Urban Sims

Chapter 98 Marine Strategy
The sea salt drying experiment was a great success. His father, Tian Feng, almost no longer had any doubts about the agricultural and animal husbandry farming model and the marine fishery plan. "Large Farm Plan", "Great Salt Field Plan" and "Ocean Fishing Company Plan".

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

This "big farm plan" is indeed a bit big. For the tenant farmers who are extremely dependent on the land and can even be said to be their lifeblood, they have a lot of concerns. Do experiments on the ground, cross the river by feeling the stones.

However, for some young tenant farmers who are not so conservative in their thinking and still have a sense of drive, the new employment system has a unique attraction.

First of all, the income of the hired labor system is stable, and the income is guaranteed during drought and flood. Compared with the tenancy system, which depends on the weather, two years of harvest and one year of flood, and always worry about not being able to pay the rent (landlords in this world, the land rent is generally 6-7%), it is much more stable. Although the year-end rewards are not sure how much you will get, at least you don't have to worry about starving and freezing in the middle.

Secondly, becoming a hired worker on a large farm has a lot of benefits, a lot of strong cattle and livestock, advanced farm tools, fertilizers and pesticides, you can choose at will, unified irrigation, save time and effort, just like soldiers fighting on the battlefield, wear rags with stones, and hold swords Wearing armor, the two feelings are completely different, that is, the columbine cart that can sow hundreds of acres on that day has attracted the greedy eyes of many tenant farmers.

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

Last but not least, the employees' working locations are not fixed, their hours are scattered and free, and there are so many directions to choose from.

Because there is only so much farm work in the field, relying on so many agricultural artifacts, working on the land for two or three months a year will reach the peak. In the rest of the slack time, hired workers can go to the salt field by the sea to dry salt, and they can also help cook. Dried fish in the sun, if you are more courageous, you can go fishing with the fishing company...they all have extra income, and it is much more than the income from the land. As a result, some hired workers who are a bit pursuing have completely left the land and become Occupational "salt worker" and "fisherman".

In just three years, the big farm plan has achieved great success. Those tenant farmers who were originally reluctant to leave the land saw those hired workers build big brick houses and marry young and beautiful wives in two or three years. Guang, each of them couldn't sit still, and applied without his father Tian Feng's urging, and all joined the "big farm".

However, among the three plans, the "Great Yantian Plan" achieved the greatest success.

Salt is a substance that the human body must ingest. The ionization balance, pH balance, and osmotic pressure balance of human body fluids must rely on the participation of salt ions. If the human body lacks salt intake for a long time, nervous system weakness, loss of appetite, and weakness of limbs will occur. , dizziness and other symptoms, more serious, but also anorexia, nausea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, blurred vision...

Because of the indispensability of salt, the price of table salt is generally higher in all parts of the Great Zhou Kingdom. Due to transportation problems, the more remote and backward areas, the higher the price of table salt. The largest expenditure item for some poor households with 80% of their annual income.

There are two main sources of salt in the Great Zhou Empire. One is the sea salt produced in Changlu Salt Field in Yangzhou, accounting for about 80% of the market share; the other is the brine salt produced in Lujing County, Changgong County, Shuzhou. Due to production volume and market share, Shuzhou tribute salt accounts for less than 20%.

However, this situation was quickly broken.

Since the 14th year of Tiansheng, the salt field with an area of ​​16 mu built around the sea by the Tian family in Haiping County, Hedong County, Qingzhou, began to produce salt in large quantities. It is occupied by a kind of "Haiping Salt" with white grains, better taste and cheaper price, and its market share is constantly expanding. In the [-]th year of Tiansheng, in Qingzhou, there are basically no other salt brands on the market. up.

The situation was very good, but when his father Tian Feng was about to expand the scale of the salt field to [-] mu, and wanted to bring "Haiping Salt" into the surrounding Youzhou, Jeju and other markets, Zhou Ming stopped him and asked him to Don't rush to expand the scale, first build a good relationship with the government.

Zhou Ming said: "Father, the Haiping salt produced by our Haiping Salt Farm can bring more than 30 yuan of income to the Tian family every year, but if you want to expand the scale and occupy a larger market share, you can't do it without a good relationship with the officialdom." That's it... In this way, in the name of joint stock ownership, we will give County Magistrate Chen [-]% of the shares in the salt farm, so that he will not trip us up behind the scenes. Then, in the name of paying salt taxes, we will give Qingzhou Governor Gao [-]% of the salt shares. Let him allow the Haiping Salt Farm to continue to operate... Otherwise, if the Haiping Salt Farm is targeted by the imperial court, the fat sheep of the Tian family will be bitten sooner or later, so it is better to bleed a little and let Governor Gao give the imperial court an explanation."

The supreme ruler of any feudal dynasty, in peacetime, is most worried about the emergence of the following aristocratic families. After possessing huge capital, they threaten their supreme rule. It is an attitude of restricting and suppressing. Therefore, those aristocratic families can pretend to be grandchildren in a low-key manner, but it is best not to be caught or create excuses for others. Otherwise, once the ruler seizes the opportunity, even if it is a thousand-year-old family. possibility of genocide.

The current Haipingtian family is not considered a rich family, at best they are big landlords with some money. The government wants to make a deal of it. I don’t know how many ways they can throw a few dead people over, saying that they were poisoned after eating "Haiping salt" If they die, the Haiping Saltworks can be sealed off, and the Haipingtian family may even face the risk of being sued and imprisoned.

Therefore, before the Haipingtian family has fully grown into a "big fat sheep" that everyone covets, and before this "big fat sheep" grows claws and sharp horns, cut some meat and put some blood on it to give those "big fat sheep" It is necessary for the "hungry wolves" to satisfy their cravings and stop them staring at Hai Pingtian's house.

"All right……"

Throwing out [-]% of the income from sea salt at once, his father, Tian Feng, said that it was impossible for him not to feel pain, but what his son said made sense. How many aristocratic families, because of the underground copper mines, iron mines, and gold and silver mines, were banned by the court? Remember, it finally died out. Even if the family that offended the imperial power did not die immediately, the officials sent by the emperor still have ways to fix you and torture you.

After giving up [-]% of the income, the Haiping Salt Field continued to develop steadily and did not encounter any major obstacles. However, as the market share of "Haiping Salt" continued to expand and occupied half of the country in four or five states, the Haiping Salt Field was handed over to Qingzhou The governor's share of salt tax has also increased from the initial [-]% to [-]%, and I believe it will increase in the future... But this is a later story. At that time, Zhou Ming's development focus was no longer on the salt farm. Instead, it has turned to the marine fishery and marine transportation industry in an all-round way.

Yes, the Haiping Salt Farm is just a springboard for Zhou Ming to accumulate original funds in all his business plans. His strategic focus is still on the ocean!
In the sea, there are fish resources that cannot be caught, and there are countless sea trade routes leading to the land of wealth. Most importantly, on the sea, there are countless large and small islands that are either occupied by indigenous people or uninhabited... There are no so-called feudal dynasties or emperors on these large and small islands. He can completely occupy these islands, plan and develop as he wants according to his own ideas, and he can do whatever he wants. lord it over.

And the overseas islands, together with the endless sea, are forbidden things in Zhou Ming's eyes, all belong to him, and no one can even try to touch them!

This is also Zhou Ming, who took a step back after being restricted by the rules of the system, and combined with the geographical advantages of Haiping County, prepared to take the path of the ocean overlord.

"However, marine strategy is a road of long-term pursuit, long-term planning, and long-term practice. Now, the ocean fishing company has been established for more than five years, and there is not a single large ship with more than 100 materials (displacement of 300 tons) At present, the largest ship is only more than 1000, and there are few professional fishermen, and the total number is less than 30. It will take at least [-] to [-] years to develop to a thousand giant boats with a crew of [-]..."

"Take your time, I'm still young, I can still afford to wait in 30..."

"Let's leave these things to my father. He is more concerned than I am now... Besides, I will go to Wenyuan Academy to study soon. I don't know what wonderful things will be waiting for me there?"

In the room, a 12-year-old boy, Zhou Ming, was muttering to himself while arranging his bags.

　If you have a Sanjiang ticket, you can help to vote for one, and ask for a recommendation ticket!
　　


(End of this chapter)