A few days later, in Shunde County, an inconspicuous escort agency officially hung up its sign in an alley not far from Gongbei Gate in the north of the city.

This escort agency is naturally engaged in the escort business. In the Ming Dynasty, this type of business was usually done by merchants. However, this escort agency was not listed on the street for business, nor did it have a sign with a fist on it.

Under the guise, the plaque only says "Dongfeng Escort", which seems particularly nondescript.

There used to be gangster shops in Shunde County, but due to frequent wars, they gradually disappeared. The green-skinned idlers in the city saw that a "beatbroker's shop" was opened here, and hurried to see the excitement, and some were even more so.

I plan to find a new job. However, this Dongfeng Escort not only has a strange name, but also has a strange style. It treats the people who come to my door unnecessarily, how can it be so shameless.

Some green-skinned idlers got angry and wanted to make a scene. Unexpectedly, before the clerks and clerks inside could say anything, the county's chief police officer suddenly appeared and kicked them out. He also asked them privately.

People told these green-skinned idlers that they could not afford to offend Dongfeng Escort, and if they wanted to continue hanging out in Shunde County, they should not offend them.

In a similar way, the last one to be evaluated in this way was the Shunde Silk Weaving Workshop. Even a child in Shunde knows that the person standing behind it is the governor of Guangdong, the provincial official. So, knowing the importance, these guys are also very

I fell asleep - anyway, there was no movement at all from Dongfeng Escort.

Almost at the same time, the military in Shunde County made a high-profile statement that it would protect the safety of businessmen and civilians and severely crack down on bandits and river pirates. At the same time as the announcement was issued, it directly sent troops to annihilate a group of river bandits that spread from other counties, and

The seized robbed goods were returned to their original owners, which was highly praised by the people of the province.

Shunde's silk industry has entered the right track, and it is like cooking oil in a raging fire, which is bound to attract covetous attention. In comparison, the cotton production in Qiongzhou officially had its first full year of production last year, starting from the acquisition

Going through the entire process of land, hiring cotton farmers, planting cotton, purchasing cotton, ginning elastic, weaving and spinning, and printing and dyeing is a valuable experience for those members who are involved in cotton production.

If we follow Shunde's successful precedent, we can acquire more land this year, hire more cotton farmers, build more machinery, expand larger factories, and continue to expand the scale of production!

There are still a hundred years before the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution. East-West trade, especially goods such as cloth, porcelain, and tea produced in China, does not need to worry about sellers as long as it is produced. Many maritime merchants from Southeast Asia have already gathered in Hainan

In Fucheng, we are waiting for the unified pricing of the Guangdong Commercial Alliance in Qiongzhou.

Among them, there is also Chen Yuanliang. In the past few years, his family mainly ran the route from Nanyang to Hong Kong. Until last year when ordering silk in Hong Kong, he learned that Qiongzhou was vigorously developing cotton spinning. When he returned to Nanyang,

When he learned that his partner on the other side also wanted to purchase cotton cloth, he ran away.

Ever since Chen Kai regained Hong Kong and started the trade blockade of Guangzhou, Chen Yuanliang has been dealing with Guangdong trading companies for many years. Regarding this unified pricing, he also had an understanding of it when purchasing silk in Hong Kong. Compared with other

A merchant who is used to doing business in Qiongzhou needs to be more aware of the trade. This will undoubtedly make him more comfortable in dealing with members of the Guangdong Commercial Alliance, as well as in the process of ordering and receiving goods.

According to the information he found, more than half of the cotton cloth produced last year has been sold. Due to unified pricing, internal competition has been eliminated. At the same time, huge quantities of goods have hit the market, forcing other cotton cloth merchants to not dare to make mistakes. There is no price difference.

It declined because of the surge in production, but it didn't increase much.

With this injury, but with the snowball speed, in just one year they have made a resounding name in the business community of Qiongzhou Prefecture, and even the Chinese businessmen in Nanyang have to pay attention to the Guangdong Business Alliance.

From the bottom of his heart, Chen Yuanliang doesn't like this model very much, because the Guangdong Commercial Alliance is here, so there will be no problem of diving. However, when it comes to Nanyang, the surge in goods will inevitably affect the price. In this regard,

The impact on silk is not big, after all, it is a luxury product in other areas, but cotton may not be so lucky.

In addition, what is more important is that in his opinion, the Guangdong Business Alliance is developing rapidly, and it may take less than a few years to swallow up the shares of other cotton merchants in Qiongzhou Prefecture. By then, once a monopoly is formed, they will also

If you want to use unified pricing, many things will not be so simple.

"They shouldn't starve all the merchants to death. That won't do them any good."

Speaking of which, Chen Yuanliang's worries are not non-existent in the minds of other maritime merchants. Some are just symptoms, while others are more complex. After all, the Guangdong Commercial Alliance is now gaining momentum, and God knows what kind of monster it will eventually become.

Worrying about this was not unfounded. However, Chen Yuanliang never expected that Qiongzhou's cotton production, the starting point of his worries, was being questioned internally at this moment.

"Last year's cotton production did make us a lot of money, but in the final analysis, apart from the support of Mr. Fujun, the relevant systems of the alliance, and the use of hydraulic machinery, the thing we should thank most is God. To put it bluntly, if

There will be a lot of rain during the flowering and cotton harvesting days, so our work this year will be completely in vain."

In the conference hall of the Qiongzhou branch of the Guangdong Business Alliance in the east of Fucheng, all seats were packed with local members from Qiongzhou. As the largest shareholder, Mr. Bai sat outside and listened to a member who also invested a lot in the cotton spinning workshop.

Standing on the front desk and chatting, with his eyelids drooping, those who don't know may think that the old man has fallen asleep, but people who are familiar with him know very well that once he behaves like this, he must be planning something.

What, it’s just that the specific calculations are unknown.

The member told the truth that their initial decision to develop cotton production was ultimately influenced by Shunde Silk in Guangdong - taking advantage of Qiongzhou Prefecture's own advantages as a well-known cotton production area, and cotton spinning and silk weaving have something in common.

It can be completely copied.

However, over the course of a year, these members have learned more about every aspect of cotton production. Judging from the local climate and environment in Qiongzhou, it is not particularly suitable for cotton cultivation.

Sufficient sunshine, rich light and heat resources, large temperature difference between day and night, and low air humidity are conducive to cotton production. Cotton is a heat-loving crop and has certain needs for water. However, during the flowering period, that is, the pollination period and the harvest period, avoid rain and prefer light. Therefore, cotton is a heat-loving crop and has certain requirements for water.

, areas with a dry climate but sufficient irrigation water are most suitable for growing cotton. Here in Hainan, we have a tropical monsoon climate, with more rain and high air humidity.

This is the climate. Considering the geographical environment, cotton needs a vast plain area. The terrain of Hainan Island is low on the four sides and high in the middle. With Wuzhi Mountain and Yingge Ridge as the core of the uplift, it gradually decreases toward the periphery. Mountains, hills, and terraces,

The plain forms an annular layered landform with a clear stepped structure and a small plain area.

Based on these advantages, the most suitable locations are the Northwest, the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin. The Xinjiang Cotton Area, the Yellow River Basin Cotton Area, and the Yangtze River Basin Cotton Area are the best examples in later generations. Especially the Xinjiang Cotton Area accounts for the majority of China's cotton output.

As much as 50%, which is unmatched by Qiongzhou.

However, the pillar industry of Qiongzhou in later generations is tourism, which is absolutely impossible now. Cotton, spices, wood, medicinal materials, coconuts, betel nuts and the like have always been the top products. They just chose the one that seemed to have the most development

It has great prospects. Moreover, the ceiling of development is far from being reached yet. Therefore, when this proposal was proposed, it was quickly refuted by many members.

"Planting is basically dependent on the sky. If God doesn't show favor, there will be no chance of doing anything."

"Don't talk about growing food, let's talk about those people in Guangzhou growing mulberry and raising silkworms. If the high temperature continues in summer and autumn, no matter how carefully they serve, the silkworms will inevitably die in batches."

Those who are covered with silkworms are not silkworm farmers. The price of silk is not just simple because of its comfort and beauty. The delicateness of silkworms is an animal domesticated by humans. It is second to none among insects. In the words of later generations, these little

This thing is born with a princess disease and cannot bear the slightest grievance. If there is the slightest disturbance, it will die directly for you.

There is nothing wrong with the fact that things are rare and valuable. It just depends on God's mood. Today in the Little Ice Age, compared with the high temperature, Qiongzhou's own rainy characteristics are far ahead in terms of attendance rate. This is really a big problem.

, which has a huge impact on cotton cultivation and the large-scale production of cotton cloth.

The venue suddenly became lively, with members who held different opinions arguing endlessly. However, those members who were not involved in the cotton spinning industry sat on the sidelines one by one and watched without saying a word.

The more the argument goes on, the more noisy it becomes. Gradually, the rational discussion begins to move closer to the butt issue. If this continues, the venue will inevitably lose control. Some of the more rational members will start to make peace, but it will have no effect. And this

At this time, the old member Bai who had remained silent from the beginning suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the member who raised the question, and asked in an extremely calm tone: "In your opinion, what should we do?"

Mr. Bai's voice was not loud, but with just these words, the noise in the venue quickly disappeared. This old man with white hair and beard is one of the most wealthy businessmen in Qiongzhou Prefecture. In terms of age and seniority, he is among the most wealthy businessmen in Qiongzhou Prefecture.

Among this group of people, he is also the best. In the early days of cotton spinning, he was the main one. Now that the person who made the decision has spoken, the others naturally stopped and wanted to hear where it will develop.

The chaos was suppressed before it officially broke out. The member looked directly into Member Bai's eyes, bowed his hands, and continued: "We have put a lot of effort into cotton spinning, and now it has actually brought us a lot of

I don’t think we should give up cotton spinning directly, but we should not invest all our financial, material and human resources in it. We must walk on two legs to be safe.”

It was not a complete denial and abandonment, but the dispute was weakened from the source. However, this was not the most complete answer. Mr. Bai just gave a gesture with his eyes, and the latter told him all his thoughts.

"Today, the emergence of the Guangdong Trade Alliance has caused the products of Guangzhou, Chaozhou and our Qiongzhou to surge. It is foreseeable that this will inevitably expand to other prefectures, counties, and even other provinces in the future." Such a prediction.

, not only in his remarks today, many people have already imagined that that day will inevitably come. Even Shunde silk weaving in Guangdong has begun to expand to other counties. This is the best omen.

Everyone was waiting for his next words, and he did not disappoint others: "In my humble opinion, sea trade will definitely prosper in the future. It is not as good as simply pointing to Nanyang and Western sea merchants to come to our Qiongzhou to trade.

We try to go out. Therefore, shipbuilding is necessary because we can take advantage of Qiongzhou’s abundant large trees.”

It is undoubtedly an excellent idea to give full play to the advantages of local resources and at the same time take advantage of the general trend to be released from the industry that depends on the weather. However, it is not that they have not imagined such an idea when the Guangdong Business Alliance was first established.

, they considered shipbuilding when determining the direction of development, but were rejected, and the fundamental problem that caused all this still exists.

"If we compete with the government-run shipyards, Mr. Guo Xing will be unhappy, right?"

Qiongzhou Prefecture was recovered in the first half of the seventh year of Yongli, four years ago. At the beginning of the recovery, Chen Kai had planned to set up a government-run shipyard here to expand the fleet and fleet of the Zheng Group.

The size of the merchant fleet. This plan was not suspended because of Chen Kai's return. Zheng Shengying, who was appointed as the prefect of Qiongzhou, was a member of the Zheng clan. Of course he understood the stakes involved. During the period before he resigned, he worked in the government office

It can be said that the shipyard has spared no effort. At present, more than half of the newly built warships and merchant ships of the Zheng Group are the result of this government-run shipyard. When Chen Kai insisted on regaining Qiongzhou, he made huge profits. At this point, he got

It best reflects the fundamental interests of the Zheng Group.

It is not that there are no private shipyards in Qiongzhou Prefecture, but they are very small in scale, and the ships they build are not as large as the Zheng Group's standard flagship watercraft. However, once the Guangdong Commercial Alliance makes a move, it will definitely be a big deal.

It can be said to be driven by instinct. In this way, when competition arises, official opinions will become particularly important.

"This matter is indeed a good thing in my opinion, but it must be reported to Mr. Fujun and listen to Mr. Fujun's opinion before making a decision."

Mr. Bai's statement is indeed a sound idea, even if it has attracted the recognition of some members. After all, the backer behind the Guangdong Business Alliance is Chen Kai, and their every move will be closely related to Chen Kai. Especially like this

If you do something taboo, you need to get approval.

However, everyone is like this. While the member of the initiative agreed with this, he also put forward his idea: "I think that since we want to build ships and it is to serve maritime trade and benefit ships and Guangdong Shipbuilding Industry, why not
Chapter completed!