My life skills in Daming Liver

When these yamen servants saw Xu Shixing, their attitude became more respectful and they handled things more quickly.

Those backbones of the Xiongjie Gang, as long as they were not seriously injured, were all driven to stand up by the yamen servants, put on nooses and brought back to the county yamen.

Xu Shixing also looked at the pier, seeing that the pier was not damaged, he breathed a sigh of relief, walked in front of Su Ze and said:

"Brother Rulin, after this battle, the Xiongjie Gang will no longer come to the pier to cause trouble."

Su Ze nodded. The Xiongjie Gang was just a small trouble, and Su Ze didn't take it to heart at all.

Instead of discussing the dock, Xu Shixing naturally talked about the academy.

"Brother Ru Lin, do you really want to run an academy like this? Running a normal academy with your reputation will definitely make you famous in the south of the Yangtze River. I'm afraid you will be criticized for running an academy like this."

Xu Shixing hesitated to speak. When he heard that Su Ze was going to run Tiangong Academy, he thought Su Ze wanted to run a school in Jiangnan.

Hearing this news, Xu Shixing was very happy. The Jiangnan area has a strong academic style. With Su Ze's talent and ability, this academy will definitely become a famous academy in Jiangnan.

But the next news is that Su Ze's Tiangong Academy is not going to teach the Four Books and Five Classics, nor is it a place where scholars gather for key administration like Zhejiang Academy, but a vocational school for short-term training of craftsmen?

Even Xu Shixing and others who supported Su Ze the most could not accept such a result.

Although I agree with Su Ze's "Everyday use is the Tao", which scholar does not feel that he is superior to ordinary people?

It always sounds insulting for Su Ze to teach these common people how to be a craftsman.

Xu Shixing has been writing letters these days to dissuade Su Ze. Once such a Tiangong Academy is opened, it will not only do no good to Su Ze's reputation among scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, but even cause harm.

Scholars who are obsessed with poetry, calligraphy and painting will be said to be not doing their job properly, not to mention that Su Ze still hangs out with these citizen craftsmen.

Su Ze said nonchalantly: "Brother Ru Mo, don't try to persuade me anymore. I have made up my mind. Tiangong Academy is to train craftsmen and skills. The period is two months. Is there any children or servants in Brother Xu's family who are willing to come to the school?" of?"

Xu Shixing originally wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, he said, "I'll send a few family members to listen."

Su Ze said happily: "This is naturally the best."

Xu Shixing looked at Su Ze, could this guy belong to the Mo family?

Pay attention to craftsmen and promote associations?

But Su Ze's lectures are all about Confucianism.

It's so weird.

"Cotton has arrived!"

I don't know who yelled, and I saw several ships leaning against the pier.

Several Lifu immediately stepped forward and crowded on the pier, ready to pick up the work.

Sacks of cotton were unloaded from the boat and quickly loaded into a nearby carriage.

Su Ze suddenly asked Xu Shixing, "Brother Ru Mo, do you know how a piece of cotton cloth is made?"

Xu Shixing shook his head. His family had a silk business, so he didn't know the cotton production process.

Su Ze said: "Cotton has existed in ancient times, but it was vigorously promoted in the previous dynasties. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the rich wore silk and the poor wore linen."

Xu Shixing nodded. This can be concluded from reading history books that cotton is indeed a legacy that was vigorously promoted by the Yuan Dynasty.

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty also brought better cotton seeds from the conquered Central Asia. They also set up a cotton lifting department across the country, and officially operated the cotton cloth trade.

Su Ze said: "In fact, most of our cotton in Jiangnan is not locally grown in Jiangnan, and a large part of it is transported through the canal. The two lakes and the northern region are the main cotton producing areas."

"The cotton transported from the north is turned into cotton cloth in the south of the Yangtze River, and then resold to the north. The journey of this cotton in the territory of Ming Dynasty is even longer than that of many people in their lifetime. Brother Rumo, do you know this? Does it mean something?"

Xu Shixing froze for a moment, then shook his head.

"It means that Jiangnan has made money from all over the country through the cotton processing industry. The prosperity of Jiangnan is not just because it is a land of fish and rice. Cotton trade is also an important part."

Su Ze said: "Why are these cottons not spun and weaved locally, but have to travel thousands of miles and spend so much money to transport them to the south of the Yangtze River?"

Xu Shixing still shook his head.

Su Ze said: "Businessmen are all profit-seeking, and they will not do business at a loss. The reason for doing this is naturally that even with such a labor-intensive transportation, it still makes money."

"The reason for making money is naturally that Jiangnan's textile efficiency is high, and Jiangnan's textile technology is advanced."

Su Ze said to Xu Shixing: "Brother Ru Mo, Jiangnan can extract profits from the cotton production area, relying on this little bit of progress in technology."

"This little bit of technological progress can lead to leapfrog development. This is the reason why I established Tiangong Academy. This is a road to enrich the country and the people."

Xu Shixing was stunned for a moment, Su Ze was talking about an angle he had never thought about.

Su Ze said to Xu Shixing: "Tomorrow I will send a copy of "Heavenly Craftsmanship" to your house. Brother Ru Mo can take a look. The Xu family can turn some shops into workshops, and maybe they can earn more money. of silver."

Su Ze felt a little moved when he saw Xu Shixing, and knew that half of his plan had been realized.

In fact, unlike the stereotype, the atmosphere in the Jiangnan area where relatives of officials are engaged in business is very strong.

Most of the officials of the Ming Dynasty were officials in other places, and there were also regulations in the Ming Dynasty that they could not purchase land property locally.

The strictness of this regulation varies from place to place, but most motivated officials will not violate it.

Therefore, most officials are like Fang Wanghai. After taking office, they will buy shops in the local area and let their families engage in some commercial activities.

This is especially true in the Jiangnan area. For example, Xu Shixing's father was the prefect of Suzhou, so the Xu family did not buy land in Suzhou, but bought several shops in Suzhou City to make money.

If they can be encouraged to open several new workshops, it can be regarded as a contribution to the transformation of productivity.

However, Su Ze doesn't expect all the shops of Prefect Xu's family to be turned into workshops. As long as the shops of the magistrate of Suzhou are open, they can make money selling anything. The development momentum of these shops is not strong, and what Su Ze likes is still There are a large number of small businessmen and small workshop owners in the Jiangnan area.

Among all the industries, Su Ze is most concerned about the industry of cotton.

This is not because Su Ze and the Xu family can't get along, but because the cotton industry is so critical.

Textbooks link the industrial revolution with "sheep cannibalizing people". Many people think that the wool spinning industry is the beginning of the industrial revolution.

In fact, it was the cotton industry that initiated the entire industrial revolution.

Cotton is the undisputed king of commodities.

The three separations of raw material origin, processing base and consumption area have already shown that the cotton trade of the Ming Dynasty has shown the characteristics of commodity trade.

When Su Ze established Tiangong Academy, the first breakthrough industry was the cotton industry.

Su Ze stayed in the editorial department of "Tong Yan Shuo" for one night, and called Xiong Wu over.

"How did you do what you were asked to do?"

"Sir, everything you asked me to do has been done."

Although Xiong Wu is literate, he can only understand common characters. He said to Su Ze: "Let Peng An come in and talk to Mr. Xiang in detail."

Su Ze nodded, and Peng An, who had grown much taller, came in with the ledger, saluted Su Ze and said:

"The fifth master took me to visit the small and medium-sized cotton spinning workshops in Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture. Thirty percent of these cotton spinning workshops are willing to send apprentices to Tiangong Academy to learn how to use new spinning machines and weaving machine."

"Thirty percent?"

Xiong Wu said: "My lord, 30% is quite a lot. Many workshops are said to be workshops, but they are actually family workshops. They still use hand-operated spinning wheels that have been handed down for many generations. They are not willing to buy new spinning machines and sewing machine."

The wharf in the south of the Yangtze River is the center of raw cotton transportation. Cotton transported to Suzhou through canals and waterways will be unloaded and delivered to various cotton textile workshops through the Suzhou wharf.

Although cotton is also grown on land in the Jiangnan area, it is basically a small-scale mixed species, that is, it is planted on the ridges of rice fields or on the edge of the fields.

Although the Xu family has a dedicated cotton field, the cotton production in the south of the Yangtze River cannot support a large workshop like the Xu family that employs thousands of people.

In addition to large workshops like the Xu family, Songjiang Prefecture also has a large number of small and medium-sized workshops, and they all transport cotton through the wharf.

Relying on the important channel of controlling the wharf, Su Ze has established contact with the cotton spinning workshops in Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture.

And this time, the first training session of Tiangong Academy, the course offered by Su Ze is the industrial training related to cotton.

So some time ago, Su Ze asked Xiong Wuhao and Peng An to visit the cotton spinning workshops in Suzhou and Songjiang Prefecture one by one, and invited them to send people to study at Tiangong Academy and replace them with new spinning machines and looms.

Peng An quickly handed over the roster of visits, and Su Ze looked at the dense roster and said, "Thank you for your hard work, you can pay five taels of silver later."

Su Ze looked at Peng An who had grown taller, and it turned out that the talents he cultivated were useful.

"From now on, Xiong Wu will concentrate on the affairs of the dock, and the affairs of the cotton spinning workshop will be handed over to Peng An."

"Also, next time I go to Nanping, ask if anyone is willing to come to Jiangnan to help me."

When Xiong Wu heard Su Ze's arrangement, not only was he not unhappy, but he was relieved and said:

"Thank you Mr. Su! How can this work be done by humans! Visiting these workshops every day has worn out my feet!"

For Xiong Wu, dealing with these workshop owners one by one is really a laborious task.

On the other hand, Peng An showed joy. It was because Su Ze had entrusted him with a heavy responsibility and was responsible for one thing alone. He was naturally full of fighting spirit.

Su Ze ordered:

"Peng An, you can visit again in the next few days. If there are workshops that are willing to use new machines and really don't have the financial resources to pay for new machines, we can provide leases."

"Leasing? They can't afford to rent."

Su Ze said: "It's not the kind of lease that asks them to pay the rent, but to rent the equipment to them first, and after they make money, we will take a percentage of the profit."

"If they are willing to pay for it directly, they can also buy it in installments."

Peng An nodded and said, "Several companies are indeed interested. I'll visit them tomorrow."

Peng An handed in another list and said: "This is the list of the first batch of students. There are a total of 127 students. The academy will pay for the travel expenses. They will arrive one after another in the next few days."

Su Ze nodded in satisfaction. He didn't expect all workshops to use new spinning machines and looms at once.

In fact, in the matter of replacing production equipment, workshop owners and factory owners actually resisted.

The reason is also very simple. As long as the profit can be maintained, few people will invest in replacement. After all, replacement of equipment is a large investment, investment does not necessarily have a return, and investment is also risky.

Just like restaurants with good business in later generations, large-scale renovations are rarely carried out. And many restaurants that undergo upgrades and renovations when business is good will plummet after the renovation is completed.

Any businessman is instinctively risk-averse.

However, in the development of the industry, most of the participants are pushed away.

The reason why the cotton industry can become the king of commodities is because the new machinery has greatly improved the industry.

How terrible is the new machine for the improvement of the cotton textile industry?

According to Su Ze's investigation, some workshops have already used pedal spinning machines for the spinning machines used in Jiangnan. This is the three-spindle pedal spinning machine invented by Huang Daopo.

Using this kind of spinning machine, it takes a spinner 600 hours to turn a catty of raw cotton into cotton yarn.

Now, the 8-spindle spinning machine used by Changningwei only takes 200 hours for the same spinning workers.

However, the mule machine with 100 spindles written by Su Ze in "Tiangong Kaiwu" can be operated by a spinner in only 10 hours to complete the same workload.

The hydraulic spinning machine that Su Ze plans to promote in Tiangong Academy only needs 3 hours to complete the same work.

When the experiment came out with this result, Su Ze himself couldn't believe it.

The real situation is even more exaggerated than this result. On the historical timeline of Su Ze, Britain in the eighteenth century increased the spinning efficiency by 370 times in just 30 years.

What kind of concept is this, a machine can increase the work efficiency of a worker by 200 times! This increase in production efficiency is enough to drive any workshop owner crazy.

This means that even if only one percent of the workshop owners are willing to use the latest hydraulic spinning machines, all the cotton spinning work can be completed, and the cotton raw materials on the market will be in short supply!

What a productivity explosion of terror!

Su Ze believed that what he threw into Jiangnan was not just a kindling, but a huge bomb, which was enough to blow up all the old things in Jiangnan and give birth to a new class.

On April 20th, Second Master Lu, a Jinyiwei spy, finally returned to Nanjing City with his exhausted body.

The first batch of students of Tiangong Academy also arrived at the academy, and the first printed 500 copies of "Tiangong Kaiwu" were also shipped to various bookstores in the south of the Yangtze River.