Li Jun paused and then said: "What the Song Dynasty needed was not only scholars, but also dynamic agricultural power, creative industries, but also active commerce. The four industries of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce were not missing. No industry was missing for the Song Dynasty.

"I decided to change the traditional policy of 'focusing on agriculture and suppressing the end', implementing all industries at the same time, and developing various industries. At the same time, the policy of discrimination against merchants was abolished. The Song Dynasty not only could not discriminate against merchants, but also to raise their status to an equal position with scholars, farmers and workers. In a word: In the Song Dynasty, the status of various industries was equal, and there was no difference between which one was higher and which one was lower. Some could only give priority to which industries were developed and which industries were developed later."

Li Jun's words were shocking. Although merchants were very rich since ancient times, they were discriminated against. On the contrary, farmers were poor but had a higher status than them. In fact, since merchants had a lot of money and could perform some practical operations, their actual status was higher and much higher than that of pauper farmers.

Abolishing industry discrimination, implementing equality in all industries, and improving the status of merchants is not necessarily a precedent in Chinese history, at least it is rare. It is still very difficult to accept Wen Tianxiang and others who are born in school and influenced by Confucianism. Chen Yizhong, Li Tingzhi, and Wen Tianxiang were shocked and didn't know how to speak. Even Liao Shenggong, a soldier, felt that it was incomprehensible. Although he did not read more books than Li Tingzhi and others, at least he knew the saying "Everything is inferior, but only high reading is"

After a while, Wen Tianxiang took the lead in expressing his objection and said, "Your Majesty, I think it takes a deep thought to improve the status of merchants. Merchants have been a lot of incompetent and profitable since ancient times, so they have been criticized by many dynasties. If the court raises their status, wouldn't there be more incompetent and profitable things?"

"Yes." Chen Yizhong immediately expressed his support for Wen Tianxiang and said, "Your Majesty, I also think it is absolutely impossible to improve the status of merchants. It is exactly what Lu Shan said that if the status of merchants is improved, they will be even more lawless and difficult to control."

Li Jun understood their reaction very well. Seeing Li Tingzhi not speaking, he wanted to see the reaction of this pragmatic politician. As expected, Li Tingzhi, a pragmatic politician, had a comment. After thinking for a while, he said: "Emperor, I think what Li Shan said is reasonable, but what the emperor said is also far-sighted. Although merchants have many evil things, they often make friends with government officials and corrupt officials and act rampantly. When they think about it, they hate them. But when they think about it carefully, they have been slaughtering them in the past dynasties, but the more they slaughter it, the more difficult it is to suppress them. The reason is that I think it is still indispensable. Without merchants, they cannot sell goods from other places, and the people cannot communicate with each other.

"Improving their status, encouraging them to engage in business, and active the court's economy. The court can draw taxes from it and sufficient treasury, so there is no need to put taxes on the farmers. It may not be a good thing for the court to the farmers. However, we must do a good job in guiding and supervising them, and we cannot let them do whatever we want. This is my simple opinion, and I also ask the emperor to verdict."

Li Tingzhi said this very difficult. If Li Jun hadn't shook his hand to stop Wen Tianxiang's speech, he would have interrupted Wen Tianxiang long ago. As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Tianxiang immediately expressed his objection: "Your Majesty, I think what Xiangfu said was wrong. Merchants do many evil and profit-making things. They pursue profits and money and do everything they can. It is already disappointing enough. If they improve their status, I dare to assert that they will become more powerful."

"Yizhong, tell me. You have been dealing with merchants a lot during your time in Guangzhou, so your views must be very insightful." Li Jun did not rush to express his opinion, and named Chen Yizhong and expressed his opinion.

Chen Yizhong responded, and did not express his opinion immediately. He sorted out his thoughts and said, "If you want to talk about my feelings for merchants, I really don't have much favorable feelings. As Lu Shan said, they have many evil things. It is normal to rely on money to make friends with government officials. Some people are extravagant and wasteful. A meal costs ten taels of gold, which is really disappointing." He shook his head and looked heartbroken.

Luxury is a bad habit that is not easy for merchants. No one can change it or stop them. Shi Chong is rich and can compete with the emperor. The emperor takes out the coral trees he collected for people to admire, but he doesn't even take them. He asks people to take out the coral trees he collected, which is better than the emperor. When he thinks of the bad habits of merchants, Chen Yizhong cannot help but sigh.

After a pause, Chen Yizhong continued: "But then again, the luxury of merchants has a great relationship with the local atmosphere. Guangzhou is rich in other places due to the prosperity of business, and this luxury style is even more important than that of other places. Merchants have money in their hands and the court urgently needs silver. I want to build warships without silver. I have to ask them for it after thinking about it."

Wen Tianxiang is an upright man. When he heard Chen Yizhong's words, it would damage the dignity of the court, he immediately blamed him: "Xiang Chen, your actions are suspected of corrupting the laws and regulations of the court. Wen is among the inspectors and officials, and he has to participate in you. The emperor..." He was about to participate in Chen Yizhong. Li Jun smiled and shook his hand to stop him, saying, "Lu Shan, listen to Yizhong finish his words. If Chen Yizhong had not taken this measure, how could we have the powerful navy now? Not to mention that there were no invincible warships, even if there were no warships for Jiaoshanshui War, we would not be able to win the battle between Jiaoshanshui War. Kublai's army could cross the Yangtze River and rescue Guo Kan. The court could achieve a great victory in annihilation of Guo Kan's army, and Yi Zhong had great achievements."

Li Jun had already spoken, and although Wen Tianxiang didn't want to, he had to listen.

"Thank you for your praise," Chen Yizhong thanked him and then said, "Your Majesty, I am not going to ask for money to come to the door, but invited them together and told them to take out money to support the court. These merchants are angry when they say it. Some of them are silver, and they always push back and keep calling them poor. I really have no choice but to change my strategy and tell them that the court now has new measures. If I lend the money to the court, the court will return it within three years, with an interest of 15%. In order to commend their good deeds, I lie that the emperor will write a letter to them by himself. In this way, they were moved and began to inquire, and I explained it to them."

After a pause, Chen Yizhong said in great resentment: "These merchants are really greedy and actually asked me to mortgage things. I was almost angry at that time and wanted to confiscate their home immediately. But if I think about it carefully, I would take out the money without any benefits, such as the profit-oriented merchants, so I would like to take out the money. I thought about it and replied that in three years, the courts for foreign business must be managed uniformly. If I want to be qualified, I have to pay the money and buy an iron coupon. In this way, these merchants were afraid and had to pay the money and not even collect the money. The emperor, I am good at it and ask the emperor to punish me for his crime."

Li Jun smiled and said, "Yizhong, you not only have not been guilty, but also made great contributions. It was your efforts that raised a large amount of funds for the court, built warships, and rebuilt the navy in a short period of time. This is a great contribution. Don't worry about the imperial book, I'll just write it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Yizhong was busy thanking him.

"Isn't it just a few words? For a large sum of silver, the business is worth it. If the inscription is in stock, I'm willing to write the topic every day." Li Jun thought to himself, and then said, "Your experience reminded Lu Xiufu. He did this in Fuzhou, and he raised a large sum of silver to solve the urgent problems in the court. You two are loyal ministers in the court."

Guangzhou and Fuzhou are both centers of foreign trade. The rich people here all get rich by doing business. If the court manages business issues uniformly and wants to do business, they must be afraid, and they cannot do it without taking money. Chen Yizhong's move can be said to have hit their key points, and they still don't surrender obediently.

"I really didn't expect that this escape king had such insight." Wen Tianxiang thought in his heart and had to look at Chen Yizhong with admiration.

Chen Yizhong was the leader of the escape faction and insisted on moving the capital. Wen Tianxiang advocated the war of resistance. The two had disagreements and Wen Tianxiang looked down on him very much. Chen Yizhong had such courage. Wen Tianxiang had to change his view of him and said, "Chen Xiang, Wen blamed you wrongly. Please don't take it to your heart. Your Majesty, I have been guilty of being absurd. Please punish the emperor."

Chen Yizhong did not dare to accept Wen Tianxiang's apology, and hurriedly said, "Lu Shan is so serious that Yizhong is just a hurry to make money, and he has to do it. Compared with Lu Shan's righteousness and strongly advocates the War of Resistance. Lu Shan's righteousness and righteousness are so righteous that Yizhong admires." The two of them were originally incompatible, but after this incident, they were very close.

"This sin is naturally to be cured." Li Jun said with a smile: "Jiang Lushan will tell the truth for the rest of his life and maintain this righteousness for the rest of his life."

Wen Tianxiang said excitedly: "I am willing to punish you!"

As soon as his voice fell, a burst of laughter rang out.

After laughing, Li Jun said: "Yizhong, you said that foreign trade should be managed in a unified way. It is not a big deal for the court to do business. Sooner or later, it will be necessary to withdraw, otherwise it will be a competition for profit with the people. Besides, the court directly participates in business and can only be used in a short period of time. Over time, it will be harmful and useless, and will inevitably breed corruption. From now on, the court will be transferred to wealthy businessmen. Of course, they will have to pay for the money. The court established the General Administration of Maritime Affairs to manage it. To do business abroad, it must pass the approval and obtain qualifications."

After Li Jun's statement, Chen Yizhong's lies came true. Chen Yizhong couldn't believe it was true for a while, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I'm telling lies. I'm lying to them, and I can't be true."

"Then let's make the fake come true." Li Jun smiled and said: "For overseas pirates, Zheng Jinghe's navy is instructed to clear them. The court also sent officials to foreign countries to establish friendly relations with foreign countries and to win good treatment for businessmen. In a word, the court will try its best to create a good business atmosphere for them."

After this debate, Wen Tianxiang no longer opposed raising the status of merchants and said: "Your Majesty, I think it is not impossible to improve the status of merchants, but to supervise and guide them well."

"This statement of mercy is exactly what I want." Li Jun was very happy to see Wen Tianxiang supporting his motion, and said, "We should study this matter carefully and formulate practical trade laws to regulate their behavior."

Wen Tianxiang is not a person who does not understand the current affairs. On the contrary, he is very proficient in the current affairs, but he is too upright and is too real. Sometimes he can't help but turn around. It is precisely based on this consideration that the famous politician Guan Zhong proposed the saying that "a gentleman cannot dominate" when he was "sick in bed". He said that a gentleman is too clear about right and wrong, and good or evil, so he rejected the motion proposed by Duke Huan of Qi to ask Bao Shuya to be the prime minister. The facts proved that he was right, and Bao Shuya was angry to death after becoming prime minister.

Li Jun was very satisfied with the consensus conclusion and then said: "For qualification issues, not only in foreign trade, but also in industries, and independent companies must be re-registered. In order to manage these companies well, Yizhong must step up the formulation of laws and regulate the company's business behavior, so that they cannot be overstated."

During this period, Li Jun resold all the military manufacturing plants that were originally controlled by Chaoting to the public. Three companies were established in the steel industry alone, namely Lin'an Iron and Steel Company, Fuzhou Iron and Steel Company and Guangzhou Iron and Steel Company. These three places are the three largest steel production centers. After consideration, Li Jun decided to establish three steel companies in these three places. As soon as the company was established, Li Jun immediately sold it.

Steel is now an industry that makes money every day, and those wealthy businessmen are busy raising funds to buy. Unfortunately, these three steel companies are quite large, and none of them can buy them alone. Li Jun secretly sent someone to give them advice, asking them to join forces to buy with each other. Whoever has power will find out who pays more money. In today's terms, it depends on who has more shares.

"People who work together and are afraid of each other" is a famous saying, which often involves the same industries becoming enemies and causing trouble for each other. However, in ancient times, there were also joint business events. Li Jun's motion was not a precedent, but its effect was very good. Napoleon's famous saying "There are no eternal enemies, no eternal friends, only eternal interests connected." That's right, as soon as the people sent to Li Jun said, the wealthy businessmen immediately joined forces to buy steel companies.

The reason why they are so active is that steel makes 100% money. Not to mention anything else, just purchasing one piece of arms in the court is enough for them to work for a long time. In today's terms, they can make "war money" and have no choice but to sharpen their heads and drill in.

Li Jun was doing an auction, but unexpectedly, the three steel companies sold at sky-high prices, which was more than twice the price Li Jun estimated.

Of course, they must accept the conditions given by Li Jun, otherwise they cannot participate in the auction. These conditions are mainly that workers only work four hours a day and have to rest for one day every seven days, which is the current eight-hour working system. If they exceed four hours, they will have to pay overtime. The company also requires the workers to provide a good working environment. Otherwise, they will be severely punished, fined for money, and even confiscated the company.

Li Jun made such a regulation in order to avoid the emergence of "sweatshops", a "sweatshop" that emerged one after another in modern society, and the darkest page of the British Industrial Revolution reappeared in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Another clause is that steel technology and exports must be strictly controlled, and must be managed by courts. Violators are the most serious. Technical issues are extremely important for industry. Although there were only workshops and no industry in the Song Dynasty, the Song people did not know the importance of technology. The words "secret" and "ancestors" we often mention now are related to keeping technical secrets, so it is not difficult to implement this article.

The export of steel is almost impossible at this stage because the court expanded its arms, consumed a lot, and there was no time to produce it, so there was no time to export it.

The court rewarded them with a copy of "Company Business Strategy", which was a guiding document compiled by the imperial literati based on the gains and losses of modern companies, which could guide their business strategy. This measure had a very good effect, and gave the ancients who had no experience in the company to the role of guiding street lights.

The auction process of the three companies was very good, and it became an example. The shipbuilding factories, weapons manufacturing factories, rubber, bicycles, and artillery manufacturing factories were successively divided into three or more companies for sale. The reason for splitting them into three companies was that Li Jun considered that he could not form a monopoly.

In addition, Li Jun also added a piece that within ten years, these companies are not allowed to buy each other. In today's terms, they cannot merge to avoid losing competitors and causing monopoly.

Regarding the issue of arms procurement, Huang Yongshan and others set up a military science and technology team to provide technical guidance and supervision of these companies, inspect their products, and evaluate their production capacity. For arms procurement, technical officers similar to those of the current "military representatives" were also sent to negotiate.

Which one will choose for the court court? Which one needs the product that is more suitable for the court court needs, which requires them to innovate technology and produce better products.

"Prince, please rest assured, I am already working on the implementation." Chen Yizhong received the order.

Li Jun looked around them and said, "Now, our industry has a foundation and is beginning to develop, but with the current conditions, it cannot meet our needs. Because we still have a serious lack of various talents, it is the top priority of our economic work to speed up the cultivation of talents needed by all walks of life."

Under the promotion of Li Jun, all industries in the Southern Song Dynasty were born and the industry was prosperous, and it suddenly jumped from handicraft workshops to the industrial era. Of course, it was a bit hard to say that the industrial era was said to be a bit hard to say, because there were only a few dozen factories. However, Li Jun believed that as long as the seeds were sown, there would inevitably be many factories in the near future.
Chapter completed!