Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 679 Purchase of Grain
In the autumn of 1633 A.D., after the rice harvest was completed, the Chief Secretary of Cochin bought a large amount of surplus grain from the local people.Because the dispute between the Zheng family and the Ruan family has become history because the Kyushu Army annexed the two families, Shenglong City and Fuchun City only have [-] security forces who are both soldiers and farmers, and there is no need to support a large number of troops, so the labor force is quite sufficient.In addition, the Kyushu Army took all the land owned by the landlords to the Chief Secretary of Jiaozhi, and then allocated them to the common people for planting. They only collected half of the grain tax collected by the previous big landlords. More work, more pay, so the enthusiasm of the local people was greatly improved. The first year's harvest was quite good.Of course, the surplus grain purchased was to supply the Confederate Army after reorganization.

A large amount of grain was collected from various parts of the Chief Secretary of Cochin to Hoi An Port in the south.Although Thang Long City is the administrative seat of the Chief Secretary of Cochin, the location of Hoi An Port is more conducive to the turnover of food.

In order to purchase surplus grain more conveniently, the Far East Trading Company of the Kyushu Army joined forces with local Chinese businessmen to set up a special grain company, using private power to purchase and transport grain from various villages under the Chief Secretary of Cochin. Some shipping and handling charges.

Not only did they purchase grain from the original Annan Kingdom and Champa Kingdom, but the Chief Secretary of Cochin also purchased grain from Yizhou by sea.After six years of development by the Kyushu Army, Yizhou has hybridized a batch of acceptable lodging-resistant rice, which has become a relatively large granary on the southeast coast. food.

Large-scale grain was transported to Hoi An Port, and hundreds of grain merchants and Cao merchants participated in this grain purchase operation. It was difficult to cover up such a large-scale operation, and it still alarmed some people.

A Dutch businessman with a big belly who came to Hoi An Port to buy tea from Chinese merchants twirled his mustache and looked thoughtfully at the sacks of goods unloaded from Chinese merchants’ merchant ships on the pier.

When he saw a bare-armed Kuhaha with a rag pinned around his waist on the pier, he waved to him.

"This red-haired master, is there anything you can do?" Kuhaha trotted over and asked respectfully.In their eyes, anyone with luxurious clothes is an uncle.

"Here, what are they moving from the ship?" The pot-bellied Dutch businessman pointed to several dock workers carrying sacks of sacks.

"Back to Master Hongmao, this is the boatman's secret, we little ones must never tell it." Kuhaha said.

"Huh?" The pot-bellied Dutch businessman frowned slightly, and took out a piece of broken silver the size of a fingernail.

Kuhaha held the broken silver in both hands excitedly, and said in a low voice, "The boatman didn't tell us what it was, but judging from my years of experience in handling goods on the dock, it should be rice."

"Rice? Are you short of food?" asked the pot-bellied Dutch businessman, who seemed to have spotted a business opportunity.

"In some years, there is a shortage of food, especially during wars, but this year there should be no shortage of food. Even a poor person like me working on the dock can feed the old snacks at home. Just want to eat It’s not easy, it’s all because of my illiteracy, and I don’t want to serve as a soldier, so I can only work as a coolie, and I can’t be promoted..." As soon as Kuhaha’s chat box was opened, he babbled non-stop.

"Enough is enough, you can go." The pot-bellied Dutch businessman drove away the bitter haha ​​impatiently.

"Thank you Red-haired Master." Kuhaha excitedly took the broken silver and left, never expecting to encounter such a good thing today.

The pot-bellied Dutch businessman's eyes flickered, as if he was thinking about something.

"Cruise, we have almost bought all the tea, and with the spices we received in the Spice Islands, we can earn four times the profit when we return to Europe this time, and the dozen or so sailors who died during the voyage are not in vain." Another The Dutch businessman came over with a few men.

"Let's not rush back to Europe, let's go to Batavia first." The pot-bellied Dutch businessman said.

"There is no need to return to Batavia. We can replenish the dry food, fresh water and fruits on the way at Hoi An Port, plus the goods have already been purchased. Why waste time going to Batavia." Another Netherlands The businessman said dissatisfied.

"I have an important message to tell the governor of the East India Company, otherwise the next time we come to the Spice Islands, the Spice Islands may not be in the hands of the East India Company, and it will be even more difficult for us to buy spices, or spices The price is going to go up," said Cruz, a pot-bellied businessman.

"What happened!" Another Dutch businessman couldn't help but said anxiously when he heard that the spice business would be difficult to do in the future, which would affect his own interests.

"Eastern people are hoarding food here on a large scale, and now it is not a catastrophic year for them. They must be actively preparing for war in order to launch a war." Crews said.

"Could it be that they store food in times of peace and open warehouses for disaster relief in times of disaster?" Another Dutch businessman still couldn't believe that the Kyushu Army was preparing for war on a large scale under their noses.

"No, I have been observing here for several days. If it is just a normal food reserve, will I buy food from other places and store it in this port?" Cruise said.

"Hiss... If this is the case, then we must go back to Batavia and explain the situation here in detail with the governor, lest the Spice Islands fall into the hands of the Easterners, and then we have to pay taxes to the Easterners It's gone." Another Dutch businessman became more and more right, and also noticed that the Kyushu Army was preparing for war.

"Let's ask for more information at Hoi An Port, so as to provide some help to the East India Company and deepen the relationship with the East India Company, which may give us some convenience in the future," Cruz said.

"I agree with your approach." Another Dutch businessman also planned to stay in Hoi An Port and continue to observe the actions of the Kyushu Army.

It wasn't just the Dutch businessmen who noticed the trouble, but some French and Spanish businessmen also noticed the unusual movements of Chief Secretary Cochin.

"Master Xiong, now our grain company has tried its best to buy a lot of grain from our company and Yizhou, but there is still some gap between the amount of grain required by the military department." The person in charge of the Far East Trading Company established in Jiaozhi Come to Xiong Wencan to complain.

"Is there no other way to collect food?" Xiong Wencan said.

"Some provinces in the north are suffering from drought, and the surplus grain in other provinces has been taken for support. It is difficult to buy grain from other provinces." The person in charge of the grain company said.

"Let me think about it... If the difference is not much, maybe we can ask our dependent countries to provide food." Xiong Wencan said.

(End of this chapter)