Urban Sims

The sea salt drying experiment was a great success. Father Tian Feng almost no longer doubted the farming, animal husbandry and chemical farming patterns and the marine fishery plan. He set aside large sums of money from the family warehouse and increased his investment. “Big Farm Plan”, “Big Salt Field Plan” and “Marine Fishing Company Plan”.

The big farm plan, as the name suggests, is to unify all the land, tenant farmers, livestock, and agricultural implements, implement the semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral farming model, promote agricultural mechanization, and change the original tenant farming method of self-cultivation and self-cultivation to ensure that When the tenant farmers have no worries about food and clothing, a certain year-end reward will be issued based on the final income of the land.

This “Big Farm Project” is indeed a bit big, and it has a lot of concerns for the tenant farmers who are extremely dependent on the land and can even be said to be the lifeblood. For this reason, his father Tian Feng can only first “test the field” on that 10,000 mu Going to experiment, crossing the river by feeling the stones.

However, for some young tenant farmers who are not so conservative in their thoughts and still have a lot of enthusiasm, the new employment system has a unique appeal.

First of all, the tenancy system of the employment system is stable and the income from droughts and floods is guaranteed. It is much more stable than the tenancy system. Although the year-end rewards are uncertain how much they will take, at least there is no need to worry about starving and freezing.

Secondly, being a hired worker in a large farm has a lot of benefits. Many strong cattle, livestock, advanced agricultural tools, fertilizers and pesticides can be used at will, uniform irrigation, saving time and effort. Just like soldiers fighting on the battlefield, they take stones and wear clothes, and they take swords and swords. Wearing armor, the two feelings are completely different, that is, the one hundred acres of sow car that can be sown that day, I don’t know how many tenant farmers have attracted the eyes.

Not to mention, agricultural artifacts such as horse-drawn harvesters, threshing machines, and windmills.

Finally, the employment location of employees is not fixed, the time is scattered and free, and there are many options.

Because the farm work in the field is so little, relying on so many agricultural artifacts, it is the peak for two or three months of busy work in the land. The remaining farm time, employees can go to the salt farm on the seaside to dry salt, or they can help cook Sun-dried fish, the more courageous, you can go fishing with the fishing company … all have extra income, and much more than the income from the land, which has led to some hiring workers who have been completely detached from the land and become Professional “salt workers” and “fishers”.

In just three years, the Dagongzhuang project was a huge success. Those tenant farmers who were not willing to leave the land saw the hired workers build big brick houses and marry young and beautiful wives in two or three years. Guang, one by one, could not sit still, without urging his father Tian Feng, he took the initiative to apply, and all joined the “big farm.”

However, among the three plans, the biggest success was the “Great Salt Plan”.

Salt is a substance that must be ingested by the human body. The ionization balance, pH balance, and osmotic pressure balance of body fluids must all rely on the participation of salt ions. If the body lacks salt intake for a long time, the nervous system will weaken, the appetite will be weak, and the limbs will be weak. , Dizziness and other symptoms, more serious, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, accelerated heart rate, blurred vision …

Precisely because of the indispensability of salt, the price of salt is generally higher throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty. Because of transportation problems, the more remote and backward areas, the higher the price of salt. Even the cost of buying salt has become a share of The largest expenditure item for some poor families with an annual income of 80%.

There are two main salt production areas in the Dazhou Empire, one is sea salt produced from Changlu Saltworks in Yangzhou, accounting for about 80% of the market share; the other is salt produced from Lujing County, Changgong County, Shuzhou, because For production reasons, the market share of Shuzhou Gongyan accounted for less than 20%.

However, this situation was soon broken.

Since the 14th year of Tiansheng, the Tian family in Haiping County, Hedong County, Qingzhou, has built a salt field with an area of ​​5,000 mu. After the salt production began in large quantities, it was first the salt market in Qingzhou and the counties and counties. It was quickly occupied by a “white salt” with fine white grains, better taste, and cheaper prices, and its market share continued to expand. As of the 16th year of Tiansheng, in Qingzhou, there are basically no other salt brands on the market. Of existence.

The situation was very good. When his father Tian Feng was planning to expand the scale and expand the area of ​​the salt field to 10,000 mu, Zhou Ming stopped him when he wanted to break into the surrounding markets of Youzhou and Jeju. Don’t rush to expand the scale, first build a good relationship with the government.

Zhou Mingdao said: “Father, the Haiping salt produced by our Haiping saltworks can bring more than 300,000 yuan to the Tian family every year. However, if we want to expand the scale and occupy a larger market share, it is not enough not to have a good relationship with the officialdom. Well … In this way, in the name of cooperative shareholding, give Chen Xianling 10% of the salt farm shares, so that he will not be a stumbling block behind us. In the name of paying salt tax, he will give Qingzhou Tashishi Gaocheng 20% ​​salt shares, Let him allow the Haiping saltworks to continue to run … Otherwise, if the Haiping saltworks are targeted by the court, the fat sheep of the Tian family will be bitten bitterly sooner or later. It is better to let out a little blood and let Gao Shishi give the court an explanation.

The supreme ruler of any feudal dynasty, in peacetime, the most worried about is that the following family clan heads, after having huge capital, threaten their supreme rule. For any family clan, supreme ruler, they are suspicious of vigilance. It is an attitude of restricting oppression, so those families and families can be low-key and pretend to be grandchildren, but it is best not to be grasped or made for others, otherwise once the ruler seizes the opportunity, even if it is a millennium family, there will be a time The possibility of genocide.

The current Haiping Tian family is not a big family, but at best it is a big landlord with a little money. The government has to pick it up. I do n’t know how many ways, and just throw a few dead people over and say that it was poisoned after eating “Haiping salt”. If you die, you can seal the Haiping Saltworks, and the Haiping Tian family may even be at risk of going to jail.

Therefore, the Haipingtian family, before they have fully grown into a coveted “big fat sheep”, before this “big fat sheep” grows minions and sharp horns, cut some meat, put some blood, and give those “Hungry wolves” must solve their greed, so that they no longer stare at the Haipingtian family, they must do.

“Ok……”

After throwing out 30% of the income from sea salt, his father Tian Feng said it was impossible not to hurt her body, but what his son said was justified. I am concerned that, in the end, the family that offended the imperial power, even if it will not die at once, but the officials sent by the emperor, there are ways to repair you and torture you.

After 30% of the profits were sold out, Haiping Saltworks continued to move forward steadily, and it did not encounter much obstacles, but as the market share of “Haiping Salt” continued to expand, after occupying half of the four or five states, Haiping Saltworks turned over to Qingzhou The salt tax share of Jian Shi gradually increased from the initial 20% to 40%, and then I believe it will increase … But this is all afterwords. At that time, Zhou Ming’s development focus was no longer on the salt field. UU reading www.uukanshu.com instead turned to the marine fishery and marine transportation industry.

Yes, Haiping Saltworks is just a springboard for accumulating original funds in all of Zhou Ming’s business plans. His strategic focus is still on the ocean!

In the sea, there are inexhaustible fish resources, there are countless maritime trade routes to the land of wealth, the most important, above the ocean, there are countless large or small islands occupied by indigenous people or uninhabited … There is no so-called feudal dynasty or emperor on these large and small islands. He can completely occupy these islands, plan according to his own ideas, develop as he pleases, do whatever he wants, do whatever he wants, can lord it over.

And the overseas islands, together with the endless sea, are all forbidden things in Zhou Ming’s eyes, all belong to him, no one wants to touch it!

This is also Zhou Ming. After being restricted by the system rules, he took a step back and combined with the geographical advantages of Haiping County, he was ready to take the path of ocean hegemony.

“However, the marine strategy is a way to seek long-term, plan long-term, and practice long-term. Now, the marine fishing company has been established for more than five years, and there are no big ships with more than 500 materials (100 tons of displacement). At present, the largest ship is more than three hundred, and there are few professional fishermen. The total number is less than one thousand. It will be developed into a huge ship with a crew of 100,000. It will take at least twenty or thirty years … “

“Come on slowly, I am still young, and I can still afford it in twenty or thirty years …”

“All these things are left to my father to do. He is more interested than me now … And, he will go to Wenyuan Academy to study soon. I don’t know what wonderful things will be waiting for me there?”

In the room, 12-year-old Zhou Ming murmured to himself while packing his suitcase.