Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 399 The Big Granary

In the cemetery not far from the Zijin Mountain Bieyuan, there is another protruding soil bag. It is not long since the beginning of spring, and the willow buds have just been pulled out from the top of the tree. In a strange coordination, several men and women stood silently in front of the tomb, and placed a few bouquets of blooming spring flowers on the handful of loess.

Compared with Xing Hongniang's illustriousness during her lifetime, it seemed that the funeral affairs were a bit sloppy at the time, but Song Qingshu knew that only such a plainness would be the most in line with her wishes!
Caiwei and Hongniang Xing have known each other for the longest time, and they are also sisters who have shared weal and woe. After a few handfuls of yellow paper were burned, her two beautiful big eyes, which had already cried, were swollen like peaches, so panicked that Li Baoer carefully supported her In contrast, Song Qingshu didn't seem to be very sad, she just kept that indifferent look on her face, and didn't shed a single tear until she left.

Arranging for several of his daughters-in-law to go back to Bieyuan, Song Qingshu hurried to the Longjiang Shipyard in a carriage. Now, almost the entire Xiaguan of Yingtian Mansion is almost occupied by Longjiang Shipyard, and Zhenjiang is even taken to the east. The territory of the county was occupied, and there were more than [-] shipbuilders, cannery workers, sailors, and carriage drivers here, all of whom depended on this wharf for their livelihood.

When he came back this time, Song Qingshu secretly brought over the Anqing Second Division who was still a little unstable after his meritorious service. Now in Yingtian Mansion, hidden in this huge shipyard, he also has more than 4000 people in one and a half divisions. Running and training every day has to be quite low-key. In the sixth branch factory farthest from the city, the sound of the shipbuilders beating to cover up the training chant.

The legions here are not waiting for nothing. From time to time, new ships are launched, and Song Qingshu will toss them onto the ship to get used to it. Up to now, the number of landlubbers who vomit on board has been greatly reduced. Learned to swim.

The incident this time has brought a heavy blow to the begging army. There are three less numbers alone, and there are many vacancies in other legions at all levels. However, just as Zhang Huangyan said, this is also an opportunity. Most of the veterans in the army who had a great voice and the former Buzhanni subordinates were removed, and the rebellion was quelled. No one in the southern part of the prestige can compete with Song Qingshu.

Moreover, it was the Second Gezuo Division that suffered the worst loss this time. Many old people from the Fifth Gezuo Battalion died again. The Fourth Gezuo Division was expanded, and a group of veteran generals of the Fifth Gezuo Battalion were drawn out. If under Song Qingshu's command, the four divisions of the Fifth Gezuo Battalion could obey orders like their own. If the five original leaders had any bad intentions, they would You will find that you can hardly command your own army.

Replenishment, reorganization, and expansion. After withdrawing from the Nanyang battlefield, a lot of things fell on the head of the commander-in-chief. Many things needed Song Qingshu's approval. Anyway, it is close to the Yangtze River, which is conducive to news transmission. Ying Tian's headquarters also moved into the office of the chairman of Longjiang Shipyard.

Recently, for the Ming Dynasty, it is rare to usher in spring. Not long after the end of the First Battle of Nanyang, Zhang Xianzhong, the eighth king, finally accepted the court's consolation in Gucheng. Xiong Wencan, the prime minister of the five provinces, surrendered, but compared with Zhang Xianzhong, the two of them were more thorough in appeasement.

Zhang Xianzhong's army was not disbanded, he just reported the roster, and then built hundreds of houses near Gucheng, and then carried out reclamation according to the establishment of the army. It was completely reorganized by Xiong Tingbi, as many as 6 or 5000 people were dismissed, and [-] people were recruited into a strong army. Song Qingshu kept his word and used his own energy to find a general for Li Wanqing. The position of deputy general belongs to Zuo Liangyu, the commander in chief of aid and suppression.

Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao and Luo Rucai surrendered to Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces in Jiangbei, in Fufang County.

Since then, the main ones of the Thirteen Families were either suppressed or surrendered to the imperial court, setting off a trend of enlisting security. The little leaders of the 72nd Battalion even laid down their weapons one after another. Since the end of the apocalypse, they have fought hard for more than ten years. The Ming Dynasty seems to be about to usher in a rare peace.

It's just that how many undercurrents are buried under this peaceful veil is unknown.

It's a pity that this trend of recruiting security has brought many negative effects to Song Qingshu. The reason why Song Qingshu sits in Yingtian Mansion is also because of this reason.

Another very important reason is that when he was in Anqing to quell the chaos, Shi Lang who took the Yangtze River to Lusong came back. He did not see Song Qingshu, did some goods, and left again.

Southeast Asia has always been the top priority of Song Qingshu's management. Yingtian returned three days ago. Today, he finished taking care of Hongniang Xing's funeral. He buried his hatred in his heart, but life must continue. The first thing he did when he arrived at the Longjiang Shipyard was Song Qingshu. It was Qu Botao who was brought here.

"Sixty thousand sets of silk and satin clothes, worth 12 taels of silver, two hundred boxes of tea, worth 2 catties each, worth 2 taels of silver, 2 sets of cotton clothes, worth 1 taels of silver, 1000 pieces of porcelain, worth [-] taels of silver. [-] taels, [-] bells, worth [-] taels of silver, [-] catties of pepper, [-] catties of soy sauce, [-] catties of gold, five boxes of beeswax, twenty boxes of gems, five boxes of Nanyang spices..."

Listening to Qu Botao's report one by one, Song Qingshu was a little moved. The ship arrived in the Spanish colony for a month and a half, and earned at least 12 taels. 10 taels is easy, and the net profit of 20 taels in three months is ten times greater than the profit of ocean fishing. With such a huge profit, it’s no wonder that I’m not here. Four boats increased from one to five.

"This time it's still a bit hasty. The ocean voyage should be done step by step. At least the foothold should be explored first, and supply stations should be set up along the way. Now five large ships are dispatched in one go. The cost alone is 40 taels of silver. In case a big storm sinks Alright, it’s all a loss!”

After listening to the report, Song Qingshu couldn't help talking with some dissatisfaction, and Qu Botao scratched his head shyly. As an old businessman, he didn't know the risks involved, but he said that twice the profit was enough to make people Taking the risk, the trade with Luzon is not only twice, but nine times and nearly ten times, no wonder he couldn't help but get hot.

"By the way, handsome!"

Afraid that Song Qingshu would pursue this detail again, Qu Botao quickly changed the topic: "This time when Shi Lang came back, he also bought [-] tons of Nanyang rice, which was trafficked from Champa by Yingjili people. I heard from him that Champa , the price of rice in Zhenla is extremely cheap, and one of our low-grade cotton clothes can be exchanged for a load of rice."

Hearing this, Song Qingshu couldn't help standing up suddenly, and shouted in shock: "It's so cheap!"

Dai County produces the most inferior cotton garments, one piece is only 100 yuan, and a load of rice is more than 200 catties. Now the market price has risen to [-] taels even in Jiangnan, Huguang, and in some places in the north, there are even more than [-] taels The price difference is more than a hundred times. Every year, the Shanxi merchants under his command are still fighting for the [-] million dans of commodity grain in Lianghuai and Huguang. If they import rice from Chenla, I don’t know how much they will save.

Originally, Song Qingshu only coveted a share of the New World route with the West, but now, it seems that another golden source of wealth is beckoning to him, and compared to those expensive luxury goods transactions, such large trades are much more stable.

"Does the board know?"

"The board of directors doesn't know about this. After all, the food supply in our begging army has also been in short supply. When Shi Lang came back, he was busy distributing the food as Lumi to Yingtian and the workshops in Suzhou. The board of directors also Focusing on the cash, not paying attention to these bulk goods that are under pressure."

"Don't let this matter out to the public. There must be a lot of risk in long-distance transportation. If the board of directors finds out, I'm afraid the new ship will have to go to Chenla to buy rice. You must not eat a fat man at one bite. Just take down a few outpost supply points!"

Thinking full of excitement, Song Qingshu opened the drawer again, and turned over Zheng He's nautical chart. After a while, his brows could not help but wrinkle. Chenla Champa is the later generation of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia in the south , these places are all tropical grain-producing areas, and later generations are all rice exporters.

Here is located in the tropics, rice crops are grown three times a year, and the output is even higher than that of the Central Plains today. Further west, India is also a major rice producing area. Every time a boat is set off, the silk, cloth and porcelain carried on board can be filled to the brim. Yes, the goods imported back are quite a bit less, just to take advantage of this gap to import grain, but to transport the rice back to the country from here to alleviate the domestic famine, a transfer station is necessary, along the way, the largest and best The transit point is Taiwan.

But now, although the Zheng family gave up Taiwan, the Dutch took the opportunity to invade and occupy it. I heard from businessmen traveling between Guangdong and Guangxi that the Dutch still built the Zeelandia fortress there. Operating under the eyes of Zheng Zhilong is no different from pulling teeth out of a tiger's mouth.

Now, Song Qingshu does not have the strength to turn against Zheng Zhilong. After all, he has more than 700 large and small ships in his hands. Song Qingshu's efforts to build them are only one-seventh of his. He is a professional sailor, and most of his hands are landlubbers, and the navy has just started.

"It would be great if the sky could drop [-] sailors for me, even if there isn't [-], [-] will do!"

After dismissing Qu Botao and closing the chart, Song Qingshu stretched his waist, raised his head and looked at the ceiling, and shouted sadly.

(End of this chapter)