Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 495: Battle of Vehicles and Ships
On July 21st of the third year of the Chuli calendar, at noon, Bai Tu was having lunch with Xiahou Juan and Lu Lingqi, while Bai Qing and Lu Yan were being taken care of by a wet nurse.
The "imperial chef" of the Chu Palace has recently developed a new dish - braised lion head.
"Old Zhao's craftsmanship is getting better and better. When his apprentice comes out, let's send him to Hefei to open a new store!" Bai Tu said after smacking his lips.
"Well, judging from the seven branches of Baiyanlou, the net profit of a new store is at least hundreds of thousands of dollars a year." Lu Lingqi's eyes lit up when she heard this, and then she saw Xiahou Juan's indifference, so she added: "It's equivalent to Xiaojuan's royalties for several years!"
Xiahou Juan: ...
The purchasing power of Chu currency is still very strong. Although its weight is similar to that of Han Wuzhu coins, the purchasing power of Chu currency is at least three times that of Wuzhu coins. Even if Liu Xie is upset about this and bans the circulation of Chu currency in Guanzhong, it cannot change this.
As for the "big money" that Lu Lingqi mentioned, it refers to the "worth ten Chu coins", which have a face value of ten and are made of ten times the copper. People call it "big money".
For example, before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, a stone of rice cost more than 200 coins. Now, because of the Pan Zhenqi Project, the price of grain in Chu has been raised to more than 400 coins. However... in terms of Chu currency, it is only around 150 coins, and only Chu currency is circulated within Chu.
In terms of "ten coins", the salaries of high-ranking officials in the court, master craftsmen in the Ministry of Works, and doctors in medical schools were theoretically only a few hundred yuan per month.
Zhang Chunhua, who was having a "working lunch" at a small table nearby, curled her lips when she heard this - compared to Emperor Huan, the King of Chu was the one who was really "money-obsessed"!
Not to mention the level of the palace, which is a mansion, the training mechanism for the "imperial chef" is that after being trained to maturity, he will bring out a few apprentices, and then... send them out to be the head of a restaurant wholly owned by the Chu Palace?
Generally speaking, royal chefs should strive for perfection, but how come after coming to the King of Chu, they have become the main training system for external restaurants?
But the effect is really good. Firstly, he is the imperial chef sent out from the Chu Palace, and his skills are indeed unique. Secondly... there is also the reputation of "Chu Palace" and "Imperial Chef". It can easily become the most famous and the highest-end restaurant without worrying about any malicious competition.
It’s really a lot of money!
Because Zhang Chunhua's position of "Shangshu Lang" was already at the level of a life assistant, she could most clearly feel that Bai Tu was serious about saving a fortune for future generations, which was to say... Bai Tu was indeed serious about his promise of "only taking one in ten thousand".
only……
The King of Chu always feels like he is here to taste the food? The royal chef was just trained and sent out?
It is estimated that we will not be able to eat such delicious braised lion head next month. We have to wait for the next batch of imperial chefs to be ready. Zhang Chunhua’s working meal is actually the same dish, but it is served separately.
Besides... restaurants and the like are just Bai Tu's own small business. The State of Chu has another "big business" recently, which has also begun to be implemented.
That was the sea ship trade with Wei State. Finally, the Chu State stopped playing tricks on Liu Ye and agreed to pay for the first batch of ships, which accounted for about 20% of the total transaction volume.
What Wei State valued was the "sample"; quantity was secondary, so... Chu State was so mean as to make Wei State pay 80% of the payment first!
After all, the ironclad ship project has been launched. Although wooden ships will still be produced, especially iron-clad wooden ships, the new ships will definitely be driven mainly by true qi.
Bai Tu naturally didn't mind trading the old-style sailing warships to the State of Wei - for the two hundred million Chu coins, the State of Wei sold a lot of resources, and even... indirectly "sold" a lot of people.
Now Bai Tu also understood that the reason why Wei State was so wealthy was that it mobilized the aristocratic families to "subscribe".
At the same time, large-scale transactions in Chu currency further consolidated the legal status of Chu currency. Especially after the rise of maritime trade in the Wei State, many wealthy families in the Central Plains and Hebei began to exchange part of their hoarded gold and silver for Chu currency.
Although the State of Wei restricted the direct circulation of Chu currency in the country, it was completely unable to supervise the transactions between the noble families.
As the State of Chu grew stronger, the Chu gentry gradually crushed the gentry in other regions in terms of financial and material resources, making the resistance to reform in other princes much smaller - the local gentry could also feel that the gap between themselves and the aristocratic families of the Chu State was widening!
However, at the root of it, everyone still looks after their own interests and it is impossible for them to sacrifice their own interests to promote reform.
In contrast, the State of Chu used its development rights to "loan" part of the private rights of each family at the beginning of its development, so it has the current smooth implementation of government orders. Although there are also risky private transactions, at least in the State of Chu, the court is really investigating and cracking down on them, unlike other princes who have to turn a blind eye.
The two hundred million from the far north also provided more start-up funds for Chu's Qi ship and Qi train projects.
After Bai Tu took the court officials to "experience" it, there were actually quite a few differences of opinion among all parties - after all, this was different from testing guns and cannons.
As for guns and cannons, the generals only need to see which one is more practical and cost-effective. However, the Qi ship and Qi train plans are related to the development focus of the Chu State and cannot be compared simply.
The final result of mutual compromise and agreement was that the size of the initial ironclad ships was greatly reduced.
Bai Tu's original plan was to build a battleship and three cruisers first, and then temporarily use iron-clad wooden destroyers and frigates, and pure wooden transport ships and gunboats to form a fleet.
Battleships are generally known as "ironclad ships". They have high tonnage, large-caliber weapons, and thick armor, and are equivalent to the evolved version of sailing battleships. Cruisers are relatively smaller, have lighter firepower, and thinner armor, but have faster sailing speeds and are more suitable for long-distance voyages. This term was also used within the Chu Navy.
However, even if it is a cruiser, as long as it is a cruiser with true qi armor, its displacement is two or three times larger than that of the current wooden main ship. Calculated according to the Chu system, it can be about 5,000 tons . You must know that one ton of the Chu system is equivalent to 2.5 tons in later generations... It just does not have the momentum of an "ironclad ship" with a displacement of 20,000 tons.
Finally, after some debate, even though the "fleet faction" had the support of Bai Tu, they were still persuaded to reduce the organization to "two cruisers, and the others will be replaced by iron-clad wooden Qi ships."
In addition, the officials who participated in the experiment had no objection to increasing the amount of steel produced. They changed their previous opposing attitude and just wanted to put more energy into railways.
Bai Tu also saw it, mainly because... everyone has selfish desires!
Although the benefits of sea routes are now visible to the naked eye in the State of Chu, the roots of most of the gentry are ultimately in the inland.
Therefore, if they weigh the two options, they would rather build the railway than embark on any ocean-going project.
Whether it is the ocean-going plan or the railway plan, the biggest beneficiary is definitely the Chu State’s treasury, which accounts for more than half of the share.
However, the difference is that apart from this, the revenue projects and departments related to long-distance sailing are basically controlled by the Jiangdong families.
Although Jiangdong is the birthplace of the Chu State, the benefits that the Jiangdong aristocratic families have already brought have already made them coveted. How could they be willing to continue to invest the power of the Chu State in the sea?
If you want to get involved...you all have to reach out and get involved!
Bai Tu did not force any corrections on this...
Although there are selfish motives, it does not harm the interests of the State of Chu. It is just a question of which area to develop first.
Including Lu Su, he also has a share in ships, but he also tends to give priority to railways and connect all the major cities in the mainland of Chu together first!
After all, at present, the profits from overseas expansion are still just a fraction of what they earn in mainland Chu.
And more importantly, Lu Su saw the hope of breaking through the peak of the Former Han Dynasty from the railways and the Qi train!
During the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu were driven to the northern desert, and the Wolf's Lair was sealed. The Xiongnu's main force was chased all the way to the area around Lake Baikal in later times...
At that time, the territory of the Former Han Dynasty reached an unprecedentedly vast extent. However, with the decline of national strength, the army could only be gradually withdrawn. After all, the climate of Heshuo and Mobei is not conducive to farming. When the national strength was strong, the army could deploy garrisons along the grain transportation lines. However, when the national strength was slightly weaker, it could only abandon the unproductive land.
This was particularly evident during the "extraordinarily broad" Han and Tang dynasties, when the territories at their peak were completely different from those at other times.
In the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, even the "Protectorate of the Western Regions" could no longer be maintained and was downgraded to the "Protectorate of the Western Regions Chief Administrator". The area on the map looks large, but in fact the control over the Western Regions was very limited - just look at the administrative level to understand that the Protectorate of the Western Regions was at least under the Liangzhou Inspectorate, while the Protectorate of the Western Regions was already under the Dunhuang County.
Moreover, whether it is the Protectorate or the Chief Secretary's Office, the greater role is not to directly rule the countries in the Western Regions, but to station troops there, stabilize the situation in the countries in the Western Regions, and serve as the "great leader" of the Western Regions, waiting for tribute.
Considering only the tribute and the military expenses of the Changshi Mansion, it is definitely a losing business. However, the greater significance of the Changshi Mansion lies in coordinating the countries in the Western Regions. In the short term, it ensures that Dunhuang can farm in peace. In the long term, there is no need to worry about any threats posed by the Western Regions to the Central Plains.
However, in terms of influence, the "Former Liang" during the Northern and Southern Dynasties had a much greater impact on the Western Regions, and at one point actually included a large area of the Western Regions into its own territory, named Shazhou, and even reclaimed official farmland in Dunhuang...
The reason is very simple. It is not because Former Liang was stronger than Wei and Jin, but because the roots of Former Liang were in Liangzhou and Guanzhong areas!
Although Lu Su knew nothing about the Two Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with his overall view, how could he not deduce the changes that would be brought about after the "Qi Train" "narrowed" the distances between different places?
By then, the distance that originally took "several months to go back and forth" could be "reached in a few days". Baggage and soldiers could be easily transported thousands or tens of thousands of miles. Wouldn't it be possible to station troops everywhere? No! Not only stationing troops, but if it was so convenient, it would also be easy to move people to the border areas!
There is no need to worry about the situation like that of Zhao Tuo, the King of Nanyue.
What finally convinced Bai Tu was Lu Su's point of view - cruisers are sea fortresses for any princes now, and there is no need for stronger battleships for the time being. When battleships are needed, the profits generated by the railway will be enough to build several battleships...
