"The industry mentioned here refers to the work done by craftsmen, right?" Wang Xijue understood. "Although our dynasty is based on agriculture, the work done by craftsmen has never been abandoned. Like the land in the south of the Yangtze River, weaving
In the industry, the sound of opportunities is heard from household to household. Speaking of which, this trend of valuing business over agriculture is really worrying."
"What kind of climate can this industrial scale achieve?" Su Hao said disdainfully.
The middle and late Ming Dynasty can be regarded as a period of extremely rapid development of China's handicraft industry. Non-governmental industries including textiles, printing and dyeing, papermaking, printing, oil pressing, sugar refining, porcelain burning, iron smelting and other industries have developed vigorously. Many places have been concentrated due to the concentration of handicraft industries.
A prosperous city has been formed. Su Hao has witnessed this situation with his own eyes in the past six months from Jiangxi to Sichuan, and from Sichuan to the capital. In the past two days, through interactions with Xiong Ji and others, he has learned more about
Quite a few have arrived.
In the eyes of people at that time, the development of industry to this level was already very impressive. But in Su Hao's eyes, this was not even the initial stage of industrialization. Whether it was in terms of employment population or output value created.
, the handicraft industry only accounts for a small proportion of the entire economy. The most important thing is that the large-scale machine industry in later generations did not even have any signs at this time. All production was manual, which determined the production efficiency.
It is extremely low and cannot become an important support for the national economy.
"In other words, what scale does the industry you mentioned need to reach in order to be considered successful?" Wang Xijue asked leisurely. This was also for Su Hao. If it were another person who made such arrogant remarks, Wang Xijue would simply
Instead of asking politely like this, he directly pointed at his nose and scolded me.
"To put it simply, our Ming Dynasty can only produce 60 million kilograms of iron a year. If it is divided equally among everyone, it is less than 1 kilogram. What kind of industry is this? If it were a truly established industry, one person would produce 10 kilograms of iron a year.
This is the minimum requirement." Su Hao said.
Regarding the pig iron production in the Ming Dynasty, there was a rough calculation in the early Ming Dynasty, which was used as a basis for taxation. According to this calculation, the total output of the country should be about 20 million kilograms. However, due to various reasons, in
For a long time, the country's actual annual output was less than 10 million jin.
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, as the government gradually liberalized private iron smelting, private iron factories sprung up in various places. By the Jiajing period, Guangdong, the most developed iron smelting industry, had a yearly iron output of 20 million kilograms.
.Extrapolating it to the whole country, it is basically relatively reliable to say that the annual output of iron is 60 million kilograms. The population of the country at that time was about 60 million, so Su Hao said that each person only had 1 kilogram of iron on average.
Su Hao originally didn't know much about the development of the iron smelting industry in the Ming Dynasty. He hung out with Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen a few days ago and listened to them talking about these things in the circle. He gradually learned a little about it. Now he just happened to share it with Wang Xijue.
.
A year's output of 60 million kilograms, converted into later generations' weights and measures, is equivalent to 30,000 tons. If this number is compared with European countries in the same period, we can be proud of it, but if we take into account China's annual steel output in later generations
It was 600 million tons, which was a pitifully small number. Su Hao immediately proposed that the output should be increased by 10 times. This was because Wang Xijue's psychological endurance was taken into consideration and he did not dare to say more.
"Ten kilograms of iron per person is 600 million kilograms a year. Where will such a large amount of iron be used?" Wang Xijue asked.
Su Hao pretended to hate iron but not steel, and said: "Mr. Wangge, coal and iron are the basis of industry, how can they be useless? Think about it, farm tools, weapons, and craftsmen's tools, none of them need to be used.
Iron? When building a house, if you can use iron frames as supports, you can save countless wood. When building river embankments, if you can add steel bars, the river embankments will be stronger and more reliable. We can't see iron now.
It’s useless because it’s too short of iron.”
Next, Su Hao began to teach Wang Xijue an introductory course on modern industry. Ma Yu, Xu Guangqi and others also listened attentively. Su Hao started with the steel industry, and then went on to chemical industry, machinery, textile and other industries.
When it came to using steam engines as power to drive equipment, everyone was stunned.
"Is there really such a machine that can move without manpower or animal power?" Xu Guangqi asked eagerly.
Since Su Hao dared to speak, he was naturally prepared. He pulled out a piece of paper and drew a schematic diagram for everyone. The principle of the steam engine is not complicated. Everyone has seen the scene where the steam lifts the lid when boiling water.
Passed. The people in the room were all very intelligent. When Su Hao said this, everyone understood.
"In other words, you are saying that Folangji people have already made this kind of steam engine?" Wang Xijue asked.
"I also heard missionary Fo Langji talk about this thing. From the way he spoke with certainty, I guess it must have been built." Su Hao said vaguely.
The Europeans invented the steam engine in the 17th century. When Watt improved the steam engine, it was in the second half of the 18th century. Su Hao actually proposed such a concept 200 years in advance. He explained the principles and key technologies of the steam engine in detail.
So thorough, if we say that this thing does not actually exist, I am afraid it will be a bit unreasonable. Fortunately, Folangji is an out-of-reach place for the people of the Ming Dynasty. No matter how you arrange it, no one can tell the authenticity.
Come.
Wang Xijue was silent for a moment, shook his head and said: "I didn't expect that the technology of the Folangji people has reached such a point. Our Ming Dynasty is really lagging behind."
"Brother Gai, since you already know the principles of this steam engine, why not draw a diagram and let the craftsmen make it according to the diagram." Xu Guangqi suggested.
Su Hao said: "The principle of this steam engine is not difficult, but to build a steam engine, it requires a lot of technology. These technologies are not yet available in our Ming Dynasty."
"Instead, let's talk about which technologies my Ming Dynasty does not have." Wang Xijue said.
Su Hao then began to explain the issues of materials and processes to everyone. To build a steam engine, a series of process problems in casting, machining, etc. need to be solved, and to cast qualified cylinders and other components, it is necessary to
There is a specific quality of cast iron, which involves metallurgical technology. Su Hao doesn't know much about the details of these technologies, but the basic concepts are there. Concepts such as lathes and milling machines are very advanced in this era.
.
"All these technologies need to be accumulated step by step. Industry is a system and requires overall planning to build." Su Hao finally concluded.
"After listening to Gai Zhi's words, I realized that in the past I had been sitting in a well and looking at the sky." Wang Xijue sighed, "Now I understand why Gai Zhi is so dismissive of the court's discussions. It turns out that his vision is higher than ordinary people.
"
"Mr. Ge, you deserve the award." Su Hao said, "Hao just thinks that life is short, but there are so many things worth doing. Instead of wasting time on this meaningless dispute, it is better to do something down-to-earth and benefit the people.
"
"I know what I should do to build the industry that Gai Zhi mentioned. Please teach me." Wang Xijue said. When he first came here, he had said that he was here to ask Su Hao for advice, but at that time
It was just a polite word, and he didn't take it seriously in his heart. Now, when he asked for advice again, he was sincere. What Su Hao said was something he had never heard before. In front of Su Hao, he felt that he
Lack of knowledge.
Su Hao said: "Students don't dare. Since the old minister asked, the students should be brave enough to say it. The students believe that the imperial court should have a comprehensive plan. The first is to actively promote agricultural technology, increase the country's agricultural output, and ensure the people's livelihood."
Livelihood. After achieving this, the excess manpower, money and food can be used to develop industry. The development of industry will in turn benefit agriculture. In this way, the two will promote each other, and ultimately the wealth of our Ming Dynasty will be doubled.
The land increases.”
Wang Xijue said: "I heard people say that when I was in my hometown in Jiangxi, I built some Han stoves, improved red soil, and built reservoirs. When you talk about promoting agricultural technology, do you mean these?"
Su Hao said: "These are just some of them. The scope of agricultural technology is also very broad. To sum up, it is soil, fertilizer, water, planting, density, protection, management and work. In this regard, Brother Duwen, Zi Xian
Brothers, they all have quite a bit of experience, so why don’t you just ask them to share their thoughts?”
"Oh, what is the secret keeper of soil, fertilizer and water? Can any of you teach me?" Wang Xijue asked Ma Yu, Xu Guangqi and others.
Ma Yu and others knew that this was an opportunity created by Su Hao for themselves. They looked at each other and introduced things they were familiar with one by one. What Ma Yu has done this year is to build the Luoshan Reservoir.
Now the reservoir has begun to store water and has successfully exerted flood control benefits during this year's rainy season. After Xu Guangqi arrived in Fengcheng, he did a lot of research on the red soil improvement work done by Su Hao and gained some insights. At this time, he also
Wang Xijue put it all together in front of Wang Xijue, and Wang Xijue couldn't help but click his tongue after hearing it.
"Working hard will rejuvenate the country, but empty talk will harm the country. Mr. Wang Ge, our Ming Dynasty needs more practical men." Su Hao said.
Wang Xijue nodded: "It is true to change what I said. However, in the more than 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, many things have been hard to change. It is not easy to get the courtiers to accept the concept of change all at once."
Su Hao smiled slightly and said: "Students have already learned this. Changing people's ideas is more difficult than changing the direction of a river."
Wang Xijue said: "It would be nice to know this instead. By the way, I have something to ask of you."
Su Hao said: "If you have anything to do with Wang Ge, just give me your instructions."
Wang Xijue said: "What Gai Zhi said today, can you write a text and give it to me? I want to convince the courtiers, but I am afraid that I will not understand the true meaning of what Gai Zhi said. If there is a text written by Gai Zhi, I can
Just follow the script."
Su Hao solemnly replied: "Students obey." (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)