Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 304 Supplies for Combat Preparation ([-])

Sunday, February 1641, 6.

Originally, Sunday was a few legal holidays in the East Coast Republic of China, but the employees of the State Grain Reserve under the Ministry of Materials were all working overtime today, and no one could ask for leave, because even Shao Shude, a member of the Central Committee and Minister of the Department of Materials, They all squatted in the largest grain depot in China - Dingyuan Grain Reserve Depot to check the inventory accounts.

It has been more than a month since the harvest season in May, and various places have successively sent over the latest account books after this year's grain storage.After sorting out and calculating by the secretaries, Shao Shude now presents such a series of data: grain reserve depots directly under the three material ministries across the country, and grain reserve depots under the jurisdiction of seven counties (including South Africa, New China, Maldives Island, etc. Reserve Grain Depot) has stored about 5 tons of potatoes, 250 tons of wheat, [-] tons of sorghum, [-] tons of soybeans, and [-] tons of rice. In addition, there are some economic crops such as peanuts, sesame seeds, and dried fruits. Production is too small to be included in statistics.

In general, this totals about 5000 tons of grain. According to the domestic grain consumption rate last year, it is basically enough for the current total population of about 5 people (including more than 7000 South African laborers) to consume for one or two years.Thanks to the intake of a large amount of beef and mutton, fish, shrimp, seafood, dairy products, and poultry eggs, the daily staple food consumption of the people on the east coast is not high. On average, each person is about 1 catty per day.Therefore, although the population directly engaged in agricultural production (excluding animal husbandry and fishing) in the East Coast Republic is less than 5000, the food produced each year can feed the people of the whole country and still have a slight surplus. In the past, a considerable amount of sorghum and wheat were sent back to the mainland from South Africa every year. It is not so surprising to have one to two years of grain reserves accumulated over the past few years.

"After removing the one-year war-ready inventory, there are nearly 60 tons of grain that can be sold, and most of them are cheap potatoes. Well, according to the recent FOB price of grain, you can make up about [-] yuan. The gap is still far away. Damn it, it’s easy for other people to make money by crossing. Why is it so hard for us to cross? It’s been more than ten years since crossing, and the country’s finances haven’t been saved for a year. My heart. The debt is getting heavier every day, and now I have a debt of [-] million yuan, and I think the debt will be even heavier in the next few years, alas!" Shao Shude muttered in a low voice while sitting behind his desk, with a sad face full face.

The financial difficulties of the East Coast Republic of China this year can be expected.Leaving aside the recent decision of the executive committee to increase the cost of importing various strategic materials, that can probably be handled.Because in the first half of this year, whether in France, Tuscany, the New World or the Ottoman Empire, the sales growth momentum of the east coast textiles is extremely strong, earning a lot of foreign exchange profits for the country; The number of Ming people who will be sent to the New China colony by the Portuguese in large numbers is conservatively estimated to be more than 6000.And Dong'an will pay these people a huge fee of up to 180 million yuan. How to get this money is still not clear to the executive committee.

180 million yuan is not a small amount, this is more than 40 pounds!You must know that King Charles I of England raised so much money by levying ship taxes twice in the country. That is an old country with a population of nearly 500 million. How can the small New World countries of the United States afford to pay this money.

Shao Shude is also one of the eleven executive committee members of the Central Committee, and he has a very good understanding of the country's financial situation.According to the economic situation in the first half of the year, China East Coast Republic will make about 130 million yuan in profits in major markets such as Europe and the New World this year.Among them, the textiles and leather goods sold in Western Europe accounted for a large part, accounting for about 60 yuan; and the total amount of various commodities sold to the Ottoman Empire also reached 30 yuan; in addition, the annual profit from sales of weapons was 5 yuan. ; The total profit of all kinds of textiles, leather goods, building materials, hardware, knives, fuel and other commodities sold to the New World is about 35 yuan, which adds up to about 130 million yuan.

As for the increasingly lucrative trading income of Colonia City (about 20 yuan a year or more), it needs to be kept to maintain the operation of the country.Not counting the imports of various types of continuing supplies that will explode in the next few months and the introduction of European immigrants, this is another gold-swallowing behemoth, and it will cost about 15 to 20 yuan just in case.Calculated in this way, if there are no good things that fall from the sky, it can be predicted that there will be a huge financial gap of about 65 to 70 yuan in the East Coast Republic this year, which cannot be made up.

This is a very terrible thing, because in the case that there is no direct flight to Daming from the east coast, once the Portuguese lose their trust, it means that the immigration from Daming to the east coast will be temporarily suspended.Not to mention that there are other series of invisible losses, so in order to plug this financial gap, it seems that there are only two ways to go.

One is borrowing, that is, borrowing money from the native white nobles who have long-term cooperative relations in neighboring La Plata and Brazil.However, this loan is still a little troublesome now, not to mention whether the East Coast government has the ability to repay it. The previous loan of 20 yuan from the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce and the loan of 20 yuan from the Brazilians in two installments have not yet been repaid. It's really a question of whether people are happy to borrow it or not.In Shao Shude's opinion, it is unlikely that the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce will borrow more money from the East Bank, but Brazil has a great possibility.

Why do you say that, this still has to involve the current situation in Brazil.Even though the people on the east coast are poor and the government is heavily indebted, in terms of military strength, technological level, and even industrial production capacity, the East Coast Republic is truly the strongest and number one in the southeast corner of the New World.He has wrestled with the Viceroy of Peru in Spain and the East India Company in England, and he has lived well to this day, which is enough to explain a lot of problems.Therefore, the Brazilian native white group, which is now deeply involved in the vortex of war, has set its sights on the people on the east coast of the south.

Last month, Blanco implicitly hinted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the East Coast that the Brazilian native white group headed by the sugar tycoon Vieira, who is currently under the rule of the Dutch, secretly communicated with the Brazilians in the Sao Paulo area. Songs, and sponsored a large amount of military spending.Blanco's meaning is very clear, that is, if the people on the east coast can directly intervene in the situation in Brazil and go to war against the Dutch, their native white Brazilians in Sao Paulo will also chip in another sum of money, and the military expenses sponsored by the northern sugar tycoon Hand it over to the people on the east coast together as compensation for the losses caused by the war with the Dutch.It is believed that the amount of this military expenditure depends on the combat time and achievements of the people on the east coast, and can be as high as 50 yuan.Moreover, Blanco even stated that if the East Coasters and the Brazilians reach an alliance against the Dutch, the Brazilians will also guarantee in their name that they will be responsible for persuading the Portuguese who transported immigrants to accept the installment agreement.

I have to say that the Brazilians are very sincere, and the conditions offered are quite generous, which makes people on the east coast very excited.Moreover, judging from the established national policy of the people on the east coast, a full-scale conflict with the Dutch will sooner or later happen, so why not agree to the Brazilians now and join the big game in Brazil?

However, after many discussions, the executive committee still did not agree to the Brazilian's proposal. The main reason is that the people on the east coast are not yet ready for war.Whether it is the number of the army, the number of naval ships or the hoarding of war materials, it is far from reaching the point where a full-scale war that may last for a long time can be fought.

Since he is not yet ready to tear his face apart with the Dutch, in order to cope with the immediate financial difficulties, he can only think of other ways carefully.And this is what we call the second way, selling things!Sell ​​everything you can!

What are the most in-demand commodities in Europe today?The first is weapons, and the second is food!These two are the materials that are most in short supply in Europe today, and they are also the materials that sell best and sell at the highest price. The 30-year war has reached this point, and all countries have consumed a lot of materials, especially the consumption of war materials.It's a pity that Spain, Austria, and France, the main belligerent countries, also have large military production capacity, especially the Habsburg Empire. The scale and output of its military factory in Milan are even higher than those on the east coast, which has not entered the state of wartime production. arsenal.Therefore, it is more difficult to earn their money in the arms business. The arms business sold by the people on the east coast is not a single order, which is quite unstable.

Weapons are not easy to earn, but materials such as food are different.Due to the destruction of wars that have lasted for many years, food prices in the warring countries, especially in Germany, have soared. Even potatoes produced on the east coast have increased by about 60% based on the CIF price of 20 yuan per ton a few years ago.

"It seems that the only thing that can be sold in China at present is the grain from those grain reserves. Although the Europeans like the cannon very much, after all, the sales volume is still limited, and it is far inferior to the grain." Shao Shude said softly thoughtfully. Said, "Damn, if you sell [-] tons of grain cruelly, with more expensive grains mixed in, even if you sell it at a low FOB price, it's not an extravagant hope to make up the huge amount of money needed to make up the financial gap. It's just In this way, this year's food will be tight, and it may not even be enough. But the common people should have some surplus food at home. Alas, it will be a headache no matter what to do. If it doesn't work, send troops out to grab it. Damn , anyway, it's not the first time!"

(End of this chapter)