Xinshun 1730

Chapter 509 Rate of Return

Seeing these practical things, the wealthy businessmen feel more at ease.

If the development of Yezo is just a call from the imperial court, in fact, wealthy merchants and landlords everywhere will have to think about it again.It's just that some people have a little trust in a similar model because of the jewels and jades of the trading company.

Several leading figures of the gentry and wealthy merchants exchanged a few words in a low voice, then pushed one of them out, and said, "Since Marquis Jing has considered everything, I can rest assured."

"Ming people don't speak dark words. Now that the imperial court wants to abolish the poll tax, we all know that the land and field prices are going to drop."

"Taxes are collected per mu. I buy land and collect rent. In fact, the money is not paid by me, but by the tenants."

"Now that the poll tax is abolished, and according to the whipping law of the previous dynasty, labor is included in the tax. Silver is collected and people are hired to do labor."

"But now that the poll tax has been abolished, the apportionment of labor is not based on the head, but on the basis of the land. In fact, some small households in the fields are even more difficult."

"For example, Henan. It is close to the Yellow River, and a levee needs to be built. In the past, corvee was collected, and everyone had to go. Now that the 'benevolent government' is implemented, the corvee is paid by the court to hire people, but the wool is still from the sheep."

"In the past, part of the wool was harvested by the head. Now it's all on the field, as you can imagine. So we discussed it before, and waited for the price of the field to drop, so we could buy land and collect rent."

"But when we heard about the Yezo, we actually wondered in our hearts whether the money should be invested in the Yezo or kept to buy land. After seeing this brochure today, we can see that the king really put his heart into making this project Moreover, it seems that the imperial court is also trying to earn money for corvee labor from overseas, so land prices may not necessarily drop, so we are at ease."

This wealthy businessman is a real person. In fact, the situation of low selling price and high rent of land has already existed in the previous dynasty.Especially in the later period, people are fleeing famine, and the land is barren there, because the tax in a county is fixed, and if others run away, they have to be apportioned to those who do not run away.

This is an important reason why Dashun and the former Ming Dynasty were unable to engage in "national debt". For wealthy landowners who are strong in disaster resistance, can "reasonably" avoid taxes, and can afford national debt, the interest paid by buying national debt is not as good as Taking advantage of the disaster year to buy land, the benefits are huge.

The current policy of the imperial court is to continue Zhang Juzheng's whipping method.The problem with decoupling tax money from population is that as a unified empire, water management itself is one of the pillars of legitimacy and legitimacy.

Do you want to build the Yellow River?Do you want to protect water transport?Do you want to build a seawall?Do you want to transport food?
Either spend money.

Either corvee or expropriation.

The former is very harmful to the self-cultivating farmers who have land but not much; the latter is a disaster for those who are lower than the owner-cultivating farmers.

It's basically because taxation is too heavily tied to land, otherwise the emperor would not support overseas expansion so much, and they were all forced out by the stinking thing of "money".

These gentry have many years of experience in dealing with land, and they are well aware of the impact of the imperial court's policies on land prices.Unless the court finds other ways to get money.

Businessmen with a keen sense of smell have already noticed that the court is trying to get money from places other than the land. This should be the general direction of the court in the future.Then it is worth considering to invest money in the development of Ezo.

Especially the deep meaning contained in this pamphlet, it can be seen that the imperial court really attaches great importance to this matter and will not contradict what it says.

In addition, in the booklet, the experience of the Virginia company can be learned a lot, and it can indeed save a lot of detours.

Although Ezo cannot grow tobacco, after the development of sea transportation in recent years, Vladivostok tried the concept of beet head sugar extraction, which is considered to be a calf-the sugar content is still low, and the cane sugar in Fujian and Guangxi has been shipped for more than 1 miles Still cheaper than beet sugar.

However, Ezo has fish, shrimp, kelp and kelp, which can also be compared to tobacco.In theory, people can’t starve to death if they only eat fish and shrimp, but people are monkeys after all, and they can’t do without food.

In the pamphlet, it is clearly written step by step from the beginning of collective labor to the transition to the contract and rent collection system in the later stage.

At least it proves that the imperial court did not slap their heads, but really considered it seriously.

Liu Yu lamented the money sense of these merchants, and it was not good to comment on the imperial court's policy on this occasion, so he only said: "The matter of buying land and buying fields... is actually similar to the tobacco planting of the Virginia Company in the pamphlet. It’s only profitable. I can’t say anything, and it’s useless to say it. Ever since Grandpa Yue died in Fengbo Pavilion, he started saying that it’s not good to be a traitor, and I haven’t seen Wu Bandit or Hong Bandit not being a traitor.”

"My coming today is an attitude of the imperial court. You have never been to Ezo, but you trust me, and you know the local situation if you want to come. The local Ezo people... don't worry about this at all, it's not there. For the chieftain in the southwest, three to five hundred soldiers are enough."

"So in the end it's still a matter of making money or not."

"I have also discussed this point with the Japanese. The goods from Ezo, etc., can be shipped directly to Yonago. The Japanese also have merchants. They used to take the route from Osaka to Yonago. They sold cloth and other odds and ends when they went there, and they brought them with them when they came back. With fish and shrimps."

"You don't have to worry about the sale of grain. The imperial court allows the sale of grain to the Japanese country, and the Privy Council will also protect you from being suppressed by the Japanese. I have also talked with the grain dealers in the Japanese country."

"The price of food in the Wa country is average, but there are many lands and few people that can't stand the Ezo. Small profits but high sales."

"I'll settle an account for you."

He is talking about practicality and profit. These wealthy businessmen like this kind of people who don't talk about benevolence, justice and morality, but only about profits.

Hearing that accounts were to be settled, each of them put down the books in their hands and listened quietly.

A few orphans of volunteer schools stretched out a huge scroll. Naturally, there are no slides in this era, but as long as there are people, similar methods are still possible.

After the huge scroll was stretched out, the characters on it were exposed. The merchants were very sensitive to these numbers, so they went to check the contents by themselves to figure out if there was any deceit in it.

The calculations are simple.

Hiring people from the Huaibei area to go to Yezo basically costs nothing, and some of them are poor and hard to make ends meet.The water transportation is still going on, and the influence of Baocao and the diversion of the Yellow River in the Song Dynasty made the fertile land before the Tang Dynasty a cancer of the empire.

Shipped at certain ports in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, and transported to Yezo, the average price for those who survived the first year was only five taels of silver.

Because of employment immigrants, there are no old, weak, sick or disabled, and they are actually laborers.

In the past few years, the trade development around Jinghai and Songhua River has led to the emergence of some large-scale pastures there, especially the important horse-producing areas of Donglu, Muling River, Wanda Mountain and other places, are trying to large-scale Breeding cattle and horses.

Vladivostok already has a huge cattle and horse market, and a cattle and horse trade road from Vladivostok to the Ninguta area has been paved for ten years.

There is no shortage of cattle and horses, and the price is not expensive, because the local grain is abundant and silver is scarce.

Ezo has a large plain, and there are thick volcanic ash in some places, and the climate is good. The overall land quality is similar to the first-class land in Jingxiang and other places, and the fertility is sufficient.The key is that the east and west are not swamps, but dry grasslands, which are easy to develop.

Some workshops in Weihai have also introduced Western ear cutters and horse-drawn threshing machines, which are not used in places in the inland where the per capita land is a few acres.But in a place like Ezo, it is very useful.

Counting fallow, pastures, pastures, livestock pastures, etc., and the introduction of new machinery, a small farmer can take care of 150 to [-] mu of land at this time. Of course, it is impossible to plant all of them, but including fallow and livestock pastures. However, a [-]-acre grain field for a family is still possible with large animals and horse-drawn machinery.

There is no need to imitate the British system of "poor people eat potatoes and produce food for sale" in Ireland. Even if they all eat wheat, according to the land rent standard of 30.00% which is regarded as a great benevolent person in the hinterland, one person who immigrates to the past can at most In three years, you can guarantee to get 15 shi of wheat and beans every year.

Wheat in Japan is a cheap food, cheap, about six or seven renminbi a stone.Beans are slightly higher than rice, and Japan has a large demand for soybeans, which is about one tael of silver and one stone.

In terms of conversion, starting from the third year, each person can create a profit of about 10 taels of silver every year.As for the investment during this period, one family counts as four people, and three years including cattle, horses, livestock, grain, cloth, etc., is only 40 taels of equity.

Moreover, with the increase in food production and the development of local animal husbandry, the cost of immigration will continue to decline in the future.

Just counting food, the average annual rate of return is 30%, which is not low. It is not as good as usury, and it is not as good as hoarding land for rent, but the advantage is that you can eat enough money, even if you have 10 taels Don't be afraid of not being able to eat.And the silver in the cellar is waiting to buy land, and it may not be able to eat 10 taels.

In addition to food, there are also fish and shrimps, which can be profitable in that year.Many local Ainu people are employed by Japanese businessmen, and they have rich experience.Dashun canceled the low-class Danmin fishermen, etc., the fishing skills may not be inferior to the Japanese, they are all familiar with it, and they can do everything.

In addition, the gold mines and timber in Ezo, especially the high-quality oak trees needed by the shipyard, the local quality is similar to that along the coast of Heilongjiang, but the timber in Heilongjiang has to be discharged to the river mouth, dried in the shade, and then shipped back to the river. Weihai is too far away, so it is not as close as Ezo.

As well as the wood tar industry that Mantou went to Sweden to negotiate and get back, it can also be developed there.

All kinds of cakes are drawn, and the annual contract fee of Yezo, which is similar to Yunnan, is only 4 taels, which will remain unchanged for at least 60 years.

The rate of return drawn by the big pie is at least about 30%, and various plans are listed on the scroll.Including the map that Lai sent people to stay in Ezo for exploration before, Du Feng and others gave Liu Yu's favor for the exploration as gifts, etc., it is very detailed.

It's not an empty thing. Even though many people think that there are only good things to say, they are still bewitched by this kind of words that are close to spreading and selling.

(End of this chapter)