Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2274 Life ([-])

As night fell, Liu Fusheng signaled to the guys to close the door of the store after seeing that there was no business. Then he yawned and planned to go to the backyard to smoke a bag of cigarettes and catch his breath.These days, it's really not going well, especially in a big city like Shengjing, there are too many monsters and ghosts.

In fact, the current population of Shengjing really cannot be considered small.Ever since the start of the war with the Eastern Kingdom and the risk of the Longxing land outside the customs of "My Qing Dynasty" being in danger of falling, the imperial court learned from the painful experience. Jinzhou, Liaoyang, Tieling, Kaiyuan, Fenghuangcheng and other core cities relocated a large number of Han people from Hebei, Shandong and Shanxi to develop the local economy and provide a material basis for the large number of troops stationed here.

Later, Daur, Oroqen, and Mongols who fled from northern Manchuria, as well as Mongolians from the grasslands, were resettled on the spot and lived with the Manchurian Eight Banners stationed outside the customs. The total number of men, women, old and children was about ten. It looks like seventy or eighty thousand.Of course, they cannot support the economy outside the customs. It is the Han Chinese who immigrated to take the initiative in the agricultural, commercial and industrial activities of the land of South Manchuria. As far as the Shandong people who have fled across the sea one after another, the total number of Han people outside the customs has actually exceeded 60, and they have developed very smoothly in all walks of life, except for the political field.

As the largest city outside the customs, Shengjing, the capital of Fengtian, currently has a population of more than 15 according to rough rule, and it is also the leader in terms of economy.However, Shengjing's economy really needs to be studied in detail. In fact, it is somewhat deformed, because the iron smelting and metal processing industries here are very developed, and a large number of craftsmen are grinding gun barrels, producing armor, Cast artillery.To put it bluntly, most of what they produce is military supplies, and they are not very involved in the things that ordinary people need in their daily lives.Even the food we eat every day is produced by nearby prefectures and counties, and of course it is also contributed by the Han people, except for the cattle and sheep that some Mongols drove over.

It is worth mentioning that, unlike later generations, the Han people who entered Manchuria at this time did not own their own land.In fact, except for those who leased the land of the banner people, most of them rented and planted the land provided by the Qing court (of course you need to develop it yourself), but the land rent is very low. After ten years of continuous cultivation, you can Own those lands yourself.Undoubtedly, although this policy is not as favorable as that of the late Qing Dynasty when the border was opened, it is still quite good. It is very attractive to the Han people in the pass, so it quickly gathered tens of thousands of people, and gradually turned the barren pass outside the pass. Developed a little popularity.

Because there are many nobles in the Eight Banners near Shengjing, the land is basically owned, so the farmers in the pass are not attracted too much.If the Qing court had not taken some compulsory measures, it is estimated that no one would be willing to rent and plant the land of the nobles of the Eight Banners.Therefore, we can now understand why Shengjing's industrial and agricultural economy is so upside down. It is true that everyone wants to own their own land instead of relying on others.On this point, the pursuit of Chinese farmers has remained unchanged for thousands of years.

When Liu Fusheng was in Shengjing, he always heard people say that someone from so-and-so's Zhuangzi ran away with his family.People from other prefectures and counties who came early have already owned their own land, and now they are living a good life with their wives and children on the kang. You are still renting and planting land here. Although you don’t have to worry about food and drink, it’s not a problem at all.Therefore, there were more and more fugitives, and the Manchu and Qing government still took care of them at first, but later they basically didn't bother to take care of them, and couldn't take care of them at all.

Now in the vicinity of Shengjing, the farmers who cultivate land either have their own land, or they are newcomers with nothing, and have to rely on doing farm work for others to make a living. Other prefectures and counties quickly.It is absurd that a stately government and a rich land need to make up for the shortage by transporting food from other states and counties!

Fortunately, Shengjing City is the capital after all, the political center outside the customs, where people of all kinds gather, and there are many high-ranking officials and dignitaries, so the business is also passable.Liu Fusheng, who specializes in selling exotic goods, opened a shop here, and the business is pretty good.He has a way in Phoenix City, and he can get a lot of North Korean goods and even Eastern goods that are in short supply, such as Korean old ginseng, Eastern swords, Nanyang specialties, Eastern exotics, etc., and he can always sell a good one. price.But the booming business has also attracted the coveted eyes of many people. The money Liu Fusheng spends on managing various people every month is probably as much as thousands of yuan-the silver coins minted by the Qing Dynasty contain more silver than the silver coins on the East Bank. Slightly higher, the official exchange rate is 1:1.2, and the actual transaction is about 1:1.1. In addition, because of the huge military expenditure, Liu Fusheng's shop is often sent by the government to apportion it, and it can be as little as a hundred yuan each time. As many as hundreds of dollars, it is miserable.

Liu Fusheng once calculated that about [-]% of the annual profit is used to manage the government, social figures and pay for the showdown. The burden is actually very heavy.I believe that if the exotic goods he sells are not in high demand and the profits are extremely high, this business would really be impossible.

Liu Fusheng also observed other shops on the same street, and found that everyone's life was similar to that of a small grocery store selling daily necessities, and they were severely squeezed.Liu Fusheng was born as a banner man. Although he is a Han army banner, he has a layer of protection after all, so his life is a little better, but the life of other ordinary Han people's shops is more difficult. He is naturally inferior in politics, and his life is slightly better than him. Almost, but barely manageable.

"It's a day-to-day life. The government is really picking skins." Back in his backyard, Liu Fusheng was not so scruples anymore. After asking his old wife to bring him a tobacco pot and tobacco leaves, he smoked , while whining.

"I told you a long time ago not to come to Shengjing City, Lao Shizi, but you didn't listen. What's wrong with us staying in Phoenix City? Does anyone dare to bully us there?" Liu Fusheng's wife, He Shi, is always I don't know how many times I have to listen to his nagging, I'm tired of listening to it, so I immediately retorted: "You also know that the imperial court is recruiting large soldiers, and the money is being spent like water, Curry may have been able to run a long time ago, and catch you Fat pig, don’t slaughter it too hard!”

"Hmph! A woman's opinion." Liu Fusheng snorted coldly.It was probably impossible to return to Phoenix City. There was no other reason. I was used to the life in Shengjing, and I didn't want to go back to that small place.There are theaters and other entertainment venues in Shengjing, with all kinds of goods for enjoyment, and it is developing rapidly. The future prospects are actually good, as long as the Qing Dynasty still exists.Of course, none of the above is the main reason. The most important thing is that Liu Fusheng has already bought a house here, and it will be difficult to give up for a while.

But to be honest, although Shengjing's business environment is disappointing, many people, including Liu Fusheng, are really optimistic about the future development of this city, because the imperial court has really invested a lot in it.Leaving aside the fact that there are dozens of foreigners in the city, the various businesses that have been established over the years are impressive.

In today’s Shengjing City, there is a noodle mill that uses steam engines as power, an artillery bureau that uses steam engines to process gun barrels, an iron factory that uses steam engines as power, and several other factories that are operated by hydraulic machines under the design of foreigners. This is something new in the entire Qing Dynasty.I heard that because the steam engine is very easy to use, the imperial court is still trying to find a way to step up the order, and plans to build a large-scale production and processing base in Shengjing to prepare for possible wars in the future.They even took advantage of the opportunity of friendly trade with Dongguo to import a lot of spare parts from Denglai for maintenance and spare parts. There are too many companies engaged in this kind of trade in Lushun Port, and the business is very prosperous.

In addition, I heard that the imperial court will build an official road from Shengjing to Lushun, which may further prosper Shengjing's economy and make it easier for foreign goods to enter.Combining the above factors, Liu Fusheng is really reluctant to leave this place that he loves and hates. Phoenix must be better than Shengjing?I'm afraid it's not likely.Although the border trade over there is in full swing, if there is a resurgence of war, wouldn't it be there that will bear the brunt of the brunt?

"Hey, I still hope that the lords of the court will cheer up and turn the country around. I heard that Galdan has lost several battles in a row on the grassland, and he is not far from complete defeat. Although the court often exaggerates, calling small victories big win, but it is true that Galdan’s war is [-]% unfavorable. Once Galdan loses, can the days be relaxed? The past few years have been really too bitter.” After smoking half a bag of cigarettes, Liu Fusheng didn’t care The old wife rolled her eyes, she just shook her head and thought of something.

Recently, he found out through his acquaintances in the government that Feng Yu, the former governor of Haizhou, was going to serve as the governor of Fengtian soon because of his good governance. obvious.In addition, the Jinzhou New Army has recently been expanded and reorganized into the first town and the second town of the Great Qing Army.The first town is located in Shengjing City, and the second town is stationed in the newly established Xiuyan Hall, guarding this throat.

With the arrival of the new troops from these two towns, plus the tens of thousands of old troops, the land of Nanman is really solid.Liu Fusheng reckoned that in the next few years there might be a large number of Han people coming to open up wasteland in the pass. The land outside the pass is fertile, and a lot of grain can be produced by just spreading a handful of seeds. Moreover, the land rent is very low, which is very attractive. The hundreds of thousands of Han people are estimated to be not a big problem.With this much, the economy will develop, and life will gradually get better - the premise is that the goddamn yellow-clothed thieves don't use their swords again!

(End of this chapter)