Liuqiu has 32,000 farmers engaged in agricultural planting, distributed in nearly 100 agricultural reclamation sites, mainly engaged in rice and sugarcane cultivation. After nearly half a year of hard work, a total of 300,000 mu of land has been reclaimed at each reclamation site, and 100,000 mu of rice and 200,000 mu of sugarcane have been planted respectively. Although the incentives are in place and the high-quality iron tools are blessed, the speed of this wasteland reclamation is really not comparable to that of the western Sichuan Plain. On the one hand, the western Sichuan Plain has been fertile land since the Qin Dynasty, and although it was abandoned by the invasion of the Mongol army, a single fire can burn the miscellaneous trees and artemisia grass clean. Keelung is surrounded by extremely dense wild jungles, and the use of fire not only destroys the timber used for construction and shipbuilding, but also burns down the port and reclamation points due to uncontrollable fire, so the only way to deal with the giant trees in the jungle is to use axes and saws. On the other hand, there is a lack of cattle, horses and other large livestock that can be cultivated on Liuqiu Island, and the efficiency of ploughing is naturally not as good as that of western Sichuan. There are many wild buffaloes on the island, but they cannot be domesticated in the short term, so they can only be hunted for meat.

Although 100,000 acres of rice have been planted, grain is still ranked first among the commodities purchased by the company. Pioneering activities are extremely food-intensive, and it is to be expected that in the coming year, the production of self-produced food will still not be enough. Although the land is still being reclaimed, the recruitment of displaced people will continue for many years, and the goal set by the top management of the company is to solve the problem of food self-sufficiency next year. In order to solve the current food problem, Boss Qian has organized a fleet to go to the south to buy grain. The purpose of buying grain in Quanzhou was to let Pu Shougeng and other sea merchants make profits from it, so that they would not be embarrassed to flow the company's caravan. It's just that there are many mountains and few fields in Fujian South Road, including Quanzhou, and the grain produced is barely enough for local consumption. The grain sold by Pu Shougeng to Liuqiu Company was all purchased from other places, and the price at which it was sold was naturally not low.

Most of the grain of the Liuqiu Company was purchased from Cochin, Champa and Luzon. These three places are called Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam and the Philippines in Ouyang Xuan's mouth. In the past, the merchant ships of the Southern Song Dynasty traveled along the coastline to these places, passing through Quanzhou, Danzhou and other places, although the distance was long but safe. Liuqiu Company went to the three places this time, but it was a direct voyage from Keelung to the three places. The direct flight distance is short but risky, but fortunately, among the sailors recruited by Boss Qian, many people are familiar with this route, and Liao Loach also sent a battalion to accompany him for the purpose of training the navy, which deterred the pirates along the way who wanted to do it. Therefore, although there were small troubles and twists and turns along the way, dozens of boatloads of grain were successfully brought back.

This time, Boss Qian also bought back hundreds of buffaloes, and according to the calculation that one buffalo can cultivate ten laborers, these buffaloes can withstand thousands of laborers. The climate on Liuqiu Island is warm and rainy, and it is not suitable for ploughing with horses or cattle, which are the first choice for ploughing. Cochin, Champa and Luzon are similar to Liuqiu, and agriculture is mainly based on rice, and naturally there are also a large number of buffaloes. After selling the tea, silk, porcelain and other commodities that Boss Qian had brought with him, when he had purchased enough grain, he saw that there were still many empty cabins on the transport ship he had brought with him, so he bought a large number of water years until the cabins were full.

The amount of money spent on the construction of various industrial and mining industries and the purchase of grain and buffalo was extremely huge, and it was through the sale of the shares of the Liuqiu Overseas Exploration Company and the bonds of the Liuqiu Agricultural Development Company that Boss Qian raised these funds. These stocks and bonds were all sold by Li Kaipeng, and he first marketed them by drawing pies, telling stories, and describing visions, but they had certain results but did not meet expectations. Later, he started with high-ranking officials such as Jia Nidao and Lu Wende, in addition to giving stocks and bonds, he also asked them to write inscriptions for the company, and everywhere created a sense of mystery that Jia Nidao and Lu Wende attached great importance to the company.

In addition, Li Kaipeng also fooled Liao Yingzhong, who was like a Taoist, and Weng Yinglong, a hall official, to also buy stocks and bonds. After Jia Rudao became the prime minister, he played and frolicked all day long, and most of the government affairs were handled by these two people, and he only signed his name on official documents. Therefore, although Liao Yingzhong and the hall official Weng are only indecent staff, they are also powerful and powerful. Most of the high-ranking officials in the court under the control of Jia Rudao were sycophants, and when they saw this, they also bought stocks and bonds of Liuqiu Company. The so-called "official style drives the people's style", the wealthy businessmen of the people thought that there must be great profits, and they also followed the high-ranking officials of the DPRK and China to rush to buy them, and in less than half a month, they snatched up all the stocks and bonds.

The stocks and bonds each raised hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, far exceeding the estimates of the company's top management. This is an astonishing figure, although the Song Dynasty had a developed economy but insufficient gold and silver, and the currency was mostly copper and iron, and even paper money was issued in desperation. There are a lot of rich people in Lin'an, and the price of silver is even more frightening, one or two pieces of silver is worth three dollars, and you can buy two hundred catties of rice. You must know that the annual income of a well-off family in Lin'an is only about twenty taels of silver. The funds raised from these stocks and bonds in half a month are worth the income of tens of thousands of subsistence families, which can not help but make people marvel.

In addition to marveling at Boss Qian's idea and Li Kaipeng's marketing methods, there are two other points that everyone sighs and sighs, one is that the gap between the rich and the poor in Lin'an is too big, the nobles and rich businessmen are too rich, and the homeless people begging along the street are too poor, which is a testament to the poem "Zhumen's wine and meat stink, and there are frozen bones on the road"; Second, it is too much money to engage in finance. Although everyone still hasn't figured out what the seigniorage Ouyang Xuan is talking about, they have understood the importance of finance through this incident. Yu Zhu has decided to let Boss Qian start preparing for the bank and issuing banknotes.

Sufficient funds have greatly accelerated the construction of various types of Liuqiu. After careful preparations, the ship of the Liuqiu Overseas Expedition Company also departed. The first to set out were three large sea ships, with more than 100 sailors, who set sail from Liuqiu and headed for the far northeast. Before leaving, Yu Zhu conveyed Ouyang Xuan's words to the sailors: "Bring back potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, and you will have a wealth of heaven." The introduction of these three plants, the appearance of the fruits and plants, and the general orientation of the bison continent and the alpaca continent were memorized by these sailors. Yu Zhu told them that these three plants were worth a hundred times more than gold jewels, and that they must bring back seeds and roots.

This voyage of thousands of miles away from the ocean is extremely dangerous, and even if it comes back successfully, it may be years later, so those who go take the voluntary sign-up, all of them are ambitious and adventurous people. Among these people were the old navy of western Sichuan brought by Yu Zhu, as well as the sailors of the northern refugees and other maritime merchants, and the largest number were the former pirates, accounting for half of the total number of sailors. "Heroes don't ask where they come from", only if they meet the conditions for getting on the ship, Boss Qian doesn't just ask about the previous identity of the sailor, not to mention that this kind of adventure is not suitable for people who follow the rules, but more suitable for groups like pirates.

The most fearful thing about ocean voyages is not to be buried in the belly of a fish in the wind and waves, but to get lost in the vast ocean and finally die of hunger and thirst. Although Ouyang Xuan had already pointed out the direction for the fleet, and he would find scattered islands on the way to replenish, the voyage was too far away, so the three ships were loaded with as much fresh water and food as possible, as well as lemons, soybeans and other necessary supplies for sailing, and even brought a few cats. Rats not only spread diseases, steal food, and even gnaw through the cabin, which is a hidden danger for long-distance ships. Lemons are shelf-stable, and soybean sprouts are rich in vitamins after sprouting, both of which can prevent sailors from suffering from scurvy if they do not eat fresh food.