Chapter 1279: No. 1 in the world
Yu Xiaobao is not as laid-back as Zhang Qianzhi. He has no time to pay attention to the situation of his subordinates at the moment. He is not just here to take a look around, but to understand the operation of the local agricultural development and deep processing industry. , and collect key data that the executive committee is interested in, and write a summary report and submit it. When Zhang Qianzhi was talking to Liu Shang, he was listening attentively to Zhang Guang's introduction to the local sugar and brewing industries. If he also noticed Liu Shang's interest in steam engines, he would probably work with Zhang Qianzhi to persuade Liu Shang to give up his current career and switch to studying machinery.
After visiting the sugar-making and wine-making workshops, everyone did not return empty-handed. Zhang Guang had already prepared gifts. Yu Xiaobao and the group of people were invited to participate, and Liu Shang was naturally one of them. These souvenirs are all local specialties, one piece of white sugar and one piece of Sanya special wine. They are all packaged in the same small glass bottles and placed in a small brocade box. Although they are not expensive gifts, the packaging is of high quality. Not bad, it will definitely fetch a good price if put on the market. Of course, such a mass-produced gift package was not specially prepared for Yu Xiaobao and his team. After the sugar cane industry in Yacheng County started, there were more and more various entertainments sent to them. This gift package was specially prepared for them. Made to use on such occasions.
Although Liu Shang would not be greedy for this small profit, he could feel Haihan's intentions in trade. He even gave gifts to promote local specialties.
In fact, the commercial crops planted on a large scale in Yacheng County are far more than just sugar cane. Oil crops, spices, tea, tobacco leaves, rubber trees, various fruit trees, etc. also cover several thousand acres of planting area. However, compared to the ones that have become the mainstay of the local area, The scale of the sugarcane industry in China is relatively fragmented, and some farms are located far away from the county seat. If you want to visit them all, you will have to stay locally for at least two or three days.
Yu Xiaobao's itinerary does not have such ample time. His mission is to inspect places rather than sightseeing. After getting a general understanding of the local situation, he will set off for the next stop. As for the publicity activities that had always worried Liu Shang, there were no corresponding arrangements in the local area, which made him secretly relieved.
After visiting the sugar cane farm here, it was already noon, and everyone returned to the county town. Zhang Guang hosted a banquet in a restaurant in the city. This meal could be regarded as a welcome and farewell meal. The food and wine were extremely sumptuous, but Xiaobao did not let the entourage drink freely. They only toasted to Zhang Guang one by one as a courtesy. Zhang Guang knew that they had to go on their way after finishing their work here, so he did not persuade them to drink more, and only asked everyone to eat more food.
Until the end of the banquet, the dishes on the table had been changed twice, and the kitchen was still serving dishes non-stop. Liu Shang also secretly lamented that the extravagance of the Haihan officialdom was no less than that of the Ming Dynasty. However, this seems normal to Zhang Guang, Yu Xiaobao and others. Haihan people are very particular about the comfort of food, clothing, housing and transportation, especially when it comes to food and drink. Cooking has always been the focus of Haihan vocational training. Projects are valued as much as high-level majors such as steam engines. Not having a good meal when greeting someone is as unreasonable as not saying hello when they meet. From this, Haihan's unique social culture is slowly formed from top to bottom.
Of course, this habit brought by time travelers is mainly because their original time and space already had a relatively rich material life. It can be said that as long as you have money, you can eat delicacies from all over the world. After coming to power here, they will naturally also This habit continues. However, most people in this time and space are still struggling for food and clothing, and their requirements for food and drink are much lower than those of the Haihan people. Even if it is an official banquet, they are definitely not as particular about food and drink as the Haihan people. In addition, this banquet was organized by Zhang Guang himself, and the quality was naturally in accordance with the standards of the chief's banquet. In order to flatter Zhang Guang, the restaurant owner naturally prepared this banquet regardless of the cost.
However, this kind of catering culture has also directly led to the general overweight of Haihan's upper-level officials. People like Zhang Guang, who could easily climb tree stands and wires in the early days of time travel, have now gained nearly half of their original weight eight years later. Speaking of climbing the tree, even mounting the horse was a bit difficult. Yu Xiaobao and others were in a period of physical growth, and they had a lot of field work. They ate a lot and digested it thoroughly, but they hadn't gained much weight yet.
However, in the eyes of a newcomer like Liu Shang, this kind of scene seems very extravagant. Of course, understood from another perspective, it can also be regarded as a manifestation of Haihan's wealth and willfulness.
Zhang Guang ordered his people to clear the banquet, served tea, and chatted with everyone over a cup of tea before Yu Xiaobao said his goodbyes. When Zhang Guang arrived at the north gate of the county, Yu Xiaobao refused to let him go out of the city to see him off. If this was spread, it would be suspected of showing contempt for his elders. Everyone returned to the water village by boat from the pier outside the north gate, and then transferred to the sailboat they came from to leave the port and continue on their way.
After Yu Xiaobao and Zhang Qianzhi got on the ship, they went into the cabin to sort out information about Yacheng County. This made Liu Shang breathe a sigh of relief. As long as Zhang Qianzhi appeared within his sight, he would always feel that the other party's The eyes were fixed on him, and this feeling made him feel on pins and needles all the time. Liu Shang is now not sure whether Zhang Qianzhi has discovered something is wrong with him. He must not be able to run away. It is also impossible for him to slip away from the eyes of the Haihan people at this moment. He can only hold on bravely and try his best to conceal his identity. Don't reveal any noticeable flaws.
As for the next destination, Yu Xiaobao had already announced it before setting off. It is Yinggehai County, located in the southeast corner of Hainan Island. This place was not famous before the arrival of the Haihan people, and it even had a very small permanent population. But now when it comes to this place, even Liu Shang, who came to Hainan Island for the first time, has heard of its name. The reason is Yinggehai There is a salt field in the county that is said to be the largest in the world.
Of course, Liu Shang did not completely believe this rumor. As far as he knew, almost the entire county in Yancheng County, Huai'an Prefecture, north of the Yangtze River, was a salt household, and the population of one county in the Ming Dynasty was larger than that of the same administrative unit in Haihan. Much more, and the salt fields in Yancheng County have been in operation for hundreds of years, while the salt fields in Yinggehai County have only been built for less than ten years. Logically speaking, the Ming Dynasty should naturally have the upper hand in sea salt production.
But Liu Shang also knew that Haihan's bragging was basically based on facts and was not baseless bragging. Since it is known as the best in the world, its production scale must be quite amazing. In recent years, the salt industry market in Guangdong and Guangxi has almost been dominated by Haihan's low-priced refined salt, and the Yinggehai Salt Farm should also have contributed a lot.
What Liu Shang didn't know was that the sea salt produced by Yinggehai Salt Field not only occupied the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, but even Annan across the sea could not escape Haihan's commercial offensive. Today, more than 80% of the official salt on the market in Annan is Supplied by Haihan, it can be said that it has monopolized the salt industry in Annan Kingdom in disguise. Of course, the reasons for monopolizing Annan Salt Industry are relatively complicated. In addition to the special international relationship with Haihan, it also involves the huge interests of Annan dignitaries in these monopolized industries. Not all of the money earned flows into Haihan. In fact, part of it ended up in the pockets of those in power in Annan. The voyage from Yacheng County to Yinggehai was less than thirty nautical miles. It was a smooth journey and we arrived at our destination before dark. However, the ship Liu Shang was on encountered channel congestion when it entered Yinggehai Harbor. The originally extremely narrow channel was blocked by salt cargo ships entering and exiting here, so they could only follow behind. Queue to enter.
As a result, we had to wait for a long time. When we sailed into Yinggehai, the sky had completely darkened. Liu Shang originally wanted to see the scenery of Yinggehai, but at this time when entering the harbor, he could only see a few lights on the shore, so he could only leave this idea until tomorrow.
After getting off the ship, he first looked for a place to eat. Liu Shang found that the quality of the hotel hardware here seemed to be much better than that of the Yacheng he had visited before. But after thinking about it, he realized that this sugar merchant and wine merchant were not as rich as the salt merchant after all. Most of the foreign guests received by this place are salt merchants with the ability to engage in cross-border trade, so there is no need to question their spending power. If the conditions were poor, I am afraid these salt merchants would not be willing to live there!
Liu Shang's guess was right about the local situation. There was very little cultivated land in Yinggehai County. The main industries were salt production and fishing, and the main export products were table salt. Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, salt merchants come and go here almost every day. Many big salt merchants even signed long-term land lease agreements locally and built their own storehouses to store goods. With the consumption level of salt merchants, it is not difficult to stimulate the development of the local service industry. Therefore, the quality of the tertiary industry here is not much worse than that of large seaport cities like Sanya, and prices are basically the same as Sanya.
However, Liu Shang and others did not intend to stay here, just to eat, because the local guest house was specially built for free accommodation for people traveling here on official business. Of course, it was not easy for Yu Xiaobao to separately list the accommodation expenses. But this time has already passed the time when the guest house serves dinner, and their group can only choose to deal with it outside.
Thanks to its location close to the Beibu Gulf, which is rich in fishery resources, the waters near Yingge Sea are extremely rich in seafood varieties. The signature dishes of local restaurants are almost all ingredients fished from the sea. Everyone ate again after the lunch banquet. While Liu Shang was eating, he thought to himself that this tour was such a blessing. Just eating so much along the way was a treatment that ordinary people could hardly enjoy. I just don’t know if he will be able to work in the Propaganda Department after he joins the propaganda department in the future. I can often receive such good errands.
However, Liu Shang thought about it and felt something was wrong. His mission in Haihan was to try to sneak into the government to obtain more confidential information, rather than to covet material enjoyment as an official. He believed that he had always been strong-willed, but how could it be that just two days after leaving Sanya, his mentality began to waver? He thought to himself secretly, and then put a huge boiled shrimp into his bowl - consume more Some Haihan official finances should be considered a small amount of work.
After finishing the meal and paying the bill, this meal was actually cheaper than yesterday's dinner at Yacheng Shuizhai, probably because this meal was almost all seafood. After all, the local price of seafood is even cheaper than that of vegetables. Due to the serious salinization of the land in this place, it is almost impossible to grow vegetables, so vegetables, fruits and vegetables have to be imported from outside, and the price naturally remains high.
Liu Shang touched his chubby belly and thought that the Haihan people would really enjoy it. If he lived on Hainan Island for another three to five years, he would probably grow into a big fat man. He observed everyone during the banquet and saw that all the Haihan officials, big and small, seemed to be accustomed to this. It was impossible to say that he was not envious in his heart. Not to mention high-ranking officials like Yu Xiaobao and Zhang Qianzhi, the income of other technocrats is much higher than that of the seventh-grade magistrates of the Ming Dynasty, and the treatment is so good, it is no wonder that many people are trying to get into the yamen. .
The guest house was not far from the place to eat, and he arrived quickly. Liu Shang found that the accommodation conditions here were actually better than the place where he spent money yesterday, and all the accommodations were single rooms. This was probably related to the local economic level. After a night of silence, Liu Shang woke up early the next morning and did not ask his companions to call him again.
Liu Shang opened the window and looked outside. At the next moment, he almost cursed. He saw a vast expanse of white in the distant wilderness, as if it was covered in silver after a heavy snowfall. For a moment, he even thought that he had traveled thousands of miles at night to the Northland, but then he thought about it. It was only June, and there would never be snow even in the Northland. He was in the South China Sea, so how could he see the snow scene? Only then did he finally realize that the white fields he saw in the distance were not snow, but the local salt fields.
Liu Shang looked carefully and saw that almost everything he could see was white. He didn't know that the salt fields in the distance covered hundreds or thousands of acres. Although he had seen salt farms on the seaside before, they had never been of such a large scale. He wondered whether Yancheng County in the North, known as the salt household in the county, also had such a scene. The Yinggehai Salt Farm is regarded as the best salt farm in the world by the Haihan people, and they indeed have some confidence.
In fact, in the time and space before the traveler came here, the Yinggehai Salt Field was not only the largest salt field in Hainan, but also the largest sea salt production area in southern China. The seawater concentration here is second only to the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, making it the saltiest sea area in the world. one. There is a sufficient scientific basis for travelers to choose to build a salt field here. After nearly eight years of development and construction, coupled with the salt production technology that transcends the times, the Yinggehai Salt Field is known as the world in terms of salt field area, annual output and technical content. The first is an undisputed fact.
(End of chapter)