Eight hundred and ninetieth chapters unified currency
The Chinese Golden Cauldron is definitely a national treasure among national treasures. According to the plan, it is huge in size and extremely heavy. An ordinary carriage will definitely not be able to pull it... Not only must a large grinding tool be built, but also a large-scale chariot must be built so that it can be transported smoothly.
Fang Xiaoru's proposal tempted both Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng.
As the industrial center of the Ming Dynasty, Peiping has made very obvious progress in recent years, especially after the emergence of rail carriages.
With the flat and straight track and the heavy-duty draft horses, one vehicle can transport dozens of times the amount of materials, grain ore, wood, cattle and horses... in a steady stream, they are delivered to Dagukou, and then loaded on ships to go south.
In order to facilitate transportation, many gantry cranes have appeared in Dagukou, using pulleys and relying on manpower and animal power for transportation.
The efficiency is much higher than before.
But after all, it still cannot meet the needs.
In addition, there are a large number of mining, coal mines, and iron ore mines around Beiping.
The biggest trouble in the current mine is groundwater seepage. Before excavation every day, drainage must be carried out, which seriously affects the progress.
Mining, transportation, mechanical handling... fast-moving industries are all in urgent need of technological breakthroughs.
In fact, Zhang Ximeng did not fully expect this.
The reason why the Industrial Revolution occurred was because they first occupied huge overseas colonies, had an almost unlimited market, and coupled with the influx of large amounts of capital, this combination of circumstances led to the birth of industrialization.
If you want to break through this difficulty in the Central Plains, first of all, there is not such a big market, and secondly, you cannot get so much gold and silver currency... There is no way, mainly because the Central Plains is too big, occupying almost one-third of the world.
, even if it takes over the whole world, it is impossible to create an overseas market that is ten times its own like the UK.
But things went much better than Zhang Ximeng expected... Although the overseas market was limited, the local market developed in Ming Dynasty was also huge.
Secondly, after increasing the income of workers, it objectively increases labor costs. As a result, factories are forced to develop new technologies to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
After summarizing these years, Zhang Ximeng believes that there is definitely more than one path to industrialization in the West.
It can even be said that the West has chosen a very costly path.
They squeeze workers internally, resulting in a narrow domestic market. The entire upper class blindly pursues profits, enjoys extravagantly, and obtains profits. They first meet their own expenses, and finally invest in technology.
Therefore, although they have taken this path, it is definitely not a good one, let alone the only one.
Looking back from the perspective of a latecomer, we can actually make the journey smoother and smoother... Through the coordination of all parties and the reasonable distribution of interests, industrial civilization can be rapidly advanced and benefit everyone.
Of course, this is only theoretical and needs to be implemented carefully.
Zhang Ximeng has also been exploring methods... Take Peking as an example. Three years ago, prisoners were no longer used for hard labor.
Moreover, the labor market in Tieling was also closed, and it was prohibited to buy and sell people from Goryeo and Japan to serve as strong labor force.
You can say it is the progress of civilization, or you can say it is the completion of primitive accumulation, and you can work towards a higher stage.
Only by cutting off external labor can factories and mines be forced to adopt new technologies and carry out industrial upgrading.
"We take this opportunity to organize a breakthrough. If everything goes well and there are results, we can also report the victory to the Grand Master and establish our status as a university in Peking in one fell swoop!" Fang Xiaoru said with excitement.
Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng were also very moved, "Yes, but we can't relax in the design. Wouldn't it be better if we could capture everything!"
They made up their mind and immediately wrote to Chu Qi. After the two parties discussed it properly, they immediately took action.
Compared with these places, Li Shanchang, who was in Goryeo, seemed much calmer.
He is now quite old, and his hair and beard are all white, but he is still in good spirits. It cannot be said that the government of Korea under his rule is smooth and people-friendly, it can also be said that everything is in a mess.
Thanks to his efforts, the number of Koreans has reduced to less than 40%, and more than half are Han immigrants. In addition, due to widespread intermarriage, this proportion will be even more alarming in the next generation.
At present, there are ten middle schools and countless elementary schools opened in Korea.
All schools are taught in Chinese and all Chinese characters are used.
Coincidentally, historically, it took several decades for King Sejong the Great to invent the proverb "hyung", and the appearance of the proverb would create a division among civilizations.
In a word, although they are all in the Confucian civilization circle, with writing, people are like living separately, and maybe they will secretly poke some fun things.
But now, the Ming Dynasty controls Goryeo, and Li Shanchang's first order is to unify the writing habits of Goryeo folk, and any writing habits that are different from those of the Ming Dynasty must be corrected.
In addition, they are also required to learn Hongwu Zhengyun and speak the Ming Dynasty Mandarin well, then they are the best.
If we persist for 180 years, it is estimated that there will not be much difference between Goryeo and the Central Plains.
"Father, this time we are in charge of casting the Chinese Golden Cauldron. Should we be involved in such a big event?" Li Qi asked in a low voice.
Li Shanchang rolled his eyelids, "What are you participating in? Don't you think it's fast enough?"
Li Qi was stunned for a while and didn't understand. Li Shanchang was so angry that he reached out and poked his forehead, "Idiot! Your father is still the King of Han, and so will you in the future! But if this continues, your son may not be the same, do you understand?"
Li Qi said helplessly: "What my father means is that we cannot be the same as the Central Plains? There must be some differences. Then, why do you still want the book to have the same text and speak in Mandarin?"
Li Shanchang was even more helpless. He had been shrewd all his life, but sooner or later he would be pissed to death by this fool!
"I don't want to, but will Zhang Ximeng agree? Will His Majesty agree? I don't have the slightest idea either!" Li Shanchang sighed helplessly, "Anyway, I would have died earlier. Out of sight, out of mind, there is nothing to worry about.
of!"
After listening to his father's words, Li Qi was stunned for a while, and there was some sweat on his forehead.
Li Shanchang noticed it and frowned, "What's going on? Is there any bad news?"
Li Qi had no choice but to say bitterly: "Father, I told you, please don't be angry!"
Li Shanchang raised his long eyebrows, and finally sighed, "Just say it, I can still hold on!"
"Father, it's like this. The Bank of Ming Dynasty has just issued a document allowing us to participate in the common currency agreement."
"Common currency?" Li Shanchang was startled and couldn't help but sit up straight, "What's going on?"
Li Qi had no choice but to explain: "Let us hand over the gold and silver and use the unified currency...Zhu Datou!"
"do not talk!"
Li Shanchang's expression suddenly changed and he kept gritting his teeth.
"Right now, Korea only uses Ming coins. If all our currencies are abolished and only Ming coins are used, what kind of kings will our father and son be? Aren't we just the chief ministers of Korea in the Ming Dynasty?"
Li Qi grinned, "Father, the chief envoy cannot be hereditary!"
"Pooh!"
Li Shanchang spat at him harshly, "You worthless brat, you just admit it like that?"
Li Qi looked around, then lowered his voice and said: "Father, of course I don't want to admit defeat. I asked a few people and came up with a way. No matter what, we can't let the currencies become the same. So,
We can accept it, but require different markings."
"What do you mean?" Lao Li asked.
"It's just like stamping a word on the banknotes, such as the number A, or the number Tian, anything will do. Wouldn't it be different from the Ming Dynasty!"
Li Shanchang frowned slightly. What he wanted was to be different from Daming. If this trick works, it seems good... "You also have to remember, if there is just a mark added and there is no other difference, wouldn't it still be the same!"
Li Qi thought for a while, "What does father mean? Does the currency value also have to be different?"
Li Shanchang smiled and said: "Yes, let our currency be only half the value of Ming Dynasty. What do you think?"
Li Qi lowered his head in thought and suddenly slapped his thigh, "Dad! You really did this when Zhuge was still alive!"
"Wait!" Li Shanchang said again: "You prepare 50,000 taels of gold and present it to His Majesty, saying that you are helping to cast the Chinese Golden Cauldron."
Li Qi immediately understood what his father meant, and blocked Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth first, which satisfied Lao Zhu. There was nothing left to say about Daming Bank.
Dad’s hand is absolutely beautiful and can be called a sword that never grows old!
As expected, the news was delivered to Yingtian.
"King Li Han is really full of calculations and refuses to take any losses!"
Jiang Nan rubbed her temples and complained to Zhang Ximeng, "I planned to take the opportunity to unify the currency, but I hit a snag in Korea. Master, what do you think we should do?"
Zhang Ximeng frowned slightly. He took the official document out of curiosity and looked at it briefly. His brows suddenly darkened.
"This old Li is so impatient that he dares to bring up such a big loophole!"
"Loophole?" Jiang Nan was puzzled, "What loophole?"
"Look, what he means is that the currency is still the same, but with a mark added, it will be half the value of the Ming Dynasty currency... What will happen if we don't add it? Can we earn double the profit?"
Jiang Nan was stunned. Although she had been in charge of the bank for many years, she was still not as good as Zhang Ximeng when it came to her mind. Especially when it came to corrupting national laws, Zhang Ximeng was too experienced.
This money must be printed by the Ming Dynasty. As for the mark, whether it is the Ming Dynasty adding it or Li Shanchang adding it, there is huge room for arbitrage.
If he, Lao Li, doesn't add money, but instead uses the money to go to Daming for purchasing, he will immediately get double the huge profit!
"Sir, you, you said Li Shanchang would really take money rather than his life?" Jiang Nan muttered: "I don't believe it!"
Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "I don't believe it either! But Li Shan is old and may not be able to control it. He probably just wants to distinguish himself from Daming to avoid being swallowed up. But if you follow this method, the loopholes are too obvious and it will definitely happen.
Someone drilled it."
Jiang Nan rolled his eyes and finally nodded, saying meaningfully: "It's still the master who really sees through people's hearts!"