Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 113 Pirates and Treacherous Officials Collude (Part Two)

Is raw silk really that easy to buy?

This is a job that takes away someone's livelihood, so it's naturally not easy to give it up.

The profit margin for raw silk is astonishingly high.

Nowadays, the cheapest price for raw silk purchased from farmers who grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms is only 15 or 16 taels per dan (a unit of weight), and the most expensive is only 25 taels per dan.

This price seems very fair, because one mu of land used for mulberry planting and silkworm raising can yield about ten jin of raw silk, and one dan is one hundred jin. Calculated, that means one mu of land used for mulberry planting and silkworm raising can earn one and a half to two and a half liang of silver.

In Southern Zhili, the price of grain was roughly two shi (a unit of dry measure) for one tael of silver, and the yield of grain per mu (a unit of land area) was about two shi. In other words, although farmers worked hard to grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms, they could earn about 50% to 150% more per mu, so they were happy to make this money.

The farmers actually made very little money. If they had smuggled the goods out to sea through pirates and sold them to the Dutch, Spanish, or even the Japanese, they could have made at least five taels of silver per catty!
In other words, a load of raw silk smuggled out by pirates could be sold for at least 500 taels of silver, with a profit of at least 20 times!
This is also the fundamental reason why wealthy merchants from Zhejiang Province, regardless of silk production, directly sold raw silk.

The reason is that weaving silk is too troublesome. Not only do you have to buy a factory and add looms, but you also have to pay people to weave. Even if the woven silk is sold overseas, the gross profit is only about ten times. Why bother?
Buying raw silk directly and reselling it would yield at least twenty times the profit!
Such high profits are enough to drive people to the brink of death.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult to steal such a big job from someone else.

Upon arriving in Southern Zhili, Xiong Wencan immediately ordered the post stations to send urgent messages to all prefectures and counties in Zhejiang, Zhili, and Fujian, instructing them to quickly report the production of raw silk and tea.

As a result, his governor's order disappeared without a trace, as if it had sunk into the sea!

Zhu Jue had anticipated this.

He had already given detailed instructions to Xiong Wencan, Xu Guangqi, and others on what to do next.

He didn't have time to worry about acquiring raw silk right now.

All because there are more important matters to attend to in the capital.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., he had just arrived at Yuxi Palace and hadn't even had a chance to open the memorials when Wang Zheng rushed in, his face beaming with excitement, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but ask excitedly, "Liangfu, has the steamship been successfully developed?"

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I had already finished loading everything yesterday afternoon. In the evening, I even ordered someone to drive it around Taiye Pond. Last night, I checked it carefully again, and there were no problems."

Excellent! The steamship has been developed. It won't be long before the Ming Dynasty's industry flourishes.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue immediately put down the memorial he had just picked up, stood up and said, "Let's go take a look."

Soon, they arrived at the dock south of Wanshou Palace.

Right now, there's a ship in the waterway that looks twice the size of a wheeled boat, and its smokestack is already puffing out smoke.

The craftsmen on the ship have already started firing up the boilers.

The ship they developed looked exactly like an enlarged version of an ordinary wheeled boat, except for a chimney rising from the hull.

This was a secrecy measure that Zhu Jue specifically asked Wang Zheng to devise.

If an outsider saw this ship, they would definitely assume it was an enlarged version of a wheeled boat, and they wouldn't be able to see any secrets without going inside the cabin.

As for the extra chimney, and the fact that it's emitting smoke, that's normal. Some large ships also have a chimney extending from the cooking cabin. If there were no chimney, the people cooking in the cabin would be so choked by the smoke that they couldn't even open their eyes.

Therefore, installing a chimney is nothing, as long as no one is allowed to enter the cabin to see, the ship's secrets will not be exposed.

Zhu Jue examined it carefully and then asked, "Can we open it now?"

Wang Zheng replied without hesitation, "Yes, they can be opened. All the craftsmen there know how to open them."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue said rather impatiently, "Then let's drive out and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng waved to the craftsmen on the ship, and the ship that had been towed in backwards quickly accelerated and sailed out of the waterway again.

After entering Taiye Pond, the ship seemed to reach its maximum speed, gradually stabilizing and circling around the southern half of the pond.

Zhu Jue looked around for a while, then asked, "What do you think the ship's speed is?"

Wang Zheng replied without hesitation, "Your Majesty, I estimated it yesterday, and it should be able to cover more than a hundred li in an hour."

How to describe this speed?

One hour is two hours. It seems that the world record for the marathon in later generations was less than two hours. The standard distance of a marathon is 42 kilometers, and 100 li is only 50 kilometers.

In other words, this speed is slightly faster than jogging, roughly equivalent to the speed of a normal person running fast.

To be honest, this speed is not fast at all. The speed of large cargo ships in later generations is generally between 20 and 28 knots, which is 36 to 52 kilometers per hour.

In other words, large cargo ships of 10,000 tons in later generations could reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour at their top speed, which was twice as fast as these small ships of about 5 tons.

However, as the saying goes, you have to have it first before you can improve it.

At this speed, it is already quite difficult to reach a speed of over a hundred miles per hour.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "If the centipede boat is rowed with all its might, it seems it can travel over a hundred li per hour, right? If the wheel-wheel boat is pedaled with all its might, can it travel over a hundred li per hour? I mean, pedaled by manpower." Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course it can. The wheel-wheel boat also carries the weight of the people themselves, which is more energy-efficient than rowing. If several strong men pedal with all their might, a four-hundred-ton wheel-wheel boat can travel over a hundred li per hour. However, at most, they can only pedal for half an hour before they have to switch people."

This is the limit of human power; humans get tired, but machines never tire.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, it's not bad to travel over a hundred li in an hour. If the moonlight is good at night, it can travel more than 1,200 li in a day, which is even better than a swift horse."

"Let's begin mass production based on this. I'll have Chang Geng develop a saw for you when he has some free time. That way, you can saw planks incredibly fast, which will not only increase construction speed but also save manpower."

a saw?

Wang Zheng said with great interest, "Your Majesty, are you saying that a steam engine is used for sawing? In that case, the saw blade may need to be specially made, as an ordinary saw blade is easy to break if pulled too fast."

You even know you need to replace the saw blade?

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, the saw blade needs to be specially made, but it's not a long strip saw blade, but a round saw blade, driven by a wheel axle. Then, a large table-like platform is added to the wheel axle, with a slit on one side so that the saw blade can extend out of the platform. This way, you can just push the wood over it to cut it. Then, you nail a wooden block to the side to hold it in place, and you can cut planks. You can cut as thick as you want, just by moving the wooden block in place."

Circular saw blade!

Wang Zheng rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you let me develop this saw? There are many kinds of timber and planks needed for shipbuilding, so we'll definitely need to develop many kinds of saws. That would take up too much of Chang Geng's time."

You come?

Zhu Jue asked instinctively, "It won't take you a long time to develop this, will it? You can't waste your time."

How much time can such a simple thing waste on me?

Wang Zheng thought for a moment, then simply pointed to the waterwheel turning on the ship and said, "Your Majesty, if we replace the waterwheel with a saw blade and put a platform on top of it, wouldn't that make a sawing machine?"

Okay, I underestimated you.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Alright, then you can also develop the saw."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, "Alright!"

Judging from his appearance, he probably wants to make a table saw right away and try it out.

Zhu Jue, however, began to ponder as he looked at the surface of Taiye Pond.

Although only one ship was built and its cargo capacity was negligible, it was quite good for transmitting messages.

Fuzhou is more than 3,000 li away from the capital, and even with an express courier service, it would take five or six days. Quanzhou is more than 4,000 li away from the capital, and even with an express courier service, it would take seven or eight days. However, a steamship can reach the capital in four days.

Even with the urgent 800-li delivery service, it could only transmit ordinary imperial edicts and memorials. Transmitting secret edicts or other items was much more complicated.

Using ships to transmit messages would be a completely different story. Not only would it be much faster, but it would also be able to transmit secret edicts and even things like firearms and ammunition.

Right now, the south is vying with the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions for raw silk and tea in Jiangnan, so communication naturally needs to be as fast as possible.

He thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Cheng'en, select one hundred elite soldiers from the Imperial Guard who are good at swimming, equip them with muskets, and let them practice how to operate a steamboat in Taiye Pond."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen quickly turned around and went to give instructions.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then announced loudly, "Summon Minister Tian to come and pay his respects."

Tian Hongyu is currently busy in the north of the city. Fortunately, the place where he is busy is only twenty or thirty miles away from the inner city.

About half an hour later, he strode over, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "You should know that Taiye Pond was originally connected to the Tonghui River by the moat, right?"

That was a long time ago. During the Yuan Dynasty, a cargo ship with a capacity of 800 liang could sail into Taiye Pond. However, the section of the river north of the inner city was blocked later, as were the water gates near the Imperial City and Deshengmen.

Tian Hongyu cautiously said, "Your Majesty, to prevent the northern barbarians from entering the inner city and even the imperial city through the river, the waterways and water gates between the inner city and the imperial city have been blocked."

Why are you so afraid of dying?
Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "It doesn't matter now. The city wall of the north city is about to be completed, and the moat of the inner city and even the Tonghui River are all inland rivers of the capital. It doesn't matter at all if they are connected."

"Quickly gather all able-bodied soldiers and farmers to dredge the waterways. Gather as many as you can, and summon all those who have finished building the city walls in the north of the city. Expedite the dredging of the waterway from Taiye Pond to the Tonghui River."

what?
Tian Hongyu said with some difficulty, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that spring plowing is about to begin, and there is not enough time."

Is there not enough time?

Zhu Jue estimated, "The most serious siltation in the inner city is only five or six li. The moat is still about ten feet deep. If we dredge it a little, boats of eight hundred liao can pass through."

Here's what you'll do: tell them that no matter how many days it takes, as long as they dredge this section of the waterway, each person will receive one tael of silver. Tell them to work harder and finish quickly so they can go back to spring planting.

With such high pay, they'd dig like crazy!

Anyway, as long as we dig through, we can get the money and go back to spring planting.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

(End of this chapter)