amaotonovel Chapter 930 Whatever the Ming Dynasty lacks, the vassal states should produce.
Chapter 930 Whatever the Ming Dynasty lacks, the vassal states should produce.
Hu Weiyong felt he couldn't understand the various underhanded tactics employed by someone who was nominally the farm director but was actually a bandit from Ningyang.
Li Shanchang had a vague idea of what was going on.
You should be secretly happy.
"They are planning to copy the way Ningyang County started."
"They cried poverty, played the victim, and exploited the imperial court, then created all sorts of messy workshops."
At this point, Li Shanchang looked at Hu Weiyong with pity.
"Have someone go and speak to the officials in various prefectures and counties."
"Just tell them to go all out and do whatever they want. Anyway, they'll only be in Liaodong for three to five years at most."
"The achievements all belong to the officials."
"Don't argue with them over trivial matters."
Logically speaking, the highest-ranking official in a county is the county magistrate.
But once these farms are established, will the farm managers take the county magistrate seriously?
Those three hundred farm directors who were Jinshi graduates might be a little better off, since they would have to make their way in the officialdom later on.
But the situation is less certain for those three hundred second-generation nobles.
Take Chang Mao for example.
As a notorious playboy in the capital, there are very few people who can keep Master Mao in check.
Most importantly, farms are not under the jurisdiction of local governments.
In this way, how can we expect Master Mao to give face to the local magistrate?
Or to put it more bluntly, there will inevitably be conflicts between the farm and the local government.
As the Provincial Governor of Liaodong, Hu Weiyong would inevitably have to clean up the messes left by those farm directors.
The more Li Shanchang thought about it, the more his head ached.
Hu Weiyong tentatively asked, "Can they... stay in Liaodong for three to five years?"
Li Shanchang hummed in agreement and turned his gaze toward the courtyard where Yang Shaofeng lived.
"Although these people were all taken from Ningyang County, they are not actually from Ningyang County."
"Whether they stay in Liaodong for three years or five years, it doesn't really have anything to do with Ningyang County."
"Moreover, our son-in-law is now preoccupied with how to develop Liaodong, so he probably won't be keeping a close eye on these six hundred farm directors anymore."
As Li Shanchang finished speaking, Hu Weiyong almost laughed himself to death.
Did Yang Dianfeng no longer care about those six hundred farm directors?
Then I, Hu, have to find a way to plead poverty and play the victim to those in power.
If three hundred second-generation nobles can't stay, surely three hundred farm directors who are Jinshi graduates should stay?
Seeing the smile on Hu Weiyong's face that he couldn't hide no matter what he did, Li Shanchang shook his head and pushed another memorial in front of Hu Weiyong.
"Don't laugh yet."
"You take a look at this first."
"I don't believe you can still laugh after reading this."
Hu Weiyong took the memorial with a blank expression, and after only a few glances, he was completely bewildered.
The First Farm outside Liaoyang County sent an official document requesting the Farm Reclamation Office of Liaodong Provincial Administration Commission to transfer 10,000 pairs of oil boots to the First Farm.
No.
The Liaoyang First Farm, which has just been set up and is not yet fully operational, probably has less than a thousand people at most, making it barely better than an empty shell.
What do they need 10,000 pairs of oil boots for?
Damn it, do I look like an oiled boot to you?
Hu Weiyong's face grew increasingly dark, while Li Shanchang sighed softly and looked at Hu Weiyong, saying, "See? A mere farm, yet they dare to ask for ten thousand pairs of oil boots."
"There are 600 farms in Liaodong. If each farm requests 10,000 pairs of oil boots, that would amount to 6 million pairs of oil boots."
"As for whether the Liaodong Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office can raise six million pairs of oiled boots..."
Li Shanchang sighed again: "Just as Yang the Madman never cared about the life or death of the officials in the court, these six hundred farm directors will not care about your life or death, Hu Weiyong."
"It would be better if you could get them six million pairs of oil boots."
"If you can't get it done, those six hundred farm managers might talk behind your back."
As Li Shanchang finished speaking, Hu Weiyong's face darkened once again.
Oil boots should be made of thick cotton or linen for the boot shaft and sole, and then the upper fabric should be soaked in natural tung oil and allowed to dry naturally to form a hardened surface.
During this process, tung oil must be repeatedly applied to the surface of the boots.
Assuming that a pair of oiled boots requires half a pound of tung oil, then six million pairs of oiled boots would require three million pounds of tung oil.
Then the problem is coming.
If Liaodong can't raise three million catties of tung oil, how can the national treasury possibly do so?
Even if the national treasury could scrape together three million catties of tung oil, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Grand Military Commission could just stand by and watch thirty thousand catties of tung oil flow to Liaodong.
In addition, tung oil is divided into two types: raw tung oil and boiled tung oil.
The oil used to make oil boots is boiled tung oil.
Li Shanchang scratched the back of his head in frustration: "I can understand to some extent that the farm needs oil boots."
"But these bastards are asking for an exorbitant amount, demanding ten thousand pairs of oiled boots right off the bat."
"Even if I could get them enough cotton and linen, where would I get so much tung oil?"
At this point, Li Shanchang felt even more distressed.
Actually, the problem with tung oil is easy to solve.
The tung oil production and quality in Dali are both quite good.
The only problem is that Dali has not yet completely submitted to the Ming Dynasty.
To obtain enough tung oil, we must first deal with Dali.
but!
The Ming Dynasty is currently focusing all its energy on the Northern Expedition against the Yuan Dynasty and the Fenglangjuxu Campaign, and simply cannot spare more troops to attack Dali.
If Dali cannot be captured, the production of tung oil will be limited.
It's a vicious cycle with no solution.
The more Li Shanchang thought about it, the more his head ached.
sloppy.
If I had known things would turn out this way, I shouldn't have messed with Yang the madman in the first place.
Now things have gotten even worse. It wasn't enough that Yang the Madman had ordered those people in Jiangnan to write memorials; now he's ordering six hundred farm directors to write memorials as well.
They completely disregarded whether I lived or died!
Just as Li Shanchang was secretly having a headache, Hu Weiyong tentatively asked, "If... I mean if."
"If our Ming Dynasty doesn't have much tung oil, could we ask the Dengzhou border market to find a solution?"
"What if tung oil is produced in Ryukyu, Siam, or Annam?"
"Or rather, don't worry about whether they produced tung oil in the past or not."
"The Ming Dynasty needs tung oil now."