Deng Fei flipped through the densely written paper for a long time, then tentatively said: "Then you mean, we can also follow the example of the Dutch in making copper coins and replace their money?"
"Money must be minted to expand the scale of the Cam Ranh Bay mint. But this is only one of them. If you want to replace all 1.1 billion Dutch copper coins by minting, you will have to wait until the Year of the Monkey!"
Wang Yuanfang said: "Meeting in the spice trade?"
Deng Fei said: "It's impossible. The spice monopoly has long since ceased to exist. Didn't you see that all the plantations here are growing sugar cane?"
Zhao Xin rubbed his brows, stood up, walked to the window and looked at the rooftops in the distance, murmuring: "Master Ma has said that the circulation of commodities determines the circulation of currency. The problem is that the demand for currency in circulation does not only depend on the price of commodity exchange total, but also depends on the total turnover of value distribution and redistribution..."
Wang Yuanfang and Deng Fei looked at each other and joked: "Is this guy starting to talk nonsense again? I can understand every word, but I can't understand even one word! Boss Zhao, can you speak human language?"
Zhao Xinyan laughed, turned around and said: "To put it simply, it is a multi-pronged approach. On the one hand, we must use military force to break the VOC's military coercion on Banten, Sumatra and Kalimantan. On the other hand, we must change what the Dutch have done." forced plantation system', and then there's oil development in Sumatra."
Deng Fei said: "Aren't we setting up a rubber farm?"
Zhao Xindao: "The results are too slow, not to mention that it is impossible to grow all rubber in the future. Although Beihai Town has an abundance of wheat, southerners are not used to it after all, and the transportation cost of grain transfer from Beihai Town is too high. Food is the most important thing for the people. No matter how big the issue is, it is not as big as the problem of food for the common people. We still have to start with agriculture and land."
Deng Fei said: "One more thing must be added. The Chinese cannot be compradors for the Dutch."
"A ban alone is not enough, there must be alternative products. The reason why they leave their hometowns is to get rich. No matter what it is, as long as there are two or three times profit, there will always be people who take risks..."
Zhao Xin suddenly stopped talking, frowned and thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead and said, "Hey! How could I forget about palm oil?"
Deng Fei reacted very quickly. His eyes lit up and he said, "That's right! Carry out oilseed cultivation and palm oil processing. It can be used for both food and industry."
Zhao Xin asked Wang Yuanfang: "Are there people from the richest families in the city now in the city hall?"
Wang Yuanfang said: "Well, basically they are all here."
Zhao Xin nodded and said, "Then go and have a look tomorrow morning and listen to their opinions first."
In the evening, Wang Yuanfang, on behalf of the Bacheng Military Control Commission, held a banquet in the VOC Governor's Mansion to entertain everyone from Europe. Until then, Zhao Xin no longer concealed anything, and revealed his identity on the spot, which aroused the surprise of all French people. They never dreamed that this "naval staff officer" with a young face, who often discussed mathematics, history and philosophy with them on the ship, would actually be the first person in Republican China!
Before the dinner began, Zhao Xin, on behalf of Beihai Town, sent a formal invitation to five scientists from France to help establish the "Republican Chinese Academy of Sciences" and awarded the five people as the first batch of foreign honorary academicians of the Academy. Relevant certificates will be issued at a later formal ceremony, and their specific work will not be determined until after an inspection in Beihai Town.
However, compared to the four "Ra Gods" and their families, the Marquis of Condorcet and his beautiful wife Sophie, who are deeply involved in politics, secretly speculated on why Zhao Xin concealed his identity and went to Paris. A question has arisen, are there Chinese people behind the "Temple Tower Incident"?
Although Condorcet had many friends among the Girondins, he did not join any faction because of his aversion to factionalism and always kept his distance from the Girondins.
Historically, the reason why Condorcet was arrested and executed is quite sad. He just criticized a few sentences of the "1793 Constitution" designed by Robespierre and Saint-Just, and was branded a traitor. In addition, Condorcet's attitude towards Louis XVI also angered Robespierre. He supported the trial of the king but opposed the death penalty, and even naively suggested that the king be sent to a warship as a rowing slave.
Lady Elizabeth and her two children did not attend the dinner, partly because of fatigue from the journey, and also because of concerns about the contagiousness and confidentiality of tuberculosis.
On the morning of the next day, Zhao Xin did not let Wang Yuanfang and Deng Fei follow him. Instead, he called Jiang Asheng. He wore a military uniform without a military rank and took two soldiers from the special operations battalion as guards, and strolled to Baja. Flaggan Street is located in the north of the city near the former Customs House. Jiang Asheng has never met Zhao Xin. When he informed him yesterday, he only said that Zhao Xin was an official in the Trade Department of Beihai Town.
When they arrived at the gate, Zhao Xinxin said, "Good guy, it's almost like a Manchu government office." I saw a thick flagpole standing in front of the gate, with nothing on it. The surrounding walls are more than ten feet high. Looking from the outside, the gate is as majestic as the state government under the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
When Jiang Asheng saw Zhao Xin staring at the bare flagpole, he explained: "Sir, this flag used to be hung only on the first day of every month. When the head tax was collected every month, when the flag was raised for everyone to see, they would know what to do. The money has been paid.”
Zhao Xindao: "Isn't there a head tax?"
"Yes. But there are also store tax, gambling tax, slaughter tax, import tax, tobacco tax, etc., which must be paid on a monthly basis."
Because Zhao Xin didn't want to make a big fuss, Jiang Asheng didn't go in to report in advance. The group of people walked into the gate with the painting Shen Tu Yu Lei, and saw a fifty-meter-long stone road leading directly to the lobby. Then they looked at the layout of the houses on the left and right, and they were different from the prefecture and county yamen that Zhao Xin had seen. At this time, the guard guarding the concierge saw someone coming and came out to ask with a straight face. But when he saw Jiang Asheng and Zhao Xin, who was being protected by two Bei navy soldiers, he immediately put on a smile.
"Yo! Who do I think it is? It turns out to be Brother Sheng! Are you on business today?"
Jiang Asheng said: "Xiao Dai, these three are sent by the Military Control Commission to talk to Huang Jia. Is the old gentleman here?"
"Here! Here! The case is being decided in court today. He, Mr. Wu and Mr. Lin are all in the second hall."
"What case?"
"It's just a trivial matter, and the couple is getting divorced."
Jiang Asheng nodded and smiled, then led Zhao Xin and the others to the main hall. The guy called Xiao Dai and others walked away, and then he rolled his eyes at Jiang Asheng's back and muttered: "The mud-legged man climbed up to the short-haired master and reached the sky in one step! Tsk tsk~~"
Zhao Xin walked to the door of the empty lobby and did not go in. He saw that there was also a plaque saying "Mingjing Hangs High" hanging in the hall. On the east and west walls on the left and right sides, there were two large wooden plaques, which were densely packed. Full of words. Because of the distance, he could clearly see the content at the front.
"During the reign of Qianlong and Renxu, Duke Wei Hanlin was Jiabidan, and he began to set up a court to discuss affairs. He was kind to the people, taught and transformed, and practiced good Taoism. His legacy is..."
When the four of them passed through the side door and arrived outside the second hall door, a case was indeed being interrogated inside, but they were all speaking in Hokkien. Zhao Xin didn't understand either, so he returned to the lobby, thinking that he would finish his work inside before going in. He looked around and casually asked Jiang Asheng about the personnel in the court.
According to Jiang Asheng, the current staff of the court consists of sixteen people. The highest one is Kapitan (director), and the subordinates include Lei Zhenlan (adjutant), Zhu Gejiao (secretary), Da Shi (servant), Wu Zhimi Positions such as (property management officer), Tugong (funeral affairs officer), and Ma Jiao (district chief) respectively correspond to different affairs.
When the Dutch were here, the courts mainly dealt with civil disputes, ranging from household registration and taxation, to marriage disputes over money and taxes, everything was included, and trivial matters were dealt with. As for major criminal or economic cases, they are handled by the Dutch judicial department.
After Beihai Town implemented military control in Bacheng, due to the lack of administrative personnel, it retained the setting up of the court and related personnel, and continued to let them handle civil affairs, and major cases were reported to the Military Control Commission for processing. Although the official name was changed to City Hall, local people are still accustomed to calling it "Gongtang".
After waiting for almost twenty minutes, several people, both men and women, walked out of the second hall. It seemed that the divorce case had been settled, so Zhao Xin asked Jiang Asheng to go in and report.
Across the courtyard gate, Zhao Xin heard a commotion inside and knew that his sudden attack had caught everyone in the court off guard. After Jia Dahuang Mianshe and his men came out to see the ceremony, they went to the flower hall in the second hall and sat down together. After a brief exchange of greetings, the servant brought tea, Zhao Xin got straight to the point, saying that he was here to understand the economic situation of Bacheng on behalf of the Ministry of Trade and planned to open up new sources of income.
When everyone heard this, their hearts immediately dropped. It turned out that they were not here for a surprise inspection. The Bacheng Military Control Commission has vigorously implemented epidemic prevention in the past two years, and opened a hospital to save lives and heal the wounded. The court officials have worked hard to cooperate, so the relationship between the two parties is very harmonious.
But when it comes to financial resources, everyone here suddenly feels sad.
In recent years, due to VOC's colonial and plundering policy, Bacheng's economy has been in a long-term recession, business has declined, and many small plantation businessmen have fallen into bankruptcy. The British colonies across the sea were superior to Bacheng in terms of immigration and taxation policies. Big businesses like Huang Mianshe and others moved to Malaya and Malacca to open branches and became British. middlemen.
In addition, due to the arrival of Beihai Town, local tax revenue in Bacheng has been greatly reduced. Especially after the elimination of head tax, weighing tax, and inland navigation tax, tax farming has basically become an unprofitable business.
Since the establishment of the Bacheng Court, court officials have had no salary. However, because of the convenience brought by their positions, most of their income comes from the tax farming system. In the past, 11 of the 20 tax items in Bacheng were contracted by the Chinese, with a total annual tax of approximately 10,000 silver dollars. In addition to having to deal with tax issues, these people are also VOC's middlemen and project contractors.
Therefore, the actual situation in these colonies in Southeast Asia is that all Chinese leaders are families who have controlled the local courts for a long time. They also control tax farming projects and pass them on from generation to generation. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
On the one hand, these people stood up for the Chinese, mediating civil disputes according to the model of village autonomy and negotiating with the colonial authorities on their behalf. But at the same time, they also exploited the lower class Chinese and shared profits with the colonists.
Although Beihai Town's policy on the mainland is to rely on the poor, unite with middle peasants, and crack down on large landlords, this is not currently applicable in Bacheng. You must know that these Chinese leading families connect small-scale transactions in rural areas of the East Indies, and are the middlemen between local people and overseas export agencies, as well as between overseas industries and local consumers. Ordinary lower-level Chinese workers simply cannot do this.
After listening to the appeals of everyone present, Zhao Xin said with a smile: "Now we have a long-term business, which is much better than sugar cane, indigo, and coffee, and it will make a lot of money."
"Oh?!" Huang Mianshe and the others were all disapproving after hearing this. He said in his heart that we have been in Java for decades, and you, a new comer to Bacheng, are teasing us by saying that you have a very profitable business!
The elderly Huang Mianshe spoke in southern Fujian Mandarin and said: "Please give me your advice."
"Palm fruit."
Everyone present looked at each other in shock after hearing this, wondering what the hell is this?
Huang Mianshe said: "May I ask, sir, what is a palm fruit?"
Zhao Xin originally thought that the economic value of oil palm had not been discovered in this era and no one cared about it, so he described the appearance. Unexpectedly, after listening to it, everyone here looked confused and said they had never seen it before.
Zhao Xin didn't know yet that he had made a big mistake this time, because there were no palm trees on Java Island in those days!
The origin of palm trees is actually Nigeria, Africa. Historically, the planting of palm trees in Indonesia began in 1848, when a Dutchman brought 4 palm seeds from Amsterdam and planted them in the botanical garden. Unexpectedly, only five years later, it had grown to 12 meters tall and the palm trees began to bear fruit. However, the economic value of oil palm trees was not discovered at that time, and they were only used as decorative plants on the roadside. It was not until 1911 that extensive commercial planting began on the island of Sumatra. Since then, Indonesia has become the world's largest palm oil producer.
Well, Zhao Xin didn't know yet. He felt that the "country bumpkins" in front of him didn't know. The Chinese workers in the plantation outside the city must have seen it. When the time comes, let Jiang Asheng go down and ask.
Besides, since we are all here, we definitely can’t go back without accomplishing anything. He then mentioned that he would build a cooling oil factory locally and would purchase relevant raw materials in large quantities. In addition, the purchase price of rice and corn will be increased to encourage everyone here to change crops in their own plantations.
After Bulla Bulla talked a lot, Zhao Xin walked away amidst the praises of everyone. When they returned to the flower hall, Chief Lei Zhenlan and Wu Zuanxu said to Jia Dahuang Mianshe, "Mr. Huang, what do you see here?"
"Since the Military Control Commission has sent people to come on a special trip, they have to save face. In the past two years, the epidemic in Bacheng has been reduced a lot, and we learned that the favor will be repaid. Each family will plant dozens of acres of rice first, and then sell it to them at a low price. The Military Control Commission can be regarded as a business meeting."
Another Lei Zhenlan named Lin Changsheng said dissatisfied: "I have never heard of oil palm! I think this person has a hairless mouth and is not able to do things well. Come here to get it We’re here to have fun!”
