The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 1327

[1327. Chapter 1260 Miracle]

After hearing Liu Jian’s compliment, Emperor Hongzhi looked happy, nodded and said: “Come here, call the prince and his successor.”

After saying that, Emperor Hongzhi sat down and looked in high spirits.

Just touching Queen Zhang’s gaze made her feel short of breath.

If I had known this, it would have been better for Empress Zhang to avoid it in front of Liu Jian and others.

Queen Zhang was smiling and her eyes looked peaceful.

But what Queen Zhang would be thinking in her heart, depending on Emperor Hongzhi’s understanding of her, may not be what she looks like on her face.

Emperor Hongzhi sighed: “The common people have nothing more than food, clothing, housing and transportation. With food and clothing, I have also heard that carriages in Xishan are now very popular. Rich families keep carriages for transportation, even if they are ordinary. The common people only need to pay a few dollars to take a public carriage. However, the problem of housing seems to be far away from being solved for the time being, but this clothing cannot be ignored.”

Emperor Hongzhi paused. , and then continued: “I have been thinking, how to solve it? Sometimes, the more I think about it, the more confused I become. A small piece of clothing is not difficult for me and the ministers, but for ordinary people, it is It’s so difficult.”

Liu Jian couldn’t help but sigh: “There are tens of thousands of people in the world, and one piece of clothing for each person is tens of thousands of pieces of clothing. It is easy to dress one person, but it is difficult to dress tens of thousands of people. It’s not easy.”

Emperor Hongzhi nodded thoughtfully.

These tens of millions of people certainly made the Ming Dynasty strong and powerful, but it was difficult to keep them warm, warm and hungry.

It is said that governing a big country is like cooking small delicacies. This sincerity does not deceive me.

After a while, he smiled and said: “At least let the people of the capital have a good winter.”

He did not expect that next year, the year after tomorrow, or ten years later, the people of the capital would be able to wear warm clothes, but at least, this year… there is such a thing luck.

Liu Jian and others also smiled, showing smiles of satisfaction.

At this time, Liu Jian suddenly remembered something and said: “Yes, Your Majesty, this time I will give Wang Shouren Duke, but I don’t know what title he should be given? The Ministry of Rites has drafted a few, and I hope your Majesty will come up with an idea.”

” Oh.” Emperor Hongzhi said calmly: “I have read the memorials from the Ministry of Rites, but I don’t think any of the candidates are good. After thinking about it, I decided to appoint him as Duke Guohan.”

“Mr. Korea?” Liu Jian was a little confused.

He said awkwardly: “Wang Shouren’s origin is Yuyao, Zhejiang, and has nothing to do with Korea… This…”

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said: “I am talking about the vastness of the vast sea.”

The vast sea…

Liu Jian and others, After reading the classics and history books, you will immediately have an impression.

The so-called Hanhai refers to the extreme north of the desert. In later generations, it also had a well-known name, Lake Baikal. Of course, by the Tang Dynasty, people referred to Hanhai as the general name for the area north of the Mongolian Plateau Desert and from the middle to the west.

By the time of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties, it was regarded as a desert in the Western Regions.

Nowadays, it is mostly regarded as the Gobi Desert.

After historical changes, the word “Hanhai” is essentially related to Huo Qubing’s entry into the desert and the sealing of Langjuxu. It is said that Huo Qubing went deep into the desert, won consecutive battles, and held a ceremony to worship heaven and seal him in Langjuxu Mountain. From then on, he continued After going deep, a Zen ceremony was held at Guyan Mountain, and the soldiers were pushed all the way to the vast sea.

Actually taking the name Han… This… I guess it means that His Majesty has greater expectations for Wang Shouren.

Liu Jian changed his mind and said without too much hesitation: “I understand.”

Just as he was saying this, footsteps came from outside.

Through the clear floor-to-ceiling glass windows, Emperor Hongzhi saw Fang Jifan and the Crown Prince coming side by side.

When the two of them entered the palace, they both looked tired.

Especially Zhu Houzhao, whose complexion turned white. After all, he had been in the sauna too much in the workshop. The skin on his face was frighteningly white, and he looked tired and weak.

Emperor Hongzhi frowned.

Queen Zhang’s eyes lit up.

The two saluted.

Emperor Hongzhi couldn’t help but said to Zhu Houzhao with a straight face: “Why is the prince so weak?”

Zhu Houzhao said truthfully: “Weaving.”

Emperor Hongzhi’s face turned red instantly.

He actually said it.

Empress Zhang suddenly felt distressed, but…in front of Liu Jian and others, Empress Zhang remained silent. Usually all the officials suspected that Empress Zhang was a jealous woman, so Empress Zhang would not let them do it in public. Take a seat.

Fang Jifan said with a smile: “Your Majesty…”

“Okay, Jifan, you don’t have to defend the prince. I know that this time, the two of you have worked hard and achieved great results. I have a bet with the prince, so this time the prince will win.” Come on.”

Zhu Houzhao became happy, and the corners of his lips curved happily.

Empress Zhang smiled tenderly, but she couldn’t help but wonder in her heart, does the prince sometimes look like the late Emperor Chenghua? Why do you look so stupid? This is not a bet, it is clearly a trap, just waiting for you and Fang Jifan to get up on the pole and give you money. .

Emperor Hongzhi said: “I heard that the price of cloth has really been cut in half.”

“More than half cut.” Zhu Houzhao said proudly: “With this trend, I’m afraid it will drop further.”

Emperor Hongzhi asked the case, but in his heart I took a breath of cold air. These two guys were quite ruthless. How much money had they secretly spent?

What made him even more curious was where he had purchased so much cloth.

Emperor Hongzhi asked directly: “How much money did you spend on this?”

Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan looked at each other.

How much money does it cost?

This is difficult to calculate.

Fang Jifan thought for a while and said, “Let’s think about it, it must be tens of millions of taels.”

“What.” Emperor Hongzhi’s face suddenly stiffened, and his subconscious suddenly came to light. He was… shocked.

These two are really a waste of money. No matter what, they only cost tens of millions of taels.

Emperor Hongzhi glared at Fang Jifan.

Fang Jifan looked at Emperor Hongzhi’s somewhat annoyed face. He showed no fear at all. Instead, he said calmly, “If you include the research on steam engines.”

When it comes to reimbursement, there are always macro and micro aspects. This first cotton spinning workshop is only possible because of the investment from the Steam Research Institute. It is reasonable to include the investment from the Steam Research Institute.

Liu Jian on the side was shocked when he heard this: “Mr. Qi, how many tens of millions of taels did it cost to purchase cloth?”

Fang Jifan looked sideways, then looked at Liu Jian as if he were an idiot and said, “Mr. Liu, what is buying cloth? What do you mean? Did I mention the purchase of cloth? Have you read The Wealth of Nations? A large number of purchases on the market will inevitably lead to a sudden increase in the price of goods. I don’t understand. Do you want my protégé, the incompetent Liu Wenshan, to teach Liu Gong a lesson?”

“This…” He really didn’t care about his face at all. Liu Jian suddenly blushed, but was powerless. refute.

The main reason is that everyone has experience. The more serious you are with Fang Jifan, the more energetic he becomes. Now he is just saying some weird things, but God knows whether he will curse in the future.

It’s just that you, a gentle man, don’t have the same knowledge as him.

Liu Jian simply remained silent.

Emperor Hongzhi was filled with doubts.

If you think about it carefully, it’s true.

If a large amount of cloth is purchased, hoarded, and then sold to ordinary people at a low price, then… it stands to reason that the process of purchasing a large amount of cloth will inevitably lead to a price increase.

But now…

Fang Jifan said with a smile: “If you want to lower the price of cloth, the way is not to buy high and sell low, but to increase the supply. As long as the cloth on the market suddenly increases, won’t the price drop?”

Emperor Hongzhi I was suddenly enlightened.

But then, the question came again: “How did you produce so much cloth in a short period of time?”

Fang Jifan asked: “Has your Majesty forgotten that His Highness the Crown Prince and his ministers have been weaving these days.”

Weaving…

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

Zhu Houzhao said with an air of dignity: “Yes, in order to reduce the price of this cloth, my son has been supervising production in the workshop all day long. He has not slept for more than a month. Have a good sleep.”

Emperor Hongzhi looked puzzled and couldn’t help but said: “You… weave… but… where do you get so many pieces of cloth?”

Fang Jifan said, “Because of the new loom.”

Loom…

At this time, Emperor Hongzhi didn’t understand what Fang Jifan was talking about anymore, and was confused.

He frowned: “Speak more clearly!”

Fang Jifan said: “Your Majesty, in the past month, the cotton spinning workshops of Your Majesty and His Royal Highness have produced 138,600 pieces of cloth.”

138,600 pieces of cloth.

One hundred horses…

this number is very scary.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Fang Jifan dumbfounded and said: “Weaving so much?”

Speaking of this, there is a good comparison. In this picture, the queen organized more than a thousand maids and eunuchs to weave cloth in the palace, which cost a lot of money. In one month, it is only 7,000 horses.

So… how many weavers did the prince and Fang Jifan hire to weave all the cloth?

Emperor Hongzhi said: “Why didn’t I notice it beforehand? If so, the manpower required would probably be more than 20,000. So much manpower and material resources were used. How is this possible?”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: “Cotton spinning There are not many people in the workshop, but they have only recruited three to four hundred people. How could the father be aware of it when he is busy with everything? “

Three or four hundred people…”

Emperor Hongzhi’s face darkened.

Three to four hundred people, in one month, weaved twenty times the number of one thousand six to seven hundred people.

Crazy…

don’t these people…don’t need to eat, drink, or sleep?

What’s more, it’s not that easy to find a skilled weaver.

The reason why the palace was able to mobilize more than a thousand people was because Queen Zhang had set an example in her early years and led the people in the palace to weave cloth. Therefore, the maids in the palace were already skilled.

Emperor Hongzhi was silent for a long time, then shouted: “No, this is absolutely impossible!”

(End of this chapter)