Cao Guangjiu took the invitation - he was startled and said in a loud voice: "Hurry! Open the middle door and tell me that I will personally come to greet you!"
"The master said that there is no need to be so careful. The villain is brave and has already welcomed him to the flower hall..."
"Okay, okay," Cao Guangjiu waved his hand and urged, "You go over first, I don't dare to accept the post, so go out and see him now. [Read the latest chapter]" He then stamped his feet and scolded the maid: "Are they all dead? Change clothes!"
An hour later, he sent away the visiting master - the owner of the post had a great reputation and would never come to see him by himself, but just a master coming with a greeting post was enough to give him face. Cao Guangjiu locked himself in the study for a long time, and he was a little confused about the other party's intentions.
Of course he knew that it was inconvenient for the other party to come forward and wanted to use him as a weapon. As long as you can benefit yourself enough, it doesn't matter if you act as a weapon for others. The problem is, he doesn't know what the other party wants to do? This requires careful consideration, which is why he has never dared to agree.
He already knew from the other party's words that the owner of the post wanted to deal with the newly emerged Mr. Zhao. Although this master's background is big enough, the religious gentry behind Mr. Zhao is not easy to offend. If a shabby guy like himself is caught in the middle, he might get a bloody blow.
But the interests behind this are really unbearable, and he can't help but a shabby guy like him can't help but swallow this bait.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but touch the bag that the other party asked someone to bring to him. It was heavy. Cao Guang gritted his teeth. People died for money and birds died for food. Mr. Zhao was just an outsider, even though he had some fame. After all, he is not as big and deep-rooted as the owner of the post. I leaned against a big tree to enjoy the shade. This opportunity is not to be missed.
Zhao Yingong was arranging "Tiaoye" work in the villa at this time.
The smooth implementation of the Spring Silkworm Plan and the official start of the silk reeling factory gave him full confidence. Especially for this Cocoon Silk Operation, the local gentry and silk shop owners who benefited greatly from it all expressed their "admiration" for him on various occasions. He has become a "capable person" who is good at dancing. Naturally, there are many people who are envious, jealous and hateful of this.
This year's leaf work, he is not doing on a large scale - he only needs to meet the needs of the three "core villages" and a dozen "peripheral villages" that he expects to prepare for cooperation, plus Ci Huitang's own sericulture The farm's sericulture needs are sufficient. The sericulture households in these villages also have part of their own mulberry fields and are partially self-sufficient. Even if the scale of sericulture is further expanded next year, the increase will be limited.
So in the beginning. He did not spend many resources on controlling the supply of mulberry leaves. He has no intention of directly controlling the mulberry orchard itself - the taxes in this area are very heavy, and secondly, the cost of buying the leaves is not high and they are easy to use. What's more, if he wants to raise summer and autumn silkworms. The price of shoot leaves is even pitifully low - originally mulberry leaves are valuable in the spring season. The rest of the time is of little benefit except for building branches for basket weaving, firewood, and mulberries. So when he sent people to various mulberry gardens to request for leaves in summer and autumn, the owners of the mulberry gardens thought they were crazy.
Zhao Yingong's offer was very favorable: the production was guaranteed at one tael of silver per acre: from now until before the leaves fall in autumn, all the mulberry leaves produced in the mulberry garden belong to Zhao Yingong. People from the Zhao family can come and pick mulberry leaves at any time. No gardener is required to pick mulberry leaves. It's all done by the Zhao family's servants - anyway, for Zhao Yingong now. Manpower is the least valuable investment. A large amount of free labor is not used in vain.
For the mulberry garden owner, although the income is only one tael per acre, it is still extra income. It's not a small help for them. Therefore, the work of purchasing "tip leaves" in summer and autumn went smoothly. Zhao Yingong purchased enough mulberry leaves needed in summer and autumn without spending much money.
He originally wanted to go all out and buy next spring's share of the shoots, which would not only satisfy his own needs, but also allow him to make a fortune by selling it. However, I realized that the cost to invest is really not small. I am currently running too many projects at the same time: bookshop, printing and publishing, sericulture, raw silk, sea trade... and this huge refugee camp. Each requires a lot of capital to operate. The cash flow is mainly maintained by the money from the China Merchants Group. The trick of eight jars and seven lids was not something that was possible in the old days. No one may be able to see through this trick of his.
Now it can only be regarded as a small situation. Although he still has a lot of ideas, Zhao Yingong can only be satisfied for the time being. Bigger steps will be taken next year. At present, he lacks sufficient strength, and the influence of the Senate is not enough. You have to be careful in this society where those in power take all. There are still many things that I have to do now.
"Jiying!"
He said hello, and Jiying immediately appeared at the door of the study, waiting for instructions.
"Prepare a ship for me and go to Shanghai!"
In order to make it easier for him to travel around the south of the Yangtze River, he had already purchased a Wuxi Express. With a single order, the boatmen took turns rocking the boat day and night, and within a few days they could reach Shanghai, Suzhou, and Nanjing, the important political and commercial centers in the south of the Yangtze River. Shanghai, in particular, was the Senate's most important commercial channel in the entire south of the Yangtze River. Shanhaiwu Road has institutions here. Zhao Yingong's upcoming trade activities with Japan will also use Shanghai as the operation center.
The goods destined for Japan are now gradually being transported to Shanghai for assembly. In addition to the traditional export commodities to Japan such as raw silk, silk, white sugar, Chinese medicinal materials, and porcelain purchased from suppliers in Hangzhou Station in Jiangnan, Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi and other places, There are also a large number of daily necessities and hardware produced by Lingao.
Although Japan's agriculture and commerce developed greatly in the 17th century, its handicraft industry lagged behind. The traditional Japanese handicraft industry cannot but be said to be highly skilled, but it is very scientific. The degree of sophistication in niche consumer products is far beyond the average level, while mass consumer products are seriously lacking in both quality and production capacity. Historically, we have had to rely on large quantities of imported daily necessities made in China to ensure supply. In particular, the shortage of hardware is far beyond ordinary people's imagination. Even the most commonly used hardware like nails are often nowhere to be bought. The so-called "knife hunting" was carried out because there was a shortage of nails to build giant Buddhas and temples. This was not an excuse that seemed ridiculous to people at the time.
In the current industrial system of the Senate, the industrial products that can be exported and dumped in large quantities, apart from paper, are hardware. In addition to large-scale exports to the Guangdong market, they also export to Jiangnan. Naturally, they will not let go of exports to Japan this time.
However, when he rushed to Shanghai, it was not for export matters to Japan. Instead, Shen Tingyang invited him to discuss the matter. The letter did not specify the specific matter, only saying that "the matter is urgent."
What's the urgent matter? He needs to be summoned immediately to discuss it, and the location is Shanghai! Shanghai is the future headquarters of China Merchants Group and the starting point for trade with Japan and grain and shipping. Coming here to discuss matters is obviously related to these two things.
Zhao Yingong had been thinking about this matter all the way. When he arrived in Shanghai, he just checked into the mansion and could not take care of the dust, so he asked someone to go to the Shen family mansion to submit a letter immediately and make an appointment with Shen Tingyang.
That night, the two met in Zhao Yingong's Shanghai mansion.
Zhao Yingong was originally worried that Shen Tingyang would cause trouble in the matter of selling the ship and buying shares, but he did not expect that the other party was actually happy. When we meet, we hold hands and say congratulations.
"Finally there is a sensible person in the court!" Shen Tingyang was very excited.
"What?!" Zhao Yingong originally knew that it had nothing to do with exports to Japan, so he felt relieved. He knew that the other party's biggest concern was to abolish the canal and reform the sea. Looking at this, could it be that the Ming Dynasty really changed its policy? Did you conduct an experiment to transport rice by sea in advance, unlike in history? He asked tentatively: "Could it be that the imperial court has agreed to abolish the canal system and replace it with the sea?"
"Hahaha, I'm kidding!" Shen Tingyang laughed, "If the imperial court was so decisive in handling affairs, why would it be like this!"
Zhao Yingong smiled awkwardly, feeling that it would be better for him to speak less on this issue - Shen Tingyang was a rich man in Jiangnan. It doesn't matter what you say, it's better for you, an outsider, to stay calm.
Shen Tingyang seemed to feel that it was inappropriate for him to comment on the government in this way, and immediately returned to the original topic:
"How can such a major event as abolishing the canal system and transforming it into a maritime one be accomplished overnight? But there is one thing that needs to be done right now. If it is done well, it will be the cause of the abolition of the canal system in the future."
He told Zhao Yingong that after the Dengzhou rebellion was suppressed, the entire system of transferring food and wages from Dengzhou to Liaodong had been completely destroyed. The food, wages, and ordnance originally gathered in Dengzhou were also lost. Documents from Guan Ning and Dongjiang asking for food and salary came flying in like snow.
"...You probably also know the habits of such a soldier." Shen Tingyang was probably in a very good mood, so he talked very enthusiastically. "Since the end of Wanli, the world has been in turmoil, and soldiers are needed everywhere. Each of these soldiers will become domineering. Without food and salary, we can't even move our homes, let alone fight the war. Over the years, the court has invested millions of dollars in food every year, and it can barely maintain the situation."
After the Dengzhou Rebellion, the supply lines to Dongjiang and Guanning were suddenly interrupted. Land transit took a long time and consumed even more manpower and material resources. Therefore, the Ministry of War and the Cabinet were eager to find new supply channels.
"...So this time the imperial court has a decree to transport grain directly from Jiangnan to Liaodong!" Shen Tingyang looked very happy.
"Brother Wu Mei is responsible for this matter?"
"Exactly!" Shen Tingyang almost danced when he said this, and his excitement was hard to express. "I have asked someone to read it, and also entered the "Shipping Book" and "Shipping Map"."
Zhao Yingong vaguely remembered that this incident should have happened after Shen Tingyang became the secretary of the cabinet. Shen Tingyang is still just a student of the Imperial College, and there are still several years to go before he becomes the secretary of the middle school. Clearly, something has changed. (To be continued...)
