The years flowed in the uneven days, and a period of time passed quickly. The residents of Nanxun Town seemed to have become accustomed to the rule of the Taiping Army, and almost all of them moved back from the countryside. Many of the family members of Silk Hang also came back, but
The original mansion was requisitioned by the Taiping Army, and they had to temporarily live in the backyard of Silk Road.
The local population of Nanxun Town is as much as 30,000, and the Taiping Army has more than 10,000 people in Nanxun. With the population increasing by 25%, the demand for food and daily necessities has obviously increased a lot, and it has also brought rapid development to Nanxun's business development.
Dao. Therefore, Nanxun Town is more prosperous than before the Taiping Army occupied it. The streets are crowded and various shops are dotted here and there.
Nanxun was an important town for exporting raw silk, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom needed the tax revenue brought by exports. Therefore, the Taiping Army not only encouraged silkworm farmers to vigorously develop sericulture, but also exempted them from part of the tax.
Knowing that the silk industry in Nanxun continued to grow, sericulture farmers from nearby towns such as Shuanglin, Zhili, and Wuming also came to Nanxun to sell silk. Nanxun has also become the largest cocoon and raw silk distribution center in the south of the Yangtze River.
From 1860 to 1862, the Taiping Army successively captured Suzhou, Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Huzhou and other places. All the most important silk producing areas in China fell into the hands of the Taiping Army. During this period, silk export volume increased by almost 1% compared with 1853.
People at that time once recorded that the Taiping Army came to his home to "pluck out people", but they did not dare to enter his home because the cocoons were in the mountains.
Not only that, the Taiping Army itself also opened the "Hengqing" official silk shop in Nanxun. Anyone who wants to open a new silk shop must "guarantee" a knot with the "Hengqing" official silk shop and donate 80 kilograms of silk for each package.
Sixteen yuan, plus eight yuan for all incidentals.
One day, Huang Wenjin came to discuss with Liu Yong.
Huang Wenjin said to Liu Yong: I am a soldier and know nothing about business. From now on, the raw silk purchased by my "Hengqing" Silk Shop will be transferred to you for 20% of the purchase price, and all the profits and losses will be yours.
Liu Yong said in embarrassment: Your Majesty, you don't know. Now the war is in chaos, and business is not easy to do. We are also operating on a small scale in Xiayuan. We can afford to make money but cannot afford to lose money. Your Majesty will give you such a price. We have freight, labor expenses, customs duties, and road transportation.
Every time I sell the card, I’m afraid that my wife won’t be able to make enough money to pay for it.
Huang Wenjin said solemnly: Making money and losing money is your business, but don't worry, I will reduce your taxes for you, and the national card will give you a pass. Then he said: When you come back, you can bring rice and daily necessities from Shanghai.
to make up the difference.
Liu Yong pretended to be embarrassed and reluctantly agreed. In fact, Liu Yong knew it well. This was his opportunity to make a fortune.
Liu Yong said goodbye to Huang Wenjin and came out to discuss with Song Hongsheng and Wang Baohe.
Song Hongsheng said: With such a large quantity, I am afraid that we will not be able to call so many ships at once, because many ships have been captured by the Taiping Army. Even if there are ships, others will not dare to transport them. Besides, the cost of crossing the Jiapu Checkpoint is also very high.
, I heard that a pack of silk costs 20 oceans.
Liu Yong said: There is no need to worry when passing through the Jiapu Checkpoint. There are people from the "Junan'an Bureau" escorting us and there are roads.
Wang Baohe also said: I have a friend who is engaged in canal transport in Huzhou and has several large ships. I heard that not long ago, his ship was also captured by the Taiping Navy. I wonder if he is willing to transport it in this world.
Liu Yong, let me go to Huang Wenjin's place. If your friend's ship is there, ask Huang Wenjin to issue a pass saying that the ship is transporting supplies for the Taiping Army. In this way, your friend's ship will be saved.
Song Hongsheng and Wang Baohe both thought this was a good idea.
Liu Yong came to Huang Wenjin's residence again.
Liu Yong said to Huang Wenjin: The warehouse is now full of raw silk. If it is not shipped out in time, it will become damp and moldy, and it will become a pair of waste, and all the previous efforts will be wasted. Now most of the ships have been requisitioned by your navy.
Huang Wenjin said: This is easy to handle. As long as you can find the ship, I will issue a pass and say that it is to transport materials for me. Who dares to neglect it?
...
Wang Baohe took the pass and hurried to Huzhou.
Boss Guo, who has always been engaged in canal transportation in Huzhou, was a little famous in Huzhou at first. Since the Taiping Army occupied Huzhou, his business has plummeted. No one came to hire ships, and he did not dare to go out. Otherwise, he would lose both his people and money.
, so I was drinking alone at home.
Seeing Wang Baohe come in, Boss Guo stood up to greet him and said: How long have you not seen your brother? How are you doing in this time of war and chaos?
Wang Baohe said: It would be okay to work under Boss Liu. I came here today to see if he is still doing his job.
Boss Guo said helplessly: Let's not talk about it. As you know, I originally had five 100-ton ships. When the Taiping Army came, three were captured. To be honest, two more were hidden in the reeds of Taihu Lake.
Survived by accident.
Wang Baohe continued: Now my boss, Boss Liu, has a large amount of raw silk to be transported to Shanghai. He is worried that there is no ship. I wonder if I am willing to transport it?
Boss Guo said in embarrassment: There is no reason to want to make money, but once the ship is captured by the Taiping Army, it will steal the chicken but lose the rice. So what should we do?
Wang Baohe smiled and said: Brother, don’t worry, we have a pass for the Taiping Army, and the ship is specially used to transport supplies for the Taiping Army.
Boss Guo said: Oh, that’s fine.
Wang Baohe said: Then set off immediately.
The two parties agreed on the price. Boss Guo found a boatman and sailed out the boat hidden in the reeds of Taihu Lake.
Two large ships of 100 tons went down the river.
When the boat arrived at the old building, some Taiping soldiers were overjoyed to see two large boats approaching and fired shots as they docked.
Wang Baohe calmly took out the pass signed by Huang Wenjin himself. The Taiping Army saw that it was a cargo ship specially transporting materials for the Taiping Army and immediately let it go.
The boat was relatively large and could not enter the Nanxun City River, so it had to park on the canal. So much silk had to be transferred by boat. Liu Yong specially built two boats for transfer.
Liu Yong's approach has discouraged many bosses in Nanxun Town. They all lamented that ordinary people can't do it. But it has allowed Liu Yong and several people in Nanxun to enter the fast lane of wealth accumulation.
Two large ships of 100 tons were loaded with raw silk, escorted by several Taiping soldiers armed with live ammunition, and headed eastward along the small canal.
Jiapu is the only way for ships to Shanghai. The Taiping Army set up a checkpoint here to collect taxes, and their daily income could reach several thousand taels. But Liu Yong's silk ship passed here, and everything went smoothly.
Although the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions are richest in the world, they are densely populated and have little land. However, they do not have strong grain production capabilities. Starting from the early to mid-Qing Dynasty, the self-produced grains in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were not enough for their own use, and they needed to import grains from other places, mainly from the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
To make up for the shortage. What's more, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War caused a large number of people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to migrate or die, which led to the desolation of the countryside and it was difficult to obtain enough food. Moreover, the Hunan Army occupying the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River could no longer let food flow into the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Kingdom.
In this way, foreign trade became an indispensable and important way for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to obtain food. The British consul in Shanghai pointed out in the trade report of 1864 that "the huge trade volume of rice reached its peak in 1864, and the import value of this year
4.1 million taels, or about 1.3 million pounds." "Most of the imported foreign rice was shipped to silk-producing areas in exchange for silk," because "during the rebel occupation, silk could almost only be purchased with rice, and the rebels
It is stipulated that each coin collected must be matched with some rice."
Every time Liu Yong's cargo ship was full of raw silk, it went to Shanghai, and every time it was full of goods and rice, it returned to Nanxun. He himself couldn't calculate how much money he made from it. This chapter has been completed!