Hai Rui’s thought process was beyond the understanding of the village heads.
Zhu Mo didn't want to waste any more time and directly prompted Hai Rui:
“Old Hai, why don’t you consider further? How much can the disaster victims earn by planting mulberry and raising silkworms? Can’t they weave cloth and silk themselves? If they weave it, and the Directorate of Weaving and Dyeing collects it, wouldn’t that earn more than selling raw silk?”
Zhu Mo was an experienced individual, having seen many industrial ventures. Everyone started from small workshops, didn’t they?
After much contemplation and several evaluations by the system—
For the Great Ming to escape its predicament, it had to develop its industries. Technological innovation could be considered later. To develop industries, the focus was on transforming ordinary farmers into small workshops.
This point might be achievable through natural growth, but time was of the essence! Since he had come to the Great Ming, he might as well facilitate this transformation!
This statement immediately reminded Hai Rui, and a few of the more astute village heads seemed to grasp something.
Hai Rui was not as slow-witted as legends of him being rigid-minded later suggested. He suddenly let out a sound of realization and exclaimed:
“Yes! Young Master Zhu! This remaining money can be used to buy looms! Oh my! How could I not have thought of this…?”
Whoosh!
Hai Rui’s sudden insight immediately alerted the over a hundred village heads—
That’s right,
It makes perfect sense!
With two or three households sharing a loom, or three or four households sharing one, they could weave themselves!
Who said silk had to be sold to large workshops?
What’s more, those so-called large workshops only had about ten to twenty looms!
Seven or eight households in a village sharing one loom would collectively be much larger than the workshops in the city!
Everyone immediately began to chatter amongst themselves, the scene filled with excitement.
Zhu Mo nodded and smiled, “Old Hai, you are indeed clever! My purpose in coming to Jiangnan this time is for this major undertaking, and the reason I raised so much money is to equip farmers with looms… Old Hai, I want you to make Chun’an a model. I want to see results in two months… and then, throughout Jiangnan, every county should follow suit. Do you have the confidence?”
Hai Rui’s face was filled with excitement. After a moment of thought, he shouted:
“Young Master Zhu! I have the confidence! This afternoon, I will take people to visit every household… As for looms, they cost over twenty taels of silver each. The remaining two hundred thousand taels alone are sufficient!”
Zhu Mo trusted those he employed. Since he had chosen Hai Rui, he didn’t think further but struck while the iron was hot. He shouted to the village heads: “Esteemed sirs, please be quiet…! This undertaking of mine is beneficial to the nation and its people, a contribution for all time. I have nothing else to say. You all follow Magistrate Hai’s lead. In two months, I will return to Chun’an!”
Having said that,
Zhu Mo turned his head without looking back, beckoned to Xiao Xiao Sheng, and strode out of the yamen. He mounted his swift horse and immediately headed for Hangzhou.
Because,
Within two months, at least several thousand looms would be needed here!
And those workshops that manufactured looms would have their hands full. They might need to produce tens of thousands of looms within months. This certainly couldn’t be done by the current Jiangnan artisans alone… But if artisans and raw materials from surrounding provinces were gathered, it might be feasible…
He firmly believed that the Great Ming possessed this foundation!
The system had also evaluated the feasibility—
[Progress: Supply of basic industrial equipment;]
[Conditions: Regional artisan population 30,000; regional special timber inventory 60,000 cubic meters; regional hardware parts inventory for 2,000 looms; regional processing workshops 600;…]
[Feasibility: 53%;]
[Recommendation: The highest-ranking administrative official of the region should initiate an emergency military supply mode;]
[……]
Frankly speaking,
The system’s recommendation this time was the most pertinent. However, he didn’t need Hu Zongxian’s approval. With his status as a special envoy for disaster relief, he could also initiate an “emergency disaster relief supply mode”!
…
Several days later,
Shen Cong, a third-rank Censor, was escorted to the capital by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The citizens of the capital were astonished to see Shen Cong, who had been so majestic half a month prior, now imprisoned.
News spread like wildfire, from one to ten, then to a hundred, quickly permeating every street and alley.
…
In the afternoon,
The Yuxi Palace was tranquil, with wisps of incense smoke curling upwards.
Emperor Jiajing had just completed his seven-day meditation session. He was now strolling slowly.
Lü Fang had finished reading the secret report and had also read Huang Jin’s interrogation of Shen Cong word for word. By convention, such matters should be reported verbally, but he felt that the Emperor would be very pleased to hear it. To cheer up the somewhat melancholic Emperor, he deliberately put on a worried demeanor.
Emperor Jiajing was, in fact, constantly concerned about Zhu Mo. He had frequently sent people to the capital to inquire about public opinion. Although all the news was unfavorable to Zhu Mo, he still firmly believed that Zhu Mo would deliver an unexpected performance.
After all, he was his long-lost son… Even if he truly messed up, wouldn't his own father be there to support him?
At this moment,
Seeing Lü Fang with a worried expression, Emperor Jiajing’s heart tightened slightly, but he smiled and said:
“Lü Fang, why are you still holding back? Spit it out quickly…”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, Young Master Zhu… Young Master Zhu seems to have a way to repay the money, but I can’t quite figure it out… This method seems feasible, yet it also seems uncertain. In short, it’s something I’ve never seen before…”
“Of course, you haven’t seen it… If you had seen it all, wouldn’t I have sent you to Jiangnan long ago… Tell me, how does he plan to repay over ten million taels of silver to me?”
Lü Fang feigned a solemn expression and replied:
“His method is simple. He mentioned something about a pilot base…? It’s in Chun’an, where he’ll lend money to the common people to buy looms, allowing them to both plant mulberry and raise silkworms, and weave themselves. Once woven, the Directorate of Weaving and Dyeing will collect it. Then, the Directorate will sell it to foreigners. The difference in price will be shared, with the common people earning a portion and the Directorate earning some… When I hear it, I always feel something is not quite right…”
Oh…
Emperor Jiajing was suddenly startled—
This kid is indeed capable!
How could this method be infeasible?
The merchants from Nanyang and the West had been urging the Great Ming to produce more silk, but the Directorate of Weaving and Dyeing couldn’t handle so much. And which of those wealthy merchants were willing to take great risks to increase the number of looms?
This method, in fact, solved a problem that had troubled the imperial court for over ten years.
Emperor Jiajing was a man of foresight. With a moment’s thought, he grasped the far-reaching prospects of this method… The more he thought about it, the more exhilarated he became… He was so happy he could burst, but to maintain an appearance of indifference before Lü Fang, he pretended to be casual and said:
“Heh… Still feel something isn’t quite right? Isn’t this just causing me more trouble? What’s so hard to figure out? If they weave so much, who will sell it? And to whom?… Have you calculated the accounts? After the common people borrow money to buy looms, how many years will it take to repay the cost of the looms? How many households are pooling resources?” Heh, you’re treating it like good news and trying to hide it, as if I wouldn’t know? Little rascal…!”
Lü Fang immediately burst into laughter and said:
“Seeing Your Majesty worried, I just wanted to make Your Majesty happy for a while… Alas, is this hurdle now passed?”
Emperor Jiajing was far more astute than Lü Fang. Once his initial joy subsided, he immediately thought of subsequent issues—
If Zhu Mo continues to act like this, how many more staff will the Directorate of Weaving and Dyeing need?
With so much silk woven, would they just wait for merchants from Nanyang and the West? Then they would need to dispatch more personnel to Nanyang and the West to actively negotiate. But there were still Japanese pirates on the sea routes…
However.
This hurdle has definitely been cleared!
No matter how fierce the Yan family members were, it would be difficult for them to make a sudden move now. They would have to wait for Zhu Mo to achieve something before they could cause trouble…
Thinking of this, he casually asked:
“What does Yan Shifan say?”
Lü Fang replied with a serious expression:
“Shen Cong is a disciple of Grand Secretary Yan. This time, things have escalated significantly! I heard that Yan Shifan smashed all the porcelain in his house… saying he must teach Zhu Mo a lesson…”
“Hmph! If he has so many colors, why doesn’t he open a dyeing workshop?! Smashing porcelain, that’s Jingdezhen porcelain of mine! He just smashed it like that?!”
Emperor Jiajing waved his sleeve and continued:
“That Hai Rui, I’ve also heard of him. He’s a good official! Such officials are becoming increasingly rare in our Great Ming… He deserves what’s coming to him. You know what to do…”
Having said that,
Emperor Jiajing slowly paced into the courtyard, his expression distant, no longer looking at Lü Fang.
“Your servant understands…”
Lü Fang bowed in response. After Emperor Jiajing walked further away, he left the palace alone in a hurry.