Chapter 12 New stage, new life

Chapter 12 New Stage, New Life

After Yun Zhao set the tone, Hattori was no longer qualified to see Yun Zhao again.

After that, he will face officials from the Lantian Commerce Department.

This time, Hattori received a heavy responsibility and brought many Japanese people with him.

This negotiation is related to the formal commercial relations between Lantian and the Japanese country, so the Japanese country cannot help but ignore it.

Yun Zhao never intended to import anything from Japan except silver.

Compared with Lantian County, Japan is basically still in a closed and ignorant state.

The reason why Yun Zhao is eager to control the offshore waters of the Ming Dynasty has a lot to do with the business of the Ming Dynasty.

Since the main currencies of the Ming Dynasty were copper coins and silver, the currency value of real good copper coins has always been relatively stable. However, the value of silver was very abnormal in the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhang Juzheng implemented a whip method, all taxes were compiled into currency, which resulted in insufficient copper coins. The consequence of insufficient copper coins was that silver became popular.

It would be fine if everyone used bad money to exchange for silver, but Lantian County’s copper plates have always been famous for their exquisite texture.

In order to win over the market and attract Ming merchants to come to Lantian, Yun Zhao acquiesced to this loss.

This gave rise to many people who made their fortunes by playing with coins, including Feng Ying’s business manager Liu Ru!

With the rapid prosperity of commerce in Lantian County, the footsteps of Lantian merchants gradually extended to all parts of the world, including the Japanese country.

The Ming Dynasty lacked silver deposits... However, the Japanese were not lacking, and the Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and British were not lacking. They could get cheap silver from all over the world and trade with the Ming Dynasty. .

Their silver is not valuable, but they can use the silver price of the Ming Dynasty to buy all kinds of precious goods in the Ming Dynasty, such as silk, paper, porcelain, etc., etc.

In the process of this transaction, it seemed that no one suffered a loss, but it was Daming who was really hurt.

These bastards took away Daming’s hard work in vain due to unfair transactions.

This is why Yun Zhao must promote silver coins.

A silver coin is not as heavy as one tael of silver, but its currency value is one tael of silver. A silver coin minted in Lantian can be exchanged for 800 copper coins, but one tael of silver cannot.

Silver ingots, silver bars, and silver nuggets from foreign merchants can only be used in Lantian County after being smelted by Lantian merchants and turned into Lantian silver coins.

Everyone knows that Lantian silver coins are not pure silver. In many cases, the reason why Lantian silver coins are so popular is because Lantian is too powerful.

Even if the silver coin is not pure silver and is just a conceptual currency, everyone is willing to use this silver coin.

Yunzhao believes that when Yushan Academy’s new papermaking is completed, the printing system will be complete.After maturity, this silver coin will eventually be replaced by paper money.

Before this, Yun Zhao needs to have a lot of silver and gold.

Especially gold, which has always been inaccessible to Lantian County.

When there is enough gold, Yun Zhao can use the gold as collateral to print banknotes.

Once the banknotes come out, it will be Yun Zhao's turn to harvest the world.

After Shi Lang blocked the offshore waters of the Ming Dynasty, he could effectively prevent the people of the Ming Dynasty from being robbed through commercial operations.

As a country with the richest products, the highest commercial value, and the highest GDP in the world, Ming Dynasty will suffer heavy losses from a year of prosperous trade if it cannot effectively protect it.

It seems that Japan, under the leadership of Tokugawa Iemitsu, is firmly preparing to follow the path of seclusion.

This strategy cannot be said to be wrong. This in itself is a manifestation of the inequality of commerce and trade that overwhelmed the Japanese country.

What Shi Lang has to do now is to lead sixteen armored ships to patrol the Ming Dynasty and rob any ships they encounter at sea. Only after these maritime merchants begin to obediently acknowledge the leadership of Lantian Company will they change from pirates to pirates. into the navy.

Power is an eternal existence in this world.

When the Department of Commerce compiled the results of the negotiations into a document and sent it to Yun Zhao's desk, Yun Zhao signed and stamped the document, and the document was considered effective.

As the special envoy of Tokugawa Iemitsu, Hattori finally agreed to the method of settlement in cash. At the same time, he also agreed to the condition of settlement in Fuso silver price to a limited extent. However, this condition required Tokugawa to obtain Only Iemitsu's approval will finally count.

Yun Zhao basically had no idea about this. He felt that Tokugawa Iemitsu would probably not use the Japanese silver price to settle the matter. In this case, Japan would suffer a great loss.

Because this is equivalent to Yun Zhao doubling the price of these goods and selling them to him, so the method he may use is to settle with gold of the same value. This is the best way to deal with the Japanese country. advantageous way.

Yunzhao himself needs a large amount of gold to build his own national bank, so he will naturally agree.

Once Tokugawa Iemitsu has sufficient steel, gunpowder, muskets, and artillery, the Portuguese and Dutch entrenched in ports such as Nagasaki will have hard days.

This is called pulling one hair and affecting the whole body.

This year’s spring and summer are very good. The plague seems to have disappeared all of a sudden. At least this terrifying existence has not been found in Lantian territory, although there seem to be sporadic villages in Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi that have been affected by pneumonic plague. Genocide.

However, these things are far, far away from Lantian County...

As the Lantian boundary monument continues to disappear, Lantian County, located in the center of Lantian, becomes more and more prosperous.

Today's Lantian County has completely jumped out of the category of agricultural production. Almost every household has people working in workshops or doing business. Agricultural income is of great importance toFor every household, it has dropped to the point where it is almost negligible.

So, in this situation, the phenomenon of land leasing naturally appeared.

However, leasing is possible, but the government does not allow leases for more than five years. As for land sales, it is strictly prohibited. Individuals have no right to sell land under their own names, and it has been left deserted for more than two years. , it will be forcibly taken back by the government.

The people who rent land or give birth to land for sale are young people. The old and middle-aged people who have experienced hard times still regard land as more important than life.

In May, the villages under Mao Bijiang finally had wheat to harvest. When he looked at the heavy ears of wheat on the ground, he understood that Lantian’s rescue work in Xiangyang was considered complete. it's over.

This year, of course, no tax will be collected. However, the people have to use part of their grain to repay the money they borrowed from the government last year for seeds, farm tools, and cattle. Although it is impossible to pay back, people are still very worried. of joy.

Standing in the field, looking at the waves of wheat rising and falling in the wind, Mao Bijiang opened his arms, as if he wanted to completely immerse his body into the blue sky.

This deep sense of satisfaction far exceeds the happiness brought by writing a good poem, a new song, or an opera.

The illiterate people were harvesting and busy beside him. Even their little children were trying hard to throw sheaves of wheat onto the oxcart.

He could clearly feel that the faces that were full of sorrow, dullness, and stiffness in the past were now more vivid. Even the old faces full of wrinkles looked particularly good-looking at the moment.

"This is what it means for a gentleman to govern the world."

At this moment, the sadness in Mao Bijiang's heart completely disappeared, no matter how Hou Fangyu painted him He no longer cares about how bad the character is portrayed and how ugly he is.

Compared with the grand scene in front of him, what Hou Fangyu did in Jiangnan was not worth mentioning.

“I took the risk to lead a thousand people from nothing, and now there are crops everywhere, chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep are full. How can the rumors of a villain in your Hou Fangyu kill me?

I watched with my own eyes as a thousand people cleared wasteland, planted land, farmed, dug canals, built ponds and weirs, and rebuilt houses under my leadership. Every one of these and every building was a reflection of my hard work. , How can it be compared to the sour songs you Hou Fangyu made?

From today on, you Hou Fangyu has no place in my heart, and you are not worthy of occupying a place in my heart.”

He used to look down on this kind of thing, but now, watching the wheat being cut down by his sickle, he felt indescribably happy.

One of the assessments of local officials in Lantian County is to see their proficiency in farming. Only those specialized departments will not assess farming. Of course, those who work in specialized departments will not be able to bearWhen you become a local official, you are in charge of the government.

Therefore, going to the countryside to serve as a district chief is the first step for a local official in Lantian County. Without this most basic step, there will be no chance of success later.

In Xiangyang, it is not just the village of Maobijiang that has achieved such a harvest, the rest of the villages are basically the same. Except that the new grain does not grow well here, there is not much Big problem.

I heard that the soil samples here have been taken away by officials from Yushan Academy who specialize in agriculture, and a part of the experimental field has been opened here. Six officials were left to replant the seeds for comparison.

This is not the first time that the promotion of new grains in Lantian County has failed. In the past, the promotion in southern Shaanxi was not good. However, after Yushan Academy agricultural officials cultivated superior seedlings, there have been many Big change.

At present, the ineffective promotion of new grains in Hanzhong is just a temporary matter.

People like Mao Pijiang must stay in Xiangyang for three years, and then they will be sent to the newly opened territories to serve as higher-level officials. After three years, he can go to serve as a state official. An official position at the government level.

So after calming down, Mao Bijiang was full of expectations for his future life.

It has been a month since Dong Xiaowan came to Xiangyang. This stupid woman gave up her job at Mingyue Tower and came to Xiangyang alone with all her wealth. After putting on a wedding dress for herself, she stayed in Maopi. Jiang's bedroom, waiting for her man to come back.

Then, she was scolded by Mao Bijiang.

That night, he sent her to live in a widow's home, and repeatedly told Dong Xiaowan that he could not risk his life to marry a wife in secret. The wedding ceremony would only take place after a few days of preparation.

So, ten days later, Dong Xiaowan received a lively wedding at a Hanzhong farmhouse. Not only did it include a wedding ceremony, but there was even a marriage certificate personally signed by the chief of Xiangyang.

Looking at Dong Xiaowan in Tsing Yi sarong feeding chickens in the yard, he felt very excited. He went into the yard and snatched the grain basin from Dong Xiaowan’s hand, and poured it all to the chickens and ducks.

Then he picked up Dong Xiaowan and whispered in her ear: "My father may come to see me. You'd better take this opportunity to give me a son."

Dong Xiaowan snorted: "It's still daytime now..."

Mao Bijiang laughed and said: "What's this? You can see it more clearly during the day!"