Chapter 2075

March 1638, Seoul, Korea.

More than half a year after the war between Korea and Qing Dynasty ended, Seoul has basically returned to normal social order. Most of the people who fled from the northern war zone last year have returned to their hometowns to rebuild their homes, and most of the few people who stayed near Seoul have found new livelihoods.

.Tens of thousands of war refugees have been basically resettled through the efforts of all parties and are no longer a local security risk in Seoul.

With the signing of various trade agreements, businessmen from Haihan, Portugal and other countries came to Seoul to engage in trading activities after the war. The influx of a large amount of goods and funds quickly revitalized the economy of the Seoul area and improved the shipping industry in the Han River Basin.

The industry has entered a period of rapid development. The section of the river from Seoul to the mouth of the Han River, which is only a hundred miles long, has become the busiest waterway on the Korean Peninsula after the war.

Ganghwa Island, located at the mouth of the Han River, has become the transshipment port with the largest cargo throughput on the North Korean coast. In addition to transporting various goods from Ganghwa Island to Seoul for foreign merchants, local sailing ships are also responsible for transporting goods produced in the upstream areas.

The task of transporting various agricultural and forestry products to Ganghwa Island.

It's just that compared to the goods shipped to North Korea by foreign merchants, the value of these locally produced agricultural and forestry products is much lower. But there is nothing that can be done. There are no minerals for large-scale mining near Seoul, so we can only ask for them.

Foreign merchants provide livestock, timber, medicinal materials and other commodities to maintain the trade balance. However, most of the goods Haihan sells to the North Korean market are various industrial products, and the profits are much higher than agricultural products. In fact, during the trade process

There is a very large scissor difference in .

Some Haihan businessmen with relatively rich operating experience have begun to open some processing workshops near Seoul, using local cheaper labor and raw materials, as well as Haihan's technology and equipment, to produce some simply processed goods.

Earn greater profits than simply selling raw materials.

This kind of keen business sense and efficient execution can only be possessed by businessmen from Haihan in this era. Although their counterparts in Portugal have similar ideas, due to the lack of sufficient funds and advanced production technology, they cannot operate this type of business.

Business projects are not as fast as those of Haihan merchants. However, Haihan merchants can get official support. Especially after Haihan Bank established a branch in Seoul, the merchants' local money turnover pressure has undoubtedly been reduced a lot.

If necessary, you can also apply for a loan from Haihan Bank to temporarily tide over the difficulties.

These processing workshops are labor-intensive industries, so they also provide a large number of employment opportunities for local people, especially those war refugees who have fled to Seoul and have become homeless. As long as they can have a livelihood to make ends meet, Haihan merchants

The workshops opened employed a large number of these refugees with extremely low labor costs, which to a certain extent solved some social problems for the government.

Compared with those refugees who just want food and clothing, the people who really benefit from the open market initiative are the dignitaries who hold real power.

The most profitable local industries in Seoul are almost all under the control of big shots. This is the main reason why all kinds of commodities imported into Seoul from overseas have to be transshipped on Ganghwa Island. Foreign businessmen only act as suppliers in this form of trade.

, and the distribution stage is completed by local business organizations. As for these organizations that can obtain agent qualifications, they generally have official backgrounds, so most of the profits from the sales stage of imported products actually flow into officials at all levels.

in the pocket.

The issue that officials have recently been arguing about in the court has changed from last year's fight to the death or peace, to whether the country's business mechanism should be completely imitated by Haihan. This time the opinions of the two major official factions have just reversed, and the former main war faction has

Kim Sang-heon abandoned his radical attitude and became a conservative, believing that the country's business system should not be allowed to imitate Hae-han. Last year, conservative representative Choi Ming-gil, who advocated peace talks, now believed that Hae-han's business system should be boldly introduced into North Korea.

to obtain the massive funds needed for post-war reconstruction and development.

Both Kim Sang-heon and Cui Ming-gil have many supporters in the officialdom, so this issue has become a focus of debate every time they go to court recently. Today is no exception. In front of King Li Zhu, these two people

There was an argument about this again.

"Haihan is good at using commercial means to seek various benefits from other countries. Our country must beware of this!" Jin Shangxian said: "Just look at the Ming Dynasty and you will know that Haihan has used trade as an excuse for many years in the Ming Dynasty.

The coast occupied many places, bribed local officials with benefits, and slowly annexed these occupied areas. Although Haihan was of great help to us in last year's war, we have also carved out a large area along the Datong River.

The area is for its garrison. But does Haehan have any plans to stop there? I don’t think so. Eight out of ten ships anchored outside Ganghwa Island are from Haehan. There has been a lot of construction work on the island to build warehouses and warehouses.

If this continues, Ganghwa Island will have to be annexed by them sooner or later!"

"Master Jin's words are wrong!" Cui Mingji immediately expressed his objection to Jin Sangxian's view: "If it weren't for the opening of trade, how could Seoul restore order so quickly? If it weren't for these Haihan merchants to open various businesses near Seoul

Workshop, how do the tens of thousands of local refugees solve their livelihoods? Do we have to send the army to drive these people back to the north? Or is Mr. Jin willing to use his salary to solve the problem of feeding these refugees?"

Jin Sangxian said: "Master Cui, don't be fooled. Is the purpose of Haihan people setting up workshops in Seoul to hire refugees to help the people? They just charge low prices for these refugees, so it costs less to hire them. Not to mention these people.

After the refugees were employed by the Haihan people, they had enough food and clothing. Do you think they would be grateful to the Haihan people or to the court? Are they really safer than the homeless refugees? Over time, these people who obeyed the orders of the Haihan people and gained wealth

Wouldn’t it be possible for the people whose interests are closely connected with Haihan to become another hidden danger of instability?”

Cui Mingji said: "Master Jin, this is a strong argument! The measures taken by the Haihan people have at least solved the thorny problems we are facing at the moment, and the situations mentioned by Master Jin are just your personal conjectures. Master Jin insists

It would be too far-fetched to use a situation that has not happened yet to frame charges!"

Jin Sangxian said angrily: "Master Cui has been working hard to maintain it. Is it because the several wood processing workshops that were put into operation last month, as well as the six shipping companies that run ships on the Han River, all have Cui's shares?"

Cui Mingji sneered and said: "Master Jin is very good at spewing blood! In my opinion, Master Jin is desperately opposed to opening a trade with Haihan, probably because the business of several salt fields originally controlled by the Jin family is about to be lost to the Datong River Salt Fields.

Was the low-price official salt taken away?"

Li Zhu listened to the two people arguing with a gloomy face, secretly thinking that neither of them was a good person. Didn't he know that there were actually huge interests involved in the party disputes in the court, but he had been doing this for more than ten years since he took office.

He has to survive in the cracks and has long been accustomed to all kinds of harsh environments. The disputes that the ministers are having now are nothing compared to the bad situation they faced before.

The Kim family and the Choi family are both famous families in North Korea, and Kim Sang-heon and Cui Ming-gil are the spokespersons of these families in the court. Their opinions do represent the attitudes of the families behind them to a certain extent, but Li Jian, as a national

The person at the helm cannot easily favor one party among them. If his personal stance shows bias, it will easily break the balance between these clans, which is not a good thing for maintaining the political stability of the country. Li Shu

What is needed is for them to maintain a certain degree of conflict of interest and form mutual constraints to achieve a balance of power in the court.

Although it is plainly stated that it is just a fight, it is not easy to do it. You must make the ministers obey your orders and arrangements, but you must not let them completely extinguish their motivation to continue fighting. You must use a reasonable method

How to balance the interests of all parties is actually a difficult problem that tests the means of governance.

"My dear friends, there is no need to be so excited." Seeing that the two men had begun to take out all the dirty materials under the table, Li Zhu could only speak to stop them from continuing the debate. In case these two guys got angry.

The higher-ups cannot control it and bring out the royal family's businesses outside the country, which will make the situation difficult to deal with.

Of course, cooperating with the Haihan people in trade is not just the exclusive domain of the family. In fact, the Li family also has business cooperation with Haihan, and it is not a petty operation like partnering with Haihan merchants. What Cui Mingji just mentioned

Although the Datong River Salt Farm is nominally an officially operated salt farm, in fact the Li family is the main investor in development and construction. In the future, a considerable part of the revenue from the salt farm will go directly to the Li family's treasury, leaving the rest

is the part that goes into the treasury.

This is not entirely because the Lee family embezzled the proceeds from the national treasury. In fact, several large projects along the Datong River in cooperation with Haihan have drained away the remaining grain in the national treasury. So last year, North Korean officials once needed to borrow money from Haihan Bank.

, to maintain the normal operation of official institutions.

Under such circumstances, if several cooperation projects between the two countries are to continue, a huge funding gap must be filled. And for these projects that are related to the national economy and people's livelihood, it is impossible for Li Zhu to allow large amounts of funds from clan clans to flow in.

Of course, the most suitable thing is to use the private property of the Li family to fill these gaps. There is no need to worry about the issue of repayment, and huge economic benefits can be obtained in the foreseeable future.

Li Zhu felt that Cui Mingji mentioned this matter deliberately to use this topic to set up a trap for Kim Sangxian. If Kim Sangxian did not respond appropriately to this issue involving the interests of the royal family, he would definitely lose a lot of points in front of Li Zhu. In this way, Cui Mingji's

The purpose is achieved.

However, Li Zhu didn't want the two people to continue the debate of throwing dirty water at each other. He actually had his own views on the scale of introducing Haihan Business.

"Both of you should still remember that last year, our country selected a group of people, including the crown prince, to study abroad in Haihan. Why was this arrangement made? It was just to learn the powerful skills of Haihan! They are great at war, and we

So we sent military attachés to learn how to lead troops in war; they were good at sailing, so we sent people to learn how to build ships; they were good at governing the country, so I asked the prince to learn how to govern."

Li Jian talked eloquently: "The Haihan people are good at commerce, and it is known all over the world. If this is the case, then why don't we learn from them? Marching and fighting are slow to learn, but it is not so difficult to learn how to do business, right?

?Haihan merchants want to open workshops and business stores in our country, so let them open it. These industries and these technologies will stay in our country in the future? Take a long-term view, and don’t get hung up on immediate gains and losses!"

Li Zhuo's statement sounded like he was supporting the expansion of the introduction of Haihan business mechanism. Cui Mingji felt happy when he heard this, but Kim Sangxian could not hide his disappointment.

But Li Zhu then changed the subject and said: "However, we cannot be defenseless against the Haihan people. As Lord Jin said, the Haihan people used trade as bait to bribe officials in the Ming Dynasty and occupied islands and ports. These deeds are a lesson learned from the past.

We must try our best to avoid a similar situation in our country. If we want to do business, we can let them in, but if we want to get more benefits from our country, then we have to be more careful."

"Your Majesty's warning!" Kim Sang-hyun immediately expressed his support for Li Jie's statement and glanced at his opponent.

Although Cui Mingji was a little unhappy by Li Zhu's stance, he didn't show it at all on his face, and he also expressed his obedience to Li Zhu.

Seeing that the two of them had no intention of continuing the argument, Li Zhu started to talk about another matter: "We are recruiting two people into the palace today, and there is one more thing that I want to hear your opinions on. General Wang of Haihan today

Someone sent a letter saying that they are planning to send warships to the southern coast for training in the near future, and hope that our country can provide a temporary supply port on Jeju Island. What do you think about this matter?"

Cui Mingji frowned and said: "The Haihan people want to train their troops, so why don't they practice near the Datong River, but go far away to near Jeju Island? Is there something special nearby that made the Haihan people specially arrange warships to go there to investigate?"

Jin Sangxian said in a deep voice: "Jeju Island... I'm afraid that the Haihan people are interested in Jeju Island and are just looking for an excuse to allow their troops to land on the island. Your Majesty, this matter must be guarded against!"

Li Zhu said: "Actually, I am also a little worried about the true intentions of the Haihan people, so I have not responded to the Haihan people for the time being. But they can't just occupy a place as big as Jeju Island in a grand manner, right?"

Jin Sangxian quickly added: "Your Majesty, the Taiwan Island in the south and the Qiongzhou Island where the Haihan Kingdom is located are both dozens of times the size of Jeju Island, and the Haihan people still occupied them.

It’s a precedent, so don’t be careless.”
Chapter completed!