Chapter 62 Those Who Have Constant Property Have Constant Determination

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"What, twenty taels!?" Upon hearing this quotation, Qin Hao was in a daze for a moment, thinking that Zhuge Xuan had made a mistake.

After knowing that he had repeatedly confirmed that it was 20 taels and not 2 taels, Qin Hao sighed: How could the cost be so high?

According to the purchasing power of silver during the Tianqi period, one tael of silver could buy 300 kilograms of rice. Compared with later generations, it was about 600 yuan, which means that a waterwheel cost 20,000 yuan.

However, this was the price of food during the Tianqi period. During the Chongzhen Dynasty, natural disasters plus man-made disasters would cause the price of food to rise faster than a plane. Qin Hao remembered that the price of food when the Qing soldiers entered the customs was 10 yuan. Even the money of the people could not buy a bucket of grain. At that time, it was truly miserable and indescribable. Selling sons and daughters and exchanging sons for food were the norm in the world.

Qin Hao's calm face was a little sulky. It would not be more than ten years later, so why was it so expensive? How dare the Chongzhen Dynasty's money be used on our Tianqi Dynasty? Don't think that just because the two brothers can be so unscrupulous.

Zhuge Xuan was not surprised to see his master's appearance. This was what he expected. He continued: "This is quite low. The beams on the waterwheel were built before Pingyuan Village was demolished." For the house, the rest of the wood is cut on site, so the materials cost basically nothing.”

"It didn't cost anything, and it cost so much money."

"It's mainly used to recruit craftsmen."

"Can't we collect labor? Just provide food. You can't think of such a useful method of working for relief." Qin Hao put forward his own opinion, crossed his hands, and waited for his Lord Zhuge to explain to him. .

Qin Hao knew that the current silver reserves were only 1,000 taels, and 50 waterwheels could consume them all, not to mention the money used in other places. According to Zhuge Xuan's current expenses, he could declare bankruptcy in less than a month. .

Without this money, I still go to Daming.

"My Lord General, you really don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are. Do you know how many people we have now?" Zhuge Xuan also began to pour out the bitter water.

"How many?"

Qin Hao really didn't understand this. He only remembered that there were about 3,000 people before he went out.

Zhu Ge There are 5,572 women, 4,959 strong girls over 13 years old, and 613 young girls under 13 years old.”

Looking at the recorded numbers on the document, Qin Hao was shocked. It was not that Zhuge Xuan memorized it word for word, but that he did not expect that the population of his territory would increase five times in more than a month. It was simply terrifying.

"Are there so many people on Taiwan?" Qin Hao couldn't believe it.

"There must be, and there are more, if I remember correctly." Zhuge Xuan's attitude was clear, "The refugees told us that there were floods in Jiangsu and Zhejiang this year, and there was also a severe drought in Fujian and Jiangxi. The people at the bottom couldn't survive at all and had to flee. ”

"If this is the case, our life will be difficult." Qin Hao said softly.

Sometimes having a large number of people is not always a good thing, especially when the company is starting up. I didn't see that these refugees are all from the south, and life there is not good either.

"Indeed, there are still one to two hundred people being recruited every day. There has been no decrease in the past few days, and there is a vague upward trend. The daily rations for so many people are 1,500 tons."

"You have to eat so much food. Then did I?" Thinking of the extravagance and waste of the previous feast, Qin Hao felt a little ashamed.

If he had known this earlier, he would never have thought of hosting a banquet. Zhuge Xuan just let himself go without reminding him, which was really derelict in his duty.

But this is not important now. The most important thing right now is to survive this food crisis smoothly.

"How long can we last with the current food reserves?"

"Two months will probably last until the autumn harvest."

"Um, didn't you say there wasn't enough food? How could we survive until the autumn harvest?"

These words made Qin Hao a little confused. Isn't this contradictory to what he just said? Or does he have other ideas?

Looking at the calm look on his face, it was probably clear that he was confident.

Otherwise, how could he be worthy of the name of the Zhuge family, and how could he be his own minister of interior in the future?

"What method was used? Could it be that they didn't care about the lives of those refugees and stopped releasing food?"

"How could that happen?" Zhuge Xuan immediately retorted.

What kind of person does my master think of him? Corruption, extortion of bribes, and disregard of human life have nothing to do with him.

The steady stream of refugees at present is the cornerstone of their future. The various craftsmen recruited these days are selected from them. They can develop so fast without their contribution. If they don't care about their life and death, they don't have to wait for their own adults to take action. Just end it yourself.

Besides, who is Zhuge Xuan? This difficulty is easy to grasp. It is a piece of cake and can be solved without much effort.

"Actually, the method is very simple. It was done with just 1,000 taels of silver."

Zhuge Xuan began to explain rationally: "Sir, please don't underestimate this silver. Although these 1,000 taels can't buy anything, its role is not small. I mainly use it to promote a cycle of material flow."

"Your Excellency, think about it. Now all the people's food and grain are provided by us. They don't have much surplus food. Every day, they have to work in the fields and wait for relief food. If they are allowed to continue like this, they will be dragged to death sooner or later. So I set up a grain storage station in each village, which can sell grain and give out grain, using silver as a substitute for exchange."

"But didn't you say that the people have no grain? How can they sell it and what can they buy with it?"

"You don't have to sell grain. Wild goods and meat in the mountains are fine. In this way, a cycle can be formed. After selling meat and getting silver, you can buy grain to eat. In this way, The food originally used for relief was saved and replaced with meat, which provided an extra portion of food. "

"Good idea, then how do you get people to act? Isn't it better to wait for relief at home?"

"My lord, our relief food is not free. We have to pay it back in autumn. Do you think they are willing to eat their own food? Those who have constant property have constant heart. These people are reluctant to do so.

Moreover, when these refugees came, they were starving and cold, malnourished, and could not do heavy work at all. There were not so many projects in the territory, so this method of using work for relief could not be used. "

Qin Hao's admiration was self-evident!

Zhuge Xuan's method would not consume too much food, and could collect a lot of meat. You must know that if the human body lacks energy, the demand for food will increase rapidly. In the 21st century, you will not see many big men who can eat 4 or 5 bowls of rice in one meal, but in the late Ming Dynasty, a thin person could eat five or six bowls of white rice. This is the manifestation of insufficient energy, which makes them demand more grains.

If there is enough meat as a supplement, the original one pot of grain can feed two pots of people, and this deal will not lose money no matter how you calculate it.

After thinking this through, Qin Hao had to praise Zhuge Xuan's method, which is very suitable for the current predicament of insufficient food.

"But this is not a long-term solution. It is better to go to Daming." Zhuge Xuan knew that this method could only last for a period of time, so he continued to make suggestions.

Qin Hao nodded in agreement. After thinking for a while, he told Zhuge Xuan his next idea.

Things should be done in time and follow the trend.

The plan of occupying Taiwan Island first formulated by the two people before may have to be put aside first, and the trip to Daming should be advanced.

"After a few days, we'll go to the salt fields and then head to Daming. It seems that we can't delay this any longer."

"Indeed."

Zhuge Xuan muttered quietly, but still reminded Qin Hao: "But sir, you forgot one thing. Now we can't go out to sea without a boat."

For a moment, Qin Hao felt that Zhuge Xuan was a terrible teammate...

No matter what he thought, he could find his own loopholes. Can't he just hope for himself? It's really helpless and a headache.

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