Niu Baijin stood respectfully and said, "What is it? Your Majesty, please give your orders!"
"Recently, the Textile Bureau reported to me that their promotion of jacquard machines is too slow."
"They have few staff and limited space. They can't recruit so many new people in a short time."
"Besides the jacquard loom, the Textile Bureau has also developed a new type of loom. This urgently needs to be mass-produced and promoted nationwide."
"Therefore, I want your Ministry of Industry to be responsible for the manufacture of jacquard machines and textile machines."
Xia Miaoyuan's eyes sparkled. "What a great idea, Emperor! If we assign the Ministry of Industry to manufacture looms, the efficiency of nationwide promotion will be greatly improved."
Niu Baijin's eyes instantly widened like bells: "No way, Your Majesty, I am the Minister of Works, the Ministry of Works. How can I be building a loom?"
Xia Zhengqi's face tightened. "Your Ministry of Works is in charge of construction. Building houses and bridges is manufacturing. Building jacquard machines and looms is also manufacturing. Why not?!"
All the civil and military officials in the hall were stunned.
What's up with their Emperor Mingxi?!
Niu Baijin suddenly felt like a dumb person eating bitter herbs. When did Emperor Mingxi become so unreasonable?
"But Your Majesty, my Ministry of Works..."
Xia Zhengqi glared at Niu Baijin fiercely: "What? Are you trying to disobey my order?"
"I dare not! That is not what I meant! Your Majesty, please do not misunderstand me!" Niu Baijin knelt down in panic.
"You have three months to produce 50,000 jacquard machines and 50,000 looms!" Xia Zhengqi's tone was firm and left no room for doubt.
Niu Baijin's legs trembled. "Ah! Three months?! That's a hundred thousand units in total?"
"What? Do you have any objections? If you have any objections, I can replace you with someone else to take charge of the Ministry of Works." Xia Zhengqi said coldly.
"No objection, no objection! I obey your order!" Niu Baijin was already crying, and a layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out of his forehead.
[Hahaha! The Emperor is so domineering! Now Lord Niu has no time to mess around with Concubine Xian.]
Xia Zhengqi lowered his head, and the corners of his mouth curled up wildly.
Hahaha, my daughter praised me. I am such a wise and powerful emperor!
After quickly calming down, Xia Zhengqi said solemnly, "Master Zhao from the Ministry of Revenue, I've already calculated that the cost of a loom, including labor and materials, is two taels of silver. Adding the cost of building the workshop, I'll calculate it at one hundred thousand taels."
"You should withdraw 300,000 taels of silver from Lord Niu to build a workshop and manufacture looms."
Lord Zhao felt his whole body weaken. He said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue's money didn't just come from the wind! The Ministry of Revenue is poor!"
Niu Baijin looked at Mr. Zhao from the Ministry of Revenue with an aggrieved look on his face: "Your Majesty, if you calculate 300,000, our Ministry of Works is already very tight."
"If we want to quickly gather enough workers, it's definitely not enough to recruit them in the capital. We must go to several nearby provinces to recruit workers. And then we have to be responsible for the workers' food and lodging."
"Building dormitories and cooking for the workers every day all require money."
Xia Zhengqi curled the corners of his lips in satisfaction.
Haha, okay, I am really resourceful. I took the initiative to propose a grant of 300,000 yuan. Niu Baijin's attention was immediately shifted to Lord Zhao.
"You heard it too. I didn't count the silver too much. Three hundred thousand taels of silver is already the minimum." Xia Zhengqi looked at Mr. Zhao from the Ministry of Revenue.
Lord Zhao was on the verge of tears: "Your Majesty, this year's money has been spent like water just on epidemic relief. If we continue to spend like this, we won't be able to make ends meet!"
Xia Miaoyuan sat beside Emperor Mingxi and counted on his fingers: [1.8 million taels for soldiers at the border, 500,000 taels for disaster relief due to the heavy snow in northern Henan, 100,000 taels for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, 700,000 taels for New Year's celebrations and palace purchases.]
[There was also the epidemic, which cost nearly one million taels in total. The Ministry of Revenue had indeed spent a considerable amount of silver.]
However, the promotion of jacquard machines and new looms is also very important. These two things can bring about a leap forward in Daxia's textile industry, greatly improving textile production and output.
[When the time comes, we in Great Xia will sell silk and satin to countries all over the world, and we will earn a lot of money.]
After hearing this, Xia Zhengqi became even more determined to build 100,000 looms within three months.
"Master Zhao, stop crying poor. The loom must be built. The Ministry of Revenue should quickly allocate funds!"
Lord Zhao's eyes suddenly turned red, and tears welled up in his eyes: "The Ministry of Revenue is poor, Your Majesty, you can't force our Ministry of Revenue like this!"
"Oh, you're crying so hard!"
"How pitiful! The dignified Minister of Revenue is forced into this state by the Emperor in the palace."
"Look at how Lord Zhao is crying. It seems that the Ministry of Revenue is truly poor and not just pretending to be poor."
Civil and military officials all started talking about it.
Xia Miaoyuan frowned and thought hard, "What should I do? I have to get the job done even though I don't have any money."
Suddenly, her brows relaxed, and a light gleamed in her eyes. "Got it! Why not just sell the loom?"
"Dad, sell the loom! Make a loom and sell it for silver!" Xia Miaoyuan tugged at Xia Zhengqi's sleeve and whispered.
Xia Zhengqi looked at his daughter lovingly, his face full of surprise.
My dear daughter is really a fairy who can come up with such an idea.
The loom costs two taels of silver. If, as originally planned, they were distributed free to weavers across the country, the cost would be lost. However, if the looms were sold to weavers, the investment would be recouped.
[There is no need to add a markup to the price, just sell it to the weavers at cost.]
If the weavers in impoverished areas cannot afford to pay, they can sign a contract and use the looms on credit. When the weavers make money from weaving cloth, they can repay the money in installments.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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