I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 134 Coal-Iron Complex

Zhu Houzhao followed Zhu Houxuan to visit all the factories in Qizhou.

In the cement factory, you can see steam engines driving crushers to crush limestone.

Go to a textile factory and watch steam engines drive textile machines to weave cloth and spin yarn.

Watching workers in a machinery factory use something called a machine tool to process metal parts
Zhu Houzhao looked at one factory after another. Many of the things he saw were within his scope of knowledge, but were also somewhat different from what he knew.

He almost forgot what he was here for. He knew that Zhu Houxun must have had a deep meaning in taking him to see these things.

After a tour of Qizhou, he kept thinking about why Qizhou was so prosperous. There was an idea in his mind that was about to come out, but it just wouldn't take shape, which made him very uncomfortable.

When they returned to Cunxin Hall again, Zhu Houzhao said nothing, but just looked at Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan looked at Zhu Houzhao like this and smiled: "Brother, all the questions you asked me at the beginning now have answers, right?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded and shook his head. He knew some of the answers, but still didn't know some of them.

"I know why there are so many chimneys emitting black smoke in Qizhou, and I also know why Qizhou uses iron to pave roads, but I don't know why people in Qizhou love reading so much."

Zhu Houxuan did not answer Zhu Houzhao directly, but asked: "Brother, now you know why I like what I am doing now, right?"

Zhu Houxuan did not wait for Zhu Houzhao to answer and continued: "I have seen many great scholars say in many books that 'the wealth of the world has a fixed number'. My brother must have heard this saying many times, right?"

Zhu Houxun gently filled Zhu Houzhao's cup of tea.

"My brother hears this sentence every day. The ministers often say this sentence, and also say, 'The country takes more, and the people get less, so don't compete with the people for profits.' They advise me to close down the imperial farms and stores." Zhu Houzhao replied bitterly.

"You can't say this is wrong." Zhu Houxuan took a sip of hot tea. "The wealth of the world is created by the people of the world. There is only so much land suitable for farming. It is said that human power is limited. Whether the people are farmers or workers, the wealth that a person can create in a year is limited. There can't be much change." Zhu Houzhao was silent, and suddenly said: "The people of Qizhou are different, and the workers in your factory are different!"

Zhu Houxuan glanced at Zhu Houzhao and smiled: "My brother is really sharp. The people in other parts of the Ming Dynasty are engaged in agriculture, which means they are working on the land. No matter how hard they work, the land will not grow. At most, they can produce more grain per mu. No matter how good they are at farming, the yield per mu of land will only increase from 300 kilograms to 400 kilograms."

"The workers in Qizhou work on machines. Machines are different from land in that they are also products. You cannot grow another piece of farmland from another piece of farmland, but you can use a machine to build another machine, and build more and more advanced machines. Therefore, industry can grow indefinitely before it is restricted by raw materials and energy. In this growth process, on the one hand, the industry itself has increased, and on the other hand, our ability to create wealth has also increased," Zhu Houxuan continued.

Zhu Houzhao listened silently. Thinking of the scenes he had seen in Qizhou City in the past few days, the idea in his mind began to become clear.
"Qizhou people use machine tools to produce machine tools, use coal-fired steam engines to mine more coal from mines, and use steel mills to produce more steel. These industries that developed from handicrafts began to grow independently. The railway connected various factories, and transportation costs were greatly reduced. These independently developed industries began to be closely integrated and promoted each other, superimposing an exponential growth effect. We use steam engines to drive machine tools, use machine tools to manufacture more sophisticated steam engines, use mechanized power to produce steel and mine coal, and then use this coal and steel to produce more machine tools and steam engines. Between the factories, the railways paved with steel are getting longer and longer, and the coal burned by steam engines is becoming more and more abundant. This has formed a system." Zhu Houxuan said in an excited voice.

"System!?" Zhu Houzhao repeated the word, and suddenly he felt that the word was very unfamiliar.

"This system can be self-circulating. As long as there are coal mines and iron mines, he can continue to produce more machine tools, more steam engines, and more railways. Materially speaking, this is actually a cycle of coal and iron, and each cycle brings more coal and steel. With enough coal, steel, and machining capabilities, we can build enough machines to produce consumer goods, as much as we want. The ability of the Ming Dynasty to create wealth will enter an exponential growth stage."

"Loop!" Zhu Houzhao finally grasped the idea in his mind.

Zhu Houxun did not give Zhu Houzhao time to think. He looked at him with sharp eyes and said, "This is a revolution! A revolution of coal and iron. What I have shown you in the past few days is the core industrial system of this revolution - the coal-iron complex!"

"Coal-iron complex!" Zhu Houzhao felt that his brain was not enough.
"The steam engine is the perfect combination of coal and iron. In the factories in Qizhou, the most strenuous work is done by the tireless steam engine, and the workers only need to do relatively light work. Coupled with scientific organization and strict reward and punishment system, Qizhou's less than 100,000 workers can create wealth that can only be created by millions of people in other parts of the Ming Dynasty."

"This is the advancement of productivity, and it is also the path I am taking now!" Zhu Houxuan said confidently.

"The wealth that one person can create that ten people can create is not the end, but the starting point. I believe that in the future one person can create wealth that twenty, thirty, hundreds or even more people can create. This requires many knowledgeable people to join in to promote the development of productivity. That's why Qizhou talents love reading so much. Their hobby comes from our actual needs." Zhu Houxuan answered the question originally raised by Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao felt like his brain was about to explode. He had taken in too much knowledge at once. He was unable to digest it and was a little bit hesitant to believe what Zhu Houxun said. However, everything he saw in Qizhou told him that what Zhu Houxun said made sense and was feasible.

If the scenario described by Zhu Houxuan is followed, then this self-circulating system will allow the Ming Dynasty to have more steam engines every time it cycles, and the steam engines will increase the Ming Dynasty's ability to create wealth.
If the ability of the people of the Ming Dynasty to create wealth can be increased, even if it only doubles, then the annual income of the Ming Dynasty can at least double, and many of the problems of the Ming Dynasty will no longer be problems.
Zhu Houzhao's breathing became rapid when he thought of this.
He suddenly realized that the key to all this was
This chapter really exhausted my brainpower. It took me a long time to finish it. Halfway through, I wanted to ask for leave today and then change my mind and continue writing tomorrow, but in the end I forced myself to finish it. So let it be, I'll post it first and revise it later.

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(End of this chapter)