This time, Azig kidnapped hundreds of thousands of young people in Jiangbei, which greatly reduced the labor force in the prime of life in Jiangbei.As a result, even if the imperial court resettled, it would be difficult for the old and weak women and children who returned to their hometowns to take care of the fields.Therefore, Zhao Mingcai proposed that Liu Ru set up a factory in Jiangbei and recruit women to engage in silk weaving production with relatively low labor intensity.Although the atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty was open, those engaged in all walks of life in society were mainly men, and women had few opportunities to work.This phenomenon did not gradually change until the First World War, when men went to the front and women had to go to factories.Now, due to the lack of labor in Jiangbei, it is difficult for these women, children, and the elderly and weak to complete their cultivation even if they are resettled, so the resettlement strategy must be changed.The orders of the Qian Workshop were mainly given by Zhao Ming, and now that Zhao Ming made a request, Liu Ru naturally would not refuse.For the workshop, the most important thing is to have enough orders, as long as you have a good relationship with the regent, you can not worry about orders in the future, not to mention helping those poor refugees."
If you can share your Highness's worries, the concubine is naturally willing!"
Liu Ru saluted.Zhao Ming was very happy, Chen Ming had already achieved his goal, so he urged Zhao Ming to enter the city as soon as possible on the grounds that the time was not early.This made Zhao Ming frown slightly, feeling that his first assistant had found any signs of it, and it was difficult for him.When the next group of people left the Qian workshop, they went to Songjiang City.Songjiang is one of the centers of the textile industry in the Ming Dynasty, the city is extremely prosperous, and many big businessmen and gentry of the Han Kingdom are from Songjiang.Now, Zhao Ming has entered Nanjing, and the Nanjing court was first established, in order to wipe Zhu Yihai's buttocks, although he got a huge sum of 20 million taels this year and filled it into the treasury, the Nanjing court is still not rich.First of all, in order to support Zhu Yihai against the Longwu court, the Han State once borrowed heavily from Zhu Yihai.Now that Zhu Yihai has collapsed and abdicated as the emperor, if it was in the past, the successor would definitely not pay it back and would not admit it.However, the Yongli Dynasty was a Chan concession from the Jianwu Imperial Court, the emperor changed, but the imperial court did not change, Zhao Ming still decided to maintain the credibility of the Nanjing Imperial Court and continue to repay the eight million taels owed.Therefore, this money is not Zhao Ming's personal, but Huaxing Yinhao loaned, which contains the shares of Jiangnan gentry and merchants.In the future, in order to develop, the Nanjing court will inevitably borrow money, and if this reputation is not maintained, it will be difficult to get money in the future, and it will also lead to businessmen and people not trusting the court and not daring to cooperate with the court.Secondly, of the 20 million silver dollars, 6 million taels are tax advances, and in addition, in order to restore the local tax exemption policy for the local government, it shows that the imperial court's tax next year will not be too much.Now, in the treasury, after distributing arrears and rewarding soldiers, there is actually not much money, which makes Zhao Ming, who has never had to worry about money, become nervous.Although Zhao Ming has a lot of properties under his name, and there are already 30 million taels of silver deposited in Huaxing Yinhao, it is his personal money, not the money of the Nanjing Imperial Court.Zhao Ming can indeed use his own treasury as before, but in this way, the Nanjing Imperial Court will not be able to develop healthily, and Zhao Ming's purpose is not to make money himself.This time, Zhao Ming came to Songjiang to inspect the production of materials in the workshop, on the one hand, on the other hand, mainly for coal mining, as well as the restoration of Jiangbei, and prepared to pull the gentry and merchants of Jiangdong to do it together.How profitable the coal boss is, Zhao Ming is high-spirited and bright, and he is not willing to enjoy it exclusively.Although the official camp has the advantages of the official camp, it is easy for the official camp to turn the company into a yamen, so Zhao Ming still decided to bring the gentry and businessmen to do it together.Moreover, now Zhao Ming is the regent of the Ming Dynasty, with a high position and power, and there are many eyes watching everything and figuring out what he means.Although Zhu Yuanzhang himself dug the coal mine in Huainan, Zhao Ming went to dig it, and it was inevitable that it would be easy to arouse the associations of others, and it would be instigated and used by people with intentions.If it makes people feel that the regent is digging the ancestral grave of the old Zhu family, destroying the dragon veins of the old Zhu family, and preparing for the usurpation of the dynasty, it will still have a bad impact on Zhao Ming, which is not conducive to the great image that Zhao Ming wants to establish at this time, as well as the unity within the Ming Dynasty.Therefore, Zhao Ming decided to take the Jiangdong gentry and merchants to do it together, and the more people involved, the less people dared to spread rumors.Otherwise, Zhao Ming alone will inevitably be hated if he makes money from digging coal.After Zhao Ming entered the Nanjing court, he could feel that there was a gap between the Jiangnan gentry and merchants and him.This may have something to do with his entry into Nanjing, his change of identity, and his claim to establish centralized power, the capitalists in Jiangnan, as well as the gentry, have always disliked the strong central government, and he likes to lock up the imperial power and restrain and control the imperial court.The Ming Dynasty was used by them to use the civil official group to clean up obediently, and the southern provinces basically did not take the court and the emperor seriously.The Ming Dynasty could not collect taxes in Jiangnan, that is, because it could not control the gentry and merchants in Jiangnan.Zhao Ming came this time in order to mend the gap, not to make it as antagonistic as before the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time to solve the problem that the Nanjing court had no money to develop.In the Songjiang County Ya, more than a dozen gentry came here and sat in the hall and waited for a long time.At this time, everyone exchanged heads and whispered to each other."
Cheng Yuanwai, what is the regent calling us for this time?"
A businessman asked.Cheng Bi can be said to be an official and businessman of the Han Kingdom, the president of the Jiangdong Chamber of Commerce, and a celebrity around Zhao Ming."
It should be Jiangbei disaster relief!"
Cheng Bi said in a deep voice.Hearing that it was Jiangbei disaster relief, everyone's faces turned cold.At this time, outside the hall, the guards suddenly shouted: "The regent has arrived!"
”When many merchants and gentry heard this, they hurriedly stood up and bowed, "Greetings to the Regent!"
”Zhao Ming walked in with a smile on his face, sat down in the middle hall, and then waved his hand and said, "Everyone sit down!"
”After everyone sat down, Zhao Ming immediately went straight to the point and said with a smile: "I invited you to come this time because there is something to discuss.Gu is ready to unite you and set up a company to develop Huainan Coal Mine.This can be used to mine coal to earn money, and second, it can resettle refugees, drive the economy, and carry out disaster relief.What do you think?
”The merchants and gentry who sat on either side bowed their heads one by one and did not speak.There are mines in Huainan, they know it, but the mining value is not high, and there is basically no profit.In the era when the productive forces were underdeveloped, there were salt merchants who made a fortune, some maritime merchants who made a fortune, and some cloth merchants who made a fortune, but they had never heard of coal mining making a fortune.There is not much coal in Shanxi, but I haven't seen Jin merchants rushing to dig coal, they are all small workshops with no way to dig and can't make a few dollars.At this time, coal mining is difficult, transportation is difficult, the road and land are more than 50 miles, the cost has to be doubled, the cost of water transportation is lower, it can be transported to the south of the Yangtze River, and the price has reached the point that ordinary people cannot afford to burn it.The people all burn firewood, and the dignitaries can burn a few coals, which is not worth the money of these bigwigs.For big businessmen, money has a cost, they all need a benefit, they have a more profitable business, so they don't want to dig coal.Therefore, in the eyes of everyone, the regent did not want to form a company, but wanted them to pay for disaster relief.The merchant's money didn't come from the wind, everyone was silent for a while, and an old gentleman who had some friendship with Zhao Ming said with a smile: "Your Highness, the villain will not participate in digging coal, and pledge 30,000 taels for disaster relief, how about it?"
”As soon as the old gentry spoke, the businessmen present also opened their mouths and pledged their contributions.When Zhao Ming heard this, his face couldn't help but sink.()