Shimazu Hisari had just sent away a wealthy Japanese businessman in Nagasaki when suddenly a wealthy North Korean businessman asked to see him.

Although he was doubtful about this, he still welcomed him in.

"Please forgive me for taking the liberty of coming here." The businessman was quite polite.

Compared with Japanese businessmen, Korean businessmen dress in a special way, similar to those of Ming Dynasty people, but their collars are narrower and more close-fitting.

In Korea, after Japan was forced to agree to trade, Nagasaki was not only a place where Ming merchants gathered, but also a place where Korean merchants liked to come.

North Korea's ginseng, paper, books, lacquerware, cloth, etc. are also very popular in Japan. Moreover, North Korea's silver is precious and gold is cheap, and Japan is rich in silver, which is a great supplement to North Korea.

Of course, compared to the trade between the Ming and Dynasties, the money transactions in Nagasaki were less than one-tenth.

But the past two years have been different.

Taiwan is famous for its sugar, and both Nagasaki and Ryukyu are close to Taiwan ports. Nagasaki can also handle Japanese business, so there are more and more Korean businessmen.

"Where." Shimazu Kusei was full of doubts, and he patiently served tea: "Everyone here is a guest. If you have any instructions, please feel free to tell me."

"Then I'm welcome." The North Korean businessman suddenly laughed and said:

"I heard someone said that you bought a lot of sugar from Taiwan during this trip. Is this the case?"

"That's true."

"Available for sale?" "Already sold -"

The businessman was dumbfounded and said helplessly: "I wonder if you can tell me the price?"

"Fifteen yuan per stone." Shimazu Hisari thought for a while and said directly.

"Next time you come to Nagasaki, I'll take the sugar, eighteen yuan per stone." The North Korean businessman said with a serious face.

Shimazu Hisunari hesitated.

Business is a matter of practice, not raw.

In the Shimadzu family's territory, even though Japanese businessmen were powerful, they would never dare to deceive him. But the situation was different. Once the Koreans left, they would not be taken care of at all.

Seeing this, the businessman could only state:

"In the past, the most traded items between our country and the Ming Dynasty were books. But now, from the king down, everyone is addicted to sweets, especially white sugar. Everyone loves it and there is already a huge demand for it..."

To put it bluntly, North Korea, like Japan, has a love for white sugar that has spread throughout the country, but most of the white sugar is exported to Western countries, and the rest is sold domestically.

Because sugar is sold in advance, and a year's supply is booked at the beginning of the year. In addition, pre-sales require large-scale deposits, so it is difficult for businessmen in Japan and North Korea to grab sugar.

Shimazu Hisunari's ability to obtain sugar can be said to be a huge anomaly.

Seeing this, Shimazu Hisari could only nod slightly: "Although I have a good relationship, I can't get much, so I can only give you about twenty or thirty dan."

"But the price per stone needs to reach twenty yuan."

The price is as high as twenty taels of silver per stone. This price is simply crazy. In other words, every six kilograms of white sugar is worth one tael of silver.

"But -" Gritting his teeth, the North Korean businessman agreed.

After the goods were all sold out, Shimazu Hisari bought some things and couldn't wait to go to Taiwan.

When he arrived in Taiwan, he saw the pier was crowded with people and merchant ships everywhere. His small boat looked very inconspicuous.

Along the way, people were dazzled by all kinds of Westerners. In the maternity classroom, there were people wearing crosses and chanting God, and they were extremely pious.

Japan, on the other hand, has long been rejecting Catholics and has even implemented a ban on Christianity for decades. It regards missionaries as savage beasts and ostracizes all believers.

In addition, the Tokugawa shogunate closed the country and required people doing business overseas to return home within a certain time limit, otherwise they would not be allowed to enter.

Therefore, in Taiwan Prefecture, a large number of homeless Japanese businessmen, people, and believers settled here one after another, promoting the diversified development of Taiwan Prefecture.

At this time, the sound of firecrackers suddenly started loudly, various lively dragon dance scenes occurred one after another, and the streets were filled with joy.

Shimazu Hisari hurriedly asked why.

The passerby didn't mind being pulled away, and said directly: "The imperial court cut off a part of Dayuan County and established Tainan County, right there in the sugar cane field..."

Hearing this, he suddenly realized.

The vast Dayuan County was divided into two, and Tainan County was added. This is indeed something worth celebrating.

However, what happened next was not a good thing for him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Shimazu. It's not that we don't give you face. It's just that all the sugar has been reserved. The sugar we gave you a few days ago was all squeezed out..."

The manager of Tangliu said helplessly, showing his hands.

Shimazu lost his smile as soon as he established himself.

Seeing this, he could only take out a few banknotes and make some bribes.

The manager then lost his composure and said, "Although there are not many sugar restaurants in Taiwan, I heard that there is a lot of sugar in Luzon."

"My family also sent people to Luzon and purchased a lot of sugar mills and sugar cane fields. You can go and take a look, and you will definitely be able to buy some back -"

With that said, he wrote a letter, which can be regarded as a gateway.

Shimazu Hisari went to Luzon again.

With the establishment of the Luzon Governor's Palace, the number of merchants visiting and visiting has increased significantly. Although the Taiwan Palace has replaced the functions of Luzon to a certain extent, the value of Luzon is indeed difficult to estimate.

After a lot of work and taking this boat trip, Shimazu Hisari earned another thousand yuan, and his reputation spread in Nagasaki.

At this time, the news that he had settled in Ryukyu Prefecture immediately spread among relatives and friends.

A large number of down-and-out samurai who had no talent expressed their envy, and then tried their best to settle down in Ryukyu Prefecture.

In a short period of time, the number of households in Ryukyu Prefecture increased by more than 300, and for a while, I was overjoyed.

These people are either well-educated in Chinese studies or have special skills, which will be of great benefit to Ryukyu Prefecture.

You must know that in Ryukyu, there are only 10,000 households in total, and there are thousands of people. This is definitely a political achievement.

As for Shimazu Hisunari, he changed his name to Shimazu Hisari, took the money he earned from running boats, and went to Fuzhou to study, preparing to pass the examination to become a scholar next year.

Obviously, this loophole in Ryukyu Mansion has been seized by the Japanese samurai and has become the best way to change their destiny.

The imperial examination, which is an official method that only focuses on knowledge regardless of family lineage, has great appeal to Japanese samurai.

Even many Korean businessmen doing business in Nagasaki came here because of its reputation. They all settled in Ryukyu Prefecture in the hope of changing the fate of their children.

After all, as we all know, although North Korea also has imperial examinations, only two classes of nobles have the right to take the exams. It is a game for the big nobles, and businessmen are not qualified at all.

At this time, Ryukyu Island was like a duty-free island country in later generations for Japan and North Korea, and it had great attraction.

Of course, Zhu Yixi didn't know that the foreshadowing she had laid had already begun to work, and it had an extraordinary effect.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the wheat gradually matured, and the whole of northern China fell into wheat yellow.

Everything must give way to the autumn harvest.

Fortunately, during the ten years of Shaowu, there were few disasters in the northern provinces. Even in Shaanxi, it was an ordinary year. This was great luck for the people in the north who were prone to disasters.

At the same time, a piece of data also reached the emperor's hands:

"The area planted with sweet potatoes in the four provinces of Shaanxi, Shaanxi, Suiyuan, and Hebei has exceeded 100,000 hectares..."

Especially in northern Shaanxi and the Taihang Mountains, which are short of water and land, sweet potatoes have been widely welcomed. People are happy to plant sweet potatoes on some slopes and wastelands.

It is unimaginable for ordinary people to be able to obtain hundreds of kilograms of food from land that has yielded nothing in the past.

At the same time, the way to eat sweet potatoes has also become widely popular.

Sweet potato flour, dried potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potato chips, etc. have been welcomed by the people.

Of course, for the common people, what makes them motivated is the tilt of the court's tax policy:

Ten pounds of potato flour is worth one pound of grain.

This is also their original intention of growing sweet potatoes.

Being able to deduct taxes is already a huge motivation.

As a result, in just a few years, sweet potatoes became popular throughout the north, and even spread to the entire Central Plains and South.

At the same time, in these barren provinces, with the popularity of sweet potatoes, there are fewer and fewer rebels.

Shaanxi Province reported that in the ten years since Shaowu, the number of riots involving more than a hundred people has dropped to less than ten. Compared with previous years, this is a huge improvement.

This can also prove the role of sweet potatoes from the side.

When the people had their stomachs full, naturally not many people rebelled.

At this time, someone said, isn’t it frivolous and insignificant? Why would anyone rebel?

Speaking of this, I have to mention the ignorance of many people and their last resort.

There is nothing wrong with the imperial government's policies, but the common people are easily deceived and superstitious and other measures make them rebel.

Moreover, there is a policy in the official circles that no matter what the reason is for the people to riot, it is regarded as a rebellion.

For example, some officials took bribes and violated the law, forcing some villagers to kill their families, which is a rebellion; some gentry excessively exploited and oppressed the people, causing riots, which was also a rebellion.

Bureaucrats, on the other hand, have always liked to deceive superiors and conceal information from subordinates, and report selectively.

Some things are suppressed and some are reported.
To be continued...