Chapter 165: Calculation from across the sky
Since Chuan Chuan Group settled in Shengli Port, Yazhou has communicated several times through different channels, hoping to bring the land here under the government's control. As for the sign of achieving this kind of rule, Yazhou believes that it should be the settlement of the Inspection Department and the filing of land deeds.
The title deed is actually dispensable in the opinion of the Executive Committee. The land occupied by the Crossing Group cannot be taken away with a piece of paper. However, the Executive Committee considered that the current relationship with Yazhou officials was relatively harmonious, and there was still a lot to borrow from Yazhou in terms of the introduction of population and raw materials, so there was no need to lose face over such a trivial matter. Last time, among the people who came with the inspection department, there were clerks who were checking and registering the fields, so the executive committee easily got all the land deeds.
Of course, the area stated on the land deed registered with the government is more than ten times less than the actual development situation here. The land deed also specifically states that 212 acres of land were cultivated by the Haihan people. All were "fielded", so the grain tax that needed to be paid to the government was cut in half.
However, even if the grain tax was cut again and again, the executive committee had no intention of turning it over to the Yazhou government. Anyway, the clerk in charge of collecting taxes is holding it in his hand now, and when the time comes, he can just tell him to make up any excuse to get through.
As for whether someone will come out to find fault if this is done, the executive committee is not very worried. He Xi's work in Yazhou is very solid. Every temple burns incense on time. If there is any trouble, his news may even be faster and more accurate than Jinyiwei and Dongchang Fanzi - after all, those two spy agencies But without the financial backing of the Executive Committee, one side is using jail time to make people avoid it, and the other side is using a method of bundling interests to entice cooperation. Which one is higher and which is lower can be seen at a glance. The measure of using money to pave the way has obviously achieved quite good results. For example, after the various real estate documents from Victory Port were sent back to Yazhou, they were stamped and approved without even being put on the official desk of the magistrate.
The Executive Committee has already sent instructions to the Cliff Office. If there are still people who want to stir up trouble at this stage, they can just send them to Victory Port. Anyway, they have already picked up a bunch of people from the Inspection Department, so they won’t mind picking up a few more people. .
As for outsiders like Li Nai, Tao Donglai is not afraid of exposing his strength in front of him. After all, the cooperation between the two parties is gradually deepening. If he wants to stabilize this cooperative relationship, it must be based on trust in each other's strength. above. The Executive Committee is very aware that merchants like "Fu Ruifeng" who can open chain stores across several provinces must be extraordinary, but "Fu Ruifeng" may not have been aware of the local importance of the "Haihan Executive Committee" before. Control.
Sure enough, Li Nai had a meaningful expression on his face after listening to Tao Donglai's words. Li Nai is not someone who has seen the world. Quite a few of his gentry friends in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are big landowners, and many of them have thousands or even tens of thousands of acres of land in their families. But he has never seen anyone like him. Tao Donglai spoke so confidently and without any scruples. The most important thing is that the landlord Tao Donglai is not himself, but the "Haihan Executive Committee". When contacted, Tao Donglai said before that "there are no landlords here", Li Nai seems to have understood something. .
In the society of the Ming Dynasty, whether they were ordinary people or royal relatives, they all regarded land as the basis for their livelihood. Although Li Nai didn't understand why these Haihan people wanted to publicize a valuable asset like land, it was obvious that this approach was incompatible with the Ming Dynasty's system. Without the landlords, there would be no gentry class. Without the gentry class, there would be no one to lead the people at the grassroots level. Wouldn’t this society be in chaos?
However, the order on the territory operated by the Haihan people is extremely good. It can be said that it is better than any place Li Nai has ever been to. Everything here runs accurately and rigidly according to the rules specified by the Haihan people, even the pedestrians walking on the road. There are special regulations for details such as whether it should be left or right. The role of the Ming gentry seems to have been replaced by various rules that are invisible and intangible.
As for the Haihan people, Li Nai didn't think they were gentry. If he really wanted to make an analogy, they were more like the government here - building wharves and villages, transporting immigrants to move in, organizing land reclamation, making their own guns and cannons, and forming militia groups. , aren’t these things exactly what the government should do?
Of course, Li Nai would not at all think that the Haihan people had any intention of gathering a crowd to cause trouble or even rebel - how could someone with such an idea sell the fast guns and cannons they made to their rival's businessmen? This is just like the imperial court will not sell pig iron and grain to the Tatars in the north.
Li Nai disagreed with some of the practices of the Haihan people in handling local affairs, but he also admitted that the Haihan people were indeed trustworthy partners. Not only did these people have strong armed strength, but more importantly, they were very particular about rules. Stubborn preferences have even penetrated into all aspects of local life. And a well-behaved partner is even more important than the high profits each transaction can bring.
Seeing that the sky was starting to get dark, Tao Donglai and his party hastily ended their inspection tour of the farm commune and returned to Base No. 1. In fact, the place they were looking at was only the result of the first phase of development by the Ministry of Agriculture. Later, thousands of acres of land were reclaimed along the upper reaches of the Tiandu River. In addition to growing rice and cash crops, they even built a small ranch. , carry out a variety of poultry and livestock breeding.
Li Nai and his party can be said to be the most important visitors to Victory Port since the opening of the port, so the dinner reception they received was also the most solemn. In addition to Tao Donglai and Schneider, Yan Chujie and Ning Qi also attended the event, and the standards were unprecedentedly high. Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that a trade order of more than 10,000 taels of silver was reached on the first day of trade negotiations. The economic strength and sales network of a big tycoon like "Furuifeng" are now crossing The group must rely on.
When these big talkers got together, they must be trying to get more information out of Li Nai's mouth. To this end, Tao Donglai also used his personal reserves and brought out two bottles of Wuliangye. He Qiang originally wanted to help his young master's family to resist, but the few guys had a tacit understanding. They first convinced He Qiang who was in the way, and then slowly started to talk to Li Nai. Although Li Nai is also a person who has traveled around in society, but compared to these guys who were trained in the complex environment of later generations, he still looks a little younger. After a few glasses of wine, what he should say and shouldn't say is gradually forgotten. They got it out. By the time the second bottle of wine was at the bottom, Li Nai had already begun to speak incoherently. Only then did Tao Donglai send someone to send them to the prepared barracks to rest.
As for these old gangsters, they didn't drink much at all from beginning to end. In Yan Chujie's words, "The battle is over before your mouth gets wet." But now they have no intention of continuing to drink. Some information needs to be sorted out before they are forgotten, and then they can discuss how to proceed with subsequent trade negotiations.
From Li Nai's drunken words just now, they gained a lot, one of the most important ones was "Fu Ruifeng"'s plan after purchasing these arms.
Tao Donglai said: "I originally thought they had some channels to sell these arms to the Ming army, but I didn't expect that they planned to resell them directly to Fujian."
"Calculating the time, this year should be the time when Shibazhi and Fujian Deputy General Yu Zigao and Dahai merchant Xu Xinsu are having a lively fight. The demand for arms and weapons should be very large. And according to the trajectory of historical development, next year Zheng Zhilong will Will accept the Ming Dynasty's recruitment, and then the Shibazhi will soon have internal strife, and the chaos on the southeast coast will continue until 1635." Ning Qi also kept his head clear and immediately added the historical background.
"But since we are already here, we may not be able to fight for such a long time." Yan Chujie said with a smirk on his lips: "Our appearance should greatly improve the combat efficiency of this era. With the weapons we make, in history, The naval battle will last for several days, and it may be over in a few hours.”
"That's right, but we still have to pay attention to our strategy." Ning Qi did not fully agree with Yan Chujie's optimism: "If Zheng Zhilong's family is the only one, it will not be of much benefit to us. Historically, by 1633 , Zheng Zhilong’s maritime military power has become the largest in the Far East, and even the Dutch can no longer defeat him. All merchant ships operating along the southeast coast must pay protection fees to Zheng Zhilong, which further strengthens his strength in disguise. "< br>
"Is there any record of Zheng Zhilong's military strength in history?" Yan Chujie asked with interest. Since he has a golden finger that understands historical development trends, Yan Chujie is also very interested in knowing the strength of potential opponents in the future.
"At this stage, the Shibazhi pirate gang led by Zheng Zhilong has at least 30,000 people, and there must be 500 or 600 ships. As for after he defeated Yu Zigao and Xu Xinsu, his strength expanded even faster. By 1635, he When Liu Xiang was wiped out, there were about 200,000 troops and a fleet of 3,000 ships, which was a very powerful maritime armed force even in the world," Ning Qi said with emotion.
Yan Chujie also gasped when he heard this. Although it can be expected that the time-traveling group in eight years will be much stronger than now, it may not have a military strength of about 200,000 and a fleet of 3,000 ships. This number is really a bit Scary.
"A hero who started from the sea cannot sit back and watch a force like ours rise in the South China Sea, just like we will not sit back and watch him grow in Fujian." Tao Donglai said in a deep voice: "We have to find a way to drag him down. The speed of development is the best.”
(End of chapter)