Compared with the north, the people in Jiangnan are indeed living a much better life, which is the conclusion that Zhang Lingyang has reached through his investigation in Jiangning Mansion in the past half month.

In fact, this is the answer that can be thought of with the buttocks, the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, the climate is warm and humid, which is more conducive to the growth of crops.

And what kind of scene is in the north, when the wind and rain are good, it is okay, once there is a little drought, locust plagues will come one after another, and such a thing is completely invisible in the south of the Yangtze River.

It is also because of this that the life of the people in the south of the Yangtze River is a little better than that in the north, but it is just a little bit, as the people at the bottom, whose life is really better

Although Jiangnan is the land of fish and rice, geographically it is seven mountains, two rivers and one field. In this case, how much land can the people get is a question that can be thought of with their buttocks.

However, fortunately, since ancient times, there is a saying that China relies on the mountains to eat the mountains and relies on the water to draft the water, although the land in the hands of the people in the south of the Yangtze River is small, but the aquatic products here are particularly rich.

Therefore, even if there is not enough food in the fields, the people can still get fish and shrimp and other food from the water.

Compared with previous years, the people in Jiangnan are in a particularly good mood this year.

In the past, most of the land in Jiangnan was in the hands of the gentry, and the people mostly lived by renting the land of the gentry, but now it is good, a land transfer last autumn was vigorously launched in the Great Zhou, and Jiangnan, as the land of fish and rice, is naturally the top priority.

Maybe it's because too many gentry died in the rebellion at the end of the second year of Tai'an, or maybe it's because the gentry here were originally very enlightened.

Anyway, when the land transfer was vigorously opened in the Great Zhou, the gentry here began to sell a large amount of land in their hands and started a sea trade business.

It is said that with the economic level of Jiangnan, it is completely qualified to build a factory. But in the whole Great Zhou, there are very few people who understand science and technology, let alone professional and technical personnel.

In Da Zhou, only the Da Zhou Royal Academy will specialize in cultivating technical talents, but the talents cultivated by the Royal Academy, Zhang Lingyang is of special use, and how can some small factories be wasted

It was also for this reason that the gentry, who had lost their land, could only set their sights on the more lucrative maritime trade.

However, now the gentry in Jiangnan have begun to do maritime trade business one after another, but perhaps because of their character, few people will really take risks, and most of them choose to ship their goods to some Western colonies in Southeast Asia to sell. There are very few ships that actually sail further west.

Although the maritime trade business is profitable, the risks are not small. In addition to the storms and waves that break out at sea from time to time, their biggest threat is the pirates.

Especially in the South China Sea, where pirates of all sizes are densely populated, making a living by plundering cargo ships.

When meeting with several representatives of the gentry in Jiangnan, Zhang Lingyang listened to this question.

Faced with the gentry's worries, Zhang Lingyang answered his questions: "Rest assured, the imperial court has made a plan to prepare to form a navy in Songjiang Mansion and Guangzhou in the south. Once the navy is built, it will be able to protect the safety of your sea navigation. ”

Although the formation of the navy in Zhang Lingyang's mouth is still a relatively distant matter, these gentry still see hope, so they are overjoyed one by one.

Among them, a respected old man came out and said: "Your Majesty, if the imperial court really plans to form a navy in Songjiang, the old minister is willing to donate 50,000 taels of silver from his family, hoping to contribute to His Majesty." ”

"The old gentleman is so gracious, then I will be disrespectful!" Although 50,000 taels of silver is small, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is not meat, so Zhang Lingyang accepted it without hesitation.

When the others saw this, they opened their mouths to donate silver, most of which ranged from 30,000 to 50,000 taels of silver.

After some statistics, in today's windfall, Zhang Lingyang actually got 200,000 taels of silver.

Zhang Lingyang didn't think about giving the 200,000 taels of silver to 'greedy ink', but in front of everyone, he directly ordered Xiaofuzi to deposit the 200,000 taels of silver into the Jiangning branch of the Great Zhou Royal Bank, and then transferred from the Jiangning branch to the Songjiang branch.

Today's Songjiang Mansion, the shipyard is in full swing, and I believe that in less than half a year, the Songjiang Shipyard will be completed.

The fact that a shipyard is built does not mean that construction of warships and cargo ships can begin immediately. In addition to the need for mechanical equipment to be debugged, there is also an important factor, that is, the lack of good wood in Jiangnan.

A warship costs 10,000 taels or even more than 100,000 taels of silver, most of which is used to buy wood, and as for the labor costs, it does not cost much silver.

In fact, it can be done by relying solely on the imperial court to purchase and transport wood, but in the final analysis, the efficiency is relatively low, so Zhang Lingyang said to these gentry representatives: "Everyone, you also know that the shipyard in Songjiang Mansion is still half a year to be completed, but the wood for building warships is now very scarce.

I plan to purchase timber from Annam and other Nanyang regions, so I wonder if you are interested in participating in it."

"This ......" The gentry representatives were all very hesitant, they took such a big risk to run the sea trade, in the final analysis, because of the considerable profits.

Now it is necessary to purchase and transport wood for the imperial court, how much profit can be obtained from it, and whether the imperial court will give them the silver in the end, this is the question.

Perhaps seeing the worries of these gentry representatives, Zhang Lingyang said with a smile: "You don't have to worry, the imperial court will not let you do a loss-making business." You can negotiate the purchase price of the timber with the person in charge of the Songjiang Shipyard, if you think it is profitable, you can do a part for the imperial court, if you think it is risky, I will not force it. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness!" Speaking of which, what else can they, the representatives of the gentry, say?

Anyway, everyone present had made up their minds, no matter what the other gentry thought, as long as they didn't lose money, they would buy wood from Nanyang for the imperial court.

The reason for this choice is very simple, being able to become a representative of the gentry and be summoned by the Son of Heaven shows that these people have a lot of influence in Jiangnan.

In other words, these people are among the top two families in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sea trade business is also very large.

Before the battleship is built for a day, they, the gentry, have to bear the risk of being plundered by pirates for a day, which is why they support it so strongly!

After seeing off these gentry representatives, Zhang Lingyang stayed in Jiangning Mansion for a few more days, and then boarded a ship and headed for Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, in the southeast.

Counting the days, Zhang Lingyang has been in Jiangning for half a month, and he has also visited the places in Jiangning City, and it is time to change places......