang Anshi's glare and said: "Okay."
After a pause, he seemed to suddenly remember something, so he added: "By the way, brother-in-law... I also thought of... a steam pump."
"Um?"
"I heard that in many mines, there is serious water accumulation, making mining difficult, and it is very easy to cause accidents. But if you use a steam pump, it can be solved."
Zhang Anshi's eyes lit up visibly, and he said: "You can do it, you can do it! In short, you can try anything that can replace manpower. By the way, I will recruit hundreds of scholars and I will follow you from now on.
, you are a minor security guard, I need to allocate more manpower to you."
Xu Jingchang drooped his head again: "But brother-in-law, I want to... try... is there any way to replace the steam engine... this thing... is too weak."
Zhang Anshi glared at him again and said: "Solve the current matter first, otherwise there will be no more. Also, if you put gunpowder in the boiler again in the future, I will kick you to death."
Xu Jingchang: "..."
At this time, a letter reached Zhang Anshi.
Zhang Anshi got the letter, and when he saw the letter, Zhang Anshi didn't dare to neglect it.
This was sent by my brother Zhu Gaoxu.
When Zhang Anshi opened it and took a look, his expression suddenly changed slightly.
After that, he immediately went to see Zhu Di.
Zhu Di heard something about Zhang Anshi's massive debt borrowing in Qixia, which was quite controversial in the court, but Zhu Di ignored it.
It was rare that Zhang Anshi came to see him, but Zhu Di looked kindly and said with a smile: "You kid...it's rare."
Zhang Anshi saluted and said: "Your Majesty, here is a letter from the King of Han... no, it is a letter from Zhu Gaoxu. I beg your Majesty to read it."
Zhu Di frowned. That boy Zhu Gaoxu exchanged letters with Zhang Anshi all day long, but rarely edited books for him. As a father, Zhu Di was quite unhappy.
This son of a bitch is very realistic. He wanted to seize the crown prince and surrounded me all the time. Now he just wants to beg Zhang Anshi for weapons, so he surrounds Zhang Anshi again.
Zhu Di also winked at Shiha.
He also lost his understanding and hurriedly sent the letter to Zhu Di.
When Zhu Di opened it and took a look, his expression suddenly... changed.
He raised his head and glanced at Zhang Anshi: "Have you read this letter?"
Zhang Anshi said: "Yes, I have already seen it."
"This kid Zhu Gaoxu, what does he do for a living? He shows off his power in Annan all day long. Unfortunately... he is just a sack of wine and rice."
Zhu Di threw the letter on the desk.
The content of this letter is very simple. It is a report from Zhu Gaoxu that King Shen Zhu Mo, who was sealed off from Johor, occupied hundreds of miles of land in Johor and then started to build a city.
But he was still a little unwilling, feeling that the land he had enclosed was too little, so he contacted Zhu Gaoxu. At this time, the Kingdom of Siam began to be wary of Prince Shen who appeared in Annan and around him, and often invaded.
Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu and Shen Wang Zhu Mo hit it off and planned to do something big and directly capture Siam, which occupied fertile land and had a territory of thousands of miles.
The uncle and nephew met in Champa and were very speculative. Then they went back to gather troops and horses. In the name of the King of Siam not paying tribute, they each led a group of troops to attack Siam.
At that time, there were several other kings nearby, such as King Zhao of Java and King Tang of Malacca, who expressed their willingness to come to help in the battle.
But Zhu Gaoxu and Prince Shen's uncle and nephew thought that...it would be easy to take Siam. If one more person sent troops, they would only get a share of the pie, so they said that this was just a military punishment operation, and they would retreat after a single fight.
As a result, the two of them led the troops and horses and drove straight in. They were very happy, and finally... the car overturned.
There were dense forests everywhere in Siam, but the King of Siam was not in a hurry to fight decisively. Instead, he fought and retreated. Finally, he ambushed Zhu Gaoxu and King Shen's soldiers and horses in a dense forest. Then, he fortified the wall and cleared the field, leaving the two groups at a loss. Food and fodder for the army cannot be supplied.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu and King Shen had to retreat. Unexpectedly, when they retreated, they were pursued all the way by the Siamese.
Zhu Gaoxu, a chicken thief, said to King Shen, you are Uncle Wang, and after you cut off your nephew, King Shen agreed.
The result was the worst loss. Even he himself was shot in the calf by a bow and arrow and had to be carried back.
In this battle, the Han King's guard lost more than 300 people, and the Shen King's guard lost 3,400 people. So the former King of Han refused to accept it and expressed that he wanted to avenge his uncle. He asked Qixia to quickly send some firearms and weapons. Here comes the artillery.
When Zhu Di read this letter, he almost died of anger.
His face was livid with anger, and he said: "Recruit Jin Zhong and Xia Yuanji, and go quickly."
Jin Zhong and Xia Yuanji came in.
Zhu Di glanced at them and said, "I want to lead the expedition in person. What do you think?"
Jin Zhong was surprised and said: "I wonder where your Majesty is conquering?"
"Siam."
At this moment, Jin Zhong was confused: "Your Majesty, that place... has long mountains and long rivers..."
Xia Yuanji was also anxious and said: "Your Majesty, how can you raise troops for no reason? If it is to attack the Tatars, there is nothing wrong with it. This..."
Zhu Di said: "See for yourselves."
The letters were circulated among Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong.
The two fell silent.
After a while, Xia Yuanji thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, if the King of Han wants weapons, just give them to him... Overseas affairs will be dealt with by the vassal king himself. If it still doesn't work, I will order the King of Tang and the King of Zhao to increase their troops, so why bother Your Majesty?" If we recruit troops and horses from Nanjing and head to Siam, the losses along the way will be considerable."
Zhu Di also calmed down a little and sighed: "It's not that I don't know this, it's just that the King of Siam seems to be a hero for a while. I'm worried that Zhu Gaoxu and others won't be able to deal with him. Siam is not a small country, covering an area of thousands of miles. , with a hundred thousand armor, and the country is densely covered with mountains and forests. Although Zhu Gaoxu, King Tang, King Shen, etc. have elite soldiers and abundant firearms, once they go hundreds of miles deep, the supplies cannot keep up, resulting in a lonely army. The time and place are favorable. They are not in their hands, so if they lose more troops and generals, wouldn't it be worrying?"
Zhu Di paused and then said: "In this situation, if I don't take action, do I have to stand by and see them defeated? Zhang Qing family, don't you think so?"
Zhang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, I also think that there is no need to move lightly. Siam is really far away. And as your Majesty said, Siam has the same enemy and covers an area of thousands of miles. Once a large-scale army is raised, there are many mountains and dense forests. In the event of a war, If it lasts, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to our Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Di frowned. He originally expected Zhang Anshi to sing along with him and convince Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong.
However, Zhang Anshi immediately said: "But I have a way. In fact... we don't necessarily need to send troops to avenge King Shen and King Han."
After Zhu Di heard this, he was surprised and said: "What? Do you have any good ideas?"
Zhang Anshi said with a smile: "Jin Yiwei has already grasped the situation in Siam and sent many people to infiltrate it. Now that I have a subordinate, and with him strategizing, things will definitely succeed."
After Zhu Di listened, he became more and more curious: "Why haven't I listened to you before?"
"Your Majesty recognizes this person."
"Chen Li?"
"No, Your Majesty...it's His Royal Highness King Yi!"