Traveling through Chenghan Xiandi, fortunately I have a simulator

Chapter 169 Shu Brocade

It's a pity that Lu Bu and his generals discussed for a long time, but they didn't figure out how the news leaked to the court.

However, Lu Bu did not dare to disobey His Majesty's order, so Lu Bu quickly asked his subordinates to stop their preparations to attack Chenliu County.

As for what to do next, Lu Bu hadn't made up his mind yet. Anyway, the imperial court had an order, so he just had to be responsible for carrying it out, which would save him the need to use his brain.

Apart from sending Li Ru to Lu Bu, Zhang Ming's next task was to wait.

The weather in early May, the Guanzhong area has begun to heat up, and the crops that have just been planted are gradually beginning to need water. Unfortunately, there has not been a single rain.

However, some farmland near the river can still be irrigated with river water. Thanks to the promotion of keel waterwheels, farmers who used to only rely on two shoulders to carry water can now use keel waterwheels to carry water, and their efficiency has increased by more than ten times.

However, the keel waterwheel also has limitations, that is, it can only irrigate the farmland near the river, and the farther farmland can be irrigated if the terrain is low-lying, but the farmland with a higher terrain and no river nearby can only be used. Irrigate the fields by lifting water on your shoulders.

Fortunately, the weather in May in Chang'an is not very hot, and the lack of water in the farmland is not obvious, so most of the fields can be taken care of by relying on manpower to transport water for irrigation.

Although the digging of canals has not yet been completed, there are main canals near the farmland in most areas of Guanzhong. These main canals inherit the water sources of the eight rivers such as the Wei River and the Jing River, and the water sources of the Eight Rivers mainly come from the snow on the mountains. , Although it will also be affected by dry weather, it is better than no water irrigation.

Due to the construction of water canals in Guanzhong, the impact of drought is relatively small. As for Hedong County, Hongnong County and other places, they have only one way to solve the drought, and that is to try their best to produce keel waterwheels. Through keel waterwheels, at least More river water can be diverted to irrigate some farmland.

The common people always pay the highest attention to the fields. Even in the Han Dynasty, the economic and technological exchanges between various places were not close, but the production method of the keel waterwheel was spread to places other than the Sili Xiaowei Department, especially in Chenliu County and Yingying County. The people of Chuan County are the most densely populated and most affected by the drought, so they are extremely welcome to the keel waterwheel.

In addition to focusing on farmland, Zhang Ming also established the Ministry of Industry in May.

The Ministry of Industry is different from the Shaofu. The Shaofu is an institution responsible for the property and living affairs in the palace. The workers in it also serve the royal family. Although the status of the workers in the court officials is very low, they are also court officials. So there is still an arrogant temper in his bones, and it is not easy to change this.

Therefore, Zhang Ming established a Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry is an institution that exists independently of the Shaofu. The master of the Ministry of Industry is Pu Yuan. As a master craftsman of the Ministry of Industry, it is difficult to take care of both aspects.

Moreover, Pu Yuan is older, more experienced, and he is also a good blacksmith, and he is more stable. As a master craftsman of the Ministry of Industry, he can better manage the officials under him.

"Pu Yuan, how is the blacksmith making new farm tools done?" Zhang Ming asked loudly.

"Your Majesty, I have made new farm tools for all the farmers in Chang'an, and the next step is to make new farm tools for other counties." Pu Yuan said seriously.

"Okay, don't worry about this matter. I have a more important task to entrust to you. As for the matter of the blacksmith shop, you can entrust it to your most trusted disciple." Zhang Ming said slowly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I don't know what it is?" Pu Yuan asked happily.

"You know the new edge machine?" Zhang Ming said with a smile.

"Yes, I have seen it." Pu Yuan replied.

"I plan to open a textile factory. The so-called textile factory is to produce a large number of new-style knitting machines. However, these knitting machines are arranged in the factory, and then the female workers in Chang'an City are called together, and these female workers use the new knitting machines to produce a large number of knitting machines. Exquisite clothes." Zhang Ming explained.

Pu Yuan half-understood what His Majesty said about the textile factory. As an old craftsman for so many years, he had never heard of such a thing.

"Your Majesty, is this textile factory more important than a blacksmith's shop?" Pu Yuan asked puzzledly, he couldn't see the importance of a textile factory at all, at least he couldn't see anything more important than a blacksmith's shop.

"It's much more important. The matter of the textile factory is related to the future of Dahan." Zhang Ming emphasized.

For Zhang Ming, he has too many ways to make money, but it often takes a long time for those ways to make money to see results, and most importantly, other ways to make money can only make money, but it is difficult to drive The development of productivity, but the textile factory is different. Its appearance has changed the production method in disguise.

"Your Majesty, I understand, I will definitely do a good job." Pu Yuan responded.

"Cui Ming, it's up to you to follow up and supervise this matter." Zhang Ming turned to look at Cui Ming.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cui Ming replied.

Pu Yuan never thought that the importance of this matter was so high. After all, the identity of Zhongchang Shi was completely different from his identity. Since His Majesty sent Zhongchang Shi to supervise and explain the textile factory, His Majesty is very value.

Puyuan's textile factory is located in the Xixiang area, where a lot of sericulture is planted and there are a lot of raw materials, which is most suitable for building a textile factory.

After Zhang Ming arranged Pu Yuan's mission, he summoned Zhuo Yun, the richest businessman in Chang'an.

Today's Zhuo's industry spreads all over the Sanfu area, but Zhuo Yun's main business is the wine shop business. Due to the Taixue exam last month, Zhuo Yun's wine shop made a lot of money. Although the business took [-]% of the profit, but For Zhuo Yun, it is still a huge profit.

"Zhuo Yun, this is the first time I have summoned you. Let me ask you, what is your relationship with the Zhuo family in Shu?" Zhang Ming asked seriously.

In fact, Zhang Ming has already investigated Zhuo Yun's details, and what happened in the past three months has already proved Zhuo Yun's business talent, but the investigation belongs to the investigation, Zhuo Yun's words belong to the story, Zhang Ming only wants to hear Zhuo Yun Said.

"Your Majesty, I was kicked out by the Zhuo family. It has been more than 20 years. For so many years, I have been running a restaurant business in Luoyang. Later, after the imperial court moved the capital to Chang'an, I also came to Chang'an. Opportunity, I'm afraid I'm just the owner of a restaurant now." Zhuo Yun said with emotion.

In fact, the Zhuo family has been running the salt and iron business in Shu, and it can be said to be one of the largest business families in Shu, so it has long forgotten that Zhuo Yun, who was expelled from the family and has not achieved success for more than 20 years, this point , The information obtained by Zhang Ming and Secret Guards can also explain it.

"If I ask you to deal with the business families in Shu, including the Zhuo family, through commerce, would you be willing?" Zhang Ming said flatly.

"Your Majesty, I have nothing to do with the Zhuo family. My parents have long since passed away, and even my family tree has been kicked out by the Zhuo family. So in my eyes, the Zhuo family is no different from other business families. If Your Majesty If I need to use my ministers, even if it is against the Zhuo family, I will not blink." Zhuo Yun said expressionlessly.

"Okay, I need your words, but I don't need to deal with the Zhuo family for the time being, but I need you to cooperate with the Zhuo family in Shu." Zhang Ming said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, what does this mean? I'm already a little confused." Zhuo Yun said puzzledly.

"Come here, bring the Shu brocade." Zhang Ming said to the eunuch beside him.

Soon, a group of eunuchs walked into the palace holding a pile of Shu brocades.

Zhuo Yun is no stranger to Shu brocade. After all, he lived in the land of Shu when he was a child, so he has seen Shu brocade, but Zhuo Yun, as an ordinary child of the Zhuo family, has never worn Shu brocade. of.

"Zhuo Yun, you are also the richest businessman in Chang'an now, and you should have met many children from aristocratic families. You must also know that Shu brocade is very popular among the aristocratic families in Chang'an." Zhang Ming said silently.

According to Zhang Ming's information, Shu brocade was born as early as the end of the Qin Dynasty. Later, after the development of the Han Dynasty, Shu brocade has now occupied a place in the high-end clothing market, but this industry is still not favored by most of the aristocratic families in Shu.

In fact, this is not surprising. On the one hand, the craftsmanship of Shu brocade is very high, often requiring a large number of skilled female workers, and it takes a long time to make a piece of Shu brocade; Shu brocades are produced, but they can only be sold domestically. However, the population of Shu is small, and the income generated by domestic sales is not high.

Therefore, even though there are many business families in Shu, very few business families start with Shu brocade. After all, compared with operating Shu brocade, it is far less profitable to operate salt and iron.

"Your Majesty, the Shu Brocade, if the court really wants to manage it, it may not be able to make money." Zhuo Yun shook his head and said.

"If you can't make money, why am I mentioning this? Look at the Shu brocade in the hands of the eunuch on the right. How is it different from the Shu brocade on the left?" Zhang Ming said with a smile.

In fact, what Zhang Ming thought at first was to restart the Silk Road and revitalize the business of Dahan, but then he considered that Liangzhou and the Western Regions had not yet been recovered, and the cost of the Silk Road was also very high, so after much deliberation, he focused on On top of Shu brocade.

Zhuo Yun touched the brocades in the hands of the eunuchs on both sides. He was not very familiar with the brocades, but as the richest businessman in Chang'an, he also had a lot of gorgeous clothes, so he was still commercially sensitive as to which brocade was better.

"Your Majesty, I think the Shu brocade on the right is of better quality, softer to the touch, and more complicated in style. It should be regarded as a high-end product among the Shu brocades." Zhuo Yun commented.

"Haha, the Shu brocade on the right is not made in Shu, but made by female craftsmen in Chang'an." Zhang Ming said with a smile.

"It's made by female craftsmen in Chang'an. It's impossible. The craftsmanship of Shu brocade is in the hands of several big business families in Shu. How could it be made by female craftsmen in Chang'an?" Zhuo Yun couldn't believe his ears. The craftsmanship and complexity of the production, the output of several business families in Shu is terribly low, how can the female workers in Chang'an City make it.

All this is thanks to Ma Jun's research. In addition to the improved edge loom in the past, Ma Jun made the Hualou loom on the basis of the loom. The complexity of the loom has been greatly improved, but the The advantage is that Shu Brocade, which originally required a large number of skilled workers to produce, can be easily produced by Hualou Zhiji.

This means that only female workers with certain skills can use the Hualou loom to produce higher-quality Shu brocade. When Zhang Ming saw the Hualou loom, he knew that Shu brocade would no longer be a specialty of Shu. And it will become the foundation of Dahan's business development.

However, with female workers, besides Hualou looms, there is one more thing needed to produce Shu brocade, and that is the raw material sericulture.

In fact, there are sericulture in Guanzhong area, but the quality of sericulture in Guanzhong is very average. If you want to grow better sericulture, you need to change rice to mulberry. However, changing rice to mulberry is a policy, and it is full of risks to implement. , at least this policy will affect the production of grain in Guanzhong, there is no doubt about it.

Therefore, in Zhang Ming's plan, it is the best plan for Shu to accept changing rice to mulberry. The climate conditions in Shu are not only suitable for the growth of crops, but also suitable for the growth of sericulture.

Historically, in the later period of the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang placed sericulture production in an important position and restored the economy of Shu with the help of Shu brocade production, and Zhuge Liang’s several Northern Expeditions were inseparable from the export of Shu brocade.

However, although Zhuge Liang puts sericulture production in an important position, he will not destroy the farmland in Shu, because Zhuge Liang understands very well that food is the root of everything.

"These Shu brocades are really made by female workers from Chang'an. Of course I won't lie to you, and the most important thing is that as long as I have enough high-quality silkworms, the output of Shu brocades can meet the needs of all local families, even Jiangdong families. I can also be satisfied with a family from the state and a family from the Western Regions." Zhang Ming said flatly.

Terrible, this is the first word that came to Zhuo Yun's mind. The current sales volume of Shu brocade can't even satisfy the aristocratic family in Shu land. Even if it is a family of Shu land, only the rich and noble in the family can wear the clothes made of Shu brocade , As for places outside of Shu, if you want to buy a piece of Shu brocade, the price is outrageous.

Taking Chang'an as an example, Chang'an is already very close to the land of Shu, and there are countless dignitaries in Chang'an today, but even in this case, there are not many people in Chang'an who can wear clothes made of Shu brocade, and even many dignitaries The wives are always proud of who wears clothes made of Shu brocade when they go out to parties.

As for places farther away from the land of Shu, there are more aristocratic and powerful families in the counties in the east of the Yangtze River. The price of a piece of Shu brocade there is even about five times that of Chang'an. It can be said that the price of a piece of Shu brocade is more than the lifetime income of ordinary people.

"Your Majesty, if the female workers in Chang'an can really produce Shu brocade in large quantities, I feel that the court will definitely be able to make a lot of money from this business, but I think that such an important business, is your majesty planning to let me manage it?" Zhuo Yun said anxiously.

As far as Zhuo Yun is concerned, his monthly income from wine shop business in some counties is not even comparable to the income brought by a piece of Shu brocade exported to Jiangdong, so this business is like gold from the sky to him.

(End of this chapter)