After the door opened, it was Zhao Xin's new guard captain Chai Rugui who walked in. The moment he saw Zhao Xin, he felt something was wrong with the atmosphere in the room, and then he saw Duofu, who was baring his teeth and claws at him.
However, Chai Rugui has always been insensitive when it comes to matters between men and women. As a guard, his first reaction was to quickly scan around Zhao Xin's office and found nothing unusual. Then he stood at attention and reported: "Chief, Mr. Huang Mianshe, Wu Zuanxu, and Lin Changsheng are all here."
Zhao Xin then remembered the meeting he had agreed with the three of them yesterday, but at this moment he still wanted to beat Chai Rugui violently. However, this person's force value is at the 3S level like Chen Jishan. Zhao Xin once tried it with Chai Rugui. With just one move of "Black Tiger Evisceration" and still holding back his strength, Chai Rugui could push himself seven or eight meters away, taking out a butt. So I had to YY.
Seeing that Zhao Xin was about to receive a guest, A Miao picked up Duofu from the table and walked towards the door. Before leaving, she turned back and made a face at him. Upon seeing this, Zhao Xin raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said to Chai Rugui: "I understand. , please invite them in."
Counting the previous recommendation to the public to plant oil palm, Huang Mianshe and the others met Zhao Xin for the third time. It's just that for the first time, Zhao Xin didn't reveal his identity, made a big mistake, and was despised by several businessmen.
When Zhao Xin arrived in Bacheng on the Thunderbolt a few days ago, he did not disembark directly. Instead, he called people from the General Management Committee and the Public Bank to the ship for two meetings. Only then did Huang Mianshe and the others realize that the "hairless guy" who dared to fall in love was actually the famous King Zhao, and they were suddenly frightened into a cold sweat. Lin Changsheng, who had ridiculed Zhao Xin behind his back, was even more shocked. If the guards hadn't stopped him, he would have wanted to lie on the ground and kowtow to Zhao Xin to apologize.
This time, Zhao Xin brought oil palm seeds, and they were high-yield ones. So when Huang Mianshe and others entered the room and sat down, he opened the drawer and took out a transparent plastic bag containing oil palm seeds and placed it on the table.
Huang Mianshe picked up the bag and looked at it carefully, and saw several gray-brown oval fruits inside. Others also came over to watch, and Lin Changsheng asked curiously: "Is this the oil palm that the prince mentioned?"
Zhao Xin nodded and said: "I was careless last time and thought that Java already had this thing. If you are interested, you can take it back and try to plant it. Someone will give you a bag each when you leave."
"May I ask, Your Majesty, how much oil can this thing produce?"
"Depending on the terrain, you can plant 8 to 10 seeds per acre. As long as they are properly cultivated, one acre of land can produce 400 kilograms of oil. If you are interested, you can apply to the Agriculture Department of the Military Control Commission and send someone to our Directly affiliated farms to learn planting techniques.”
Oops! The three of them were shocked when they heard this, feeling a little unbelievable.
These days, cooking oil is as expensive as pork. Taking Guangzhou as an example, a liter of rapeseed oil outside the oil bar now costs at least fifty cents, which can buy several liters of rice, enough for five or six people from a poor family to drink vegetable porridge for several days.
As for soybean oil in the north and rapeseed oil in the south, the prices are similar. For example, rapeseed grown in Guangdong and Jiangxi only produces about 200 kilograms of seeds per acre. After frying and pressing, every 100 kilograms of rapeseed can only yield more than ten kilograms. Kilograms of oil. It is precisely because it is not easy to extract that the price of edible oil has been rising in recent years.
Even if you have a small amount of money, you can only put a little bit in cooking before the Chinese New Year. If the family cultivates another scholar, it’s over! Just the money for lamp oil for reading at night is a huge expense.
Promoting oil palm cultivation on a large scale in West Java is definitely a big deal for both Beihai Town and Zhao Xin himself. You should know that in addition to being edible, palm oil can also be used to refine glycerol, which can be widely used in industry and military. All the industrial-grade glycerol currently used in Beihai Town comes from another time and space, that is, synthesized from propylene; just making double-base gunpowder costs a lot of money every year.
However, Huang Mianshe and the other two people did not come here today for the oil palm seeds, but to speak for the various gambling dens that had been sealed up. Since the war with the VOC started again, the Bacheng Military Control Commission has implemented public security control inside and outside the city. Under Zhao Xin's instruction, it has taken advantage of the situation and banned various gambling houses in Chinatown outside the city, and ordered no cockfights. Violators will be severely fined.
At this time, many Chinese business families related to the gambling industry could no longer sit still. I thought that in the past, even the Dutch didn't care about it, and casinos can pay a lot of taxes every year. How can we just ban something that benefits both the government and the people?
The gambling industry in Bacheng began when the Chinese came to this land and has existed for nearly two hundred years. Anyone who can open a gambling hall in Bacheng is the former Kapitan or Lei Zhenlan family. These people have been here for generations and have appeared as tax collectors from the beginning. It is natural to open a casino.
It is said that it is human nature to take a chance, especially the Chinese who went to Southeast Asia. Their behavior of traveling across the ocean to Southeast Asia was itself a formalized adventure. Don't look at the previous VOC government that allowed the Chinese to open gambling halls and obtain high taxes from them, but strictly prohibited the Dutch from entering the casinos.
For those wealthy Chinese who have lived in Bacheng for a long time, due to the Qing government's maritime ban policy, it was difficult for them to return home and buy property, let alone take part in the imperial examination; while a large number of ordinary Chinese workers could only work hard for several years. Having enough food and clothing is far from getting rich.
So there are people who have nothing to do, and there are people who are eager to get rich overnight. Many people put the wealth accumulated by their parents or their own hard-earned wages into casinos and cockfighting rings. This means that the Chinese in Southeast Asia are often not rich for more than three generations, and it is not uncommon for their children or grandchildren to lose all their wealth at the gambling table.
After all the gambling dens inside and outside the city were closed within one day, the bosses first approached Jiang Asheng privately, hoping that he could help negotiate with the Military Control Commission. Although there were a dazzling array of gifts delivered to his door, how could Jiang Asheng dare to touch this bad luck, knowing that this was Zhao Xin's personal order. So they went to Huang Mianshe to complain.
These prominent Chinese people in Bacheng were all related by relatives, and there were many intermarrying. Huang Mianshe thought about it and felt that this was inappropriate. However, he is not just considering his own interests, but sincerely doing it for Beihai Town.
It is said that the Huang family moved to Bacheng from Zhangpu, Fujian Province for more than a hundred years. From being an ordinary Chinese worker to becoming a leading Chinese family, they have experienced countless ups and downs. Although the Dutch committed the "Red Creek Massacre", these families still worked for the Dutch wholeheartedly. One of the important reasons was that it was difficult to return home.
In the fifteenth year of Qianlong's reign, the Manchu Qing Dynasty did something immoral, which caused all overseas Chinese who had made money in business to give up the idea of returning home; even if they had the courage to go back, they would have to spend a lot of money, and they would not dare to stay for a long time.
At that time, Chen Yi, who had been working for Lei Zhenlan in Bacheng for eight years, resigned and returned to Fujian with his concubine and children because he had been away from his hometown for more than ten years and missed his mother. Maybe it was because his Javanese concubine was too eye-catching, or maybe it was because Mr. Chen Yi brought back a lot of money that made people jealous. In short, Mr. Chen Yi was arrested before he returned to his hometown in Longxi, and the case was brought to Qianlong.
Soon, Qianlong took "bandits to foreign countries privately, made friends with foreign countries, violated foreign restrictions, and provoked border provocations" as an example. He sent more than 30 members of his family to Ili, and his concubines and children married in Java were tortured. Deportation, all property confiscated. The owner of the boat he took to return home was also implicated. Not only the shackles, but also the boat was confiscated.
Huang Mianshe is over 50 this year, which for ancient people is the age when the earth is buried in the soil, so her homesickness has become more and more serious in recent years. I thought that after death, I could only leave my tombstone far away to my hometown, but unexpectedly Beihai Town came. After understanding Beihai Town's goal of unifying the world and not imposing a sea ban, the victory of the Beihai Navy became his only hope for returning home.
After learning that the Dutch were going to attack Bacheng, Huang Mianshe took the lead in donating three thousand guilders in silver dollars to the Military Control Commission and called on all Chinese businessmen in the city to donate. After the Military Control Commission reported to Zhao Xin and obtained approval, it accepted the donations and later returned them to the people in the form of prepayments. As a result, Huang Mianshe and others received plaques from the Military Control Commission, earning them the title of "Model Supporter of the Military."
At this time, he held up his hands and said to Zhao Xin: "Your Majesty is benevolent and loves the people. He does not forget the people's livelihood and economy. This is really a blessing to the people of Bacheng!"
After saying that, he, Wu Zuanxu and Lin Changsheng stood up together and saluted Zhao Xinshen.
"Three of you don't have to be like this." Seeing this, Zhao Xin also raised his hands and bowed.
Just listen to Huang Mianshe say again: "I have something else I want to ask the prince. I don't know whether I should say it or not?"
"Mr. Huang, please speak."
"That's it"
In Huang Mianshe's narrative, he believed that the martial law would close all gambling halls, which would firstly cause great losses to the official fiscal revenue; secondly, gambling had a long history in Bacheng, and it would be difficult to ban it. The Manchu and Qing court also banned gambling, but everyone from officials and gentry to common people participated in it; especially in Fujian and Guangdong, gambling was very popular.
Secondly, no one dares to disobey the Dutch at the moment, but what will happen after the war? Once it goes from public to underground, it will probably be more difficult to manage. At that time, the officials and subordinates below may take advantage of this to cause trouble, and extortion and corruption will also appear.
Huang Mianshe spoke sincerely, and Zhao Xin listened attentively. After the other party finished speaking, he pondered for a moment before saying: "I have actually considered this matter. I give you oil palm seeds in the hope that the proceeds will make up for the closure of the gambling. The loss to the casino. As for gambling dens, they will definitely not be able to open again in the future. This is not negotiable."
Only then did Huang Mianshe and the other two people realize that there was such a game behind the oil palm seeds. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xin's next words shocked the three of them.
"In the future, the Bacheng Military Control Bureau will open an official lottery. In addition to bonuses and a small amount of issuance fees, 30% of the proceeds will be used for medical care and welfare of orphans and widows."
Huang Mianshe and the other three looked at each other in surprise and asked, "May I ask the prince, what is gambling?"
Zhao Xin then found a piece of paper, scribbled on it, and explained briefly. After listening to this, the three people on the other side said to themselves, "Good guy, what I dare to do to you is private gambling, and I plan to hold a bet and flower party on my own!" But if it is true as this person said, and the lottery proceeds are used for public welfare, it will be much better than the previous bet!
It is said that gambling games in Bacheng Chinese society can be divided into several types to suit different rich and poor people, such as European cards, dice betting or betting, and another is cockfighting. Needless to say, playing cards and dice, cockfighting requires a venue, and those who are good at it will raise their own chickens; betting is simple and cheap to play, and it caters to the psychology of the bottom class of society who spend small money to gamble on luck, so it is the most popular.
The so-called bet has been around for a long time. It is called "Hua Hui" in southern Fujian and "White Pigeon Ticket" in Guangdong. It is similar to the nature of a lottery; for example, choose 1 out of 12, choose 1 out of 24, choose 1 out of 36, and choose 1 out of 80, each with different odds.
The banker of Huahui will wrap a scroll every morning and tie it to the beam in the house in public. This is called "making a treasure". The gambler chooses one of the names of ancient people, animals, or numbers given by the dealer, fills it in on the paper, indicates the amount of money to bet, and then puts it into a wooden cabinet. When it was time to open the bets, the boss untied the scroll from the beam and lowered it in front of everyone, then opened the wooden cabinet for betting, and made or lost the bets according to the names placed by the gamblers.
If someone loses, they will shout "Hua"; if they win, the winner will happily shout "Yes".
For example, the Guandi Temple and Tin Hau Temple in Chinatown outside Bacheng will be crowded with many people every time before the "Flower Fair". They go there not to burn incense and worship gods, but to ask for divination. What number is drawn, and then everyone waits all night for the number to come out.
The water here is very deep, and the dealer has countless tricks to prevent people from winning; even if they win, the amount they receive will be a little more than the purchase cost. As a result, people who are addicted to this practice often go bankrupt and even pawn off their wives and concubines’ properties. Among the civil disputes that Bacheng Public Bank handles daily, many are divorces and property lawsuits caused by gambling.
In fact, Zhao Xin knows very well that no matter whether those in power encourage or suppress it, human beings' strong demand for gambling has never changed. Victor Hugo of later generations had a famous saying about this: "No matter whether the gambling in life is a gain or a loss, as long as there is still one pound of meat left to gamble, I will bet on it."
Whether they are too lazy to eat or want to get rich overnight, there are such people everywhere; no matter what method the official adopts to ban people from participating, the facts can only prove that the results are limited. Human beings have a gambling gene in their bones. As long as there is land, it will grow. If there is no land, it will grow in disguise.
When I came to this time and space, whether I was seeking gold at the beginning or seeking the world later, it was actually a gamble. Every war with an opponent is also a gamble, but with materials and weapons from another time and space, the chance of winning is greater.
It is precisely because of this that Zhao Xin walked very slowly on the road to conquering the world, one step at a time. He was afraid that all the hard-won gains would disappear with a single oversight. But even so, he can't guarantee that he will be the ultimate winner, because the difficulty of conquering the world and governing the world are not at the same level. The former seeks for a while, while the latter seeks for one or even several lifetimes.
Professional scholars in another time and space will analyze the psychology of gambling from many aspects such as personality, unwillingness, self-esteem, greed, desire for control, etc. However, even if they play mahjong with their family members, they still have to bring some luck. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, the key is that it would be boring if you didn't play with sound.
Huang Mianshe and the others finally left with the packet of seeds given by Zhao Xin, and they finally had an explanation for the casino owners and the masterminds behind them.
In any case, according to Prince Zhao's description, oil palm is definitely a big business, and as long as the tree remains, it can be sold for a hundred years. This is much more cost-effective than opening a casino.
