Tianliangyuan

Chapter 215 This is extremely useful!

No one is immune to the love of money, not even emperors.

There is no doubt that what emperors love most is supreme power. But on the basis of power, who wouldn't want more money to support their other unfulfilled desires?

For example, Emperor Yong'an wanted to renovate the Taiji Palace.

In the past, the Ministry of Revenue always said that the national treasury was insufficient. Later, when there was income, most of it was used for people's livelihood in various places. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue really cannot come up with much money now.

Now, Emperor Yong'an felt that he could pay for the repairs himself without relying on the Ministry of Revenue.

In that instant, even Emperor Yong'an felt himself stunned.

Xu Zhaozhao is essentially paying money to pave her own way.

Xu Zhaozhao felt she couldn't keep pushing things too far. She already had enough businesses under her control, and if she continued, things might go wrong.

In particular, she needed to spread the word about her weaving workshop first, otherwise, she feared the imperial court would take notice of her.

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao gave the blueprints of the loom to her cousin Wang Wenyuan, and then had him and her third brother work together to build one. In this way, they were able to explain the various principles of the loom.

When the officials of the Ministry of Works saw it, they were naturally amazed. They then reported it up the chain of command, so Xu Junting and Wang Wenyuan carried a loom into the palace together.

"You guys did this?"

Wang Wenyuan bowed first: "Your Majesty, I dare not take credit. It was only when my cousin and I were inspired by my cousin Xu Zhaozhao that we came up with the idea of ​​speeding up the weaving. Later, several craftsmen worked together to create this loom."

"Not bad!"

After the two men explained the working principle of the loom, Emperor Yong'an ordered a demonstration. With the looms he had seen before as a comparison, Emperor Yong'an immediately understood how great the benefits this loom could bring!

It's not just about enabling the people to wear clothes and use cloth; more importantly, it makes it more effective for him to crack down on those powerful families.

Taking this opportunity, Xu Junting reported: "Your Majesty, I believe that since this thing has been made and is indeed usable, it would be better for the government to set up several large-scale weaving workshops. In this way, it will be impossible for those merchants to control the market price through this."

"It makes sense!"

"Your Majesty, I dare not conceal the truth. My younger sister Zhao Zhao has already tried it. She owns a weaving workshop, which is now operating normally and can produce more than ten bolts of cloth every day."

If the imperial court could establish several large-scale weaving workshops and employ common people to operate the looms, it would not only solve the livelihood problems of the people, but also allow the court to directly manage the production and sale of cloth. Furthermore, if a disaster or war were to occur in any region, the court could flexibly and proactively produce cloth for our soldiers or disaster victims, thus alleviating some of the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue.

What Xu Junting didn't say was that, most importantly, as long as the court controlled these things, then if any danger arose, at least in the matter of cloth, His Majesty wouldn't be subject to others' control.

The previous ink technology had already brought Emperor Yong'an a taste of success.

It was precisely because of this technology that several large families' paper mills and bookstores suffered greatly.

The corn seeds that Xu Junting had previously presented were high-yielding and could greatly alleviate the burden on the Ministry of Revenue.

More than half of the land in the Daxing Dynasty was in the hands of those powerful families.

The remaining land was either not fertile enough or had to be given as rewards to meritorious officials of the court. In short, the common people had no land, so life was naturally difficult.

Corn is high-yielding and has a certain degree of drought resistance, so now there are more than 2,000 acres of wasteland in Beijing alone planted with corn. Last year's harvest was very bountiful, and after deducting some seeds, the rest was distributed as food.

Xu Junting had previously reported that he planned to expand corn planting this year, which would also provide a large number of homeless people and beggars with shelter.

According to Gu Dongyang of the Ministry of Revenue, at least 5,000 mu of corn can be planted this year. Keep in mind that these 5,000 mu are all wasteland!

Sure enough, as long as there are people and land, opportunities will always arise.

Now that these two have presented such a fine gift, His Majesty is naturally overjoyed!

"Guards, bestow the reward!"

Emperor Yong'an remembered Xu Junting's great contribution before, and now that he had presented such a fine item, he was naturally very generous in rewarding him.

"Issue decree: Xu Junting is loyal to the country and has contributed grain and strategies to our Daxing. He is a true hero. He shall be granted the title of Founding Baron and awarded five bolts of silk and two cans of Nanzhao black tea!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

In Daxing, the "Founding Man" was designated as a fifth-rank official with a fief of three hundred households.

Although the rank is not high, it is still a title of nobility. In the future, when Xu Junting goes out, he can still be addressed as "Lord".

Moreover, having a fief means not only income, but more importantly, the Emperor's favor. This is tantamount to telling everyone that although Xu Junting has only been in court for a short time, he is already in the Emperor's heart.

As for Wang Wenyuan, Emperor Yong'an naturally wouldn't overlook him either.

"Wang Wenyuan has offered me great advice and is truly a worthy minister. He is hereby promoted to the position of Director of the Ministry of Works and awarded five bolts of silk and two cans of Nanzhao black tea!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your reward!"

The two cousins ​​went to the palace. One of them received a noble title, but his official position remained unchanged. The other was promoted, and it was a qualitative leap. He became the Director of the Ministry of Works, which is a fifth-rank official position with absolute real power!

Wang Wenyuan was completely numb.

He never expected that it had only been a short time since his cousin last spoke to him.

Tsk, he was promoted so gloriously and happily.

This progress is incredibly fast!

"I owe my current success to my cousin Zhao Zhao. His Majesty has bestowed upon me a gift of silk, and I will select two bolts to send to her later. As for black tea, I have heard that Zhao Zhao has quite a lot, so I will find some rare items to send to her as well."

Xu Junting was grinning from ear to ear, he was overjoyed.

He's a baron now, how could he not be happy!

"Hehe, there's no need for that, cousin. We're all family, and Zhao Zhao has everything she needs. If we do our job well and don't make our family worry about us, Zhao Zhao will be satisfied."

Thinking back on his career as an official, Wang Wenyuan couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. Who would have thought that he would be promoted just because of a loom!

Wang Wenyuan and Xu Junting could vaguely imagine some of the grand plans that Emperor Yong'an had come up with, but they dared not think about them in depth.

But Xu Zhaozhao is different.

She puts herself entirely in the position of an emperor, which naturally allows her to think more far ahead and more clearly.

The loom—this is only the first step.

If her prediction is correct, the imperial court will then plant and purchase large quantities of cotton, hemp, kudzu, and other similar products, thus truly forming a complete industrial chain.