Chapter 1588 Complex Preparations
When he visited Gu Wenchong's sugar cane plantation before, Xun Peng also noticed that there were many slaves working in the sugar cane fields. The physical appearance of these foreign slaves is obviously different from that of the Han people, and you can tell them apart with just a little attention. However, at that time, Xun Pengcheng's attention was focused on understanding the operating conditions of the sugar cane plantations, and he did not think of asking Gu Wenchong about the slave trade. Fortunately, Lao Gao seemed to be no stranger to the slave trade, and Xun Pengcheng believed that he could also get valuable information from him.
As a former media practitioner, Xun Pengcheng understands the value of information and intelligence and its importance to business and trade. For businessmen, first-hand and timely information can bring economic benefits far beyond their daily hard work. It can also ensure that they avoid detours and make wrong decisions in the business process. Xun Pengcheng wants to invest in plantations here, but one hurdle he cannot get around is manpower security. If there is not enough labor, then no matter how good the project is, it will only be just talk on paper.
Although the operation of the plantations can be left to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture provides technical and management support, and does not also provide labor force. Therefore, the operators still have to find a solution for the large amount of labor required to start a plantation. The normal way is to hire immigrants who have recently entered Haihan through the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, because the number of immigrants always exceeds demand, it is almost impossible to use this method to recruit hundreds of laborers to start construction in a short period of time. thing.
Obtaining cheap labor through slave trade has become the simplest and most convenient solution to this problem. As long as the buyer can afford it, whether it is a hundred or a thousand people, the slave traders will try to organize the "supply" and send it to the area designated by the buyer. With the dense plantations in the area from Changhua to Danzhou, the slave trade was naturally extremely developed. Ships transporting slaves would dock nearby and send people directly to the plantations.
Moreover, as the demand for labor in plantations has increased in recent years, some Han Chinese who are familiar with the Nanyang environment have also begun to join the slave trade, organizing fleets to go to Nanyang to capture local natives, and then transport them back to Hainan Island to sell to local plantations. The profits of this business are as huge as those of trafficking various gemstones and spices from Nanyang to the Ming Dynasty in the past. According to Lao Gao, in the Changhua area of Danzhou alone, there are at least seven or eight slave fleets operated by Han people engaged in this business all year round. Of course, generally 70% to 80% of the slaves shipped back have been booked. Larger orders must be negotiated in advance.
However, this business is not a legal business permitted by Haihan law, so the official registration information and business scope of these slave fleets do not mention the actual business they are engaged in. The contact between the slave fleet and the buyers was completed through local intermediaries, that is, Yahang.
"If you want to inquire about the market situation in this area, I will take you to see the people from Yahang after arriving in Danzhou." After Lao Gao gave a general introduction to the local slave trade situation, he started to act as an intermediary again: "I My brother-in-law’s dental shop in Danzhou does business in this area. If the customer is interested, the price can be easily negotiated.”
Of course Xun Pengcheng was interested, and his interest was not small. It could be said that if he wanted to start a plantation, he was determined not to bypass the slave trade. And he himself has no connections in this area. If someone can match him, it will naturally save a lot of trouble. However, when he thought about Lao Gao's special son-in-law, he still felt a thorn in his heart, and couldn't help but ask: "Lao Gao, these things... your son-in-law won't interfere, right?"
Lao Gao responded: "My son-in-law? Why does my son-in-law care about this? Without these slaves transported from Southeast Asia, many farms and plantations would have to stop working. Can he afford such a big responsibility?"
Xun Pengcheng thought about it and realized that what Lao Gao said made sense. Although the Ministry of Security was in charge of heaven and earth, there were still some things that they could not take responsibility for. The issues involved in the slave trade are not just illegal entry, but will also have a direct impact on the local economy and the livelihood of many people. The Ministry of Security will not intervene. If it does intervene, it will have to bear the consequences of possible consequences. consequences. But for economic responsibilities, the Ministry of Security cannot take the blame for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce. Naturally, it can only pretend to be deaf and dumb on the issue of slave trade and ignore these semi-open slave trades.
Of course, if we really talk about it, this choice of the Ministry of Security actually reflects the attitude of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee does not support or encourage the slave trade, but it will not express opposition. After all, the huge labor gap faced by Haihan is difficult to find a better solution at this stage, and it can only be obtained in this way. Definitely relieved. As for the humanitarian issues and subsequent social instability caused by this, the Executive Committee is currently unable to take into account that much.
However, the country does not completely ignore this. In fact, the number of people transported by these slave ships to Hainan Island still needs to be informally registered. However, the person responsible for statistics is not a special department like the Ministry of Security, but a company like Yahang. Private intermediary agencies. Serving the country to the best of their ability is one of the conditions in exchange for these intermediaries to obtain franchise rights. The whereabouts of these slaves are also registered by various intermediary agencies and then consolidated into the civil affairs department so that these slave populations can be effectively tracked and managed in the future.
In order to make up for the omissions that may occur in the registration process as much as possible, Haihan has also increased requirements for employees in various plantations. If any slaves who have not been registered by an officially approved intermediary agency are found during irregular inspections, their location The plantations will be severely punished, and the fleets that provided them with slaves will also be punished.
In this way, a slave registration and management system can be established without spending too much official resources. Although the operation effect of this scheme is not as comprehensive as that of official institutions, it is better than occupying less official resources, and the actual implementation is The effect is pretty decent. After more than a year of pilot operation, the relevant departments made up for some loopholes and then quickly implemented it to various areas under the control of relatively concentrated plantations.
Although these management measures will not have a great positive impact on the fate of the slaves, they are very effective in improving local security conditions. As long as the origin and destination of most slaves are controlled, there won't be much trouble in the local area. After accumulating enough experience, the loopholes in this plan will become fewer and fewer, and its practicality will not be much worse than the establishment of a specialized competent department.
When Xun Pengcheng consulted the Ministry of Agriculture on relevant matters in Sanya, he actually had some knowledge of the policies and measures in this area. However, the slave trade was not completely legal in Haihan, so the officials were vague and unclear about it. He would not tell Xun Pengcheng where to go to contact the slave traders. There are all kinds of things in between, and he can only find his own way to slowly understand them.
No matter how much Xun Pengcheng wanted to be lazy, it was impossible to outsource this business. He had to handle it himself after all. Thinking about my career change from reporter to plantation owner, it was originally a very wonderful experience, but I didn't expect that I would have to become a human trafficker in the middle. Although he doesn't have much moral obsession, he is not willing to play such an honorable role.
Lao Gao then took Xun Pengcheng to a spice plantation. The scale of the planting here was not as large as the previous sugar cane plantation, but there were still more than two hundred slaves and dozens of hired workers, so the scene was not small. The owner here is named Guan Pingcai. He used to be a squire in Changhua County, and he was an old acquaintance with the coachman Lao Gao. This man was quite hospitable. Seeing that it was almost dinner time in the afternoon, he let Xun Pengcheng and Lao Gao stay here for one night, and then set up a banquet for Xun Pengcheng. Xun Pengcheng was quite flattered. After chatting for a while, he found out that Guan Pingcai was actually a regular reader of Express. When Lao Gao introduced him earlier, he was based on the identity Xun Pengcheng claimed to the outside world. For the convenience of this trip, Xun Pengcheng claimed to be an employee of Sanya Express, so that he would not appear too strange when asking people for various information. But he didn't expect that he would be lucky enough to meet a reader of the Express in this plantation in the countryside of Changhua, and judging from his enthusiasm, he was still a very loyal type.
Before the banquet started, Guan Ping took out a stack of Sanya Express from his collection and showed it to Xun Pengcheng. He proudly introduced: "Since the inception of your newspaper, I haven't missed an issue and bought them all. Look, There’s even this supplement that came out some time ago!”
The newspaper that Guan Pingcai pulled out was exactly the supplement that the Kuaibao newspaper published overnight under official pressure after the news incident caused by the Madalan people. This has an inextricable relationship with Xun Pengcheng. Xun Pengcheng was a little bit dumbfounded when he saw it, and his expression suddenly felt awkward.
Guan Pingcai observed his words and said, "What inconvenience does your Excellency have?"
Xun Pengcheng smiled bitterly and said: "It's not an inconvenience, but this special issue and the front page headline of the previous issue are all my work."
"Oh? It turns out that the author signed by 'Babi Sheng' on the express is your Excellency! I'm so disrespectful!" Guan Pingcai said with his hands: "In the past few years since the express was first published, it has published several supplements, but this is the first time I have read it. The headline on the front page of yesterday and the subsequent supplements were all written by the same person, which is really an anomaly.”
Xun Pengcheng couldn't explain to him what was going on. He could only respond vaguely, but he didn't dare to use this momentum to brag. He knew that the background of Ma Dalan's purchase of weapons was quite complicated. He had already been involved in it twice. If he did it a third time, he might not be lucky enough to escape safely. So even if it was just a topic related to it, Xun Pengcheng would subconsciously avoid it. What's more, there is a hidden danger, Lao Gao, sitting next to him. If he hears something, and goes back to tell his son-in-law, he will have to explain to the security department for a long time.
Xun Pengcheng quickly changed the topic to the operating conditions of the plantation, but Guan Pingcai was not very interested in it: "Both of Lao Ruan's two sons are currently serving the country, and I have no interest in letting them come back to inherit the plantation. Then... It can only be regarded as an old coffin book, and how much money can be charged.”
After hearing this, Xun Pengcheng did not dare to ask which department Guan Pingcai's son worked for, lest he ask something he shouldn't ask again. However, Guan Pingcai obviously has little interest in running the plantation. He usually leaves it to a few of his cronies to take care of it, and he only gets involved when relatively large accounts require his personal approval. As for the output here, it is all underwritten by the Ministry of Agriculture. Once the contract is signed, it lasts for twenty years, and there is no need for him to sell it on his own.
Xun Pengcheng asked: "Is there anything special about growing spices?"
Guan Pingcai responded: "Are you talking about agricultural technology? Then technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture come regularly to deal with problems. I can't learn new things anymore when I'm old. It's all the young people who are in charge. What can I say? To be particular, the more you plant, the better!”
Xun Pengcheng thought to himself that I would like to plant tens of thousands of acres for fun, but the problem is that I don’t have that much money in my pocket! He thought for a while and asked Guan Pingcai about the land price nearby. If it was cheap, he might consider enclosing land here.
Guan Pingcai said: "It's no different now than a few years ago. In the fourth year of Haihan, the price of land here was very cheap. As long as you build a plantation, you only need to pay a contract fee of 1,000 yuan a year for 100 acres of land. There are also discounts for those with more than 500 acres of land. Later, more and more plantations were opened here, and the land price also increased. Now it is about ten times higher than before. Even so, the big households are still increasing every year. Expansion, I wish I could encircle all the surrounding land for dozens of miles.”
Xun Pengcheng frowned when he heard this. The magnitude of the change in land prices was indeed beyond his imagination. And based on the current contracting costs, he really can't create any big scenes with the funds on hand. It seems that there is a lot of money in the account, but if you think about enclosing the land, hiring people, resettling, purchasing various production tools and seedlings, and outsourcing it to the Ministry of Agriculture, the cost will be higher than this, and in the first two or three years Basically, there is no way out, no income. It would be okay for him to build a plantation of about 100 acres with the little money he had on hand, but he couldn't expect to make much money from such a small plantation, and it might not be able to support the luxurious life he longed for.
"What about the land price in Danzhou?" Xun Pengcheng asked without giving up.
Guan Pingcai said: "The price of land in Danzhou? Of course it is higher than here! You may not know, but if a new plantation or farm is to be opened in Danzhou, the enclosure must start at 500 acres. This is not an ordinary People can afford it.”
(End of chapter)