Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1374
The Spring Festival in the eighth year of Jianji (908) came in a lively and peaceful atmosphere.

This year, Shao Shude was 49 in real and 51 in imaginary. He had hundreds of thousands of troops and half of the world.

He said one thing, majestic.

No matter how unruly a martial artist is, he behaves like a cat in front of him.

No matter how cunning the civil servant was, he swallowed his saliva when he saw his ax and axe.

No matter how beautiful a woman is, if he takes a fancy to it, whether you like it or not, you have to serve her with a smile.

He is such a person, who speaks kindly, has a far-reaching layout, is firm in will, and will not give up until he reaches his goal.

His prestige does not come entirely from the axe.

In fact, judging from the fashion of the year, people cannot be intimidated by force and killing.There are too many people who can be beaten in the world. Huang Chao and Qin Zongquan's hundreds of thousands of troops were also beaten to pieces.

If Shao Shude dared to rely solely on force, he would probably have run back to Guanbei on a camel by now, relying on the solid Tongwan City to survive.

His great power comes from all walks of life who support him.Because he has truly changed the fate of a large number of people and benefited them, and their lives have undergone earth-shaking changes.

Kansai is the basic set and strongly supports him.

Henan people tend to support him.

The Hedong people were neutral and did not oppose him.

So even if the Hebei people have some criticisms about him, they can't afford to make big waves.

This is the general trend, the people's hearts, and the prestige.So when he introduced institutional reforms, no one raised objections.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Shao Shude arrived in Zhigu County in the southeast of Beiping Prefecture—in [-], he hadn't thought much about it, that was all, he just wanted to do things now.

The weather this year is fine, not too cold, and there is no large-scale freezing phenomenon on the Liaohai Sea.Even where freshwater rivers flow into the sea, there are only a few finely broken ice floes.

In Shao Shude's memory, it was even warmer than in the 21st century, because at that time, the Bohai Sea often had ice conditions in winter, which affected shipping.

"Ocean currents in Liaohai, have you figured it out?" Shao Shude asked standing on the top of the pagoda near the pier.

There were many people around him, but Zhao Feng, the local parent officer, Ma Wanpeng of the Shipyard, Zhu Liang, the military envoy of the Ping Navy, Li Jingchen, the supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and others stood at the front, ready to ask questions at any time.

"Your Majesty, according to investigations over the past few years, there is an east-west current in the Liaohai Sea, which flows in from the outside and hits the coastal waters of Leting County, Pingzhou. Turn around from the southwest, flow to the northeast, and arrive at the west coast of Andong Mansion. One stream turns southwest first, flows south along the coast of Cangzhou, and then flows east after being blocked by land." Zhu Liang said: "Every time it touches the shore, , the speed of the ocean current will drop a lot, so the ocean current flowing in from the open sea is the strongest. Even against the wind, as long as you lower your sails and follow the ocean current, you can reach the nearshore ports of Pingzhou, Jizhou, Beiping, and Cangzhou. "

"These years are not in vain." Shao Shude praised.

The first thing to do when sailing is to find out the hydrology and weather conditions of the target sea area. The direction and speed of ocean currents are the most important.

In fact, the ocean currents in Liaohai are not as simple as Zhu Liang said.Coastal ocean currents are very complex and changeable. It is not that simple to make good use of them.

There is also the issue of prevailing wind.On a winter day like this, the wind blows mainly from the land, but that's only most of the time.In the season when the northwest wind prevails, the southeast wind also blows occasionally.Ships like this that will berth in Zhigu Port will not be able to leave the port with the wind if they suddenly encounter a southeasterly wind.

However, after several years of accumulation, Ping Haijun has been able to achieve what he is now, which is already good, and there is no need to demand more.

"Since your aspirations are not on the battlefield..." Shao Shude pondered for a moment, and said, "Then assign some people to come out. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is about to set up a Shipping Department, so they should work here."

Zhu Liang blushed when he heard the words, "Aspirations are not on the battlefield", alas!
"I obey the order." He responded immediately without any hesitation.

"Inspector Yeli Mansion, the House of Internal Affairs is getting bigger and bigger, so you have to take care of it." Shao Shude said: "In March, four new-style sea shark clippers will be delivered, and you have to make good use of them. "

"Minister obeys the order." Nori Jingchen is 64 years old this year, and his energy is not as good as before, but he is still running around without stopping.

Shao Shude still remembered how he looked when he first met Yeli Jingchen.

He was a handsome middle-aged man who ruled a tribal alliance of about 20 people.This strength is actually not small.That is, during the Xuanzong Dynasty, the Tang court was temporarily revived, the financial situation improved, and a lot of lost land was recovered in the west. The Hengshan direction suppressed the Dangxiang rebellion in one fell swoop. The process was bloody and killed many people. The Dangxiang tribe was afraid and did not dare to fight. Only then did the imperial court successfully win over Shao Shude.

Of course, the Yeli family was not at a disadvantage. They married the Tian family for two consecutive generations, a large number of children worked hard in the army, and many clan members served as local officials.Although there are fewer and fewer tribesmen under control, the family is really getting more and more prosperous.For local tyrants in poor mountain valleys like them, it seems to be good.

It is impossible for Hengshan Dangxiang to develop. The conditions in all aspects are too poor. The Tuoba family and the Zhe family have more opportunities than them.And after they develop, they will inevitably direct their expansion forces to Hengshan, trying to annex them.Instead of that, it's better to find someone who offers the best price and sell it for more profit.

"After the first batch of four ships is delivered, the second batch of eight ships will be delivered. Ping Haijun will bear with it for a while, and replace the old ships after all the ships from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are in place." Shao Shude said again: " You don’t want to interfere with the hunting of fish, whales, and sea animals on the Whale Sea, it’s all under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.” Shao Shude said again: “The Ministry of Internal Affairs also needs to strive for success, so let’s work hard on it first. The number of staff can be overstaffed. Anyone can do it, but I would rather let people wait for the boat than let the boat wait for people. In the future, you will find a way to take over Annan’s pepper benefits. The big money will be made by big cannibals, isn’t it plausible?”

"Yes." Yeli Jingchen replied.

Everyone else looked at him enviously.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is an institution that grows stronger every year.At the beginning of preparations for the establishment, there were only a dozen or so people including the Fujian and the Fucheng, and there was not even a government office for office work.

But at this time, Changxia Commercial Bank, an institution that is making money every day, was merged first, laying a material foundation for the expansion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.Afterwards, Huangzhuang began to be continuously established, covering Beiping Prefecture, Taiyuan Prefecture, Bianzhou, Dezhou, Dizhou and other places. There are no less than ten of them—the Huangzhuang belongs to the Camp and Land Administration under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In addition to the Camp and Land Administration, there is also the Yu Hou Division.

Because Huangzhuang mostly chooses war orphans and young captives as households, it is easier to train them.Therefore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs recruited military talents, such as Zhou Zhiyu, a general from Youzhou, and organized juvenile exercises and training on a regular basis. It was very strict, so the Yu Hou Division was specially set up to be responsible for training.

The Weaving Department was established last year.The Shaofu dispatched a group of craftsmen, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs also hired craftsmen from the private sector, recruited apprentices, ordered looms, and focused on sweaters and fur clothing. It was considered a profit-making organization.

Now that the Shipping Agency has been established, it is obvious that it intends to enter the shipping industry.

Considering that the ownership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is owned by the royal family, this half-official, half-business institution is completely a tool to practice Shao Shude's personal will.

He didn't want to keep these benefits to himself.

In fact, taking all the benefits for yourself will only make you alienated.It's not good at all, and it's not suitable.

The best way is to share the interests equally.

Considering that many people are relatively conservative, and their vision is mostly limited to one-third of an acre of land, they have to scrape off Tianshefu, and they are not very enthusiastic about businesses with certain risks.Therefore, Shao Shude felt that it would be much easier to operate through the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a few years to show the effect of making money, and then to convince others.

People in the Tang Dynasty did not shy away from talking about business affairs. There used to be a prime minister and a wall-painting gray man arguing and haggling over the daily wages, which is not embarrassing at all.

After seeing the results, he can logically add people who he thinks are worth wooing and give them.Everyone pays dividends according to a certain percentage, and receives the dividends—of course, the shares are registered, and transfers are not allowed for the time being.

In fact, it is a joint-stock company.This will not have this concept yet, and it needs to be popularized, but it is a very basic concept and easy to understand.

Shao Shude once thought about it.Places like Annan are abandoned, most of the time because they are unprofitable.But if it's profitable, can you sit back and relax?not necessarily.

You have to know who is in charge of this country.Only by allowing them to truly benefit can the policy be implemented.

Historically, Germany was reunified relatively late, and good colonies had already been carved up by Britain and France. When they colonized the sea, most of the rest were places that did not shit, such as Southwest Africa and the Pacific Islands.

When Germany colonized Southwest Africa, if you look at their financial balance, they were actually losing money.Taking Namibia as an example, because of the large-scale construction of railways, roads, docks and other facilities, the year with the highest loss exceeded [-] million marks, but why didn't the German government give up this colony?
One is because of national pride, and the other is because MPs are paid.

The colony suffered a loss, and what was lost was the finances of the German Empire, but the parliamentarians who engaged in mining and contracted infrastructure in the colony made a lot of money.

They are the masters of the country, the real influencers.

Focus on everything.

Even if Annan rebelled in the future, the imperial court would send troops to suppress it, and the military expenditure would be huge, making ends meet and causing serious losses.As long as the top giants of Great Xia can still make money in Annan, they will push the court to continue to send troops to suppress and never give up.

Anyway, the military expenses are borne by the people all over the country, but the commercial profits are their own.It's obvious what they're going to do.

If you feel that you are indebted to the common people, then Shao Shude has another trick: to issue some shares to the public so that more people can share the benefits.

Moreover, he will personally supervise the issuance of this part of the stock, and will not let the bureaucrats make a farce of the midnight issuance.

Historically, Tsarist Russia established the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank in China. According to the agreement, it needs to be publicly issued, so that the Chinese can also share the benefits.The Russians agreed, but they put the distribution place in Petersburg, and it was only sold for a few hours in the middle of the night, and then they announced that no Chinese would buy it.

In the face of huge interests, bureaucrats can really do this kind of thing!

"I have been in the army for 30 years, and I have been invincible. All the new things I have come up with are of great benefit." Shao Shude turned around, and said in an extremely confident and even conceited tone: "Anyone who opposes me will lose his family and die. Those who follow me, Wealth is extremely high. The benefits of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be seen by everyone in the future. I never eat alone, the benefits belong to everyone, and I only take one share. Everyone has followed me for so many years, come and go in the wind and rain, and the children and grandchildren will enjoy the wealth in peace. It's human nature. Do things well. After three months, the army will be dispatched to conquer the Bohai Sea. This is the first real big deal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I will only demonstrate it once. Everyone, watch carefully and don't blink."

Everyone laughed when they heard the words.

Everyone believed the saint's words seventy percent.He never speaks loudly and has a good reputation. Just follow him and you won't suffer.

(End of this chapter)