Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1704 Grain Ship
The ship looks small from a distance, but when sailing up close, its size is still very scary.

Because of the deep draft, the big ship almost lowered all its sails, and under the tow of several small boats, it approached the trestle bridge little by little.

"Boom!" Under the action of the waves, the side of the ship collided with the trestle.Of course, this is normal.

Sailors bustle about the deck, unloading sack after sack.

The pulley boom lightly lifted the full sacks and placed them in the wagon carriage parked on the trestle.

It has to be a four-wheeled carriage!
From the trestle bridge to the warehouse, there is a whole high-standard highway to clear the port. The four-wheeled carriage runs fast and light, and disappears at the end of the road in a while.

Some of the grain was not sent to the warehouse, but went around to the grain store in Chishanpu.

At the intersection of Liangxing Street, the shopkeeper and the guys are waiting in full force.

As soon as the four-wheeled carriage arrived, he immediately stepped forward and took away part of the purchase according to the previously agreed share.

Of course, these grains still need to be dried in the drying yard.

The imperial court didn't fool them too much. They took care of the parts wetted by the waves themselves, and all they shipped were dry grains that were well protected.But how much still needs to be dealt with.

In the street of the grain store, people in twos and threes have come to buy grain.

"Didn't all the new grain come here? Why is it still 27 dollars for a bucket of rice?" Someone asked.

"Now we are selling old grain from Wendeng County. If you don't buy it, get out of the way." The man said angrily after being tired of moving and unloading the goods for a long time.

"Is there any Yingkou rice left?"

"It's sold out. If you want to buy rice, Yangzhou rice will be on the market in a few days, but it will be more expensive."

"Wu Da'er, have you lost all your fights? Can't you speak well?" the food buyer said angrily.

"Zhang Gouzi..." The man glanced at him, finally stood up, and said, "You have made so much money for making iron hooks for Chishanpu, why do you care about the few pennies?"

Zhang Gouzi is a blacksmith near the wharf. He has a single family and specializes in making iron hooks.

The iron hook is a must-have item on the ship, and it is hooked to the trestle when berthing.If it is a large ship that needs to be towed by a small sampan, the latter also needs an iron hook, sometimes called an "iron sickle hook".

In fact, the items made by people like Zhang Gouzi are collectively called "boats", and there are hundreds of them, each of which is produced by several or even dozens of companies.

"My money didn't come from the wind." Zhang Gouzi said.

"It's useless for you to tell me, I'm not the owner." The man said: "Yingkou rice is indeed gone. You think Yangzhou rice is expensive, so just wait. Wait a month or two, and there will be a full load of rice in Yingkou again. ships are coming."

"Is there any meat?" Zhang Gouzi asked.

The man laughed happily and said, "This is the grain store."

Zhang Gouzi came to his senses, he was a little embarrassed, he could only change the subject and said: "Thanks to the sage, the food and meat shipped by sea saved us little people a lot of money."

Liaodong is sparsely populated and rich in resources.In addition to food, sometimes some captive deer, sheep, and cattle will be transported over. The price is surprisingly low, and almost bankrupted the few local farmers in Dengzhou.

And bankrupt farmers can either join the marine industry, but this requires craftsmanship, and not everyone can do it.Some can only go to sea, and no one knows what they do, anyway, every time, some people make a fortune and run back to their hometown to show off.

When I asked them what they did, they all said that they were sailors and engaged in maritime trade, but no one believed them, who knows what outrageous things they did.

"Indeed." The clerk put away the foolish look on his face and said, "Our grain store didn't buy much grain locally this year. In another ten or eight years, there will be grain shipped from the south in summer and autumn. In winter and spring, there will be grains shipped from Liaodong, which are large and cheap, and when that time comes, there should be no one in the local area to grow grain, and they will all be like you, who will either rely on handicrafts for food, or take risks and go to sea to fight for wealth."

"Why do you care about that much?" Zhang Gouzi said, "I just need to buy cheap grain."

Having said that, he also sighed slightly.They are all local people in this township, so how can they want to see the local farmer's life is difficult?
******
Dengzhou's industries have been specialized, something Shao Shude has known for a long time.

The population here was not large to begin with, but after the development of the marine industry, a large number of people were engaged in handicrafts, shipbuilding, fishing and even some very promising robbery occupations.

Naturally, not many people farmed the land.

When cheap food from other places comes, the impact will only be worse.

In fact, even though Zhang Gouzi is sighing, the local farmers are actively transforming.

One only has to look in the countryside to see that there are fields of flax everywhere, used for weaving sacks, making canvas, and twisting rope.

Orchards and vegetable beds can also be seen everywhere, and even many farmlands have been planted with pastures to raise livestock.

All of these serve the marine industry.

As for the food needed for daily life, it was naturally transported from other places.

The ships Shao Shude saw all came from Huainan, loaded with rice and wheat, and were transported to Dengzhou for sale on the spot.

It could have arrived in Xuzhou from Huainan by water, and then transported to Dengzhou by land or water.But to be honest, it is cheaper than transporting grain and grass from Yunzhou, Zizhou, Qizhou and other places.

Of course, transporting grain and grass from Qizhou and other places is still not as cheap as shipping by sea.

As long as something is touched by land transportation, the cost will be out of control, and it will roll and fly upwards.It is as if the coal transported by long-distance sea from foreign countries is much cheaper than the coal transported by domestic railways in power plants in coastal areas in later generations.

Shao Shude looked past the unloading grain ship, betting on several other ships parked a little further away, and asked, "Why don't those ships enter the port?"

Shao Guancheng, who originally wanted to "hide and seek" with his father and continue to be happy in the local area, took a look and said, "Grandpa, that's the boat to Youzhou."

"How did you know?" Shao Shude asked curiously.

Shao Guancheng was speechless. Did he really think he had been playing?I just heard him say: "Grandfather, throughout the summer and autumn, the grain ships from the south are transporting grain northward. In winter and spring, when the north wind blows hard, it will be bad luck. These ships will not unload their cargo. Because their destination is Youzhou, and they are transporting food to the Beidu Daku. They will stop in Chishanpu Port to replenish some water."

Shao Shude looked around and saw more than ten small sampans rushing past.

A young man walked on the ground like walking on the ground in the waves, holding a fruit basket in his hand and hawking loudly.

An old man with black but not slippery autumn hugged a sheep and hoisted it aboard with the help of sailors.The sheep had foreseen its own destiny, struggling desperately, but to no avail, and soon disappeared on the deck.

There are also fisherman's and boat girls showing off their heads to solicit business.Her husband cooks in the cabin, and after the guests have finished playing, they can eat before leaving.

Good supply!
"Grandpa, let the southern roads ship grain to the north, but you decided last year..." Shao Guancheng reminded.

"Grandfather is not so forgetful." Shao Shude said with a smile.

In April last year, he did order the south to ship grain to the north, but it was only experimental and the scale was only two ships.After his success, he ordered the gradual normalization of grain shipments by sea.

The Beizhou Daku, which was the "Tianxia Beiku" in the Tang Dynasty, was abolished and moved to Beiping Mansion.The grain from Huainan, Jiangdong, and Jiangxi all went out to sea from the Yangtze River, diverted to the north, and were transported to the large warehouse in Beidu for storage.

If there are no accidents this year, there should be more than ten ships transporting grain from the south to the north.Calculating the time, the ships in front of me should be the second or third batch.

"Have any ships sunk this year?" Shao Shude asked again.

"In the first batch of four ships in mid-June, another ship sank off the coast of Haizhou."

"what reason?"

"Encountered a big storm and sank."

"Hmm..." Shao Shude pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you think it's still necessary to ship food by sea in the future?"

"Grandfather has his own strategy, and I dare not comment on it." Shao Guancheng said.

Shao Shude laughed dumbfounded, and said: "Silang, you are so lazy, you should change your temper. You are obviously very smart, but you are sloppy all day long. Tell the truth!"

"Grandpa, I do think the imperial strategy is right." Shao Guancheng said: "The grain transported by canal can be stored in Hanjiacang City. The grain transported by sea can be stored in the Beidu warehouse. Hanjiacang City is related to the east capital. For the daily needs of officials, soldiers, and people, the grain and grass in the Beidu warehouse can be used for the Yanshan Army. If there is trouble on the grassland, the warehouse can also be opened to carry out relief. In the early Tang Dynasty, there was more than one water transportation route, and sea transportation and water transportation were perfectly acceptable. simultaneously exist."

"I'm very happy that you think so." Shao Shude said.

He remembered the sentence he said before: "It's only spring and autumn when you know I've sinned."

Institutionalized and long-term shipping of grain from the south to the north must bear a high shipwreck rate at the beginning.People will die, ships will be lost, and there will be complaints, but as long as this period of time is passed, the route will gradually mature, the performance of ships will further improve, and the shipwreck rate will decrease rapidly.

But behind the word "carrying", I don't know how many innocent souls will be buried in the sea, how many people will be ruined, and how many people will be discussed and even criticized.

Going against the sky was never that easy.

In this matter, Shao Shude was completely determined and pushed forward with his personal prestige, just like many decisions he had made before.

In the process of implementation, he felt a lot of resistance.Some come from the folk, and some come from within the imperial court.

Every time a grain ship sinks, someone will go to the ship, please stop shipping.

They believe that shipping southern land tax (mainly grain) is completely different from Annan and Bohai trading companies.The latter is licking blood with the head of a knife. In order to seek money, life and death can be done in peace.But the former, to be honest, is the "fault" of the court.

After Shao Shude saw it, he personally went off the stage to "fight the line", approved the word "faint" in the memorial, and demoted several officials in succession, which suppressed the backlash.

There were only two ships transporting grain the year before last, but this year there were more than a dozen, and next year there will be more, certainly more than twenty.

This matter cannot be opposed or changed by anyone. He has made up his mind. No matter whether the shipwreck rate is 20% or higher in the early stage of shipping, he will stick to it and block all objections.

He was even prepared to be a loner - of course, if that was the case, the possibility was very low.

Shao Shude is still very pleased to hear that his son supports his strategy of shipping and water transportation in parallel and serving as backup for each other.

"Where else do you plan to go, Grandpa? My son will lead the way." Shao Guancheng looked at his father's pensive face and asked.

"Why, you want grandpa to leave so much, so you can continue to fool around?" Shao Shude asked with a half-smile.

Shao Guancheng laughed dryly and lowered his head.

"Let's go in October, I want to see more." Shao Shude said.

"Did the Shipping Department of Dengzhou City just confiscate a batch of goods?" He asked again.

"Yes."

"Sort it out." Shao Shude said, "I want to meet a few people, and these goods will be used as rewards."

"Observe the order." Shao Guancheng didn't ask any more questions, and responded directly.

(End of this chapter)