Chapter 210: Resources Locking the Technology Tree

Everyone in the empire believes that they are so powerful that they can withstand small mistakes and problems.

Are the people of the Great Ming Empire clearly aware that the Great Ming Empire is about to perish? They are not.

Even when Li Zicheng started his Northern Expedition in the 17th year of Chongzhen, he didn't know that he was going to destroy Great Ming. He even planned that if the war didn't go well, the imperial court would be willing to enfeoff him as a prince and recruit him, and he could temporarily agree and then make plans.

For the civil unrest spreading throughout Great Ming, for the Emperor and ministers in the capital, it was just a war to suppress rebellion happening far away. Even if Great Ming was briefly defeated, it would definitely win back, because in the 9th year of Chongzhen, the Chongzhen Emperor had just beheaded the first-generation Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang in the capital.

In the first month of the 17th year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng declared himself Emperor in Xi'an, the people in the capital were indifferent to the suppression of rebellion in the Northwest, still complaining about the terrible weather as usual, and the ministers and officials in the court were still full of enthusiasm for mutual squeezing.

Almost no one could feel that the end was coming.

In the eyes of the Emperor and the capital ministers, what are the poor and laborers? They are not specific people, just cold statistical figures. Empathizing with statistical figures is a very scarce ability. When it doesn't reach one's own side, there won't be that kind of urgent sense of crisis.

Even in the spring of the 5th year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng had already established a set of political correctness of "oppressing the powerful and saving the common people" in the court, but this was just a narrative style. Everyone continued to play the game of power politics within this established framework. For example, the woolen mill stopped work in the summer, and three people died of heat. The censor officials were taking the opportunity to overthrow Wang, not thinking about improving the factory environment so that such tragedies would not happen again, let alone caring more about the life and death of the common people.

Therefore, Ma Lieweng never thought that the Tomb-raiding Sect that hindered progress was stupid. In performance, they were restorationist, pedantic, stubborn, and opposed progress, but in fact, these people were all calculating and very clear about how to protect their vested interests.

On the surface, they were fighting over whether the official mill should hoard and profit, or whether they should support the New Policies, but in fact, they were fighting over the official hat on their heads, the patch on their chests, and the silver in their pockets.

Ma Lieweng actually hoped that Great Ming's border officials could show their positive role. The expansion of the official mill was restricted by the imperial court's wind power and rigidity, and the speed was not very fast. Ma Lieweng was very willing to see the border officials enter the arena and run some manual workshops.

Ma

But whether that stone rolling down from the cliff will crush Great Ming is something Zhu Yijun must consider.

If Guo Chaobin is still considered satisfactory, then selecting two more will be enough.

The absolute number is only two people, so selecting them won't be that troublesome, and since the Empress is already by the Emperor's side, it won't disturb the masses even more.

Zhu Yijun's life was magnificent and turbulent; it seems his life was only about state affairs, and he was a heartless person. But Mr. Zhang was a living person of flesh and blood. In the 71st year of Jiajing, one year after his late wife passed away, Zhu Yijun wrote a poem to mourn her, and not long after, he wrote another.

The commands of parents, the words of matchmakers.

This is also the fundamental reason for the difference in political views between Ma Liweng and Zhu Yijun. Zhu Yijun had been in power for only seven years, and Great Ming already had a spirit of revitalization. This easily creates a misconception: that as long as the Emperor or the Grand Secretary in power is willing, revitalization is a very simple matter. If there really were any difficult problems, one would only need to find another Zhu Yijun.

Resources locking the technology tree.

"This well is seventy-seven zhang deep?" Ma Liweng stood before a kiln well, looking at Zhang Juzheng and asking in incomparable astonishment.

But Ma Liweng knew the facts were not so. Guo Chaobin's mathematics had only just reached the threshold of mastery and could participate in the accounting affairs of the Inner Study. Moreover, Guo Chaobin's figure appeared in every audit. Even if the Emperor did not like her, she could be a palace maid by the Empress Dowager's side, helping the Empress Dowager organize the palace account books. Even if she left the palace and no one dared to take her as a wife, she could still settle herself quite well.

Ma Liweng knew from Zhu Yijun's expression that this matter could not be argued. On this matter, Zhu Yijun was very firm, in just three words: it cannot be delayed.

Felling trees on the mountain until it becomes a bald mountain, and not using coal—is it because of things like feng shui, or because of other reasons?

"His Majesty is eighteen, the age of coming of age. Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne at nine and married in the first month of the first year of Zhengtong; Emperor Wuzong ascended at seventeen and married in the fourth month of the following year; Emperor Shizong ascended at seventeen and married in the fourth month of the first year of Jiajing. All were at the age of eighteen. The established laws of the ancestors cannot be violated. This subject is dull by nature and does not believe in the theories of yin-yang selection. Whatever His Majesty does, he should only act according to reason." Zhu Yijun had already made this point very clear.

"Minister Yin says that Luzon also has beauties sent for selection." Zhu Yijun said with a complicated expression. The Ministry of Rites was responsible for this matter. When Wang Yaozhuo last returned to the capital, he specifically asked Zhu Yijun about the Emperor's wedding, and at that time, Wang Yaozhuo said he wanted to send beauties to the capital.

This time it is just for selecting a marriage.

"There are censors in the court saying that since there is much coal in the Western Hills, and much of it comes from Mentougou, then a tax collection bureau should be set up at Lugou Bridge to collect taxes on the traffic. Why establish a Coal Bureau? It is an unnecessary move." Ma Liweng stood before the door of the kiln well. The pitch-black hole inside was like a blood-red basin mouth waiting to devour people, swallowing countless lives.

His Majesty is already seventeen. In the eighth year of Wanli, His Majesty should have his wedding, so in the first month of the seventh year of Wanli, the selection of palace maids must begin.

But after Zheng He, there was no more Zheng He; after Zhu Yijun, there would be no more Zhu Yijun.

Of course, in the current social environment where one cannot have both and cannot merge, talking about the positive role of Great Ming also seems extremely ridiculous. Even if Sun Kehong of the Sun family in Songjiang has some submissive heart, because they earn too much, they constantly donate to promote the development of Great Ming's maritime affairs, but that is just one Sun family.

"It will." Zhu Yijun bowed his head again and replied. No one can stop a stone rolling down from a cliff; instead, it will roll faster and faster because there are too many people behind pushing it. Even if they are heavily in debt, they will continue to push it down, because only in this way will their own wealth and the wealth of their families not vanish into thin air.

Zhu Yijun himself shaped the political correctness of "suffering for Great Ming to save the common people," leading His Majesty to only see the negative aspects of Great Ming while failing to see the positive roles of the powerful and wealthy.

And the reason Ma Liweng has always supported Zhu Yijun's New Policies with all his might, and even intensified them, is because he realistically knows that Great Ming will perish, and it will perish during the Wanli era, so he will definitely be more radical in his actions than Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun did not try to persuade him further, otherwise, he would be as uninteresting as those censors who endlessly babble on.

Currently, there are still no private merchants who can make a success of the woolen business; in fact, it is still because of the costs.

Posterity is the greatest reason. Emperor Song Renzong wanted to push for New Policies, but he had no heir to succeed him, so he could not push for them.

This kiln well originally belonged to Li He. He took out three of the eight kiln wells from his family and connected them into one piece with the official factory of the Western Hills Coal Bureau of the imperial court.

Faced with the cumbersome factories, the Great Ming people chose to speculate on worsted wool, and this choice itself conflicted with the imperial court's resettlement of displaced tenant farmers and refugees.

These are also the two poems in Zhu Yijun's life where he revealed his emotions. Most of the time, Zhu Yijun was like a cold and heartless political machine.

This is why Ma Liweng created this wealth myth of worsted wool. As long as the poor laborers are not impacted by this matter, Ma Liweng will not stop and will continue to carry it out.

This is a path dependency. Displaced tenant farmers, idlers in the city, and military households who have fled their posts are almost equivalent to slaves in these times. Some idlers who cannot survive ring the bells themselves, and those who become eunuch slaves are not in the minority.

In the eighteenth year of Zhengtong, Emperor Yingzong selected five hundred palace maids at once. Five hundred may seem like a small number, but one must know that these were already selected after many rounds, so one can imagine what a great disturbance it caused in the localities and among the people; even widows were scared into getting married.

Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "The Westerners."

Science is an ideal, emphasizing possibility; engineering is reality, emphasizing feasibility.

"Westerners?" Ma Liweng was startled, his brows furrowed as he asked.

The social contradictions of Great Ming had already intensified to the point of being completely irreconcilable.

However, very soon, Ma Liweng discovered that new problems had emerged.

The last time Zhu Yijun saw Guo Chaobin was during the audit. Ma Liweng was holding an abacus, not knowing if this person was to His Majesty's liking.

Some merchants chose to annex some small-scale handicraft factories around the Yongsheng Woolen Mill. These factories were mainly responsible for supplying the official factories, such as washing wool. Other merchants targeted the purchase, primary processing, and transportation of wool, while others looked at the distribution of carded wool. These were all profitable.

The powerful and wealthy will not immediately take the poor laborers to get rich together, but when the silver in their own hands is used up, they will inevitably use their vast network of relationships to tell all their relatives and friends about this opportunity to get rich, and everyone will participate in this gamble together.

"Still serving by my side, quite good." Ma Liweng hadn't understood at first why Zhu Yijun was asking about Guo Chaobin.

"Sir, they have all exchanged their silver for cloth. When they have no money, will they take their relatives and friends into the game? After all, this is a rare opportunity to get rich." Ma Liweng looked at Ma Liweng and asked about the reaction of the powerful and wealthy.

Wuqing Bo Li Wei, the Emperor's own uncle, was almost shot to death by an arrow because he pleaded for Zhang Siwen. The husband of the Emperor's aunt, Imperial Son-in-Law Xu Congcheng, was forced to commit suicide, and over a hundred heads of the Northwest faction were taken.

"At what age did you get married, Sir?" Ma Liweng asked curiously upon hearing this.

The powerful and wealthy are simply too lazy. Zhu Yijun can only put down the urge to help others and respect the fate of others.

A total of three people will be selected.

Therefore, for merchants, owing wages and not paying them temporarily is a very reasonable, natural, and justified thing. It's not bad enough that you have work to do; you still want money?

Ma Liweng did not just focus on the many contradictions and conflicts of the woolen mills; his gaze turned to the Western Hills Coal Bureau.

Ma Liweng had always clearly known that mining coal in Great Ming was not as simple as in England, where there was coal three zhang below the surface, but he never expected it to be so difficult.

"This is a place where the imperial court needs to be careful."

Yes, in order not to let the young Emperor and Empress be a couple in name only, and to let the Empress be a model for the world, the selection must be done in advance. After half a year of training and careful observation in the palace, the wedding ceremony will be held.

Ma Liweng had arranged a combination of punches to drain the human silver mines of Great Ming's powerful and wealthy, squeezing out the value of all their silver.

Send it to Imperial Uncle Zhu Zaiyu to enjoy.

In fact, Ma Liweng had also anticipated this result. From the moment Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li issued the imperial decree directly to the Ministry of Rites, he knew this matter was the top priority of the imperial court.

Without steam engines to open kilns and mine coal, there would be many deaths and injuries; only kiln workers who could not survive would go down into the kilns. To point out the technology of steam engines, one needs massive resources to pile up, burn, and wastefully catalyze them.

"When the relatives and friends have all been pulled in, they will start borrowing money everywhere. This bubble must continue to be blown up, otherwise, the moment this bubble is pricked, how many families will be ruined? Does Sir think they will borrow money everywhere?" Ma Liweng continued to ask calmly.

Without massive resources to invest, technology cannot progress.

"Send them, and when they arrive, send them to the Imperial Uncle." Ma Liweng chose a compromise method. The Emperor's concubines involve the succession of the throne. Before the succession is completely determined, he will not take foreign women into the palace, as this easily causes all kinds of chaos. But as a national surname, Wang Yaozhuo is cooperating with the imperial court's political decrees, and it is not easy for the young Emperor to refuse directly.

This is the reason why Ma Liweng makes the court officials feel heartfelt terror. It is not that the Emperor is addicted to killing or kills the innocent indiscriminately. In seven years, the Emperor has only used the court stick once, and the biggest case was only killing a hundred or so people, which is nothing new in the long history of Great Ming.

The saying of the censors in the court is actually a typical case of "more trouble is worse than less trouble." Since the Imperial Sons-in-Law are mining coal in the Western Hills, let them mine it. As long as taxes are collected, the imperial court gets the revenue. Why bother to organize it personally, even involving the Emperor's own aunt's husband?

This story is a myth. After Imperial Uncle Zhu Zaiyu knows about it, he will definitely have something to say. It is not that everything will have an echo if you keep thinking about it, such as the young Emperor's artistic cells; after being influenced for several years, the Emperor still has no interest in studying music theory.

Future generations can accumulate massive debts by solving banks, and based on the basic logic of "too big to fail" and "those who steal the country become marquises," they can spread the risk to the entire society. When the debt reaches a certain scale, they can only fill the hole by over-issuing currency, and the evil consequence of over-issuing currency is inflation, and the entire society bears the cost.

Ma Liweng left to draft the yellow list for selecting palace maids, while Ma Liweng took out "Metamorphoses" to continue studying Western culture.

The reason the Emperor wants to get married so early is entirely for the sake of posterity.

Expecting the powerful and wealthy to think for the vast poor laborers is itself like climbing a tree to catch a fish.

The screening has begun. The business world is always so ruthless. Any path dependency will become a fatal shortcoming in a new industry, and change requires expensive costs and prices.

Lying down to collect rent and harvest leeks is indeed more relaxed than running a factory.

The merchants supported by these powerful and wealthy people, for the sake of profit, began to deduct the wages of the poor laborers.

This caused factories that owed wages for two or three months to have no one to use, while the labor costs of the official factories actually decreased further, and the speed of expansion accelerated further.

Ma Liweng couldn't help but think of Chen Xuehui, the Minister of the Court of Ceremonial Guests, who had recently been criticized by civil officials. Concubines, illegitimate children—these things are nothing in the West. Spain likes to expand territory through marriage, and expanding territory through marriage doesn't mean just marriage is enough; marriage is to obtain claims.

If it were in the past, craftsmen would at most change to another employer to continue working, but now it is different. The official factories are expanding and need a large number of hands.

Ma Liweng agreed to the matter of selecting a marriage and palace maids, and at the same time emphasized that one should not disturb the people too much.

Metamorphoses has seventeen volumes and 250 ancient Greek and Roman myths, and the copy in Ma Liweng's hand is already a version that has undergone unknown numbers of revisions. The copy in Ma Liweng's hand has not been translated. His foreign language is already extremely good, and there is no need to continue to get a Western concubine to learn foreign languages together.

"Isn't this too early?" Ma Liweng asked, blinking his eyes upon hearing this: "What was Sir doing at my age?"

If Ma Liweng doesn't like her, Guo Chaobin can neither become the Empress nor return to a state of poverty. She seems unable to settle herself.

"This subject obeys the decree." Zhu Yijun bowed his head to accept the order.

Ma Liweng watched Zhu Yijun choose to compromise and continued: "Sir, in this trade, human greed is fully displayed, but they will also slowly discover that their real gold and silver are exchanged for cloth and silk, and in order to continue playing this game, they will definitely get rid of Yan Xinglou and build a place for trading themselves."

Because the taxes collected by the tax collection bureau set up by the imperial court will definitely be apportioned to the kiln workers with increased intensity, and the kiln workers are only using their lives to earn what they need for a living. If they are deducted again, the consequences can be imagined.

The Minister of Works, Ma Liweng, led His Majesty toward Mentougou, and Ma Liweng finally witnessed the mining of Great Ming.

Seventy-seven zhang. One zhang is about the height of one floor, approximately equal to the height of seventy floors in future generations. A kiln well is a very, very deep well.

"When I was seventeen, it should have been the year I passed the imperial examination. By the commands of my parents and the words of matchmakers, the wedding date was set." Zhu Yijun recalled that he seemed to have passed the examination, and after that, he was very busy, having to visit teachers and travel everywhere, and also had to take the metropolitan examination, having no time to attend to marriage matters. In these times, marriage was also determined by parents.

"If you have half a bowl of porridge at home, don't go to Mentougou." Ma Liweng said very helplessly. Kiln workers are poor laborers who earn money by their strength, risking the dangers of the world to go down into the wells to work. As a result, when the coal is brought up, it is not certain they can receive their wages. This is the current situation of the kiln workers' lives.

"Your Majesty, Guo Chaobin, a commoner girl from Shanzhou, Shaanxi, is she still serving by Your Majesty's side?" After finishing the discussion about the woolen bubble, Zhu Yijun asked about the arrangements for Guo Chaobin.

The main profit of the official woolen factories is in carded wool, because most of the worsted wool is sent to the palace, and the price of carded wool needs to be kept as low as possible. While the Yongsheng Woolen Mill is still expanding, it is almost impossible to continue to squeeze costs downward.

On the eighteenth day of the first month, the Western Hills Coal Bureau, belonging to the Ministry of Works, was officially established, which meant that the preparatory work had ended. Today, Ma Liweng will personally go to the Western Hills Coal Bureau, not only to express political support but also to seek an answer in practice.

Guo Chaobin seems to fit this story very well. A girl born in poverty, living from hand to mouth, bearing a deep blood feud, she came to the capital from Shanzhou, Shaanxi, because the Emperor wanted to see local officials, assistant magistrates, elders, and commoners. The Lu family of Shanzhou was raided by the Emperor, and Guo Chaobin avenged her grievances, studied in the Inner Study, was liked by the Empress Dowager, and followed the Prince of Zheng to study music and mathematics.

"In the seventy-seventh year of Jiajing, I was only twenty at the time." Zhu Yijun bowed his head and said.

This kind of great love is a great love for statistical figures, and this kind of heartlessness is heartlessness toward specific people. His Majesty is full of love for those he has never met, but has no pity for specific people.

"I heard that this selection of palace maids is to issue notices to the four prefectures of the Northern Capital, the eight prefectures of the Southern Capital, and the provinces of Henan and Shandong. Such a great disturbance, and also sending officials to select and verify, and bringing their parents to the capital to see them, is truly disturbing the people. I think it is better to wait a while." Ma Liweng used the excuse of disturbing the people to try to delay it.

What if the Emperor just happens to like learning foreign languages?

Therefore, the greatest reason for the Emperor is the wedding and having children.

The professor successfully molded the flower girl into a dazzling woman who attracted attention, but the professor practiced celibacy and did not intend to marry the flower girl. The flower girl could neither become a noble duchess nor return to the vegetable market to sell flowers.

The young Emperor always has all kinds of ways to make everyone very decent.

"It requires long-term pumping, long-term ventilation to prevent the accumulation of coal gas (methane), and horsepower to drag the coal up from the well. In short, it needs power." Ma Liweng finished inspecting the Pushi Trench kiln and determined what the Western Hills Coal Bureau urgently needed at the moment: a steam engine.

Yes, the powerful and wealthy are lazy, not stupid, nor incapable, just lazy. If they can lie down and make money, they will definitely not run a factory, because running a handicraft factory is very hard, requiring the solution of many, many problems, and the profit is thin. How can it earn more than inflating the price of wool?

The current Great Ming does not have things like banks. Great Ming's currency is not paper money, but money based on metal. Gold, silver, and copper are precious metals in Great Ming. They possess use value and exchange value. The scarcity of gold, silver, and copper means that money borrowed is real gold and silver, and the cost is only borne by the powerful and wealthy.

"Yesterday, Empress Dowager Rensheng and Empress Dowager Cisheng issued an edict to the Ministry of Rites to select a marriage and select palace maids." Zhu Yijun then explained the second matter of his audience: the Empress Dowagers issued an edict to the Ministry of Rites to select a marriage.

When this bottomless hole appeared before Ma Liweng, Ma Liweng determined the importance of establishing the Western Hills Coal Bureau.

The current social environment of Great Ming is different from future generations.

Zhu Yijun wanted to speak for the Great Ming people, but could not find any good reason. Even if these merchants could succeed in running even one woolen mill, Zhu Yijun could say that the Great Ming people had a positive role in solving the problem of displaced tenant farmers. But the woolen mills had already reached such a fever pitch, and the Great Ming people still could not succeed.

He got married relatively late. Calculating the time, it should have been in the seventy-seventh year of Jiajing. The reason it was so late was because of his grandfather's mourning period, which delayed the wedding by three years, so he only got married at twenty.

In the seventy-eighth year of Jiajing, he passed the imperial examination, but before he could send the good news to his first wife, the news of his first wife, Lady Gu's, passing away reached the capital.

During the Chongzhen era, it was not that no one wanted to pick up Ma Liweng's New Policies again—the examination system, land survey, returning land, maritime transport, the three books and one account, strengthening the military, giving military commanders authority, rectifying the academic administration, the degree of calculation, etc. —but by that time, they could no longer be picked up at all.

The reason the court officials feel terror is that the Emperor has great love and also no heart.

"It will." Ma Liweng let out a turbid breath. His request for an audience this time was to persuade the young Emperor to follow the path of benevolence and forgiveness. The powerful and wealthy are also the Emperor's subjects; why should the Emperor treat his own subjects like this?

"Disturbing the people is like that during the Zhengtong era. Selecting palace maids, once selected, the light ones are hundreds, the heavy ones are thousands. Even widows are scared into getting married, fearing they will be selected into the palace to become palace maids. Just select two people; there is no need to make a great disturbance." Ma Liweng further clearly gave instructions that whether it disturbs the people too much depends on the number.

Pygmalion was a king of Cyprus and also a sculptor. Out of disgust for the corruption and licentiousness of women, Pygmalion was determined never to marry. He carved a woman out of ivory and prayed to the Goddess of Love to give the statue life. The Goddess of Love satisfied Pygmalion, and they finally lived happily together.

"This subject obeys the decree." Ma Liweng bowed his head to accept the order, a smile appearing on his face. Wang Yaozhuo must express his submissiveness and affection; after all, he is a national surname, and the young Emperor must also express that he is in the Emperor's heart and that the imperial favor is flourishing. These foreign women can naturally come to the capital, but after they arrive, they will all be sent to the Imperial Uncle, which is perfect.

The powerful and wealthy will constantly incite more of their own kind to participate in this expanding feast. Even if everyone knows that this is a bubble that will burst at a prick, they will constantly pull people in to participate in this bubble, so that they can maintain this bubble.

The current mining of the Western Hills Coal Bureau is entirely based on the excavation of massive human labor to supply the needs of the capital. As for how many poor laborers die every year, it is just a number.

The twentieth-century Irish writer George Bernard Shaw created a satirical play called "Pygmalion" based on this myth.

The story of Pygmalion is: a top-tier person, a professor with the honor of a duke, and a colonel make a bet, using a flower girl from the street, Eliza, to do an experiment, using three months to train the flower girl into a young lady from a famous noble family.

This time, the powerful and wealthy were finally willing to choose to be down-to-earth and choose to take it one step at a time.

Under the huge profits, some merchants began to tentatively build woolen mills again, because the sales of the official factory records of the Imperial Manor increased again. This time, the merchants who entered the field were not as reckless as the last time, wanting to eat a big fat man in one bite.

England's coal mining began in the fifteenth century. Their coal is like this: 1 meter of soil... 10 meters of soil, and everything above 10 meters is coal. Great Ming's side is 1 meter of soil... 10 meters of soil... groundwater... stones... 69 meters of stones... 151 meters of coal gangue... coal. The mining difficulty is extremely great, but it is urgently needed. Seeking monthly votes, awoo!!!!!!