Shou Xuan stayed in the mainland and Houjiang for several months.

The war on the mainland has not stopped, for example, in some prefectures in Fujian, the most outrageous grain prices have reached the sky-high price of 1,000 yuan for a bucket of rice, and a stone of grain costs seven or eight taels of silver, and the tragedy of cannibalism is staged everywhere there.

In the area under the jurisdiction of the Houjiang Chief Executive, the purchase cost of grain was only 4 taels of silver and 1 stone, and the CIF price of 1 tael of silver was sold to Guangzhou and 30 percent of the net profit, while the actual grain price there was stable at 1.5 taels to 2 taels and 1 stone. The huge price difference makes transporting grain thousands of miles a lucrative business.

Because of the rapid contraction of commercial trade with the mainland, the expansion of Nanyang Bank's assets and liabilities also entered a bottleneck period, and they invested a small amount of resources in agricultural production in Houjiang Province.

Lin Tongwen's first words to Shou Xiang were: "I need people, the more the better." ”

The immigrants from the mainland and Houjiang Province were respectively in charge of Li Junchang and Lin Tongwen. In the past few years, Taiwan's domestic capacity has been occupied, and the scale of the migrant fleet to Guangdong organized by the Houjiang government is not large. Fortunately, Houjiang Province is close to the mainland, and there are many spontaneous immigrants.

"How much population do you control?"

"Counting the 160,000 slaves, 25,000 of them belonged to Gao Yuanjue, the son of Xingping, and his mother."

As one of the first Ming generals to cooperate, Gao Jie's direct troops gained a territory on a huge island sandbar between the Houjiang River and the Guyu River.

They opened the way with swords and firearms, and became slaves of the Ming army as the last of the Suchenla tribes surrendered during the siege. The rest of Gaojie has completely obtained an area of more than 2,000 square kilometers. When Shou Xian gave this land of undetermined ownership to Mrs. Xing, it was full of swamps and crocodiles. Now, the Ming army has built cofferdams, dug irrigation canals, and has reclaimed many rice fields.

"Under our push, Mrs. Xing adopted the sub-sealing system. She placed her capital in the city of Charong on the banks of the Guyu River, and divided the rest of the land among the officers who came south with her. The soldiers were also assigned to the manor, and as a matter of obligation, those soldiers had to join Madame Xing's army when she was drafted. Broadly speaking, it's a bit like our Western Zhou Dynasty, a mix of the Kamakura period in Japan and the Middle Ages in Europe. ”

Splitting is almost an option.

The organization of the Ming army degraded to a very low level during the Apocalypse and Chongzhen years. Below the commander are large and small military leaders, and the general soldiers must be generous and even bribed to barely maintain the unity of the troops.

The disorganized army, whether against the Tatars or the peasant army, was very suspicious in combat. The Ming army became a green battalion, and the growth of combat effectiveness was inseparable from the reorganization of the army organization by the Tatar system.

Taking Gao Jie's department as an example, as strong as Mrs. Xing, she can't control every soldier, she relies on officers at all levels. These officers can embrace her or abandon her.

The order could not and did not want to copy the system of the Tatars, and since the organization of the Ming army had deteriorated, it would simply retreat to the end. Restore the ancient feudal system, and reshape the power and obligations within the Ming army with splitting feudalism. The Federal Senate endorsed the Ming army's feudals, and supervised and arbitrated the relationship between the feudal lords and vassals.

The system is not afraid of primitiveness, but is afraid of chaos.

Everyone has a territory, and the anticipation of future gains unites those junior officers and soldiers. Everyone clarified the boundaries of rights and duties within the system and put them into writing in the form of laws.

Lin Tongwen rolled out the map, "Quang Nam has advanced south to the north bank of the Saigon River, the area that the Khmer called Priangko, and the Vietnamese renamed it Gia Dinh. Jiafang west to the main channel of the Mekong River, south to the Guyu River, this vast area belongs to the Shui Chenla country. Madame Xing, as Hou Jiang commonly called her the Countess, guarded the northern frontier for us. ”

Shou Order: "Shui Zhenla is a puppet regime in Quang Nam, will Mrs. Xing's soldiers still cross the border to capture slaves?" ”

Lin Tongwen: "Occasionally, you know this kind of thing is difficult to control. The Quang Nam county guard in the Jiading area has protested to me several times. “

"What is the attitude of the Nguyen Lord of Hue?"

"The Hue court has not officially stated its position, I guess it will be soon."

Shou Order: "In my name, inform Mrs. Xing that from this year onwards, do not cross the line again." It's just a slave, and she also has production in her current territory, either to buy it from Lu Zhenla's nobles, or to go to the mountains between Lu Zhenla and Quang Nam to catch it. Don't provoke Quang Nam again. ”

Quang Nam is a powerful country in the South Seas, and Shou Xian does not want to push it to the opposite side.

Lin Tongwen: "Okay, I'll handle it immediately." ”

"Where did you colonize Houjiang Mansion itself?"

"As planned, we have focused our main efforts on the direction of the Gulf of Siam, and we are now advancing to the Ha Tien area."

"It's not enough, continue westward, until the Xiangshan Mountain Range, and by the way, take Phu Quoc Island."

There are two main reasons why Hou Giang is pushing westward along the coastline rather than tracing the Mekong Ho River upward.

One is that it is aggressive to push up the Houjiang River too quickly, and the coastline is an area that no one pays attention to. Second, Lu Zhenla can be turned into a purely landlocked country as soon as possible.

Lu Zhenla is rich in production, as long as they have no access to the sea. Those rice, freshwater fish, brown sugar and other specialties have no pricing power, and can only accept the exploitation of Hou Jiang Province. If done properly, the entire Lu Zhenla country will have millions of people working for the Federation, they will gradually become destitute, and then there will be no need for swords, and the Lu Zhenla Kingdom will also send countless slaves and women to the Federation. In such a case, monopolizing trade would be more profitable than military conquest, and would not require huge military expenditures.

"Archon. There were also many Ming soldiers and their families in Houjiang Province itself, and I also adopted a sub-feudal system for them. These small Ming officers and men have been of great help to our colonization and advancement. They are not subordinate to each other, but only obey our commands. Organize a team to capture slaves in Lu Zhenla, and rely on them to protect the immigrants Zhuangtun. If possible, please add me some more Ming troops. ”

Shou Xian smiled, the Ming officers and soldiers did not like to farm, they often rented out the land, and they continued to be mercenaries.

"No problem, there are so many defeated troops on the mainland."

Shou Xuan drew a line between Ha Tien and Zhu Du Town in the upper reaches of Hou Jiang Province, "I will replenish you as soon as possible, and when the time is ripe, dig up the Hou Giang Canal, so that our army will not have to bypass the Golden Ou Kok, and the distance between the Gulf of Siam and the Mekong River will be greatly reduced." ”

Lin Tongwen: "The canal project is huge, and it will not be implemented until I fill up the entire Houjiang Mansion, which will take many years. ”

Order: "Your territory, you can do it." ”

Lin Tongwen: "I am now using the method of immigrating Zhuangtun and dividing the Ming army to gradually encroach on Zhenla, if I dig a canal, I need to stabilize the border in the direction of Zhenla, and the current troops are not enough." ”

Order: "It is also impossible for the army to send many troops to be stationed in Houjiang Province. In this way, in two years, I will transfer a few more complete Ming troops to you, and you will divide them on the border with Lu Zhenla. ”

The border drawn by Shou Order, except for the coastal part, was roughly the border between Vietnam and Cambodia later.

Lin Tongwen has inspected many places on the border, and he sketched out in his mind an actual boundary that crosses mountains and rivers. Lin Tongwen knew that the Federation did not plan to conquer the Kingdom of Zhenla, but only wanted to weaken Zhenla and gain economic benefits. Even within the borders, as in Quang Nam Pioneer Jiading, much of the land was still owned by the Chenla Kingdom, and the Houjiang Province was only leased or taxed. This avoids over-irritating the Siam behind the real wax.

"Archon, there are still a lot of tribal territories in the territory you have carved out. What should we do with them? All conquered and sold into slavery. ”

"No, no, Mr. Administrator. That's too barbaric to be the demeanor we should have. You should already know about the second half of the conference? ”

Lin Tongwen nodded emphatically.

"For the Shuizhen Latou who are subject to our rule, their control over their existing territories is recognized, hereditary is allowed on the condition that they fulfill their obligations such as taxation and servitude, and the Federation ensures the security of their private property. We are civilized people, and we are rulers who are kinder and more worthy of support than the Lord of Quang Nam Nguyen and King Chenla. I hope you understand this, Chief Lam, that the Federation wants to unite all the nations in its territory economically, in terms of property rights and people, and not just on blood ties. ”

Lin Tongwen had an unbelievable expression, but this did not prevent him from carrying out the order of observance. Huairou rule can be understood by every countryman.

After talking about the long-term plan, Shou Xiang asked about this year's grain purchase.

"Chief Lin, how much food can you provide me with this year?"

"Self-produced and purchased, I estimate that it is still 600,000 stone of rice, and the cost of grain from Java is relatively high, and the combined price is about 8 yuan per stone."

The local population has also grown rapidly in recent years, and they are planting a large number of sugarcane and cash crops, and the food gap is a bit large. The mainland needs to import more than 100,000 stone of grain from Siam every year. It is probably for this reason that Houjiang Prefecture's self-produced grain has increased, but Lin Tongwen still only buys 600,000 stone like last year.

"Merlot is building a granary in Kuching with volcanic ash in preparation for receiving migrants. This year you don't have to buy grain from Java, the quota of grain is given to Kuching. ”

"Then I can only scrape together a maximum of 400,000 stones, maybe less."

"The Navy is going to rearrange the fleet this year, and it is no longer possible to organize a large fleet heading to Taipei, but there is still food needed there. 150,000 stone was given to the merchants to carry it themselves. How many merchant ships do we have now? ”

"Domestic shipyards shifted their production capacity to warships, and last year the Tatars captured the coast of Fujian and Guangdong, and we lost shipbuilding replenishment from the mainland. Counting the ones you brought back from Taiwan, there are about 370 merchant ships in the country. ”

"Draw 150 merchant ships, give them bills, as long as the grain arrives, Taipei will stamp them with a big seal, and we will pay them the freight locally. Migrants and other goods loaded on the return trip are counted as their own earnings.

The Spaniards could not intercept the scattered grain ships bound for Taipei, but the cost was obvious, as more grain would be lost on the way than before, and the cost would be higher.

Since Li Chengdong was anyway, the entire southern coastline of the mainland, from west to east, is Deng Yao in Qinzhou Bay; Lianzhou and Leizhou belong to Qiongzhou in western Guangdong; Li Mingzhong of Gaozhou, Li Chengdong and Chen Qice of Guangzhou Prefecture; Chaohui Hao Shangjiu, Shi Fu, Shi Lang; Zheng Chenggong, South Australia; Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian in Xiamen, southern Fujian; Northern Fujian was under the direct control of the Taipei Prefecture, plus the Zhoushan Ming Army in Zhejiang.

The entire coastline is mostly friendly or neutral to the Federation.

Merchant ships will sail close to China's coastline. After years of combing through the Chinese coastline by the convoy of escort ships, not many Chinese pirates and routs dared to attack merchant ships flying the Union flag. It's not that there are people who take risks, but without the Federation's involvement, the Ming army along the coast can suppress them.

As compensation for the Ming army, the merchant fleet paid a portion of the tax burden to the ports of berth. In this market, grain is better than silver, and 30,000-50,000 stone of grain has been prepared in an orderly manner to dot the necessary seaports along the way, as long as 100,000 stone can be transported to Taiwan in the end, it will probably be able to meet the demand gap there.

Lin Tongwen held his chin and thought for a while, "Then I can only choose the owner of the ship who lives in the mainland and Houjiang, and whose family is by his side." ”

"Exactly."

"What about the other boats, what are you going to do with them?"

"Other ships carried grain to Qiongzhou and Guangzhou, and half of the ships were divided to transport people to Borneo."

Lin Tongwen lamented, "You have to use my resources to develop other colonies." First Taipei, Taipei has just gained revenue, and now it is Kuching. ”

"Didn't you keep saying that Houjiang can only grow grain, not mines? The mining rights of Bangda Gold and Copper Mine in Kuching were handed over to Hou Jiang. ”

"That's it! I've heard it's a big gold and copper mine. ”

"Don't worry, it's bigger than the mine in Keelung."

Lin Tongwen spread out on the chair, "I hope so." I owe Nanyang Bank 1 million taels of silver, and the earnings from Houjiang and Taipei are worth paying interest every year. Now with the addition of Kuching, I am really afraid that I will not be able to pay back the money and be hunted down by your shareholder brothers in the bank. ”

Shou Xuan thought for a moment and said, "You try your best to pay it back." If you can't pay it back, audit all the ledgers. I took it back and persuaded the bank's shareholders that as long as the interest was paid normally, the principal could be borrowed to repay the old. ”

"Okay......" Lin Tongwen agreed a little struggling.

Hou Giang Province is close to the mainland, and grain and other cash crops are very visible. Nanyang Bank's interest rate on loans to Houjiang Province is not high, and it has been controlled within 10%. These loans from Nanyang Bank have a relatively long term and can only be obtained with an official background.

The debt is 1 million, and the investment brings the corresponding assets such as estates and plantations. It's just that these assets are not windfall profits, and the returns are long-term.

1,000,000 taels of silver is not so much silver spot given to Houjiang by Nanyang Bank at one time, and no bank in the world has this kind of strength. Precious metals circulate in the South Seas, money in and out, and many times bills close positions with each other.

Federal Foreign Trade, Current Account Entity Trade Precious Metals is now an outflow state. The proceeds from the sale of grain, saltpeter, and canvas by the Dutch were exchanged for tin and sugar, raw silk, porcelain, and other goods sold to Japan and Europe, and their profits were high, and the exchange of precious metals between the two sides remained in a state of equilibrium.

Siam and other countries were net gains to the Federation, and they sold grain for silver. The commodity economy of the South Seas was stimulated by the federal government and reached a new level. This part of the silver is recovered by the federal government through investment projects such as Nanyang Bank bonds and the liberalization of domestic plantations.

Nanyang Bank controlled the economic lifeblood of the Federation, and according to the decision of the shareholders' meeting, most of the annual profits were used to expand capital.

The bank sorted out the financial order of the countries on the west coast of the South China Sea, and with the help of the federal army, perfectly realized the function of credit intermediary, collected interest from various loan items, and fed back to investors.

Nanyang Bank's deposits and bonds are regarded as low-risk safe assets by investors from all over the world, and most of the funds are deposited on newly cultivated plantations.

With the development of the commodity economy, there is some mild inflation in the surrounding countries, but that is benign. Only when the increase in production lags far behind the growth of money will hyperinflation be created. This problem is not obvious in Nanyang, where the bulk grain trade between Houjiang Province and the local population is ultimately needed for production resources. It only takes three to five years for hard-working Chinese to create value that exceeds the cost of immigration.