Siheyuan: I decide the fate of the world with my medical skills

Seeing the "slaves" walking quickly with their heads down not far away, compared to what we saw at the Lishan construction site, the workers here seemed energetic and high-spirited. Their vitality and longing for freedom seemed to have a new look and vitality here.

This is indeed the case. Compared to the previous state of uncertainty about life and death and living a tight life, this job in the industrial park is hard but stable. More importantly, the daily rations here are much more sufficient than before, and the workers' daily wages have doubled from six copper coins to ten copper coins.

What is even more exciting is the policy promulgated by Prince Fusu: after working for five years, workers can freely choose to return to their hometown and become farm workers again with a newly registered household registration; or choose to continue working here, with daily wages increased to fifteen copper coins, and enjoy public food subsidies!

Once this policy was proposed, the prisoners quickly reached a consensus. Which fool would choose to return to his hometown and become an ordinary farmer?

Prince Fusu was very pleased about this. What is the most lacking thing in industrialization?

Obviously, the answer points to humans! It urgently needs a lot of labor to invest in this huge work, breaking down the labor force into components one by one, driving the endless huge machine forward. It is no exaggeration to say that if there had not been the large-scale expulsion action in Britain that caused "sheep eating their own people", and if a large number of farmers had not been liberated from traditional farming and transformed into a self-employed free labor class, Britain's industrialization would probably not have been able to be carried out on such a solid premise.

The roughness of industrialization is that as long as educated people who are willing to contribute their abilities to society are continuously invested, the returns are rich and huge. The deeper the subdivision of the industrialized sector, the exponential expansion of the demand for manpower.

When he first came to this era, he was worried about pushing Qin to complete the process of industrialization by his own strength. However, as he understood his father's memory in depth and spent many days and nights in the library in Xianyang without sleep, his confidence was stimulated. Facing the industrialized Qin, he was sure that he could do it. Because the demand for minerals and land was no longer a problem for him.

Needless to say, the wealth underground has been mined exclusively by the imperial court since the Zhou Dynasty. As for land, the situation is completely different. Since the Warring States Period, the dominant position of the state-owned economy in Qin State has been established through Shang Yang's reforms, and the subsequent landlord manor-style economic model such as the Han Dynasty and even the Ming and Qing Dynasties has been gradually eliminated. In order to reward military exploits and encourage agricultural development, the twenty-level title system implemented included provisions for descending inheritance levels-which meant that the inheritance of the nobles did not affect the opportunities of ordinary people. At the same time, the land given to ordinary farmers was also strictly controlled, and buying and selling were not allowed. The first emperor's move was more direct. He moved the rich people from all over the country together with their land to Xianyang, and directly gave ordinary people new land ownership. These measures together conveyed a clear message to the world-after Qin unified the country, it did not allow land privatization, and all fields belonged to the state. However, in places where private land ownership is prevalent, this practice is bound to arouse opposition, especially among the great nobles and landowners, which may be another important reason that prompted them to "migrate with Qin"... and nationalization also led to complex contradictions in the internal economy of the Qin Dynasty, but this can be laughed at. After all, the difference in times makes things look very different.

34 BC

On the eve of the Qin Dynasty's unification of the world, with the booming commerce and industry in the six powerful countries in the east, many important economic cities emerged across the country.

The cities that received much attention included Zhuo and Ji in Yan, Handan, the core city of Zhao, Wen and Chen in Wei, Daliang in Han, Linzi in Qi, Wanqiu in Chu, Yangdi in Zheng, and Luoyang and Gong, which were important in the Central Plains. These buildings were not only prosperous, but also famous, and were known as the richest cities in the country.

Just as if there was no intervention from the Qin Dynasty...

When Fusu handed over a fortune accumulated from a "head tax" - this was the "oral calculation method" implemented by the Qin Empire. This tax was specifically set for women, merchants, and craftsmen who were not conscripted for military service. It originated from the reform plan promoted by Shang Yang. According to the Qin law, individuals between the ages of fifteen and fifty-six who were not engaged in military affairs had to pay a "calculation" every year, the amount of which was set at 120 coins, and the funds were mainly used to purchase military supplies.

On the other hand, if there were more than two adult males in a family and the property was not divided, double the tax would be imposed. For merchants and slaves, the tax rate was doubled. The former policy was intended to combat the growth of industrial and commercial economic power, while the latter was intended to combat the behavior of individuals holding slaves.

It should be pointed out that this tax was levied using the Qin State's official currency, the "half-liang", as the payment unit.

This time, although the Lantian Industrial Park that Fusu inspected was built with the support of taxes from the "mental arithmetic method", from a certain level, this kind of taxation is indeed a practical way of "taking from the people and using it for the people."

Because this project aims to refine and forge mature new agricultural tools, such as new plows and other farming tools. At the same time, throughout the Qin Empire, iron agricultural production tools are fully managed by the workshops set up, and farmers can borrow them for free during the busy farming season. In the case of damaged tools, it only involves a simple report of the situation, and no additional sanctions are required.

The current land system is a state-owned model that dominates the main economic sectors, and on this basis, measures to clearly mark the names of craftsmen (names of craftsmen are engraved on objects) and a production line model with clear division of labor have been added. The above system gave Fusu the illusion of being in the people's cooperative era, and also strengthened his idea that it was possible to achieve industrialization in Qin.

Therefore, when formulating the welfare standards for prisoners here, despite the strong opposition and dissatisfaction from many senior officials such as Feng Quji, the Imperial Censor Feng Jie, the Protocol Officer Dun Ruo, and the Court Judge Yao Jia, Fusu still adhered to his ideals and beliefs in order to succeed in the experiment, accumulate more relevant data, and cultivate professional employees with practical experience to support the strategy of multi-point development.

In order to counter Feng Quji's indirect pressure, which was to deliberately select a large number of political books that should have been handled by him, submit them to the Shangshu Department, and finally hand them over to Fusu for personal judgment, Fusu's response was divided into the following two points:

Some political documents will be diverted to another corresponding office for processing to ensure that the division of responsibilities is clear and effective.

Granting Meng Tian temporary administrative power to replace the previous working mechanism to a certain extent, allowing members of the advisory team of the Jiuyuan Garrison Corps to return to participate in project planning.

Overall, "If Feng Quji wants to use this method to force me to compromise or change my decision, I would like to know if he has got the wrong person!" - This subconscious statement clearly shows his determination on future strategies.

As someone who traveled through time through palace dramas, I am well aware of the series of "operations" used by emperors in history to weaken their power.

Officials like Feng Quji didn't really resign because of illness, right? Instead, they wanted to force the emperor to abdicate by quitting their posts?

Fusu initially let Meng Tian and others take over temporarily to stabilize the political situation. Later, just like recruiting officials in Pei County, he selected some high-ranking officials who had left their names in the long river of history in counties and prefectures all over the country, and appointed them to some small official positions, such as Daizhao and Jieshizhong, so that they could adapt to managing state affairs.

Then, the proposals and suggestions that should have been handled by the prime minister were gradually transferred to these people for processing, gradually undermining the prime minister's authority.

Today, Feng Quji, who originally suffered from rheumatism, had poor eyesight and was weak, but he was full of energy and followed them to Lantian! This made Fusu suspect that Feng Quji must have realized some changes and was looking for an opportunity to repair their relationship.

Considering that Xiao He and others have not yet become capable of taking charge, Fusu tried his best to avoid direct conflict with this group of senior ministers during this period!

Sima Chang led everyone into a work shed and introduced: "Your Majesty, these are made according to the coal baking furnace and honeycomb briquettes model you designed."

What are coal briquette stoves and honeycomb coal?

Feng Quji saw an iron cylinder and several small black cakes on the ground and asked, "Your Majesty, what is this?"

This is obviously a signal! Fusu smiled slightly, and next to the iron cylinder, he first opened the lid, then used the tongs in his hand to stuff the already lit charcoal into the iron cylinder, and then picked up a piece of earth cake and put it into the iron cylinder.

Pointing to the clay cakes, Fusu explained: "These are honeycomb coals, which are mainly coal powder mixed with clay and water, and then dried and shaped."

"Compared to firewood, they are more durable and seven or eight pieces will suffice for a full day."

Everyone in the venue was very smart. After Fusu's demonstration, they were able to understand the usage and value of honeycomb coal after a brief explanation.

After all, the technological threshold for honeycomb coal is not high. It is just a change in appearance based on stone processing.

Meng Tian went forward to take a look, pointed at the honeycomb briquettes, and asked Sima Chang: "What is the price of this material?"

In order to ensure the supply of timber in Xianyang and prevent the prisoner, Gui Xin, from dying from overwork, how could we not have to worry about this?

If your Majesty's coal products are truly worth the money, they will not only replenish the treasury, but also reduce the workload of the criminals in the inner court and surrounding counties. Feng Quji asked: "I heard that when stone burns, it produces toxic gas with a bad smell. I'm afraid it is not suitable for indoor use."

Master! It seems Feng Quji was also prepared! But there is nothing we can do in this situation, after all, what we have dug out is mostly bituminous coal... I remembered what the later Palace Museum guide had described.

Zhang Han, the general in charge of the government affairs of the Shaofu, came out and replied: "It is as the Prime Minister said! According to your majesty's instructions, coal is harmful because it does not burn thoroughly. It is good for smelting iron. If it is used indoors, it will accidentally introduce invisible poisons."