Qianqing Palace, the imperial palace in Beijing, in the huge study room of Emperor Hongzhi.
The three ministers of the cabinet, the British Duke Zhang Mao, the Chengguo Duke Zhu Fu, plus the six ministers, ministers, etc., more than ten important ministers of the court gathered together to discuss national affairs as usual.
Recently, at the Haiqinghe Banquet, Emperor Hongzhi was in a very good mood, with a smile on his face and fewer things to worry about. His overall complexion was also much better, and his face became more rosy.
However, compared with Emperor Hongzhi's rosy complexion, the ministers present all looked sad and seemed to be worried.
"What seems to be the matter with you guys?"
Hongzhi quickly noticed the strangeness of these people and asked after thinking about it.
It seems that there is nothing worth worrying about. In the southwestern region, under the reform of the land, the long-unresolved chieftain problem was quickly settled.
The Tatars in the northern grasslands have been severely weakened. Now they dare not even approach the Great Wall for a hundred miles. After the Japanese country in the east was severely punished, the Japanese pirates disappeared completely.
This year is going well again, Ming Dynasty is prospering, and there really is nothing worth worrying about.
After hearing Emperor Hongzhi's words, everyone looked at each other, and finally Liu Jian stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, I wonder if you have heard about the soaring price of cotton?"
"Well, I heard about it and read it in the newspaper."
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly and said.
In his opinion, if the price of cotton rises, let it rise. It's not food. It's summer again. If cotton prices rise, it won't kill the people. It's an unimportant thing. Anyway, as long as food doesn't skyrocket, it's fine.
So when he saw the newspaper saying that cotton prices were rising, he didn't pay attention and didn't even ask about it.
"Your Majesty, the price of cotton has increased several times. It used to be only 150 cents, but now it has risen to 600 cents. However, the cotton on the market is still very tight, and there is no cotton to buy at all."
Liu Jian thought for a while and explained the current situation in the cotton market.
"Is there someone behind the scenes who is hoarding cotton and driving up prices?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and asked.
"No, it's because there is really no cotton left in the market, and there are too many people who need cotton."
"There are thousands of large and small textile factories in the entire Beijing-Tianjin area, and the amount of cotton consumed every day is very huge. Although our country grows a lot of cotton, it still cannot withstand such a large-scale cotton consumption."
"That's why cotton prices are soaring now."
At this time Li Dongyang stood up and added.
"I see. Rare things are more valuable. Does it have any impact on people's lives?"
"It's summer now, so it shouldn't affect the people, right?"
Emperor Hongzhi said as if suddenly enlightened, and then asked again.
"Your Majesty, there are thousands of large and small textile factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area. The large textile factories employ tens of thousands of people, and the small ones employ dozens of people. After all, there are enough people working in the textile factories here in the Beijing-Tianjin area. There are hundreds of thousands of people."
"Now that cotton prices have soared and cotton is in short supply, textile factories here in the capital have to suspend operations on a large scale. The hundreds of thousands of people who rely on textile factories suddenly have no hope of living."
"I am worried about this matter right now. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people are affected by this. This is no small matter."
Liu Jian told the story very seriously, with a sad look on his face.
"Hundreds of thousands of people rely on textile factories to survive?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he was immediately shocked.
I didn't think there was any big problem at first, but now when I heard it, I immediately knew the seriousness of the matter.
Hundreds of thousands of people rely on textile factories for their livelihoods. Once the textile factories stop working, they will have no support for their lives, and this will definitely cause problems.
It is a major event involving hundreds of thousands of people. No wonder everyone is worried.
Of course, Emperor Hongzhi didn't know that, in fact, everyone was not only worried about this, but also worried that their investment would be in vain.
The Generals and Honors Group invested in various transactions from the beginning, made money, and had strong capital, so they could bear these losses.
They, the civil servants, were late to the game and invested relatively late. Therefore, in the textile industry, civil servant groups invested more and accounted for a larger proportion.
They all attach great importance to this investment and have high hopes that these textile factories can lay golden eggs for them.
Who knew there was no cotton anymore, which is really annoying.
"Your Majesty, the total population of the entire Beijing-Tianjin region now exceeds 10 million. Cement factories, textile factories, shipyards, fishing industries, ocean trading houses, coal factories, etc., there are hundreds of thousands of people in any industry.
People, or even millions of people, are working, and the population involved is extremely huge."
"The textile industry only emerged last year, and its scale is not too big. What is really huge is the cement factory. There are tens of thousands of large and small cement factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area, employing millions of people, and involving several
Millions of people.”
Li Dongyang thought for a while and replied.
“There are so many people engaged in these industries~”
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately nodded slightly.
At this moment, he suddenly realized something. It seemed that Ming Dynasty was no longer the Ming Dynasty it used to be, and huge changes had taken place.
In the previous Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for such a large group of people to engage in a certain industry in such a small area. The largest number were farmers, but they were also distributed throughout the Ming Dynasty.
It is simply impossible to say that such a huge crowd gathered in such a small place.
“It’s a matter related to the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people, but it’s a big deal~”
Then Emperor Hongzhi knew the importance of the textile industry, which was related to the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people, and was enough to attract his great attention.
"Have you figured out any way to solve this problem?"
After thinking about it, Emperor Hongzhi also asked.
"Your Majesty, although cotton is grown in many places in Ming Dynasty, the area where cotton is grown is still very small. In most places, people grow cotton just for their own use, and few people specifically grow cotton for sale."
"So in a short period of time, our Ming Dynasty's cotton will be in short supply."
Liu Jian looked at each other and saw everyone nodding slightly, and replied.
"So to solve this problem, we have two ways. One is to obtain cotton from outside the Ming Dynasty, and the other is to find substitutes for cotton."
"You mean the West and Wool?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he knew it immediately. He quickly remembered what he had read in the newspapers in the past few days and connected it all at once.
"Yes, Your Majesty~"
"The Western Region has a vast territory, a climate that is very suitable for cotton cultivation, and a tradition and history of growing cotton. The yield of cotton is very high, which is enough to meet our Ming Dynasty's demand for cotton."
"In addition, wool can also be used to replace cotton and be used for spinning and weaving."
Since Emperor Hongzhi read about this from the newspaper, Liu Jian didn't hide it and said it directly.
"I understand~"
Emperor Hongzhi smiled immediately, and then understood the cause of the matter.
"The Western Region and the wool are both under the control of the grassland people. It may not be that easy to obtain them."
"Your Majesty, the Western Regions have been an integral part of us since ancient times. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Western Regions belonged to us."
"Your Majesty is the only emperor of the ages. We, the Ming Dynasty, are the orthodox members of the Han Dynasty. We should inherit the style of the Han and Tang Dynasties and restore our rule over the Western Regions."
At this time, Li Dongyang stood up and said very solemnly.
The reason is very simple, that is, the Western Region has been ours since ancient times. In the past, there was no way to defeat it. Now that our Ming Dynasty is stronger, we naturally have to take it back. By the way, we also flattered Emperor Hongzhi.
You, Emperor Hongzhi, are one emperor throughout the ages, with three emperors in total, and five emperors with high virtues. How can you not restore the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties?
"Yes, Your Majesty~"
"Last year we severely damaged the Tatar tribes, and the vitality of the Tatar tribes was severely damaged. Oara was ambitious and wanted to unify the grasslands with one map. If Oara unified all the grassland tribes, it will definitely threaten our northern border of the Ming Dynasty again."
"I believe that we should take advantage of the victory to pursue the victory, wipe out the entire northern grassland in one fell swoop, completely bring all the northern grassland areas under the jurisdiction and rule of our Ming Dynasty, and completely solve the border problems in the northern grassland."
Xie Qian also stood up and expressed his opinion.
He was the representative of the Jiangnan Shilins, and he was originally the most opposed to the use of force. But now the situation has changed. Knowing that they could not fight, the Jiangnan Shilins simply changed their minds and chose to cater to them, and also set up various factories.
There are many factories and commercial banks in Beijing and Tianjin that were funded and built by southerners like them. Wang Hua and Wang Shouren's family can also be regarded as representatives of southern Shilin.
"Since Yexian, the Oara Tribe has actually been scattered and has its own affairs. Now it is the Heshuote Tribe in the north and the Junggar Tribe in the west who want to unify the Tatar tribes. Their strength is much worse than that of the original little Tatar prince.
."
"Our Ming Dynasty is fully capable of defeating them, defeating them one by one, and finally completely annihilating the Oara tribes, bringing the grassland tribes under the rule of our Ming Dynasty, and at the same time restoring the rule and management of the Western Regions."
"Once this can be realized, from now on our Ming Dynasty will have no border troubles in the north."
Liu Daxia, Minister of War, also stood up and said.
"Tsk, tsk, that brat is so good at knowing things. He really got it right. We don't even need to say it. Each of these civil servants took the initiative to ask for a fight, and they were even more active than us."
Zhang Mao and Zhu Fu looked at each other, seeing the smile in each other's eyes, and couldn't help but sigh in their hearts.
In the past, when these civil servants heard about war, they shook their heads resolutely and opposed it. But now, they are the most active in fighting war. In the final analysis, it is still the same as Liu Jin said, interests determine everything.