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

Just when the south of the Yangtze River was prosperous, Qin Hao, who was far away in Keelung, encountered something difficult.

A team officer from the Sunchon Battalion took advantage of the day off to take a boat back to his hometown without reporting anything. Only when the army called his name did he discover such a deserter.

"Bai Suisheng's case is not easy to handle!"

In the main hall of the Keelung General's Mansion, several senior figures from the Keelung Army, with Qin Hao as the chief, sat down one after another, flipping through the sweet potatoes, potatoes and other crops that had just been transported from the mountainous area, drinking tea and dipping them in the food, while discussing Focus on the situation of deserter Bai Suisheng.

What he said is actually simple.

It is a common problem among Chinese people that wealth and honor do not return to their hometown, but travel at night like fine clothes.

Generally speaking, people who work, study, and work hard outside, once they get rich, want to go home and show off. When they return to their hometown, they always have to look successful and promising, otherwise they will be considered to have "left their hometown." It’s expensive, but it’s cheap when people leave their hometown” is the best example.

What's more, Bai Suisheng was one of the first to join the army, and he was there when Qin Hao wiped out the bandits.

They were among the first batch of people to enjoy Qin Hao’s various preferential policies. After several years of hard work and operation, they already have dozens of acres of paddy fields and nearly a hundred acres of mountain forests in Keelung and Hsinchu, and several hundred acres of forest in their warehouses. Stones of rice, as well as dozens of jars of vegetable oil, meat oil, and fruit wine. Hundreds of kilograms of bacon and dried fish were hung on the beams. Cows were tied up in the stalls and pigs were fed. They were dressed in fine cotton and had waistbands. He often has hundreds of taels of silver, and he has everything he needs, making him look like a rich man.

With this situation in mind, Bai Suisheng had the idea of ​​returning to his hometown to build an ancestral hall and continue his family tree.

This is understandable. The key point is that this kid did not report the incident and went home privately. This is the most intolerable thing for Keelung officials.

In wartime, he would definitely be beheaded; in ordinary circumstances, he would inevitably be demoted and flogged.

Logically speaking, this is not a difficult matter to solve. The problem lies in the fact that after Bai Suisheng came back, he actually sued the county magistrate of his hometown to the Keelung Yamen.

How the officials in Keelung could control the officials in the Ming Dynasty was a puzzle for Qin Hao and others.

I wanted to appease and expose it, but Bai Suisheng's experience spread more and more widely in the army. Many soldiers demanded that those vicious county magistrates be severely punished. They would also go home to worship their ancestors in the future, and they did not want such a scandal. Happened to oneself.

It's interesting to say that Bai Suisheng had just returned to his hometown in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, and troubles ensued.

As soon as he returned to his hometown, officials at all levels, from the district security department to Quanzhou County, whether qualified or not, and low-ranking officials came one after another like hyenas after smelling the smell of carrion. The slogans were exactly the same, and the fugitives must be severely punished. .

Facing the iron chains and iron rulers in the hands of the land security guards and government officials, Bai Suisheng had no choice but to sacrifice the most reluctant but most appropriate magic weapon, stuffing money.

The local security guard came to ask for favors and stuffed him with three taels of silver and half a piece of Hsinchu cotton cloth.

Several old masters in the yamen each sent twenty taels of polished pens, begging the old master to write transcendental works.

The two masters, Dian Shi and the county magistrate, each asked the old master to present a hundred taels of summer ice as a tribute.

The magistrate of the county gave him two hundred taels of silver to polish his pen. In return, he inscribed a plaque for the Bai family ancestral hall with a stroke of his pen.

Whatever should come should not come, Bai Suisheng gave him a gift. After calculating all the messy expenses, Bai Suisheng realized that the foundation he had built through his hard work and life-and-death efforts over the past two years was probably not enough to fill the blood bowls of these officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Just now, he was about to flee back to Keelung on the grounds that he did not have enough money and food to build the ancestral temple. Unexpectedly, the gangsters from the countryside also came to help, vowing to take a bite.

"Little brother of the Bai family, you don't have money to build the ancestral hall? It doesn't matter, we will lend it to you. What do you think of the interest for eight out of ten and fifteen returns? As for the mortgage, considering our relationship, I will use your Bai family's ancestral hall as a loan. Mortgage it!" The gangsters said so smoothly.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Bai Suisheng was afraid that if he didn't leave, he would lose his life in his hometown. He endured the humiliation and pain, and used the excuse of discussing with the family members, old and young, to borrow money as a delaying tactic, and bought himself a few days.

In the past few days, he fled his hometown in Fujian overnight with several members of the clan who wanted to come to Keelung to work hard.

When I arrived in Keelung, I took stock of the money and food spent on this trip. It turned out that the money and food spent in just a few months was around a thousand taels. There is still a lot of money, but the miscellaneous expenses are even greater.

After thinking about it, Bai Suisheng felt that he could not swallow this bad breath no matter what, so he boldly went to the general's house to file a complaint. He would be punished anyway, and he would have to kill those blood-sucking insects.

His idea is also extremely simple. I pay taxes on time every year. Every time I do a business, I pay a lot of taxes. Now that I am being bullied and blackmailed, the General's Office will make the decision for me. .

"The reason why this case is difficult to handle is that there are too many corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty, and they are rampant in the countryside. They can be found almost everywhere. Those who go back to visit relatives will have to shed their skin even if they die. Bai Suisheng is like this Things are not rare.

If it is a matter within our jurisdiction, it will naturally be easy to handle. Just send these officials to the law enforcement department and handle it according to the law. However, Fujian's officialdom is not in conflict with us. If I want to pursue it in detail, I'm afraid I'll get burned. "Zhuge Xuan explained his opinions on this case while sipping tea.

"I think this is an opportunity." Qin Hao took a bite of the roasted and bloomed potatoes. He sighed, mumbling his own opinions vaguely.

"Firstly, it can make the soldiers and civilians under our command clearly understand the big gap between the officials of the Ming Dynasty and our officials, thereby enhancing their loyalty and sense of identity. Secondly, it is also an opportunity for us to attack Fujian!"

"Crack!" The blue and white porcelain teacup in Zhuge Xuan's hand fell to the ground.

"Lord, think again. Now that Japan needs troops everywhere, it is really impossible to mobilize additional troops."

"Some things don't necessarily require the use of swords or guns."

Qin Hao happily took a bite of the sweet potato in his hand and sneered.

"Isn't Fujian Zheng Zhilong's territory? Send him a letter and tell him what happened today and let him take care of it."

Since the armistice between the two families, Zheng Zhilong's merchant ships have been traveling between Keelung and Nanyang, carrying pig iron, grain, salt, cotton cloth and various local products. He has made an unknown amount of money in the past six months, and has long made up for the original ransom. , now that Qin Hao asked him to handle a small county magistrate, he was naturally not afraid that he would not do it.

"Hello, my lord!" Zhuge Xuan then thought about it and it seemed to be the same thing. Zheng Zhilong had eaten so much of his own food, it was time to respond.

"By the way, not long ago, during the mourning period of Emperor Daxing Tianqi, Zuo Guozhu wrote a letter back from Jiangnan. The letter asked us to prepare rice and pig iron as soon as possible to help his father-in-law continue to stay in Jiangnan. I think it is profitable. , then he agreed, do you think there is anything wrong with this?" Qin Hao asked leisurely as he looked at the people sitting down.

Although he had already decided, the specific details still needed to be discussed with a few people. What he was worried about was that someone with intentions would find out and ruin their financial path in Jiangnan.

Although the Donglin Party is not a monolith, there are many among them who covet the salt road, and they cannot afford to lose control at this juncture.

Compared to Zhuge Xuan's deep contemplation, Li Chun, who was eating sweet potatoes enthusiastically, was the first to speak, "Master, in my opinion, this must be done." As he spoke, he pinched a piece of sweet potato and put it in his mouth to chew. Then he continued, "Well done, Lord!"

Qin Hao immediately rolled his eyes, "Can I not know the benefits? I want you to repeat it here. Li Chun's flattery this time hit Qin Hao's legs."

So Qin Hao turned his attention to the generals on the side, including Han Xian, Zhao Chang, Chen Hu, Li Yi, and Zhang Hu. They all lowered their heads and ate sweet potatoes in silence.

Qin Hao shook his head helplessly. It seemed that he couldn't count on these generals who only knew how to kill and swindle!

"Lord, please give this to me." Zhuge Xuan, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, making Qin Hao wait for a long time.

"How do you want to deal with it?" Qin Hao asked curiously.

This matter is not difficult. The key is how to coordinate and prevent those who are interested from making trouble. This is the most important thing.

"Lord, wasn't there a Fujian bureaucrat in front just now? We can open up the route here. Use Fujian as our dumping place for food and iron, and then transition to Jiangnan. In this way, no one will notice, and it will be difficult for anyone to find out. Even if someone notices it, it started in Fujian and will not be traced to Jiangnan for a short time. "

"Okay!" Hearing this, Qin Hao was overjoyed, "Hit the east and attack the west. Even if it is found out by then, the Jiangnan officialdom has been settled and the deal is done. I want to see if the Donglin Party will risk the consequences of splitting and cause trouble in the Ming Dynasty officialdom. Noisy."

However, such a thing is unlikely to happen. Now the Donglin Party has just won Chongzhen's trust. If there are any cases of greed for money, corruption, or attacking colleagues, he will have to go back to his hometown to retire.

"At the same time, we have another advantage by using this strategy. Fujian and Jiangxi provinces are narrow and densely populated, and there are not many grain-producing areas. But in Keelung, we have plenty of fertile farmland, which can attract people with little land. I am cultivating wasteland in Keelung to increase my population and land.”

"Okay! Zhuge Xuan is right about recruiting refugees to reclaim wasteland." Qin Hao couldn't help but praise.

Once a large amount of rice enters these provinces that are short of land and food, it will inevitably cause an uproar. When the Keelung policy is promoted behind the scenes, people who go to sea will definitely be agitated.

"I just did some calculations. At present, we have 13 million acres and 526 acres of paddy fields cultivated all year round in Keelung, Hsinchu, Ryukyu, Kobe and other places. Mountain forests, dry fields, and reservoirs are not included here. The registered population There are more than 2 million people. If we include laborers, official slaves, etc. who work in various places, we will add at least 500,000 people.

There are about eight million tons of rice harvested every year. According to the principle proposed by the Lord to eat three meals a day, in addition to the surplus grain retained by the farmers themselves, road construction, mining, textiles, the army, docks, etc. Shipyards and other places also consume a lot of food.

After deducting the above items, there are at least nearly 5 million tons of rice accumulated in various official warehouses over the years, which is enough for five million people for one year. Moreover, the summer grain will be arriving in the warehouse soon. These grains can be dumped in batches in Fujian and secretly sent to Jiangnan. As for the iron materials, this is done according to the law and will not cause trouble. "

The numbers in Zhuge Xuan's mind were endless, and a series of numbers were reported, which immediately made everyone present smile.

"In addition, there is salt! The salt market in Jiangnan has basically opened. We can continue to expand outwards and take advantage of the convenience of food." Qin Hao added next to him.

"By the way, we still need to discuss, at what price should we sell rice to Fujian, Jiangxi, Jiangnan and other places?"

In the past, grain sales were carried out in Jiangnan, but it was a kind of financial aid with the meaning of transferring profits. Each stone of rice was only three yuan. Since the amount was small, it was basically a free gift. Excluding the freight, it made no money at all. It was given to the Jinling government. Used to support the scene.

Nowadays, grain is sold in large sums, so it is naturally different.

What is the market for rice in Fujian today? Not to mention, even when Emperor Wanli was alive, the price of rice ranged from seven cents to one liang and one stone. In the past few years, there have been floods, droughts, locusts, hail and winds everywhere. Food production in various places has been reduced, and the price of rice has also skyrocketed. .

"In the past, we sold it for five yuan per stone, but now it costs at least two to three yuan more than that!" Li Chun ate sweet potatoes and said whatever came to his mind. "The year before last, during the sixth year of Tianqi, the price of rice in the capital reached as much as two taels per stone!"

"No! If what we sell is too expensive, which is the same as the local rice price, who will be willing to buy it?" Zhuge Xuan reprimanded in a serious tone.

"In the past, three coins of silver per stone referred to the price of shipment, and the freight was included in it. Now we remove the freight item, and the FOB price of rice per stone in Keelung is five coins of silver and one stone. If you don't have a ship yourself, For transportation, we have to add freight on this basis.”

Several people silently calculated in their minds. If calculated according to this standard, each stone of rice would cost at most one yuan. Compared with the crazy rice prices in the mainland, it still has great advantages and competitiveness.

"In addition, the general's office will discuss and come up with a charter. The low price of grain hurts farmers, and subsidies will be provided to farmers who sell grain. For example, with a grain sales certificate and Keelung household registration, you can buy various wrought iron, Light steel agricultural tools, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.”

Several people's eyes immediately lit up with joy after hearing this. In this way, the products of Qinhan merchants, steel mills, etc. have found buyers, and farmers everywhere can cultivate more grain fields with pure iron farm tools. Even if it doesn't work to harvest more grain, a unit area of ​​land will require much less labor, and a lot of people can be freed up to be used elsewhere.

If this policy continues to be implemented, it will be another period of rapid development. Zhuge Xuan and others can't help but fall into fantasizing about better prospects in the future.

"Now, in order to accomplish this goal, everyone divides the work into one task. Calculate our transportation capacity and the storage capacity of various port terminals and warehouses, and order the Qin and Han merchants to organize a planned and step-by-step acquisition of grain storage in various places. The target is mainly rice that is two to three years old. Order the steel factory to quickly manufacture a batch of water mill accessories to turn rice into rice. It is not enough to rely on the original stone water mill!"

"Only by implementing these tasks can we carry out targeted sales activities for rice, oil, salt, ironware, and cloth in Fujian! At the same time, the navy must protect us and not let our merchant ships have problems at sea. "

"No!" The civil and military officials all bowed down.

Following Qin Hao's instructions, various departments became busy nervously.

The Jiangjunfu Hufang has come up with incentives for farmers to sell surplus grain, which clearly stipulates that every time a certain amount of surplus grain is sold, farmers will receive incentives to purchase iron farm tools and light steel farm tools at a reward price.

If you don’t want to buy and use farm tools, then you will also have a variety of industrial products for you to choose from: beautifully printed and dyed fabrics, and chemical fertilizers needed for farming are enough to make you excited.

People in the steel mills used wrought iron and light steel to make metal components for water mills used in rice mills. Not only did the rice milling speed increase a lot, the rice milled out was whiter, more refined, and very beautiful.

Secondly, the most developed areas are the salt fields and sugar pressing workshops, which are also under construction in full swing. Batch after batch of snowflake salt and sugar, as white as snow, are loaded into a very tightly closed container according to the standard of one hundred kilograms per barrel. into wooden barrels, loaded into merchant ships, and prepared to be shipped to the Jiangnan area for sale.

In May of the first year of Chongzhen, amid the crisp sounds of celebratory firecrackers and gongs and drums, more than a dozen merchant ships left the dock, loaded with rice, ironware, cotton cloth, sugar, salt and other items, heading for Fujian and Jiangnan.

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