My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 263 There really is a road paved with steel!

"Old Zhu, you have to understand that the trade we are talking about now generally includes the three links of purchasing raw materials, production, and selling goods.

This includes three areas: raw material production areas, factories and markets.

The entire trading process is closely related to these three regions.

First of all, let’s talk about the origin of raw materials. As the dominant party in trade, that is, the producer and seller, there are two most important aspects of the supply of raw materials. The first is low price, and the second is stable supply.

Do you understand this?"

Old Li, you are looking down on us, Old Zhu. Zhu Yuanzhang curled his lips and smiled. Why can't you understand this?
Taking white sugar as an example, the price of sugarcane produced in Guangdong and Guangxi is about six copper coins per catty, and that in Qiongzhou Island is four copper coins. However, if the freight is included, the total price is almost seven copper coins.

Then it is naturally cheaper to produce white sugar using sugarcane from Guangdong and Guangxi, but this also involves the quality of the sugarcane.

The quality of sugarcane from Qiongzhou Island is better, so many sugar factories are willing to use sugarcane from Qiongzhou.

"The second is the production link, which is mainly about improving production technology, increasing production efficiency, further reducing costs, and producing more types of high-quality and low-cost goods.

After the goods are produced, they must be sold to the market. The bigger the market, the more goods can be sold, which can ensure that more and more money can be made.

All these three links are in their starting stages, and there is almost unlimited room for growth. It can be said that the whole world is the Ming Dynasty's raw material supplier and product dumping ground. So, Lao Zhu, instead of worrying about the factory's losses, you might as well think about how to expand the market.

If we really want to make a loss, we have to wait until Daming's products are sold all over the world."

Having said so much, don’t think that we can’t see what your plan is, Old Li. Isn’t it to make the Ming Dynasty speed up the pace of foreign trade expansion?

Zhu Yuanzhang completely understood what Li Han meant. As long as the Ming Dynasty could continue to export goods, the factory would never suffer losses.

This includes constantly looking for new sources of raw material supplies and product output locations. Of course, the raw material supply location is also one of the product output locations. This has been made very clear when Lao Li explained the scissors gap.

In this case, the establishment of joint plantations and sugar mills in Champa was actually a perfect application of the scissors theory.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little proud. Look, we, Old Zhu, are still quite capable.

“Back to Champa, after understanding the power structure of Champa, it is most appropriate to let the upper castes manage the lower castes because of the existence of the unique values ​​of the Brahman system that restrict people’s thinking.

Even though the Ming Dynasty eats meat and Champa drinks soup, since you drink the soup, you have to do the work of drinking the soup.

Moreover, it is still unclear whether the people of Champa, who were deeply influenced by Brahmanism, resisted this concept.

This is also the reason why I suggested letting the Champa nobles manage human resources, so as to transfer the labor-capital conflict to the nobles.

Because Daming went there to make money, not to do good deeds.

Maybe if you ask Champa to build a joint plantation, they will be grateful to you!"

Hahaha, this old Li is really too mean, he got a great advantage but still acted like a good boy, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing. Seeing this, he already fully understood what he was going to do next. The Champa envoys wanted to trade, so we should meet their requirements. At the same time, we can send envoys to Champa in the name of the Ming Dynasty Maritime Trade Co., Ltd. to find suitable agents and compradors to build plantations and factories.

The same is true for other countries. They need Ming Dynasty's products, and Ming Dynasty also needs their raw materials, gold, silver and labor. This method of jointly building factories can be replicated in other countries.

As for factory building, Li Min had the most experience and was the most interested, so we handed it over to him.

Of course, there is also the issue of currency settlement. How to convince other countries to use Ming Dynasty's treasure notes? Let Yang Siyi handle it. He is now extremely sensitive to the word "money". The ministers under him also light up their eyes when they hear the word "money". They must be very happy to serve.

"Having said so much, let's move on to the main point of our topic, which is the core of trade, the issue of transportation."

Finally we are talking about the issue of transportation. Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked. I thought you had forgotten about it, Old Li.

Judging from Lao Li's tone, could it be that he really has a solution? However, the entire court has discussed how to increase the speed of transportation countless times, and even the Ministry of Works has verified countless plans, which are nothing more than building roads or building canals.

As the volume of trade increases, roads must be built. As for the canal, the workload is too huge and we have to adapt to local conditions and cannot rush.

Moreover, there is a saying that goes, once the canal is opened, it will provide food and clothing for millions of canal workers. Not only the canal, but also since the construction of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty, there are thousands of associations that rely on water for their livelihood on major rivers such as the Yangtze River.

These associations are so powerful that they sometimes even overshadow the government, and have become a problem that is difficult to get rid of.

If we build another canal, I'm afraid there will be a lot more trouble. It's different from building a road, we have to be extremely careful.

Zhu Yuanzhang was both nervous and expectant, not knowing how Li Han would answer this question.

Suddenly he thought of the thick stack of information, with the word "railway" written on the top. Could it be that Lao Li's answer was to build roads with steel?
This is really unbelievable!

“In fact, transportation involves more than just trade, but is related to the governance, people’s livelihood, national defense, security and other aspects of the country.

There is a saying that goes, wherever the road is built, the power of the court will extend there. It is actually easy to understand why there is a saying that the emperor is far away. Isn’t it because of the inconvenient transportation that the court’s orders cannot be transmitted to those remote areas in a timely manner? "

This is indeed the case. This traffic problem has plagued China for thousands of years. Not to mention the distant past, just like the flood in Dongting Lake last year, because the news and orders were transmitted too slowly, the court was unable to grasp the situation on the scene in the first time, resulting in delays in disaster relief.

Although Lao Li later sent a radio handheld transmitter to solve the problem of conveying government orders and messages, the problem of transporting personnel and materials was still not effectively solved.

Whether it is human or livestock, they can only walk a certain distance in a day. If they want to go faster, they will have to run themselves to death.

"Therefore, the road must be built, but building the road only solves the problem of accessibility. How can we solve the problem of transportation efficiency? Old Zhu, this is a difficult project that is related to the fate of the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years. Are you mentally prepared?"

The Ming Dynasty’s century-long destiny?
Seeing that Li Han was speaking so seriously, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became serious. If that was the case, did Old Li really have a solution?
He was overjoyed and couldn't help but get excited. If the problem of transportation speed could really be solved, it would affect the Ming Dynasty's national fortune for a hundred years, and it was no exaggeration!
So he unfolded the letter and read it carefully again.

"What I'm introducing to you here is a brand new form of transportation called railways. Railways are divided into two systems. One is the rails laid on the ground, and the other is the steam locomotives running on the rails. Of course, you can also call them trains..."

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but be dumbfounded. Oh my God, this guy Old Li really wants to pave the road with steel!

(End of this chapter)