PFC Chapter 454 National Examination.
Chapter 454 National Examination.
Ye Kun nodded:
"Then respect the wishes of local officials and stop when it's enough. Let the people choose whether to grow cotton or mulberry and raise silkworms. Once cotton textiles are in short supply and the price goes up, the people will plant cotton vigorously."
In fact, the cotton industry has just started.
The annual output is good now, but there was no inventory before, and there is a big gap in cotton products.
Cotton-padded clothes and quilts are still luxuries that ordinary people dare not even imagine!
It will take three to five years before high-end items like quilts will enter the homes of ordinary people.
However, most of the cottonseed oil was used by the public.
Because cottonseed oil has a slightly bitter taste and is far inferior to rapeseed oil, walnut oil, and soybean oil, rich people don't eat it.
Qin Chou finished his report and sat back.
Ye Kun asked Liu Ai: "Mr. Liu Ai, what do you think about agricultural work?"
Liu Ai was not polite either. He asked Qin Chou a few questions, learned the general situation, and then said:
"Cotton is better than silk and linen for making clothes and quilts, and is suitable for everyone. But if we want to promote cotton, we need to delegate power and allow the people to spin cotton and weave cloth and trade freely. The court only needs to collect agricultural taxes, and there is no need to monopolize cotton spinning."
Ye Kun nodded: "We are short of money these past two years, so we have a monopoly on cotton textile products and do not allow private participation. We also have plans to open up the cotton textile industry, probably next year.
But there is a problem. Once it is liberalized, local gentry and aristocrats will monopolize the industry and sell it at high prices, and ordinary people will still not be able to afford it. "
Liu Ai smiled and said, "The cotton textile industry employs a huge number of people. The wealthy and powerful also have to hire common people to work. If common people have work to do, they can make money and eat in this industry."
This is true for labor-intensive industries.
It seems that Liu Ai also understands economics.
Ye Kun smiled and said, "Mr. Liu Ai's words make sense. My Lords, can we open up the cotton textile industry this year?"
The Ministry of Industry objected: "It was originally planned to be liberalized next year. It's too late to liberalize it this year."
The Ministry of Finance and Taxation also objected: "If we relax this year, our fiscal and taxation tasks will not be completed."
"Let's do this." Ye Kun thought for a moment:
"We will partially liberalize this year and do a few pilot projects. At the same time, we will test the civilian textile machinery we designed and train a group of civilian technicians. Even if we liberalize the high-end cotton textile products, the civilian sector will not be able to make them. This is still our monopoly business."
Due to the limitations of productivity, cultural level and organizational capabilities, high-end industries are destined to be beyond the reach of private enterprises.
For example, coal mining, iron ore mining, steel, coking, and even porcelain and glass, soap and matches are now beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Even if the wealthy and powerful families had money, they couldn’t do it. The technology was not up to standard, and the products were barely competitive.
Ye Kun had already opened up the oil pressing industry.
However, the oil production rate of similar products in the workshops of local gentry was significantly lower than that of large state-owned factories.
As long as Ye Kun engages in high-end industries, combined with taxation and corvee labor, he can maintain the normal operation of the court.
After all, the population at that time was just over 20 million, and the size was only half of a province in later generations.
After the agricultural and sericulture issues were agreed upon, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works reported the situation.
The Ministry of Households reported that there were many newborns among the people and many teenagers had grown up and needed to be granted land.
There are indeed a lot of fields, but the land is allocated every year and needs to be registered every year, which increases management costs.
Ye Kun asked Liu Ai for his opinion.
Liu Ai said: "Land will be granted every three years, and will be uniformly registered and managed. The wasteland can be developed by the people, and taxes will be collected after three years. Those who are short of land will go and reclaim the wasteland themselves."
Ye Kun shook his head: "We can't just let go of the wasteland. Once it's reclaimed by the people, it will hurt their feelings if we take it back. We have the Farming Army, who are tidying up the abandoned farmland everywhere, so we can take care of it."
Liu Ai asked: "You don't have enough labor, and the soldiers stationed in the fields are too busy to handle it."
"Labor force will be available soon." Ye Kun picked up a letter at hand and said with a smile:
"Song Poliu, Qin Erwu, and Wang Meng have invited 60,000 foreign laborers from the Jiaozhi Peninsula. They will arrive soon. The male workers will be sent to mine coal and smelt iron, and the female workers will enter the textile factory. In this way, our local people can focus on agriculture."
Liu Ai was surprised: "Have we reached the address yet?"
"It's more than just a matter of exchanging addresses." Ye Kun smiled.
"Don't worry about the labor force. We plan to bring in 200,000 to 300,000 foreign workers from overseas every year to participate in our construction."
The food problem has been solved.
This year's grain output will not be enough to be eaten in two years.
However, the labor problem remains serious.
Opening mountains, building roads, digging coal and smelting iron require a lot of hard labor.
There are also the construction of five major capitals and the Grand Canal project. Giving Ye Kun two million coolies is not too much!
When they heard that tens of thousands of foreign laborers were being invited from Jiaozhi, everyone smiled knowingly.
Ye Kun asked the Ministry of Industry to continue reporting.
The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transport are actually very busy and have a lot of work to do.
After the morning meeting, Ye Kun announced:
"I've been back in Xuchang these days, and everyone is very tired from the continuous meetings. I'll give everyone a few days off so they can relax. In the future, we'll make it a system where we'll have two days off every ten days, and six days off every month."
Everyone was happy and said with a smile: "This is the best. It also allows our officials to have a little rest."
Ye Kun looked at Liu Ai and said:
"Mr. Liu Ai, you can follow Prime Minister Sang Buyi and be his assistant. After you learn for a month and understand the specific work and situation of the Nine Ministries, I will assign you another job."
When you first arrive, no matter how capable you are, you cannot take on important responsibilities.
Must learn and practice.
Liu Ai clasped his fists and obeyed, then said, "I have a suggestion..."
Ye Kun nodded: "It's okay to speak frankly."
Liu Ai thought for a moment and said, "All the ministers of the nine ministries are from the south, not the Central Plains. Therefore, the Central Plains gentry and scholars have some opinions and complaints. Since the King of Han regards the whole country as a chessboard, he should choose chess pieces from all over the country, instead of favoring the south."
Yu Guinong and others all looked unhappy.
Because of Liu Ai's words, he offended all the ministers of the nine ministries.
Liu Ai smiled: "Actually, I just said this through my mouth. I think the King of Han also has the same idea in his mind."
"Mr. Liu, you offend people whenever you speak."
Ye Kun sighed and said with a smile: "It's not that I don't want northern scholars, I just haven't found the right ones. If you have a suitable candidate, you can recommend him. No matter whether he is old or young, he can take on the important task if he has talent."
Liu Ai clasped his fists and said, "Why not select talents from all over the country?"
Ye Kun had already made plans for the imperial examination system.
However, at present, talents are only selected in universities, which is considered a small-scale imperial examination, and no national examination is held.
Since Liu Ai mentioned it, Ye Kun said:
"In this case, let the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Culture and Education take charge and discuss the feasibility of a national exam. Mr. Liu Ai, please join the discussion."
Yu Guinong smiled and said, "It's still not as good as Yizhou University, because Chengdu University was established the earliest. The people of Yizhou have learned the most."