On February 25, 1635, the ninth day of the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Empire.

Inspecting, reprimanding, appreciating, changing, and raising salaries, all the staff of the Pearl Island Branch of the Oriental Industrial Company except Zhao Mingchuan were picked up with a stick and a candy. Isaac's repeated performances on Pearl Island lasted for more than half a month, and he took the large merchant ship Oriental Beauty with great interest, carrying a large amount of goods to Dayuan Island to "visit Wèn".

Isaac's temporary departure finally allowed Zhao Mingchuan to find time to do business, but the original plan to travel to Qiongzhou Mansion was postponed until after the Spring Festival.

Zhao Mingchuan came to Qiong these days, Qiongshan County's restaurant has almost never broken the table, on the grounds of New Year's greetings, every day there are rich squires from all over Qiongzhou to take turns to feast Liu Yaoyu and Zhao Mingchuan, during which even officials participated, and the words pointed to the new year's Qiongzhou fortune plan.

In addition to Liu Yaoyu, the big shopkeeper of the Nanhai firm, Zhao Mingchuan, the "Nanyang Huamei Translator", should be regarded as the most popular figure in all parts of Qiongzhou, and everyone knows that the Nanhai firm can call for wind and rain in Qiongzhou, and Zhao Mingchuan's role is no lower than that of Zhao Youheng, the prefect of Qiongzhou, and even because both are surnamed Zhao, it also makes people make other guesses.

There were once big businessmen and gentry in Leizhou, Gaozhou, Lianzhou and other places in Guangdong who heard about Qiongzhou, and they all tried to buy a field in Qiongzhou, but they were all united and excluded by the local squires who had eaten a mouthful of oil, and they were stunned that they didn't even buy an acre of land.

Under the spontaneous bribery and bondage, local officials in various parts of Qiongzhou have also righteously forbidden foreign merchants to purchase land and pioneer in the local area under various pretexts. The 17th-century version of local protectionism in the Ming Dynasty took deeper and longer roots in Qiongzhou.

The road of playing intensive joint farms in Qiongzhou was not working, and the gentry from other places simply set their sights directly on the Nanhai firm, intending to cooperate directly with the other party, and also on their own territory. However, in addition to the refusal of all kinds of traders, this kind of cooperation was still politely rejected by Liu Yaoyu. In fact, the reason is very simple. The fact that the Nanhai firm was able to wholeheartedly implement the intensive large-scale farm agricultural joint venture in Qiongzhou was entirely covered by the highest local power such as Zhao Youheng. Whether it is Lianzhou, Leizhou or Gaozhou, for the "foreign" South China Sea merchants, it is easy to be eaten by local forces without a bone.

Whether it is spoken explicitly or in code, the choice of the Nanhai firm to take root in Qiongzhou naturally greatly caters to the hearts of the local gentry and bureaucrats in Qiongzhou. On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Zhao Mingchuan personally held a banquet in the largest restaurant in Qiongshan County, except for the officials of the Qiongzhou Mansion headed by Zhao Youheng who did not show up, almost all the gentry with status in Qiongzhou were invited to the banquet.

“…… Shopkeeper Liu, Mr. Zhao. In the old man's opinion, this Chongzhen's eight-year 'commercial quota' also needs to be slightly adjusted, right? The old patriarch of the Huang family in Ding'an County, who has the best relationship with the Nanhai business, is shaking his head at this time touching his gray beard, "Nanyang refined sugar, cloth, and shochu are mostly from Qiongzhou, and they should also be underwritten by local fathers." As for the rest of the gorgeous seafood, it is reasonable for Qiongzhou to divide fifty percent. ”

As soon as these words came out, a number of Qiongzhou gentry at the banquet immediately responded. It seems that Liu Yaoyu and Zhao Mingchuan intend to open up the agency rights of commodity sales to other state capitals in Liangguang and Guangzhou, and even to maritime merchants in other provinces.

"Qiongzhou is remote, vast and sparsely populated, and the flow of commercial goods has reached its limit. If you don't use merchants in other state capitals in Liangguang, I am afraid that after the production of Huamei seafood will increase again in the next two years, the market will be difficult to guarantee. Liu Yaoyu thought about it, and still explained it euphemistically to the Qiongzhou gentry present. Nowadays, the raw materials required by various industries in Huamei have increased greatly, and the seafood and Nanyang rice transported to Huamei are also several times that of previous years, and it is difficult to cope with Qiongzhou alone. Therefore, Brother Sicheng and I plan to open up the distribution agents of commercial goods in many places, so as to gather the strength of the two provinces to circulate to other provinces. ”

"This ......" The squires of Qiongzhou looked at each other, knowing where their weakness was, but they were very unwilling one by one.

"It is true, but it can be guaranteed that within five years, no matter how much or less, the fathers and elders of Qiongzhou will be the first-class agents of Huamei seafood. If you want to build a big ship, Mingchuan can also introduce ship dealers in Huamei. Zhao Mingchuan stood up and helped Liu Yaoyu play the round, showing a more mysterious smile by the way, "Today's banquet for everyone, in fact, there is another important matter." I will wait with you to discuss the road construction and mining in the Danzhou Iron and Copper Coal Mining Area. ”

This is the real topic of today's banquet, Zhao Mingchuan's words fell, and all the Qiongzhou gentry in the audience stared at each other, especially a few gentry from Danzhou. To put it simply, the South Seas Huamei is almost open to this kind of thing, and there is no need to bother to smelt it yourself, and it is just a silver for nothing.

"The imperial court naturally hopes that such a major event that benefits the country and the people can be completed as soon as possible, but the boy and Brother Sicheng have been thinking about it for several months, and there is no shortage of silver to raise manpower, but they are still suffering from the thin people in Qiongzhou and it is difficult to succeed, so please work together." Liu Yaoyu hurriedly followed, and the smile on his face was even worse, "Nanhai Business is willing to build a 'Qiongzhou Mining Bureau' with the Qiongzhou fathers and elders, and the ore mining equipment required can be purchased by Brother Sicheng in Nanyang Huamei." The required manpower can be recruited from Guangzhou, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places, and naturally there is no need for hard work. ”

The implication is that it is impossible for the Nanhai business to pay for it alone, and it is necessary to let the local gentry in Qiongzhou also share the benefits and risks, either to find someone or to pay money. Otherwise, it would be difficult for a local family in Qiongzhou to win that big piece of fat in Danzhou, and no one would dare to eat it alone.

After some whispering, the Huang family of Ding'an County stood up first and expressed their willingness to join the shares. With one, there are naturally two, and several local companies in Danzhou are even more anxious to say that the specific number of shares must have a scale plan.

After difficult negotiations, the local gentry of Qiongzhou who participated in the banquet finally reached an agreement, and the Nanhai firm contributed 100,000 taels to account for 40% of the shares, of which 10% was to be handed over to the Danzhou and Qiongzhou governments, and the remaining 600,000 taels were divided by more than 40 gentry according to the distance.

After the establishment of the Qiongzhou Mining Bureau, the first major task was to send people to the coldest and most miserable places in Liangguang to recruit displaced laborers, and to import the population to Qiongzhou in pieces. Although the cost is not low, and it is not bad to be able to get thousands of people a year, but this is probably the only way I can think of at present.

……

At night, Liu Yaoyu walked into the backyard of the Yamen of the Qiongzhou Prefect with a drunken demeanor. This is a habit he has been doing since the door of his house was broken, and he always likes to return to live with his last remaining relatives, especially during the New Year. On the contrary, he rarely went to the mansion he bought in Qiongzhou.

"Ninth brother, how can you drink so wolf again?"

At the corner of the corridor, Zhao Youheng's wife and Liu Yaoyu's cousin appeared with a few maids carrying lanterns. In the past few years, under the careful maintenance of Huamei cosmetics, Mrs. Zhao, who is already good-looking, looks more plump and beautiful. Probably because she smelled the smell of wine emanating from the other party, Mrs. Zhao's brows furrowed slightly.

"Uh...... Disturbed the seventh sister. Liu Yaoyu hurriedly straightened his body and bowed his hand respectfully, "It's getting late, I don't know why the seventh sister hasn't rested?" ”

"And he said, it's not for your business...... That's fine. Your brother-in-law is still reading in the library, so let's talk about it together! Mrs. Zhao had a straightforward temperament, grabbed her brother's wrist, and walked towards the backyard without the other party's words.

In the study, Zhao Youheng, who has become confident again because of his outstanding political achievements over the years, is writing official documents, and from time to time pinching his whiskers and shaking his head at a few paragraphs.

"Husband, I've brought my ninth brother here!" Mrs. Zhao hadn't entered the study yet. The voice was the first to drift in.

"Hehe, ninth brother, sit down."

Although some of Liu Yaoyu and Zhao Mingchuan's practices are slightly more radical, the Qiongzhou government is indeed changing day by day. The introduction of Nanyang rice and Siamese rice actually made Qiongzhou a grain exporter for the first time. Cotton, coconut trees and other cash crops have revitalized a large number of wasteland, the local people are living a better life, and the local state and county officials no longer regard Qiongzhou Mansion as their own dead end, but are all smiling.

Zhao Youheng's reputation for loving the people has spread. Now he has regarded this once down-and-out scholar as some kind of behind-the-scenes help in his career, and his attitude is much more amiable than a few years ago.

"Brother-in-law, seventh sister. What the hell is ......" Seeing that the two relatives had mysterious expressions, Liu Yaoyu was even more confused.

"Ninth brother, you have passed the age of standing, the family was unfortunate at the beginning, and the wife room has been broken up for more than many years......" Mrs. Zhao pulled her younger brother to her side and sat down with a kind smile, and patted each other's hands seriously, "The past is like a cloud of smoke, this time your seventh sister and I still plan to set a family affair for you and keep the incense for our mother's family." ”

"Here ......" Liu Yaoyu, who was already immersed in the "great cause", reacted at this time, quickly got up, and bowed to the end to the two official eunuchs who regarded him as their parents, "The family is not prosperous, and Di An dares to talk about marriage, I am afraid that he will be ashamed of his parents and uncle Jiuquan." ”

"I can't say this, self-cultivation and leveling the world are the words of the saints since ancient times. You have been running for many years, and now you can be regarded as a small achievement, but if the incense of the Liu Family Ancestral Hall is broken in your hands, even if the family has a lot of money, what is the use? ! Zhao Youheng stroked his short beard, suddenly stared at his big eyes like copper bells, and deliberately put on a strict appearance, "There are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great." You are the only man left in the Liu family, the so-called 'eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother', can my wife and I be your brother and sister-in-law? This marriage event can be dragged out by you alone! ”

"My brother knows that he is wrong, but he doesn't know which family he is from?" At a glance, he knew that these two relatives had already shot themselves to death, and Liu Yaoyu could only surrender his fate.

"The Wang family of Ding'an County." Seeing that her younger brother had relented, Mrs. Zhao hurriedly unfolded an invitation with a smile, "The Wang family is your brother-in-law's colleague when he was serving in Nanjing, and now Ding is worried about Qiong and lives at home. The Wang family has a daughter, sixteen years old, this woman is knowledgeable, ladylike and beautiful, I have also seen it, I like it. I think it will be another year, and as soon as the Wang family's worrying period is over, I will marry you. ”

"The Ding'an royal family? How have I not heard? Liu Yaoyu thought about it for a long time, but he didn't think that there was such a gentry who could have weight in the eyes of his brother-in-law Zhao Youheng.

"Since the opening of the Ming Dynasty in Qiongzhou, it is also regarded as a prosperous Wenchang ceremony, and it has the reputation of 'Dingchen succession, famous in China'." Zhao Youheng smiled and pointed to the invitation card on the table, "Ninth brother, you have been in business for a long time, and you don't know that everyone in Qiongzhou is hidden in the city." The Wang family of Ding'an is after Wang Hongzhi, the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites in the Wanli Dynasty, when the king boss protected Hai Rui, the dignity was solemn, and he created a famous family! The scholarly family of the Wang family, how can they go in and out of the market like those peddlers and pawn merchants? ”

"Uh...... My brother has never had anything to do with the Wang family, and the Wang family has never had anything to do with my brother, so why did you invite me to the banquet tomorrow? When Liu Yaoyu heard that it was a family of eunuchs, he was slightly unhappy.

"Now Hainan business is famous in Qiongzhou, you are also a talent and fame, this Wang family is even more scholarly, and the Wang family is good friends with your brother-in-law, Qiongzhou military equipment, and Guangzhou. Now that the Wang family knows that I have such a brother with your brother-in-law, they naturally treat each other differently...... If you have this marriage, it should be your great future! Mrs. Zhao hurriedly struck while the iron was hot.

"Madam, you go and rest first, and I'll talk to the ninth brother in detail." Seeing that this stunned young brother-in-law was still a little resistant, Zhao Youheng hurriedly made a look.

After a while, there were only two people left in the study, and the smile on Zhao Youheng's face that had been hanging for a long time finally dispersed, and he just looked at his brother-in-law in a daze.

"I'm afraid that my younger brother doesn't have the heart to return to the imperial examination, and this thing of climbing the dragon and attaching the phoenix will definitely not be done." Liu Yaoyu slowly raised his hand to salute, tilted his head, and his tone was a little low.

"Hmph, what a good line, don't you know that you have been running up and down in Qiongzhou under my name all these years?!" Zhao Youheng snorted coldly, lifted his robe, and sat on the chair, "Since you also know that you can't make friends and help when you are outside, how can you despise the reason for climbing the dragon and attaching the phoenix?" ”

Liu Yaoyu was stunned for a moment, his face began to redden, and he naturally had nothing to say.

"Hey...... Are you really your brother-in-law's place to cover the sky in this Qiongzhou? In recent years, Qiongzhou has been prosperous, and the little bit of thin taxes and miscellaneous taxes have been 300,000 taels for a long time. Your brother-in-law, I am in the treasury to solve it, and I don't understand it...... I can't say that a few years later, the order of the imperial court's holy decree will come, how should this large amount of silver be settled?! With Lord Xiong, the governor of Liangguang, I am also walking on thin ice to deal with it. Zhao Youheng sighed, with a solemn face, "Now that agriculture and commerce are prosperous, you and Zhao Mingchuan and the Qiongzhou gentry are working together, although there are small successes, they are just frogs at the bottom of the well." Even if no one in Qiongzhou covets it, can you still keep the entire Liangguang land respectful to you? The Wang family said that it was not big, but it was not small, but they had deep friendships with Lord Xiong, the governor of Liangguang, and the north and south of Beijing......

Liu Yaoyu's body was shocked, and he finally understood the true intentions of his brother-in-law and sister. Especially this brother-in-law, obviously not carried away by the so-called political achievements, and is already preparing for a rainy day in order to be able to start and finish well in Qiongzhou. And the "New Deal" made by himself and his brother-in-law in Qiongzhou will inevitably one day arouse external coveting, and it is inevitable that his family will choose to take sides.

Thinking about the fate of his parents, uncles, and family, and thinking of what he said just now, Liu Yaoyu's back slowly leaked into a cold sweat.

"The Wang family intends to marry your daughter, it should be because you are good at business, and his family has its own eldest man who is an official in the court, but I don't expect you to enter the imperial examination high school......" The words have been said clearly enough, Zhao Youheng coughed lightly, and walked out of the study with his hands behind his back.

Slowly picking up the invitation card of the Wang family, Liu Yaoyu took a deep breath, which can be regarded as suppressing the tremor in his heart.

……

Liu Yaoyu was following his brother-in-law and sister to the banquet of the Wang family, so it was natural that Wang Ba looked at the mung beans and looked at the right eye. Until after the New Year's Lantern Festival, Liu Yaoyu didn't take care of business affairs most of the time, and rushed to Wang's house to chat and visit every day or two to brag and fart.

The Qiongzhou gentry, who formed an alliance, also began to act after the Lantern Festival, sending capable men from all walks of life to Liangguang and even Guizhou, Huguang, and Fujian, recruiting homeless craftsmen everywhere, and secretly began to migrate laborers. (To be continued......)