I am not an ant thief in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 714, Foreign Exchange Hunger

When the Daqian court and Xu Wei were counting the year's harvest, Cao Cao, who was hiding in Crab Island, was also studying Daqian's policies and counting the income and expenses of Crab Island this year!
The hall was filled with the sound of calculations, and Xun Yu kept holding the account book to check the collected totals!

Cao Cao's other subordinates also looked forward to it. Since Guo Jia opened up the business route in Jidu, the income of Crab Island has been increasing year after year. Cao Cao is also very generous to his subordinates. In the past two years, there have been constant rewards, and everyone's life is a little bit looking forward to.

Therefore, for these people, the greater the benefits of Crab Island, the richer the rewards they can get

Although Daqian has experienced overheated investment and inflation, it can even be regarded as good news for Crab Island. During the period of inflation, the price of bezoar directly doubled, but it was a pity for Cao Cao that the price was quickly reduced. Lei Gong controlled it, and he earned a few more months of money.

It's just that Cao Cao's face is not very good-looking, and he suddenly became rich, and Cao Cao spent money a bit extravagantly.Although the accounts have not yet been released, Cao Cao can feel that although the income of Crab Island has increased this year, the money is still not enough to spend. Even if he is the owner of the island, it is very difficult to get a 10 yuan expenditure. In this case, even if he doesn't know how much income he has earned this year, he still knows that Crab Island's income and expenditure are extremely tight!
Half a day later, the abacus business stopped, and Xun Yu took the account book and said to Cao Cao: "Ming Gong, the income of Crab Island has come out this year. We have sold wood, sulfur and dispatched labor together, and we have earned a total of more than 2 million yuan this year." Money, 3000% more than last year!"

Cao Cao was a little surprised by this figure. He didn't expect the income to increase so much, and then he said in doubt: "We made so much money this year, why do I still feel that the cost of our Crab Island is extremely tight?"

Xun Yu smiled helplessly and said: "Although we earn a lot, our expenses are growing faster. First of all, the expenses for the eldest son's study abroad, although not much, but there are still 300 million yuan, and after Minggong knows that he has made a steam engine , bought these machines, and built a railway track several miles long in Luojing. You must know that our Crab Island can only produce a small amount of pig iron. This railway track and the locomotive were purchased from Jidu. It cost 3000 million yuan alone. money, and we bought 100 pot machines, 10 tractors, and some parts and machinery needed for maintenance from Dagan, which add up to another 500 million yuan."

"Although these machines are expensive, I have to say that they are really easy to use. Not to mention, the camel machine is used to pump water, which has increased the grain income of our crab island by [-]%, and the effect of this tractor to cultivate land is also better than Hundreds of cows are much stronger, and I have to admire Lei Gong's use of machines, which is simply amazing." Cao Cao is very sensitive to new affairs, and after learning about Dagan's industrial development over the years, he also bought some The pot camel machine and steam engine are used for research, in order to keep up with the development of Daqian!

Xun Yu said helplessly: "But these things cost too much money, especially the tractor, which is half used up now!"

For Xun Yu, the potted machine is the most suitable for the current crab island. This machine is easy to maintain, durable, and has strong applicability. Just one pumping function is enough for them to pay back. Because of the machine, there are tens of thousands of acres more, and the grain output of these tens of thousands of acres of paddy fields has more than doubled, so Xun Yu is willing to introduce the potted machine.

But he doesn’t want tractors anymore. He admits that each tractor is better than 10 cows, but the machinery is easy to break, and no one in the whole Crab Island knows how to maintain it. It's bad, it's better to buy more cattle and horses, at least they know how to take care of these big animals!

What about trains and rails, not to mention the huge cost, only a few miles away, these expensive machines have become huge toys, Xun Yu thinks it is better to waste precious resources on such useless rails Build some light wooden rails by yourself, at least the wooden rails do not need to be imported, and the manpower can also be used by your own tribe, so the 3000 million yuan does not need to be spent.

Hearing this, Cao Cao smiled indifferently and said: "When Zixiu and the others come back from their studies, the tractor can be repaired! The wooden rails can also be built, but we can't drop the rails. At least we know that there is such a thing. , so as not to miss too much work.”

Hearing this, Xun Yu could only continue to talk about the expenses of Crab Island to Cao Cao: "Cloth, silk, cattle and horses and other large animals, as well as their own farm tools, machinery, these materials are all needed by our Crab Island. The increase in imports has cost us nearly [-] million yuan, so even if our income has increased by [-]%, it is still not enough to spend!"

Cao Cao blushed a little when he heard this, but nothing else, silk is really not what Crab Island needs now, but the elites of Crab Island are not willing to lower their living standards even if they come to such a barren place. It's okay if they don't have money, but now that they have made money, they are naturally unwilling to treat themselves badly. This year alone, they spent more than 3000 million yuan on silk, and many of them were contributed by the Cao Cao family.

After all, Cao Cao was dispatched to Crab Island, and his future is already visible, so what if he treats his family better!
In addition, there are so many cronies who have come to Crab Island with Tai, Cao Cao has to find a way to reward him for a year of hard work, and luxury goods like silk are the best rewards.

And even Cao Cao thinks this way, and the decadent nobles don't want to lower their living standards even more. After Guo Jia opened up the trade route from Crab Island to Jidu the year before last, the income of Crab Island began to rise linearly. The aristocrats tried their best to buy some luxury goods, such as silk, four-wheeled carriages, luxury furniture made by Dagan, leather clothes, etc. This is the main reason for the lack of foreign exchange in Crab Island!

Cao Cao saw the bill given by Xun Yu, and found that a small half of it was related to the luxury goods purchased. It was just like what Xun Yu said, earning more and spending more.

Xun Yu was giving them face by mixing the cost of these luxuries with the cost of cattle, horses and agricultural tools.

Guo Jia worked so hard to open up business routes, and most of the profits turned out to be luxury goods for the rich and powerful in Crab Island.

Cao Cao didn't even blush, feeling a little sorry for Guo Jia who worked so hard in Jidu!
So he said: "We at Crab Island still have to find a way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure! We can't let down Feng Xiao's efforts in Jidu!"

After speaking, Cao Cao handed the ledger to other subordinates.

People like Cheng Yu read the ledger and understood why Cao Cao said that!
Cheng Yu stroked his beard and said: "If you want to save money, it's fine, we can produce silk and woolen cloth in Crab Island, find a way to get some mulberry trees, and establish a silkworm breeding industry in Crab Island. The silk produced can not only meet our needs, but can also be exported to Jidu, and the silk industry may become our pillar industry by then!"

Xun Yu's eyes lit up when he heard this and said: "This is a way of making money. Dagan likes extravagance, and the people's demand for silk is almost endless. At the beginning, Liu Bei relied on the silk industry to support the expenses of the entire imperial court. If our Crab Island It is also possible to establish a silk industry, even if it is only one-tenth of the original Jiangnan, it will be a big supplement to Crab Island!"

The current Crab Island is a bit like the Celestial Dynasty in later generations. It is extremely hungry for foreign exchange. More than 2 million foreign exchange a year is not enough to spend. Even 20 billion foreign exchange may not be enough for them. Xun Yu is the owner of Crab Island It can be said that politicians worry about money every day!

However, the silk industry has shown him a ray of hope. The prosperity of Daqian is unprecedented. The annual consumption of silk products is dozens of times higher than that of the Han Dynasty. At the beginning, Liu Bei relied on the silk industry to support the expenditure of the court. It would be a lot easier for them to have such a powerful property, and he would not have to hold back like he is now.

But he quickly said in a dilemma: "If you want to raise silkworms, you need to go to the south, but our Crab Island is in the north. The heavy snow in winter can even flood the houses. Can silkworms be raised in this kind of place?"

Cheng Yu thought for a while and said, "We can give it a try. It doesn't matter if we fail, but it will be a huge victory if we succeed!"

On the other hand, Xun You said: "Actually, we raise sheep on Crab Island, and it is better to develop the wool textile industry! After all, there are many emperors on the island, and I am short of manpower, so we can't develop it. The food is enough for us now. The extra open space and If the waste is there, it is better to find a way to raise the sheep as raw materials for the textile industry."

Xun Yu shook his head and said: "Even if we raise sheep on Crab Island, we can't do too much in the textile industry. Their Mayi Textile Factory alone can produce millions of woolen cloths every year. No businessman can beat Mayi Textile Factory, let alone Crab Island!"

But Xun You said: "We have an advantage that Daqian can't match, that is, our labor cost is much lower than Daqian. Now the monthly salary of female textile workers in Daqian is 1000 yuan, and the price of female workers with better skills is higher. .

And if the textile factory is built on our Crab Island, our female worker's salary can be as low as 100 yuan. Even if our machines are not as good as Dagan at this price, our wool cloth is enough to compete with Dagan, and even if it cannot be developed, we can satisfy Our own needs are also good! "

After hearing this, Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "Gongda, a great talent, actually thought of a way to make money for us in Crab Island. The area of ​​Crab Island is small, so what kind of sheep do we raise? We simply buy wool from Dagan, and then let the female workers in Crab Island weave wool. Cloth, and then sell it to Dagan at a low price, so we will have an extra source of income!"

For Cao Cao, it doesn’t matter whether he makes money or not. The key is to earn foreign exchange. In order to earn foreign exchange, Cao Cao has tried his best. The sulfur mine on Crab Island kills many people every year, but the output has been increasing, which is true. The century-old giant tree has almost been cut down by him, and the log industry Cao Cao estimates that it will decline in less than 5 years!
In order to make money, the aristocrats on the island also tried their best to export grain and their own fish resources to Dagan at extremely low prices, so that the price of grain on Wajima, which did not produce grain, was lower than that in the mainland of Dagan. The price of grain in Jidu has been as low as 130 renminbi a stone, while the price of grain in Wodao has been suppressed by Cao Cao to about 100-110 renminbi, which is lower than that in Dagan, so that the merchants who come to Wadao are not willing to transport grain However, the locals of Wajima would rather dig gold mines than grow food. The market of these tens of 10 people was all rounded up by Cao Cao and the others!

But even though Cao Cao and the others are working so hard to make money, the money earned by Crab Island will soon flow to Dagan's country due to the poor cutting of Dagan's industrial and agricultural scissors!
This means that Cao Cao's Crab Island is too primitive, and the general feudal country may have been washed away in the face of Dagan's industrialization.

But on the contrary, such a primitive country will not be affected too much. Crab Island has no handicraft industry at all, so it is naturally not afraid of the impact of industrialization.Most of his followers are savages who were born with low needs. Cao Cao bought rice from Dagan at a low price for his followers, which made these savages smile. Even if they ate a few savages to death, they didn't care. These people are not lucky enough to live a good life.

It can be said that if it weren't for the arrogance and extravagance of the upper class like Cao Cao, Cao Cao in Crab Island could even absorb the funds of Dagan in turn!
But obviously the desires of Cao Cao's upper class are endless, and the income of Crab Island is no longer what they desire.

Now Cao Cao and the others have discovered that the speed of making money from farming is too slow, and all the profits are harvested by Dagan. If you want to keep the money in Crab Island, you must find a way to develop light industry!
Although this seems to be a way of making money, Xun Yu still smiled wryly and said, "Don't forget, Mr. Ming, that it costs a lot of money to buy machinery. Now everyone in Daqian starts to use steam looms, and we only have a lot of money to weed out here." Even if our labor cost is low, it is difficult to compete with Mayi Textile Factory."

"And if you want to buy a steam loom, not to mention whether Dagan will sell it to us, even if they are willing to sell it to us, I'm afraid the price will be unbearable for us!"

The problem of not having enough money to spend is common all over the world, and Cao Cao is also facing this kind of difficulty now. Even if it is to build a light industrial textile factory, the cost will not be small. At least it is difficult for Cao Cao to get the money now.

But Cheng Yu thought for a while and said: "Now that we are doing great work, the merchants have money. Can we recruit a group of merchants to set up a textile factory on Crab Island? As long as the machinery is the same, we can open a textile factory here with our low-cost manpower. , It’s definitely possible to compete too much, this can be said to be a huge advantage for us, we can make more money, and those businessmen will definitely not refuse, and we can collect a tax if the textile factory is built on Crab Island.”

Cao Cao and the others found that this seemed feasible, so they sent a message to Guo Jia in Jidu, asking him to find a way to attract some businessmen to invest in Crab Island.

(End of this chapter)