Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Ministry of Works' Squire Lifts the World's Workshop Affairs

When Zhu Qizhen changed his clothes and returned to the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, Liu Dingzhi, the first assistant of the cabinet, Ma Ang, the secretary of the household department, and Wang Fu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, were already waiting here.

Zhu Qizhen sat on the dragon chair, stroked his sleeves, and said, "Sit, wait here, what's the matter?" ”

Liu Dingzhi said: "Your Majesty, today the Guozhang wants to build Foshan Iron Works, and the ministers don't know how to start, so please ask Your Majesty to know it." ”

In fact, when this matter reached the cabinet, Liu Dingzhi's first reaction was that Maang didn't know what to do?

This kind of thing is just gone. Still want to submit upwards?

It's not that Liu Dingzhi is lazy, it's really the brilliance of the Ming court's management of the people of the world with 20,000 or 30,000 bureaucrats is that more is better than less.

The beauty of this cannot be explained in a few words.

To put it simply, the state apparatus of the feudal dynasty must not be compared with the state apparatus of later generations.

If we talk about the state apparatus of later generations, it is a machine that runs precisely and has countless combinations of gears. There is a dynamic aspect to his very existence.

But the feudal state apparatus is like a big wooden shelf.

If there is no big action, it can also shelter the people from the wind and rain, but the bigger the action, the greater the gap between the wood and the wood.

In the end, before the day when the wood decays, the connection between the wood and the wood is already loose.

From this point of view, in fact, the Empress Dowager stopped everything that was not urgent and rested with the people. When Liu Dingzhi was below, he still had something to do, but when he arrived at the position of the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, he wanted to do more than less.

In fact, it is a thorough understanding of the nature of the state apparatus of the Ming Dynasty.

This is also the reason why many people oppose Zhu Qizhen in their hearts and keep tossing.

Because before seeing the benefits, the harm was seen first.

If it weren't for the fact that the person who said this thing was the national abbot, and Liu Dingzhi even learned that the people of the Xian family in Foshan had been talking with the emperor for about an hour.

This one thing still has to be suppressed.

Zhu Qizhen said: "With Liu Qing's intentions, what should I do? ”

Liu Dingzhi pondered for a while.

If this matter is handed over to someone else to deal with, it will definitely be unclear, because although Shaofu is already an important part of the Ming economy, it really pulls knowledge out of books and puts it into reality. There are not many people who really pay attention to how the Shaofu Workshop is different from before.

Liu Dingzhi is one of them.

After all, many of these things were founded by Liu Ding.

Liu Dingzhi listened to Zhu Qizhen's words, and knew that this matter was irreversible, so he tried his best to control this matter within the scope of his strength.

But in a moment, Liu Dingzhi had a thought.

Liu Dingzhi said

Said: "Since Taizu, the imperial court has not banned the iron industry, although there are official enterprises, but there are also private enterprises, after all, there is no problem with the prohibition of the mountains and rivers, and the matter of Foshan Iron Works. But the mines gather people, and the iron industry is even more so, and the minister has heard that the land of Foshan is already prosperous in the iron industry, and the imperial court has also purchased artillery from this place. ”

"If the iron industry is booming, the number of miners is 100,000, and the remoteness of Lingnan, once something happens, Guangdong cannot be controlled. Hence ------"

Liu Dingzhi said this, and his eyes secretly glanced at Zhu Qizhen.

I hope to impress Zhu Qizhen.

This is also Liu Dingzhi's biggest concern.

Although the Zunhua Iron Works is large, really speaking, the people who serve the Zunhua Iron Works, from coal mines, iron ore to preliminary processing, smelting, casting, and then transportation from the iron works, the manpower used in this series of behaviors has roughly exceeded more than 100,000 miners.

However, the entire production line is under the control of Shaofu. Liu Dingzhi can rest assured. But if a factory is located in Guangdong, it is placed in Foshan.

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Liu Dingzhi will naturally be worried.

It's just that seeing Zhu Qizhen's expressionless face and the words that seem to be full of hints to himself, he didn't react at all, and he knew that the emperor had made up his mind and couldn't be persuaded to do so.

He changed his words and said: "Therefore, we must strengthen management and prevent micro problems. ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "This is the words of the old Cheng to seek the country, since the beginning of the ban, there have been people in various places to open mines, and the mines are to calm the people, and my wish is also, but the unscrupulous people gather in the mountains and fields, and they are unpredictable, such as Ye Liuzong's generation, and there are not a few. That's what I'm worried about. Does Liu Qing have a good plan? ”

Zhu Qizhen is naturally not only for the Foshan Iron Works, which has not yet been shadowed, but also for the control of such an industry with a large number of people.

First and foremost, it is not industry.

Most of the Ming Dynasty is handicrafts, and what can really be touched by industry is the industry of Shaofu.

First and foremost is mining.

Mining is the place where the largest number of displaced people gather.

This is the place that has changed the most since Zhu Qizhen's ban.

In the past six months, there have been many people mining in Fujian, Jiangxi, southern Zhejiang, western Hubei, Dabie Mountains, and Taihang Mountains.

Of course, the number of gold, silver and copper mines is not too much, but in addition to gold, silver and copper mines, the people of the Ming Dynasty also need a lot of minerals, and the most important thing in the north is coal mines.

Because although the people of Hebei were a little richer, they began to settle accounts.

Is it better to spend some money and stock up on coal for a winter, or do you go to collect firewood every autumn and hoard it, but it may not be enough in winter?

The structure of fuel used by the people as a whole has changed from simply using firewood to using a combination of coal and firewood. Complementing each other, it also varies depending on the population density and the availability of coal.

In the south, especially in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, the three most densely populated provinces, there are more people mining in the south.

In this way, the situation is becoming more and more intense.

But is the government regulated?

No.

The Ming officials did not go into the mountains to see what the mines looked like, but only to see the license plates they reported in the county, and the taxes they paid, but also how much they said.

Of course, filial piety is indispensable.

At most, send one or two officials to take a look.

As for how much was mined in this mine, how many people were used, whether these people had a household registration, whether they were black households, or whether this property was inherited, was it the result of their cannibalism, or the result of their contact with each other.

I don't know.

Of course, most of the minerals are just getting started.

The speed of ancient times cannot be measured by the speed of later generations, Zhu Qizhen's order has only been down for half a year, and these things have just begun.

But it's a little bit more subtle.

The Ming needed a system to manage such a large factory and mine.

This question made Liu Dingzhi a little embarrassed.

Nothing else, but a lot of the mines are in the mountains. It was too difficult to manage from the county seat to the mountains

Therefore, Liu Dingzhi thought about it and said: "In the opinion of the ministers, we must first divide the counties or set up more inspection departments." ”

"In the places where the mines are gathered, there are counties, in charge of each mine, and if the number of mines is too small, a patrol inspection department will be set up to be in charge of all the affairs of these mines."

"If the mine is near the county seat, the minister thinks that there should be one more county to take charge of this matter."

Zhu Qizhen said: "I trust Mr., sir, please list a charter and submit it, but these things must be handled by one person in the center." ”

"Who do you think is suitable?"

In fact, this is also the need of management, Zhu Qizhen has frequently strengthened county-level management, such as a county order before, and now a number of counties have been added to manage water conservancy, and an adjutant has been added to manage the mine. The Inspection Division was also added.

These are all sub-county governing bodies.

Moreover, the inspection department also has a certain amount of force, which is set up in key places to check passers-by, check for evil spirits, crack down on tax evasion, and so on.

Sounds like a police officer.

Zhu Qizhen intends to develop the inspection in this direction.

But now is not the time to do this.

Liu Dingzhi pondered for a while and said: "In the opinion of the minister, he should be the servant of the Ministry of Industry and raise the world's factory affairs." As for who to choose, it is up to His Majesty to judge. ”

Liu Dingzhi's decision surprised Zhu Qizhen.

How so?

Zhu Qizhen originally intended to put these things in the household department.

Without him, whoever manages it can be taxed, and the Prime Minister of the Household Department has the world's finances, and the industrial and commercial tax is not much now, but I am afraid that it will be a big head in the future.

Zhu Qizhen included this tax in the household department in advance, and he was also unwilling to destroy the structure left by Zhou Chen that all taxes in the world were uniformly controlled by the household department.

It's just that Liu Dingzhi seems to be a little reluctant.