Chapter 134 New Inspection (1)
Because we had to raise seedlings and carry the seedlings before crossing, due to such objective conditions, the final rice planting area during the spring planting in the first half of the year was only about 200 acres, and the other hundreds of acres of cultivated land were used to grow corn. , soybeans, potatoes and other miscellaneous grain crops and economic crops. Although the Ministry of Agriculture is very confident in the yield of these two hundred acres of rice fields from later generations of fine rice seeds, in view of the rapidly growing population within the jurisdiction of the Chuanhuan Group, it is imperative to further expand the scale of grain planting.
During the period after the establishment of the farm commune, the commune organized workers to reclaim more than 500 acres of arable land on the east bank between the Tiandu River mouth and the No. 2 base, and planned to use most of it to grow rice. The Ledong Miao Village area further inland has begun to gradually accept the arrangements of the Crossing Group and plant some cash crops, such as spices, oil palm, sugar cane, etc.
After the last expedition team returned from the Gulf of Tonkin, they proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture that they could consider digging up guano phosphate rock on nearby islands to use as farmland fertilizer. This proposal was quickly approved by the Executive Committee and the Ministry of Shipping was instructed to cooperate. Therefore, the sailboats recently trained by the Ministry of Maritime Transport have another task, which is to take turns digging for guano on the east and west hawksbill turtle islands in Sanya Bay.
On this day, Yue Zhiyun brought the training ship to Dongbihui Island and docked. As usual, he asked more than 20 farm commune workers on board to go to the island to dig for a few hours. When he saw that almost two to three thousand kilograms of guano phosphate rock had been loaded onto the ship, Yue Zhiyun ordered to call it a day and go home. On the way back, Yue Zhiyun observed through the telescope that a Haicang ship was slowly approaching from the west sea.
Yue Zhiyun looked at the navy flag hanging on the boat and knew that it was "an old friend of the Haihan people". General Luo Shengdong from Daming Yazhou Water Village came to visit again, and he immediately used the flag on the boat to The radio notified Victory Port of the news, while preparing to order the sails to be lowered and slowed down, waiting for the other party to approach.
However, the reply from Shengli Port was somewhat beyond Yue Zhiyun's expectations, asking him to take the ship back to Shengli Port as soon as possible without any contact with the other party. Although Yue Zhiyun had some doubts in his heart, he still did as he was told. He quickly ordered the sails to be raised, took the helm himself, and took the ship back to the Port of Victory. When getting off the boat, Yue Zhiyun found that Tao Donglai, Yan Chujie, Ning Qi, and Schneider were all on the dock. Such a formation was obviously not waiting to greet him, so he quickly asked: "Is something going wrong? The Ming army is coming again. Attack us? Probably not. I only saw one Haicang ship and no navy fleet appeared.”
"Of course the navy will not come to attack us. Even if it comes, Luo Shengdong will definitely find a way to communicate with us first." Tao Donglai patted Yue Zhiyun on the shoulder and comforted: "The Cliff Station Office has sent a message. , Yazhou Prefectural Government couldn’t sit still and sent someone to take over the local government affairs and taxation here.”
Yue Zhiyun sneered and said: "This is a good plan, but I don't know who will take over who in the future!"
Tao Donglai also smiled and said: "Let's take a look at the situation first. If you are knowledgeable and knowledgeable, then it doesn't matter if we have a few more mouths. If it is an ignorant guy, we have plenty of ways to deal with him when he gets here."
Regarding the news that Yazhou intends to station inspection departments and tax collectors in Shengli Port, it was reported to the Executive Committee when He Xi came back last time. Yazhou is seeing that Victory Port is gradually gaining popularity, and it is reasonable to want to bring this place back under its control. However, the executive committee is not a Ming Dynasty maritime merchant, and has no fear of the Ming Dynasty's laws. , Tao Donglai had already expressed the attitude of the executive committee to He Xi at that time, but I don’t know if he had successfully conveyed this meaning to Yazhou officials.
Wei Ping stood at the bow of the boat. The sea breeze blowing in front of him had a fishy smell, which made his nose a little uncomfortable. However, he still tried to look high-spirited and looked at the distant sea that had appeared on the sea level. Deer's antlers. Mr. Luo Ba from Yazhou Water Village was nearby, and Wei Ping didn't want to lose face in front of him. Before coming out this time, his brother-in-law had specially said hello to him and told him to do a good job, to fight for Yazhou Yamen's side and not to let all the limelight go. He was snatched away by the gangsters in the water village.
Wei Ping was the inspector of the Tianya Inspection Department before, and was promoted to the ninth rank. He was promoted to this position by his brother-in-law, who was also a fellow magistrate of Yazhou. Although it is only a small inspection department, it has already entered the official stream. At least it is a head higher than those mediocre petty officials. You must know that many petty officials have worked in the yamen for their whole life and are unable to cross that level in the end. Wei Ping was extremely lucky to have become a patrol inspector at such a young age.
But Wei Ping himself didn't think so. There were only seven or eight hundred residents in Tianya Town, and the floating population was even less. There was no money to be made in the Inspection Department. Three months after taking office, Wei Ping only went there for a few days at the beginning, and then he simply gave up his job. Whoever cares, I went back to Yazhou to rest. Of course, the Inspection Department is not all such a dry and boring job. For example, the situation in the Nanshan Inspection Department is much better. Wei Ping once heard someone talk about it when he was drinking with his colleagues. The inspection department there rarely earns extra money for a month. It's also eight to ten taels of silver. It's not uncommon to get twenty taels a month in good times. Wei Ping was very angry about this and told his brother-in-law about it. He was doing the same job. How could someone else earn my uncle's annual income in two or three months? It's better to kick that inspection and let me do it.
Wei Ping thought that his request was reasonable, but he was rejected by his brother-in-law without hesitation - it would be fine if it were somewhere else, but the current head of the Nanshan Inspection Department is the cousin of General Gong Qi of Jinyiwei. Even if it was possible to move it, Wei Ping's brother-in-law didn't want to risk offending Jin Yiwei by trying.
Although he failed to win the job at Nanshan Inspection Department, Tongzhi's brother-in-law quickly found Wei Ping a new and lucrative job. Lord Zhizhou planned to re-establish the Yulin Inspection Department. This candidate must be selected from the existing "local talent pool", and Wei Ping, who "has always performed well", grabbed this position on the recommendation of Tongzhi's brother-in-law.
In fact, the Yulin Inspection Department was established as early as the early Ming Dynasty. However, due to rampant piracy activities in recent decades and the strength of the local garrison, which has been declining year by year, it existed in name only during the Wanli Period. By the time the Crossing Group landed in Victory Port, there was only a small group of soldiers stationed in Yulin, and they ran away as soon as they saw a large-scale unfamiliar force landing, which was of no use at all.
However, in recent times, the appearance of Haihan people in Yulin has gradually attracted the attention of Yazhou officials. First, there were reports from Yazhou Water Village, and there were "overseas righteous merchants" in Yulin to help navy officers and soldiers exterminate pirates, and then there began to be Haihan people. Merchants settled in Yazhou City and began to sell some exquisite glass products in Yazhou. If they were just a group of merchants trafficking in marine goods, they would naturally not be so eye-catching, but these Haihan people then began to introduce a large number of people from Yazhou, whether they were prisoners or civilians, they all accepted them without fail.
After Dashuizhai brought in Chief Luo Shengdong and allowed the Haihan people to introduce a large number of Yazhou prisoners, Yazhou officials discovered that in addition to solving the local financial problems caused by the excessive number of prisoners for a long time, Yazhou officials also found that they could calculate the number of prisoners on a per capita basis. The "labor rebate" was available, and from then on, he began to have an eye on the Haihan people in Victory Port.
According to feedback from various channels, the Haihan people have established a port in Yulin and taken root. At the same time, they have hired a large number of local people to work for them and reclaim farmland. They have also renamed the harbor in Yulin as "Victory Port". . Yazhou officials believed that they had to intervene in Yulin's affairs, both public and private, so they decided to re-establish the Yulin Inspection Department, send a security team and several tax collectors, and re-incorporate that area under Yazhou's rule.
Although Wei Ping is a gangster who is neither high nor low, he still has a basic vision. When he received this job, it was not the first time he knew about the existence of the Haihan people. In fact, the Haihan people have long been famous in Yazhou for their wealth. They purchase various goods in large quantities, which often leads to large price fluctuations in local coal prices, cloth prices and other daily necessities. Some products that are not in large supply in the market are even directly purchased by the Haihan people. Out of stock; a large number of local laborers are hired to work in "Victory Port", and each time a batch of hundreds of people is shipped, it is really hard to imagine what kind of profitable business there can be, and it requires so many hired workers; and " Those Haihan people who were stationed in the Cliff Office spent their whole day making friends with local dignitaries and spending money like water. Wei Ping saw in his brother-in-law's study that the Haihan people entrusted a set of exquisite clothes sent by his brother-in-law's staff. Glass stationery, it is said that the same thing can be sold for more than 20 taels of silver at "Anfuxing" and "Furuifeng" in the city. It is difficult for people to even muster up the courage to refuse such a gift.
All these signs indicate that the Haihan people are a very wealthy group, and the Victory Port where the Haihan people settled should also be a place full of oil and water. Wei Ping believes that his ability to make money should be no worse than his colleagues in the Nanshan Inspection Department. They can make one or twenty taels of silver a month in a place like Nanshan. How can I still make money in a place like Shengli Port? Don’t you want to make a lot of money? Looking at the generosity of the Haihan people in giving gifts and showing favors, no matter how bad I try, I should still be able to easily make one or two hundred taels of silver a year.
When Wei Ping was chatting with Luo Shengdong on the boat, he picked up some of his thoughts and wanted to hear what the naval commander, who was said to be very familiar with the Haihan people, had to say. Unexpectedly, Luo Shengdong just smiled and looked at him with contempt and said: "One or two hundred taels of silver? Brother, you are like a bear falling into a honey pot. You are in the midst of blessings and you don't know how to be blessed!"
(End of chapter)