This small group of pirates are both fishermen and thieves. There are several in the surrounding area, and the Gu family is quite powerful. This small group of pirates is a serious problem for Leizhou, but it is nothing to Haiyitang. Haiyi Tang organizes its own group training. Every time the sugar boat goes to sea, there are groups of sailors. There are hundreds of sailors in the group training, which is not something that such a small group of pirates can chew on. Not only is it impossible to chew, there is also the risk of tooth decay.
What Hai Yitang was taboo about was naturally the big gangs like Liu Xiang and Zhu Cai Lao, so he paid a lot of bribes to buy peace. But such a small group of pirates can't help but embellish things to avoid harassment. Otherwise, no matter how much team training you have, you will still be exhausted.
However, the so-called embellishments are also very limited, because although small groups of pirates operate at sea, they inevitably have to go ashore to rest, repair ships, buy rice, and place the wounded and sick, all of which require a safe home on the shore. Therefore, it is necessary to make friends with local powerful people along the coast.
Zhu Sanye took advantage of this, using both soft and hard tactics. We have reached an agreement with several nearby small maritime forces. The other parties promise not to rob the sugar boats sailing out of Hai'an and not to disturb Hai'an Street. In return: Haiyitang facilitated the activities of these young pirates on the shore of Xuwen. This kind of entertainment does not cost much money, and sometimes it can be used for some purposes.
Over time, although the small groups of pirates nearby rose and fell, sometimes being suppressed, sometimes being appeased, sometimes disbanding, and their ups and downs were uncertain, Haiyi Tang and these small forces around it had always maintained a good relationship. Gain means everyone gets what he needs.
As the leader of the gang, Gu Dachun was very loyal. Although his relationship with Hai Yitang was just mutual use, one time Zhu Sanye led his fleet to encounter a storm at sea. He happened to be sheltered from the wind on the shore and insisted on Regardless of the risk, they sailed out to sea and guided most of the sugar boats to the shore to shelter from the wind. Zhu Sanye felt that this man was a man of trust and righteousness and that he was a very exploitable target, so he became a brother of the opposite sex. After getting along for several years, their friendship gradually deepened, so Gu Dachun married his newly widowed sister to Master Zhu and became his sixth concubine.
In a sense, this is a political marriage. Mr. Zhu originally had the same idea: firstly, the bride was a remnant of flowers; secondly, she was from a fisherman's family, how beautiful she could be. I think it was because the brother felt sorry for his sister and wanted to give her a stable home. Marry yourself, arrange a place to live, and take care of her without any worries about food and clothing.
I didn't expect that it would be different for someone who was married. Although the sixth aunt was born into a fisherman's family, her appearance was pretty good. It doesn't look like a seaside home at all. It's rare that he is considerate when serving people, and the female worker is good at cooking. After asking, I found out that this girl had been sold to a local wealthy family as a maid and took over the house in the early years. The head of the family was expelled when he died and could not be tolerated by the eldest wife. I wish Mr. Zhu, who is over fifty, can serve him comfortably.
Since there is Gu Dachun's line, why not just use it, it will be of great benefit to yourself and others. He made up his mind: give him strong medicine!
If you continue to use this powerful medicine, you will naturally become compliant immediately. In his words, it will be a drain on the bottom of the pot. No matter how much strength South China has, it will be trapped alive in Leizhou.
"Qiu Han!" he shouted. This name was the name of the sixth aunt when she was a maid. In the old days, women had no names, so the name was passed down even when she was a maid.
"What's the matter, sir?" the woman responded.
"How is your brother doing?"
Qiu Han was a little surprised. The master rarely mentioned her brother in front of her because what he did was against the law. In order to avoid getting into trouble, she never mentioned that she had a brother in front of others.
"Okay. Master forgot, someone came to deliver something a few days ago."
"Well, well, Third Master remembered.
"Brothers' life. How are you doing?"
"It's not good or bad! It's just a life." When talking about his own family, Qiu Han couldn't help but sigh a little. The so-called pirates are very different from big gangs to small gangs. Like the pirates of the Gu family, no one is even willing to join a big gang to form a joint venture - three or four single-masted boats, not even cannons, they are said to be robberies along the coast, and their limited strength can only harm some small sailing boats along the coast. Just the ship owner. Naturally, you can’t grab anything good.
"Right now, there is a way to make money. I wonder if your brother is willing to get it?"
"Really?" Qiu Han was pleasantly surprised. Although Third Master Zhu took good care of his family, this was the first time he said such words.
"When did I ever lie to you?" Mr. Zhu said with a smile.
"Thank you for your grace." Qiu Han was blessed.
"Kanmo——" I was about to write a letter, but I felt it was inappropriate. Once this letter fell into the hands of outsiders, it would be a big trouble. It's better to let people talk to you face to face.
"You go back to your parents' house -" Mr. Zhu whispered, "Tell your brother that there is a lot of money near Hai'an Street recently." He said that the South China Factory will have a sugar ship leaving the port recently.
"Hai Yi Tang will not have any ships leaving the port recently. Tell your brother, just look at the name of Huanan and just do it!"
"Is there such a good thing?" Qiu Han said in surprise, while lighting his silver hookah,
"That's right. I'll buy all the candy after I get it! He won't have to worry about it."
"Thank you for your grace!" Qiu Han was blessed again, and this time he was absolutely beaming with joy.
"Who calls him my brother-in-law? If you don't help him, who will help him?" He smiled and touched Qiu Han's face, but he made a plan in his mind. The bulk goods stolen by the pirates were difficult to transport and store, and the price was high when they were dragged. It's extremely cheap. One stone is probably worth less than two or three pieces of silver. This is a huge fortune.
"However," Zhu Sanye changed the topic. "These ships are not vegetarian. Your brother may not be able to eat a lot of people. If you ask him to recruit more people to work together, this fortune will be huge! Don't be stingy."
"Yes, I know this. I'll go back early tomorrow morning!"
"Don't worry, just wait a few days." He stroked Qiu Han's hand, "There might be a ship carrying silver from Guangzhou! However, this matter needs to be discussed in the long run..."
The Huanan Factory received 50,000 silver to turn around, but Haiyitang had other plans. There is an undercurrent surging in the small Xuwen County, and all parties are preparing for a huge bet. The bet is on the South China Sugar worth four to five million taels per year. At this moment, Guangzhou and Lingao, the two important bases of the Crossing Group, are also making intensive arrangements.
After Wu De rushed back to Lingao, he demanded that an executive committee meeting be convened immediately. At the meeting, the proposal put forward by the Guangzhou Station to absorb retail deposits was passed - this time the Leizhou Sugar Industry incident made them deeply understand the meaning of "cash is king". Without large sums of cash, there will be many similar troubles in expanding the market in the future.
Cheng Dong suggested that it would be better to simply set up a financial institution in Guangzhou to be responsible for absorbing deposits, raising commercial working capital, and conducting exchange business. Conduct financial penetration into Ming Dynasty.
"Do you mean to open a bank in Guangzhou?" Ma Qianzhu became nervous.
"Yes. Bank." Cheng Dong nodded, "Of course, the one we open can only be regarded as a bank or bank account in the strict sense, and it cannot be called a bank."
"How to do it?" Everyone was a little excited. After all, the word bank was more impressive than the nondescript grain bank.
"According to the survey at Guangzhou Station, there is no such financial institution in this time and space," Cheng Dong said calmly and took out a rough "Holy Ship" brand notebook, "There are only money shops. , that is, a shop that operates money exchange. According to the investigation of the intelligence department, it was learned that in addition to exchange, this kind of money pile shop also involves small lending business, but does not accept deposits. It basically makes profits from the rise and fall of money. Capital. The overall scale is not large.”
What the Finance Committee is looking at is the exchange business. Simple remittance business also exists in Daming. In order to reduce the trouble of cash transportation, various shops conduct joint-number remittance in different places. However, the scale is not large, mainly to meet the needs of their own shops and industries. An industry that specializes in bill making and exchange business has not yet appeared like a bill bank. So this area is blank and there is a lot to do.
"The focus of our bank is on remittance, which is similar to bill number business. After a few years of doing this, we can establish credit and bank bills can be remitted all over the world."
Ma Qianzhu shook his head: "The Ming Dynasty doesn't seem to have a huge demand for exchange!" According to what they saw and heard, this is what the Ming Dynasty's commodity economy is like. Although it is not necessarily very primitive, it is not very sophisticated either. , the so-called entering the primary stage of capitalism is far from that.
"Otherwise. Although the scale of capital flow is not large, it still exists. Leizhou's sugar is an example. We believe that it exists at least in products such as Songjiang's cloth, Jiangxi's tea and porcelain, Jiangnan's silk, and Fujian's indigo. There is a large-scale flow of money." He took a breath and said, "Actually, for Hainan, a borderland, according to the investigation of the Ministry of Intelligence, the annual trade in betel nuts and copra is worth tens of thousands of taels. This In terms of scale, it’s not small.”
Most of the products he listed are very seasonal, and the products are often produced in scattered ways, so every time they are in season, the trafficking merchants need a lot of funds to purchase them. There will be a huge demand for capital circulation.
The exchange business: First, you can earn exchange fees, which is the handling fee. Second, you can obtain discounted profits based on the rise and fall of silver prices in various places and the tightness of the money. As long as the cash can be turned around, there are many tricks in it. , making money out of nothing.
As for the Finance Committee's other purpose in setting up a bank, it is to build up its own bank credit as soon as possible. In the future, many economic, political and military activities will be spread across the country. No matter the military, businessmen or intelligence personnel, they will not be able to carry a lot of money around the world. As for the Lingao circulation coupons using the rice standard, it is only a short-term transition. It is neither possible nor necessary to establish credit throughout the country for circulation. In contrast, banknotes don’t matter whether they are carried or used. All very convenient.
"Isn't this equivalent to a new currency?" Someone questioned, "With Lingao Circulation Notes, it would be too troublesome to create a new kind of banknote."
"This is a misunderstanding. A silver note is not currency. It can only be regarded as a money order at most. Although in the late Qing Dynasty, people often used banknotes for direct circulation, but it was not easy to take out a handful of silver notes to pay the bill like in movies and TV shows. Absolutely not."
Because banknotes are divided into different sizes. It is different from copper coins and silver ingots. The former is the credit of the government, while the latter is a real precious metal. Whether a silver note can stand up in the market and how wide it can be valid depends largely on the strength of the banker's bank account. , How is your credit? Therefore, some banknotes can only be circulated in one place, while others can be circulated everywhere. There are so many tricks here that Cheng Dong will not explain them one by one. He also pointed out that if the credit of bank notes can be established, it will be of great benefit in mobilizing and raising funds in the future.
Wu Nanhai still objected: "The Central Plains will soon be in chaos. The exchange of ticket numbers will definitely involve the issue of setting up a layout. If a large amount of money and manpower are invested, all will be destroyed in the war."
"No need," Yan Ming said, "We are not running a modern bank. There is no need to set up branches everywhere. Just choose a few places where business is prosperous and where officials gather to set up branches. If necessary, we can also establish exchange links with powerful local shops. Number."
The idea of laying out points is to open up several key lines. The southwest, northwest, and central plains may be barren, or may be subject to constant turmoil in the future, so naturally they are not suitable places for deployment. The most important thing is the north-south line. Especially those from the capital who came to Jiangnan, everyone knows this: in the more than ten years of the late Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was the richest and most peaceful place. Officials of the capital will inevitably transport large sums of money to this blessed land of cave heaven to store it for future use. This place is also a major producer of cloth, silk, and tea, and has frequent commercial activities.
"The specific cities to be deployed will be Nanzhili first." Yan Ming said, "Nanjing, Suzhou, and Songjiang will be distributed from south to north to Qingjiangpu and Beijing after they are stabilized."
Suzhou and Songjiang are the richest cities in southern Zhili, and the northern and southern capitals are capitals. There are many officials there, so they must be given priority. As for Qingjiangpu, although it was just an unknown small county town in the 20th century, in the Ming and Qing dynasties it was a large wharf where transportation from the north to the south converged.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was difficult to cross the locks of the North-South Canal and dangerous to sail on the Yellow River. Therefore, in addition to grain-carrying boats, most of the travelers traveling from south to north had to abandon their boats and board the river when they arrived at Qingjiangpu. They passed the "Nine Provinces Thoroughfare Wharf" to the north, crossed the Yellow River and came to Wangjiaying to ride horses or hire cars to go north. Since this place is a transportation hub between the north and the south, business is naturally extremely prosperous. There are also warehouses under the management of the Ministry of Household Affairs and a shipyard under the management of the Ministry of Industry. Many important officials such as the Governor of Nanhe are stationed there. Every year, the imperial court spends a large amount of money on river management, and the number of officials on the river is famous all over the world. The more officials there are and the more merchants there are, the more frequent the flow of money will be. It is a great Feng Shui place for doing exchange business. (!)! ~!
