"How much land does his family have now?"
"It's estimated to be five to six thousand acres. In addition to the land allocated to him at that time, the city government later released it for reclamation. He applied for new land licenses several times, which is at least more than three thousand acres. His family has always been a local household. The second largest household is indispensable for its land," Yuan Fei said.
To cultivate and cultivate 6,000 acres of land in Sanya is indeed a lot. Xu Yanliang nodded secretly, this Hu Wumei is a business talent.
In fact, if Xu Yanliang is more concerned about the situation outside, he should know that Hu Wumei has always been a typical figure of the "new farmers" established by the Senate. Not only were relevant deeds published in the "Lingao Times", but he also participated in a commendation meeting in Lingao and attended the Hainan Provincial Consultative Bureau representative meeting. A rising star.
In a short while, Hu Wumei had changed her clothes and came out of the inner house.
He wore a half-worn short-sleeved shirt, linen trousers, and barefoot cane sandals, which was solemn and simple. He had a pen in his coat pocket and a watch on his wrist - this watch was not allowed. It was when he participated in the Senate Agricultural Front Commendation Conference as a prize for winning the title of "Agricultural Leader in the New Era".
The entire attire and his hairstyle make him look very much like a Senate "cadre". This is also the image he specially created for himself - unlike many members of the Advisory Council who more or less retain, or even deliberately retain, their past clothing. Hu Wumei tried her best to wash away everything in the past.
He was originally supervising work in a newly opened coconut plantation today. The family sent a child to call him back, saying that a senator had arrived. He was a little confused at first. Because there is only one elder in Sanya, Mayor Tang. Mayor Tang just came to his village a few days ago. He would not just come to his village without any reason.
So there is a new veteran here. Hu Wumei made some plans in her mind on the way back to Zhuangzi. He is an old man who has taken root in Sanya since he landed in Sanya. He has experienced the whole process of Sanya from its hustle and bustle to its present loneliness. Since Mr. Wang left office and Mr. Tang took over, Sanya's development has become slower and slower, and can even be said to have stagnated. Along with this, there are fewer and fewer elders in Sanya. The original elders have left their posts one after another, and almost no new elders have taken up their posts.
When he went to the Sanya Conference Bureau meeting last Monday, Elder Tang did not mention that a new elder was coming to take up his duties. If it was a short-term business trip, the most likely elder was the elder from the Agricultural Port. Otherwise, he would not be able to think of anything. Why do you want to see him.
However, the child who came to deliver the letter was so young that he couldn't even say the senator's surname. He only knew that he was a "man" and "he rode a bicycle." This range is so large that it can cover almost more than 70% of the elders.
Sure enough, he didn't know this elder - he was obviously not from the agricultural industry, and he said he was "just transferred" - but Mr. Tang never said that a new elder was coming... [Man]... What happened to this elder who suddenly arrived? Who is he and what is he going to do? Hu Wumei felt somewhat uneasy.
But one thing he could confirm was that Elder Xu was not an important figure in the Senate.
He changed his clothes and hurried back to the courtyard to meet Xu Yanliang.
"Hey, you don't have to be so polite. I just walked by and took a look." Xu Yanliang felt a little uncomfortable seeing him being so respectful, "You are doing well here? Yuan Fei said you are still a model for agricultural exports? Demonstration Where’s the farm?”
"It's all the kindness of the Senate. I'm just doing my best." Hu Wumei said modestly.
Despite Hu Wumei's frightened appearance when seeing the elders, she has actually seen a lot of elders. She has also been a guest of Wen Desi, Wang Luobin, Wu De, Wu Nanhai and others. You can visit Tang Menglong's official residence at any time. . He seemed to have a clear mind about the three, six, and nine people in the Senate. But one thing he was sure of was that he would never show any arrogance when facing elders, and would always have a "tears of gratitude" expression.
"... The policy of the Senate is better. Speaking of me, Hu Wumei, I am also good at farming in my hometown. If the Ming Dynasty was not too chaotic and pirates plundered, I would not be a pirate." Hu Wumei told him The history is not taboo, "As long as the court can achieve social peace, the people will naturally be happy. No matter how poor they are, they will not be desperate? There is always a glimmer of hope."
These words could be considered as flattering the Senate without any trace of it. Everyone likes to hear flattery, and Hu Wumei's flattery is much more subtle than praises such as "reinventing parents"? Xu Yanliang was immediately delighted.
"You're right. A government should be able to do this!" Xu Yanliang said, "When you go to this farm - I think it's called Baocheng Company?"
"Exactly? Baocheng is the name of my former hometown village. The naming can be regarded as 'not forgetting the roots'. Although it has taken root in Sanya and will spread its branches in the future? But this own 'root' is in Don’t forget. As for registering a company? Is that what Dawan, the head of the Tiandihui, suggested? He said that now that my family business is big, it’s better to register a company. It will be convenient for diversified businesses, and it’s also convenient to apply for loans. No need to go there specially. Loans for small farmers can be based on the qualifications of agricultural enterprises.”
"Dawan?"
"That's Wan Lihui Wan, the veteran of the agricultural industry." Yuan Fei explained.
"Oh, it's him." Wan Lihui is the eldest among the Wan brothers, so naturally he is "Da Wan". Judging from this description, the owner of Hu Village has a lot of properties.
"So you have opened quite a few factories." Xu Yanliang said, "Can you tell me in detail?"
Hu Wumei's heart tightened, what kind of solution is this? But when I think about my little family background, the Senate knows very well that there is something to hide. At that moment, he pretended to be calm and smiled: "It would be too arrogant to say that it is a factory, it is just a small workshop."
It turns out that in addition to the mill, his village also has several small factories such as a hemp rope factory, a palm mat factory, and a dried fruit preserves factory.
"...There is also the newly opened aquatic products processing factory at the port. It is said to be a factory, but it is actually just a few workshops. There are only a dozen people at least, and there are no more than thirty or fifty people at most. And it is still open seasonally. Such workers There’s work to do all year round.”
These are agricultural product processing companies, and Xu Yanliang was slightly disappointed. But when I think about it, the Senate has not spread any decent light industry to Sanya. It would be great if a private company like his can achieve this level.
"Who is responsible for technical guidance?"
"They are all hired through Tiandihui." Hu Wumei said, "Installation of machines, debugging, production... one-stop service. No problem. It's just troublesome when the machine breaks down. The repairman has to be hired in Tiandu, and he has to go to Tiandu as soon as he stops. a few days."
"It will require a lot of workers. How many workers are employed on the farm?"
"It's not too many. Not counting the Nanyang slaves, there are about 200 male and female workers, and more than 300 people including children and elderly people."
"What? You still use slaves here?"
"Of course it is used," Hu Wumei looked at Xu Yanliang strangely, "All the large-scale farms here use it."
Xu Yanliang knew very little about the slave issue in the Senate. He only knew that slaves were used in large numbers when developing Tiandu and Taiwan. He did not expect that slave labor would also spread to the people.
"How many slaves are there?"
"About fifty. Originally there were more. Last year, all the female slaves were assigned as workers. Even if they were deregistered."
"What work do you do with all these slaves?"
"It can be used anywhere, farming, clearing land, and working in factories. To be honest, I'm not very good at work, and my physical condition is also poor. I dug drainage ditches last winter, and I exhausted seven or eight people in one go! What a huge loss!"
Xu Yanliang looked at his indifferent face and felt cold: These are the "new citizens" we have cultivated! However, he also understood that human nature was unreliable in the face of interests, not to mention that the man in front of him was once a murderous pirate.
"So the death rate is quite high."
"Taller than farm workers, but not much higher." Hu Wumei said, "I paid for them all. If they die, I will lose. To be honest, if they weren't cheap enough, I wouldn't be that big." Willing to use..."
"Oh, why?"
"The physique is not good - I just said this; and they are also people with hands and feet, and they were captured, so they are always dissatisfied. Treat him too well, he is lazy at work, and treat him harshly , will run away again, forget about running away, and gang up outside to rob, kill, and steal things..."
"No wonder you are heavily guarded here."
"Don't dare not be on guard. There were riots here last summer." Hu Wumei seemed to still have lingering fears. "More than one or two hundred slaves in the mines killed the guards and ran away. They robbed small farms in remote local areas along the way. They killed people and set fires, and the situation spread. The team soon became three to four hundred people. By the time the Yulinbao garrison wiped them out, dozens of families had been harmed, and more than a hundred people had died..."
Xu Yanliang had a shocked expression on his face. He did not remember this incident, and after trying hard to recall it for a long time, he vaguely remembered that he had seen several related news in the "Weekly News". But there are no specific details.
He asked Yuan Fei: "How often does this happen?"
Yuan Fei nodded and said: "There have been many sporadic incidents, but none of them have been on such a large scale. Thanks to the local militia, several large local farms have been used as shelters. Otherwise, I am afraid the losses will be even greater. This time After the riots, every farm has stepped up security."
"So that's it." Xu Yanliang murmured to himself. Hearing these things greatly shocked his heart. In fact, he did not agree with slavery in the first place. At first, he considered that the losses to the naturalized people of Tiandu and Kaohsiung would be too great, so he thought it was "tolerable". But now it seems, Not only is this system quite cruel, but its negative effects are also expanding.
It seemed necessary to promote the abolition of slavery as quickly as possible. he thought. Otherwise, there will be endless troubles if we continue like this.
At this moment, he did not discuss this issue with Hu Wumei further. Then he asked: "Do you have enough labor here?"
