Chongzhen, who was inspecting the iron smelting workshop in Hanyang, sneezed twice in a row.
Lu Jiude quickly handed over a piece of clothing: "Long live Lord, put this on."
"No, it's just a little drizzle." Chongzhen said, "I'm not that delicate yet."
After speaking, he turned to Chen Bishan and said: "Chen Bishan, it is already the end of June. It is already halfway through the 23rd year of Chongzhen. How much has the production capacity of Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop been restored?"
It goes without saying how important the Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop is.
Half of the construction of the Beijing-Beijing Railway was forced to stop because of the lack of iron supply.
The railway freight company collected all the iron materials from the entire Ming Dynasty, and melted all the captured slave weapons, thus collecting 120,000 tons of iron materials, which have all been consumed by now.
"Your Majesty, production capacity has almost been restored."
Chen Bishan responded calmly: "I am preparing to expand ten more blast furnaces in Hanyang and open ten more mines in Huangzhou Prefecture. As a result, at least 20,000 tons of iron can be produced this year!"
"20,000 tons?" Chongzhen was a little surprised, "20,000 tons of iron will be produced this year?"
"Yes, my previous estimate was actually a bit conservative." Chen Bishan said with a smile, "The foundation of Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop is actually much better than I expected. The transportation of mineral materials from Huangzhou Prefecture to Hanyang can also be carried out by water, which is very convenient.
It’s convenient, of course, and more importantly, the 90,000 craftsmen in the Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop are also very hardworking.”
"Be hardworking?" Chongzhen suspected that he was hearing hallucinations.
These more than 90,000 craftsmen were all rebels from Huguang Town.
Such rogue soldiers have nothing to do with hard work.
Chen Bishan quickly explained with a smile: "It's the kind of person who endures hardships and stands hard work."
Chongzhen understood immediately that what Chen Bishan was talking about was "being" who endured hardships and stood hard work.
Capitalists are indeed capitalists, and they exploit these reform-through-labor prisoners much harder than officials like Wu Jinxi and Chen Liangbi. Civil servants like Wu Jinxi have a certain bottom line, but capitalists have no bottom line in doing things.
To be honest, Chongzhen didn't care about the life and death of these rebels, but if the squeeze was too harsh and the human resources were consumed too much, it would not be a good thing, so Chen Bishan still needed to be warned.
"Well, Chen Bishan, it's okay for you to exploit these rebels, but don't punish them too harshly."
After a pause, Chongzhen continued: "Otherwise, there will be a large number of vacancies for the craftsmen in the workshop, and I will not be able to replace them for you in such a hurry. There is a shortage of people everywhere now."
"Your Majesty, the craftsmen in the workshop will definitely suffer losses, especially in the mines opened in Enshi Prefecture. People die every month. Sometimes hundreds of people die, sometimes dozens of people die. There is absolutely no way to avoid this.
Yes, but I can guarantee that the loss of craftsmen will only be less than before, not more."
Now Chongzhen was a little curious: "How did you do it?"
Compared with Wu Jinxi and Chen Liangbi, Chen Liangbi squeezed them even harder, but these rebels did not rebel, and the number of deaths every month actually dropped. This is a management wizard.
"Your Majesty, this is actually very simple." Chen Bishan said with a smile, "I just divided the craftsmen in the workshop and the miners in the mine into several teams, and then asked each team to select 10% of the craftsmen or miners as inspectors.
The craftsmen or miners who supervise the work only need to ensure the safety of the workshops or mines, no longer work, and the food standards are also improved."
"That's it?" Chongzhen expressed confusion, "Can this improve the enthusiasm of craftsmen or miners?"
Chen Bishan smiled again and said: "Yes, because the selection criterion for inspectors is how much work they do."
Upon hearing this, Chongzhen reacted instantly and said to himself that capitalists' brains are better than ordinary people's.
The essence of Chen Bishan's method is an incentive mechanism. Those who work the most can be rewarded.
What's even more powerful is that this incentive mechanism is cloaked in the guise of "democratic election". Because you selected this inspector yourself, any grievances you have will not be directed at the workshop managers, but will be directed at the team.
The others went there and agreed to be idlers, but you secretly worked overtime, which is so damn useless.
Chongzhen couldn't help but feel proud of his wise choice.
It's so right to choose Chen Bishan as the boss of Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop.
As they talked, the group gradually entered the workshop.
As soon as he raised his eyes, Chongzhen saw a lively scene.
These former Huguang town rebels were all baring their chests and abdomens, and they were working hard.
In addition, steam engines were also used in Hanyang iron smelting workshops, and there were quite a lot of them.
After walking around the workshop and coming out, Chongzhen asked about the price again: "What's the price of the wrought iron in the Hanyang workshop now? Isn't it still selling at a sky-high price of 15 yuan per hundred catties?"
"That's not possible." Chen Bishan waved his hands repeatedly, "Now it's only 5 yuan."
Chongzhen calculated silently, one hundred kilograms was 5 yuan, one ton was 100 yuan, and ten thousand tons was one million yuan. The Beijing-Beijing railway was still built as a single line and required about 300,000 tons of iron, which was 30 million yuan.
This is just the cost of iron materials. In addition to the money of iron materials, there are other costs.
The total capital of the Railway Freight Company is only 50 million yuan, which is only enough to build one railway.
To be honest, this price is not a little high, but it is too high and must be lowered.
"This won't work, it's too expensive." Chongzhen said with a frown, "The price of iron materials must be reduced to less than 2 yuan per 100 catties. Twenty years ago, Chongzhen sold iron materials for only 3 yuan per 100 catties.
Now that steam engines are available, the production efficiency of iron smelting workshops has been greatly improved, but it makes no sense that the price of iron materials has not decreased but increased."
After a pause, he added: "What's more, Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop doesn't have to pay wages."
"Your Majesty, 2 yuan per hundred pounds is a bit low, otherwise we should pay 3 yuan?" As the boss of the Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop, Chen Bishan naturally hopes that the workshop can make more money.
But Chongzhen firmly refused: "Just press 2 yuan."
"Okay, then it's 2 yuan." Chen Bishan couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! However, the price of 2 yuan per hundred pounds is not low. Based on 20,000 tons per year, there is an output value of 800,000 yuan, and Chen Bishan expects to be able to go there next year
If it is doubled five times, it can be doubled the year after next. At that time, the output value will be 8 million yuan a year, and he can get a dividend of 400,000 yuan from the workshop.
…
Zhang Kuang, governor of Huguang, suddenly found the Hanyang iron smelting workshop.
"Your Majesty, the bandits from Xiangyang have invaded south of the Han River." Zhang Kuang reported, "At present, their vanguard has advanced to Zhongxiang in Chengtian Prefecture. Fang Wenmao, the prefect of Chengtian Prefecture, rushed eight hundred miles away to ask for help."
"The bandits in Xiangyang actually sent out troops? This is really unexpected."
Chongzhen smiled and then asked: "How many traitors have come in total?"
"This was not mentioned in Fang Wenmao's express delivery." Zhang Kuang was a little embarrassed when he heard this.
"How dare you report an emergency without even knowing how many traitors there are?" Chongzhen's face immediately fell, "Fang Wenmao is really competent as a prefect."
The look on Zhang Kuang's face became increasingly embarrassing.
Now almost all officials in the Ming Dynasty know that Chongzhen is very dissatisfied with the existing bureaucracy and is ready to train new officials through the Imperial Academy in Beijing to completely replace these old officials.
Although the new officials trained by Beijian will not reach the high positions of governor and governor for a while, it is hard to say that they will be county magistrates, prefecture magistrates and even fourth-grade magistrates.
Zhang Kuang actually wanted to simply resign.
But he couldn't bear to part with the position of governor.
Because the governor is already a second-rank official. If he is transferred back to the sixth department, he will be a minister at least. When the court recommends cabinet ministers, he will have the opportunity to directly join the cabinet. Then he will be the prime minister of the dynasty!
As a civil servant, Zhang Kuang really couldn't refuse such a temptation.
Fortunately, Chongzhen did not criticize too much and quickly changed the subject: "Since I have caught up, I can only go to Chengtian Mansion. First, I will wipe out the thieves in Xiangyang."
If this bandit hides in Xiangyang, it will be really difficult to deal with it for a while.
But now that they took the initiative to get out, they gave the Ming army a chance.
At this time, Chongzhen did not know that in addition to the Xiangyang route, Puppet Shun also sent several other horse-mounted infantry armies to the east from Tongguan, Huangyuguan and other places. If he knew, he would probably laugh like a pig.
Is this too much for Li Zicheng? Why can't he think about it?
…
However, Li Zicheng did not feel at all that he was out of ideas. He also felt that his division of troops and deployment was extremely clever. He did not dare to say that he could kill the Ming army and abandon their armor. At least, he could make the Ming army focus on one thing and lose another.
Six lines of troops, a total of 280,000 horse and infantry troops, were sent from Xiangyang, Tongguan, Huangyuguan, Tumenguan, Daomaguan and Zijingguan at the same time. What a powerful lineup is this?
The Ming army will definitely be beaten by the Dashun army.
Chongzhen, under pressure, will definitely order the world's soldiers and horses to be diligent.
In a good mood, Li Zicheng even began to pay attention to the situation in Hexi.
At this time, the entire snow area was completely under the rule of the National Preceptor Khan.
After conquering the snowy area, Oirat Mongolia's national advisor Khan naturally pointed his finger at Dashun, because Dashun's front camp under the leadership of Xin Sizhong had already controlled the Hexi Corridor.
The Dashun army sent troops from the Hexi Corridor and could directly threaten the Hami guards.
This is something that the Oirat Mongols will never tolerate, because this trade route is a forbidden trade route in the Oirat, and the Dashun Army will never be allowed to have any influence on it.
The Imperial Guard Khan immediately launched an attack on the Hexi Corridor.
What is ridiculous is that Li Zicheng showed little interest in the Hexi Corridor trade route.
But this is actually understandable, because Shaanxi itself hardly produces any commodities that are in high demand, not porcelain, tea, silk or even fur. It is really not cost-effective to fight against Oirat Mongolia just to earn a few tolls.
Under what conditions can the Hexi Corridor reflect its own value? When the Central Plains Dynasty unified the country.
Now Li Zicheng only occupies the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, and the Hexi Corridor trade route does not have much value.
After discussing with Song Xiance and Gu Junen, Li Zicheng ordered: "Send a message to Xin Sizhong and tell him that if the Hexi Corridor can be maintained, then abandon it. It is just a barren land, and it will not matter if it is abandoned."
