Chapter 815: The Ming Dynasty's National System (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe)

At the end of 1875, it was undoubtedly a new spring for the industrial and commercial circles of the Ming Dynasty, and it all started with a seemingly insignificant "method".

In the spacious study, when talking about shipyard expansion, bank loans and other matters, Fang Zhanbo, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, was very happy. However, compared with him, Emperor Zhu was more concerned about another issue.

"What about the merchant ship orders at the shipyard? How much has it increased?"

The expansion of the shipyard will only be meaningful if the orders for merchant ships increase. Otherwise, even if the shipyard is expanded, it will only have empty production capacity.

"Compared to last month, it has increased by more than 150%. Many shipyards have started to expand their shipyards because they have received orders..."

Fang Zhanbo's answer made Emperor Zhu nod slightly. Fortunately, everything was within his expectations.

"Your Majesty, this incentive method of yours is really amazing. Ordering merchant ships from domestic shipyards can be done with low-interest loans and subsidies of ten yuan per ton. This has given many people opportunities. Last month, more than thirty new shipping companies were established, and at least half of the new ship orders were placed by them. With these orders, the shipyards dared to expand on a large scale."

When talking about the incentive measures that His Majesty had asked to be formulated, Fang Zhanbo admired His Majesty to the extreme. Who would have thought that just a few simple tricks could set off an investment frenzy throughout the Ming Dynasty?

In fact, it was not only the shipbuilding and shipping industries that were stimulated. In the face of orders from shipping companies, the expansion of shipyards naturally required the purchase of a large number of shipbuilding equipment, which further stimulated the development of the machinery manufacturing industry in Daming. The construction of ships and machinery equipment required a large amount of steel raw materials, which in turn drove the development of the steel industry.

The investment of financial capital has driven the development of the financial industry. In short, a seemingly inconspicuous "Shipbuilding Encouragement Measures" is like a lever that successfully leveraged the industrial development of the Ming Dynasty. After the railway, it injected a new impetus into the industrial development of the Ming Dynasty.

"Private capital has always been enthusiastic about investment. What we need is to release this power, such as using some corresponding policy incentives!"

When talking about policy stimulus, Emperor Zhu naturally thought of another world where he witnessed the country's industrial support for certain industries. Although some aspects were not satisfactory, they all benefited a lot by funding the overall development of the country.

"This kind of policy stimulus is actually the magic weapon for the rise of the Ming Dynasty. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce can conduct research in this area in the future. If we lag behind in those industries, we can introduce some appropriate policies to provide preferential support and funding. Well... you can think of it as a national system!"

Emperor Zhu directly said an extremely fresh word.

In fact, to some extent, this is a national system. After all, at that time, no country had introduced similar incentive measures, and the advantages of this national system were exactly what Emperor Zhu was familiar with.

"National system?"

Fang Zhanbo looked at His Majesty in confusion.

"Fang Qingjia, compared with other countries, the reason why the Ming Dynasty has made amazing progress in recent years is that the country has formulated an industrial development plan to lead economic construction. It is said that under the promotion of the national system, our country has concentrated its financial resources and all other forces on industrial construction, and has achieved remarkable achievements in some important projects. Our industrial development in recent years has mainly benefited from this..."

When talking about the Ming Dynasty's "national system", Emperor Zhu was quite proud, because it was he who introduced this "magic weapon" to the Ming Dynasty, allowing the Ming Dynasty to achieve achievements that other countries could hardly imagine in just fifteen years.

"What is the national system? To put it simply, it is through special resource allocation and organizational methods that the government coordinates and allocates national resources to achieve corresponding goals and tasks. This is our five-year plan. But in addition to this, we can further expand the scope of application of this mechanism. It does not necessarily have to be through official direct investment. Just like the "Shipbuilding Encouragement Measures", we can use some policy guidance and support to leverage private capital to join the country's development. After all, our private sector has accumulated a lot of wealth over the years. According to statistics from the Bank of England, our deposit balance this year will exceed 6 billion. If this money can be used, it will be just around the corner to surpass Britain and France..."

When talking about the 6 billion deposits in the bank, Emperor Zhu was a little worried. This huge amount of money required as much as 300 million in interest payments a year!

As long as half of this money can be used for investment, Ming Dynasty's road to surpassing Britain will be just around the corner.

After thinking for a while, Emperor Zhu said

"In fact, we can study it further. Since we can use a bill to leverage the development of the shipbuilding and shipping industries, can we also introduce some bills to encourage other private enterprises? In the past ten years, while state-owned enterprises have grown, private enterprises have also grown. Just like in Nanyuanwei, there are more than a thousand small enterprises that produce various parts and supply large companies, just around large enterprises such as Dahua Steel Company and Qianlima Automobile Company. The production capacity of these enterprises is an effective supplement to large enterprises. As they grow and develop, the industrial strength of Daming is also increasing. I think we can introduce corresponding bills, for example, support for factory construction of targeted enterprises and credit loans for machinery and equipment. This targeted enterprise is what the country needs and is beneficial to the improvement of the country's industrial and commercial strength."

When Emperor Zhu Da came up with this idea, a question developed in his mind: what is this so-called need?

It can be a steel plant, a machinery plant, or a textile plant. In the past, what did the Ming Dynasty rely on for its development? One is a state-owned enterprise with official investment, and the other is a company, that is, the direct investment of Nanhua Company... Well, Emperor Zhu was the largest business owner in the Ming Dynasty.

As for private capital, although it is active, it is far from being comparable to the other two. The former has policy support, while the latter? It is rich and powerful!

What if private enterprises can also receive certain policy support? Just like China in another world, the support for related industries is both state-owned and private, but in the end, no matter what their surnames are, they are all Chinese.

As these enterprises grow larger, when the great war comes in the future, these factories and enterprises will become part of the Ming Dynasty's war machine!

Since we have the magic weapon of the national system, why not make use of it?

And this is precisely the biggest difference between the Ming Dynasty and other countries - with a development vision and development methods that transcend its time, the Ming Dynasty can completely achieve in a very short period of time the national strength that the British and French took nearly a hundred years to develop!

National system!

This is the key for Ming Dynasty to surpass and defeat Britain in the future, and it can even be said to be Ming Dynasty’s trump card.

As long as we hold on to it firmly and continue to use it, then in another ten years, the Ming Dynasty will be truly unpredictable...

At this moment, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but look forward to the future.

(End of this chapter)