Chapter 2830

Tobacco originated in the Americas, and was later spread to all parts of the world by Western colonists. It was introduced to China around the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Portuguese traders took the lead in bringing this new gadget to southern China, and later introduced it to Japan and Korea.

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After the time travelers came to this time and space, they discovered that a certain size of tobacco consumer group had formed in southern China, and there were farmers in Fujian who specialized in growing tobacco.

Of course, the time travelers are very clear about how much money they can make when the tobacco business expands, and they will definitely not let go of this easily accessible cornucopia. However, the first thing they do is not to promote tobacco cultivation, but to ban smoking. But

What is prohibited is not sales, but cultivation. To be precise, it is a prohibition on private cultivation of tobacco.

The purpose of this is, of course, to monopolize the tobacco industry and bring the entire industrial chain under the control of the state. In the areas under Haihan, only farmers with official authorization can grow tobacco, a special cash crop, and the harvest can only be supplied to the government.

There are cigarette factories, and dealers can only obtain products through cigarette factories, which basically blocks private large-scale sales channels.

There are many smokers in Huanzhongli, and with the technical support of the Ministry of Agriculture, the entire tobacco production and sales process was quickly opened up.

However, tobacco cultivation has certain requirements on environmental conditions, and it cannot be grown everywhere. Therefore, the planting areas under Haihan were mainly concentrated in Nanping, Sanming, and Longyan in Fujian, as well as in the Kaohsiung area of ​​Taiwan Island. Later, with the expansion of territory,

In Luzon Island and the Qingzhou and Laizhou areas of Shandong, large-scale tobacco cultivation has also begun to be organized and promoted.

Tobacco cultivation, production and sales in Shandong are all operated by the Northern Region. This stuff is highly profitable, so it naturally appeared on the list of goods sold to the Manchus.

However, tobacco is not actually a new thing to the Manchus. As early as the Later Jin Dynasty, Korean businessmen had already introduced this stuff to Liaodong. Many nobles such as Dorgon and Daishan were addicted to tobacco. It flowed from North Korea.

The quantity of tobacco is small and the price is high. A pound of tobacco leaves can be sold for three coins, which is comparable to luxury goods.

Huang Taiji saw that a large amount of money was flowing out of the country, and he once banned officials from growing and smoking tobacco. Violators would be punished with whippings and fines. However, the interests involved were too great. The ban was only implemented for two years before Huang Taiji took the initiative to call him out.

It stopped, and then changed a method, allowing planting for personal use, but buying from abroad was strictly prohibited, so as to prevent the loss of money.

So by the time Haihan gained a foothold in Liaodong, Manchu tobacco consumption had actually formed a certain market size and had a rudimentary industrial chain. But this was in the face of Haihan's mature business operation routines and industrialized production methods.

, almost without resistance, the "Bohai" brand paper-packed cigarettes produced in Shandong quickly entered the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, and occupied most of the market in a short period of time.

Compared with the original way of smoking pipes, cigarettes are undoubtedly more convenient and easier to store, transport and sell. Although the price is higher than that of loose tobacco, Haihan strives to promote it as a civilized and high-end consumption method, which is consistent with cigarette smoking.

Linked to status. In addition, products at various price points have been launched to widen the consumption spectrum. However, those privately produced tobaccos do not have corresponding competitive strategies, so naturally they can only be squeezed to the bottom.

Bai Letong heard this and asked: "Ping Liao, didn't you say before that the Manchu Qing Emperor banned the purchase of tobacco from abroad, so why can the cigarettes produced in our country be sold?"

Chen Pingliao said with a smile: "This is not simple. Just hand over the exclusive rights of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties to the royal family. When they realize the considerable profits from running this business, they will definitely not refuse to become agents.

Already."

Bai Letong was stunned for a moment, then he clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful!"

According to the supply price and retail guide price set by Haihan, the revenue that Manchu officials can obtain from the sales process has far exceeded the tax collected on bulk tobacco transactions in the past. As long as the sales volume can meet Haihan's expectations

amount, then the income from this business alone will exceed the income from the traditional salt, iron, sugar, tea, cloth and other businesses combined!

This account is not complicated, and Haihan has provided a mature operating model. As long as you follow the example, you can get the expected benefits. No one can resist this temptation.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty also quickly made another revision to the tobacco ban, following Haihan's example and bringing all tobacco cultivation and sales within the country under the official control.

After operating in this way for a year, the profits gained from this business have completely extinguished the opposition within the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. The two sides even signed a supplementary agreement on tobacco trade, and the Manchu and Qing Dynasties will provide Haihan with self-produced tobacco.

They are processed into cigarettes and then sold back.

Bai Letong had another problem when he heard this: "If we do this, won't we just earn a processing fee? Is this more profitable than selling them the finished product directly?"

Chen Pingliao said: "If the Manchus wanted to get more profits from the tobacco business, they had to increase the proportion of self-produced tobacco leaves. This could only be achieved by expanding the scale of planting. And the income from growing tobacco is higher than that of food, so farmers are certainly more willing.

To grow tobacco, the Qing Dynasty has limited manpower, which will inevitably reduce their grain production capacity. When food is in short supply, they will not be able to send troops to grab it as before. Who can they buy grain from?"

Bai Letong suddenly said: "If even food depends on our country's supply, the impact will be much greater than that of tobacco!"

Chen Pingliao nodded slowly and said: "That's exactly it."

The series of impacts mentioned by Chen Pingliao have actually begun to bear fruit.

After tasting the sweetness, Huangzhuang, under the name of the Manchu royal family, began to plant tobacco on a large scale. It was simply roasted and sent to Haihan for further processing. After being made into cigarettes, it was shipped back to the country for sale. The income from this was higher than before.

Grain cultivation increased two or three times. Seeing that this approach was feasible, the nobles of the Eight Banners also began to follow suit and replanted their fields with tobacco.

However, most of the arable land owned by the imperial estates and nobles was high-quality land with fertile soil. The conversion to tobacco cultivation resulted in a large reduction in grain production. The market supply was insufficient, and grain prices rose rapidly. The government had to contact Haihan to purchase grain.

As a supplement.

However, if we only look at the financial revenue and expenditure, even if the cost of purchasing grain from Haihan is deducted, the income from switching to tobacco is still very considerable. Therefore, even if someone is aware of the crisis, it will be difficult for the profit-minded nobles to give up this

This is a way to make money, and then convert the land back to growing grain.

Haihan did not take advantage of this opportunity to increase the price of grain. Instead, he increased the supply of affordable grain to the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. The price was even lower than that of locally produced grain. Suffering from such a reverse impact, the Manchu and Qing Dynasty

The momentum of changing fields to grow tobacco is growing. Even ordinary farmers have used various channels to transfer their fields to nobles with tobacco planting qualifications, and secretly began to change fields to grow tobacco.
Chapter completed!