Chapter 50                                                             �

As mentioned earlier, in the pre-industrial era, the material was scarce. It can be said that even if people work hard to produce, they cannot completely fill the material gap that people need.

As long as most of the materials are produced, there is no need to worry about not having buyers.

But this is also relatively speaking. The world as a whole shows lack, which is not inconsistent with Suzhou's current crisis.

Because first of all, the Japanese pirates fought several battles near Suzhou, and the Wangjingjiang victory was a great victory. Although it was a victory, the Wangjingjiang area was not far from Suzhou City. Moreover, Wangjingjiang itself is a small town in the south of the Yangtze River and an important base for cloth production. Clothing merchants gathered, and they gathered the production means of the countryside to produce cloth, and then went to all parts of the country.

Just think about it, you will know that this town has fought a big battle and is even famous in history, but is it a blessing for the town itself?

For Wangjingjiang's local industry, there is no ten years that cannot be restored.

The local production share in Wangjingjiang no longer exists. How can the people make a living?

This has already made Zhou Mengchen feel a little distressed.

But Lu Yi didn't want to let him go. Lu Yi took a breath and said, "Sir, let me talk about Suzhou and even the entire Jiangnan, most of the products that can be exported can be afforded by the literati. Silk is a typical example. The largest market for these products in Suzhou is actually the literati and officials in Jiangnan. Because except for the Jiangnan family, no one spends money like earth. Now the Jiangnan family is first troubled by Japanese pirates, and then blackmailed by Zhao Wenhua, and now they have to contribute to the court. Many things can't be done, such as the student, I love bronze mirrors the most, and I have to buy several ancient mirrors every year, spending thousands of taels. But now I haven't bought them for several years, and even the servants in my family don't have silk. And what I want overseas is even more. Now even the sea trade has been interrupted. This has also caused various silk porcelain and other items in the Ming Dynasty to be higher in price overseas, and the benefits of Japanese pirates' robbery are also higher. So----"

"So, the greater the desire for attack by the Japanese pirates." Zhou Mengchen said in his heart.

Zhou Mengchen agreed with Lu Yi's judgment. Nowadays, no, Suzhou should sell all the products in the world. In fact, they are within the scope of luxury goods. It is better not to have silk. Most people who weave silk have never worn silk in their entire lives. Moreover, when the shipping volume is not large, transporting rice and wood is obviously not a good deal for Japanese pirates who are both merchants and robbers. So it is natural to choose more luxury goods.

Even in Zhou Mengchen's view, this is why the so-called germination of capitalism cannot develop real capitalism, because the Southeast handicraft industry represented by Suzhou is essentially serving the scholars and officials. What is the world's wind in Su like, but this wind direction is also among the scholars and officials. The real people don't know what Su like.

It is not good to produce luxury goods on a large scale. Not to mention the production methods that have just appeared, there are flaws of one kind or another. Just talking about this mass-produced thing is uninteresting in the eyes of the scholars and officials.

The pricing power of luxury goods is never in the hands of producers, but in the hands of those who have the right to speak on public opinion. There are many things. Celebrities have saved up a hundred times the value, but how can such a situation occur in real commodities?

In an instant, Zhou Mengchen had a lot of ideas. However, he immediately pulled his mind back and said in his heart: "No. Is these all Lu Yi analyzed?"

Lu Yi's analysis is actually not too profound. Giving Zhou Mengchen enough time to investigate can actually understand the mystery. It is just that it is a bit surprising to Zhou Mengchen because of the mouth of a scholar and a minister of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Mengchen looked at Lu Yi with some wrong eyes, and then he deeply understood what Wang Shizhen said. Lu Yi was simply a talent for the national scholar to Zhou Mengchen.

Zhou Mengchen didn't know that Lu Yi was not famous in history. After all, he was weak and sick, and he did not come out to be an official, and he had no descendants behind him. Lu Shen's branch went downhill after Lu Yi. As for what happened later, most of the history was not focused on. Maybe he had to check the Lujiazui Lu family genealogy to know.

However, some of Lu Yi's arguments about economy were cited by some historians in later generations.

For example, when promoting luxury, he felt that extravagance would make people live easily. He said that the luxury of the literati in Jiangnan led many industries and made it easier for the people in Jiangnan to make a living. However, the literati in Zhejiang did not have this habit, so it was not easy for the people in Zhejiang to make a living.

I won't explain the specific ones one by one.

This view was extremely rebellious in ancient times. It was naturally criticized by many scholars and officials.

However, there was a feeling of like-mindedness here in Zhou Mengchen. Zhou Mengchen leaned forward and said, "Sir, how should we deal with this situation?"

Lu Yi coughed lightly and said, "Sir, do you want to open the sea?"

There is no airtight wall in the world. Zhou Mengchen is not surprised that the leak of news. He said: "This is indeed the case. It's just----"

Lu Yi said, "Far away water cannot save the nearby fire."

Zhou Mengchen nodded and said, "Yes, it's too late to go."

Lu Yi said: "Now the people in Jiangnan are like fish in the straits. They can survive by fighting water. Opening the sea is naturally a good idea. However, now the conditions at home and abroad are not ripe, so you should not act rashly. The key to you now is to seek fighting water for the people in Jiangnan."

Zhou Mengchen said, "Where does this water come from?"

Lu Yi answered the question a little bit and said, "Sir, I'm going to build a bank in the northwest. Do you want to build a bank in the south of the Yangtze River? Use this to spread the rain?"

Zhou Mengchen felt a stern, and he felt as if he had been seen through.

Yes, he has always used the idea of ​​building a bank in Jiangnan. On the one hand, Zhou Mengchen is now empty-handed and does not use financial tools. Where did Zhou Mengchen make such money to fill the gap? On the other hand, the emergence of banks has a great promoting effect on industrialization.

But the reason why Zhou Mengchen has not revealed it now is very simple.

Because the bank is a powerful tool, Zhou Mengchen could not easily give this tool to his enemies. Of course, Zhou Mengchen also knew very well that Zhou Mengchen could not occupy the banking industry. Without mentioning the Sihai Bank in Beijing, Yan Shifan was also preparing to establish a salt bank through salt merchants.

As time goes by, banks will inevitably bloom everywhere. Even though Zhou Mengchen restricted the threshold for banks, it is normal for the Ming Dynasty to have more than a dozen or even more banks to appear.

But that is also the future, not the present.

Now, the bank chips in Zhou Mengchen's hands are still very valuable.

He wanted to use this chip to win over a group of allies from Jiangnan. So, who is Zhou Mengchen’s friend and who is the enemy? Before this matter is clear, Zhou Mengchen will not easily release this quota.

However, Lu Yi's idea was also very suitable for Zhou Mengchen's appetite. He used banks to raise funds and invested in one or two key projects or industries to drive the economy. In other words, Zhou Mengchen did not actually think about how to drive the economy. He just wanted to find a meal for the people in Jiangnan to solve the increasingly serious social problems.

Otherwise, Zhou Mengchen defeated the Japanese pirates, and other bandits and refugees rose up one after another. This could not solve the fundamental problems in Jiangnan, or the sequelae of Japanese pirates.

Zhou Mengchen thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Lu, I have this intention, but I don't know that Mr. Lu thinks, what should I find to build this bank?"
Chapter completed!