Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 447 We are going to grind tofu
On the eighth day of October in the 54th year of Qianlong, a bird ship named "Xiazi No. 62" set off from Gaizhou Port in the early morning after it was full of cargo. At noon, the Bohai Strait on the east was already in sight.

This boat came from Xiamen, with a load of two thousand shi.In addition to more than 200 stone soybeans, there are hundreds of packages of melon seeds, fungus, beef tendon, venison, etc. in the cargo on board.

Since the ship has already paid customs duties at the customs office in Haikou of Lianyun Island, an apricot-yellow pennant was hung on the top of the mainmast. Send another ship to check.

In the Qing Dynasty, merchants from the southern provinces began to trade in the Northeast after the opening of the sea ban in the middle of Kangxi.In the late Kangxi period, a large number of southern maritime merchants came to the Liaodong Peninsula to engage in trade. Merchants from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces also built a Sanjiang Guild Hall in Gaizhou.

In recent years, Liaodong has engaged in maritime trade, in addition to sand ships, it also includes bird ships, guard ships, and east ships.Sand boats generally come from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, while bird boats come from Fujian; guard boats and east boats, as their names suggest, come from Tianjin and Shandong.

Before the military prosperity of Beihai Town, sea ships from all over the country imported goods to Liaodong mainly cotton cloth, silk, tea, paper, sugar, porcelain and other handicraft products, while the exported goods included soybeans, miscellaneous grains, dried fruits, seafood, mountain medicinal materials, etc. .

Since the 51st year of Qianlong, due to the large-scale use of troops by the Qing government outside the customs, rice and miscellaneous grains were not allowed to go to sea. At the same time, the demand for cotton cloth, grain and various medicinal materials soared, so the sea trade of the entire Liaodong Peninsula became more and more prosperous.

As of the 53rd year of Qianlong, the 25 tax gates belonging to the entire Shanhai Customs had collected more than 20 taels of tax silver. Except for the three regular tax silvers, the surplus silver exceeded 10 taels.

Many people may not have the idea of ​​saying this. Taking the 48th year of Qianlong as an example, the total tax revenue of Shanhai Customs was 13 taels, with a surplus of [-] silver.

It can be seen that war is indeed an important driving force to promote economic prosperity, but it is not known how long this "prosperity" can last.

When the "Xiazi No. 62" was still more than 20 miles away from the Bohai Strait, the sailors on the deck accidentally discovered that three large ships suddenly appeared from the sea-sky line on the east side.

At this time, the view on the sea is excellent. The cold wind from the northwest blows away the light mist that rises in the morning. The boat that can be seen from twenty miles away, how close is it?
As a result, the bow of the ship and the sailors on the deck all forgot what they were doing, and looked around with their hands under the awning. Those who were resting and busy in the cabin also ran up to watch after hearing the news.

And not far behind "Xiazi No. 62", several accompanying bird boats and sand boats apparently also discovered anomalies in the distant sea.However, unlike sand boats, because Fujian is close to Guangdong, the bows of some bird boats are equipped with telescopes smuggled from the open sea.So when the boss of the boat on the "Xiazi No. 62" opened the binoculars and looked into the distance, he was shocked to see the figures of the three big boats approaching quickly, with his mouth wide enough to stuff two duck eggs.

After a while, the figure of Thunder God became more and more clear. When he saw the blue and white hull, Boss Niu lamented: "Uncle Tiangong, what a shame! How can I meet these gangsters?"

It is said that in the past few years, the Thunder God and the Jinglei have become existences that everyone fears and hides from ships along the coast.

Not to mention that Zhao Xin bullied the British in the sea outside Guangzhou, bombarded the Macau Fort and the Xiangshanshui Camp, and caused panic along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong; It is to make those merchant ships from all over the place who run Liaodong Maritime Trade know that they are frightened.

Fortunately, the large ships of the Beihai Navy usually sail in the Yellow Sea, and even if they are moored, they are near Wutiaosha at the junction of the inner and outer oceans.The routes of coastal merchant ships are all in the inland sea, everyone does not violate the water of the river, and the North Navy has never plundered.

At this time, the north wind was blowing, and Jin Aguang, the sailor beside the boss at the head of the boat, said, "Dua, let's hoist the sails and hurry up?"

"A match for you! Hurry up? That's the Thunder God's big iron ship, which travels thousands of miles a day!" After the cow boss finished cursing, he frowned and thought for a while, and then ordered everyone on the deck: "Leave it! It's time to do it!" Why go! Just pretend you didn’t see it, let’s go!”

So after another half an hour, the huge figure of the Thunder God was fully revealed, only a voice came from the loudspeaker at the bow of the ship: "Those ships in front, stop! Don't be afraid, we are I want to do business with you."

At this time, all the sailors on the bird boat looked at Boss Niu, Jin Aguang said again: "Dua, what are you talking about?"

"Xiao Xiao!! This is to let us anchor and stop the boat, how can we explain to the boss when we go back!"

The deputy treasurer standing next to Boss Niu twitched his beard and said, "Not necessarily, haven't you heard of rare goods from the North Sea? Yu once saw something called matches in the owner's house. The price was 15 taels, a box of dozens of sticks. , just one swipe to start the fire. I think we might make a fortune this time."

So, facing the pressure of the three big ships like hills and mountains getting closer, the five bird boats and the two sand boats behind had to lower their sails and anchor.

Following a series of deafening roars of metal friction, the large anchors on both sides of Thor were thrown into the sea, and Beihai No. [-] and No. [-] also stopped on the left and right sides of Thor.

Not long after, everyone on the bird boat and the sand boat saw two white brackets protruding from the deck of the Thunder God, and a black boat was suspended from the brackets, and there were several people on it.There was a buzzing sound, and the boat quickly landed on the surface of the sea.

At this time, the sailors on each ship were watching around the side of the ship, and saw that the people on the black boat neither hoisted the sail nor steered the oars, but roared and came towards the bird boat fleet.

The hearts of Boss Niu and all the sailors were in their throats, and they saw that the black boat was extremely fast, with white waves constantly surging at the tail, and it reached the outside of their own bird boat in a blink of an eye.

At this time, the speed of the black boat slowed down, and one person on the boat held a gray-white trumpet-shaped object and shouted at Boss Niu and the others: "Put down the ladder! We're going up to talk business with you!"

"Dua, what should we do?" All the sailors looked at Boss Niu at this moment, waiting for him to make up his mind.

Boss Niu's eyes rolled wildly, hesitating, and only listened to the deputy Cai said: "People are under the eaves, so why not bow your head? Boss Niu, don't miss this opportunity."

"Go! Put the ladder!"

The baffle of the Narcissus Gate on the ship was quickly removed, and a pair of rope ladders fell down.So the speedboat approached slowly, and not long after, three people from Beihai Town boarded the deck, and there were two marine battalion soldiers holding weapons on the speedboat.

When the sailors on the deck saw the man coming up, they retreated unconsciously and formed a semicircle.

"Who's in charge here? We won't rob you, everyone does business fairly."

Boss Niu felt his tongue was dry, he took a step forward and cupped his hands, stammering, "Yes, next, it's a boat, the bow, what do you guys think, what business do you want to do?"

The leading clerk of the trade department smiled and said to Niu Lao: "Don't worry, we are here to buy soybeans. We want as much as we have. What's the price?"

When Boss Niu heard this, he turned his head and looked at the deputy finance minister. It would definitely fail if he didn't sell it, and he didn't know how much it would cost.

The deputy treasurer on the boat hurried forward, cupped his hands and said: "This year, there was a flood in Zhili, and the imperial court used troops again, so the price of food has increased a lot. I will travel thousands of miles. If this, this price is not suitable, I will not be able to keep up with it when I go back." The proprietor confesses."

"It's okay, you can make a price."

After hearing this, the deputy finance minister began to calculate. The price of the soybeans bought from Gai Ping this time was 1.1 taels of silver per stone, which was already three points higher than in previous years.

"Isn't it too much to add [-]%?" Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and said, "The price per stone is one, two, four, five cents of silver."

The clerk of the Ministry of Trade nodded, and under the anxious eyes of everyone on the ship, he reported a number that everyone did not expect.

"In this way, I'll give you two taels per stone. It's not easy for you to travel all the way from Fujian."

Everyone was in an uproar, thinking that there was still such a good thing, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.

It was the clerk who asked again: "How many do you have?"

"Two hundred stones."

"What? Only two hundred!"

Seeing the surprised look on the other side, the deputy treasurer quickly explained: "Well, this Your Excellency doesn't know something. The imperial court stipulates that all ships going to Liaodong for the bean trade must get printed tickets before leaving the port. Even if you want to buy more Moreover, the upper limit of carrying a large ship is [-] shi, and a small boat is [-] shi. After buying, you have to pay the tax with the stamped stamp. "

The task this time is to buy 1000 shi. Even if the next few boats cost [-] shi, it is only more than [-] shi, which is far away!

The clerk of the trade department said helplessly: "Okay, two hundred is two hundred! In this way, if you put the boat next to the big white boat, someone will naturally trade with you. I have to go to another boat to talk, so I will leave first."

"Wait a minute," the deputy treasurer quickly stopped the other party and asked, "I wonder if you have any rare goods there? This will also save me the trouble of waiting for an empty ship to return."

"You will talk to the people on board about this later, and they will tell you." After the clerk said, he quickly got down the rope ladder with two Beihai soldiers, and then the speedboat headed towards the bird boat behind.

The rare goods in Beihai Town are nothing more than leather goods, ginseng, matches, cigarettes, horse lanterns, etc., except Tianxiang Cigarettes, which already have counterfeit goods in many places in Fujian, and the others can be sold at a good price when they are shipped back.

So an hour later, no matter whether it was a bird ship or a sand ship, after approaching the Thunder God, they sent people on board to discuss the goods, and the deck of the Thunder God seemed to be a market.

The problem is that there are a lot of merchant ships of all kinds going south to Liaodong. At noon, those merchant ships from Jinzhou, Yingkou, Niuzhuang, Gaizhou, Xiuyan, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou saw such a scene, and they talked with those who had finished their business. After the peers inquired, they all sailed towards the Thunder God.

Considering that it was too cold on the deck, Deng Fei asked everyone to talk in the restaurant on the second floor of the poop.As a result, people came and went in the aisles and on the stairs, and the restaurant, which could originally accommodate more than 20 people, was full of merchants speaking Fujian and Jiangsu and Zhejiang accents.

During the period, the deputy finance officer on the ship asked casually: "Dare to ask, my lord, are you buying so many soybeans to extract oil?"

The clerk of the trade department who was in charge of the reception was so busy that he fainted, and said casually: "Grind tofu."

Ok?
There was a sudden silence in the restaurant, and a needle could be heard. After a while, everyone burst into laughter.

"My lord, you really know how to joke!"

"Yeah, yeah, tell a joke and have fun." Several clerks broke out in cold sweat from the back of their necks.

At this time someone asked again: "I don't know what else do adults need besides soybeans?"

"Tea, a large amount of tea, no matter black tea or green tea, regardless of new tea or old tea, [-] dan is not too little, and a million tan is not too much, and the purchase is based on double the annual Jiangnan market price, and there is no cap!"

boom!All the merchants became agitated immediately, and even those who had completed the money delivery and left the door turned around and came back when they heard the sound.

At this time, a clerk said: "Actually, if it is convenient for you, you can go to Jeju Island. Our Beihai Town has a warehouse in the south of the island, and we can trade at any time."

"Jeju Island, I've heard of the place. But it's overseas! We all travel to the inner ocean, so there is no needle map!"

"Yes!"

The so-called "needle map" is the ancient navigation route.There is no picture on it, but what time and tide level to set sail, what is the speed of the ship, which direction to go, what is the reference object; and then where to go at a certain time, where to go, and how long it will take.At the same time, the position of the Big Dipper and the direction of the spoon handle should be explained on the night route.

Maritime trade activities came to the Qing Dynasty, and there were basically no problems with the inland shipping routes, but the north-south routes were still in charge of each other, without offending each other.However, overseas routes are the secrets of each ship's head. Generally, gentry who want to do sea trade have to hire a ship's head at a high price, and they have to pay a share of the business.

This situation did not gradually end until the end of the Opium War and the Qing government was forced to fully open the sea trade.

But this matter is difficult for others, but it is really nothing for Beihai Town.Shen Jingdan started his business with Maritime Trade. In the past few years, he has traveled to Jiangnan several times, and through means of half coercion and half lure, he got the needle map from Jiangnan and Shandong to Li Dynasty and the island country.

So the clerk of the Ministry of Trade smiled and said: "We have it! Five taels of silver for one copy."

"I want two!"

"I also want!"

"Don't worry, I'll get it for you right away, let's pay the money first and get a receipt."

It is said that five taels of silver is nothing compared to the huge profits of Haimao!Haven’t you heard that there is no limit to the amount of tea that people want? A bird boat of two to three thousand shi can be transported vigorously, and a sand boat of [-] shi is called pediatrics!
When the ships left at night, people from the Ministry of Trade took inventory of today's harvest, and purchased more than 7000 stone soybeans in total.The business is booming, and the advertisements in Jeju Island have also been published. The problem is that even one-tenth of the purchase volume is not enough.

Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng calculated that according to this posture, they would have to wait at least ten days to get them together.The question is who has the spare time, Wang Yuanfang has already started to use the horse feed to grind tofu, and the horse will have nothing to eat any later.

However, according to chatting with these sea traders today, there are currently a large amount of soybean stocks in Jinzhou and Fuzhou City.So Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng immediately decided to set off immediately, enter Jinzhou Bay overnight, and go ashore tomorrow to grab, oh no, buy soybeans!
(End of this chapter)