Chapter 48

Li Xian blinked, feeling quite wronged, "I really only have time now. After the New Year, there will be many things to be busy with."

He added silently, perhaps even getting married.

Before the Chancellor could speak again, Wang Chuan spoke up; Secretary Wang smiled happily, "Nephew Xian did the right thing. Matters should be handled this way. There's nothing that can't be said to people. Chancellor, you can speak your mind now, and His Majesty can also evaluate it."

Needless to say, Wang Chuan's words made Chancellor Ouyang Wubing's face even uglier. Finally, he glared at Li Xian, "Li Xian, since you want to talk here, I'll ask you a few questions.

First, the textile machine is very expensive, right? I did a detailed calculation later. If we don't count the textile machine, the price of cloth can indeed drop to 70% of the original price. But if we include the textile machine, the price doesn't seem much cheaper!

How do you respond to this?"

It must be said that the Chancellor was the Chancellor. With one sentence, he hit the nail on the head. Both the officials and the emperor looked at Li Xian.

Li Xian knew that he had really angered this "upright and incorruptible" Chancellor with his opening question. He immediately sat up straight, his expression becoming serious.

"Chancellor, may I ask, how did you calculate this? Specifically, how did you arrive at this result?"

"That's simple. I saw the price of your textile machine, which is 500 taels of gold, or 5,000 taels of silver.

Taking a bolt of low-grade silk as an example, the market price is about one tael of silver. A skilled weaver can produce one bolt of cloth per day, about 200 bolts a year (not working all year). Including related expenses, the annual profit is around 20 taels of silver.

The textile machine can produce 10 bolts of cloth per day, but it can't work all year, right? Let's say it works 300 days a year, which is 3,000 bolts of cloth. The profit won't exceed 300 taels of silver. With a strategy of thin profit and high volume, a profit of 200 taels of silver would be quite good.

So, to just recoup the 5,000 taels of silver cost, it would take 25 years. Including other expenses, it wouldn't be profitable within 30 years.

And this textile machine probably won't last five years."

Li Xian was speechless. Chancellor, is this how you do your calculations? Damn, this is the level of a national Chancellor? Scary!

Not just Li Xian, even some officials who knew the specific situation were speechless. The next moment, Wang Ping laughed first, spraying wine everywhere, "Chancellor, you... hahaha, the textile machine at the exposition wasn't selling the machine itself, but the opportunity.

The textile machine is very easy to replicate. To be honest, our Wang family bought a textile machine and disassembled it for study. If you just engrave the array to make a textile machine, the cost of one machine is no more than 4 taels of gold. It's just that such a machine would be very cumbersome.

Moreover, the textile machines Li Xian sells are models, not real machines. With some modifications, they can produce about 15 bolts of cloth per day. Since machines aren't human, they can run continuously all year, as long as the staff is properly scheduled.

In just half a year, the cost of the textile machine can be recouped.

The cost of large-scale textile production will be reduced to a level that you, Chancellor, can't even imagine."

Ouyang Wubing was momentarily speechless. It turned out he had made a mistake—what was worth 500 taels of gold wasn't the textile machine itself, but the "opportunity."

This time, Wang Chuan took the initiative to ask, "Chancellor, you mentioned the first point. What about the second point?"

"The second point..." The Chancellor clearly hesitated, and after jumping over many "points," he said, "If such a large-scale adoption of textile machines is used for weaving, how will the people live? They will lose their income! Textile income accounts for at least 30% of a family's income."

Li Xian was annoyed by this. He hated the stubborn conservatives—so many things were ruined by the conservatives, always thinking of "no change" instead of "solving" problems. So, his tone became a bit impolite, "Chancellor, can you only see the present and the past, and not look forward?

If a large number of textile factories are established, have you calculated how many people would be needed to work?

And besides weaving, there's planting!

Besides planting, we can encourage the people to engage in commerce, to earn money from foreign countries.

Why must there be no livelihood without weaving? There's also animal husbandry, raising chickens, ducks, cattle, and pigs. We can also encourage the people to set up lantern workshops, textile workshops, and various cooperative organizations to develop together.

Especially the cultivation of cotton and silkworms, which are very important raw materials for textiles. This way, the whole society will shift towards an industrial and commercial society. People will be richer and more enterprising. What a beautiful picture this is!"

Li Xian was so moved by his own words that even the emperor was enchanted.

But the Chancellor's stubbornness was strong. He pointed at Li Xian, "You are encouraging people to commit crimes. Commerce has always been a lowly profession, and handicrafts are also lowly. Cultivation is the foundation.

Moreover, if everyone moves around to make money, it will inevitably lead to crime. Robberies and thefts will be rampant."

"Rampant crime? Then deal with it by law! As long as it's handled strictly a few times, I don't believe it will continue to be rampant!"

The Chancellor was so angry that he sputtered, "That's not what I mean! My point is that profit will lead to crime. Don't think I don't know about all the fraud and deceit in business!"

Li Xian countered, "Then may I ask, is there less fraud and deceit in society now?"

"At least it's within control! If we follow your method, it will be uncontrollable."

"Alright, alright, then Chancellor, tell me, how can we prevent these things?"

"Return to the state of ancient times when the country was just born. People live in villages, with little interaction between villages. Doors are left unlocked, and no one picks up lost items. Chickens and dogs can be heard, and people live by farming, with cultivation as the main focus."

Li Xian finally laughed out loud, unable to hold back, "Chancellor, may I ask, can we go back?"

"This... cannot." Even if the Chancellor was unreasonable, he had to admit that it was impossible to go back.

Li Xian raised his chin, "Chancellor, I can clearly tell you, doors are left unlocked because people are too poor to have anything worth stealing! No one picks up lost items because there's nothing to pick up, even cow dung is collected for firewood.

Ask the people, do they want to live such a hard life?"

"I... you... I... I..." The Chancellor was speechless with anger, but what Li Xian said was correct, and many people nodded in agreement.

Li Xian stood up and, for the first time, formally spoke in front of all the officials, "Ladies and gentlemen, society is developing and can only develop. The past is the past because it has been eliminated. Retreat is not an option, but the future needs to be actively pursued.

The fire of industry has been ignited and cannot be extinguished. The power of the mechanical loom has been seen by all. One loom is like a money tree. If you have ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand looms, what a scene it would be! I don't need to explain, right!

Moreover, what does cultivation emphasize? Wealth, companions, methods, and land, right? Wealth is the first!

Therefore, I believe that to strengthen the country, we must vigorously develop industry and commerce."

Taking this opportunity, Li Xian loudly proclaimed the slogan of "Industry and Commerce to Strengthen the Nation." How did the audience react?

(If you like it, please give your valuable vote. Collection, recommendation, evaluation, and even rewards are all welcome! O(∩_∩)O)

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