Chapter 824: Pros and Cons of Business

Yancheng. Read М

Since the order to switch to the battlefield was issued, Zhao Xu has been watching the matter personally.

On the one hand, it is to urge, and on the other hand, he wants to see with his own eyes how much war potential the workshops in Yanzhou can burst out when the civilians switch to the battlefield.

"Your Highness, I have selected the more capable female workers in the spinning workshop to go to the Armory Department to learn how to polish lathes and parts. When the lathe workshop delivers the lathe, I will transform the workshop and officially manufacture spare parts for muskets." The head of the spinning workshop pointed to the steam engine in the spinning workshop and said.

Some craftsmen are dismantling the connection between the steam engine and the spinning machine.

At present, these steam engines are used to drive the spinning machines, but they can be used to drive the lathes with a little modification.

In this way, the spinning workshop can be transformed into a military workshop.

Zhao Xu nodded.

After the civilians switched to the battlefield, the designated workshops sent their craftsmen to the Armory Department.

He ordered Wang Ying to select craftsmen who mastered the manufacturing technology of Qin-style rifles to teach them specifically.

Let different workshops manufacture different parts, produce on the assembly line, and finally assemble.

This spinning mill is one of the workshops that were requisitioned.

However, since this civilian conversion war was just a small test.

The requisitioned workshops are only a small part of each industry.

For example, this spinning mill, after Jiangbei allowed private workshops, large and small spinning mills sprang up in Yanzhou like mushrooms after rain.

In addition to the official spinning mills, Yanzhou alone registered 56 spinning mills in the Commerce Department in a short period of time.

In addition to spinning mills, there are also weaving mills, soap mills, glass mills, cement mills, etc.

Of course, key workshops such as steel mills, wine mills, and salt mills are still only allowed to be run by the government.

Because the technology of converter steelmaking has not been mastered even in the current Western Land, it must be kept secret.

And the profits of wine and salt are the most lucrative, and they have been controlled by the government since ancient times as an important source of income.

In short, his principle is that ordinary civilian technology can be open.

The court makes profits by levying patent fees and taxes on these workshops, and no longer monopolizes these industries.

The core technology must be in the hands of official workshops.

In the future, as the industrial level improves, it will be gradually opened to the public.

For this reason, he also specially ordered Yang He to compile a list, put some technologies on the restricted list, and cannot provide them to the Patent Department.

However, even if the civilian technology is allowed to be opened, it can only be circulated within Jiangbei. Merchants who obtain the technology are not allowed to privately pass it on for profit, and they are not allowed to smuggle patented technology to foreign countries without the consent of the Patent Department.

He also set up an inspection office in the Patent Department to inspect merchants who privately pass on technology.

Once found out, they will be subject to huge penalties depending on the severity of the situation, making them bankrupt and imprisoned, and the highest punishment is death.

In addition to the inspection team, he also asked the Wuhou Division of each state and county to cooperate with the inspection team to supervise lawbreakers.

Since ancient times, as long as there is a profit of 300%, merchants dare to do things that cost their heads.

He needs to rely on business to make Dasong rich, but he never wants to be bitten back by business.

Therefore, from the beginning, shackles must be put on business to prevent them from completely letting themselves go.

At the same time, Dasong's attitude towards private commerce in the future will always be limited openness, insisting on government-run workshops as the main and private workshops as the auxiliary.

First, this is to increase competition, so that government-run workshops will not be lazy and waste resources.

Second, the court needs to control official capital that is stronger than private capital.

Otherwise, once private capital has a crooked mind, Dasong's industry and commerce will be paralyzed.

And the official capital that controls the lifeline of Dasong is equivalent to Tathagata Buddha. No matter how Sun Wukong jumps, he can't jump out of his Five Fingers Mountain.

He can suppress it under the Five Fingers Mountain with a slap.

Thinking of this, he left the official spinning mill.

After that, he went to the weaving workshop, agricultural machinery workshop and other workshops.

Like the spinning mill, these workshops are being transformed and are ready to join the task of civilian transfer.

After inspecting for five or six days in a row, Zhao Xu was very satisfied with the results of the civilian transfer.

There is a high probability that the delivery of 120,000 Qin-style rifles within the month will be no problem.

Perhaps, they need half a month to learn and transform.

But with so many workshops, once they are officially put into production, 120,000 Qin-style rifles will flow out of the production line like water.

During the contemporary World War I, it was not uncommon for European countries to produce one million rifles in a month for the needs of the war.

During his inspection, the four hospitals kept reporting the situation in Jiangnan to him.

Knowing that Liang Kai arrived in Bazhou, a large number of Wu troops marched towards the coast of Jiujiang.

He could only order Chang Wei to withdraw 30,000 troops to be stationed along the north bank of the Yangtze River to deal with it.

Although he knew that this might just be a move by Wu to pull the defense line, he could not help but defend.

Otherwise, if the other party seized the loophole to cross the river, it would cause great damage to the countryside in Jiangbei, and production and construction would be affected.

However, in this way, there were only 70,000 royal troops left to deal with Zhonglingguan.

In addition to dispatching the royal troops, in order to ensure the safety of Jiangbei, he gave Zhou Yi an order to ensure that there were twelve steamships and sailing warships to patrol Jiujiang.

Originally, after the Battle of Nanjing, Zhou Yi had withdrawn eight of the twelve steamships and stationed them in Yizhou to prepare for unexpected events.

Now they had to be transferred back.

"We have to continue to produce more warships, otherwise there won't be enough." In the study of the palace, Zhao Xu sighed while looking at the map on the wall.

He decided to inspect the newly built shipyard.

Although this time the civil war only designs the manufacture of Qin-style rifles.

But for Dasong, the issue of building warships is equally urgent.

In the battle of Japan, the Yanzhou fleet annihilated the British fleet, and the British will certainly not give up.

The United States, which has included Japan in its sphere of influence, will not admit defeat.

In the foreseeable future, a large number of Western warships will gather in the East, intending to regain the East's maritime hegemony.

This struggle for maritime hegemony will be continuous and cruel.

One or even several naval battles are inevitable.

And this requires the Yanzhou fleet to include more warships.

At present, just guarding Japan and controlling Jiujiang makes the warships seem stretched.

If a large number of the opponent's fleet arrives, he will be passive at sea.

Fortunately, at the end of last year, he ordered Chen Shou to send people to expand the number of shipyards.

More shipyards can be built together.

He was thinking about it when Feng'er informed the Minister of Works Zou Rong that he wanted to see him.

Zhao Xu guessed something and showed an expectant expression, asking him to come in.

Not long after, Zou Rong appeared in the study, his face full of joy, "Your Highness, I am here to congratulate you today."

"So, a certain section of the railway under construction will be open to traffic soon?" Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Apart from this, he couldn't think of anything else that could make Zou Rong so happy.