Chapter 120 What I Saw in Keelung (Part 2)

What was welcomed in by the boy at the door was a group of people wearing blue cloth trousers and weird costumes.

Zheng Zhilong knew that most of the people who wore this so-called "work clothes" were workers and craftsmen in various nearby workshops.

Although merchants were ranked lowest among the so-called scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, the Ming Dynasty discriminated against and exploited craftsmen and craftsmen households even more than military households. As for businessmen, due to their different economic status, their political status is actually much higher than that of these workers.

Seeing these workers also entering the restaurant and being greeted warmly, Zheng Zhilong felt a little confused.

But when a restaurant opens its doors for business, anyone with money will be a guest. As long as they give enough money, where can't they eat?

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong could only smile and remain silent, just drink and eat.

"Brother, who are these people?"

The personal guard, on the other hand, was a man with sharp features. Seeing Zheng Zhilong's expression change slightly, he stepped forward and asked the waiter who was serving the banquet.

"They?! They are all great people. They are all craftsmen from various departments in Keelung City. They make all kinds of artillery, muskets, and fine swords and armor!

To be honest, my breastplate has always been a bit awkward. I mentioned it to the craftsman last time, and he helped me adjust it a little, and it immediately became very comfortable! "

"It turns out that this waiter has armor hidden in his home?! The Keelung Army is really bold! Fortunately, they boast of tight security. It seems that it is tight on the outside and loose on the inside!"

Several people couldn't help but have this idea in their minds.

"Disrespect! Disrespect! It turns out that my brother is also a good man, and he loves martial arts."

"I don't dare take it! My name is in the military register, and I had some spare money at the beginning. So I bought this set of armor to avoid panic when I was called into the army."

Zheng Zhilong was already surprised again and again today. Unexpectedly, there was still armor hidden in this waiter's house. What was even more surprising was that he was still on the military register!

It seems that in Keelung, as long as there are strong men, they will all be on the military roll!

"Guests. Don't just talk, try this fish first. This squirrel mandarin fish should be eaten while it's hot!"

The waiter reminded everyone not to just talk and forget to eat, and he took away a few plates full of food residues.

Zheng Zhilong half-heartedly picked up a piece of the squirrel mandarin fish that the waiter had mentioned. He chewed the golden fish meat in his mouth, feeling crispy on the outside and loose on the inside. A sweet, sour and delicious feeling spread from the taste buds on the tip of his tongue.

He had almost no sense of taste in his mouth just now because of the spiciness of several dishes. He immediately felt that it was extremely sweet.

What’s even more amazing is that there are no spines in the fish meat! He raised his chopsticks and motioned for everyone to try it!

In the blink of an eye, the chopsticks fell like rain, and a squirrel and mandarin fish was quickly devoured.

"Brother, this fish is so delicious, I wonder how it is made? Also, why don't I see any fish bones?"

"Before this fish is put into the pot, the scales are removed, the gills are removed, the belly is cut open to remove the internal organs, the backbone is chopped off, and the breast spines are sliced ​​into pieces, so you won't be able to eat the fish bones and fish bones."

"Then put the tomato sauce into a bowl. Add stock, white sugar, vinegar, wine, refined salt, and wet starch, and stir into a sauce. After the fish is taken out of the pan, sprinkle the sauce on it, and you have this delicious dish. ”

Although refined salt and white sugar are expensive, they are all sold in Jiangnan, but ketchup, starch and other items cannot be found in Jiangnan and other places.

"Brother, what are starch and ketchup?"

"Both of these things are sold on the street. Ketchup is made from tomatoes after processing. I don't know where the starch comes from. However, as long as it is meat, whether it is chicken, duck, pig or cow, it is made with Coat it with starch and mix it with sauce, salt and sesame oil and put it in the pot. The meat will be extremely smooth and tender. "

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong was speechless, but it could be seen from the deep eyes that he was worried!

He nodded and called the waiter to signal for the check. The waiter counted the dishes on the table and asked, "How many gentlemen have you finished?"

"Not bad! These steamed buns have good flour and are very chewy. They are almost the same as those eaten in my hometown!"

However, what happened next surprised Zheng Zhilong again.

"Thank you for your patronage. There are three silver coins in total. I'll charge you ten taels and ask you for seven." The waiter said and handed a few shiny silver coins to the guards on the side.

"How much?"

"Three taels!?"

Zheng Zhilong has traveled a lot and has never seen such a price in these years.

"Brother, please go to the cabinet and check to see if there are any errors in the accounts? In case you don't have a hard time explaining it later."

Zheng Zhilong instinctively thought that the waiter must have made a mistake in his calculations.

Such a table of wine and dinner, three liang?

It’s impossible!

This meal at Cuixianju in Jinling City couldn't be eaten without a hundred and eighty taels. He had just wanted to pay for it before, but he didn't expect that others would turn to him.

What a strange thing!

"This guy is good. We can't let him take the blame and deduct wages when we settle accounts at night." Several businessmen had the same idea.

After a while, the waiter came back from the counter. Faced with shyness and embarrassment, he kept stroking his white apron with his hands, "Gentlemen, I'm really sorry. I checked with the counter and found out how much food and wine you have." The money is three taels, or three yuan.”

This time, Zheng Zhilong and the others were completely shocked.

The waiter went to settle the accounts for several guests at the counter, leaving Zheng Zhilong and others looking at each other on their seats.

"how come?"

A young guard muttered to himself.

A jar of shochu made from high-quality grains costs at least eight yuan to more than one tael of silver in the mainland. If there is a brand and brand of old wine, the price will be doubled. A mutton dish costs more than a few hundred copper coins, not to mention those steamed buns made from wheat that is labeled as coming from outside, which must be even more expensive.

Why is it so cheap here?

Is it because the price of rice is so cheap that food and drink are so cheap?

That’s not right either! If there is such a thing as low grain prices hurting farmers, then why are all the farmers we see along the way glowing and looking good?

If there had been low grain prices, these farmers would have stopped growing grain and switched to something else, just like the farmers in Jiangnan who switched to silk tea and sericulture in order to pay taxes on grain.

While they were thinking wildly, the waiter walked towards them with a wooden tray full of white silver coins and said politely: "Gentlemen, I'm looking for your money, seven silver coins, please order some."

Under the light of the lights, the silver coins in the wooden plate gave off a bluish-white light, which made Zheng Zhilong, a great pirate and businessman who had been doing somersaults in the eyes of silver coins since he was a child, a little dizzy.

"Thank you, brother."

Signaling his guards to take over the wooden plate, Zheng Zhilong grabbed one and passed it in his hand. The color was good and the quality was good. It was a good thing!

"Brother, you've worked hard tonight, just a little tip for burning coal."

"Thank you sir for the reward." The waiter took the reward and thanked him loudly. He had never seen such a generous man.

Hearing this thank you, Zheng Zhilong and others felt the same as those in the mainland of Ming Dynasty.

A smile appeared on his slender and determined face, and he asked the waiter kindly.

"Brother, to be honest, I am also a businessman at a lower level, and I came to Keelung to do business. However, there is something I don't understand, and I would like to ask my brother for advice. I hope that I will give you some advice."

"I don't dare to tell you when I'm teaching you. You must just tell me everything you know."

"I've been waiting all the way. I saw that new rice has begun to come on the market, and the price of rice is naturally much lower than that of the Ming Dynasty. But why are prices so low when it comes to eating? Aren't you afraid that low grain prices will hurt farmers?

But as I watched along the way, farmers everywhere were living a pretty good life. Many families in villages and towns outside the city are building new houses. What's the secret? "

"This is the reason why my master is kind and loving to the people!"

Someone spoke to someone at a nearby table, and it was the group of craftsmen who had just come in to eat.

The leader stood up and bowed his hand to Zheng Zhilong. "Since this gentleman is a foreigner, he is naturally not familiar with the rules and regulations of Keelung. If you don't mind being presumptuous, how about I explain it to you?"

The tanned face, thick muscles and joints, and calloused hands all illustrate this person's identity. But although his appearance was rough, his words were refined, and he was obviously a man who had read books.

"I would like to listen to your teachings, sir."

Several people sat down and listened to the craftsman telling the mystery of Keelung's problem with food prices.

The waiter was also quite sensible and immediately went to make a pot of new tea and delivered it, stating that it was given by the restaurant to the gentlemen for chatting.

"Sir, I don't know. The land of Keelung is thousands of miles away. It is most suitable for growing rice and other crops. It is also very easy to grow. It is even said that it can be harvested seven times in two years. However, this kind of rice tastes very bad and not many people are willing to grow it." .

The Lord, under the rule of virtue, collects land taxes and rice at a rate of twenty to one per acre of land. Over the course of a year, the collected rice and rapeseed alone were enough to feed craftsmen, soldiers, boatmen and sailors everywhere for several years.

According to the Lord, these people are the so-called non-agricultural population. Merely not talented is also one of them, that is, people who do not make a living by farming, breeding, fishing, etc. "

The place is thousands of miles away? They are all places where rice and other crops can be grown. This is not a boast.

The same was true in the place where Zheng's family lived in the middle of Taiwan. Thousands of miles of green rice fields, with farmers carrying hoes and plows everywhere, but not as energetic as Keelung.

And even so, despite hard work, they could not harvest much rice in a year, and they suffered from hunger; in addition, they were harassed by malaria symptoms, and sometimes they would get sick while working in the fields.

Who would have thought that on the same island, the two places are so different!

However, the problem arises again.

This large amount of fertile land means that after paying the land tax at the rate of 20 to 1 tax, or even 15 to 15 tax, the remaining large amount of food is what the farmers eat four meals a day, and each meal is eaten. Even if it reaches your neck, you may not be able to finish it.

After excluding the grain consumed by raising pigs and cattle at home, Zheng Zhilong is concerned about how to deal with the large amount of surplus grain.

"Sir, are you worried about the surplus food? It doesn't matter! The Lord said that if the farmers have no money, how can we craftsmen make a living?

Therefore, we must purchase the grain from farmers! And it has to be purchased at a high price! "

Zheng Zhilong poured yellow tea into the tea cup in front of the craftsman and asked him to moisten his throat.

"Acquisition at a high price? How high a price?" he asked with concern.

"For example, in the market, the price offered by outside merchants is one penny per stone of rice, and if we non-agricultural people go to the grain and rice stores to buy grain, the price is one penny of silver per stone of rice, then the official price of grain will be one penny per stone. The purchase price is three cents of silver and one stone of rice! This rice is rice, because rice is easy to preserve, but rice is not necessarily the same!"

The man took a sip of tea and continued to talk to the outsiders about the various practices of the Lord, how to spread benevolent policies and benefit all people.

But he didn't notice that Zheng Zhilong's eyebrows were almost intertwined.

"Three taels of silver for one stone of rice, one tael of silver for one stone of rice, this alone means a loss of two taels of silver from the account book, not to mention the loss of rice during processing, storage and transportation. If it is temporary, it is okay, but if it is a long-term subsidy, how can it be tolerated?!"

He was puzzled, and saw that the people around him also frowned and looked confused.

"So the rice price in Keelung is so low, but the farmers live a rich and happy life. Is it because the master subsidizes two taels of silver for each stone of rice?"

Zheng Zhilong consciously tempted the craftsman to speak.

"Your words are both true and false."

"What do you mean?"

The craftsman usually has the hobby of teaching others. How can he let go of such a good opportunity at this time? He couldn't help but point two fingers and tell Zheng Zhilong a story.

"When the grain stores under the Lord's government collect grain, one-third is given in silver dollars. The remaining two-thirds is paid with industrial coupons.

The farmers can use these industrial coupons to buy any kind of goods produced in Keelung after presenting their household registration books in various stores in Keelung. Oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, cloth, ironware, ash and blue bricks for building houses can all be bought with industrial coupons at a 20% discount!"

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