allonlinenovel Chapter 993 The rich get richer, the poor get poorer
Chapter 993 The rich get richer, the poor get poorer
Upon hearing the words "have some ideas," Emperor Zhu almost laughed his back teeth off, and even his gaze towards Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen carried a hint of disdain.
Look at the two of you, and then look at our son-in-law.
You two are helpless when there's a labor shortage of one or two million, but our son-in-law has "some ideas."
Let's see who dares to say we're biased towards our son-in-law now!
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen exchanged a quiet glance and then sighed simultaneously.
They considered and tried almost every possible method, good or bad, immoral and despicable, insidious and vicious, that would harm vassal states but not the Ming Dynasty.
This includes, but is not limited to, purchasing laborers overseas and luring young men from vassal states to work and earn money in the Ming Dynasty.
They even tried the method of having young men from Liaodong carry rice to the Koreans to take concubines, thus creating a situation where there were more men than women in the Koreans, which in turn forced the young men from the Koreans to come to the Ming Dynasty to work and earn money before returning to marry.
Even with such a multi-pronged approach, there is still a labor shortage of one or two million, or even more.
Damn it, who can solve this?
If Yang the madman has a way of doing things, then let him do whatever he wants.
Can I just accept my fate?
Emperor Zhu looked at Yang Shaofeng with a smile and said, "What good ideas do you have, my son-in-law? Tell me quickly!"
Yang Shaofeng bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "To be honest, I don't really have any particularly good way to directly bring in one or two million laborers."
The smile on Emperor Zhu's face froze instantly.
So, your so-called "having some ideas" is actually just you trying to fool us?
This is a crime of deceiving the emperor!
Or should we drag this bastard away and beat him up first?
Emperor Zhu's mind raced, and Yang Shaofeng continued, "My idea is that since relying solely on people can no longer solve the problem, let's change our approach and find a solution from various machines."
"For example, this steam locomotive."
"Make it into a locomotive weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, pull several carriages weighing tens of thousands of kilograms each, and it becomes a railway transportation method that can carry goods and people."
"This alone can mobilize a large number of laborers."
"What if we miniaturized the steam locomotive, making it weigh only a few thousand kilograms or even just a few hundred kilograms, and used it to carry only one carriage or agricultural machinery such as multi-head plows or rotary tillers?"
Emperor Zhu, along with Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and others, all nodded unconsciously.
Although railway transportation was still in its infancy, its carrying capacity was already considerable. Based on the steam locomotives Chen Mo brought to the capital and actual railway calculations, a steam train consisting of a steam locomotive, a coal car, and nine freight cars could carry 900,000 jin of coal.
A horse-drawn cart can carry about two thousand catties of coal.
In terms of conversion, one steam locomotive is roughly equivalent to 450 horse-drawn carriages.
A steam locomotive only needs one driver, two stokers to add coal and water, and at most a few dozen guards. It doesn't even need a hundred people at most.
A caravan of 450 carriages would require at least 450 drivers, and with other miscellaneous personnel, it would be almost ten times the manpower needed for a steam locomotive.
Similarly, using horse-drawn carriages for transportation consumes almost ten times more grain than using steam engines.
If the steam engine could be miniaturized, and a steam engine weighing one or two thousand catties could be used to mount a plow, the efficiency of agriculture in the Ming Dynasty would increase dramatically, and a large number of able-bodied men could be saved.
But after a moment's thought, Emperor Zhu shook his head again: "This method is too slow to take effect; it will take at least several years to complete."
"Furthermore, no matter how miniaturized the steam engine becomes, it is probably not something that ordinary people can operate."
"It's impossible to make sure every household has one."
"The only way is to distribute them to the villages and communities, so that each community has a few units, and ten households can share one unit."
"If whoever can afford it can use it, then wealthy families will be able to afford it and use more efficient steam engines to plow the fields, thus freeing up their able-bodied men to work and earn money. Meanwhile, poor people who cannot afford it will still have to use their able-bodied men to farm the land."
"The rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer."
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Emperor Zhu with surprise.
It must be admitted that Lao Deng's ability to prevail among the heroes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was indeed due to his exceptional qualities.
At the very least, Old Deng has a very sharp eye.
Even if all the local gentry and scholars of the Ming Dynasty were sent to Liaodong to do hard labor, the remaining people would still suffer from inequality between the rich and the poor.
If in some villages, clans jointly purchase a steam locomotive to plow and till the land, then the smaller clans in those villages will unknowingly widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
Directly distributing steam engines to villages and communities was almost the only way to ensure fairness as much as possible.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was sighing inwardly, Emperor Zhu continued, "However, the miniaturization of the steam engine still needs to be done."
"Write a letter to the steam engine workshop in Ningyang County and tell them how to do it."
"We and the South Korean government will work together to help you solve the steel and coal shortage."
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu continued, "Wang Laowai, the one who spearheaded the development of the steam engine, is now a county magistrate, isn't he?"
“I’ll promote him to county earl later, and his family will inherit the title after three generations of his family.”
“The names of other meritorious individuals should also be compiled and submitted.”
"Tell them that as long as they put their heart into creating something as good as a steam engine, we will not hesitate to reward them with titles, nor will we hesitate to spend money on them."
This time, Wang Laowai really got what he wanted.
The so-called "reduction of rank and inheritance of title" means that Wang Laowai's title can be inherited. After his death, his son will inherit the title, but it will be reduced from county earl to county viscount.
After his son dies, his grandson will inherit the title, and the title will be downgraded from county viscount to county baron.
By the time his great-grandson's generation came along, he would not be able to inherit the title of county baron, but he would be granted the title of commander of a thousand households, and his great-great-grandson's generation would be commander of a hundred households.
Theoretically speaking, it wasn't until after he became a general that Wang Laowai's family was completely separated from the noble system and returned to being commoners.
In reality, if Wang Laowai's family had produced another outstanding descendant from the three stages of county earl to county baron, the title could very well have been passed down for another one or two generations.
Emperor Zhu tapped the table lightly again, looked at Yang Shaofeng and said, "This method will probably take several years to show results. Is there any method that can produce immediate results?"
Yang Shaofeng cupped his hands in greeting to Emperor Zhu and replied, "Yes."
"However, to achieve immediate results, we must combine this method with the previous good show of Yang Bailao and Hu Shiren."
"And it will most likely damage my father-in-law's reputation."
"It may also implicate the lineage of the Duke Yansheng's mansion."