Chapter 456: The Shengping No. 1 Steam Engine

Wang Qian's face flushed red. Seeing the others laughing, he desperately wanted to ask aloud: "What are you all laughing at!"

"This subject is dull-witted." Wang Qian did not roar before the Emperor; the Censor of Rites would have informed him of the proper etiquette. He asked with some confusion.

Why was everyone laughing?

"Delegating the power to build post roads to local authorities, who lack the financial resources to resolve the issue, and then auctioning them off to powerful local gentry to build—accelerating the construction of the Great Ming's post roads—this idea seems extremely perfect in its institutional design." Zhu Yijun smiled at Wang Qian and said, "The only problem is, the post roads built by the powerful gentry are their post roads, not the imperial court's post roads."

"Guess, what will they do?"

"Dare they do anything? Isn't it just using the post roads to make money?" Wang Qian shook his head and said. Standing in the shoes of the powerful gentry, once the road is built, what else could it be used for besides trade?

Zhu Yijun leaned back in his chair, shook his head, and said, "You still don't fully understand what post roads imply. To understand post roads, you must understand the significance of the 'iron horse'."

Wang Qian had truly never considered this question. In his view, this was a good deed that benefited the country and the people, but in the eyes of the imperial court, this provided the most convenient conditions for regional warlordism.

Whoever controls the post roads controls the territory.

The first steam engine of the Great Ming had a horsepower of one—that is, one horse working continuously for four hours could lift 720,000 catties of water by one zhang, and the steam engine achieved this under the same working conditions. This steam engine didn't even have a name, as it was the first reciprocating steam engine trial-manufactured by the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

The initial steam engine consisted of two pots: the left was the cylinder, the middle was a lever, and the right was the pump cylinder. Made of cast iron, the sealing was extremely poor. The principle was identical to a water pump: the cylinder heated steam to push the pump cylinder to drain water, and the cylinder added water to cool down, pulling the piston to draw water. A steam engine with only one horsepower required four people to look after it and had no practical value, because whether using a livestock-driven winch or human labor, both were more efficient than the steam engine.

A one-horsepower steam engine required 5,000 taels of silver to be properly installed. In the Wanli era, when a horse cost only six taels of silver, no one would install one.

Several years have passed. Through the efforts of the Doctors of the Academy of Sciences, there is now a reciprocating steam engine with three horsepower. Installing a three-horsepower steam engine requires only 50 taels of silver, including later maintenance.

The annual coal mining volume of the Great Ming's Xishan Coal Bureau has surged to 560 million catties, a 11.3-fold increase compared to the first year of Wanli. The Great Ming's crude steel production reached 2.07 million catties, and iron production reached 19.4 million catties, a 5.4-fold increase compared to the first year of Wanli. This allowed the official wool mills' coarse wool production to reach 450,000 bolts and fine wool to reach 75,000 bolts, a 3.5-fold increase compared to the third year of Wanli.

This terrifying growth is the result of changes in production relations mobilizing enthusiasm, and it is also an intuitive manifestation of the improvement in productive forces.

The steam engine, roaring with billowing black smoke, thus appeared silently in people's lives, affecting everyone in the Great Ming. In fact, most people in the Great Ming, like Wang Qian, did not realize what kind of transformation the steam engine would bring to the Great Ming. At this time, the vast majority of Great Ming people had never seen what a steam engine looked like, because the reciprocating steam engine had always been used as a reliable power source.

Lin Fucheng saw it. He was a southerner who came to the Northern Yamen and was astonished by the changes in the capital. He saw the ravages of the coal smoke dragon and also saw the tangible progress of the Great Ming's productive forces. This also found a solid foundation for his theory of freedom; only the great abundance of material goods can change production relations, allowing everyone to obtain freedom.

Over these years, the Imperial Academy of Sciences has been working hard on cylinder airtightness, the overall weight reduction of the steam engine, and higher thermal efficiency.

Zhu Yijun knows more. The latest reciprocating steam engine trial-manufactured by the Imperial Academy of Sciences has a horsepower of 7.5, and the reciprocating steam engine under development is 16 horsepower, which is expected to be officially trial-manufactured next year. In the long run, within five years, steam horsepower will increase to 125 horsepower.

When the steam engine's horsepower reaches 125, how many goods can be produced? How many goods can it drag? The high construction costs of post roads, which take 30 years to recover, can be shortened to how long?

This is one of the reasons why the wealthy households are willing to subscribe.

"Therefore, when the steam engine's horsepower reaches 125 in five years, post roads will be as important as human blood vessels. If you demand back the roads built by local wealthy households, what will they do?" Zhu Yijun explained this problem clearly.

Previously in the court discussions, the ministers had debated this issue fiercely; Zhu Yijun was merely summarizing.

"Rebel. Controlling social resources that shouldn't belong to them will inevitably lead to usurpation." Wang Qian said sincerely, "But now the Capital Battalion is strong; if they rebel, then we shall just pacify them."

"Wouldn't that just become open robbery? How absurd." Wan Shihe heard this and reprimanded Wang Qian. Wang Qian's line of thinking was still the typical mindset of the powerful gentry: 'If I am stronger, I can openly rob you.' This does not work in the Great Ming's political practice. If the state loses its great credibility and the hearts of the people become suspicious, the world will be in an uproar.

This is also a situation that no one in the Great Ming wants to see.

"The Grand Minister of Rites is right." Wang Qian realized the loophole in his thinking. The Capital Battalion is not always strong, and open, brazen robbery would cause a massive social crisis.

"Censor Wang, have you studied yourself?" Zhu Yijun asked Wang Qian. He observes everywhere every day; has he observed himself?

"This subject is dull-witted." Wang Qian shook his head.

Zhu Yijun changed his approach and asked, "Your logic of 'open robbery' actually has no problem from your standpoint, because the powerful gentry are like this. I ask you, can the powerful gentry not 'eat people'? Or can the powerful gentry not annex land and cruelly exploit those below them?"

"They cannot." After thinking very seriously, Wang Qian replied, "If they don't 'eat people', they will be eaten by others. Therefore, in the Great Ming's 200-year reign, those 'great benevolent people' who didn't want to eat people were long ago purged..."

"Xu Zhenming, the Director of the Baoqi Bureau who is currently farming in the Hetao region—his teacher, Ma Yilong, died because he refused to 'eat people' and settled refugees. After his death, all his achievements were washed away." Zhu Yijun even found an example. Ma Yilong led the people to reclaim wasteland; after he died, all the reclaimed wasteland became desolate again.

Zhu Yijun does not have high requirements for the liberal faction. As long as they advocate for the dissolution of these strong personal dependency relationships and advocate for personal freedom, Zhu Yijun allows them to exist.

Wang Qian suddenly realized and finally understood why his way of thinking was different from the ministers. The imperial court regulates social contradictions above the various classes. If the rules set by the imperial court are repeatedly broken and the promises made cannot be fulfilled again and again, then the imperial court has no credibility at all. An imperial court that is widely unrecognized is no longer an imperial court.

Through dynasties and generations, the cycle never ends. The fall of a dynasty is always accompanied by the high concentration of production materials, the imperial court's inability to regulate social contradictions, and the gradual decline of the imperial court's credibility, even turning negative. Whatever the imperial court says, everyone understands it in the opposite direction.

Wang Qian reported some more news. Private trading houses with entry thresholds have begun to appear. These private trading houses will inevitably gradually become the bookmakers of the trading exchange. The imperial court had long anticipated the emergence of such bookmakers. What Wang Qian must ensure is that the Great Ming imperial court is the largest proprietor of the trading exchange and has a decisive influence on it.

Trading liquidity for stability is the imperial court's trade-off.

The official glass factory is to replace the glass for the Tonghe Palace where the Great Ming Emperor lives. The main purpose is to let the Great Ming Emperor promote the goods; if the Emperor uses them and says they are good, then they are good.

The new process of flat glass truly opened Zhu Yijun's eyes. The transparency of the new glass process is already close to natural crystal. The replacement speed was very fast; it took only one morning for the official factory to replace all the windows.

Great Ming's glass is being scaled up and will soon form a new industrial advantage. Zhu Yijun spent 1,000 taels of silver to buy out this technology, and then increased the price to 2,000 taels to sell it in the Imperial Estates. After purchasing in the Imperial Estates, one can obtain the complete technology, but it cannot be used for dissemination.

In early November of the ninth year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun received news that Mang Yang Yinglong of the Toungoo Dynasty had died.

Last October, Mang Yang Yinglong was defeated by the Portuguese captain Gonçalo Vaz in the Battle of Martaban Bay. He was injured in the war and dragged on for nearly ten months before Mang Yang Yinglong finally couldn't hold on and passed away. After Mang Yang Yinglong died, his incompetent son Mang Yingli succeeded to the throne, and civil strife broke out.

This is not strange. Mang Yang Yinglong spent his whole life in conquest, which can be called militaristic. He frequently used troops against Siam and conscripted a large number of laborers. The land lacked strong men to farm, which aggravated the grain harvest failure. After the Toungoo Dynasty's territory stabilized, it should have rested and recuperated, but when Mang Yang Yinglong died, he was still attacking the Kingdom of Arakan, with his troops reaching the capital of the Arakan Kingdom, Mrauk U.

Mang Yang Yinglong's death was not sudden. The front line at Mrauk U collapsed directly upon hearing of the King's death, and then intense internal contradictions led everyone to lose heart, turning everything into a mess.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Qian, Mu Changzuo, led troops to move to Erhai, and the Yunnan Provincial Governor, Liu Shiceng, also led troops to move to Chuxiong, quickly conscripting tens of thousands of Han and local native troops to guard against the Toungoo Dynasty taking risks.

Mang Yingli, who succeeded to the throne, has the best way to win people's hearts: that is to provoke the Great Ming and defeat the Great Ming.

Using external relief for internal contradictions is a common practice. If you win, you can win everything you want; if you lose, you lose everything.

In the eyes of Mang Yang Yinglong and Mang Yingli, the Great Ming is a dilapidated house that will collapse if kicked.

"Jump, jump higher, and I will beat him to death. The Master said that the war in the Strait of Ma Liujia is not over, so it is not yet time to attack. Play with him first. Has the Imperial Hospital looked at it? Is the Master's illness confirmed to have no root cause?" Zhu Yijun asked about Zhang Juzheng's condition.

Historically, at this point in time, Zhang Juzheng had already begun to be bedridden and could no longer handle affairs, constantly submitting memorials to beg to return to his hometown.

Now, Zhang Juzheng is lively and active, still sitting in the Wenyuange, working like an ox or a horse.

"The Grand Physician said the recovery is very good, there is no problem." Feng Bao answered this question. For such a big matter, the Grand Physicians would not talk nonsense; Zhang Juzheng really recovered very well.

"Call the Master, we are going to the Imperial Academy of Sciences." Zhu Yijun stood up. Before the end of the Ma Liujia Strait war, the Great Ming's southwest policy could only be to wait in full battle array, because without the pincer attack from both land and sea, north and south, wanting to project military power in the southwest was a false proposition; all attacks would be ineffective attacks.

Zhu Yijun is going to see the 7.5-horsepower steam engine. His Imperial Uncle, Zhu Zaiyu, invented a few small things and invited the Emperor to come and inspect them.

The Imperial Academy of Sciences receives nearly one million silver from the Great Ming Emperor every year, and it is in silver coins with higher liquidity stamped by the Directorate of Ceremonial. Therefore, every year, the Imperial Uncle brings the Doctors of the Academy of Sciences to report on their work; he must let His Majesty see that they are not taking silver for nothing without working.

The 7.5-horsepower steam engine, which can produce 1,000 units annually, is the auspicious sign of the Imperial Academy of Sciences this year.

Zhu Yijun called Zhang Juzheng. As the Imperial Tutor and Senior Grand Secretary, at such an important moment, he naturally had to witness it together. Not long after, Zhang Juzheng brought the Minister of Works, Wang Daokun, and arrived at the Tonghe Palace, and then followed the Imperial Carriage to the Imperial Academy of Sciences across the street.

Zhu Yijun led the group into the wide gate and saw the vermilion characters on the shadow wall stone: 【One who practices is one, belief and reality are all—Zhu Zhongxing】. This is Zhu Yijun's requirement for the Doctors of the Academy of Sciences. Over the years, the Doctors of the Academy of Sciences have practiced this principle.

Walking past the shadow wall stone and the Sutra Library, Zhu Yijun arrived inside a row of large rooms in the Academy of Sciences. This is not where steam engines are produced; it is only responsible for experiments. Zhu Yijun specially arranged for a meritorious guard to accompany them, responsible for the safety of this Academy of Sciences. The Doctors of the Academy of Sciences forget to eat and sleep when they research. The meritorious guard accompanying them, leading the Embroidered Uniform Guards, does the most thing every day: making the Doctors of the Academy of Sciences eat on time.

The Academy of Sciences does not engage in production; all realization and implementation of technology are carried out by the Ministry of Works.

"This is a cannon-boring machine. At the very beginning, it used water power to cut the inner diameter of the cannon bore, used for processing the inner walls of cast cannon bores and gun barrels. Now it is also used for boring cylinders." Imperial Uncle Zhu Zaiyu first pulled open the first red silk cloth. Under the red silk cloth was a boring machine.

This boring machine was not so easy to make. Zhu Zaiyu originally didn't want to say how difficult the invention of this boring machine was; His Majesty studied under Zhang Juzheng and only wanted the results.

There are three boring machines in total: one with a long rod for boring cannon bores, one with a short rod for boring musket barrels—these two boring machines can use human power, livestock power, or even iron horses—and one with an extra-long rod, which is the boring machine used for cylinders.

"The processing precision of the cylinder is the key problem of the steam engine. The Doctors of the Academy of Sciences visited mountain hermits everywhere and found a method called 'Fireworking Technique'. It uses foot power to provide power and has seven types of grinding wheels used for processing jade. The 'stone from another mountain' that can attack jade is diamond." Zhu Zaiyu talked about the origin of the boring machine.

(Fireworking Technique)

The power of the Fireworking Technique's boring machine is limited, and there is no cooling. Processing jade is still okay, but processing metal requires improvement. The boring knife's rapid boring will cause the temperature to rise sharply. For this reason, the Great Ming specially added water cooling to the boring machine, constantly sprinkling water to prevent the diamond from burning.

The Great Ming's diamond production is not rich; many are bought as sea goods. The Red-Haired Barbarians sell them as gemstones.

From foot-pedaling to water power to steam power, the Great Ming craftsmen carried out several generations of upgrades before the boring machine became what it looks like now.

And the boring machine is also a necessary tool for producing cylinders. If the inner wall of the cylinder cannot be processed smoothly, airtightness cannot be guaranteed, and the thermal efficiency of the steam engine cannot be improved. Thermal efficiency is closely related to fuel saving, miniaturization, weight reduction, and so on.

The boring machine in front of Zhu Yijun, when processing cylinders, has an inner diameter error of no more than two fen per hundred inches, which is already able to meet the needs of the 7.5-horsepower steam engine.

"Very good, very good." Zhu Yijun circled the boring machine several times and asked how to use it. This is not because Zhu Yijun is young and will be attracted by this kind of machinery; Zhang Juzheng is also discussing with the Emperor with great interest what this thing can do.

Zhu Zaiyu arrived in front of the second red silk cloth, slowly pulled it open, and said, "Thread lathe, used for processing threads. This lathe comes from the France of the West. A craftsman named Besson invented a type of lathe for making screws."

According to Zhu Zaiyu's explanation, Zhu Yijun only then knew that the Great Ming did not obtain the physical object of Besson's thread lathe, but obtained a drawing. In order to promote this lathe, Besson carried his drawings everywhere to sell, but ultimately failed. Great Ming envoys went to Paris twice and accepted all kinds of documents; the drawing was discovered in a religious book.

Zhu Zaiyu is realistic; where the technology comes from, it comes from there. The boring machine was originally possessed by the Great Ming, while the thread lathe was invented by Besson. Now in the hands of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, the thread lathe can already precisely process 6 types of thread pitches, and the error is also no more than two fen per hundred inches.

Zhu Zaiyu introduced a total of seven types of tools used for processing steam engines, and then walked to the last red silk cloth, slowly pulled it open, and said, "Your Majesty, we have increased the thermal efficiency of the steam engine by three times. A 7.5-horsepower steam engine."

Zhu Yijun looked at this steam engine. Compared to the previous three-horsepower steam engine, which was about the size of a one-room apartment, the new steam engine was actually smaller, one zhang and a half long, less than one zhang wide, and about three chi high. Compared to the previous steam engine, the entire steam engine is more integrated. The original three-horsepower locomotive had a dedicated boiler room, but now the boiler is concentrated on the steam engine.

"Is it high-pressure?" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Zaiyu and asked.

Zhu Zaiyu bowed and said, "Returning to Your Majesty, without high temperature and high pressure, it is impossible to break through the shackles of three horsepower."

This involves the dispute over the steam engine's route. Generally speaking, high-pressure, high-temperature steam from high-pressure boilers is used for steam turbines, while reciprocating steam engines use 100° steam, which is considered low temperature and low pressure by comparison.

And what Zhu Zaiyu insists on is the high-pressure, high-temperature steam turbine. The high-pressure, high-temperature technology is used on the reciprocating steam engine. As the Dean of the Academy of Sciences and as a leading authority, he did not hinder the development of the reciprocating steam engine; on the contrary, he used his own research insights to improve the reciprocating steam engine.

"This year, the official lathe factory has been built, and an annual output of 1,000 units is not a problem." Wang Daokun immediately bowed and said.

The output of the three-horsepower steam engine was no more than 200 units before, but now the Ministry of Works is talking about 1,000 units of 7.5-horsepower steam engines. This is related to the continuous maturity of technology and also to market demand.

And the selling price of a 7.5-horsepower steam engine is the same as that of a three-horsepower steam engine.

"I also ask Your Majesty to bestow a name." Zhu Zaiyu bowed and said. The steam engine, developed to this point, finally has the qualification to ask His Majesty for a name.

"Let's call it Shengping No. 1." Zhu Yijun patted the steam engine, gave it a name, and asked about the steam engine. He was very curious about the centrifugal pendulum governor. Zhu Zaiyu explained its principle in detail and also gave a live demonstration.

When Zhu Yijun left the Imperial Academy of Sciences, he was in high spirits and discussed with Zhang Juzheng the changes that the steam engine might bring to the Great Ming. And Zhang Juzheng is the kind of person who does it as soon as he thinks of it. He immediately decided to list the steam engine as a prohibited item for sale and strictly prohibited the outflow of steam engine technology.

The steam engine is assembled from individual parts. The craftsmen in the lathe factory only know how to make parts according to requirements and do not know how they operate when assembled together. According to Zhang Juzheng, this is a heavy weapon of the state. It is not that it is not allowed to be used by the people, but that it should not flow overseas.

Even if the banknote method is implemented, it still requires the continuous inflow of silver.

Zhu Yijun suddenly stopped. That is the direction of the Military Academy, where a willow tree is planted. It is already winter, and there is no green on the branches. This tree was the tree planted by Yu Dayou when he built the Military Academy to mark the boundary. Yu Dayou planted it himself. At that time, it was just a sapling, but in a trance, it has grown so much.

"Your Majesty?" Zhang Juzheng was a little strange. His Majesty was talking and suddenly fell silent, suddenly stopping.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

The impeachment of the treacherous officials Wang Daokun and Wang Guoguang did not come to an end because Lin Fucheng debated the Confucian scholars, but instead became more intense. Even though the liberal faction recognized the profit tax, the expansion of Yanxing Tower, and the Ministry of Works' ambiguity about the Xishan Coal Bureau, the attacks by the Censorate officials on the two ministers never stopped.

Since the profit tax was forcibly levied on October 10th, waves of opposition have followed one after another, but fortunately, no one discussed the profit tax soon. Everyone aimed at the abyss of human nature being evil: the Yanxing Tower Trading Exchange.

It is no wonder that the scholar-officials sprayed wildly; Zhu Yijun also felt dark before his eyes after reading it.

On October 24th, news suddenly spread in the Yanxing Tower Trading Exchange that the Suiyuan post road, under the pressure of the wind of the court's Censorate officials, would not collect road tolls, and the Great Ming would no longer set up banknote customs and sub-bureaus. On that day, the ticket certificates for the Suiyuan post road plummeted from five silver per sheet directly to four silver, a drop of as much as 20%. Panic began to spread, but this price did not continue to fall, but stabilized and fluctuated around four silver for three days.

Afterwards, this news was falsified by informed sources; it was fake, it was a rumor. Although the Censorate officials were indeed remonstrating, the imperial court had no intention of changing orders in the morning and changing them in the evening. The post road ticket certificates rose again, rising back to five silver that day, and the next day it skyrocketed to five taels and five qian of silver. This growth was because of the 7.5-horsepower steam engine and the establishment of the official lathe factory.

Three days later, the post road ticket certificates rose to six taels and five qian of silver, and then plummeted again, because the lathe factory's capacity was only 1,000 units per year. The Great Ming is so big, what can 1,000 units do?

After tossing and turning, it finally returned to five taels of silver.

At least 200 people lost money in this abyss this time. They had more than one ticket certificate in their hands, ranging from ten to a hundred. Selling at four silver and buying at six and a half silver, inside and out, each post road ticket certificate lost two and a half taels of silver. It can be said that they lost their wife and lost their soldiers, causing the shipping ticket certificates to rise fiercely instead. Compared to the post road that is fighting for the future, the shipping ticket certificates are more reliable and stable.

Speculative culture is angrily denounced as the abyss of human nature being evil. It is not unreasonable to blame it, because Wang Qian soon discovered that this surge and plunge was man-made.

A certain private trading house deliberately caused it. They spread news to cause panic, bought a large number of ticket certificates, then spread good news to pull up the price, cleared the post road ticket certificates in their hands, and then spread bad news to cause the ticket certificate price to return to normal, and then bought again.

This is the bookmaker. Between laughing and talking, they waved the sharp sickle in their hands and harvested the leeks twice.

This private trading house not only has wealthy households from Xitucheng but also Jin merchants and Jin people. In less than 15 days of operation, this private trading house profited more than 23,000 silver in this shock.

This is clearly malicious manipulation. If this behavior is not restricted, the trading exchange will soon lose its rationality and completely become a casino, a feast for speculators, and its role will not be played. The purpose of raising funds for important projects will inevitably fail. However, to punish, there is a lack of written legal basis.

In the end, Zhu Yijun had to use the "non-punitive justice," confiscating the proceeds of this manipulation and prohibiting everyone in this private trading house from entering the trading exchange to buy and sell ticket certificates. This restricted their entry. This punishment was neither light nor heavy, just right.

Since ancient times, money has moved people's hearts. If it were just a small business of a few dozen taels of silver, these powerful gentry could still find a broker or agent to bring a vest to continue trading. But the ticket certificate business involves thousands of taels of silver, which is testing the hearts of brokers and agents with silver. Which broker or agent can withstand such a test?

The criticism of the Yanxing Tower Trading Exchange in the court has never ceased, and most of them extend from the criticism of the trading exchange to the criticism of the Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. After all, it was they who initiated the expansion.

"Your Majesty, the Senior Grand Secretary Wang is waiting outside the hall." Feng Bao whispered to remind His Majesty. In the past two days, the discussion about the trading exchange in the court has been quite intense, making His Majesty a little upset.

"Proclaim."

Wang Chonggu and the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Lu Shusheng, came together. The Emperor's intention for this audience was very clear: the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review should formulate detailed regulations to fill the gap in this area.

"Previously, it was considered that the law did not prohibit it. The Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review should seize the time to fill this gap." Zhu Yijun gave clear instructions. The Emperor's "non-punitive justice" is one of the means to fill the gap in this era, but it is better to have written regulations.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Lu Shusheng, said, "Consider it a criminal case."

Lu Shusheng felt that His Majesty's punishment was too light, that is, confiscating the proceeds and prohibiting entry into the market. This is just an administrative penalty and cannot play a deterrent effect at all. This means of manipulating ticket certificates should be included in the criminal name. If caught, give a few whips. If not drawn well, those who know the law and break it, and those who know it and commit it, will be punished with a stick, and exiled for five years. It just so happens that Suiyuan lacks people to build roads.

"What does the Senior Grand Secretary Wang think?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu, the attitude of the Minister of Justice and Senior Grand Secretary.

"This subject... thinks it is better not to enter the criminal name." Wang Chonggu told the truth. That's what he thought. On the road of reform, he was never afraid of problems, but afraid of knowing there were problems and choosing to avoid them. Wang Chonggu's words had a suspicion of avoiding problems.

The expansion of the Yanxing Tower Trading Exchange is to increase the liquidity of silver. If the law is too strict, who would be willing to enter the market? The source-less water will inevitably dry up. If the Yanxing Tower Trading Exchange has no new players, it will inevitably become a pool of stagnant water.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 457 =====