Chapter 1046 Songjiang Prefecture needs to focus on development (1)

(1046)

【Today's first update is delivered!】

Nanzhili, Songjiang Prefecture.

After staying in Suzhou Prefecture for half a month, Zhang Zhun came to Songjiang Prefecture.

In the political and military history of the Ming Dynasty, Songjiang Prefecture was definitely unknown. It had no outstanding figures or particularly famous historical events. Among so many prefectures under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili, its history was also the youngest. Its predecessor was just a small Huating County. Its upgraded to a prefecture was only less than four hundred years.

However, when it comes to economic fields, we must never miss the Songjiang Prefecture. There are so many prefectures in Nanzhili, in terms of history, Songjiang Prefecture is definitely the last, and there is no chance to make a comeback. However, when it comes to economic strength, Songjiang Prefecture is enough to enter the top three. Even Yingtian Prefecture is not as strong as Songjiang Prefecture's economic strength. Even if it is divided according to population ratio, Songjiang Prefecture will definitely rank first.

As we all know, in the late Ming Dynasty, the country's main fiscal revenue came from southern Zhili, Zhejiang and other provinces in the southeast half of the wall. In this southeast half of the wall, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Hangzhou Prefecture and other regions were the most abundant. Any fiscal and tax paid by any prefecture may exceed that of a province in the mainland.

All of this is attributed to the development of the capitalist economy in the late Ming Dynasty. Perhaps, at that time, no one had clearly proposed what capitalism was. However, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty had already interpreted what capitalism was with their actions. The handicrafts in Songjiang Prefecture accounted for almost 80% of the country's total. The other 20% were in Suzhou.

The textile industry in Songjiang Prefecture was the best in the entire Ming Dynasty. Almost alleys, even remote villages, produce cotton, silk, silk, satin, yarn and other textiles. In Songjiang Prefecture, there were few people farming, and every household was engaged in the textile industry. Since the late Wanli period, there has been a saying that "there is endless Songjiang cloth and the endless Weitang yarn" is the saying. It can be seen that the production of cloth yarn here is so large.

In fact, the cotton, silk, silk and satin produced by Songjiang Prefecture not only meet domestic needs, but also meet the needs of maritime trade. Songjiang Prefecture has its own sea outlet, and a large number of textiles can be directly merchant ships at the port and then sold overseas. If you want to go to sea, you have to go to the canal, but Songjiang Prefecture does not need them at all.

The Aoshan Guard where Zhang Zhun was before was so poor that even the commander of the guards did not have the heart to stay in the acropolis and yearned for running outside. Why? There is no oil and water! I drink the northwest wind all day long. However, the local garrison officials of the Jinshan Guard where Songjiang Prefecture are located desperately bribed their superiors every year and did not transfer themselves from the Jinshan Guard. Why? There is oil and water!

Several ports under the jurisdiction of Jinshanwei were all seaports for Songjiang Prefecture. At that time, Songjiang Prefecture actually had no real civil ports, and all were military docks, commonly known as water camps. These water camps had no combat functions, but had strong trade functions. Later, when it came to the involvement of the interests of all parties, the court turned a blind eye and ignored them. The wharfs of these garrisons became real civil docks.

Why did the Ming Kingdom not participate in the Age of Discovery still have a trade surplus? He had to earn a lot of silver from overseas every year? The big reason is that the cost of the Ming Kingdom's silk and other products is incomparable to other countries. Even if other countries master the technology of making silk, they cannot defeat the Ming Kingdom in terms of cost.

As mentioned earlier, Songjiang Prefecture has no famous figures or famous historical events. The most popular ones here are merchants. To be precise, they are a group of handicraft shop owners. The main business they are engaged in is the textile industry. For such a place, Zhang Zhun had to come and see it in person that day, adapt to local conditions, and implement special economic management policies.

To govern all the textile industries in Jiangnan, a relatively high-level institution is needed to conduct comprehensive management and coordination. The famous Suzhou Manufacturing Bureau set up in the Qing Dynasty was specifically responsible for the textile industries of Suzhou and Songjiang Prefectures. Now, Zhang Zhun also decided to establish a Songjiang Weaving Bureau, which is directly under the jurisdiction of the Government Department of the Great Governor's Government of the Hu Ben Army, that is, the later administrative department of the Hu Ben Empire.

Of course, the manager of the Songjiang Weaving Bureau was the old minister of the Hu Ben Army. Zhang Zhun was certainly worried about such an important position, which was in the hands of others. This place could be regarded as the economic engine of the Hu Ben Empire in the future and could not be careless. After careful thinking, Zhang Zhun finally decided on the right person. This person was Liu Guangxin.

Speaking of which, Liu Guangxin is definitely an old man from the Hu Ben Army. His qualifications are slightly worse than those of Liu Hang, Wang Mingyu, Hou Shanping and others. Previously, Zhang Zhun was very satisfied with the series of official positions held by Liu Guangxin. So with a transfer order, Liu Guangxin was transferred from the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture to the position of manager of the Songjiang Weaving Bureau.

"Sir, these are some data compiled by my subordinates."

In the yamen of Songjiang Weaving Bureau, Zhang Zhun listened attentively to Liu Guangxin's report.

So far, there are more than 3,400 handmade workshops in the counties under Songjiang Prefecture. The most employed are more than 860 people. The fewest employed are ten people. If there are not enough 10 people, it will not be counted. Those cannot be called handmade workshops, but can only be said to be small family workshops.

Every day, the entire Songjiang Prefecture produces at least 100,000 pieces of cotton, as well as other silks, silks, satin and other fabrics. Every day, ships carrying cotton and other fabrics go north or south from various docks in Songjiang Prefecture, along the canals. Every day, there are at least several large ships transported from other areas to Songjiang Prefecture.

In fact, Songjiang Prefecture is not the most prosperous time now. Due to the war, there is not enough cotton supply, and the yarn produced and the yarn produced have also been affected to a certain extent. Some handicrafts with relatively poor strength have had to go bankrupt. With the stability of the situation and the gradual normalization of supply and sales, the number of handicrafts is still increasing further. The most optimistic estimate is that by the end of next year, there should be more than 4,000.

“There are too few.”

“It’s not enough.”

Zhang Zhun said slowly.

"grown ups?"

Liu Guangxin said with some confusion.

Isn’t such a large yarn production enough?

When Liu Guangxin, who was the manager of the Manufacturing Bureau for the first time, just arrived in Songjiang Prefecture, he was shocked by the scale of the cotton textile industry in Songjiang Prefecture. He did not expect that there was another place in the Ming Dynasty, which was completely different from other places. The people here basically did not farm and only knew how to spin behind closed doors, but their lives were much more wealthy than those in other regions.

Poor court placed such a gold ingot area, and did not know how to cherish or use it. The Ming Dynasty court once set up Suzhou manufacturing in Suzhou for a period of time, which specially adopted various textiles for the palace. The main positions in Suzhou manufacturing were generally taken from a distance by the Grand Governor, and the actual power was the eunuchs sent by the palace to purchase.

In nature, Suzhou Manufacturing is purely for the emperor's private interests and is the emperor's small treasury. Obviously, the senior civil servants of the Ming Dynasty would not allow such things and succeed easily. Therefore, they repeatedly united to resist various behaviors made by Suzhou Manufacturing. Due to the strong power of civil servants, the emperor often had to give in. Since Suzhou Manufacturing cannot be made public, the operation behind it is a mess.

There is sufficient evidence to show that in Suzhou and Songjiang Prefecture, the owners of the handicraft farms are all rich guys, and everyone is plucked out of their hair, and they are all white and rich. However, the absurd things are here - they are tax-free - the court is about to perish, and they still enjoy the tax-free policy.

After the Hu Ben Army arrived, a 15% commercial tax was levied according to regulations. Every month, the commercial tax in Songjiang Prefecture alone would be 200,000 taels of silver. In a year, it would be more than 2 million taels. It would almost be worth the income of the Ming Dynasty's treasury for half a year. If the court also operated in this way by the Hu Ben Army, it would definitely alleviate the financial crisis to a considerable extent!

"Old Liu! You should take a long-term view,"

Zhang Zhunyu said earnestly.

Liu Guangxin asked in a little confusion: "Please make it clear."

Zhang Zhun pointed to the world map on the wall and said meaningfully: "Not only our own country, but also the whole world must be considered. Our merchant fleet, the farthest trading area at present, is Japan. However, in the near future, our merchant fleet will go further. In the end, our merchant fleet will be spread all over the world."

Liu Guangxin said in surprise and excitement: "My sir, is to sell our cloth and silk all over the world? Songjiang Prefecture and other places to supply cloth and yarn from the world? Every corner of the world?"

Zhang Zhun nodded proudly and said without any concealment: "That's right! It's every corner of the world! As long as there are people, we should buy our products! If they need it but we cannot provide enough products, it is your negligence!"

Liu Guangxin pondered for a moment, his eyes were a little straight, and he murmured to himself: "Then we need to expand more factories and recruit more workers."

His words sounded very simple at first glance, as if he had no intention of responding subconsciously. However, experienced officials could hear the difficulties.

What's the difficulty?

Mass gathering!

Illegal gathering!

Forge a clique for personal gain!

This series of words are all murderous.

In the Ming Dynasty, what the emperor was most worried about was large-scale gatherings. The court had been closely monitoring the actions of the people and prohibiting any form of gatherings. As long as there were people gatherings, they would be severely hit. When the Dongchang and the Jinyiwei were at their peak, three people would be considered illegal gatherings when they approached.

For those who gather illegally, the court's methods of handling illegal parties are very cruel. At the least, they will be sentenced to jail and fined, and at worst, they will be beheaded and confiscated. From this perspective, the Ming Dynasty was indeed the darkest dynasty, and the people did not have the right to express protests at all. Later generations can still take a walk.

Although this cruel rule was relaxed in the later period of Wanli, and the number of arrests between the Dongchang and the Jinyiwei was not that large. However, this definitely does not mean that the court had abandoned this rule. In the minds of most Ming Dynasty officials, there were still many gatherings of more than ten people. This is already a deep-rooted concept.

After the Hu Ben Army controlled Songjiang Prefecture, it would definitely retain a considerable number of old officials. It would not be so easy to turn their thoughts around in a row. To be honest, in Songjiang Prefecture, a handicraft workshop with hundreds of people is already very risky. The local government is under great pressure. If something happens, who will be responsible?

After Liu Guangxin arrived, he naturally felt such pressure. Within the Hu Ben Army, there were quite a few ways for officials to express their dissatisfaction. After discussing with Liu Guangxin, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture did not agree with it and continued to allow the expansion of more manual workshops. For safety reasons, he even wanted to forcefully close some of the manual workshops.

Fortunately, in Shandong, the Hu Ben Army also has precedents. A workshop with hundreds of people is not uncommon. With such an example, local officials in Songjiang Prefecture are not so worried. However, once more manual workshops are added and more hired workers and local officials are required to express concern. Unless Zhang Zhun is stationed in Songjiang Prefecture to prevent any accidents.

Zhang Zhun naturally understood Liu Guangxin's embarrassment. Sometimes, something that seemed very ordinary in later generations was subject to huge obstacles in the Ming Dynasty. Opening a manual workshop is one of them. The local officials in Songjiang Prefecture actually have good personal ethics. However, it is understandable that they are limited to their old thinking and cannot let go. After all, no local official wants to make bad things when they see their jurisdiction.

As the great governor of the Hu Ben Army, what Zhang Zhun had to consider for the future imperial emperor was how to emancipate his mind and develop the economy. The concerns of local officials could not be completely ignored. However, the development of the textile industry also requires strong support. There are many things that Liu Guangxin did not have the authority to make a decision, and only Zhang Zhun gave the order.

"What are you afraid of? What are the handicrafts for hundreds of people? I have seen large workshops for tens of thousands of people. Employees are also people, so they can be managed according to ordinary people. As long as we do our own work well, we don't need to worry about anything happening!"

"ah!?"

Liu Guangxin's face was full of surprise.

God, a handicraft workshop with tens of thousands of people!

The entire Songjiang Prefecture may only have hundreds of thousands of people!

Isn’t it that the ten large handicrafts shops have more populations than Songjiang Prefecture?

[Please ***!] (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to ***(***.***) to vote for recommendation. ***, your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter completed!