At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 521: The New World’s Wealth Boom

Unfortunately, Zhou Ce and his men only brought a few hundred people with them. Together with the slaves they bought from mining, Zhou Ce and his men now have only about 2,000 to 3,000 people in each of their vassal states. Some of them were armed as soldiers, some became construction workers to build their vassal states, and the rest were all invested in the silver refining industry chain. Under such circumstances, there was naturally no manpower to develop other industries.

As a result, they could only look at the silver in their hands, but they could only exchange it for a pile of junk in Chen Mai's hands. But now they have accumulated a lot of gold and silver. If they bring this wealth back to the Han Dynasty, they can exchange it for ten times the goods.

At the same time, they also planned to return to the Han Dynasty to recruit more people to build their own vassal states. At the very least, they could solve the most basic supplies such as food, cloth, bricks, and cement by themselves.

On the 25th day of the first month of the 24th year of the Han calendar, in the Yinzhou continent, the starting city.

Dozens of warships carried precious trees cut down from Yinzhou and dozens of tribal leaders who wanted to go to the Han Dynasty. Zhou Ce and other princes and princesses left the New World with the gold and silver they had dug out.

On April 15th, the 24th year of the Han calendar, at the dock of Linzi County, Dahan.

The cold winter had just passed, and the temperature in Linzi was still not very high. Several Han officials in charge of the dock held a cup of tea in their hands, drank the steaming hot tea carefully, and felt their bodies warmed up, then they sighed comfortably.

"It's not that the New World is full of wealth. Our Linzi, as the starting point for the New World, will become wealthy as quickly as Kuaiji County. Now more than half a year has passed, and Linzi County seems to have not changed at all. There are not even a few more ships." Customs officer Li Ying sighed.

To be honest, after the discovery of the New World in the East, the happiest people in the entire Han Dynasty were the people of Qi, because they felt that the craze of the great navigation had finally come to their land.

The Han Dynasty developed rapidly in the past 20 years, and the development of Qi was not slow either, but it was only normal development. When everyone was developing at an accelerated pace, your normal development was equivalent to taking a step back. The status of Qi in the Han Dynasty's territory had been declining, which made the people of Qi feel a little lost, and among them, the people of Linzi County felt the strongest sense of loss.

Because in the Warring States Period, Linzi has always been the richest city in the world. Although Luoyang City has a strong commercial atmosphere, the Zhou Dynasty has declined and even left behind a joke of being heavily in debt. Although the Qin Dynasty is powerful, Chang'an City is just a huge military camp. Although Handan is also a commercial city, the land is barren and it is not as good as Linzi. Although Daliang is located in the center of the world, it is under the peak of the Qin army. The Chu State was beaten by the tyrannical Qin and moved its capital three times, so it is even more incomparable with Linzi.

If you want to see a wealthy place, you should look at Linzi County. How wealthy is Linzi County? The wealthy merchants and nobles in Linzi no longer care about land wealth and industrial and commercial wealth, but have begun to play with financial wealth.

Even after the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, Linzi City retained its vitality because Qi surrendered without a fight. Other famous big cities, on the contrary, widened the gap with Linzi County because of the wars they had experienced. It can be said that from the late Warring States Period to the period when Qin unified the world, Linzi County had always been the wealth center of the world.

But after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Linzi began to fall behind gradually. Because of the relationship with King Xiang Yu of Qi, Qi was the last unified land of the entire Han Dynasty. The nobles and powerful people in Qi were ruthlessly purged by the emperor.

So when other counties began to develop towards industrialization, Qi was still recovering, falling behind step by step. Chang'an City, Chen County, Sanchuan County, and Kuaiji County, all wealthy industrial counties, quickly surpassed Linzi County by relying on their first-mover advantage. Up to now, Linzi County's fiscal revenue is probably in the top ten of the Han Dynasty. Although it was also a wealthy county in the Han Dynasty, it fell from the first to the top ten. The sense of loss of the people of Linzi can be imagined.

So when the New World was discovered, the people of Qi were the most excited. Back then, Kuaiji County relied on the dividends brought by the great voyages to rise rapidly and become one of the richest regions in the Han Dynasty. The salaries of ordinary local people could easily reach three thousand coins.

The local people thought that Linzi could take advantage of the wave of navigation like Kuaiji County and rise all the way to regain their previous position. They could also easily find a job with a monthly income of 3000 yuan like the people in Kuaiji County.

As a result, the people of Qi were excited for half a year, but found that everything in Linzi remained the same, with no changes at all. The sea merchants did not come, and their salaries did not increase. Naturally, this made the people of Linzi extremely disappointed.

Another customs officer, Qian Yong, said, "More haste, less speed. The New World is not like the Spice Islands. The Spice Islands can be reached in a month, but the New World requires several months of sailing. Once our Han Dynasty has a certain foundation in the New World, everything will be fine."

Li Ying shook his head and said, "Nanyang has spices, various specialties, and palm oil, but what does the New World have? The fleet that returned a few months ago only brought back some wood. They sailed 20,000 to 30,000 miles just to transport a few broken pieces of wood. Which merchant would be willing to go to the New World? Haven't you noticed that in the past six months, my Linzi Wharf has not added many ships at all.

The number of ships in Kuaiji County has increased dozens of times due to the discovery of the Spice Islands, Luzon Island, and Tianzhu. They have gained overseas benefits. Even ordinary people in Kuaiji County have higher incomes than us. I think the bad luck of Qi has not passed. I don’t know how long it will take for it to develop. "

Qian Yong said: "It will be fine. Didn't the court say that there are a lot of gold and silver mines in the New World? Is there any special product in the world that can compare to gold and silver? Once the gold and silver in the New World are discovered, the sea merchants of our Han Dynasty will definitely flock to the New World."

What the Han people were most concerned about in the New World was whether there was gold and silver in the local area. The people of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were pragmatic, and the hypocritical and artificial ideas of later generations had not yet become the mainstream of the Han Dynasty. The entire Han Dynasty was in a positive atmosphere, and the people made no secret of their fanatical pursuit of wealth. In addition, the Han Dynasty's industry had flourished in the past twenty years, and the entire atmosphere of the Han Dynasty paid more attention to money.

Li Ying, however, looked like he had seen through everything and said, "This is nothing but propaganda from the imperial court. They are trying to trick ordinary people like us into going to the New World to suffer the hardships of reclamation. At the beginning, many people thought that they could reach the Spice Islands and make a fortune by going to Kuaiji County, but in the end, they all became laborers on the Spice Islands and farmers under the princes. Millions of people went to Southeast Asia, but only a few made a fortune, which in turn directly drove down the price of spices."

"Later, the imperial court wanted to open up Liaodong, saying that there were gold mines in Liaodong. They deceived many people in Qi to go to Liaodong. In the end, there was some gold, but Liaodong made money and spent it in Liaodong. Not many people got rich, and in the end, they became farmers in the vassal states of Liaodong."

"The most outrageous ones are the princes of the Western Regions. I don't know who was so wicked that he came up with the idea of ​​spreading agate and jade. It caused a sensation in the entire Han Dynasty at the time. Everyone thought they could get rich by going to the Western Regions, but in the end, hundreds of thousands of Han people were deceived and sent to the Western Regions to eat sand."

"This is not the first time the court has used this trick. It has been used three or four times. Do the people above think that I am stupid enough to fall for this trick? The more people go, the harder it will be to make a fortune. Rather than taking a one in ten thousand chance, it is better to stay in the Han Dynasty and enjoy life."

Qian Yong sighed and said, "I can't say that the court is deceiving me. Only a few people are destined to get rich. It depends on who has the fate to make it."

Now the people of the Han Dynasty have also realized that there may be no valuable specialties in that area, but if too many people get this stuff, it will become worthless, and only a few people can make a fortune after all.

At this time, Li Ying said, "There is a fleet coming."

Several customs officers looked over and found that there were indeed dozens of black spots in the distant sea. They looked through telescopes and saw that it was an extremely large fleet.

Qian Yong said: "This should be the fleet of the Northern Yinzhou Governor's Office. They are returning to the Han Dynasty for supplies. Everyone should cheer up and prepare to work. The guide ship is ready to guide the fleet into the port."

"promise!"

A fleet of dozens of ships made the entire dock busy.

Half a day later, the fleet slowly docked at the dock, and a group of dock workers began to gather around and transport the cargo off the ship. Most of the cargo from the Northern Yinzhou Governor's Office was logs weighing several hundred kilograms, which could only be transported bit by bit by the gantry crane on the dock.

What surprised Li Ying and his companions the most was that the ships with flags of Zhou, Cao, Ye, etc. did not ask their local dock workers at all, but instead carried the heavy boxes down one by one by their own people. There were so many boxes that these people were already sweating profusely, but they still did not find anyone else to help carry them.

Li Yun said: "These people should be the fleet of the princes of my Han Dynasty, right?"

Qian Yong nodded and said, "It's them. I saw them when they went out to sea."

Li Yun raised his gossip at this time and said: "These boxes are so heavy, and they look so tense, they must contain gold or silver."

The other Han officials also stretched their necks to look at the boxes loaded onto the carriages. They looked at each other, with gossip burning in their eyes. Because these princes' fleets carried hundreds of boxes, if they were all gold and silver, it would be a huge fortune. Qian Yong adjusted his Hanfu and said, "As customs officials, we naturally have to check these goods. You follow me."

"promise!"

A dozen Han officials stepped forward and said, "We, the customs officers, are under the order of the court. We have the right to inspect goods entering the Han Dynasty from overseas and collect 30% of the customs tax."

The dock workers around also watched this scene with great interest and soon formed a circle. They had more experience in moving goods. Such heavy boxes could only be loaded with precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper, or luxury goods such as pearls, agates, and gems. In short, everything in the boxes was valuable. Steel was rarely packed in boxes.

"I am Zhou Ce, a prince of the State of Chu. This is a gift from us princes to the emperor. No customs tax is required." Zhou Ce felt distressed when he thought of this. They had worked hard to travel thousands of miles to the New World to dig out gold and silver, but the court wanted to take half of the share. Although he knew that this was already a favor from the emperor, and the Luzon Copper Mine had to hand over 70%, he still felt distressed that half of his income was gone.

Qian Yong said: "Even so, we still need to check it out."

Zhou Ce thought for a moment and said, "You guys go and see."

Qian Yong and others went up and opened one of the boxes. Suddenly, he saw a dazzling silver light in front of his eyes, which made him unable to open his eyes. When he saw clearly what it was, he couldn't help but gasp. There were two huge silver ingots in the box, which were so shining and dazzling that his eyes turned red.

"These are all silver ingots!" Li Ying and others were in a similar situation. It's not that they had never seen silver before, but they had never seen such large silver ingots. At this time, they stepped forward to check the Han officials and opened dozens of boxes in a row. As a result, they found that the boxes at the door were all silver ingots. Now they were confused and acted only on instinct.

The dock workers outside the city also exclaimed when they saw this scene: "There really is a silver mountain in the New World!"

There were hundreds of boxes. A box could hold two or three hundred kilograms of silver ingots, which meant hundreds of thousands of kilograms. Thanks to the decades of compulsory education in the Han Dynasty, the people of the Han Dynasty were very good at arithmetic and could quickly calculate how much silver was on the scene. The dock workers around them slowly approached the team, and Zhou Ce and other princes began to be on guard.

Zhou Ce said with a cold and murderous face: "Please protect these tributes, they are for the emperor. If something goes wrong, all of you will lose your heads."

Qian Yong finally calmed down, and then seeing the excited crowd around him, he felt depressed. Why did he have to open so many boxes here? If one box was missing, the lives of his entire family would be in danger.

Qian Yong shouted, "Don't get close. Li Yun, go get the county soldiers to protect these tributes from the emperor."

"promise!"

The two sides confronted each other vigilantly for a stick of incense's time. The news of the discovery of the silver mountain in the New World had spread, and more and more people began to gather at the dock. They also wanted to see what the silver mountain in the New World was like.

Fortunately, at this time Li Yun found thousands of soldiers from Linzi County. They separated the crowd and allowed the convoy to slowly walk out of the dock area.

However, the news spread farther and farther, and became more and more exaggerated. At first, it was said that the princes of the Han Dynasty had dug up hundreds of thousands of kilograms of silver, which were loaded with hundreds of carriages. Later, it was said that the amount was several million kilograms. Later, the silver turned into gold. The news became more and more exaggerated, and the people of the entire Linzi city were in an uproar.

Fortunately, the Han Dynasty's Zhendong General's Mansion was near Linzi. After Zhendong General Chai Wu learned the news, he dispatched 5000 soldiers to maintain order in Linzi City, which calmed the excited people.

But their convoy was still watched by the people of Linzi City, and many people counted the carriages one by one.

Chai Wu, who was walking at the front of the team, smiled bitterly at Zhou Ce and said, "My dear nephew, you are going to increase the military affairs for a certain Zhendong General's Mansion. How can you show so much silver so blatantly?"

Chai Wu was shocked. These silver ingots weighed 40 jin and were worth more than ten billion coins. The annual fiscal revenue of Linzi County was only this much. In the Warring States Period, this was a fortune that could rival a country.

Zhou Ce apologized, "This is also to attract the people of the Han Dynasty to the New World."

Chai Wu suddenly realized that this routine was too familiar. The various princes of the Han Dynasty had used it more than once. Since the Han Dynasty was too wealthy, the princes from all over the country could only think of some ways to recruit the people.

Then Chai Wu asked with great interest: "Are there really many gold and silver mines in the New World?"

Zhou Ce said: "My nephew has only found one. Although it has a large production capacity, it needs to be shared by the twelve vassal states. As for the other gold and silver mines, it will take time to explore."

Chai Wu smiled and said, "This one is worth the entire Treasure Island. Obviously, what Your Majesty said is true."

He was also thinking about whether he would also go to the New World to establish a vassal state after he retired. Chai Wu was made a count of the Han Dynasty because of his meritorious service in the Battle of Mobei. If he retired from the position of General Zhendong, he would be promoted to a marquis. If he also went to the New World to encircle a gold and silver mine, the descendants of the Chai family would not have to worry about their jobs for hundreds of years. Chai Wu and his people already had a high degree of trust in Xu Fan, not to mention that there was already an example. Obviously, there must be more than one gold and silver mine in the New World.

Zhou Ce said: "Although the New World is rich, it is difficult to recruit people. If you want to send a Han citizen to the New World, it will cost 30,000, but you can't have too few people. Without them, the New World will be difficult to develop. After all, it costs much more to build an industrial zone than to open up land."

The money Zhou Ce earned in the past six months was only enough to bring three to five thousand Han people to the New World, but he could not spend all his money on transporting immigrants. The food, cloth, farm tools, and tools needed for the princes' territories all cost money. As far as the current situation is concerned, although Zhou Ce occupies a mountain of silver, his expenses are also greater.

Chai Wu smiled and said, "If there is no silver mine, it would cost less to develop a vassal state. Look at when the Duke of Ying first built the vassal state. Without the support of the emperor, I'm afraid there would not be today's prosperity. If a vassal state has a gold and silver mine, the progress of development can be increased tenfold."

The people around Linzi City also looked at the convoy transporting silver excitedly when they saw the number was getting bigger and bigger.

Those who wanted to get rich could no longer suppress their excitement.

In a restaurant, a sturdy man drank a bowl of strong liquor, threw the bowl and said, "A real man should have ambitions to go far and wide, and return home with wealth and honor. I am going to the New World to open up a homeland for the great men. Who among you is willing to go to the New World with me?"

At this time, several people stood up and said, "Brother! We are willing to go together and take care of each other."

What happened in Linzi County spread throughout the Han Dynasty like an atomic bomb.

In the past, the imperial court said that there were gold and silver mines in the New World, and everyone was just watching for fun. However, the first batch of silver from the New World has already arrived in the Han Dynasty, and this news could not be hidden at all. Soon the people of the Han Dynasty knew that Zhou Ce and other princes had dug out 40 kilograms of silver and 1 kilograms of gold in the New World in just half a year.

Such a huge amount of wealth completely ignited the Han people's enthusiasm for pursuing wealth. Those craftsmen and farmers who were unwilling to be ordinary, those wanderers who wanted to get rich, and those merchants who saw the profit, all rushed to Linzi County, intending to follow the fleet of the Northern Yinzhou Governor's Office to reach the New World.

(End of this chapter)