What are the signs of the emergence of capitalism?

The emergence of an employment relationship.

Historically, the sprouts of capitalism had already appeared in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The textile industry was booming at that time.

The textile industry in some parts of the south has developed from simple family workshops to small factories.

The workshop owner provides capital and equipment, and the common people provide the labor.

This is the embryonic form of capitalism in which machine owners provide capital and machine workers provide labor.

There are many reasons why it failed to develop into capitalism. In addition to the limitations of thinking, there was also suppression from the imperial court.

First is commercial tax.

The reason why commercial taxes were heavy at that time was not because the imperial court levied too many taxes, but because the fees charged by local governments were high.

For every tael of commercial tax collected by the imperial court, local governments would embezzle up to two taels of silver or even more.

In the words of King Sejong, they take two million and I take one million.

Take Yangzhou businessmen as an example.

Merchants transported a shipload of goods to Beijing via the canal, passing through three provinces: Nanzhili, Shandong, and Beijing.

And under these three provinces there are many prefectures, states and counties.

Each local government would set up checkpoints along the way and collect various fees such as tolls and river crossing fees.

After receiving the money, the local governments would not hand it over to the court, but keep it for their own use. In addition to filling the deficits of previous years, most of it was embezzled by officials.

Another reason for the failure to develop into capitalism was the court's policy.

All dynasties have emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and once someone engaged in business, he was not allowed to enter the official career (except for the salt merchants in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty).

This policy prevented many gentry from directly engaging in business.

And they have a lot of money and production resources in their hands.

If Chongzhen wants to change the status quo, he needs to find the right remedy.

In the open space outside the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Under the watchful eyes of Chongzhen, Empress Zhou, and Empress Yi'an Zhang, the palace maids in the inner court stepped on the pedals, and the flying shuttle loom started to run rapidly.

As the shuttle moves back and forth, the warp and weft threads are folded and interlaced, and the cloth begins to take shape.

A quarter of an hour later, the thread on the loom was used up and a small piece of cloth was woven.

Queen Zhou stared at the spun cloth in amazement, somewhat unable to believe her eyes.

"Your Majesty, this...is it finished?"

Chongzhen raised his lips and said, "Yes, this is the power of the flying shuttle loom."

Queen Zhou still couldn't believe it. She took a few steps forward to the loom, took the cloth in her hands and examined it carefully.

The cloth is of similar quality to that woven on an ordinary loom, but is wider.

Empress Zhou came to Chongzhen with cloth and said: "With this loom, I can weave more cloth for your majesty to make clothes."

Chongzhen felt a little ashamed.

Queen Zhou was good in every way except that she was too thrifty.

Empress Yi'an Zhang bowed deeply to Chongzhen and said, "I wonder why Your Majesty asked me to come here?"

Chongzhen's eyes quickly swept across Empress Zhang Yi'an's face.

Although the emperor's sister-in-law is nearly forty years old, she doesn't look old at all.

The whole person is slender and well-proportioned, with a mouth like a red cherry, a nose like a hanging gall bladder, and white and clean teeth, giving people a mature and elegant feeling.

Chongzhen did not dare to look any further, and quickly turned his gaze to the flying shuttle loom, and said, "I asked my sister-in-law to come here today to make money."

"Making money?" Empress Zhang was a little surprised for a moment. "I have lived in the deep palace for a long time and I am not good at business. I wonder what Your Majesty wants me to do?"

"Not the Emperor's sister-in-law, but Tai Kangbo (Zhang Yan's father)."

Chongzhen turned his gaze to Empress Zhou and said, "And the Earl of Jiading."

"I intend to sell them the looms."

Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

I don’t understand why Chongzhen wanted to sell the looms.

Chongzhen explained: "This is a way to make money. After they buy looms, they can open workshops and hire people to weave cloth. The money from selling cloth can continue to buy looms and hire more people to weave cloth."

"If you repeat this process over and over again, money will make money."

Empress Zhang was suspicious after hearing this. Chongzhen meant every word for her own good, but did the emperor really mean it?

She doesn't believe it.

Out of politeness, she said slowly, "Your Majesty, my father is not good at business and will not get involved in this matter."

Chongzhen smiled slightly: "I am not discussing it."

Empress Zhang was stunned and suddenly felt a little aggrieved.

This uncle has always been respectful to her, what happened today?

Chongzhen took in Empress Zhang's expression and said hastily, "Sister-in-law, please listen to me first."

"Yes." Empress Zhang nodded slightly.

“I’m providing disaster relief!” Chongzhen began to lie. “Disasters are happening all over the country. Although the court has started to provide disaster relief, it’s only treating the symptoms and not the root cause.”

"Farmers depend on the weather for their livelihood. Drought and flood will reduce their production or even cause a total crop failure. Unfortunately, those who rent their land will not show mercy to them. Not only do they collect rent from the land, but they also impose taxes from the court on them."

"The common people were forced into rebellion."

"But it's different with a workshop. People can go into the workshop and work for the workshop owner. They can earn wages and survive, and they won't starve to death!"

What Chongzhen said did make some sense, but Empress Zhang always felt that something was wrong.

"Your Majesty, I don't understand. Why don't you sell the looms to the people so they can weave in their spare time?"

"First, it takes money to buy a loom, which most families cannot afford. Secondly, most families have women weaving, and the loom will stop because women are cooking, taking care of children, or cleaning the house, so the loom cannot be used to its full potential."

"But it's different in a workshop. The money to buy the loom is paid by the workshop owner. You just need to go to the workshop to earn wages in your spare time. You don't have to pay for the purchase of the loom. And the looms in the workshop will be used to the maximum extent."

Queen Zhang began to hesitate.

Although his father, Taikangbo, became noble because of her, he was relatively poor compared to other nobles.

If she could really make money, she would definitely let Tai Kangbo participate.

Empress Zhang asked with a slightly apologetic expression: "Your Majesty, can you really make money?"

"Of course!" Chongzhen said firmly, "Don't worry about whether you can sell it. The uniforms for the Beijing camp and the border troops in the south all need to be made of cloth."

"The flying shuttle loom weaves cloth quickly and widely, and the price is definitely cheaper than other cloth. The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War will definitely buy cloth from them."

After hearing these assurances, both Empress Zhang and Empress Zhou were completely brainwashed by Chongzhen.

Empress Zhou was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I will write a letter to my father and ask him to buy a loom."

"I will write a letter too." Empress Zhang was not willing to be outdone.

"Forget about the letter. Send someone to ask them to come to the palace for a face-to-face interview. Take the opportunity to talk about the father-daughter relationship."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhang Yan almost cried.

Since Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne, she has never seen her father again since she entered the palace.