A few days later, in the county seat of Shunde, an inconspicuous escort ran in an alley not far from the Gongbei Gate in the north of the city.

This escort is naturally the livelihood of the escort. In the Ming Dynasty, this kind of livelihood was generally done in the industry. However, this escort line is not listed for business on the street, and there is no signboard or banner painted with fists, and the plaque only reads the four words Dongfeng Escort, which is particularly nondescript.

There was originally a fight in Shunde County, but the war was still frequent, and it gradually disappeared. The green-skinned loafers in the city saw that there was a "beating" opening here, and hurriedly rushed to see the excitement, and some of them planned to re-employ. However, this Dongfeng escort is not only a strange name, but also a strange style, and it is not necessary for the talents sent to the door, how can it be a disdain.

Unexpectedly, before the accounts and small workers inside could speak, the county's catchers suddenly appeared and blasted them out. And privately let people know these green-skinned loafers, saying that the Dongfeng escort is not something they can afford to provoke, and if they want to continue to fight in Shunde County, don't provoke Yunyun.

Similarly, the last one to be evaluated like this was the Shunde Silk Weaving Workshop, in Shunde, even if it was a child, he knew that the person standing behind it was the governor of Guangdong, the feudal official of the province. So, knowing the severity, these guys also became very obedient - anyway, there was no movement in this east wind escort.

Almost at the same time, the military of Shunde County said in a high-profile manner that it would protect the safety of merchants and people, severely crack down on bandits and river pirates, and at the same time as issuing a notice, it directly sent troops to exterminate a river pirate from other counties, and returned the seized looted goods to their original owners, which was highly praised by the people of the province.

Shunde's silk industry has stepped into the right track, like cooking oil on fire, which is bound to attract covetous eyes. In contrast, the cotton cloth production in Qiongzhou was officially the first year of complete production last year, from the acquisition of land, the employment of cotton farmers, the planting of cotton, to the purchase of cotton, cotton ginning, weaving and spinning, printing and dyeing, the whole set of processes has come over, for these members involved in cotton production is not a valuable experience.

If we follow the successful precedent of Shunde, we can acquire more land, hire more cotton farmers, build more machinery, expand larger factories this year, and continue to expand the scale of production!

There are still 100 years before the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution, and the trade between the East and the West, especially the goods such as cloth, porcelain, and tea produced in China, does not need to worry about sellers as long as they are produced. Many maritime merchants from Nanyang have already gathered in the capital city of Hainan, waiting for the unified pricing of the Guangdong Commercial Alliance in Qiongzhou.

Among them, there is no shortage of Chen Yuanliang. In the past few years, his family mainly ran the route from Nanyang to Hong Kong, until last year when he ordered silk in Hong Kong, he learned that Qiongzhou was vigorously developing cotton spinning, and when he returned to Nanyang, he learned that the partner on the other side also had the intention of purchasing cotton cloth, so he ran straight to this experience.

Since Chen Kai recovered Hong Kong and began the trade blockade of Guangzhou, Chen Yuanliang has been dealing with Guangdong Trading Company for many years. He also had an understanding of this unified pricing when he bought silk in Hong Kong, and he knew the way better than other merchants who were accustomed to trading in Qiongzhou. This undoubtedly made him more comfortable in dealing with the members of the Guangdong Business Alliance, as well as in the process of ordering and receiving.

According to the news he inquired, most of the cotton cloth produced last year has been sold, due to the unified pricing, so that the internal competition has been eliminated, and at the same time with a huge amount of goods to hit the market, forcing other cotton merchants to dare not make times, the price has not fallen because of the surge in production, but it has not increased too much.

With the speed of the snowball, they have already made a resounding name in the business community of Qiongzhou Mansion in just one year, and even the Chinese businessmen on the Nanyang side have to pay attention to the Guangdong Business Alliance.

From the bottom of his heart, Chen Yuanliang doesn't like this model very much, because the goods are here with the Guangdong Commercial Alliance, and there will be no diving problem, but when it comes to Nanyang, the surge of goods will inevitably lead to the price being affected. At this point, the influence of silk is not great, after all, that thing is a luxury in other regions, but cotton may not be so lucky.

In addition, what is more important is that according to his view, the development of the Guangdong Business Alliance is rapid, and it may not take a few years to swallow the share of other cotton merchants in Qiongzhou Prefecture. At that time, once a monopoly is formed, they will still have to play unified pricing, and many things will not be so simple at that time.

"They shouldn't starve all the maritime merchants to death, that won't do them any good."

Speaking of which, Chen Yuanliang's worries are not absent in the hearts of other maritime merchants, some are just symptoms, and some are more associated. After all, the Cantonese Business Alliance is gaining momentum right now, and God knows what kind of monster it will end up becoming.

This concern is not unfounded. However, Chen Yuanliang never expected that the starting point of his worries, cotton cloth production in Qiongzhou, was being questioned internally at this moment.

"Last year's cotton cloth production did make us a lot of money, but in the final analysis, in addition to having the old man of the army as a backer, the relevant system of the alliance, and the use of hydraulic machinery, we should be most grateful to God. To put it bluntly, if there is a lot of rain on the day of flowering and cotton harvesting, we will be completely busy this year. ”

In the conference hall of the Qiongzhou branch of the Guangdong Business Alliance in the east of Fucheng, the local members of Qiongzhou were full. As the largest shareholder, Mr. Bai sat on the top, listening to a member who also injected a lot of money in the cotton spinning workshop standing at the front desk and talking, his eyelids drooped, and he didn't know that he would think that his old man had fallen asleep, but the people who were familiar with it were very clear that once he behaved like this, he must be thinking about something, but what he was thinking about was unknown.

The member told the truth, they decided to develop cotton production at the beginning, in the final analysis, they were influenced by Shunde silk in Guangdong - to give full play to the advantages of Qiongzhou as a well-known cotton cloth production area, and cotton spinning and silk weaving have something in common, and the model can be completely copied.

However, over the course of the year, these members have gained a better understanding of every aspect of cotton production. From the perspective of the local climate and environment of Qiongzhou, it is not particularly suitable for cotton planting.

Sufficient sunshine, abundant light and heat resources, large temperature difference between day and night, low air humidity, conducive to cotton production, cotton is a heat-loving crop, there is also a certain demand for water, but the flowering period, that is, the pollination period and the harvest period should avoid rain and light. Therefore, areas with a dry climate but abundant irrigation water sources are the most suitable for growing cotton. Here in Hainan, it is located in a tropical monsoon climate, with more rain and high air humidity.

This is the climate, and in terms of geographical environment, cotton needs to be plain and wide. On the topography of Hainan Island, the surrounding area is low and flat, the middle is towering, with Wuzhi Mountain and Parrot Ridge as the core of the uplift, and descends step by step to the periphery. Mountains, hills, terraces, and plains constitute a circular layered landform, with a clear cascade structure and a narrow plain area.

Combining these advantages, the most suitable places are still in the Great Northwest, the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin, and the Xinjiang Cotton Area, the Yellow River Basin Cotton Area, and the Yangtze River Basin Cotton Area are the best portrayal. In particular, the Xinjiang cotton region accounts for as much as 50% of China's cotton production, which is incomparable to Qiongzhou.

However, the pillar industry of Qiongzhou in later generations was tourism, which is absolutely impossible now. Cotton, spices, wood, medicinal herbs, coconut, betel nut and the like have always been fist products, and they just chose one that seemed to have the most promising development. Moreover, the ceiling of development is far from being touched. Therefore, when this proposal was proposed, it was quickly refuted by many members.

"Planting is to rely on the sky to eat, God doesn't appreciate face, and it's useless to do anything."

"Don't say anything about growing food, let's just say that those Guangzhou guys grow mulberry and raise silkworms, if the high temperature continues in summer and autumn, no matter how carefully they wait, it is inevitable that silkworms will die in batches."

Those who are all over Luo Qi are not silkworm breeders. The price of silk is not only because of its comfort and beauty, but also because the silkworm is second to none among the animals and insects domesticated by human beings. The slightest wind and grass will die for you.

There is nothing wrong with scarcity being expensive. But it also depends on God's mood, the Xiaoice River period today, compared with the high temperature, Qiongzhou's own rainy characteristics are far ahead in the appearance rate, which is really a big problem, for cotton planting and large-scale production of cotton cloth have a huge impact.

The meeting room suddenly became lively, and the members who held different opinions were arguing one by one, but those members who did not participate in the cotton spinning industry watched one by one from the wall, watching without saying a word.

The more the argument continued, the more noisy it became, and gradually, the rational discussion began to move closer to the ass question. If this continues, the meeting hall is bound to get out of control, and some of the more rational members begin to make peace from it, but it is useless. At this time, the old white member, who had been silent from the beginning, suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the member who raised this question, and asked in an extremely calm tone: "What should you do with Your Excellency?" ”

Mr. Bai's voice outside was not too loud, but as soon as he said this, the noise in the venue quickly disappeared into invisibility. This old man with white hair is one of the most well-known wealthy businessmen in Qiongzhou Mansion, and in terms of age and generation, he is also second to none among the people. In the past, he was the main person who was engaged in cotton spinning, but now that the person who made the decision has spoken, the others have naturally stopped, wanting to hear where it will develop.

The chaos was suppressed before it could officially break out, and the member looked into the eyes of the white member, bowed his hand, and said, "We have put a lot of effort into cotton spinning, and now it has brought us a great deal of wealth. I don't think we should give up cotton spinning directly, but we shouldn't invest all our financial, material and human resources on it, and we always have to walk on two legs to be stable. ”

It is not a complete denial and abandonment, but the dispute is weakened a little from the source. It's just that this is not the most complete answer, the old man Bai just gestured with his eyes, and the latter explained his thoughts and thoughts.

"Nowadays, the emergence of the Guangdong-Haihai Business Alliance has made Guangzhou, Chaozhou and our Qiongzhou products are surging. In the future, it is foreseeable that this will inevitably expand to other prefectures and counties, and even to other provinces. Such a prediction is not only in his rhetoric today, many people have imagined that day will inevitably come, and even Shunde Silk Weaving in Guangdong has now begun to expand to other counties, which is the best omen.

Everyone was waiting for his words, and he did not disappoint the others: "In my humble opinion, the future maritime trade will inevitably prosper, simply pointing to the maritime merchants of Nanyang and Taixi to trade in our Qiongzhou, it is really better for us to try to get out." Therefore, shipbuilding is necessary, and we can give full play to the advantages of our Qiongzhou Duojumu. ”

It is undoubtedly an excellent idea to take advantage of local resources, and at the same time to take advantage of the general trend to get rid of the industry. However, such an idea was not unconceived by them, and at the beginning of the establishment of the Guangdong-Haihai Business Alliance, they considered shipbuilding when determining the direction of development, but it was rejected, and the fundamental problems that caused all this still exist.

"Let's compete with the government-run shipyard, I'm afraid the country will be unhappy, right?"

The recovery of Qiongzhou Mansion was in the first half of the seventh year of Yongli, four years have passed. At the beginning of the reconquest, Chen Kai planned to set up a government-run shipyard here to expand the Zheng Group's fleet and merchant fleet. This plan was not suspended because of Chen Kai's return, Zheng Xingying, who served as the prefect of Qiongzhou, was a member of the Zheng clan, of course, he understood the stakes involved, and in the period before he left office, he spared no effort in the affairs of the government-run shipyard. At present, more than half of the Zheng Group's newly built warships and merchant ships are the results of this government-run shipyard, and Chen Kai's huge profit from the recovery of Qiongzhou has been the embodiment of the fundamental interests of the Zheng Group.

It is not that there are no private shipyards in Qiongzhou Prefecture, but the scale is very small, and the ships built are not as big as the standard flagship ship of the Zheng Group. However, once the Guangdong Business Alliance makes a move, it is definitely a big deal, which can be described as instinctively driven. In this way, when competition arises, official opinion becomes particularly important.

"This matter is indeed a good thing in the old man's opinion, but it must be reported to the old man of the Fu army, and listen to the opinion of the old man of the army before making a decision."

Mr. Bai's statement is really a safe idea, even if it has attracted the approval of some members. In the final analysis, the backer behind the Guangdong Business Alliance is Chen Kai, and their every move will be closely related to Chen Kai. Especially if you want to be taboo about something like this, you have to get approval.

However, while everyone agreed, the member of the initiative also put forward his idea: "I think that since we want to build ships, and it is for the sake of maritime trade and for the benefit of ships and ships, it is better to build a big ship in Taixi." ”