Chapter 819: The Pros and Cons of Commerce

Yancheng.

Since the order for Civil-to-Military Conversion was issued, Zhao Xu had been personally monitoring the matter.

On one hand, it was to supervise; on the other, he wanted to witness firsthand how much war potential the workshops of Yanzhou could unleash under the Civil-to-Military Conversion.

"Your Highness, this humble official has selected the most capable female workers from the Spinning Mill to go to the Armory to learn about lathes and the polishing of parts. Once the Lathe Workshop delivers the lathes, this humble official will renovate the workshop and officially begin manufacturing parts for the rifles," the manager of the Spinning Mill said, pointing to the Steam Engine in the Spinning Mill.

Some craftsmen were currently dismantling the parts connecting the Steam Engine to the spinning machines.

At present, these Steam Engines were used to drive the spinning machines, but with slight modifications, they could be used to drive lathes.

In this way, the Spinning Mill could be transformed into a military workshop.

Zhao Xu nodded.

After the Civil-to-Military Conversion, the designated workshops sent their craftsmen to the Armory one after another.

He ordered Wang Ying to select craftsmen who had mastered the manufacturing technology of the Qin-series Rifle to teach them specifically.

Let different workshops manufacture different parts, produce them via an Assembly Line, and finally assemble them.

This Spinning Mill was one of the requisitioned workshops.

However, since this Civil-to-Military Conversion was only a trial run.

The requisitioned workshops were only a small fraction of each industry.

For instance, this Spinning Mill—after private workshops were permitted in Jiangbei, spinning mills of all sizes had sprung up in Yanzhou like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Aside from the state-run spinning mills, in a short period of time, fifty-six spinning mills had registered with the Commerce Department in Yanzhou alone.

In addition to spinning mills, there were Weaving Mills, Soap Workshops, Glass Workshops, Cement Workshops, and so on.

Of course, key workshops such as Steel Workshops, Wine Workshops, and salt workshops were still only permitted to be state-run.

Because the technology for Converter Steelmaking had not yet been mastered even in the current Western Lands, it naturally had to be kept secret.

And the profits from wine and salt were the most lucrative; they had been controlled by the government since ancient times as an important source of revenue.

In short, his principle was that ordinary civilian technology could be opened up.

The Imperial Court would profit by collecting patent fees and taxes from these workshops, no longer monopolizing these industries.

But core technologies must remain in the hands of official workshops.

In the future, as the level of industry improved, they would be opened to the public step by step.

To this end, he specifically ordered Yang He to compile a list, placing certain technologies on a restricted list that could not be provided to the Patent Office.

However, even for the civilian technologies permitted to be opened, they could only circulate within Jiangbei; merchants who obtained the technology were not allowed to pass it on privately for profit, much less smuggle patented technology to foreign countries without the consent of the Patent Office.

He also established an Inspection Court within the Patent Office, responsible for investigating merchants who privately passed on technology.

Once discovered, depending on the severity, they would be subject to huge fines, causing them to lose their entire fortune while also being imprisoned, with the death penalty as the maximum.

In addition to the inspection teams, he also required the Martial Marquis Office of each prefecture and county to cooperate with the inspection teams to supervise lawbreakers.

Since ancient times, as long as there was a three-hundred-percent profit, merchants would dare to commit acts that cost them their heads.

He needed to rely on commerce to make Great Song prosperous,

but he never wished to be devoured by commerce.

Therefore, he had to put shackles on commerce from the very beginning, lest they completely let themselves run wild.

At the same time, Great Song's future attitude toward private commerce would always be limited opening, insisting on state-run workshops as the mainstay, supplemented by private workshops.

Firstly, this was to increase competition, lest the state-run workshops become complacent and waste resources.

Secondly, the Imperial Court needed to control official capital that was stronger than private capital.

Otherwise, once private capital had crooked intentions, Great Song's industry and commerce would fall into paralysis.

And by controlling the official capital that held the lifeline of Great Song, he was equivalent to the Buddha; no matter how the Sun Wukong jumped, he could not jump out of his five-finger mountain.

With one slap, he could suppress it under the five-finger mountain.

Thinking this, he left this state-run Spinning Mill.

Afterward, he went to the Weaving Mill, agricultural machinery workshops, and other workshops.

Like the Spinning Mill, these workshops were all undergoing renovations, preparing to join the mission of Civil-to-Military Conversion.

Having inspected for five or six consecutive days, Zhao Xu was very satisfied with the effectiveness of the Civil-to-Military Conversion.

Delivering 120,000 Qin-series Rifles within the month would likely be no problem.

Perhaps they needed half a month to learn and renovate.

But with so many workshops, as long as they officially went into production, 120,000 Qin-series Rifles would flow out of the production lines like water.

During the era of the contemporary Great War, it was not rare for European countries to produce one million rifles in a month for the needs of war.

And during his inspection, the Four Courts continuously reported the situation in Jiangnan to him.

He learned that Liang Kai had arrived in Bazhou, and a large number of Wu troops were advancing toward the coast of Jiujiang.

He had no choice but to order Chang Wei to mobilize 30,000 troops to station along the Jiangbei line to respond.

Although he was clear that this might just be a move by Wu to stretch his defensive lines, he could not afford not to guard against it.

Otherwise, if the opponent seized a loophole to cross the river, it would cause huge destruction to the countryside of Jiangbei, and production and construction would both be affected.

However, as a result, the Prince's Personal Army responding to Zhongling Pass was left with only 70,000 men.

In addition to deploying the Prince's Personal Army, to ensure the safety of Jiangbei, he sent another order to Zhou Yi, telling him to ensure that twelve steamships and Sailing Warships were patrolling Jiujiang.

Originally, after the Battle of Jinling, Zhou Yi had withdrawn eight of the twelve steamships and stationed them in Yizhou to guard against accidents.

Now he had no choice but to call them back.

"Warships must continue to be churned out like dumplings, otherwise there won't be enough," in the Prince's study, looking at the map on the wall, Zhao Xu sighed.

He decided to inspect the newly built Shipyard.

Although this Civil-to-Military Conversion only involved the manufacturing of Qin-series Rifles.

But at present for Great Song, the matter of churning out warships like dumplings was equally urgent.

In the war against Dongying, the Yanzhou Fleet annihilated the British fleet; the British will certainly not let this rest.

The Sam Country, which has designated Dongying as its own sphere of influence, will not simply accept defeat either.

In the foreseeable future, a large number of warships from the Western Lands will surely gather in Dongtu, intending to reclaim maritime hegemony over Dongtu.

This struggle for maritime hegemony will be continuous and cruel.

One or even several major naval battles are unavoidable.

And this requires the Yanzhou Fleet to commission more warships.

Currently, merely guarding Dongying and controlling Jiujiang makes the number of warships seem stretched thin.

If their large fleets arrive, he will be forced into a passive position at sea.

Fortunately, at the end of last year, he instructed Chen Shou to send men to expand the number of Shipyards.

Now, more Shipyards can work together to "drop dumplings" 【launch ships】.

Just as he was thinking about this, Feng'er reported that the Minister of Works, Zou Rong, requested an audience.

Zhao Xu vaguely guessed why and, wearing an expectant expression, ordered him to enter.

Before long, Zou Rong appeared in the study with a face full of joy, "Your Highness, I have come today to bring you good news."

"Does that mean a certain section of the Railway currently under construction will soon be open to traffic?" Zhao Xu laughed.

Aside from this matter, he could not think of anything else that would make Zou Rong so happy.

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