Chapter 816 Discussing the solution to the oil shortage
Prince Su Shu drank a cup of tea. The oil shortage was not caused by him, so there was no need to worry about anything happening to him.
He began to stand in the court's position, thinking about the harm caused by the oil shortage and how to solve it.
Prince Su Shu put down his tea cup and sighed: "The imperial court wants to solve the oil shortage. This is a difficult choice.
If we want to solve the oil shortage in the short term, we can only rely on the plan of tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and some people's interests will inevitably be harmed."
Cabinet Minister Han Cuibai agreed: “The most fundamental way to solve the oil shortage is to open source.
As long as oil production increases, oil shortages are just a minor problem caused by short-term market shortages.
But this fundamental solution is currently very pessimistic.
Only in Nanyang and Luzon have oil been discovered while drilling deep water wells.
Elsewhere in the empire, large oil fields are rarely found.
There are only two possibilities. Oil is extremely unevenly distributed and is not available in most parts of the empire.
Or they are buried too deep and cannot be dug out with current technology.
There are no recorded large oil fields, and it is unclear how many years it will take to find them.
The solution to cure the problem is not advisable for the time being. If the source of income is not enough, the only solution is to reduce expenditure.
Once expenditures are reduced, some group will inevitably restrict the use of oil.
This needs to be prepared in advance, otherwise there will be big trouble."
Prince Su Shu humbly asked cabinet minister Han Cuibai for advice, but there was one thing that he did not consider thoroughly.
As the discussion between the two deepened, they discovered that oil has a profound impact on the empire and must not be taken lightly.
Prince Su Shu slapped the table with his hand and said excitedly: "There will be an imperial meeting in two days. This is the first imperial meeting I have attended after returning from Nanyang.
This occasion is my opportunity to express myself, and I am ready to raise the issue of oil shortage."
Prince Su Shu decided on this matter, and he immediately returned to the East Palace to draft the agenda for the imperial meeting.
In order to prevent civil and military officials from quarreling at the imperial meeting, my father had no energy to discuss specific matters.
It is stipulated that except for emergencies, all other issues must be submitted one day in advance at the latest.
All civil and military officials participating in the imperial meeting must receive the topics for discussion one day in advance.
Only then can they be prepared in a targeted manner and fully discuss the pros and cons of an issue.
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Prince Su Shu patted his slightly dizzy head. Wenrou Township is really a hero's grave. He slept a little late yesterday.
In the past few days, he was more tired than when he was working on cases in Nanyang in order to have a child with the princess.
Prince Su Shu saw that it was already half past eight in the morning, and the imperial meeting started at nine in the morning.
He also had to arrive ten minutes in advance. It was impossible for his father and the civil and military officials to wait in the Qianqing Palace.
This time was no longer enough for dinner. He put on his clothes and took a car to Qianqing Palace, which would take more than ten minutes.
Prince Su Shu quickly finished washing up, put on his clothes and immediately took the car to Qianqing Palace.
He sat in the car and looked through the issues discussed at today's imperial meeting.
The issue he submitted to solve the oil shortage was also among them.
The Nanyang sub-provincial issues and the Shaofu restructuring issues that Crown Prince Su Shu discussed with his father that day were also listed among them.
The remaining issues are basically issues frequently discussed by both civil and military parties.
The car stopped in front of the Qianqing Palace. Prince Su Shu glanced at his watch. It was now 8:47 in the morning.
Prince Su Shu got out of the car, greeted the familiar officials, slowly walked into the Qianqing Palace, and sat down next to the dragon chair.
Officials participating in the imperial meeting entered the venue one after another. At nine o'clock in the morning, the bell in the bell tower rang.
Emperor Su He approached the imperial meeting and sat on the dragon chair.
Prince Su Shu led all civil and military officials to bow to Emperor Su He and shout long live.
Emperor Su He asked everyone to level up, and then they sat down one after another.
He looked at the prince and the civil and military officials and said: "The Nanyang smuggling den case that the prince is responsible for investigating is shocking.
The relevant persons involved in the case have been brought to justice, but for such a major case to occur in Nanyang, extremely serious problems must have arisen locally.
The prince believed that the territory of Nanyang Province was too large, and it exclusively enjoyed the Strait of Malacca, which brought huge profits to Nanyang Province.
I thought for a long time and decided to divide the Nanyang Province into two parts.
North of the Strait of Malacca is Xia Bei Province, and south of the Strait of Malacca is Xia Nan Province.
The capital of Xiap North Province is Temasek Province, and the capital of Xiangnan Province is Chin Hoi Province.”
Prince Su Shu saw that his father did not discuss it with the ministers and decided on the matter directly.
When he thought about it carefully, he realized that this was indeed something his father could do.
When he discussed this matter with his father before, he learned from his father that the civil and military officials only wanted to investigate the case, and they had no intention of touching Nanyang Province.
If this matter is really discussed at the imperial meeting, it may not lead to a good result.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi gave unequivocal support: "Your Majesty is wise, the size of Nanyang Province is indeed too large.
Nanyang Province was a newly occupied territory of the empire, but its wealth exceeded many inland provinces.
If a certain province is too wealthy and the bond between the local people and the empire is not strong enough, there will inevitably be some tendency to separate.
The empire must severely crack down on provinces showing such tendencies and must not allow them to become a habit."
Cabinet Minister Han Cuibai agreed: "Your Majesty's approach is extremely correct, allowing two adjacent provinces to compete with each other.
They also have a huge source of wealth from the Strait of Malacca.
There will definitely be conflicts between the two provinces, and the empire will appear as an arbiter and beat the less obedient province.
Xiabei Province and Xianan Province have basically the same positioning. No matter which province has a problem, there will be another province as a backup, so the impact will not be too serious."
Grand Governor Qi Gang stood up excitedly and said: "The Imperial Royal Army unconditionally supports His Majesty's will."
The officials in the Qianqing Palace may have other ideas in their minds, but they saw that Emperor Su He had expressed his thoughts.
They all unanimously chose to support Emperor Su He's plan. On this important occasion, no official was unconventional.
Prince Su Shu looked at his father's heroic appearance and felt extremely envious. This was the authority of the founding emperor.
Even if he sits on the dragon throne one day, he will not be able to reach the level of his father. He must compromise on certain things.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! He saw that his father used the methods just now to once again promote the reform of the Shaofu.
As the yamen of the imperial court, the Shaofu manages all government-run companies directly under the imperial court and is only responsible for important matters such as personnel and review.
Companies directly under the Shaofu, with the leader as the unit, integrate other companies in the industrial chain to form group companies, effectively taking advantage of the scale advantage of the industry.
Prince Su Shu guessed that this issue could be discussed smoothly, in addition to his father's own authority.
This incident was mainly related to the Shaofu, which greatly damaged Qi Zizhang's power.
This should be a headache for him, and other officials just want to watch the fun.
After Emperor Su He raised two issues, the discussion at the imperial meeting gradually became what Prince Su Shu was used to.
Because of the different interests involved, there are disputes between civilian officials and generals, battles between civilian officials, and battles between the army and the navy.
There is rarely one thing that can satisfy the interests of most forces.
They all want to adjust the court's policies to favor things that are more beneficial to themselves.
Prince Su Shu saw the officials in the Qianqing Palace. Many of them were tired from the noise and were leaning on their chairs with their eyes closed to relax.
He thought this was the right time and immediately stood up and said: "Father, ministers.
One of my tasks in going to Nanyang was to solve the oil shortage.
After the Nanyang smuggling den was investigated, the oil produced in Nanyang was immediately supplied to various places in the country.
However, due to breakthroughs in synthetic urea technology and the sharp increase in the number of cars, fuel consumption has increased significantly.
The daily consumption of oil now exceeds the daily oil production in Southeast Asia.
If we don't find a way to solve this problem, there will be a situation where there is no oil available.
This situation is by no means good news for the empire.
Now a large number of trucks have replaced horse-drawn carriages and become the main mode of transportation for short-distance freight.
Once the supply of diesel is cut off and logistics becomes unsmooth, prices in many places will skyrocket.
This is still a small problem because diesel engines are smaller than steam engines.
It is very popular among engineering vehicles and agricultural machinery.
Once there is a shortage of diesel, crop harvesting and engineering construction will stop in many places.
The only way to solve the oil shortage now is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
In the long term, the problem of oil-starved steel plates will be solved through open source, and in the short term, diesel consumption in certain areas will be reduced through throttling."
Emperor Su He looked at Prince Su Shu, and he was very satisfied with the issues raised by the prince.
Prince Su Shu responded quickly to the lack of diesel.
Emperor Su He knew that the popularity of internal combustion engines would spread all over the world at a speed that shocked people.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi was the first to suggest: “The solution proposed by His Royal Highness goes straight to the root of the problem.
I also believe that the petroleum quota for synthetic urea must not be moved. Chemical fertilizers allow agriculture to produce more crops. This is an invention that is beneficial to the present and future generations.
Try not to use diesel from the engineering and agricultural fields, as excess diesel is distributed to trucks.
Diesel in other places is managed according to quotas.
The way to solve this problem without causing too much turmoil is to increase the price of diesel.
As far as I know, the price of diesel is somewhat cheap.
Using diesel engines to generate electricity in this way is even cheaper than purchasing electricity from the electricity bureau.
Many factories just want to be cheap, so they buy diesel engines to power the factory's machine tools.
There are also some private cars, and those who can afford them can afford the extra gas money.
People who cannot afford a car will not be harmed by this policy."
Cabinet Minister Honeysuckle heard that Prime Minister Qian Mingyi's solution was to increase prices.
He immediately objected: "Increasing prices is definitely not a good policy.
It is precisely because oil and diesel are relatively cheap now.
Only farmers can afford chemical fertilizers and agricultural machinery.
Once the price is increased, farmers will not be able to afford it. How can the empire's goal of stably increasing grain production be achieved?
The food supply is not normal, so how can the empire's population grow rapidly?
How can the animal husbandry industry grow rapidly to provide more meat, eggs, and milk to the people of the empire and allow children to grow up healthily?
The plan to increase revenue is advisable, and the plan to reduce expenditures can also be discussed, but the plan to increase the price of oil and diesel is not advisable."
Prince Su Shu saw the ministers quarreling, and he was not surprised at all by this situation.
It was precisely in anticipation of this situation that he only proposed the general direction of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, while remaining silent on specific plans.
Cabinet Minister Qu Xiangyang frowned and said: "The problem now is oil shortage, and we must find a way to solve this problem.
If everyone's requirements are met, then everyone's requirements cannot be met.
Things must be prioritized and the essence of the problem must be grasped.
Petroleum and its derivatives, diesel, are still a scarce item, and scarce items cannot be cheap.
The bottom line of oil prices should be benchmarked against coal prices.
The price of oil, an energy source, can serve as the basis for the prices of other commodities.
The price of oil is too low, which is not conducive to the development of trade.
I think the price of oil and coal is about the same, about eight copper coins per liter, and the price of diesel can be about ten copper coins per liter.
Diesel is in short supply right now, and you can’t buy it even if the price doubles.
The imperial court took the initiative to double the guideline price of diesel, so that many people would not deliberately waste diesel and most people could buy it.
As for chemical fertilizers such as synthetic urea, there is also diesel used in agricultural machinery.
This problem can be solved through tax reductions and government subsidies."
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi only said to raise the price of oil, so many people were opposed to this policy in their hearts.
Oil involves many industries and is inextricably linked to them. Once oil prices skyrocket, they will be severely damaged.
After Qu Xiangyang spoke out, the situation gradually became clear. The price of diesel had only doubled. The price of ten copper coins per liter was something that many people could bear with gritted teeth.
Those who were preparing to object no longer objected.
The policy proposed by Qu Xiangyang is already very good. Overturning this policy that is acceptable to most people may lead to policies that they are not willing to see.
After Prince Su Shu saw Qu Xiangyang's policy proposal.
Qu Xiangyang is worthy of being the cabinet minister in charge of banking and finance. He has a clearer understanding of commodity prices.
After the dust settled, Prince Su Shu said: "The policy proposed by Master Qu is very implementable, and the price will be slightly increased, which can reduce a lot of waste.
This is a very important cost-saving method, but the most important thing is open source, which can solve the fundamental problem.
I provide an open source method, which is outsourcing.
In addition to a large amount of desert, Cai's territory is also rich in oil.
Cai is rich in oil but short of grain. As long as we exchange grain for oil, King Wu Jie of Cai will be happy to agree to this condition."
No ministers objected to the method of open source proposed by Prince Su Shu.
It is normal for the empire to purchase supplies from vassal countries.
Fang Yizhi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, stood up and said loudly: "Reducing expenditures can only alleviate temporary problems. The most important task is to increase revenue.
I don't believe that the empire has a vast territory. Only the Nanyang region has oil fields, and Luzon has a small amount of oil fields.
The empire also has a large number of oil fields that have not been explored by us.
The Ministry of Industry will next send out multiple prospecting teams to explore the empire’s oil fields.”
On this issue, the Grand Governor Qi Gangyi, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "I know where there are a large number of oil fields. Whether they can be taken over depends on the determination of the empire."
As soon as Qi Gangyi said these words, he attracted the attention of all the ministers who were discussing how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Prince Su Shu asked with confusion: "Master Qi, you might as well make it clear that this is a royal meeting and this place is not suitable for playing riddles."
When Prince Su Shu heard Qi Gangyi speaking out on this issue, he had a bad feeling.
The navy has suppressed the army for many years and may no longer be able to suppress it.