Ryukyu is said to be three provinces and 36 islands, but in fact, just like its geographical name, it belongs to the form of an archipelago. The largest island of the Ryukyus is just over 1,000 square kilometers, and the second-largest island of Amami is just over 700 square kilometers.

However, in such terrain, you can see the leaves of sugar cane blowing in the wind everywhere from the castle tower of Shurijo Castle, and there is a faint rustling sound.

It's late June, and in a few days, the sugar cane will be ready for harvesting with a lot of sugar. Large quantities of sugar cane were cut down with knives by sugar planters, with their heads and tails removed, and bundled into bundles, and sent to Shurijo Castle to trade rice and other necessities with the Nanchu merchants here.

"Since that day, the adults forced out the Shimazu family of the Japanese Satsuma, relieved the people from hanging upside down, and saved the people from fire and water. He also sent merchants to Ryukyu to exchange rice for sugar cane, and one pound of sugar cane for half a pound of rice, which immediately kept the people of Ryukyu from hunger and cold. Up and down the Ryukyus, everyone is grateful for the kindness of adults! ”

On the castle tower, the Ryukyu King Shangyi, who accompanied the Shouhan to watch the scenery, was like a tide, and it was really difficult for him, and he didn't know how he came up with such a renovated fart.

Since the Shimazu family forced the cultivation of sugarcane in the Ryukyus, a large number of rice fields have been turned into sugarcane plantations, and the younger people can only grow sugarcane instead of rice. Every time the sugarcane harvest season, the sugarcane farmers will exchange almost a few thousand sugarcanes per acre and weighing nearly 10,000 catties for a year's rations and pocket money.

In order to be able to sit on the throne, Shang Yi has always been very concerned about the price and transaction of sugar cane and rice in the country, and he has to admit it. The price offered by the merchants of Nanchu was much fairer than that of the Shimazu family.

"Lord Shang, starting this year, it's time to change the way we trade."

The change proposed by Shouhan was also very simple, no longer carrying out direct trade in rice and sugar cane, but finding a compromise equivalent, Nanzhong Tongbao.

"Your sugar cane here is the same price as my sugar cane in Nanzhong. I'll give you a treasure or a silver dollar. You can use Tongbao and silver dollars to buy a qiē at the rice shop, hardware store, cloth shop, and silk village of the Han Yuan firm. ”

Sugar cane for copper coins and silver dollars?

This seems to be good, and rice is no longer the target of the trade.

And Nanzhong Tongbao and silver dollars, King Shangyi has also seen, in terms of quality and material. They are no less than the best Tongbao Yongle Tongbao and Jiajing Tongbao in this dynasty. With sugar cane all over the mountains. In exchange for such money, it sounds much better than changing to a single rice that can only fill the stomach.

With money and silver, you can send people to go to sea by boat to Zhejiang, Fujian, or even Tianjin. Buy all sorts of goodies that make your heart beat.

"It's not just these things that ordinary people use. All kinds of items that you and your adults need for your daily life. You can buy it in the store. ”

As soon as these words came out, Zeng Lin and the others immediately nodded frequently.

On the night when Shouhan entered the city, Prince Shang set up a banquet in the palace to invite Shouhan and his party. Before the start of the banquet. The Shouhan ordered people to give a greeting gift to these high-ranking figures of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

For the prince of Shangyi, there is a five-foot dressing mirror, which is framed with rosewood wrapped in gold, which looks extremely magnificent. For Shizi Shangxian, it is a three-foot mirror, although it is slightly smaller, but the two of them are flexible and easy to lift, and what is more ingenious is that a bracket is installed behind the frame, which can be opened to put the mirror on the ground.

And for the Minister of State Zeng Lin, the three law divisions, the fifteen people and the first cadre, the size of the mirror ranged from two feet to five inches, depending on the official position of the person, this gift suddenly made the adults' homes into a pot of porridge. Mrs. and Miss naturally don't matter, but mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, eldest wife and aunt can't share a mirror.

So, the next day, with scars on his face, he begged Zeng Lin to ask him to go through the door of his son-in-law and buy a few more mirrors from the Han Yuan firm.

"I am willing to sell all my mining land, those few inter-cut lands, and all the sugarcane in the next few years to the Han Yuan firm, as long as I can sell it to the glass treasure mirror!"

In addition to the so-called glass treasure mirror, the cotton cloth spun by the fruit dismounted horse textile machine and Indian cotton made almost the entire Shi clan crazy. I have never seen such a delicate and soft cloth, even if it is a Songjiang fine cloth bought from Matsue Prefecture, although some fabrics are better than this, but the price!

In addition to cotton, there is also linen made of ramie, and in a tropical island environment like the Ryukyus, having a cool and breathable garment is like owning a hand-sewn garment from a major international brand.

The shopkeepers of the Han Yuan firm skillfully carried forward their own advantages, and did not bring silk and other products that Jiangnan had an advantage in the Ryukyus on a large scale, but took out their own technical content at once, which dazzled the eyes of the Ryukyu people.

There is one more thing that makes the scholars rush to it!

It is claimed that the suspender stockings made of ice silk and the erotic underwear made of silk make adults and gentlemen embarrassed to speak, but they are itchy and unbearable. It's often blushing and it's hard to speak. Whenever he saw such a guest, among the temporarily built businesses, the man would invite the guests aside, first serve a cup of tea, and then ask in a low voice, "Do you want some boudoir secret things?" ”

"Yes, yes, yes! That's what I thought! "The gentlemen who heard this were like the emperor's amnesty. When the guy holds the sample of the goods, the gentleman often doesn't even pay the price, drops the silver and turns around.

In such a loser-style procurement, although a large number of good things have become reserves in their own warehouse, the silver in their own warehouse has flown into other people's pockets like wings, and for a while, all kinds of discussions have been placed in front of Prince Shangyi.

Thank you to the heavens and bodhisattvas for your blessing!

Li Shouhan's proposal to change the form of sugarcane trading immediately made the Ryukyu King Shangyi, the Minister of State Zeng Lin, the Three Law Divisions, and the 15 people of the Table 15 smiles one by one, and finally don't have to worry about the losers in the family emptying out their families!

"But it's a bit of a hassle."

Shouhan began to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger. Oh, and the guy on the other side doesn't even have to be a tanuki.

"Rice, ironware, cotton cloth, vegetable oil, soybean oil, these are all very space-taking goods! It can't always be on board. In addition, the purchased sugarcane must be transported immediately or the sugar must be extracted. Otherwise, it's going to rot! ”

I don't know if it's because the concubines at home have discussed too much about human physiology and performance art under the tropical sun, and the cerebral blood supply is insufficient for a while, and in the face of such a straightforward request from Shouhan, no one in the Ryukyu monarchs can react!

"Ahem! Ahem! Li Shouhan, who was speechless for a while, could only cough to hide his helplessness and embarrassment.

"What my lord means," Mao Sihai was quite able to relieve the worries of the Han at this time. "Let's see if you can sell some land to the Han Yuan firm, so that the merchant can stock up on all kinds of goods here, settle down and live, and set up a shop."

"If the land by the river can be sold, I plan to buy some land over there and build a mill. In this way, the purchased sugarcane can be rough-rolled. The one who brought it back was the jaggery. ”

Can you do this? The monarchs and ministers of the Ryukyus woke up like a dream, and they had the quick calculation that the brain was relatively fast: at present, the best harvest of the sugar cane fields in the Ryukyus is about one acre (five tons, and now in China's Guangxi, Leizhou Peninsula and other major sugar producing areas, the average yield per mu is five to six tons. ）。 Calculate according to a pound of sugar cane out of one or two sugar juices. An acre of land is a thousand catties of sugar. In this way, it is a good calculation to set up a mill in the Ryukyus.

"I wonder what method Ryukyu uses to grow sugar cane? How much sugar cane is harvested each year? “

The cultivation of sugarcane is divided into so-called spring planting, autumn planting, and rooting. Or the so-called newly planted cane and roots. Spring-planted cane is planted in spring, with a growing period of 8 to 12 months. Harvested in the winter of the same year or in the spring of the following year. Autumn cane is planted in autumn and harvested after about a year and a half. Spring planting cane. Its germination coincides with the temperature rise in spring, and the peak growth period is in the strong light and high temperature season from June to October, which is conducive to growth. The ripening period is also in a cool, dry winter, which is conducive to sugar accumulation. Autumn planting cane planting temperature is high, germination is fast, germination rate is high, tillering and elongation time is early and long, maturity is also early, and it has the advantages of high yield and high sugar. However, the growth period is as long as one and a half years, the land utilization rate is low, and it is a place for pests to overwinter, so the damage is stricter.

The Ryukyus, on the other hand, are located in the tropics, so they are cultivated with roots. That is, when harvesting, only the sugarcane stems are harvested, leaving the roots in the soil, allowing it to continue to take root and sprout and become the resident roots. Roots are similar to spring planting, and can be harvested after one year of growth.

If you are in Nanzhong, someone will inevitably report to Shouhan the number of plantings, what kind of planting techniques will be adopted, what will be the yield per mu and the total output, and so on. It's a pity that this is Ryukyu and not Nanchu. From the king of the Ryukyus downwards, they are all masters who don't know the hardships of the crops.

Looking at the group of pot-bellied princes and ministers in front of him, Shouhan couldn't help but secretly scolded himself, "Ridiculous!" "Originally, I wanted to discuss the idea of letting this group of old men promote rotation, intercropping, and intercropping of sugar cane fields in the Ryukyus, so as to strengthen the utilization rate of the land, maintain the fertility of the land, and ensure the growth effect of crops. But now it seems that there is no need for this.

However, it seems that it is still necessary to promote intercropping and intercropping in sugarcane fields.

The so-called intercropping is to take advantage of the characteristics of long growth period of sugarcane, large row spacing, late closure, planting or transplanting to about 2-3 months after the closure of the row, planting other short-term crops between the rows, which can increase the multiple cropping index, improve the utilization rate of light energy, increase crop yield, and cover the ground early, improve the ecological environment of sugarcane fields, reduce water evaporation, and prevent weed breeding. Intercropping is to interplant sugarcane between the rows of the previous crop before the harvest of the previous crop, which can make full use of the land and extend the sugarcane growth period.

Based on his strategic layout and future plans, Shouhan plans to let the Ryukyus grow vegetables in the sugar cane fields! The location of the Ryukyus is really suitable as an intermediate station and supply point on the trade network! Naha Port is located on the southwest and south coast of Ryukyu Island, about 170 nautical miles southwest to Hirara Port on Miyako Island, about 340 nautical miles to Keelung Port in Oin, 180 nautical miles to Amami Oshima Port to the northeast, 380 nautical miles to Kagoshima Port in Satsuma Domain, 405 nautical miles to Ningbo Prefecture to the northwest, and 460 nautical miles to Shanghai Prefecture in Matsue Prefecture. In front of such large ships as the Canton and Changsheng, it is almost a matter of days to depart from here to any of the above ports.

Although the words of Shouhan made the Ryukyu monarchs and ministers hear in a fog, it seems to make some sense. In this way, people are not idle, and they are not allowed to be idle.

"My lord, in your opinion, what kind of crops should I plant in the sugar cane fields in the Ryukyus?"

"This, it seems that it still depends on the monarch and ministers of your country, but from the perspective of Shouhan, it seems that it is better to grow some vegetables."

Like a chicken pecking at broken rice, Prince Shangyi couldn't stop nodding, which caused everyone in the Ryukyus behind him to nod their heads incessantly.

"Vegetables and fruits are scarce in life at sea. In the future, I will travel between the south and the Ryukyus. It is necessary to replenish supplies at your place, water, vegetables and fruits, all kinds of meat, etc. ”

The father and son of the Shang family are all in the deep palace. I don't know how hard it is to harvest the crops. Oh. If the landlord's courtyard is also a deep palace. It was Mao Sihai's cheap old man Zeng Lin who kept his head down and couldn't stop calculating, and his little eyes couldn't stop shining with joy.

"There are a lot of ships coming and going from the Ryukyus, so if all the passing ships are here to replenish the water, vegetables, fruits, and so on. It's a good deal! ”

In the past few days in the mansion of Kume Island, Zeng Lin, who was almost stunned by the position of prime minister who fell from the sky, gradually woke up from the initial ecstasy, looking at the piled up of prayers and gift lists, he felt more and more that if he wanted to continue in this position, he had to hug the thick legs of the Nanzhong Army very firmly!

After a secret discussion with his son-in-law Mao Sihai, who was more and more pleasing to the eye, he knew that the most important thing for Lord Li at the moment was to choose a place to build a house on the main island of the Ryukyus, build a collapsed house, a warehouse, a stack, and build a wharf where a big ship could be moored. There is also the sugar mill that I just said.

What a great thing! Not only can you make a profit from it, but you can also hug the thick thighs of the South Central Army more tightly and firmly!

"On behalf of my king, I would like to thank the great generals of the Celestial Empire for their grace! I don't know where I want to buy the land that the adults said about buying land? How many places are there? ”

The most favored land for Shouhan and his men was the area near the port of Naha, where houses, forts and defenses could be built, as well as dedicated berths and docks. As with the purchase of land to build similar facilities elsewhere, the South China Army must be located along the coast or along the river, and the facilities on land can be supported by artillery fire fired from the water.

What attracted the attention of Shouhan and others was the land on the northeast shore of the port's Manhu waterway, where the water depth was about nine meters, and after the completion of the dock berth, ships of the rank of Changsheng could be berthed.

More and bigger ships will be moored here in the future. The port of Naha will be the busiest port for the South and Central Army in the direction of the mainland and the north.

After some arguments that were not considered bargaining, Nanchu Jun and Han Yuan Firm bought almost all of the coastal land around the port of Naha at the price of three years of sugar cane per mu per mu.

"Hah! It is said that the South China Army is shrewd in business! I don't think so, how can the sandy beaches and rocks by the sea compare to the land where sugar cane can be grown? Also pay a fixed price for three years per mu? It's really a young master who has so much money that he has nowhere to spend it! The moment when the prince Shangxian saw his father use the seal of the Ryukyu King heavily on the land purchase contract, he couldn't help but feel very proud.

"This contract is signed, and Ryukyu is in the hands of my Nanzhong Army!" When Shouhan pressed the golden seal of the president of the Nanzhong Army and the manager of money, food and civil affairs on the contract, almost all the people in the Nanzhong Army present had this idea.

"Lord Shang, in the future, my ships will continue to tread the waves, for all kinds of goods imported into the Ryukyus from Nanzhong, what standard do you think will be taxed?"

Could it be that the Ryukyu Royal Mansion can still collect taxes on those goods coming in from the Nanzhong Army?! That's a great thing! Although collecting taxes on maritime trade is not a new thing in the Ryukyus, have you ever thought about collecting taxes from the Shimazu family before? Those fierce and vicious flag-book warriors, it's good that you don't need to cut off your great head with a single sword!

"This, this, the Ming Dynasty is the state of my Ryukyu parents, and the Nanzhong Army is the great grace that relieved me in danger and repaid me with abundant food and clothing. This must not be done! After collecting the taxes of the Nanzhong Army, how will Xiao Wang go to see his ancestors and ancestors underground in the future? ”

"Lord Shang is worried about Li's sincerity? There are many varieties of goods traded by sea, and it is not easy to clarify the tax rate for a while. In this case, how about we try it out at a rate of 5 out of 100? If there is no one under the prince to carry out these trivial and complicated things for a while, I can spare some manpower from the Nanzhong Army and the Han Yuan firm to serve the prince. ”

Other words. According to Shouhan's suggestion, the Ryukyu Kingdom only had to sit in the palace and drink tea and talk, and the people of the Southern Central Army would serve them in the wind and sun on the docks, and they would argue with people on various sea ships. According to the tax received according to the standard of 100 draws and 5 draws, the Nanzhong army will be solved in full to the Ryukyu royal palace.

Is there such a good thing in the world? Ryukyu King Shangyi was almost stunned by this big pie that fell from the sky.

But Shizi blinked and thought of a very strict question. "What if this group of tax collectors from the south can't do their work, so as to overreport less? No way! I still have to draw a way down, lest these guys deceive me and others! ”

"At least 200,000 taels of tax and silver must be paid to the Ryukyu Royal Mansion a year!"

The son of the world can be regarded as a lion's big mouth.

Two hundred thousand taels? Why don't you go to sea and grab it?!

Seeing the changes in the faces of the people in the Nanzhong Army, King Shangyi immediately noticed it. He pretended to reprimand his son with majesty: "Foolish thing! The South China Army is benevolent and righteous. How can you make some petty profits?! ”

Under the superficial harmony of the two sides, they each played a small abacus.

Finally, the South Central Army and the Ryukyu Kingdom concluded the "Tariff Agency Agreement", which stipulates: It began in July of the fifth year of Chongzhen. The tax collection of the Ryukyu maritime trade was handed over to the Nanchu Army. Until the twenty-third seal of the fifth month of Chongzhen, not less than 60,000 yuan of Nanzhong silver dollars shall be handed over to the treasury.

In order to proceed smoothly with the taxation, the Nanchu Army could stay at Naha Port in the Ryukyu Kingdom with two posts of the naval division and the land battalion. Beware of the treacherous at sea.

"Father, do you say that the people of the Nanzhong Army can give us the full amount of 60,000 silver dollars?"

"You're confused!"

On the dock, the Shang family father and son still sent away Li Shouhan's Changsheng with a gift of one kneel and three knocks, and returned to the palace as if relieved.

"In the past few days, how many ships have arrived at my Ryukyus from Nanchu? Did you see that? ”

"According to Zeng Lin's report, there are about more than ten ships."

"Do you know what's coming?"

"When the people of the Kuri Guard went to the dock to see the excitement, they were all big guys, all of them were made of the so-called nine-turn steel, which is said to be used for sugar extraction, and the effect is much stronger than our stone roller!"

King Shangyi threw a stack of lists in front of Shangxian.

"Hello, take a look! This is the list of tax collectors who go to the dock to collect taxes! Every stroke is not happy! The rollers, ashes, steel bars and other materials loaded on these boats are listed one by one! ”

Looking at the clear details on the tax bill, Shang Xian secretly blamed himself for his villainous heart.

"And! The seven thousand silver dollars of these tariffs have gone into the treasury of the royal palace! ”

"Don't always use your own little caution to speculate on the thoughts of these big people, if they are all the same as your brain, will Grandpa Tai send thirty-six people with the surname to Ryukyu to help us build ships?!"

Shang Xian, who was scolded by his father, lowered his head and didn't dare to say a word, and he didn't know if the words he gave in the past were swept away by the wind and waves at sea.

"Son! You have to remember that my father is old, and I believe that he will soon go to see his ancestors and ancestors. This Ryukyu will be delivered into your hands in the future. ”

"As the head of a country, the most important thing is to judge the situation and seek advantages and avoid disadvantages."

A father teaches his son the way to be a king, and it is also a skill on how to survive in this troubled world.

"What you have to do now is to have a good relationship with Zeng Lin and Mao Sihai, the two sons-in-law, and go to the construction site on the port of Naha at least once a day."

Zeng Lin is now the Minister of State of the Ryukyus, and is in charge of the administration of the whole Ryukyus. Mao Sihai, on the other hand, was appointed by Shouhan and stayed in the Ryukyus, where he served as a representative of the Southern Central Army, coordinating affairs such as commerce and tariffs.

This pair of Weng sons-in-law, one inside and one outside, look at Ryukyu to death!

"Go and see if they are building houses, building docks, etc., and there are things that ask us to make decisions for them, such as recruiting people's husbands, collecting materials, etc."

Remember, although the Nanchu Army has a kind face, it is even more terrifying than the Shimazu family with a murderous face!

King Shangyi's words were imprinted in Shangxian's heart like a knife and an axe. (To be continued......)