Everyone on the boat glanced at each other, the price of rice in the Jiangnan area has shown a growing trend since the middle of Wanli, the price of rice in the early years of Wanli fluctuated between six and four coins of white rice in one stone according to the harvest year, but after ten years of Wanli, it was never less than one stone and six coins of silver, and the remaining 20 years of the Wanli Emperor, the price of rice in the Jiangnan area has been fluctuating up and down around the range of one stone and seven coins as the center. The main reason for this is the large import of silver and the large amount of resources consumed by the three major expeditions of Wanli; With the end of the Wanli Dynasty, especially after the forty-eighth year of Wanli (1620), the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River rose sharply to one tael and one stone, and in the last years of Chongzhen, it simply rose to the sky-high price of one stone and five taels of silver, which can not be simply attributed to the import of a large amount of silver and the problem of climate, an extremely important reason is that the frequent occurrence of peasant uprisings and the protracted war with the Later Jin regime destroyed the normal order of agricultural production. As the most sensitive businessmen to economic activities, they naturally know what it means to have a convenient transportation and stable supply of food, and the Jiangnan region in the late Ming Dynasty was like a sponge containing wealth, and those who controlled the food source in the famine years could easily push the price of grain up to the sky, squeeze this sponge, and let the torrent of silver fall into their pockets.

"Mr. Zhao, then Yizhou is really as rich as you say, so why is there no one to cultivate it?" The pot-bellied merchant asked, confused.

"Nayizhou is lonely in the sea, there are only some local people, they shoot and hunt for a living, do not know the art of farming, so the Dutch can build a fort and build a village, thinking that it is a nest. If you don't believe it, you can choose a few confidants, pretend to be a merchant who went to buy deerskin sulfur, see it with your own eyes, and then make a claim! ”

"And what about the second benefit?"

"That's the cane sugar, and there should have been some people in the rank who had done business with the Japanese people. This Japanese people are the most fond of sweets, from high-ranking officials and nobles to peddlers and pawns, all of them are happy when they smell sweetness. At least one-third of the cane sugar that the Dutch bought from Guangdong and Fujian every year was sold to the Japanese people, which was extremely profitable. It's a pity that the land in the south of the Yangtze River is not suitable for growing sugarcane, if you can win the big man, plant sugarcane there, and sell sugar to the Japanese people in exchange for silver, it is also a business to do! “

Hearing Zhao Youcai's words, all the businessmen couldn't help but nod secretly, as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, there was a trade route to Japan in the Jiangnan region, and they naturally knew that the sugar trade was profitable, but first, the climate and soil in the Jiangnan region were not suitable for planting sugarcane, and secondly, they couldn't get involved in the middle of this trade route, so they could only watch. And if, as Zhao Youcai said, the soil climate of Yizhou is suitable for growing sugarcane, then the supply is already in hand, and at least you can squeeze into this trade route to get a piece of the pie. Compared with the first one, the second one is more suitable for their spleen and stomach, and the eyes cast at Zhao Youcai are also a lot more eager.

"And what about the third one?"

"Actually, the third one is the biggest!" Zhao Youcai walked to the chart, stretched out his finger and pointed to the position of the master on the chart and asked, "Everyone in the rank should know Zheng Zhilong, why did he quickly become a huge rich?" “

"Hmph, every big ship that goes to sea will receive three thousand taels of silver, and it will be hell if you don't become rich!" The green-robed man sneered: "I want to make money, and I have to work hard, he only needs to take a small flag out, and he can exchange it for three thousand taels of silver, is there a more profitable business in the world than this?" “

"Yes, but above the sea, there is no road, and there is no card, why are you willing to honestly exchange the silver for the flag?"

"Although the sea is big, there are few possible roads, and the 'Eighteen Zhi' is stuck in the route, so how dare I not pay?" When the green-robed man said this, he spread his hands out, showing a helpless look. It turns out that for the ancient navigators, the most difficult thing is to know where they are, after all, the sea is not like land, there is no topographic reference, only the sun and the moon can distinguish the direction, and there are currents surging on the sea, if there is no way to confirm their position, compare it with the route on the chart and constantly correct, sailing on the sea is to send death.

The earliest method of navigation, whether in the East or the West, was to sail along the coast and correct it by means of markers on the shore to ensure that one's course was not wrong. For example, in ancient China, the so-called needle road is to compile the coastal route into words or songs to record, such as sailing east for five days out of a certain river estuary, encountering an island, and then turning south for a day and a half, seeing a cape with a boulder on it, and then turning east to sail for a day to reach the destination. It is not difficult to see that this navigation method has several drawbacks, first of all, it has high requirements for ocean currents and meteorological conditions, because if it is blown to a strange place by ocean currents or strong winds, the needle path will not work; Second, this method of navigation can only be littoral navigation, and cannot find islands or new continents far away from the mainland, Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean is a typical example, and its main navigation method is the needle road method used, so although its sailing distance is long, it is impossible to reach the Americas or Australia, which does not border the Eurasian continent. This is why the ancient Chinese migrated to Southeast Asia in large numbers as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, and only began to expand into closer Taiwan on a large scale in the Ming Dynasty - the raging Kuroshio made it easy to reach Southeast Asia from the coast of ancient Fujian Province, but it was very difficult to get to Taiwan. Later, with the development of astronomy, the West learned to calculate the dimension of the ship according to the angle between the North Star and the sea level, and then deduce the longitude of the ship according to the difference in time zones, so as to calculate the approximate position of the ship on the earth. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China gradually lagged behind the West in astronomy and mathematics, although it also invented the astrological technique to determine latitude, and with the needle method, it was also possible to carry out a great voyage like Zheng He's voyage to the West, but it was still very dangerous to sail across the ocean, which was clearly demonstrated in the maritime trade with Japan. Broadly speaking, there were three routes from ancient China to Japan: the Northern Route, the Southern Route, and the Nandao Road. The northern route is the earliest and safest route, that is, starting from Hakata in Japan, sailing north along the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, then along the Liaodong Peninsula to the west, and finally across the Bohai Sea, landing on the Shandong Peninsula. However, after Silla destroyed Baekje and Goguryeo, unified the peninsula, and the relationship with Japan was not harmonious, the sea route was changed to the Nandao Road, that is, from Kyushu along the Ryukyu Island Chain Islands, after arriving at the Amami Islands, turn northwest, cross the East China Sea to reach the mouth of the Yangtze River in China, this road is much more difficult than the northern route, although the first half can be used as a marker by the Ryukyu Island Chain, but then it must cross the East China Sea, which requires higher navigation technology. In the 8th century, more skilled ships began to use the Goto Islands in the west of Kyushu to the southwest, cross the East China Sea, and land in the area of Suzhou and Mingzhou, apparently the southern route took the least time, and of course the most dangerous, and required the highest technical requirements. Sea vessels departing from Hangzhou and Fujian usually choose the South Island Line, that is, they first sail directly to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and then follow the Ryukyu Island Chain all the way to the northeast and land in Kyushu, Japan. As long as the pirates led by Zheng Zhilong have one or two strongholds within the Taiwan Strait, they can use them as a base to control the route to the Ryukyu Islands, and force the merchants to pay them money to buy the road and enjoy the benefits. Unless the merchants risked the destruction of their ships and the death of their people, they could only accept Zheng Zhilong's blackmail.

Zhao Youcai smiled: "Rank, you pay Zheng Zhilong to buy the road, but Zheng Zhilong will not escort you, and he will not compensate you for your losses when you are robbed by pirates, but he will not come to rob you." So why not build your own fleet? You see, if we had occupied a large number of large numbers and built more than ten gunboats there, and the merchant ships from Hangzhou bound for Japan were concentrated here, and every thirty or fifty of them were escorted by gunboats and sent all the way through the Ryukyu Islands, wouldn't we have to pay this money? “

Hearing Zhao Youcai's words, everyone couldn't help but show a light of hope on their faces, they exchanged glances for a while, and the green-robed man asked, "I don't know how much silver this will cost?" ”

Zhao Youcai saw that they were moved, and he was secretly happy in his heart, and he was thinking about how big a number should be reported, that is, he couldn't scare them away, and he couldn't say too little and not lie in the future. But I heard someone behind me snort coldly, and when I looked back, it was Mr. Cheng Er: "In my opinion, it's not a matter of more money and less money." If you pay the money to Zheng Zhilong, it will only let him have more boats to rob you, now it is three thousand taels a year for a boat, and next year it may be four thousand taels or five thousand taels. As long as the money in your pocket is not exhausted, then Zheng Zhilong's greed will not stop every day, unless you don't do foreign business, sooner or later they will suck your blood dry! ”

Hearing Mr. Cheng Er's words, a wry smile appeared on everyone's faces, and the big-bellied man smiled bitterly: "What Mr. Cheng said is true, but aren't we afraid of spending money, but we didn't get it done?" ”

"Haha!" Mr. Cheng Er snorted, stood up, and pointed to everyone: "The great-ancestors here have started to do business as early as possible, and the late ones have started to do business." These generations have accumulated, more than one million taels, and some less have two or three hundred thousand taels of silver, I haven't wronged you, right? ”

Hearing Mr. Cheng Er's words, everyone couldn't help laughing. Mr. Cheng Er walked up to the green-robed man and asked, "Boss of the Yu family, what are you doing with all the money you earn?" ”

"Run some businesses and save food and clothing for future generations!"

"Well, ask Tian to ask for help for your children and grandchildren!" Mr. Cheng Er nodded: "But this field is not easy to buy, after all, you are different from me, and your family is white." If there is no Jinshi in the family to raise people, too much land will cause trouble, I am not wrong, right? “

"That's what Mr. Two said!" The man surnamed Yu looked deeply touched: "Two years ago, I took a fancy to a house and wanted to buy it, but I didn't want the old man from the same county to intervene in it, I didn't dare to fight with him, so I had to let him, and now I think about it and I'm still angry." His answer provoked an exclamation of approval, and it was clear that everyone had encountered similar experiences to a greater or lesser extent, and at this time they couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship.

"Then you have earned money, and you can't all use it to buy land, either take it out and lend money, or keep it in the cellar, and some of you eat, drink, and be merry, raise thin horses, and play with famous prostitutes. Instead of making such a mess, it is better to take some out and give it to Mr. Zhao. Don't you want to buy land? If Mr. Zhao wins this time, how much land will there be on Yizhou Island? Aren't you being oppressed by the lord of the same county? If Mr. Zhao's matter is done, you are all soil emperors on Yizhou Island, and who dares to oppress you? Don't you hate that Zheng Zhilong for taking the money from you for nothing? If Mr. Zhao succeeds this time, not only do you not have to hand over the silver to Zheng Zhilong, but you can also let others pay you the silver! “

Listening to Mr. Cheng Er's words, everyone suddenly felt that their bodies were hot, as if they had drunk a few bowls of high-grade daughters' red belly and had seizures. The man surnamed Yu slapped the table and scolded: "Mother, it's a mess, anyway, the silver can't be used in the cellar for a while, Mr. Zhao, you count me Yu Dawei for this matter, how much silver do you want!" ”

"Count me in!" The pot-bellied man also slapped his thigh.

"Add me a share too!"

Unexpectedly, things went so quickly, Zhao Youcai couldn't help but cast an admiring glance at Mr. Cheng Er, but he knew that these people on the ship were the most shrewd businessmen, if he was too eager at this time, he was afraid that he would find a way out for himself after they went back. He raised his hands and said with a smile: "The rankings are all used to trading, how can there be a joint stock in the world that does not understand the income and expenditure, expenses, and profits before making a profit?" As you can see, there is no hurry about this silver matter, if you have time, you should go to Nadaishan Island first, and then send two trustworthy people to go to Daguan to figure things out, and then it is not too late to produce silver. No one can guarantee that we will be able to make money in this transaction, but even if we lose, we have to lose clearly, right? “

Zhao Youcai's words won the favor of everyone at once, and many of them originally spoke out of the way of Mr. Cheng Er's face, but now they began to seriously consider whether they wanted to join. As Mr. Cheng Er just said, from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the huge amount of silver imported from overseas trade did not produce a "price revolution" similar to that in Western Europe in China (after the great geographical discovery in the fifteenth century, a large number of precious metals from the Americas flowed into Europe, resulting in a rapid rise in prices, currency depreciation, active speculation, and a highly developed handicraft economy. China is like a huge black hole, absorbing the huge inflow of silver, which has not all become the currency in circulation, promoting the rapid development of the commodity economy and industry, and the vast majority of silver is sleeping in the cellars of wealthy merchants, precipitating, and only a small part is circulating in the market. (To be continued.) )