Chapter 699: Problems

"Reporting to Your Highness, after the establishment of the military commissions in each commandery, the military commissions in each county have now been established one after another. From now on, they will be responsible for the recruitment of conscripts, the consolation and pension of soldiers, and the arrangements for retired officers and soldiers, etc..."

After Liu Fu, Yang Feng began to introduce the situation of the military reforms to Zhao Xu.

"In addition, since the Prince's Personal Army went south, another 100,000 sets of military uniforms have been delivered," Yang Feng said at the end.

Zhao Xu nodded.

In the current military, Chang Wei is responsible for campaigns, while Yang Feng is responsible for the logistics of the army.

This logistics, besides grain and fodder, military uniforms, soldiers' food, and other miscellaneous items, also includes the military commissions established due to the reforms.

From now on, the military commissions of each commandery and county will send conscripts to the army for training during the annual recruitment season.

"How is the current trade situation?" Zhao Xu turned to Yang He again and asked.

Yang He frowned slightly, "Due to the war, trade has been significantly affected. Among them, bulk commodities such as paper, cloth, and Soap have been affected the most, while luxury goods such as Fine Wine, Perfume, and Glass have been affected less."

"As for trade with Gaoli, after our high-quality and inexpensive cloth entered their market, it quickly defeated the local hand-woven cloth. Now, what is sold in Gaoli cloth shops is basically our cloth. However, according to intelligence provided by Chai Wu, some Gaoli officials are discussing banning cloth from Yanzhou, claiming that these cloths have taken away the livelihood of the common people."

Liu Fu chimed in at this moment, "Your Highness, it is not just Gaoli; the people of Yanzhou also have many complaints, saying that the cloth they worked so hard to weave cannot be sold. A few days ago, a village head near Yancheng even came into the city to request that the Weaving Mill be shut down."

"This is the trend of the times. When they bought cheap yarn from the Spinning Mill, they were all praising the machine-made cotton yarn as cheap and good. Now that the cloth cannot be sold, they are unhappy instead," Yang He shook his head, "Could it be that because they object, we must shut down all the Weaving Mills?"

"Naturally not," Liu Fu said, "However, we must find ways to think of more livelihoods for the people."

Having said that, he looked at Zhao Xu.

"Aren't the examples of the Spinning Mill and the Weaving Mill right in front of us? This is a livelihood, and besides, other Workshops can also recruit some female workers," Zhao Xu pondered for a while and said.

He had long anticipated this problem; after all, there is plenty of experience to be drawn from contemporary history.

When the Steam Engine replaced human labor and the Steam Locomotive galloped on the Railway, the people at that time were full of fear.

This is the replacement of old things by new things, which inevitably leads to the destruction of some traditional industries.

It is only natural that practitioners of traditional industries are dissatisfied.

However, he will not be affected by these small setbacks. Compared with the more than two hundred years of industrial development in the Western Lands, if Yanzhou wants to catch up in just a few years, the changes will certainly be very drastic.

But he cannot choose not to do so, otherwise, if the demands of some traditional interest groups are met, it is industrial development that will be affected.

In the end, they will still be bullied by the cannons and Giant Ships of the Western Lands.

So on this issue, his attitude is very firm.

After all, he is looking forward while standing on the shoulders of giants, while the people of Yanzhou cannot see that far.

"Although that is said,

however, men are still unwilling to let their wives and concubines show their faces in public," Liu Fu said. The female workers in the Spinning Mill and the Weaving Mill were mostly slaves once purchased by the Prince's Mansion.

Very few women from commoner families have entered the Workshops.

"This is the problem that you, the Prime Minister, must solve next," Zhao Xu said in a deep voice, "The development of industry requires a large population, especially for the Spinning Mill and the Weaving Mill. In the future, there will be other Workshops suitable for female workers. We must change some of the stubborn ideas of the current Song People, such as some of the dross in Confucianism."

According to Zhao Xu's understanding, there are no Confucius, Mencius, or Mozi in this world, but many sages were born all the same.

Among them, one lineage has been passed down to become the national learning of the Great Song, and its name is also Confucianism.

However, this Confucianism is not the contemporary Confucianism.

After all, the character "Ru" refers to scholars, so it is normal for them to have the same name.

However, like the contemporary Confucianism, the Confucianism of the Great Song also has a lot of dross.

To Zhao Xu, this dross must be erased, otherwise, the scholars of the Great Song will still be slaves to Confucianism.

He also does not need Confucianism to help him rule the world; instead, he wants a hundred schools of thought to contend.

"This..." For the first time, facing Zhao Xu's order, Liu Fu hesitated.

He understood what Zhao Xu wanted to do, but if he did so, he worried that Yan Wang would offend the scholars of the world.

Zhao Xu stared at Liu Fu, faintly guessing his thoughts.

But he must do this. Once the powerful officials are defeated, officials like Liu Fu who were born into humble families will become a new class, the Scholar-official class.

By then, Confucianism will become a tool for the Scholar-official class to oppose the Imperial Clan and seek benefits.

In contemporary history, the aristocratic clans perished in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and what followed was the birth of the Scholar-official class.

The Donglin Party of the Ming Dynasty initially used the College to lecture on Confucianism, gathering a large group of so-called pure officials.

With this as a warning, he naturally wants to try his best to avoid this situation.

However, to do this, although Liu Fu is the Prime Minister, I am afraid his weight in the minds of Confucian scholars is not enough.

He already has a suitable candidate in his heart.

So he said, "This matter requires a method. This Prince will send you a person, and you only need to cooperate with them when the time comes."

"Yes, Your Highness," Liu Fu replied.

Finally, Zhao Xu smiled and looked at Wang Ying and his son; only they two would bring him good news instead of throwing a pile of trouble at him.

Catching Zhao Xu's gaze, Wang Chong smiled, "During the time Your Highness was not here, the Converter smelted the first batch of steel. Compared with Crucible Steel, the quality of this batch of steel is a level higher."

Wang Ying said, "I have already used this batch of steel to cast gun barrels. The new type of Rifled Musket will be able to carry more Yellow Gunpowder and exert maximum power."

Zhao Xu smiled, feeling a sense of relief.

Once the problem of mass steel smelting is solved, the industry of Yanzhou will take off.

"Besides this, the large Steam Engine that Your Highness asked me to research and build is about to have one unit assembled," Wang Chong continued.

The smile on Zhao Xu's face grew even wider. When he asked Chen Shou to research and build the Steamship, he had already asked Wang Chong to research and build a large Steam Engine.

After all, the small Steam Engine used for Workshops lacks the power to propel a ship forward.

With a production line capable of manufacturing large Steam Engines, whether it is a Steam Locomotive or a Steamship, everything will fall into place.

Among them, the Steam Engine can transport commercial goods and mineral products, which is crucial to the development of industry.

And laying the Railway to frontier areas like the Ningjin Dusi will help him expand his territory.

The importance of the Steamship is even more self-evident.

With this thing, the efficiency of water transportation will be greatly improved.

He also no longer needed to worry about the Steamships the British had deployed in Dongtu.

Furthermore, with the manufacturing experience of Steamships, the next step was to possess the capability to manufacture Ironclad Warships.