1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 134 New Inspection ([-])

Due to the need to raise seedlings before crossing and crossing with seedlings, limited by such objective conditions, the final rice planting area in the spring planting in the first half of the year was only about [-] mu, and the other hundreds of mu of cultivated land were used to grow corn , soybeans, potatoes and other miscellaneous grain crops and economic crops.Although the Ministry of Agriculture is very confident in the output of these two hundred acres of paddy fields from later generations of fine rice varieties, in view of the current rapid population growth in the crossing group's jurisdiction, it is imperative to further expand the scale of food planting.

During the period after the establishment of the farm commune, the commune organized and reclaimed more than [-] mu of arable land in the east bank area between the mouth of the Tiandu River and the No. [-] base, and planned to use most of it to grow rice.And the Lidong Miao Village, which is deeper inland, has gradually accepted the arrangement of the crossing group and planted some economic crops, such as spices, oil palm, sugar cane, etc.

After returning from the Beibu Gulf last time, the expedition team proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture that they might consider excavating guano phosphate rocks on nearby islands as farmland fertilizer.This proposal was quickly approved by the executive committee and instructed the Ministry of Shipping to cooperate.As a result, the sailing ships that the Ministry of Shipping recently went out to sea for training have another task, which is to dig bird droppings on the east and west tortoiseshell islands of Sanya Bay in turn.

On this day, Tianyue Zhiyun took the training boat to the East Hawksbill Island to dock, and let the laborers from more than 20 farm communes accompanying the boat go to the island to dig for a few hours as usual.After seeing that almost two or three thousand catties of guano phosphate rock had been loaded onto the ship, Yue Zhiyun ordered to call it a day and go home.When returning to the voyage, Yue Zhiyun observed through the telescope that a Haicang boat was slowly approaching from the west sea.

Yue Zhiyun looked at the sailor's flag hanging on the boat, and knew that this was an "old friend of the Haihan people". Luo Shengdong Luo, the general manager of the water village in Yazhou, Daming, came to visit again, so he immediately used the flag on the boat. The radio station notified Victory Port of the news, while preparing to order the sail to be lowered and slow down, waiting for the opponent to approach.

However, Shengli Port's reply was a bit beyond Yue Zhiyun's expectation, and he asked him to take the boat back to Shengli Port as soon as possible and not make contact with the other party.Although Yue Zhiyun was a little puzzled, he still did what he did. He hurriedly ordered the sail to be hoisted, and took the helm himself, leading the boat back to Victory Port.When getting off the boat, Yue Zhiyun found that Tao Donglai, Yan Chujie, Ning Qi, and Schneider had all appeared on the pier. Such a formation was obviously not waiting to greet him, so he hurriedly asked, "Is something wrong? The Ming army is coming again Attack us? Probably not, I only saw a Haicang ship, and did not observe the navy fleet appearing."

"Of course the navy will not come to attack us. Even if they do, Luo Shengdong will definitely find a way to communicate with us first." Tao Donglai patted Yue Zhiyun on the shoulder and comforted him: "The Cliff Office has sent a message. , Yazhou’s state government couldn’t sit still, and sent people to take over the local government affairs and taxation here.”

Yue Zhiyun sneered and said, "It's a good plan, but I don't know who will take over from now on!"

Tao Donglai also smiled and said: "Let's see the situation first. If we are sensible, then it doesn't matter if we raise a few more mouths. If it is a ignorant guy, we have plenty of ways to deal with him when we come to this place."

Regarding the news that Yazhou intends to send the inspection department and tax collectors to Shengli Port, He Xi had already reported to the executive committee when he came back last time.Seeing the popularity of Shengli Port in Yazhou, it is reasonable to want to bring this place under the rule again, but the executive committee is not a Ming dynasty maritime merchant, and has no fear of the Ming law. At that time, Tao Donglai had already expressed the attitude of the executive committee to He Xi, but I don't know if he had successfully conveyed this meaning to the Yazhou officials.

Wei Ping stood at the bow of the boat, the sea breeze blowing in front of him carried a fishy smell, which made his nose a little uncomfortable, but he still tried his best to put on a high-spirited look, looking at the distant sea that had already appeared on the sea level. Antlers.Mr. Luo from the Yazhou Shuizhai is right next to him. Wei Ping doesn't want to lose face in front of him. Before he came out this time, his brother-in-law had specially told him to do a good job. It was snatched away by the big bosses in the water village.

Before that, Wei Ping was the inspector of the Tianya Inspection Department, and he was a ninth-rank official. This position was supported by his brother-in-law who was a fellow magistrate in Yazhou.Although it is only a small inspection department, it has already entered the officialdom anyway, at least a head above those mediocre petty officials. You must know that many petty officials have worked in the yamen for a lifetime and can't get past that. In comparison, Wei Ping was very lucky to become a patrol inspector at a young age.

But Wei Ping himself didn't think so. There were only seven to eight hundred residents in Tianya Town, and the floating population was even less so. The inspection department had nothing to earn.After taking office for three months, Wei Ping only went there for a few days at the beginning, and then he simply quit. Who cares, my uncle went back to Yazhou to rest.

Of course, the inspection department is not all such dry and dry work. For example, the situation of the Nanshan inspection department is much better. Wei Ping once heard it from others when he was drinking with his colleagues. It is also eight to ten taels of silver, and it is not uncommon to make 20 taels a month when the year is good.Wei Ping was very annoyed by this, and specifically told his brother-in-law about this matter. How can someone else earn my uncle's annual income in two or three months while doing the same job?It's better to kick that inspection and let the uncle do it.

Wei Ping thought his request was reasonable, but his brother-in-law refused without hesitation—it would be fine if it was elsewhere, but the current head of the Nanshan Inspection Department is the cousin of Jin Yiwei Gong Zongqi, and this backer is not Even if it was possible to move, Wei Ping's brother-in-law didn't want to take the risk of offending Jin Yiwei to try.

Although the errand of the Nanshan Inspection Department failed, Tongzhi's brother-in-law quickly found a lucrative new errand for Wei Ping.Master Zhizhou intends to re-establish the Yulin Inspection Department. This candidate must be selected from the existing "local talent pool", and Wei Ping, who "has always performed well", snatched this seat on the recommendation of Tongzhi's brother-in-law.

In fact, the Yulin Inspection Department was established as early as the early Ming Dynasty, but due to the rampant piracy activities in recent decades, and the strength of the local garrison has been declining year by year, it existed in name only during the Wanli period.By the time the crossing group landed in Shengli Port, there was only a small group of soldiers stationed in Yulin, and they ran away as soon as they saw a large-scale strange force landing, which was of no use at all.

However, recently, the appearance of Haihan people in Yulin has gradually attracted the attention of Yazhou officials. First, there were reports from the Yazhou water village, and there were "overseas volunteers" who helped the navy officers and soldiers in Yulin to eliminate pirates, and then there began to be Haihan people. Merchants settled in Yazhou City and began to sell some exquisite glass products in Yazhou.If it was just a group of merchants smuggling sea goods, it would not be so eye-catching, but these Haihan people then began to import a large number of people from Yazhou, whether they were prisoners or civilians, they all accepted them.

Since Dashuizhai brought the chief Luo Shengdong together and let the Haihan people introduce a large number of prisoners from Yazhou, Yazhou officials found that in addition to solving the long-term financial problems caused by the excessive number of prisoners in the local area, there is actually a cost per head. The "employment rebate" can be obtained, and since then he has made an idea of ​​the Haihan people in Shengli Port.

According to the feedback from various channels, the Haihan people have established a port in Yulin and established their roots. At the same time, they hired a large number of local people to work for them and cultivate farmland. They also renamed the harbor of Yulin as "Shengli Port". .Officials in Yazhou believed that they had to intervene in Yulin's affairs both public and private, so they decided to re-establish the Yulin Inspection Department and sent a security team and several tax collectors to bring that area back under Yazhou's rule.

Although Wei Ping is a rascal boy who is not successful, he still has a basic vision. It was not the first time he knew about the existence of Haihan people when he received this job.In fact, the wealth of the Haihan people has long been famous in Yazhou. They buy various goods in bulk, which leads to large fluctuations in the prices of daily necessities such as local coal prices and cloth prices. Even some commodities that are not in large supply in the market are directly bought by the Haihan people. The stock is out of stock; a large number of local laborers are hired to work in "Victory Port". Each time, hundreds of people are shipped in batches. The few Haihan people in the Cliff Office spent all day making friends with the local dignitaries, spending money like running water. Wei Ping saw a beautiful set of gifts from the Haihan people entrusted by his brother-in-law's staff in his brother-in-law's study. Glass stationery, it is said that the same thing can be sold for more than 20 taels of silver at "Anfuhang" and "Furuifeng" in the city. It is difficult for people to muster up the courage to refuse such a gift.

All these signs show that the Haihan people are a very rich group, and Shengli Port, where the Haihan people settled, should also be a place full of oil and water.Wei Ping believes that his ability to make money should not be worse than his colleagues in the Nanshan Inspection Department. They can make 20 taels of silver every month in a place like Nanshan. Is it true that my uncle is still in a place like Shengli Port? Make a lot of money?Look at how generous the Haihan people are in giving gifts as favors, no matter how bad I am, it should be easy to earn 200 taels of silver a year.

When Wei Ping chatted with Luo Shengdong on the boat, he picked up some of his own thoughts and wanted to hear what kind of opinion this sailor, who is said to be very familiar with the Haihan people, would have.Unexpectedly, Luo Shengdong just smiled, looked at him with contempt, and said, "One or two hundred taels of silver? Brother, you are a bear who fell into a honey pot. You don't know how to be blessed while you are blessed!"

(End of this chapter)