Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

The scattered stars in the sky have already gone south, and the night is like water.

Keelung City, which has been noisy all day, has become quiet. Only the lights on the streets and the soldiers and patrolmen who are still loyal to their duties and play the role of defenders for the city.

In the courtyard, the huge leaves of several banana trees in the corner of the wall rustled in the breeze, acting as the best lullaby.

In several rooms, there were snoring and dreaming sounds that were either high-pitched, low-pitched, or subtle.

However, Zheng Zhilong in Room No. 1 couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for several times, he felt that the room was a bit stuffy, so he simply put on his clothes and got up to cool off in the courtyard.

"Brother!"

In the shadow of the Qingshan tree, one of Zheng Zhilong's personal guards also couldn't sleep at night.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong coming over, he hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Zheng Zhilong was startled by this sudden call and turned his head subconsciously.

"Second brother? Why are you here?"

This guard was none other than Zheng Zhilong's second brother Zheng Zhifeng.

Seeing his second brother sneaking up on him, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but get angry: "I didn't ask you to stay in Xiamen, who asked you to come here!"

"Brother, the three of us brothers have lived and died together for so many years. Now that the third brother has been arrested, how can I, the second brother, not come? No matter what kind of dragon's den and tiger's lair this Keelung is, the three of us brothers will definitely make it through!"

Seeing his eldest brother angry, Zheng Zhifeng hurriedly made his own remarks.

At this point, Zheng Zhilong couldn't pursue the matter. He just cursed a few words and then asked: "You saw what happened today."

Zheng Zhifeng smiled bitterly and nodded helplessly.

In Fengtai Building, I heard from the craftsmen that Qin Hao's system of purchasing surplus grain from farmers was that the Keelung Army adopted a system of purchasing at three times the market price to ensure the interests of farmers. Although a large part of the payment was made with industrial coupons, in the eyes of Zheng Zhilong's original sea merchants, these industrial coupons were just like the salt permits that Jiangnan salt merchants exchanged for grain.

They were securities!

Ordinary people could use these industrial coupons to buy all kinds of materials they needed at the "Qin and Han Merchants".

This invisibly created millions of funds circulating in the market, providing strong purchasing power for the factories in the hands of the Keelung Army.

Through the policy of subsidizing agriculture, a market was created for industrial products.

Instead of using salt, a necessity for the national economy and people's livelihood, to exchange for all kinds of materials such as grain, cloth, and horses needed for border defense, as did the Ming Dynasty.

This method of drinking poison to quench thirst was left far behind by the current method adopted by Keelung!

However, Qin Hao's method was also obtained after hundreds of years of countless government experience and lessons.

The government purchases grain from farmers at high prices and sells it at low prices in the market, thereby achieving the goal of stabilizing the market, stabilizing society, stabilizing agriculture and rural areas, and providing and manufacturing industrial product markets.

And for decades after the founding of the Celestial Empire, this policy of high-price imports and low-price exports has been implemented. The state is responsible for stabilizing grain prices and rural areas.

This approach is something that merchants more than 300 years ago could not figure out even if they racked their brains.

They instinctively felt that this was definitely not an idiotic approach of throwing money on the street, but it was definitely not the so-called benevolent policy. The mystery in it.

I'm afraid it's a shocking secret.

"Zheng Zhifeng, what do you think of the appearance and quality of this coin?"

Zheng Zhilong handed over a Keelung silver dollar that was warm in his hand.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhifeng smiled bitterly and opened his palm, which was a copper coin of Keelung.

"Hey! Second brother! Great minds think alike!"

These silver dollars and copper coins are no less than the silver ingots of Hongwu and the Yongle Tongbao issued in the first year of Yongle in terms of silver material, appearance, texture, and even weight.

They are a hundred times more powerful than the various horse racing copper coins and privately cast sand shell coins currently circulating in the mainland.

The two coins were placed side by side on the stone bench. With the help of the lights outside the wall and the moonlight above their heads, the two carefully observed the two silver coins of different specifications.

One was the change from Fengtai Building, and the other was the change from Zheng Zhifeng buying various popular stories and books in Keelung City on the street.

The two silver coins from different channels had the same clear inscriptions and patterns on them. They weighed them in their hands. Except for the different weights and colors, the other patterns and styles were the same.

"Our Zheng family also used to open a furnace to cast coins. I have also visited the mint of the Jiangnan government. I have thought about it for a long time, but I can't figure out how such neat and beautiful silver coins were cast in large quantities?" Zheng Zhifeng could clearly see the loneliness on Zheng Zhilong's face through the sparse shadows of the leaves. It's no wonder. Compared with the Western silver coins that the original sea merchants have seen, the Keelung silver dollar is obviously much more exquisitely made than the Western silver coins. I really don't know how it was cast. The front is the Chinese character "One Yuan" in capital letters, and the back is a chrysanthemum with clear petals. Then the chrysanthemum is written with Keelung Mint on it, and the words "cast in a certain year" are written below. Zheng Zhilong really can't figure out how such exquisite, beautiful and uniform silver coins were cast. The Keelung silver dollar is not only beautiful in appearance, but also has excellent quality, far better than the full-color silver of the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty. Even the fine-grained silver of the inner treasury is not as good as this silver coin. "Brother, what you said makes perfect sense. However, today I was chatting with a waiter at this inn and I accidentally saw something!"

Although Zheng Zhifeng's words were not loud, they were like a thunderclap on Zheng Zhilong's head!

He looked around alertly, but there was no one else in the yard except for the rustle of the leaves in the night wind.

He grabbed Zheng Zhifeng's hand and said urgently: "Speak quickly! What do you know?!"

"After I came back, I couldn't figure out why we could eat beef, pork, fish, chicken, etc. so cheaply, so I talked to the guys at the inn, and they told me the key to this."

According to the guys, fish and shrimp are aquatic products. In addition to the fact that Keelung is close to the ocean, there are countless fishing boats fishing day and night. There are also methods of raising fish and ducks in rice fields that are used by farmers.

"In addition to raising fish and ducks, we also take advantage of the weather and practice intercropping. Plant rapeseed first, and after harvesting, the rapeseed is used to extract oil. The rest is used to fertilize the fields. Almost every acre of field can harvest at least a hundred kilograms per year. Vegetable oil! This is why you can see so many oil baskets and dishes that use oil as water!”

"this?"

Zheng Zhilong was a little disappointed. He originally thought that Zheng Zhifeng had gotten some earth-shattering secrets out of the mouths of the inn clerks, but it turned out to be just how to farm fish and extract oil in Keelung!

This method cannot be said to be useless, but it cannot be realized in the mainland where wars are everywhere and there are refugees from famine.

Not to mention the north, the Huguang area is known as the most famous place in the world. Nowadays, there are also all kinds of refugees and bandits coming and going.

The gentry clans from all over the country formed villages to protect themselves. What I think about every day is how to survive in this troubled world. How can I think about raising fish in rice fields?

"In addition to farmers raising fish, cattle, and pigs, Keelung is also known as a professional farmer. They do not farm. They only raise chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, fish, etc., and many of them raise hundreds of pigs and cows. , even thousands of people.

Above this generation, there are also breeding farms run by major government or businessmen, and the breeding scale is several times that of professional breeders! Does Zheng Zhilong know what is the magic weapon in the hands of these people who raise pigs, cattle, fish and chickens? "

"What is it? Can they spread the beans and make an army?" Zheng Zhilong laughed, feeling a little sleepy, but out of habit, he still suppressed his sleepiness and planned to listen to what Zheng Zhifeng had to say.

"Although you can't spread beans to make soldiers, you can still make livestock, fish, chickens and ducks grow faster, stronger, and fatter!"

Zheng Zhifeng stood up and left. When she was young, she retrieved something from her room and handed it to Zheng Zhilong.

"Brother, please take a look, this is what I'm talking about."

Zheng Zhilong was full of suspicion, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.

He carefully looked at the plant in his hand, which was nearly a person tall.

"What is this?"

Look at this plant, which is as tall as a person, with lush stems and leaves and a crunchy texture. There is still a slight sweetness coming out from a few fractures.

"This thing is called corn grass here. It is the same word as the corn used in the noodles we eat today. But it is not the same as that corn. This thing is good food for livestock!"

After showing off his knowledge for a while, Zheng Zhifeng paused and continued to explain the information he had obtained to Zheng Zhilong.

"Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, fish, chickens, ducks, and geese all like to eat this thing. It also has strong regeneration ability and can be cut as many as seven or eight times a year! Each acre of grassland can produce tens of thousands of kilograms of stems and leaves! And it doesn't last long. You can plant it anywhere in the field, in front of or behind your house, or in saline-alkali land! You can chop it into small pieces and throw it into the pond to feed the fish!”

“Each acre of land can produce tens of thousands of catties?”

This number really shocked Zheng Zhilong!

Even if he has been on the sea, he is not completely ignorant of things on the grassland. He has probably heard about the amount of grass produced. An acre of good grassland only weighs a few hundred or more than a thousand kilograms.

This kind of grassland is enough to cause wars between tribes. Wasn't it because of this little grass that the Mongolian noble Yehenala, who was domineering on the grassland for a while, was wiped out?

"Where did you get this?"

Zheng Zhilong held the corn straw tightly, his voice was slightly distorted, and he shouted to Zheng Zhifeng in a low voice.

"According to the guy, Qin Hao asked a certain Western general in the navy to bring it back half a year ago. It is said that it was produced overseas tens of thousands of miles away from here.

What a good thing!

Sow the seeds and take care of them if you want to; if not, just let them grow on their own. Thirty-five days after germination, they can be harvested when they grow to about two feet. Each plant can be harvested seven or eight times a year. Approximately all year round.

Within half a year. This corn grass was promoted to various places in Keelung by Qin Hao, so. Only Keelung has such cheap meat! "

"The innkeeper also said that outside the city, the innkeeper also planted some corn grass and raised some cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese. Almost every acre of fresh grass can feed about fifty sheep, or chickens. Five hundred ducks and horses."

With a "bang", Zheng Zhilong grabbed Zheng Zhifeng's wrist and said, "Second brother, don't talk anymore!"

He stood up, feeling sleepy and had long since left him in Java!

The excited Zheng Zhilong kept pacing in the yard.

One acre of land can feed fifty sheep, so there is no problem in feeding a few horses!

There was plenty of free land in Liaodong, and the Ming Dynasty's frontier army relied on cavalry and cavalry as its main combat forces. If you can get the corn grass seeds and planting methods, you can resell them to the court.

Ha ha! Oh my God! This grass is no longer grass, every blade of grass is a gold bar!

Wouldn't it be easy to get promoted and make a fortune then?

"Sea salt! Silver dollars! Corngrass!"

He kept repeating these three words in his mouth over and over again.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong only thought that Keelung was as worthy of praise as Haiyan, but now it seems that he has underestimated others.

Qin Hao! This person is not simple!

Zheng Zhilong squinted his eyes, his deep pupils emitting a strange light.

"Even if I spend all the money I brought, I still have to get these three things! At least I have to get two of them!"

Slowly stopping his fast running pace, Zheng Zhilong made up his mind and turned around to see Zheng Zhifeng still standing aside.

"Zhifeng, do you think we should go against this person?" After observing these days, Zheng Zhilong began to retreat.

Putting aside whether he can win the fight or not, his third brother is in someone else's hands. If someone kills his third brother to sacrifice the flag, this is something he will never accept.

Zheng Zhifeng saw the concerns in her eldest brother's heart, and after thinking for a moment, she said: "Brother, we are originally merchants. We do a lot of maritime trade. If we have a good relationship with this place, wouldn't it be a huge gain? Furthermore, if we continue to help Jiangnan, A group of salt merchants are fighting, and even if they win in the end, they can still get a piece of our pie. "

The salt merchants in Jiangnan, headed by the Donglin Party, were either a family business that was passed down from generation to generation, or a master-disciple, teacher-student relationship that was passed down from generation to generation. It would be difficult for others to interfere, and they would not be able to eat well.

Zheng Zhilong thought about it for a moment and felt that it made sense. With the support of his second brother, the depression in his heart also disappeared: "Okay! Then we will only focus on business, and we will not care about other things. Let them deal with the Jiangnan salt merchants themselves." Go deal with it, I can’t solve it anyway.”

"Best brother!"

The next day, Zheng Zhilong was holding a large bowl of mutton rice noodles, which were bright red and full of chili peppers. He happily poured a spoonful of vinegar on the rice noodles, and Xili started eating them happily.

After a few mouthfuls of rice noodles, he turned around to face the guards standing in the yard.

"Today I have an errand for you. After you go out, no matter what you see or hear, whether it is a system or a story! As long as you think this matter is interesting, write it down in a document when you come back, and write down your opinions in above!"

Zheng Zhilong wanted to collect these for no other reason. He just wanted to know how many mysteries there were in Keelung City so that he could add them up after he went back. We in Xiamen City would do the same thing.

After the guards left, Zheng Zhilong turned to look at Zheng Zhifeng, who was tasting preserved egg and lean meat porridge, and said: "Second brother, I have to see Qin Hao today under no circumstances. This is a death order!"

Seeing the solemn look on her eldest brother's face, Zheng Zhifeng knew that this was serious business. She put down the smooth and lung-moistening porridge in the big blue and white bowl and went out with a look of despair.

The same goes for Qin Hao. They have been here for several days and haven't met him yet. They have already prepared all the money and there is really no place to spend it except eating. No wonder the eldest brother is anxious!

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