I didn't stay in Songjiang for a long time, but I only briefly learned about the development of Songjiang's cotton textile industry.

Feng Ziying has the impression that all kinds of historical books say that the female weaver among the male farmers and women weavers in every household in Jiangnan with Songjiang as a model is the "main culprit" that led to the failure of China's industrial revolution in the textile industry.

In other words, the reason why the germination of Chinese capitalism failed to really arise is that the male ploughing and female weaving model under the Ming Dynasty and the internal circulation model of all commercial operations make China do not need to liberate the industrial revolution of the productive forces, because this special "female weaving" has almost no labor cost model, which completely stifles the possibility of textile technology change that wants to liberate the productive forces, and then it is difficult for capitalism, mercantilism and foreign colonialism to develop, so that this closed and difficult model has lost its endogenous power for development. This eventually led to the overall backwardness of China from the seventeenth century onwards.

It was in this era that Europe officially began the era of great navigation and colonization, which allowed them to continue to win the first opportunity in the open pattern, and then began to dominate.

It is also difficult for Feng Ziying to say whether it is because of this reason that China has become increasingly closed and backward since 1600, and the Manchu principle of domination of China has continued to strengthen this closed model, but in this time and space, he certainly cannot tolerate the recurrence of this situation.

Since the Great Zhou has appeared, with him, the future of East Asia, and even Asia and the world, should be a pattern in which the Great Zhou and European countries compete and win.

Not only Southeast Asia, Central Asia, North Asia and North America, but it is natural that Da Zhou should be given a spoonful of soup, and this spoonful should also have the largest share.

After inspecting this pattern of women's weaving in the entire Songjiang Prefecture, Feng Ziying also had to admit that for Da Zhou, which is similar to the situation of the Ming Dynasty, this kind of women's weaving is indeed a model for rural housewives like Jiangnan to get the best labor remuneration, and if you want to completely break this model and adopt the process of industrialization, the key is how to liberate these women and put them into the factory.

This is not a technical issue, but a matter of ritual and patriarchal etiquette.

Whether it is a shuttle or Jenny spinning machine, a water-powered spinning machine or even a Muir spinning machine, it is not difficult for Feng Ziying.

In his previous life, when he was a university student, he was very obsessed with the causes and processes of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, so he spent a lot of time researching, even including technical iterations, and he was a good student to study it, so that he was reprimanded by university teachers as not doing his job.

Therefore, he can't say that he is familiar with the basic technology in these aspects, but as long as he can find a few skilled craftsmen, through his own guidance and after a lot of exploration, then it is not a problem to probably build a few prototypes that may not be completely consistent.

But if there were no women who could get out of the house and go to the factories to spin and weave, how could the industrial revolution liberate the productive forces?

Do they all use young and strong men?

Is it possible for them to operate machines in factories to compete with the women who sit at home spinning and weaving? Is it appropriate?

Feng Ziying didn't know what the outcome would become.

Feng Ziying also knows very well that relying on a single person's golden finger, even if it can promote the leap of a technology and the development of an industry in a certain period of time, this cannot be sustained, or even sustainable.

In order to truly achieve this goal, in the final analysis, it is necessary to carry out a thorough transformation from the system, productive forces and production relations, business models, and even the ideological and public opinion cognition of the whole society, and from the gradual cultivation and trial and error of education and training and various industries to make a living.

The problem is that this is a long-term process, and the scholars and officials inside and outside the government and the opposition are sluggish and numb to this, and they will not make any changes at all unless they are pushed to the extreme.

Just like this opening of the sea, if it weren't for the fact that the imperial court's financial resources were so empty that it endangered the security of the Nine Sides and even directly faced the dangerous situation of foreign people drinking horses in the Central Plains, they would not have made such a compromise.

Looking at a house like Songjiang, you can imagine that the entire Jiangnan like Songjiang is a year where thousands of women sit in their houses and spin and weave cloth and work continuously.

The traders would deliver cotton to their homes every day or every few days, and then collect the cloth they had woven, dye and finish it, and eventually gather it together and sell it to every inch of the Great Zhou by boat and wagon.

This number can be as high as tens of millions of horses per year!

Feng Ziying felt a kind of loneliness that no one could complain about.

From Songjiang to Suzhou, from cotton textile to silk textile, silk textile is certainly different from cotton textile, but the problem is that silk textile is basically the pattern of export and luxury goods, and how many people can really afford silk consumption in the whole Great Zhou?

The demand for cotton textiles also covers the entire people of Dazhou, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

Opening the sea can only be said to be the first step, but it is really difficult to say how much lasting power it can bring.

"Ziying, why do you feel that your mood is not high?" Fan Jingwen and He Fengsheng accompanied Feng Ziying on the white embankment in Hangzhou.

Wang Wenyan stayed in Suzhou, and it is estimated that he will come to Hangzhou one step later.

"A little." Feng Ziying didn't hide anything from these two.

Feng Ziying has always tried to let her classmates and friends slowly accept her views and ideas.

In his opinion, these people are younger than these officials who have been rolling in the officialdom for many years, and it is easier to accept new things, and they do not have so many worries about the future.

This has proven to be basically true, but it may not be entirely true.

Like Fan Jingwen and He Fengsheng, they did gradually accept many new ideas during this period of following Feng Ziying, but Cui Jingrong, who Feng Ziying once didn't have much hope, was unexpected by Feng Ziying, and understood and supported many of Feng Ziying's ideas.

However, Wei Guangwei and Wu Liangsi, who still had some hope, have not made much progress, not to mention Sun Juxiang.

"What's wrong? Before, weren't you very optimistic about the silk industry in Suzhou and Hangzhou? He Fengsheng asked in surprise: "We have seen it and done some investigations, and it does have great potential for development." ”

"Their silk weaving technology is incomparable, a wide variety of colors, unique styles, I am afraid that Yangzhou, Jinling are inferior, Hangzhou silk and Suzhou satin are famous overseas, and they also have a large number of hired workers, skilled, I also specifically asked, if you want to expand production, how to solve the problem of hiring workers and looms, they say that looms are very easy to solve, this Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Jinling, Huzhou have workshops specializing in the production of this kind of looms, as long as there is demand, at most three months can be produced, as for hired workers, they also said to the old with the new, Maybe there will be some impact in the first few months, but half a year, or even less than half a year, then it will be all familiar. ”

After following Feng Ziying for a long time, He Fengsheng and the others gradually accepted Feng Ziying's own newly coined words, such as this "industry", Feng Ziying's explanation is that an industry that can have a specific output can be named an industry.

In fact, the term is not new, the original industry is more understood as a property business, or the business of accumulating property, but Feng Ziying gave it a new definition, that is, an industry that can be different from other industries and can produce output that is beneficial to the whole society.

"Then it seems that these businessmen have also realized the changes that the opening of the sea may bring and are making preparations?" Feng Ziying's mood was slightly better.

"Of course, do you think these people can't do without eyeliner in the court?" Fan Jingwen said coldly: "It's just that this opening of the sea is beneficial to Jiangnan, but it is not of much value to our north, Ziying, the problem over there in Denglai, you haven't said how to solve it." ”

Fan Jingwen's trip to Jiangnan was particularly touched, and he was deeply aware of the huge gap between the north and Jiangnan, which also made him a little anxious.

The strategy of opening the sea is a great promotion for the development of the entire Jiangnan, but what about the north?

Nothing.

Even the original plan to build a shipyard in Denglai, build sea ships, and promote the shipping route between Liaodong-Denglai-Songjiang, so that grain and cloth from the south of the Yangtze River can be directly transported to Liaodong, so as to reduce the logistical pressure of Liaodong to the greatest extent, has now run aground.

Looking at the dilapidated appearance of the two major shipyards in Longjiang and Qingjiang and the lazy loss of craftsmen, and then thinking about the sea ships needed for the high sea route, Fan Jingwen did not believe that the power of the imperial court could quickly build a shipyard in Denglai to meet the needs.

Fan Jingwen had already made up his mind, and as soon as he returned to Beijing, he would mobilize the northern scholars and classmates to suggest to Qi Yongtai, Zhang Jingqiu and others that if the imperial court could not come up with a solution, then this strategy of opening up the sea could not be allowed so easily.

Of course, if Feng Ziying can come up with a convincing strategy, it will be a different matter.

"Mengzhang, now I want to completely rely on the imperial court to solve the problem of shipping in Denglai and Liaodong, I think it is unrealistic, it is most appropriate to encourage and support private businessmen to go to Denglai or even Liaodong to set up a shipyard, but the private power is limited, so how can the imperial court support it? I've already said this situation, craftsmen and technicians, money and silver credit, court orders, and policy support are all indispensable, but you also know that Lord Wei, Lord Wu, and Lord Sun are all resolutely opposed,...... "Feng Ziying spread her hands, "What? ”

"A bunch of Lu Li!" Fan Jingwen hated and said, if these people were southerners, he would have argued with the other party regardless of their dignity and humility, but these Wei Guangwei and Sun Juxiang are both northerners, and Wu Liangsi is from Huguang, if you want to say that everyone is in the same trench, but when it comes to the interests of their respective departments, even if they are all northerners, they have to take care of it.

The total technicians are all from the Ministry of Engineering, how can they be said to be drawn out?

Where does the money and silver credit come from? It must be out of the household, so how can it be done?

It has nothing to do with the imperial court's order shipbuilding and Qingjiang Longjiang Shipyard, and the deposit must be paid first, and neither the Ministry of Industry nor the Ministry of Household can agree.

In addition, the imperial court has to give other support, which is even more generous than the imperial court's own, what has become of this?

Even if you get it to the cabinet, I'm afraid it won't be able to pass either.