New Shun 1730

After briefly introducing the military workshops of the past two years, Kang Busha led Liu Yu to the most secret workshops on Liugong Island.

Glass, soap, mirrors, Lubulan alkali production, white phosphorus matches, cigarettes and other workshops that will be dumped as light industrial products in the future are experimenting.

Some of them hired Western craftsmen and relied on their experience. Others are chemical principles that Liu Yu knows.

The scale of these workshops is not large, but the schools on Liugong Island have already used glass windows and can produce enough soap for the navy. They are accumulating technology and enough workers.

These were arranged before leaving, and they are not difficult things.

Burning a few pieces of glass is not called preliminary industrialization, but it solves the problem of creating something from scratch.

These workshops will be of great use in the future, but now we just continue to accumulate experience and continue to invest money in experiments.

"According to the master's arrangement, the soap-making workshop has actually been able to produce large-scale production. It mainly uses soybean oil from Liaodong, or cottonseed oil here. The price of cotton has been quite high in recent years, and a lot of cotton has been planted in Henan and other places. , cotton seeds are pressed for oil and used to make soap, and ordinary people will buy one or two pieces of it. It is really good for washing clothes, face and hair. "

"But now it is only used by the military and distributed as military supplies."

I picked up a piece of soap and smelled it. It had a strong beany smell and was a bit stinky. Next to it are some that are scented with flowers and made from beef and mutton fat.

"Smelly soap is cheap, but this kind of fragrant soap is more expensive. But no matter how cheap it is, it is difficult for ordinary people to afford it. If you have the money to buy soap, it is better to buy the same oil and eat several meals."

Kang Busha was very impressed by the consumption power of Dashun people. Liu Yu pinched a few pieces of soap and said with a smile: "Of course, whoever has the money will sell it to whomever. If they can't even afford food, there is no need to consider whether they will buy soap." But Wen Deng can sell a lot in the future.”

"Firstly, with the implementation of the permanent tenancy system, tenants can still have some money left in their hands to improve their lives. Secondly, many people are also working in workshops. For the time being, their lives are better than those of tenants."

Kang Bulao was very supportive of this and sighed: "If all the tillers in the world had their own land and no landlords collected rent, we would be able to sell more of the things we make."

Liu Yu chuckled and thought, "You have a wonderful idea, but isn't this nonsense?"

"Zhongxian, don't think so. Even if there are 20 million people in Dashun and 199 million are living like animals, aren't there still 1 million people who can afford it? It's such a big city. The market is unique in the world, and Jiangnan is prosperous, so there is no problem.”

"Besides, we all have our hair tied up. This hair needs to be washed, otherwise it will be greasy and messy. Anyone with a little money will buy it. You don't have to worry about not selling this."

After bypassing the soap workshop, I went to see the cigarette workshop. The cigarette workshop and the white phosphorus match workshop are complementary. The difference is that the former is not harmful to the body, while the workers of the latter basically only have a life span of seven or eight years.

"Most of the cigarette factories are female workers. In the match workshops, those who make phosphorus are mostly widowed, lonely, old, weak, sick and disabled people. Although you can live for seven or eight years if you do this kind of work, if you don't care about it, you may die tomorrow. Then he died. This can be regarded as a widower and a lonely man who has a kind heart, which is rare in the world."

Not sure whether Kang Busao's words were a compliment or a sarcasm, Liu Yu took out a cigarette, struck a white phosphorus match and lit it, took two puffs and praised: "Okay, this tastes good."

After going around in a circle, I looked at the several industries that are considered light industries. These industries do not conflict with the developed textile industry in Jiangnan. There is no need to worry about the factory being smashed after being built.

"I'm going to Songjiang Prefecture in a few days. It's also the time for this year's trade dividends with Japan to be distributed. I'll pick out some good cigarettes, mirrors, glass, etc., put them in dozens of boxes, and I'll take them there."

"The workshop needs to be expanded, but we can't be alone. We need to involve all the local snakes, because the dragon can't survive the river."

These industries are all light industries that can bring in money, and they are not industries like shipbuilding and military industry that require huge early investment and no one in the government dares to do it. It would be a good thing if more people get involved.

Except for the alkali-making industry, if the rest of these light industries can be moved to Songjiang, Guangdong and other places, it would be best to move there.

Kang Busha was not surprised that Liu Yu wanted to combine these things into a joint venture.

"Young master is good at fishing. In the past, he bought shares in a trade with Japan that was a sure profit without losing money. Now the stock price has skyrocketed. The original price of a hundred taels of silver per share has now increased by 30% or 20%."

"Nowadays, big businessmen in Songjiang and other places know that the young master is trustworthy. They pay dividends every year and have clear accounts. Now when they do these transactions, they must trust the young master."

Every year, huge amounts of silver are transported to the vicinity of Songjiang Customs as dividends for investing in Japanese trade. This matter has become a strange story in Songjiang.

In the past, I was still hesitant to believe it, but now I am definitely convinced, lest I miss the opportunity again.

Liu Yu smiled and said: "I'm good at fishing. This time I'm sure I'll be the next bait, waiting for you to take the bait. Otherwise, at such a young age, how can I convince the DPRK that building a navy is profitable? If you want to get it, you must first get it. To put it bluntly, this is easier said than done. ”

"Just like Lin Yunwen was confused about the sale of shares in the Japanese trade, you also calculated that it was uneconomical. In fact, don't I know? It's just that for some things, the more people do it, the better."

After checking again, he left Liugong Island and went to Weihai and the surrounding mountainous areas to have a look at the hydraulic workshops, which were already beginning to take shape.

In addition to some of the victims initially recruited, the labor costs of this workshop group dropped rapidly after Wendeng tried out the reform of the permanent tenancy system and the policy of sharing the land from one farmer to another.

Some tenants who were not eligible for permanent tenancy chose to go to Weihai to earn a living in workshops, where people were being hired every day.

In addition to grain and rice every month, there is also a monthly salary of one tael of silver. Prices in Wendeng are also relatively stable, and the development of shipping means that rice from the south can be shipped directly to Weihai.

Most of Liu Yu's money was invested in this. The navy belonged to the emperor. If he could use his own money, he would not use it unless he had to.

Now the emperor is finally going to invest money from the treasury. As Kang Busao said, as long as the money is in place, the ship is not a problem.

The teak, cypress and oak accumulated in the past few years have been dried for two years. The money was paid by Liu Yu, but as long as the emperor invested the money, the money could be transferred back.

As apprentices, novices started working with Western craftsmen. Making guns and cannons is still a handicraft industry. However, some drilling machines, hydraulic sawing and other machinery have been introduced, and the efficiency has improved a lot.

Today's shipyards can not only build warships, but also merchant ships.

Most of the merchant ships of the trading companies that have invested in Japan are purchased and manufactured here. Weihai has become a vague shipbuilding center in the north.

The trading company not only trades with Japan, but also buys rice and wood from Siam and other places. The company's main business is trade with Japan, but it can capture no less of other markets. There is strength in numbers. Although joint-stock trading companies do not have monopoly rights authorized by the government, with more share capital, they still squeeze out a lot of trade volume that originally belonged to others.

In terms of trade with Japan, the trading company relied on the privilege of transporting rice to Nagasaki to carry private goods, and soon opened a large gap in the small door. The local Japanese businessmen also became active and tried their best to The profits from smuggling are increasing year by year.

It is estimated that the shogunate will find out something is wrong soon, but by the time they find out something is wrong, it should be too late.

Now the emperor has decided to invest money, and a trading company specializing in trade with Japan has been formed. As Kang Busao said, as long as the money is in place, several warships will soon start construction at the same time.

If these fifth-level ships go to the European seas to engage in battleship bombardment, they are definitely not qualified to play. But there is no pressure to defeat the Japanese navy; robbing Dutch merchant ships and cutting off Dutch trade routes are what this type of cruiser is best at.

Seeing that Liu Yu was looking at it with great interest, Kang Buyao knew the secret thing Liu Yu was going to do, so he said: "Young master, what I have seen is that the Japanese navy can be defeated with only ten warships. Your Majesty asked how much money it will cost, and it seems that Not much money?”

"Nowadays, a warship, plus a full set of cannons, the craftsmen normally pay only 60,000 taels of silver. There are four of them now. Even if it is to be on the safe side, ten more ships will only cost 600,000 taels. silver."

Liu Yu looked at the four warships training on the water, shook his head and said: "Six hundred thousand taels? Where is enough? The navy needs to pay, and a navy of ten thousand people will get three to four hundred thousand taels a year. Training, gunpowder … These are big bucks.”

"You don't think that building a navy is all you need to build a few ships, do you? You also need supporting schools. That's the big part."

"Those who study the words of saints, ask them, do they understand trigonometric functions and cannon firing angles? This needs to be cultivated from an early age in a full set of practical schools."

"Based on the Three Houses Law of this dynasty, the outer house learns basic practical learning and literacy; the inner house has to decide whether to continue further studies and enter the upper house, or graduate from the inner house and become a clerk, gunner, etc."

"Let's put it this way, when the official school of Jinghai Palace can have 1,000 students every year, and the outer palace can have 10,000 students every year, then the navy will be in full bloom."

"I very much doubt that the imperial court will be able to part with this money. Your Majesty agreed readily and asked me to make a quotation. Your Majesty wanted to let the household government pay and the internal funds would not contribute. This would cause big trouble. What do you mean? Do you want to learn the words of saints in the school? If you don’t learn, will the court pay for it? If you do, how can you learn knowledge that is useless for fighting at sea?”

"I estimate that one million taels a year will be enough. The navy is a bottomless pit when it comes to spending money. But if you only want to defeat Japan, it does not cost much. But doing that would be a waste of money. It is a personal change that is not sustainable. Once defeated, we have to start from scratch.”

Kang Busao frowned and said: "Young Master's requirements for the navy are too high. When the French came, they didn't see that their officers were all knowledgeable. Why do all the officers have to be so well-educated?"

Liu Yudao: "Because France has an academy of sciences, but we don't. The number of people we are competing with is not simply compared with those who are literate and know geometry in the French navy. But in the future, the official school of Jinghai Palace will be compared with the French military academy, academy of sciences, etc." Compare together.”

"It's not that I insist that all officers be literate, understand geometry, arithmetic, and physics, but that they understand geometry, arithmetic, and physics. At this time, they can only serve as officers and clerks. Those who excel in learning will become officials. You have to give them a way to learn, right? Otherwise, what’s the use of learning in practice?”