Chapter 530

Chapter 530: The Beginning

"The Da Min Empire has rotted to the core; Emperor, do you know this?" He Li said to Dong Muyun Cang in the hall.

Hearing this, Dong Muyun Cang let out a bitter laugh, "How could I not know? But there’s nothing I can do."

When a dynasty reaches its end, those in power surely know more than ordinary people.

Knowing is one thing, but wanting to change it is incredibly difficult.

Why did Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty want to reform? Didn’t the entire Northern Song court, including Emperor Song Shen Zong, know that the country had problems?

When Wang Anshi initially pushed for reform, Ouyang Xiu supported him, but Wang Anshi messed it up himself and thus faced opposition from Ouyang Xiu.

Similarly, in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng and Emperor Chongzhen, who ruled during the late Ming, understood that their nation was on the brink of life and death. Chongzhen worked tirelessly on state affairs every day, going gray in just over a decade; he knew the Ming was in a very dangerous situation.

Unfortunately, at this stage, it is nearly impossible for just one emperor to initiate change.

If an emperor tried to reform, he could face dire consequences.

Dong Muyun Cang did not want to change, but it involved too many people’s interests.

“Pull one hair, and the whole body moves. If he harms the interests of most powerful figures, he could suffer illness or even drown.”

Although it seems an empire allows the emperor to wield life and death, if he truly acted as he pleased, his death would be imminent.

Of course, in the past, Dong Muyun Cang had no way to break the deadlock.

But now, with a group of Immortals to help him, what was there to fear?

"Mr. He, please tell me how I should cooperate with you. I will do my utmost," Dong Muyun Cang said to He Li.

Although He Li was merely a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, he was a key figure among this group; even General Hou, who was at the Integration stage, expressed full support for He Li.

Thinking for a moment, He Li responded, "To change this country, we must first seize control of its military."

"However, the military is deeply corrupted, so we must dismantle and rebuild it. I suggest we train a new army, then use this new army to reform the old one, ultimately gaining complete control of all military forces in the country."

"Once we have control of the military, the obstacles standing in our way can be easily removed," He Li said to everyone.

"That works." General Hou nodded in agreement.

"Your Majesty, how much money does your country have left?" He Li asked Emperor Dong Muyun Cang.

"Well, the treasury is essentially eating into next year’s grain reserves. I don’t have much silver in my internal treasury; at most, I can provide eight hundred thousand taels," Dong Muyun Cang said awkwardly.

Hearing this, everyone shook their heads.

"It seems our first task must be making money; without funds, nothing can be accomplished."

He Li looked at Academic Luo, "Academic Luo, can you develop profitable products? Such as soap, glass, and mirrors?"

"Yes," Academic Luo nodded, "It’s quite simple for me. Just give me some people and three months, and I guarantee mass production of glass."

"What about soap?"

"Producing soap is virtually impossible; it requires a lot of fat, which was scarce in ancient times," Academic Luo replied, shaking his head.

Upon hearing this, Dong Muyun Cang quickly said, "I can have the officials collect it; I guarantee they can gather a large quantity of fat."

Academic Luo shook his head, "If you have the officials gather the fat, it will burden the common people, which isn’t a good idea."

After thinking for a moment, He Li said, "Forget about soap; let’s focus on glass. Glass is a luxury item when it emerges, and it will earn profits from wealthy people."

"By the way, we also need to produce cement; cement is extremely important," someone said.

Hearing this, Academic Luo replied, "Actually, the most profitable thing is steel. I can create a blast furnace that can smelt hundreds of tons of iron at a time. We can use this iron to manufacture various farm tools for sale, and in the future, we will need a large amount of steel for weapons.

So, I suggest we prioritize the development of large-scale iron and steel smelting technology."

Everyone found Academic Luo’s reasoning very sound.

"That makes sense; let’s set up a steel mill first. This way, we can not only make money but also contribute to agricultural development."

After some discussions, everyone agreed that iron smelting should be the first step.

Of course, the military aspect was still on everyone’s mind.

The next day, General Hou joined the imperial guards under Dong Muyun Cang’s arrangement.

Two days later, the emperor proposed a grand martial arts competition within the imperial guards. All members were required to participate, and whoever took first place would receive a generous reward from the emperor.

A week later, General Hou unexpectedly secured first place.

Subsequently, Emperor Dong Muyun Cang appointed General Hou as the captain of the imperial guards and tasked him with ensuring his safety.

Meanwhile, He Li and his group utilized several hundred thousand taels from Dong Muyun Cang’s internal treasury to begin constructing factories in the suburbs of the imperial capital.

In addition to the suburbs, about two hundred kilometers from the imperial capital, Academic Luo led a team to begin building a blast furnace near an iron mine.

Although there were some small iron mines close to the imperial capital, Academic Luo chose not to set the steel mill there because there were no coal mines nearby.

However, the site two hundred kilometers away had both iron mines and coal mines, along with a large river for waterway transportation.

Three months later, the leader of the imperial guards died unexpectedly.

Consequently, General Hou was appointed by Emperor Dong Muyun Cang as the new leader of the imperial guards.

Since the imperial guards were the emperor’s private army, the emperor could appoint anyone he liked as the leader.

Once General Hou became the leader, he immediately set about reorganizing the entire imperial guards.

Half a month later, exquisite glass products appeared in the imperial capital, sold under the royal banner.

Crystal-clear glass cups, glass bowls, and glass mirrors received a frenzy of purchases from numerous courtiers and nobles.

At the same time, a product called soap began to gain popularity among the wealthy and powerful families.

This business naturally drew envy from many, but when everyone learned that these ventures were backed by a prominent royal figure, no one dared to harbor ill intentions.

Of course, this prince was merely a figurehead.

The reason it was a prince and not the emperor was mainly to avoid repercussions.

If the emperor personally engaged in business, it would undoubtedly create a significant uproar, and he might face "advice" from certain court officials.

Shortly after the introduction of glass and soap, a product called cement also hit the market.

Unfortunately, many people were still unaware of its uses, so sales were not very strong.

Another half month passed, and good news arrived from Academic Luo: the blast furnace had finally succeeded in smelting iron.

According to Academic Luo, they could produce an average of two hundred thousand pounds of steel each month.