Even if the goods arrive safely, the Ming Dynasty's supply system and finances are in extreme disorder, causing the merchants who are full of dreams of getting rich to spend all their money and only get a few pieces of paper or even a piece of paper to commit suicide, and become homeless on the streets. There are also many beggars and starving people. 【Read the latest chapter】
To do court business in Dengzhou, in addition to capital and business ability, you must also have a strong official background. Also in Dengzhou, some people made a fortune by transporting military supplies for the imperial court. They also used the ships that sailed on the Bohai Sea to transport military supplies to carry out sī activities, transporting goods and specialties urgently needed by various parties, and traveled around the Ming and North Korea. Between him and Houjin, he made a lot of money.
Sun Yuanhua knew this very well in Dengzhou, but since he was an official, he would not care about it. The reason is self-evident: the businessmen participating in this kind of sī activities all have backstage, and some He couldn't afford to offend the powerful officials, some of whom wanted to work hard and not offend; some of them were his backers, friends, and peers. When trouble broke out, everyone broke up. Not to mention that the rectification could not be carried out, it was him who was Denglai. Whether the governor can continue to work is a question.
Therefore, Sun Yuanhua himself, apart from trying to control the output of grain and pig iron to Houjin, had his eyes closed in other aspects. And he also needs the runners to import the urgently needed horses from the back plate. Dengzhou is located in Shandong. Unlike the Ming army generals in Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou who could buy horses nearby from Mongolia, buying war horses from Houjin became the main source of war horses for the new army in Dengzhou. What's more, the dealers from time to time also bring a lot of news about Houjin - in terms of intelligence collection, they are much better than the agents sent by the imperial court.
The young man in front of me might have the same plan. Sun Yuanhua looked at Zhao Yingong. He came to visit him obviously to "catch relatives" and "find a supporter". To do business in Dengzhou, no one is more suitable to be a backer than Sun Yuanhua.
Sun Yuanhua was not disgusted with this.
In Ming Dynasty, this was a matter of course. He, Sun Yuanhua, is not a Taoist teacher, otherwise he would not have become a senior official when he was around fifty.
This Zhao Yingong was not afraid of doing business with Australians. In order to make money, he was willing to travel thousands of miles to the unfamiliar Shandong Province. He was not afraid of taking risks and was a bold and courageous person. He also has deep trade relations with the Australians, which he can also take advantage of. In the end, it would be beneficial and harmless for him to directly control a few businessmen.
But whether this person is worthy of use still needs to be further examined. He asked: "Since you want to do business here, what kind of business are you going to do?"
This topic is somewhat sensitive. The business that Zhao Yingong wants to do is actually human trafficking. Of course, this cannot be said, but if you make up one casually, it must withstand scrutiny. Zhao Yingong had thought about it many times, and now he said cautiously: "Your Excellency is training troops here, so what you need most is food..."
Sun Yuanhua twitched his beard, nodded and said, "Yes, it's just food." He sighed, "It's difficult."
Zhao Yingong asked: "Dare you ask me the reason?"
"It is said that the imperial court has food, but the luck is hard to come by," he said.
There are a large number of garrisons gathered in Denglai and Denglai, which consume a lot of food themselves, and also supply food to tens of thousands of people stationed in Dongjiang Town, Liaodong. The transportation of food is extremely heavy. However, land transportation in Denglai is extremely inconvenient. In the Ming Dynasty, the Chief Secretary of Shandong administered six prefectures. The three prefectures of Qingzhou, Laizhou, and Dengzhou located on the eastern coast were called the "Three East Prefectures", while the three prefectures of Jinan, Yanzhou, and Dongchang located along the western canal were the "Three West Prefectures" . Relatively speaking, there is a big gap between Dongsanfu and Xisanfu in terms of transportation and trade.
Dongsanfu, located on the eastern coast, is mostly hilly and mountainous, and land transportation is extremely inconvenient. Dengzhou Prefecture, located in the easternmost part, faces the sea on three sides and has the most congested land transportation. "Although the western border is connected to Laizhou and Qingzhou, the mountains and ridges block the way for birds, cars cannot accommodate rails, and people cannot square bridles." It is said that "there is no accessible road." This traffic situation will undoubtedly greatly affect It hindered the flow of commerce between it and other areas, so there was a situation of being "secluded in the east, blocked by mountains and surrounded by sea, with barren land and few people, no trade, and few merchants".
After the large quantities of grain transported from the south arrived in Shandong via the Grand Canal, they needed land transshipment to be transported to Deng, Lai and other places. The geographical conditions of Xisanfu make land transshipment very difficult. Because the roads are difficult to navigate, freight rates are very high.
The food allocated by the imperial court to the Denglai garrison and Dongjiang could not be transported to Dengzhou quickly and was piled up in Linqing and other places, which not only increased the loss, but also involved a lot of officialdom. To transport food to Dengzhou, people must be recruited, vehicles must be hired, food, drink and accommodation must be provided along the way, and sometimes bridges and roads must be repaired. This all involves the cooperation of local officials. After all, Sun Yuanhua was only the governor of Denglai, not the governor of Shandong Province. Outside of his own jurisdiction, he was not so easy to do things. For this reason, he had to do a lot of work in the province and counties along the route to ensure that the food could be transported smoothly.
Not only food, but other supplies also have such problems. According to modern people's perspective, Dongsanfu is a coastal state and county, which is a typical area suitable for the "export-oriented economy", and the shipping conditions are very good. The entire Dongsanfu coastline stretches for nearly 3,000 kilometers, and it governs 29 states and counties. Among them, coastal prefectures and counties account for nearly 60%. As early as the Sui, Tang, and Northern Song Dynasties, Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Jiaozhou had developed into important ports for trade between China and foreign countries.
However, due to the strict maritime ban in the early Ming Dynasty, maritime trade along the coast of Shandong declined. Although the sea ban was relaxed after Jiajing and private shipping resumed, the scale was still small, with the capacity of each ship being only a few hundred dan, and only two to three hundred ships arriving at the port each year. Denglai and other places are still in a state of inconvenient transportation and difficulty in material circulation. Sun Yuanhua always worried about this.
In comparison, other supplies can still be transported by sea, but this grain, as long as it is transported from the south of the Yangtze River, must go through the Grand Canal. This is a systemic problem. It is not his decision to change the sea route. Water transportation is the imperial court. Even Xu Guangqi, who has joined the cabinet, cannot influence the "major affairs" of the country.
Zhao Yingong said: "In this case, why not try to raise money on the spot? Even if it cannot be solved completely, at least part of it can be solved, and the people will also get some benefits."
Sun Yuanhua said: "You have just arrived here and you don't know where the joints are. As for local food, the land in Denglai has always been poor and the output is limited. But if there is more than enough grain, you cannot give it to other counties to transfer capital. If there is not enough, you can't buy other counties. , only for self-sufficiency. Therefore, those who are little ripe will be suddenly rich, and those who are little evil will be trapped, in such a place! Not only do you have to escape in famine years, but you also have to escape in ripe years!"
"Why do you want to run away when you are mature?"
"The grain here can't be sold at all. If it can't be sold, how can I pay a small amount of silver?" Sun Yuanhua looked at him in surprise and said, thinking that he didn't understand this matter.
"Oh, Yin Gong nodded quickly, thinking that he was ugly again. This is basic common sense to the people of the Ming Dynasty, but it is very strange to me.
"The imperial court collected grain from the local area and gave them two coins per stone, but the people were still miserable." He sighed, "Therefore, the people in Dengzhou have a proverb: Dengzhou is as big as an urn, and the small people are in a cauldron. end.
The price of millet is worth one gold, but the price of millet is worth one gold to dogs and pigs. The rich man ran away without food, and the wild man starved to death. "
Of course, Zhao Yingong knew the reason: it was simply because of the difficulty in circulation caused by inconvenient transportation. Food from local areas that had a good harvest could not be transported out and could not be sold at a high price; food from other places could not be transported in during famine years. He had already done research on this issue before coming to Dengzhou, and he brought it up now to raise the next topic.
"Since it is a difficult task, the students are willing to help you here." Zhao Yingong said, "The students intend to start a boating business here."
Sun Yuanhua nodded and smiled, but did not comment. Zhao Yingong was not in a hurry: Sun Yuanhua must understand the value of shipping. The reason why he didn't express his position shows that he attaches great importance to this matter, and he should think about it carefully before talking to him about it. I will not continue this topic now.
The topic turned to local agriculture again. If the local grain production situation is good, the dependence on grain transshipment can be greatly reduced. Therefore, Sun Yuanhua was very interested in improving local agricultural production. Like Xu Guangqi, he studied agricultural issues quite a lot. Xu Guangqi once used the "Western water method" to farm fields in Tianjin and "applied what he learned" with very good results. Sun Yuanhua said that he once had such an idea.
"Your Majesty has this intention, why don't you recruit exiles to open up wasteland and farm in the local area?" Zhao Yingong probed, "I saw a lot of wasteland in this area. As I traveled along the way, there were hungry people all over the road, crying for food. If your Majesty has this intention, not only It can be used as military food, and it is also a great good deed." Zhao Yingong originally wanted to say "merits", but when he thought that he was a Catholic, he immediately changed his words to "good deeds".
Sun Yuanhua shook his head: "The land and the people are easy to deal with, but money is difficult to deal with."
To accommodate hungry people, we need to provide them with food, clothing, and shelter. Although land does not cost much, opening up wasteland requires seeds, livestock, and fertilizer. All require significant upfront investment. Sun Yuanhuagui was appointed governor of Denglai, but his jurisdiction was limited to the three prefectures of Denglai, Lai, and Qing, as well as the islands along the coast of Shandong and the Bohai Bay. It was a typical place with poor people and barren land. The resources at hand are limited, and even with the military pay and food allocated by the court, they can barely maintain the army and defense system. If we want to engage in construction and development any more, we will have no energy left.
"Furthermore, this place is mostly close to the sea, and the territory is mostly hills and mountains. Therefore, the land is mostly saline-alkali and barren. It cannot be done without great efforts and energy." Sun Yuanhua said, "I have been conducting military affairs here. I’m exhausted mentally and physically, and I don’t have the energy left.”! .
< >, reading is a kind of enjoyment, it is recommended that you collect it.
