Chapter 297 Inspection of Guangzhou
The recent population exodus from Yazhou is not just the peasants and soldiers of the guard system. In fact, the entire working population of Yazhou has been showing an accelerating outflow in the past six months - the natural destination is Shengheng Port, which has a huge labor shortage. .
In terms of productivity and material supply capabilities in this era, if a large influx of people occurs in a certain place, there will inevitably be a shortage of food and material supplies. But at present, food is no longer the main factor limiting the number of immigrants moving to Victory Port. On the contrary, the material supply situation for residents in the Victory Port area is much better than that in Yazhou. Especially in terms of food supply, due to the food rationing system adopted by the Executive Committee, the basic expenditure on food for naturalized residents is surprisingly low, but the food level is much higher than when they lived in Yazhou.
Similar to this, there are other living costs, such as housing, medical care, education, etc. These projects uniformly arranged by the Executive Committee allow naturalized residents to save a lot of money and enjoy things that were unimaginable in the past. living standard. It can be said that except for not getting his own land in his name, all other treatments are better than before. Moreover, land is not an unattainable thing. According to the policies promoted by the Haihan people, as long as you work hard for a few years after obtaining the status of a naturalized citizen, you can expect to obtain land with extremely low rent when your labor level reaches a certain level. .
If you think the time is too long and you can’t wait, you can also sign up directly to join the Haihan Militia. Soldiers in the militia can retire and get land immediately after serving for a few years. This kind of treatment was unthinkable under the Ming Dynasty - Wei Suo Soldiers and fields have become the private property of the military leaders, but I have never heard of military leaders taking out the land and giving it to the soldiers below.
Starting from the second half of 1627, some selected "senior" naturalized people returned to Yazhou to persuade relatives and friends to move to Victory Port. Based on these people's personal opinions, many members of the lower social class inside and outside Yazhou City began to actively move out. Up to now, the residential population of Yazhou City has been reduced by nearly 40% compared with before the arrival of the Haihan people. There are mainly four types of residents who still stay here: First, those who eat from the government, including various yamen and local garrisons. They are accessories bound to Yazhou City; the second is the local gentry, these people basically will not move easily; the third is the small landowners who own land in the surrounding areas. I heard that the Haihan people do not allow private ownership. Naturally, these small landowners are not willing to give up their current living environment easily when buying and selling land; the last category is the few self-cultivating farmers, and the reasons why these people stay are similar to the third category. They basically deal with the land issues of the Haihan people. method has great concerns.
The consequence of the outflow of a large number of working people is the gradual depression of the Yazhou market. The labor market outside the south gate has long been out of business. Now there is no need for Yahang to organize publicity. Residents who are willing to go to Shengli Port will naturally know that every month On which days will there be free immigration ships to Port Victory? Since there is not much money to be made in the local area, Yaxing, which originally organized immigrants for the Yazhou Office, is no longer doing business in Yazhou, and its position has also been moved to several towns in the north of Hainan Island.
The Ningyuan River dock in the north of the city is no longer as lively as it used to be. Due to the gradual prosperity of Victory Port, the cargo distribution center in the south of Hainan Island is no longer dominated by Yazhou City. Many merchants have wisely chosen places with zero taxes. The Port of Victory serves as the final destination for cargo. In addition to the burden of paying taxes, merchants who ship goods to Yazhou City will also face another trouble: it is difficult to find local labor, and even unloading the goods has become very troublesome. This problem will never occur in Victory Port. As long as the ship is loaded with the goods that the Haihan people need, there is no need to spend a single copper plate on unloading the ship, and the labor costs are all borne by the Haihan people themselves.
As for Yazhou City, it is even more depressed. There are far fewer vendors and pedestrians than before. Some small shops have begun to close down. People with connections in other places have even begun to sell their properties in preparation to leave this lifeless place. At present, the main population import channel in Yazhou City is only the few prisoners assigned here every year. But having said that, except for a small number of serious criminals and criminals in Yazhou Prison, most of the other prisoners have also been sent to Shengli Port to work and make money for the Haihan people. If the Ministry of Punishment sends people to inspect, basically no one from the top to the bottom of the relevant units in Yazhou Prison will be able to escape responsibility.
Under such a social environment, the Cliff Office has quietly occupied the local market for several major daily necessities. Haihan refined salt from Victory Port, as well as refined coal and rice from North Vietnam, all quickly defeated competitors in the local market at extremely low prices. Under the control of the Chuanchuan Group, the prices of these daily necessities were only half of what they used to be. Naturally, the local people were very receptive, and as a result, they had a more favorable impression of Haihan. And when the supply of these basic living supplies is controlled by the Crossing Group, there is actually not much suspense about the future direction of Yazhou City - as long as the Yazhou Office makes slight adjustments to the supply of these supplies, it will be enough to affect Yazhou The city's society has become stable.
However, for the Executive Committee, the worries of local officials like Zhang Qianhu are indeed unnecessary. The Executive Committee will not issue an order to directly occupy Yazhou City in the short term - just as Zhang Qianhu thought, occupying Xiayazhou City has no practical benefits for the Crossing Group. I am afraid that its more role is just to highlight the essence of the rebellion.
Chuanchuan Group's development plan in the Sanya area is still based on Shengli Port and gradually expands outwards. With the acceleration of labor importation and the gradual increase in the flow of foreign maritime merchants, the Executive Committee believes that it is now time to include the construction plan of the new city and new port area on the agenda.
The so-called new urban area refers to the coastal plain area covered by the two river systems of Sanya River and Linchun River, which is also the urban area of Sanya in another time and space. The two rivers meet offshore and then flow into the sea through a narrow estuary. The inland harbor close to the estuary is an excellent natural harbor. As early as the beginning of time travel, when the expedition team was sent to Yazhou for the first time, they had already conducted an on-site inspection of this harbor, and the relevant construction plans had long been placed in the database of the Ministry of Construction, just waiting for the right time. to implement.
Now that Chuanchuan Group has sufficient labor force, it is a good time to get started quickly. The Ministry of Construction once again proposed a plan to develop new urban areas. According to this development plan, future commercial and residential areas will gradually move from Victory Port to the new urban area. Victory Port will gradually transform into a military port, while the Tiandu area will exist as a pure industrial area.
Although such a plan may overlap with the current Shengli Port development plan, it is also a process that must be experienced in local construction, because Shengli Port is indeed not suitable for long-term use as a commercial and residential area - with Tian Du Industrial During the construction process of the district, the Tiandu River water system has actually begun to experience mild pollution. The industrial zone is upstream and the residential area is downstream. This industrial layout around the Tiandu Iron Mine will gradually show more serious negative impacts in the future. The Executive Committee does not want to wait until the Tiandu River turns into a black water river. Organizational relocation.
According to the plan of the Ministry of Construction, the new city will be built around Xingang District. In the first phase of the project alone, thousands of workers will be invested to renovate the Xingang Riverbanks and channels, and at the same time, the land transportation line from Victory Port to Xingang District will be opened. In order to transport various materials from the base camp to the construction site. In terms of project volume, it is no less than when Victory Port was building a comprehensive passenger and cargo terminal last year. However, since the manpower situation has been greatly improved, the labor demand will no longer be as stretched as it was then.
In principle, this plan has been approved by the Executive Committee, but the time for its announcement has to be pushed back later - the first anniversary of the time travel will be in one month, and such a relatively large move, At that time, it will be announced to the local people as an anniversary gift.
On March 3, two "Exploration-class" sailing ships were launched at the same time at the Victory Port Shipyard and began the final outfitting work. According to the shipyard's schedule, the two ships are expected to complete outfitting and sea trials before the anniversary and be included in the newly established naval establishment. Although the third "Exploration-class" sailboat started construction at the same time is still on the slipway, it has also entered the preparation period before launching. It is expected to be launched within a week. If the shipyard is quick enough, it is not impossible for three "Exploration-class" ships to be put into service at the same time.
However, since the shipyard has focused its main energy on the construction of the "Exploration Class", the construction plan of the larger 500-ton sailboat has been affected to a certain extent. The Ministry of Shipping originally planned to complete the design plan and lay the keel on the slipway by the end of January, but in fact this work lasted until mid-February. When the two new ships were launched, the 500-ton ship was still in the keel assembly stage. It would be good if it could be completed in the first half of the year.
On the morning after attending the launching ceremony on behalf of the Military and Police Department, Tao Donglai quietly left the Port of Victory on the "Lightning" fast sailing ship. The direction of his secret trip this time was Guangzhou, and the reason why the trip was kept secret was because the executive committee considered Tao Donglai's special status. If the news of Chief Haihan's visit to Guangzhou spread, there would be no guarantee that there would be no Some people with ulterior motives have bad intentions.
Tao Donglai came to Guangzhou this time for two main purposes. One is to conduct routine inspections of overseas units on behalf of the Executive Committee. Among the current overseas units, Heitu Port, Tushan Peninsula Stronghold, and Cliff Office, Tao Donglai They have all gone to inspect the work, but only the General Office of the People's Republic of China has not yet visited. Secondly, the Executive Committee also needs to know the specific progress of the financial institution construction work currently carried out by the Guangdong Office in Guangdong Province - to put it bluntly, it means going to the local level to verify the accounts on behalf of the Executive Committee.
After Schneider returned to Shengli Port during the New Year to attend a work review meeting, he brought back a full 150,000 taels of silver and 2,000 taels of gold when he returned to Guangzhou as the starting capital for the General Deposit and Exchange business of the Guangdong Office. As long as this business is handled at the Guangdong Office, maritime merchants no longer need to carry cash back and forth between Victory Port and Guangzhou. They only need to have a bank check issued by the "Haihan Development Bank" to get it at the Guangdong Office. You can directly exchange the full amount of cash at the office or the currency exchange center in Victory Port, and it is of full quality, so you no longer need to worry about the issue of silver in the transaction. With Schneider, a veteran financial fraudster, taking command in Guangzhou, the Executive Committee actually has nothing to worry about about possible system loopholes in operation. Schneider himself is an expert in this field, and he will definitely be better than the Executive Committee. Be more thoughtful. The main purpose of Tao Donglai's visit this time was just to see the specific operation conditions and listen to the comments of local users.
The "Lightning" completed the more than 300 nautical miles from Victory Port to the Pearl River Estuary in just two days. However, because the appearance of the "Lightning" was too eye-catching, it was not suitable to appear outside Guangzhou, so the Guangdong Office arranged a boat to the Pearl River Estuary early for Tao Dong to transfer. It took another day and a half before Tao Donglai finally arrived at the dock outside Guangzhou.
In order to avoid attracting the attention of idlers, the Guangdong Office did not go out to the pier to greet Tao Donglai. Only He Xi took Zhang Shipiang's youngest son Zhang Qianzhi and hired a soft sedan to wait at the pier. After receiving Tao Donglai, they exchanged a few words and arranged for Tao Donglai to get on the sedan and return to the Guangdong Office.
Of course, things were different in the General Office of the People's Republic of China. Schneider and others had already prepared a reception banquet. As soon as Tao Donglai entered the courtyard, he was led directly to the wine table.
Tao Donglai looked at the large table of food and wine and couldn't help but joked: "Your Jiefeng Banquet has exceeded the standard! Don't forget that my mission is to check corruption!"
"Mr. Tao, if you want to check, you have to eat enough to have the strength to check. Whether it exceeds the standard depends on whether you have eaten well. If you feel that this meal is not good, then we will not admit that it exceeds the standard anyway. Everyone said Right?" He Xi put Tao Donglai on the throne without any explanation.
Naturally, Tao Donglai would not really care about how much money the meal at the General Office was worth. Due to the need to carry out various businesses, the Office had always had considerable financial freedom, and its daily expenses of less than a thousand taels of silver were all. There is no need to report to the base camp, just keep records in the income and expenditure account. Especially for He Xi's work, many accounts are not suitable for disclosure, and even some employees of the Guangdong Office do not have permission to access relevant records.
At the dinner party, Tao Donglai did not take the initiative to mention work matters, and everyone returned home enjoying themselves at the wine table.
The next morning, Tao Donglaicai met with Schneider and He Xi in his study to learn about the current operation of the Guangdong Office.
Schneider first handed a book to Tao Donglai: "This is the registration information for the merchants participating in the deposit and redemption business in Daming. As of the end of February, a total of seventeen merchants in Fuguang area have used our deposit and redemption business, and the minimum transaction amount is 1 Starting from one thousand taels, the highest single transaction amount was 75,000 taels, which was the business of 'Furuifeng' last month. The total transaction amount now exceeds the original principal we brought."
Tao Donglai nodded slightly while looking through the book.
Schneider continued: "According to the current transaction trend, the amount of cash input by the Guangdong Office is still far greater than the output. This is basically consistent with the import and export trade surplus we currently maintain. Now the Guangdong Office There are still 228,000 taels in silver and nearly 4,000 taels in gold. Now we have expanded a courtyard outside the Guangdong Office, connected to the wall of the back room, specifically for handling external money transactions. Wait a moment. I’ll take you there to have a look.”
Tao Donglai raised his head and said: "Have you encountered any difficulties in actual operation?"
"The main issue is credibility." Schneider said unabashedly: "Although our products have already gained a certain reputation in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, in the financial field, the credibility of our Haihan brand is obviously far from enough. Only Only merchants who have direct business dealings with us are willing to use the bank notes issued by us, and these merchants basically require the use of registered bank notes for safety reasons, so they are not liquid at all in the market. "< br>
"It doesn't matter. It takes a period of time to build credit and let customers develop habits. Don't be too anxious about this. At least we have made a good start now. As long as the richest and most powerful people start Using our services, it will not be too difficult to promote it to the society." Tao Donglai still gave encouragement and comfort to the problems mentioned by Schneider.
In this era when precious metals are the main currency in circulation, it is naturally very difficult to promote credit currency. This not only requires the support of a strong economic foundation, but also requires the gradual recognition of the public. The transformation of values does not happen overnight, and it is impossible for the Guangdong Office in mainland China to copy the experience of Port Victory and directly abolish the circulation of precious metal currencies. At least from the starting point of general deposit and exchange, the choice made by the financial department headed by Schneider is extremely correct. It is extremely practical for merchants traveling between the two places, and these merchants have relatively close contact with the Cross-Training Group. There are many, and the credibility of the "Haihan" brand in their minds is relatively high.
As the number of people using Haihan's financial services grows larger, the relevant departments can begin to gradually roll out bearer banknotes as credit currencies for circulation in the market - of course, for a considerable period of time in the future, the circulation scope will only be It's just in the circle of the upper class of society.
Banknotes are nothing new in China. There were officially issued banknotes in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Unfortunately, although the official had the vision to issue credit currency, they did not have the professionals to manage the currency. In the end, they were wasted due to random issuance of additional currency. As a result, the value of the paper coupons plummeted, and the government had to abolish it on its own. From Song Renzong to the end of the Qing Dynasty, more than 800 years of efforts were made, but in the end they failed to form a complete financial system. This historical development trajectory is exactly what Schneider and others are determined to change.
(End of chapter)