In fact, since the beginning of the harvest season in August.

The good news of Xujiazhuang is one after another, which is dizzying.

First of all, the grain in the south of the Yangtze River has achieved a bumper harvest, and the total output has increased by 2% compared with last year, reaching the level of 1.2 billion stones, but due to the sharp drop in grain prices, no grain merchants are willing to buy, and Xujiazhuang is unlimited to buy at a price of 5 wen per catty (except for organic rice), and sell it to the market at a price of 5 wen per catty, that is, there is a zero price difference in the middle, and the cost of transportation and storage has to be paid, which makes other grain merchants simply give up the plan to dump grain.

In the end, Xujiazhuang realized the collection and storage of 600 million stones, and almost all farmers in the Jiangnan area sold the surplus grain to Xujiazhuang.

Today, the total population in the Ming Dynasty is only more than 200 million, and so much food can almost feed all the people of the Ming Dynasty and ensure that no one starves to death.

It can be said that the hegemony of grain has been firmly controlled by Xujiazhuang, and no one can challenge it.

Besides!

Overseas and in the land of the South Seas.

Xujiazhuang has a total of 70 sugar cane estates (20 in Luzon), 150 grain estates (20 in Borneo), 50 fruit estates, 30 rubber estates, 20 spice and tea estates, 15 core port cities (important nodes in the fishing and commercial shipping industry) - a total of 335 overseas colonization bases, and the number of immigrants and resettlement has reached 10 million, and most of them have begun to bring profits.

For example, each sugarcane estate can produce no less than 300,000 stone of sugar per year.

Each grain estate can produce 400,000 stone of husked rice per year.

In many core port cities, the annual tax revenue collected is enough to maintain the good operation of the city itself, without the need for financial support from Xujiazhuang.

The future of fruits, rubber, spices, and tea estates is even broader than rice and sugar.

And that's not all!

These more than 300 overseas colonization bases are also like economic engines, driving their own rapid development, and at the same time, they can also provide industrial services to the surrounding areas, export light money, copper dollars, silver dollars and other currencies, sell soap, farm tools, lighters, bicycles, sugar, clothing and other commodities, and bring the harvest of grain, gold and silver, minerals, timber, cotton and other raw materials.

Like a resource collector, it has absorbed countless resources from the surrounding indigenous kingdoms, indigenous tribes, Ming merchant colonies, and royal estates, achieving equivalent exchange and mutual benefit.

But because Xujiazhuang has the advantage of a high degree of industrialization, it has actually earned a large part of the profits.

Taking grain as an example, if some forces emerge in the territory of Daming and want to challenge Xujiazhuang's grain hegemony, Xujiazhuang does not need to take too many actions, as long as it raises the grain purchase price, in the land of Nanyang, a large number of grain is collected and stored, or temporarily organize manpower, send a task, expand the planting area of high-yield rice, achieve harvest in about three months, and transport it to the area with disordered grain prices within four months, or consume the surplus grain in Xujiazhuang's warehouse first, as long as it is guaranteed that the remaining food is enough to eat for four months.

That is, the surplus grain in Xujiazhuang's hands is so small that it is only enough for four months, and it can win the grain war.

All in all!

In the area of grain, Xujiazhuang is completely stable and is not afraid of any challenges.

It's just that I didn't expect that Xujiazhuang, which has won the hegemony of grain, has also achieved such amazing results in marine fishing.

In the first six months of this year, Xujiazhuang's four major fishing fleets caught 16 million stone (one million tons) of fishing in offshore waters, with an average value of 2 silver dollars per stone of sea fish and seafood, bringing economic benefits of 32 million silver dollars!

In August of this month, the ocean-going fishing fleet organized by Xujiazhuang, after arriving at the Tianci Fish Sea, caught 320,000 stone (20,000 tons) of sea fish in less than one day, if you continue to fish for two or three months, to achieve the goal of catching 10 million stone, is it not quite easy?

The value of open-sea and deep-sea fish, such as salmon, cod, sardines, king crab, loose-leaf crab, lobster, etc., is generally higher than that of inshore fish, and the fishing cost is also higher, so the price of 3 silver dollars per stone is definitely 3 silver dollars

What you want means that this deep-sea fishing battle in Xujiazhuang can bring at least 30 million silver dollars!

And this kind of fishing action, only Xujiazhuang has the ability to organize, only Xujiazhuang can earn, others only have the share of greed and jealousy, want to get a piece of the pie, it is impossible, the infinite fish resources in the deep sea are destined to belong only to Xujiazhuang's sole food.

Therefore, in the public opinion field of the Ming Dynasty, there were many voices of envy, jealousy and hatred.

"Tens of millions of stones of fish and shrimp, can the people of Xujiazhuang finish eating? Is this going to be eaten as a meal?"

"Xu Jiazhuang is too selfish, there are so many fish and shrimp in the heaven-sent fish sea, they can't catch them all by themselves, why don't you take our boat over and catch a few nets? Doesn't Xu Jiazhuang often talk about win-win cooperation?"

"The Tianci Fish Sea should belong to everyone, not Xujiazhuang's private territory, others are also qualified to go over to fish, and Xujiazhuang should provide convenience and lend us a boat for use, it's a big deal that I pay Xujiazhuang a certain charter fee."

"We want to eat fish too, so don't take all the fish that belongs to everyone, okay? Leave a little for our descendants."

"Xu Jiazhuang! In terms of food, even if it blocks our financial route, we admit it, but why are all the money-making businesses that you Xujiazhuang is rushing to do, and the heaven-sent fish sea is also occupied by you, don't we have the right to make money and make a fortune? If you always eat alone like this, you will offend more and more people, and you will never end well!"

"Yes, Xu Jiazhuang is too selfish, all the businesses that make a lot of money are monopolized, and no one else is given a chance, the so-called Mu Xiu will be destroyed by Lin Feng, this is the way to die, I advise Xu Jiazhuang to change his course, take the initiative to give up some benefits, sell some sail fishing boats and frozen cargo ships to us at a cheap price, and then take us to the Tianci Fish Sea to fish, and share part of the profits, only in this way can people be convinced, not the enemy of the world."

"Indeed, Xujiazhuang is very powerful, but we are not without a way to deal with Xujiazhuang, we can't win the war, all kinds of commercial goods from Xujiazhuang in the future, such as the "classic radio" that came out in the second half of this year, we don't buy it, we must resolutely resist, so that Xujiazhuang doesn't want to make our money, the lifeblood of businessmen is profit, if there is no profit, can Xujiazhuang still exist for a long time?"

"Not bad! If Xujiazhuang doesn't make a fortune with us, then resolutely resist it, and would rather go back to the old days than buy a single thing from Xujiazhuang."

「……」

In the face of these cacophonies of dissatisfaction and anger.

Xu Jiazhuang naturally ignored it and didn't care about it, because the intelligence officers were sent to investigate a little, only to find that those who verbally clamored for a boycott, as long as they had a little status and identity, all of their homes were "made in Xujiazhuang", and even the "classic radio" that had just been launched for a short time was priced at 8,000 silver dollars, they were also the main force of purchase, and they would listen to radio programs from Xujiazhuang every day, which showed that they were all true fragrance parties.

Nevertheless.

The senior management of Xujiazhuang also knows that the behavior of eating alone will indeed cause a lot of jealousy and resentment, and they don't have to care about it in the short term, but in the long run, it will still bring certain disadvantages, so they still have to give up a small part of the benefits.

It just so happens that there are countless fish caught on the other side of the heaven-sent fish sea.

In addition to the seafood made into dried fish, as well as high-value chilled food such as king crab, Xu Yuan wants to bring it to the modern society to sell, and the rest can all be made into canned products, which are sold in large quantities in Daming, and the price is not very high.

For example, the canned herring is 1.5 kg, and the price is only 60 wen per piece.

1.5 kg of canned saury, priced at 90 wen per piece.

1.5 kg of canned sardines, priced at 90 wen per piece.

Canned salmon 1.5 kg, priced at 120 wen per piece.

Canned eel 1.5 kg, priced at 150 wen per piece.

The above prices are a flat reference price for consumers.

If it is a strategic partner with a good relationship with Xujiazhuang, its wholesale price can be cheaper by 10 ~ 20 Wen / piece, when selling, it can also be based on the economic development of various places

On the basis of the price, the price is increased by 10 ~ 30 Wen to sell, and the average profit margin of each can should not be less than 20 Wen.

But only if you want! Only partners with a friendly relationship with Xujiazhuang can get the most preferential wholesale price, and those forces with a less friendly relationship and even a hostile attitude are very difficult to buy, let alone enjoy the wholesale price.

So after this rule came out.

There are countless businessmen who have applied for cooperation, taking the initiative to curry favor with them, and there are countless people who implore them to become strategic partners, and there are also some undisciplined businessmen, who saw the big man in Xujiazhuang, simply knelt on the ground, begging to become a dog in Xujiazhuang, expressing that they are willing to do anything.

After all, in this ancient society, meat is very precious, including fish, the per capita annual meat consumption, it is estimated that there are only a dozen catties, and the rich city people are only twenty or thirty catties, and the scarcity is expensive, and the result of less meat is the price of buying one catty, the cheapest is fifty or sixty wen, and the expensive one is hundreds of wen, which is ten to twenty times the price of grain.

Of course, under the influence and drive of Xujiazhuang, the Jiangnan area of Daming is an exception, the price of meat here is very cheap, thirty or forty wen a pound of pork, mutton and chicken and duck meat, per capita meat consumption has already exceeded thirty catties, so dozens of hundreds of canned sea fish, there is no price competitiveness here, unless it is sold at a reduced price.

But it's different if you put it somewhere else!

The average price is about 30 pounds of canned sea fish, which contains delicious and protein-rich fish meat, as well as salt, oil, chili, spices, tempeh and other seasonings, which meet people's needs for salt, oil, condiments and meat, and some canned food containing fish liver, which can supplement a large amount of vitamin D to avoid night blindness, and some canned food with side dishes such as kelp and sea vegetables can supplement iodine and prevent some common big neck disease in inland areas.

And so on and so forth.

There are so many benefits of eating canned sea fish, and the price is not expensive, it can simply become a food for many people, in any case, each person has to eat about ten per year, and there is no market at all.

This is the reason why the businessmen who apply for cooperation are so enthusiastic.

……

The other side.

In the Kingdom of Japan.

Many feudal lords rushed to Kyoto and came to the shogunate, and they all asked to see the Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu to discuss the huge benefits contained in the heavenly sea of fish, and they must not give up their interests, and must take some targeted actions.

More than 30 million silver dollars.

And there are so many of them every year.

Iwami Ginzan, which is equivalent to 100!

Even if you can get one percent, you will make a fortune!

How could they possibly sit still and remain silent?

Inside the council hall.

"General, the heaven-sent fish sea is the closest to us, and it should belong to us, how can we let outsiders occupy it? We should form a fleet to drive out the fishing fleet in Xujiazhuang and recapture the sea of fish that belongs to us!" A heavy Kanto daimyo do.

"But do we have the strength to defeat Xu Jiazhuang? One of their ironclad ships can easily destroy a hundred of us, and no matter how many big ships we build, they are no match for them." Another official said soberly.

"Then send an envoy to negotiate with Xujiazhuang, if the negotiation fails, the envoy will commit suicide in front of the face, to show our will and determination, the first messenger will not succeed, then send the second and third, until they give in!" Xu Jiazhuang prides himself on being a civilized person, if they can be ruthless and not make concessions, to prove that they are just pretending to be civilized, if they give in, then we will win, and the price is only the death of a few messengers, and for the sake of Japan, their sacrifice is meaningful, and he will become a hero revered by everyone in future generations." The daimyo came up with an idea, which immediately attracted a lot of approval.

"It's a good idea, it can be used!"

"For the sake of the country and the people, there will be many warriors who are willing to be messengers of negotiation."

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded, and if he didn't agree, he would cut his stomach in minutes, which was indeed a good way, and there were Dutch missionaries a few years ago

Scholars, who insisted on preaching in Japan, also brought hundreds of musketeers over, and clashed with the local feudal lords, as a result, the Japanese side suffered a big loss, and finally sent a few defeated samurai to confess their mistakes in front of the Dutch, and they were so frightened that they hurriedly left, safeguarding the dignity and interests of Japan.

In this case, using this trick on an invincible opponent like Xu Jiazhuang may be able to achieve similar results.

So the negotiators quickly set off and arrived at the port of Hirado to make representations to the representatives of Xujiazhuang.

On September 2, the envoy completed his negotiations and returned to Kyoto.

Inside the shogunate.

"Xu Jiazhuang made a concession and no longer occupied the sea of fish that belongs to us?"

Seeing the messenger, Tokugawa Iemitsu said with a look of surprise.

"No, they didn't make concessions, and said that they would go to the Tianci Fish Sea every year in the future." The messenger shook his head.

"That's a failed negotiation, so why didn't you cut your stomach?"

Tokugawa Iemitsu's face darkened, and he looked at this messenger with great annoyance, eager to draw his sword and cut it.

"But Xujiazhuang is willing to take out a wholesale quota of 1 million stone fish every year to recruit strategic partners, and there are only ten places in total, the first collaborator is 300,000 stones, the second is 200,000 stones, the third is 100,000 stones, and the fourth to tenth places only have a wholesale quota of 40,000 stones, and the price is very favorable...... General, Xujiazhuang is invincible in the world, we are definitely not opponents, let's cooperate with them, 300,000 stone of canned sea fish a year, the shogunate can earn at least three and a half million silver dollars, this opportunity should not be missed."

The messenger said in a seductive tone.

"Yaga! We want the whole sea of fish, not such a little send, you should cut your stomach immediately, and I will let the samurai with the best sword skills be your mischief." Tokugawa Iemitsu Road.

"General, Xujiazhuang is to give us the sea of fish, we don't have the ability to develop it, and Xujiazhuang's fishing fleet, only fishing in the Tianci fish sea for three or four months every year, not a long-term occupation, and so many years later we have the ability to fish in the ocean, the Tianci fishing sea, not just want to go, it is impossible to run away, besides, the wholesale quota of 1 million stone fish catches, the general will pull up nine stronger and support the shogunate's daimyo, you can win all the quotas, Japan has a small population, 1 million stone of fish, It can meet the needs of the entire market, those who have not been able to get the wholesale quota, is to find a way to catch a lot of fish, I'm afraid they can't sell it, these ten places, is equivalent to the qualification to monopolize the market, if you can't get these qualifications, it is impossible to enter the market in the future, you can only watch others make money!

In addition, Xujiazhuang will soon announce the news of recruiting partners, if the general is unwilling to cooperate and does not take action, the other daimyo lords, who want to cooperate with Xujiazhuang, will not hesitate to betray the general and compete for these ten places, so why don't the generals strike first, lest they start to regret it after being betrayed."

"This ......"

Tokugawa Iemitsu hesitated and said, "If I make a move to grab the cooperation place, wouldn't it mean that the shogunate betrayed them? How can such a thing be done?"

"I'd rather let me bear the people of the world, and let the people of the world bear me. Have you forgotten this family motto?" The messenger asked.

"You have a point."

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded, Xu Jiazhuang's trick is obviously a plan to kill three soldiers with two peaches, and it is a kind of yang conspiracy, if you face the fat bait that Xu Jiazhuang took out, the Tokugawa family will not eat it, and some of the daimyo will rush to eat, and in the end they can't grab anything.

It's better to "rather be responsible for the world"!

It's decided!

The shogunate should take the initiative to cooperate with Xujiazhuang, get the first place, and become Xujiazhuang's dog, no, to become Xujiazhuang's strategic partner.

……

A few more days later.

It was found that the Tokugawa shogunate took the lead in countering the water, and in the field of fishery, it became the first strategic partner of Xujiazhuang, and the entire upper echelons of Japan exploded, they were sold, or were sold by the shogunate who had the qualifications to command the world, and took the initiative to take refuge in Xujiazhuang, how can this be endured? Down, down! The first wave of the Shogunate unfolded vigorously, but the Tokugawa Shogunate ceded a lot of benefits and co-opted the nine strongest princes, and the other feudal lords were large

The name is united, and there is not much chance of winning, so it can only be a mouth cannon to defeat the curtain, and after that, it is even more detached, and there are only a few irons left who are willing to support the shogunate.

And willing to take refuge and allegiance to the lord of Xujiazhuang, there are more and more, lined up to curry favor, if you can be lucky to be selected to become a loyal dog, it is even more worthy of ecstasy and cheering, after all, the current Japan, the shogunate is selfish, without any prestige, even so, Xujiazhuang's thick thighs, is the most worthy of hugging, anyway, no matter what, Xujiazhuang is much stronger than the shogunate who did not hesitate to sell them for the approval of the quota for 300,000 stone fish.