Chapter 121 What I Saw in Keelung (Part 3)

The scattered stars in the sky have turned south, and the night is like water.

The city of Keelung, which had been noisy all day, became silent, with only the lights on the streets, and the soldiers and patrolmen patrolling by, still faithfully playing the role of guardians of the city.

In the courtyard, the huge leaves of several banana trees in the corners rustled in the breeze, acting as the best lullaby.

In several rooms, there were high-pitched, low-pitched, or subtle snoring and sleep-talking sounds.

However, Zheng Zhilong in Room No. 1 Tianzi couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning several times, he felt a little stuffy in the room, so he simply put on his clothes and got up and went to the courtyard to enjoy the cool air.

"Brother!"

In the shadow of the green-shirted tree, one of Zheng Zhilong's personal guards was also sleepless at night.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong approaching, he quickly stood up and saluted.

Zheng Zhilong was startled by the sudden call and turned his head subconsciously.

"Second brother? Why are you here?"

This personal guard was none other than Zheng Zhilong’s second brother, Zheng Zhifeng.

Seeing his second brother following him secretly, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but became furious: "I didn't ask you to stay in Xiamen, who asked you to come here!"

"Brother, we three brothers have lived and died together for so many years. Now that the third brother has been arrested, how can I, the second brother, not come? No matter what kind of dragon, pond or tiger's den this Keelung is, we three brothers will definitely be able to get through it!"

Seeing that her eldest brother was angry, Zheng Zhifeng quickly expressed her opinions.

At this point, Zheng Zhilong didn't want to pursue the matter. He just cursed a few times and then asked, "Did you see what happened today?"

Zheng Zhifeng smiled bitterly and nodded helplessly.

At Fengtai Building, I listened to the craftsmen talk about Qin Hao's system of purchasing surplus grain from farmers. The Keelung Army adopted a system of purchasing surplus grain at three times the market price to ensure the interests of farmers. Although industrial coupons were used to pay a large part, this industry In the eyes of Zheng Zhilong's original maritime merchants, the coupons were just like the salt merchants in Jiangnan exchanged grain for salt.

Belongs to securities!

Ordinary people can use these industrial coupons to go to "Qinhan Trading Company" to purchase various supplies they need.

This invisibly has millions of funds circulating in the market, providing strong purchasing power to the various factories in the hands of Keelung Army.

Through the policy means of subsidizing agriculture, a market was created for industrial products.

Instead of using salt, a necessity for the national economy and people's livelihood, like the Ming Dynasty, to exchange food, cloth, horses, and various materials needed for border defense.

This way of drinking poison to quench thirst is far behind the current method adopted by Keelung!

However, Qin Hao's method was also obtained through hundreds of years of countless government experience and lessons.

The government purchases grain from farmers at high prices and sells it to the market at low prices, thereby achieving the purpose of stabilizing the market, stabilizing society, stabilizing agriculture and rural areas, and providing and manufacturing markets for industrial products.

For decades after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the policy of importing at high prices and exporting at low prices has been implemented. The state plays the role of stabilizing food prices and stabilizing rural areas.

This is a practice that businessmen more than three hundred years ago couldn't figure out the reason for.

They instinctively feel that this is by no means an idiotic way of throwing money on the street, but it is also definitely not the so-called virtuous government. The secret behind this is.

I'm afraid it's an earth-shattering secret.

"Zheng Zhifeng, what do you think of the condition and fineness of this money?"

Zheng Zhilong handed over a Keelung silver dollar that was warm in his hand.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhifeng smiled bitterly, opened his palm, and in his palm was a copper coin for giving birth to his son Keelung.

"Hey! Second brother! Heroes have the same views!"

Regardless of the silver material, appearance, texture, and even weight of these silver coins and copper coins, they are no less than Hongwu's silver ingots and Yongle Tongbao issued in the first year of Yongle.

It is a hundred times more powerful than the various horse racing copper coins and privately minted sand shell coins currently circulating in the mainland.

Two coins were placed side by side on the stone bench. Using the lights outside the wall and the moonlight above their heads, the two carefully observed the two coins of different specifications.

One was the change recovered from Fengtai Tower, and the other was the change Zheng Zhifeng got in exchange for buying various popular novels and books in Keelung City on the street.

The two coins came from different channels. The inscriptions and patterns on them were equally clear. They weighed them in their hands. Apart from the different weights and colors, the other patterns and styles were the same.

"Our Zheng family also used to cast money by ourselves. I also went to the foundry bureau of the Jiangnan official family to see it. I just thought about it for a long time and I couldn't figure out how such neat and beautiful silver coins were minted in large quantities. "

On Zheng Zhilong's face, through the sparse shadows of the leaves, Zheng Zhifeng could clearly see the loneliness on his face.

This is no wonder. Compared with the Western silver coins that the original maritime merchants had seen, the Keelung silver dollar is obviously much more exquisite in workmanship than the Western silver coins. I really don't know how it was minted.

On the front is the capital Chinese character "一元", and on the back is a chrysanthemum with distinct petals. The chrysanthemum says "Keelung Mint" on the top, and "mint in a certain year" on the bottom.

Zheng Zhilong was really puzzled as to how such a delicate, beautiful and unified silver dollar was cast.

The Keelung silver dollar is not only beautiful in appearance, but even more terrible is its fineness, which is far better than the full-grained silver in the Ming Dynasty. Even the fine-grained silver in the inner currency is quite insufficient compared with this silver coin.

"Brother, what you said makes perfect sense. However, today I was chatting with the guy at this inn and I accidentally got a glimpse of something!"

Although Zheng Zhifeng's words were not loud, they were like a thunderclap on Zheng Zhilong's head!

He looked around alertly, but there was no one else in the yard except for the rustle of the leaves in the night wind.

He grabbed Zheng Zhifeng's hand and said urgently: "Speak quickly! What do you know?!"

"After I came back, I couldn't figure out why we could eat beef, pork, fish, chicken and other foods so cheaply, so I talked to the guys at the inn and they told me the key to this."

According to the guys, fish and shrimp are aquatic products. In addition to the fact that Keelung is close to the ocean, there are countless fishing boats fishing day and night. There are also methods of raising fish and ducks in rice fields that are used by farmers.

"In addition to raising fish and ducks, we also take advantage of the weather and practice intercropping. Plant rapeseed first, and after harvesting, the rapeseed is used to squeeze oil. The rest is used to fertilize the fields. Almost every acre of field can harvest at least a hundred kilograms per year. Vegetable oil! This is why you can see so many oil baskets and dishes that use oil as water!”

"this?"

Zheng Zhilong was a little disappointed. He originally thought that Zheng Zhifeng had gotten some earth-shattering secrets out of the mouths of the inn clerks, but it turned out to be just how to farm fish and extract oil in Keelung!

This method cannot be said to be useless, but it cannot be implemented in the mainland where wars are everywhere and there are refugees from famine.

Not to mention the north, the Huguang area is known as the most famous place in the world. Nowadays, there are also all kinds of refugees and bandits coming and going.

The gentry clans from all over the country formed villages to protect themselves. All I think about every day is how to survive in this troubled world, so why do I still have the energy to raise fish in rice fields?

"In addition to farmers raising fish, cattle, and pigs, Keelung is also known as a professional farmer. They do not farm. They only raise chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, fish, etc., and many of them raise hundreds of pigs and cows. , even thousands of people.

Above this generation, there are also breeding farms run by major government or businessmen, and the breeding scale is several times that of professional breeders! Does Zheng Zhilong know what is the magic weapon in the hands of these people who raise pigs, cattle, fish and chickens? "

"What is it? Can they spread the beans and make an army?" Zheng Zhilong laughed, feeling a little sleepy, but out of habit, he still suppressed his sleepiness and planned to listen to what Zheng Zhifeng had to say.

"Although you can't spread beans to make soldiers, you can still make livestock, fish, chickens and ducks grow faster, stronger and fatter!"

Zheng Zhifeng stood up and left. When she was young, she retrieved something from her room and handed it to Zheng Zhilong.

"Brother, please take a look, this is what I'm talking about."

Zheng Zhilong was full of suspicion, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.

He carefully looked at the plant in his hand, which was nearly a person tall.

"What is this?"

Look at this tall plant with lush stems and leaves and a crunchy texture. There is still a slight sweetness coming out from a few fractures.

"This thing is called corn grass here. It is the same word as the corn used in the noodles we eat today. But it is not the same as that corn. This thing is good food for livestock!"

After showing off his knowledge for a while, Zheng Zhifeng paused and continued to explain the information he had obtained to Zheng Zhilong.

"Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, fish, chickens, ducks, and geese all like to eat this thing. It also has strong regeneration ability and can be cut as many as seven or eight times a year! Each acre of grassland can produce tens of thousands of kilograms of stems and leaves! And it doesn't last long. You can plant it in fields, in front of or behind your house, or in saline-alkali land! You can chop it into small pieces and throw it into the pond to feed the fish!”

“Each acre of land can produce tens of thousands of catties?”

This number really shocked Zheng Zhilong!

Even if he has been on the sea, he is not completely ignorant of things on the grassland. He has probably heard about the amount of grass produced. An acre of good grassland only weighs a few hundred or more than a thousand kilograms.

This kind of grassland is enough to cause wars between tribes. Wasn't it because of this little grass that the Mongolian noble Yehenala, who was domineering on the grassland for a while, was wiped out?

"Where did you get this?"

Zheng Zhilong held the corn straw tightly, his voice was slightly distorted, and he shouted to Zheng Zhifeng in a low voice.

"According to the guy, Qin Hao asked a certain Western general in the navy to bring it back half a year ago. It is said that it was produced overseas tens of thousands of miles away from here.

What a good thing!

Sow the seeds and take care of them if you want to; if not, just let them grow on their own. Thirty-five days after germination, they can be harvested when they grow to about two feet. Each plant can be harvested seven or eight times a year. Approximately all year round.

Within half a year. This corn grass was promoted to various places in Keelung by Qin Hao, so. Only Keelung has such cheap meat! "

"The innkeeper also said that outside the city, the innkeeper also planted some corn grass and raised some cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese. Almost every acre of fresh grass can feed about fifty sheep, or chickens. Five hundred ducks and horses."

With a "bang", Zheng Zhilong grabbed Zheng Zhifeng's wrist and said, "Second brother, don't talk anymore!"

He stood up, feeling sleepy and had long since left him in Java!

The excited Zheng Zhilong kept pacing in the yard.

One acre of land can feed fifty sheep, so there is no problem in feeding a few horses!

There was plenty of free land in Liaodong, and the Ming Dynasty's frontier army relied on cavalry and cavalry as its main combat forces. If you can get the corn grass seeds and planting methods, you can resell them to the court.

Ha ha! Oh my God! This grass is no longer grass, every blade of grass is a gold bar!

Wouldn't it be easy to get promoted and make a fortune then?

"Sea salt! Silver dollars! Corngrass!"

He kept repeating these three words in his mouth over and over again.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong only thought that Keelung was as worthy of praise as Haiyan, but now it seems that he has underestimated others.

Qin Hao! This person is not simple!

Zheng Zhilong squinted his eyes, his deep pupils emitting a strange light.

"Even if I spend all the money I brought, I still have to get these three things! At least I have to get two of them!"

Slowly stopping his fast running pace, Zheng Zhilong made up his mind and turned around to see Zheng Zhifeng still standing aside.

"Zhifeng, do you think we should still go against this person?" After observing these days, Zheng Zhilong retreated in his heart.

Putting aside whether he can win the fight or not, his third brother is in other people's hands. If the time comes when they kill his third brother to sacrifice the flag, this is something he will never accept.

Zheng Zhifeng saw the concerns in her eldest brother's heart. After thinking for a moment, she said: "Brother, we are originally merchants. We do a lot of maritime trade. If we establish a good relationship with this place, wouldn't it be a huge gain? Furthermore, if we continue to help Jiangnan, A group of salt merchants are fighting, and even if they win in the end, they can still get a piece of our pie. "

The salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, headed by the Donglin Party, are either a family business that is passed down from generation to generation; or there is a master-disciple, teacher-student relationship that is passed down from generation to generation. It is difficult for others to interfere and they cannot eat well.

Zheng Zhilong thought about it for a moment and felt that it made sense. With the support of his second brother, the depression in his heart also disappeared: "Okay! Then we will only focus on business, and we will not care about other things. Let them deal with the Jiangnan salt merchants themselves." Go deal with it, I can’t solve it anyway.”

"Best brother!"

The next day, Zheng Zhilong was holding a large bowl of mutton rice noodles, which were bright red and full of chili peppers. He happily poured a spoonful of vinegar on the rice noodles, and Sili began to eat them happily.

After a few mouthfuls of rice noodles, he turned around to face the guards standing in the yard.

"Today I have an errand for you. After you go out, no matter what you see or hear, whether it is a system or a story! As long as you think this matter is interesting, write it down in a document when you come back, and write down your opinions in above!"

Zheng Zhilong wanted to collect these for no other reason. He just wanted to know how many mysteries there were in Keelung City so that he could add them up after he went back. We in Xiamen City would do the same.

After the guards left, Zheng Zhilong turned to look at Zheng Zhifeng, who was tasting preserved egg and lean meat porridge, and said: "Second brother, I have to see Qin Hao today under no circumstances. This is a death order!"

Seeing the solemn look on her elder brother's face, Zheng Zhifeng knew that this was serious business. She put down the smooth and lung-moistening porridge in the big blue and white bowl and went out with a look of despair.

The same goes for Qin Hao. They have been here for several days and haven't met him yet. They have already prepared all the money and have nowhere to spend it except eating. No wonder the eldest brother is anxious!

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