"Six people died the day before yesterday, and twenty-five died yesterday; there was another armed fight this morning, and more than a dozen people died." Yi La Chucai was very calm: "It has been chaotic for several days. Tomorrow at the latest, it should be There’s a result.”
"These maritime merchants are indeed fierce and unruly. But, Jin Qing, are you just going to watch like this?"
"Otherwise?" Yi La Chucai picked up the cup on the table and took a sip of light wine: "These people are not the people under the rule of Ding Haijun. They are just dog biting dog. Just waiting for the result of their bite, we Only then can we arrange a meeting... Don’t worry, Commander-in-Chief, we’ll talk tomorrow!”
"That's it." Guo Ning nodded slightly.
When Yizai Chucai first defected to Guo Ning, he was still a little bookish. But in the past few months, he has been exposed to more and more practical affairs and encountered more and more difficulties. When each of the difficulties was finally solved, Yiza Chucai became an increasingly calm and sophisticated person. The person in power.
Ding Haijun's strategy of establishing a foothold in Shandong was largely based on the plans of Guo Ning and Yili Chucai. Among them, Guo Ning focuses on the judgment of the general direction, while Yi La Chucai is responsible for the specific planning and implementation.
In the past few months, Dinghai Navy's military and agricultural sectors had begun to bear fruit by relying on the implementation of the military household shadow household system. Excluding mulberry and hemp, under the direct control of the military government, the land that military households are responsible for planting wheat, millet, bean, and beans exceeds 1.7 million acres. In addition, there are more than 100 acres of pasture and pasture for planting alfalfa and horse feed. More than one.
Taking advantage of the low-cost advantage brought by the large number of refugees who defected, the military government used work-for-relief methods to mobilize civilians, repaired more than 100 water conservancy facilities in a timely manner, and irrigated thousands of hectares of farmland.
If there is no large-scale drought, such large-scale reclamation and cultivation will definitely bring a bumper harvest on the day of autumn harvest. Once grain production takes effect, land rent and taxes will have a source, and the army will have a foothold.
Now that agriculture has stabilized, the next thing to focus on is business.
Ding Haijun was able to quickly gain a foothold, first by plundering the local powerful tribes in Laizhou, and secondly by kidnapping the fourth prince Tuo Lei and extorting the Mongolian army, but these two things did not last long.
If a regime wants to gain a firm foothold, it cannot rely solely on robbery. How is that different from a rogue bandit?
Guo Ning strives for strong generals, strong soldiers, strong armor and sharp blades, and he cannot rely solely on the craftsmen he controls. The military government takes over all matters, big and small, and it will definitely not be able to control them.
Therefore, besides workers and farmers, commerce is essential.
In this regard, the three states of Denglai controlled by Guo Ning have inherent advantages.
In recent hundreds of years, Shandong, especially the eastern coastal area of Shandong, has been one of the trade transshipment centers of various countries.
For example, during the rise of King Kong, there was a horse trade with the Song Dynasty. The port for transit of horses was Laizhou. Many of the ranches set up by Guo Ning in Laizhou today are remnants of that time.
For another example, in the early years of the trade between Goryeo and Song Dynasty, the largest trading port was also Laizhou. Later, the territory of the Song Dynasty was reduced to the south of the Yangtze River, and the trading ports between the two parties also moved south. However, the ports in the three states of Denglai were still the only places for fleets to supply supplies.
During the previous decades of peace between the Jin and Song dynasties, the Jiaoxi Forging Market in Michigan was the most important maritime trade hub between the two countries. Specialties of the Song Dynasty were continuously imported here from Mingzhou, Yuezhou and other places, and merchants made huge profits here. Daijin's annual income from this business was as much as 150,000 to 200,000 yuan.
Generally speaking, the commodities traded by the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties included tea, spices, silk fabrics, medicinal materials, kapok, ivory, etc., while the Jin merchants traded horses, furs, ginseng, northern pearls, etc.
Under special circumstances, such as where a major disaster occurred in the Song and Jin Dynasties, or which country adjusted the price of salt, grain and salt would also become hugely profitable bulk materials.
Of course, grain and salt must be smuggled. It is a matter of course that the scale of private smuggling business must be larger than that of official channels.
In the Mizhou area, the imperial court relied on the Jiaoxi foraging field to suck blood and supplement the increasingly embarrassment of the central government, so it often dispatched capable officials to crack down on smuggling. As a result, the maritime smuggling fleet of the Song Dynasty continued to move northward.
Only Guo Ning and Yizai Chucai have found out clearly that there are many private harbors in the three Denglai prefectures from the coast to the north, from Jimo County in Laizhou to Muping and Wendeng counties in Ninghai Prefecture, and then to Penglai County in Dengzhou. Under Guo Ning's nose Laizhou Sanshan Port and Haicang Town Private Port also rely on private smuggling trade to collect money.
"God's Coming"
However, the money that the private port itself can receive is not very much. They couldn't collect taxes, so they could only get some scattered benefits by replenishing food and water. The Jurchen Muke Aruhan, a subordinate of Xu Jin in the Recording Department, dominated the private port of Haicang Town, but he was still extremely poor.
So, where did the money go? Who earned it?
In the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, behind the larger smuggling fleets stood important figures who could not be known to outsiders. They made a lot of money.
On the Jin Kingdom's side, it was the same. Almost all the fleets that obtained supplies from private ports along the Shandong coast and then transported them to Zhongdu for sale belonged to the giant merchants of Zhigu Village. Behind the giant businessmen stood wealthy nobles. They also made a lot of money.
Fortunately, most of the giant merchants in Zhigu Village now maintain good relations with Ding Haijun. When Zhigu Village faced the threat of the Mongolian army, some businessmen even chose to go south to Shandong to take refuge.
After Guo Ning took control of the salt fields in the three states of Denglai, he could get a share of the smuggling of grain and salt by virtue of local output.
Previously, Guo Ning had taken advantage of Hu Shahu's rebellion and the deaths of all the clan kings, and he had done a lot of harm in Zhigu Village. The fleets owned by many giant merchants are now controlled by Guo Ning.
Those fleets were originally used by Guo Ning to transport troops and people. They once went deep into Jinan Prefecture along the Xiaoqing River. At this time, the boatmen can finally resume their old business and travel to the sea between Zhongdu and Shandong.
Recently I heard that the Mongolian army has been stationed under the city of Zhongdu for more than four months. It is gradually showing that its veterans are tired and has begun to gradually withdraw its troops to the grassland.
Once the Mongols leave, the business of Zhongdu Daxing Prefecture and even the entire Daijin will soon recover. Those nobles who have been trapped in the city and have been frightened for a long time are probably going to spend some money in revenge.
According to the custom of maritime trade, when the southeast wind blows in early summer every year, it is when the Song fleets of the Southern Dynasties begin to head north. In March and April, merchants came to Shandong Qianzhan to make preliminary preparations for transactions.
Therefore, in the past half month, many noble people in Zhongdu have inquired from Ding Haijun about the transaction through various channels.
Ding Haijun is naturally positive about this.
This is not just because the military government wants to make money and prosper the place. Considering the external environment, Guo Ning was completely a rebel in Shandong. The news of killing Shandong Inspector Ao Tun Zhongxiao and the face-to-face negotiation of terms with Yang An'er had already reached Zhongdu. Why has Zhongdu turned a blind eye until now?
Of course, there are sighs that we are beyond our reach, and there are difficulties that we have to tolerate. Another important reason is that there are too many people making money from the coastal smuggling business.
As long as Ding Hainan can ensure that everyone gets rich, it doesn't matter if everyone opens their eyes or closes their eyes to some things. Over the years, there have been more than one incidents of open eyes and closed eyes in the court.
At the end of February, Yili Chucai sent people to many private ports in the three states to issue notices, inviting merchants who were originally scattered everywhere to go to Sanshan Port to meet their new hosts.
Once everyone gets to know each other, they can make a fortune together. Secondly, Ding Haijun himself is a big businessman in Zhigu Village, so there is no need to travel to various private ports as thieves like in the past; when it comes to business negotiations, he can go to Laizhou City to discuss openly and openly.
These smugglers all came from the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, but they were not the same group. They were not good men and women. They used to be scattered in various private harbors, but now they are gathered together and they are constantly conflicting with each other. Yesterday, there was a fierce fight, and someone actually set fire to a boat, which alerted several surrounding military forts and sent troops to the scene to suppress it.
The dispatch of the army attracted Guo Ning's attention. Today he came here specifically to take a look. He also wanted to urge the removal of Chu materials and quickly let the merchants stop so that everyone could make money.
Guo Ning was very happy to hear that Yila Chucai said that formal negotiations could begin tomorrow.
Then he asked again: "So, last time we talked about finding a usable one among the maritime merchants of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties... Can Jin Qing gain anything?"
"I didn't see anyone suitable at first, but after the merchants fought with each other in the past two days, I finally had someone to choose from. Where is Commander Jie? We also have to pick out someone who is available, right?"
"Yes, yes. It will be decided within a few days."
