Chapter 647: The Military Factory

"To give the people a way to live, and to keep the upper and lower from being cut off from each other, we need more social strata…"

Wang Dou said, "Suppose there is a large mine — how many miners would it need?"

Zhang Gui pondered and said, "Prospectors, diggers, smelters, overseers, haulers… at least several thousand, I would say."

Wang Dou said, "Exactly — at least several thousand, and they have families too. Reckoned that way, a single mine can support tens of thousands of people."

"Once the ore is dug out, someone has to transport it. Along the way, they need to eat and rest — so then you have transport merchant companies and many inns, which can support quite a few more hands. Then the ore needs smelting, so you must set up ironworks, foundries, and all sorts of workshops. Those workshops need to recruit workers — how many more people can they support?"

"Smelting iron requires huge amounts of coal, so then you need to open many coal mines, which again requires many people. Once the coal is mined, it must be transported — more hands needed. Ordinary coal has to be refined into coke, which requires yet more workers and plants — how many more people can that support?"

"Every mine and plant needs food and drink — they need grain, fodder, cloth, salt, tea. These commercial goods must be brought in from outside — how many merchant companies can that support? And these goods cannot all be hauled in from far away forever, so locally or nearby, there will certainly be large-scale planting, processing, and weaving workshops of all kinds — how many more people can those support?"

"Every trade and profession flourishes, and then the people grow prosperous and want enjoyment and entertainment. Even the storytellers and opera singers can find a bowl of rice. The demand for brush, ink, paper, and inkstone grows ever larger… Not to mention anything else — just the coal briquettes: after all the coal mines dig out their coal, the Xuanfu Garrison alone needs a sea of honeycomb briquettes every year. How many more hands can that support?"

"Therefore, to give the people a way to live, we must multiply the trades and multiply the social strata. The more prosperous the common people become, the more all kinds of trades can grow — and support even more people…"

Not only Zhang Gui and Qi Tianliang, but even Zhang Guowei listened dumbstruck. A mere coal mine or iron mine — in the Grand General's eyes, it held so many intricacies. Truly, a man descended from the constellations sees things differently from ordinary people.

Wang Dou thought nothing of it. In later ages, the real estate industry alone could drive construction, building materials, interior decoration, furniture, home appliances, services, and related industries. The iron and steel industry and the coal mining industry could drive even more subsidiary industries.

And at this time, these were basically handicraft industries — labor-intensive industries. They could solve the problem of feeding many people. As for the dangers of mining, no one was considering that problem yet.

Zhang Gui stammered, "I only fear that miners are fond of brawling and violence, and hard to control."

Wang Dou nodded. "Every matter has its advantages and disadvantages. One must not give up eating for fear of choking. Strict supervision will suffice."

Zhang Gui could not be blamed for saying so. Elsewhere in the Great Ming, miners, in terms of organization and physical strength, were far superior to ordinary peasants — not just by a little. A large part of the world-renowned Qi Family Army was composed of miners. Over the years, incidents of armed clashes among miners had emerged endlessly across the Great Ming, giving local officials endless headaches.

Moreover, since the middle period of the Great Ming, the majority of mining properties everywhere had been seized by powerful local magnates. Over ninety percent paid not a single wen in mining tax. The government offices derived no benefit whatsoever from them, and naturally harbored not a shred of goodwill toward the various mines and miners, viewing them as one of the sources of unrest.

What was worse, the quality of miners was uneven — many were unregistered refugees, along with local ruffians, scoundrels, and shameless idlers. The management methods of many mine owners were likewise extremely backward, employing a clan-based reign of terror. Those who disobeyed were beaten to death on the spot; docking wages and food rations was routine.

The result was that wherever a county or department had a mine, it was like a volcano about to erupt — how could the local officials and commanders not be terrified?

But Wang Dou was unconcerned. They were not the working class of later ages; at present, they were just gangs of motley rabble. In terms of overall fighting strength, even if a mine had several thousand able-bodied men, they were utterly inferior to the garrison-folk of a single fortified settlement. Not to mention deploying the formidable Jingbian Army — even sending out the garrison-folk of one fort would thrash these miners until they scattered like blossoms in the wind.

He said, "In managing the mines, the Civil Affairs Department must proceed according to the law, examining the household registrations of all mine owners and miners. No unregistered households may exist. And do not fear them making trouble. It is better they make trouble now than later. Once the troublemakers are all killed, there will be no one left to make trouble later."

The quality of mine owners and miners could not be raised for the time being — just as outside the Eastern Circuit, the sons of good families were unwilling to join the army, honest and decent peasants were unwilling to enter the mines. Therefore, apart from a small number of artisan households, most miners at present could hardly be called good stock.

Some army riffraff, idlers, captives, and the like — they committed crimes and served their sentences by entering the mines. So at present, the various mines were like garbage dumps, places that people feared.

Moreover, in this era, the injury and disability rate in mining was very high. Apart from stipulating laws and regulations that mine owners must do their utmost to ensure miners' safety, as well as wages and food rations, Wang Dou could only let the rest evolve naturally.

Wang Dou's tone was flat, but the chilling intent in his words still made Zhang Guowei shiver. He hurriedly said, "Grand General, rest assured — all the mines under my clan will strictly abide by the law and discipline, and will not bring trouble to the Grand General."

Wang Dou nodded slightly. In the early Ming, control over mines was strict; mining required official approval. Generally speaking, every mine had a supervising official and tax commissioner. For every amount mined, a portion was paid as tax to the provincial administration commission — though, of course, that gradually disappeared later.

Now, Wang Dou had restored supervising officials over all mines under his jurisdiction — supervising only, not participating in management. Each year, based on the amount mined, they were required to pay taxes. Moreover, many laws protected the miners. While welcomed by the miners, this naturally aroused the discontent of many mine owners.

Although orders were abundant and the mine owners were rolling in wealth, they were long accustomed to being utterly miserly. Watching the tax revenues flow out, they naturally felt extreme heartache. Over time, they might try every means to stir up trouble. But Wang Dou was not like other officials and commanders elsewhere — if any dared make trouble, he would not mind killing until the blood flowed like a river.

And abundant orders did not mean the mine owners would improve their production equipment. Ninety-nine percent would only squeeze the miners even more frantically, provoking conflict and sparking miner riots. Although Zhang Guowei was a man who knew the times, his clansmen might not necessarily have that awareness.

He worried that his clansmen, blinded by greed, would make unwise moves and become the next short-sighted fools whom Wang Dou would make an example of by killing a chicken to warn the monkeys. He hurriedly assured Wang Dou while also pondering how to go back and give those clansmen a good rapping.

Although Qi Tianliang was the Logistics Department Commissioner, he had a keen understanding of agricultural matters. What worried him, however, was something else: "Grand General, with Xuanzhen booming in factory and mining commerce, will it cause a shortage of farming hands? This subordinate worries — the more people go into commerce, will it not lead to grain famine?"

Wang Dou nodded slightly. "Old Qi's concern is valid. That is why the Bakufu's current measures are to attract good, honest refugees into the fortified settlements. In terms of household registration classification, they also have advantages. This can attract the largest population. Coupled with the military-farm system of the new fortified settlements, the grain grown in the future can still meet the needs of the entire garrison's soldiers and civilians."

Qi Tianliang's concern was also Wang Dou's concern. Productivity in this era was low, and especially all kinds of disasters emerged endlessly. If the number of people farming decreased even slightly, famine was extremely likely. Just like Jiangnan at the end of the Ming — because commerce was overly developed, Jiangnan instead lacked sufficient grain and needed to import it from Guangdong, Huguang, and other places.

Jiangnan, the land of fish and rice, not only failed to become an asset to the Great Ming but instead became a scourge. The overdevelopment of commerce was one important reason for the Ming dynasty's fall.

Moreover, the merchants of this era not only produced nothing, but also forgot righteousness at the sight of profit, lacking any sense of propriety, righteousness, integrity, or honor. Although they had some role in circulation, the positive role they played in society was far from offsetting the negative role they played.

Especially in famine years, they hoarded goods, snapped up disaster relief grain, then drove up market prices, and later bought up land at low prices. Often, after a single famine passed, most of the land in many places had been cunningly seized by them.

Therefore, in this era, de-emphasizing commerce and restraining merchants was necessary. China's millennia-old policy of emphasizing agriculture and de-emphasizing commerce was correct. Returning to ancient times, only someone with water in their brain would eagerly rush to raise the status of merchants.

Agriculture was the foundation of everything. Even the various Western nations in history, after their agricultural revolution, naturally and logically entered the industrial revolution. The status of Great Ming merchants was already high enough — high to the point of wrecking the country and ruining the people. Those old-style merchants — their status not only should not be raised, but needed to be suppressed.

Wang Dou's support for new-type production-oriented merchants was also built on the foundation that agriculture could meet the needs of the garrison's soldiers and civilians. If the two ever endangered agriculture, he would not hesitate to destroy most of the commerce and industry within the garrison.

Zhang Gui, in charge of the Civil Affairs Department, now also paid more and more attention to the various shops, factories, and mines under his jurisdiction. He hurriedly said, "Grand General, rest assured — in the future, the grain from every fortified settlement will certainly be able to meet the needs of the entire garrison's soldiers and civilians!"

He said, "At present within the garrison, the fields distributed to each household basically all have surplus grain, and quite a lot can be purchased each year. The military farms of many new fortified settlements, because they use the merit system — only when merit is achieved can land be distributed — the garrison-folk are also full of drive."

"Also, because we have captured large numbers of horses, now in the new fortified settlements, many fields are plowed using horses. The area of land one fort can cultivate is growing larger and larger…"

Wang Dou nodded. Most of Jiangnan consisted of paddy fields, and the land was fragmented, so only intensive cultivation and ox-plowing could be used. But the north was not like Jiangnan — the land stretched in unbroken expanses and was mostly dry fields, so the farming methods could be somewhat more extensive, using horse-plowing.

Using horse-plowing, the yield per field was of course not as high as with intensive cultivation and ox-plowing. However, because the cultivated area was larger, many a little made a mickle, and the total yield was not small either.

For Wang Dou now, land was not a problem. If land within the garrison was insufficient, they would simply expand beyond the frontier.

…

The group traveled westward, and before long, arrived at the bank of a river. Here, along both sides of the river, a new military factory had been established. It was quite large in scale, with over a thousand craftsmen. Like the ironworks, it was surrounded by high, thick walls, with guard posts thickly dotted about. Idle persons were not permitted to enter.

Just like the army, the craftsmen inside the factory all had uniforms. They all wore fox-fur hats and short overcoats, colored blue, with mandarin-duck red jackets underneath. As they walked, the red of their two sleeves would occasionally show.

These people moved about in a hurry. The previous year, the Eastern Circuit had divided craftsmen into ranks: Craftsman-Scholar, Craftsman-Master, and Grand Craftsman-Master. At present, in the entire Bakufu, there was not yet a single Craftsman-Master. Most of them were lower-grade Craftsman-Scholars, some were middle-grade Craftsman-Scholars, and a small number were upper-grade Craftsman-Scholars.

For the craftsmen, becoming a Craftsman-Scholar was easy, but becoming a Craftsman-Master was difficult, because it required a cultural examination, and the examination requirements were very high. A Grand Craftsman-Master needed to publish books and establish a school of thought, renowned nationwide — that was even more out of sight.

However, just like the army, many of the craftsmen under the Bakufu had already become the first batch to grow wealthy. Especially those who had inventions or transferred their technical skills — they obtained "patents" and could simply sit and collect money.

In particular, Li Maosen and Lai Yuanlong, because they developed the firing mechanism, could be said to be rolling in wealth. And Zhou Xianglu, who transferred his cannon-casting technology, likewise received a generous annual income. With their examples before them, the craftsmen's motivation was extremely high. (To be continued.)