Fujian in the Ming Dynasty is one of the important silk fabric production areas in China, as early as 1439, the imperial court set up a weaving and dyeing bureau in Quanzhou, specializing in the production of tribute for the royal family. (Baidu search update is the fastest and most stable dìng) after the Jingtai period, Fuzhou Zhizhou Bi Heng also set up a local weaving and dyeing bureau, according to the record of "Fuzhou Fu Zhi", at that time Fuzhou had to pay 425 feet of silk to the royal family every year, and 1328 catties of raw silk were used, all of which were apportioned and paid by the counties under the rule. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the silk weaving industry in the south of the Yangtze River gradually rose, and it greatly surpassed Fujian in terms of technical level and output, which directly led to the decline of Fujian's government-run silk weaving industry.

However, the decline of the government-run silk weaving industry does not mean that the local silk fabric market is cowering because of this, on the contrary, in the early Ming Dynasty, most of the Fujian people used ramie to make clothes, and the consumption of silk fabrics was not large. But in the late Ming Dynasty, silk clothing became the standard clothing for young people. As recorded in the "Taining County Chronicle": "Tai's production is only ramie, outside the ramie cloth, a trace must be easy to outside, and now the rich people's children, the clothes must be Luoqi, the color must be red and purple, long-sleeved and large-belt, self-proud." One person advocates it, ten people follow it, and it is extremely extravagant. ”

Similar records are also recorded in detail in the "Quanzhou Prefecture Chronicles", especially in the coastal areas, this change in clothing habits is very significant. The change of consumption habits has made Fujian's silk market not only not shrink due to the decline of the government-run silk weaving industry, but has greatly expanded among the people. Due to the limited production in Fujian, a large amount of raw silk and silk is also imported from Jiangnan every year. In the "Batong Min Zhi", "Xinghua Fu Zhi" and "Anhai Zhi", there are records of Fujian wealthy merchants buying a large number of silk fabrics from Jiangnan. Tang Zhen, a thinker in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, once wrote: "Wu silk clothes all over the world, gathered in Shuanglin, Wu Yue and Fujian as for the island, all come to the city." May came with silver, and the commission was like rubble. The townships of Wunan have a benefit of one hundred thousand years. "During this period, the total amount of cotton and silk imported from Jiangnan by Fujian every year can be called astronomical.

Of course, these raw silk and silk fabrics are not completely digested by the local market, and export is also one of its important destinations. Through the three major foreign trade ports of Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, Fujian's silk fabrics have been exported to Japan and the European market in large quantities. Due to the Japanese problem, the Ming Dynasty banned trade with Japan for a long time, and Japanese merchants even had to go to the Southeast Asian market to buy Chinese silk. Savvy Portuguese merchants bought silk fabrics in Canton and shipped them to Japan via Macao, ranging from 1 to 3,000 quintals a year.

In the last two decades of the 16th century, half of the silver produced in Japan was exported abroad, and most of it went into the pockets of the Portuguese. In the 38 years from 1599 to 1637, Portuguese merchants shipped more than 50 million taels of silver from Nagasaki, and the vast majority of this silver passed through the port of Guò Macao and entered the Ming Dynasty in exchange for silk fabrics and other goods.

The situation in Europe is different, Western countries introduced sericulture from China as early as the Middle Ages, and Spain, Italy and other countries in southern Europe have strong silk production capacity at this time. However, since raw silk in Europe was very expensive, it was far less cost-effective to organize raw materials for production in the European market than to import raw silk from distant China, so the main import target of European merchants was raw silk as a raw material, not finished silk fabrics.

Regarding this situation, the late Ming Dynasty historian He Qiaoyuan once commented on the Spaniards and the Dutch: "It is the two Yi people, all of whom are good to take Chinese silk satin mixture, and its soil is not silkworms, but it is used by Chinese silk, and the lake silk is used to it, and it can also weave fine satin, chiseled like flowers and scales, and serve it as good as Hua." It is worth 100 catties of Chinese lake silk and 100 taels of silver, and the price can be 2 or 300 taels. ”

At present, Xu Xinsu, the largest foreign trade supplier of raw silk in Fujian, gives the Dutch about 140 taels of silver per load of raw silk supply, not only the transaction is limited to a limited amount but also to collect a deposit in advance, the Dutch are still eager to pay it. But when the raw silk arrives in Japan, it is at least twice as profitable. The price of raw silk in Manila is 100 taels higher than that in Taiwan per quintal of raw silk. In order to obtain more raw silk, the Spaniards even ventured to cross the Pacific Ocean every year, transporting silver directly from the South American colonies to East Asia to source goods.

However, during this period, Fujian's local raw silk production is not large, and the quality of Fujian silk is not as good as that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the main raw materials of the silk weaving industry come from Huzhou, Zhejiang, and the production center is mainly concentrated in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou three foreign trade ports. Fuzhou to four-layer fabric "change machine brocade" as a specialty, Quanzhou is known for its rich variety of silk fabrics, and Zhangzhou is characterized by being good at imitation, the most famous Suzhou silk in China, Lu silk, can be imitated in Zhangzhou, and even the velvet that flows in reverse from abroad is also quickly "cottaged" success in Zhangzhou, which can be said to be the "Huaqiang North" of the silk weaving industry.

At this time, although the status of Fujian's private silk weaving industry is not as good as Wuyue in the south of the Yangtze River, but it is also one of the important production areas in China, Xu Guangqi quoted Guo Zizhang, an important minister of the two dynasties, in the "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration": "The opportunity of the southeast, the three Wu, Fujian, and Yue are the most guys, and they are taken to the lake cocoon." "Since the end of last year, the group has been working on the idea of sericulture industry and silk fabric trade, Wuyue is good but a little farther away, while Fujian is relatively much closer. Of course, the most critical point is that there is Xu Xinsu, a super head snake in Fujian, that can be used.

When the Executive Committee decided to use the export of weapons to support Xu Xinsu's rebellion against the "Eighteen Zhi" more than half a year ago, it also had some thoughts of using Xu Xinsu to gain convenience in Fujian in the future. With the advancement of the construction process in Sanya, the Executive Committee finally began to pay attention to some projects that did not have the development conditions at the beginning of the crossing, such as the sericulture industry and the related silk weaving industry that need to adapt to the sericulture and environment of the time and space environment to be developed.

Although Fujian's silkworm seeds and silk are not as good as those in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, for Hainan's tropical monsoon climate, Fujian's silkworm seeds have better adaptability and are more practical for the crossing group. The people of the Ministry of Agriculture have expressed their position to the Executive Committee, as long as there is a year or two to breed and breed, it should be possible to breed local silkworm species suitable for the climate of Hainan, of course, this is almost the progress under the ideal state, the actual progress, not only depends on the progress of Fujian, but also depends on the development status of the crossing group on Hainan Island, because the area suitable for sericulture is mostly in the central and northern regions, and it is not yet in the sphere of influence of the crossing group.

Of course, at the very beginning, we still have to solve the problem of whether there is any, breeding and promotion can be done slowly, anyway, the problem of crossing the group now is not that there are no export channels, but that all kinds of products are strictly zhòng production capacity is insufficient, and there is no need to count on the production of silk fabrics to revitalize the economy for a while.

Dong Yanyun's answer is not particularly exaggerated, Xu Xinsu gave the Dutch the time to transport raw silk every year, probably before the Haihan militia went to Vietnam, and now a month has passed, Xu Xinsu has sold all the raw silk on hand is about seventy-seven, eighty-eight, and it is definitely hopeless to buy from Fujian in bulk at this time.

Dong Yanyun didn't want the three of them to feel that they were looking for an excuse to push, and continued: "If you really want to purchase silk fabrics, you can try to buy them from Jiangsu and Zhejiang on your behalf, but it will take a long time, and the price is estimated to be higher......

"Mr. Dong, we don't plan to buy raw silk and silk fabrics for the time being, what we want is local silkworm seeds in Fujian. Tao Donglai simply pointed out his intentions.

"Silkworm seeds?" Dong Yanyun was stunned for a moment before he said, "Are you planning to ...... Grow mulberry and raise silkworms in this place in Yazhou?"

"It's not about where we grow sericulture, it's about whether you can give us the help we need. Tao Donglai was not interested in discussing technical details with Dong Yanyun.

"This ...... It's not difficult to do, so I don't know what the specific requirements are?" Dong Yanyun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it was much easier to send silkworm seeds than to send a shipwright, and he didn't have to worry about affecting his own industry.

As for saying that if the Haihan people really breed silkworms on Qiongzhou Island, will it have an impact on Fujian's silk industry after the silk is produced, Dong Yanyun is not worried at all that silk fabrics and raw silk are in short supply in the Fujian market.

Tao Donglai took out a piece of paper and handed it to Dong Yanyun: "This is my requirement for silkworm seeds." ”

Dong Yanyun looked at it, and it specifically specified several silkworm seed production areas, and also explained which growth stage of silkworm seeds and the required quantity. In addition, mulberry trees from all over the country should be sent one by one for selection. In addition, the Haihan people also proposed to hire a number of skilled silkworm farmers from the sericulture area of Fujian, a number of weavers who are familiar with the process of making silk fabrics, loom samples, and so on. Although the entries are a bit cumbersome, the requirements are not excessive, after all, they are all related to the sericulture industry.

After reading it, Dong Yanyun nodded slightly and said: "It's not difficult for you to ask for these items, you can agree to come down now, and after you go back, you will prepare these items and send them to Shengli Port." ”

"That's for the best. Upon receipt of the silkworm seeds from you, we will give you a certain share of the arms purchase at our discretion. Tao Donglai was also satisfied with Dong Yanyun's answer, but the matter is not over here: "There is one more thing, we have a large demand, I hope you can find a way to provide us with a source of goods." ”

"Mr. Tao, please speak!" Dong Yanyun is now considered to have touched the path of the Haihan people, and if he wants to buy their arms, he must first agree to a series of exchange conditions, otherwise he will not be able to buy even a hair even if he carries cash.

"We heard that Xu Daguan had a lot of trade in Japan, so we wanted to be able to import copper ore from Japan through the Guò Xu Daguanren route. Tao Donglai paused, and deliberately emphasized: "You can exchange copper for our arms!"

Dong Yanyun's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this: "Really, Mr. Tao must not be entertained!"

"As long as it's a copper ingot of good purity, you can have as many as you want!" Tao Donglai immediately gave him another reassurance.

In the industrialization construction of the crossing group, there are quite a few places that need to use copper as raw materials, but the copper reserves brought by the crossing are very limited, and it is certainly difficult to meet the needs of industrialization. The only copper mine on Hainan Island is in Shilu, and the local development plan is still on paper due to the large number of needs, and it will not be officially implemented for a while. During this period, the largest copper exporter in the entire East Asian region was Japan.

As an island country with poor mineral resources, Japan is very fortunate to have relatively rich copper resources, including large and small copper mines such as Ashio Copper Mountain and Besko Copper Mountain**, which are evenly distributed in a geological belt about 800 kilometers long and dozens of kilometers wide from Kanto to Shikoku and Kyushu, and the reserves are very rich. During the Ming Dynasty, Japan exported a large amount of brass to the Ming Dynasty, and by the 80s of the 17th century, Japan's copper output once ranked first in the world. Therefore, when the executive committee used the brains of copper mines, they immediately thought of Japan as a source of goods.

Although Japan produces gold, silver and copper, it lacks tin ore to cast bronze, so they even lack the ability to mint copper coins on their own, and the hardness of pure copper is too soft, and preservation is a big problem. As a result, Japan had to export brass to the Ming Dynasty every year, and then exchange it at a discount for the copper coins minted by the Ming Dynasty for domestic circulation and use. Until Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan at the end of the 16th century, the main copper coins in circulation in Japan were still "Yongraku Tongbao".

How lucrative the minting trade is, anyone with a little economic acumen can think of it. However, the group plans to import a large amount of copper, not to mint coins and then sell them back to Japan, but to really use it for its own industrial development.

The most urgent is the Ministry of Military Police and the Ministry of Shipping, the bronze cannon to be developed by the military industry department, and the corrosion-resistant "navy brass" required by the shipyard, all of which require a large amount of copper as raw materials for production. Tin is another metal used to make these items, and the Guangzhou Office has found a supplier on the mainland, namely the "Haifeng" trading firm from Huizhou Prefecture, and more than 10 tons of tin ore are currently transported from Huizhou to Guangzhou every month, and then transferred to Shengli Port. The production department has already trial-produced a batch of lead-tin alloys last month, which is used to make movable type for printing, and as long as the printing ink of the chemical department is successfully trial-produced, it can start printing some promotional materials and literacy books on its own.

In addition, the power coverage area, mainly in the Tiandok Industrial Zone, also needs a large amount of copper to erect transmission lines. At present, the power used in the No. 1 base and the port area is still mainly based on photovoltaics, which is obviously not in line with the Executive Committee's goal of building Shengli Port into a "livable town". As for the use of copper in machinery, metallurgy, and light industry, it is more extensive, and if the supply of copper cannot be well solved, it is enough to slow down the industrialization process of the group by several years.

If we compare the copper price of Daming at this time, although the import from Japan is relatively long, even if the transportation cost is added, it is still about one-third lower than that of Daming. If you buy in large quantities, the cost can be amortized a lot, which is quite a cost-effective transaction for a large copper user like the Crossing Group.

However, Dong Yanyun still has some doubts about this: "My master did have a lot of trade with Japan in the early years, but in recent years, the Japanese are more willing to trade with the red-haired people, and they may need to wait until they return to Fujian to inquire about further news." ”

Dong Yanyun's words were cloudy, but the three people present understood the meaning of the words. After Li Dan's death, Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong inherited his inheritance in mainland China and Taiwan respectively, and Japan's resources were divided between the two families. Now that Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong are fighting, the Japanese side, as an outsider, will naturally have the meaning of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, and at this juncture, if Xu Xinsu finds a Japanese to make a large transaction, the other party's attitude will be more unpredictable.

Ning Qi answered at this time: "Mr. Dong, in order to show our sincerity, I will give you a great fortune." Have you ever heard of Yabei Hamada?"

Dong Yanyun shook his head and said: "In the future, I will only be active in Fuguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, and I don't know much about Japan, so I would like to hear about it in detail." ”

Ning Qi briefly told him about Hamada. Hamada Yabei was a Japanese maritime merchant who had come to Taiwan in 1626 to buy raw silk in conflict with the Dutch East India Company, and the following year Hamada returned to Japan to meet with the shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, in an attempt to persuade the Edo shogunate to rebel. In the spring of 1628, Hamada led hundreds of Japanese to Taiwan again, but this time the Dutch came directly to the Dutch, copied a large number of weapons and gunpowder from the ship, detained all the people and ships, and Hamada himself was imprisoned.

Ning Qi stopped when he said this, and Dong Yanyun looked at him inexplicably and said, "Why doesn't Mr. Ning continue?"

Ning Qi said in his heart that the next thing hadn't happened at this time, how could I casually leak the secret of heaven. At that moment, Ning Qi coughed dryly and said, "After Mr. Dong goes back, he can remind Xu Daguan to pay attention to the changes in Taiwan." If you are a qiē shun lì, within this year, whether it is a Japanese or a red-haired person, they will take the initiative to ask for Xu Daguanren's door. ”

Dong Yanyunqi said: "Why does Mr. Ning say this?"

Ning Qi smiled mysteriously and said, "This is a heavenly opportunity, and it must not be leaked!"

Ning Qi pretended to be a ghost, but in fact, this matter was worthless to put it bluntly. After several days in captivity in Taiwan, Hamada and his men took force to break into the residence of Peter, the Dutch administrator in Taiwan, and took his son hostage, before returning to Japan with them. Upon his return to Japan, Hamada immediately imprisoned Peter's son and closed the Dutchman's trading house in Hirado, Japan. After this, Japan's trade with the Netherlands was interrupted, and it was not until 1629 that the headquarters of the East India Company, which was deeply aware of the situation, ordered Peter's dismissal and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment. This was not until 1632, when the Dutch escorted Peter to Japan and handed him over to the shogunate for execution, that trade between the two sides was restored