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Qian Fugui still had some quick wit, and immediately told Hauge that he was Hauge's loyal slave, and for this reason, the group leader disliked him. Originally, he wanted to leave the group voluntarily, but just to help his master find out the news, he had to go against his will and continue to stay in the group without speaking, making the group leader forget about him. How could he possibly inform that group leader? !

Hauge naturally knew that the group leader hated the so-called Tonglu people. When he was still in the group, Qian Fugui was often scolded. Thinking about this, he let Qian Fugui go. However, because Qian Fugui had been telling him some trivial things about the Ming Dynasty, and now that the crown prince was deposed, he had no intention of listening anymore, so he left Qian Fugui aside.

As a result, Qian Fugui would not be able to know immediately what happened in Chongzheng Hall.

Emperor Chongzhen also knew about this matter and told Qian Fugui to be careful and put safety first and not to deliberately inquire about the information. Anyway, the focus of this year should be domestic. As for Liaodong, we will continue to station troops and food in Haizhou to put pressure on the Jianlu, and wait until there is a good fighter opportunity.

On the capital side, whether it was the cabinet or the Supervisor of Ceremonies, the regulations on the disguised collection of personal income tax were still being drafted. Emperor Chongzhen did not intend to wait any longer and left Suzhou for Nanxun Town, where raw silk was concentrated.

Along the way, the Jiangnan side seems to be more prosperous. What you see along the road is that what is grown on the fields is no longer rice, but cash crops such as mulberry and cotton, especially mulberry trees.

Emperor Chongzhen had known about these beforehand and understood some of them. It's just that the people in the south of the Yangtze River saw that planting mulberry cotton and other cash crops was more profitable, so they all changed from rice to mulberry. It was not like what was said in a later TV series that the imperial court requested the change from rice to mulberry, but it was a spontaneous behavior of the people. The original granary of the Ming Dynasty had become a food-deficient place from the late 16th century to the early 17th century, and Huguang became the granary of the world. That is to say, "If you are familiar with Huguang, you will be satisfied all over the world" instead of the original pattern of "If you are familiar with Suhu, you will be satisfied all over the world".

Among them, Xiangtan is the largest rice valley distribution center in Hunan, while Hankou is the largest rice valley trading market in Huguang and Sichuan. Grain is transported down the Yangtze River, and the transportation method is also very simple and convenient.

Of course, it’s not like Suhu doesn’t grow any food at all. Generally speaking, the approximate ratio is 30:70, that is, 30% grain and 70% cash crops.

Emperor Chongzhen thought about these things while letting the horse run slowly. Suddenly, Concubine Tian's voice was heard: "Master, along the way, there seem to be a lot of people going to the front. Is there a gathering?"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen came back to look, and asked with a smile: "If you have a chance, just ask."

He knew that Concubine Tian liked to watch the excitement, so he gave a slight signal, and naturally a plainclothes guard left the team and stopped people to ask about the situation.

After a while, the plainclothes guard came back and reported: "Master, madam, these people are all specialized hired workers. Most of them are veterans in sericulture. They come from all over to make money. Some of them are engaged in cotton cultivation." Veteran, we have to rush to a farther town."

"Huh?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little puzzled after hearing this, and then looked at the plainclothes guard and hummed.

Perhaps this Jinyiwei plainclothes man was not good at this. He suddenly became a little nervous and quickly added: "People here in Jiangnan, who are from better families, don't do things like sericulture and weaving by themselves. They hire people to do things like that. Some journeymen.”

This time, Emperor Chongzhen understood clearly that signs of capitalism had begun to appear in Jiangnan, and a large-scale employer-employee relationship had emerged. But if you think about it carefully, it seems normal. Just like landowners will not go to the fields to farm themselves, rich people will only exploit the fruits of other people's labor in order to obtain greater benefits.

Emperor Chongzhen was very interested in this situation, so he paid more attention to this aspect and even asked a few random people in person. The final result was indeed the case.

In this Jiangnan area, some specialized market towns have emerged. There is a market town mainly engaged in the salt industry (Zhoupu Town), a town mainly engaged in oil extraction (Shimen Town), a pen industry town (Shanlian Town), and a kiln industry town (Qianjiayao Town). Weaving industry towns (Weiting Town, Tangshi Town), embroidery industry towns (Guangfu Town, Xiasha Town), etc.

These towns were not designated by the government, but were eventually formed spontaneously due to factors such as geography and transportation. The most distinctive thing is that these towns often form a network effect. For example, one town specializes in mulberry cultivation, while the next town specializes in sericulture, and there is even a town specializing in cultivating silkworm seeds; between these towns , own businessmen communicate with each other.

The advantage of this is that each of these towns has its own specialty and can select the best from the best, giving it greater cost and technical advantages than other places. And these are formed spontaneously by economic development.

The emergence of this specialization made it difficult for small-scale individual farmers to make breakthroughs in quantity and quality. They were replaced by specialized methods, and handicraft workshops characterized by wage labor emerged. This is especially true in weaving machine workshops, training workshops, dyeing workshops, spindle workshops, etc., which also employ the most labor.

This also led to the emergence of labor markets in various places, such as what Emperor Chongzhen saw now, and people rushed to the corresponding places to be employed according to the changes in the seasons. Generally speaking, in the seasonal season, in order to make more money, employers will give their employees more wages and even entertain them with food and wine; but not in the seasonal season, not only will the money be less, but there will not even be opportunities for employment. If there is no savings, The only money left is to beg on the streets for the coming year. From another perspective, these people are probably the earliest proletarians in Chinese history.

It is also because of these circumstances that the quantity and quality of goods produced by Ming Dynasty have always been well-known, crushing all opponents. It can indeed be said that rural industrialization, that is, early industrialization, had already occurred in Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty.

If we can correctly guide these industrial capitals on this basis, ensure overall stability, and prevent external forces from interrupting this evolutionary process, maybe Ming Dynasty's industrialization can proceed smoothly, and with its solid foundation, it will far surpass the European Industrial Revolution. .

In the original history, this process was not only interrupted by Jianru, but also had no corresponding political and cultural soil. But in this plane, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but secretly thought in his heart: "Now that I'm here, I will never let Europe surpass the Ming Dynasty!"