After giving Huang Ruliang some reassurance, Feng Ziying discussed with Huang Ruliang the problem of grain storage in Dagu and Dinggu.
After getting a relatively optimistic estimate from Feng Ziying about the inspection and sales, Huang Ru felt much more at ease in his conscience, so he did not worry about it when discussing the issue of grain storage in Dinggu and Dagu with Feng Ziying.
He is also very aware of the various forces behind this, and he also needs to consider the subsequent transportation of various materials, including grain, from Guangdong, Guangxi and even Jiangnan to the Northland through this huge commercial network, otherwise the Northland will be in the imperial court
It will be very difficult to defeat Nanjing, and it may even directly lead to the failure of the imperial court to survive.
This cannot be done by forcefully taking over.
You can take over the warehouses, docks and grain storage by force, but what about the fleet? What about the supply and transportation system in Jiangnan and Guangdong and Guangxi? Without these, all you can get is a bunch of dead things of little value.
So the best way is to cooperate.
I have to say that the Ministry of Finance is still lagging behind or being too late in this regard.
On the one hand, the maritime trade system in the north itself is far behind that in the south. Except for a slight foundation in Shandong, it is almost completely blank in Beizhi and Liaodong.
It can be said that Feng Ziying built Yuguan Port in Yongping Prefecture entirely by her own efforts. After going to practice state affairs, she channeled the Hulu River and then reluctantly developed Yuepo Port, so that the Jingdong area finally had a place that could satisfy the needs of the people.
The sea trade transportation network is in demand.
Feng Ziying went all out to dredge the Wei River in Shuntian Prefecture and build Dagu. Fortunately, the conditions in Dagu were much better than those in Yongping Prefecture, especially the Wei River connecting canal, which could connect shipping and the canal.
Direct access to the capital avoids having to walk a land route like Yuguan.
In addition to ports and terminals, more importantly, Feng Ziying spared no effort to help merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi who had basically never been involved in maritime trade enter the maritime trade system.
Although compared with the sea trade merchants in the south, they can only be regarded as toddlers, but relying on the local advantages of Yongpingfu and Shuntianfu, they have still established a foothold in this industry.
Trade also began with the development of iron, coal, and cement in Yongping Prefecture, which began to be transported south on a large scale. This complementary trade greatly stimulated the development of large-tonnage maritime trade.
In addition to continuing to build fuchuans for long voyages, Ningbo, Dengzhou, Zhangzhou, and Guangzhou also began to introduce technology to build larger and higher Western-style Clark sailboats for use in Southeast Asia and even more distant countries along the Indian Ocean. They also began to appear
In Yuguan and Dagu, although Yuguan and Dagu do not yet have the ability to build such ships, they can only build some small sand ships. Xue Biao and Duan Xigui both mentioned this to Feng Ziying, and the Clark sailing ship passed by
Improving it into a Galen ship is more suitable for evolving into a sailing battleship. Although Feng Ziying is not proficient in this aspect of history, she does know some about it.
The emergence of this type of large sailing ship marks the rapid popularity of long-sea trade in East and Southeast Asia. From Liaodong and Beizhi to Guangzhou and even Nanyang, the basic conditions for long-sea shipping are already met. In terms of distance,
It's not much closer than the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean or even the Arabian coast.
The emergence of Clark's sailing ship and the improvement of Fu's ship technology were preparations for the Zhou Dynasty's future shift from offshore trade to far sea trade. Although Feng Ziying also played a big role in this process, what was more important was the Zhou Dynasty's influence on Southeast Asian trade.
The change in attitude made the maritime merchants finally realize that sea bans may never appear in the policy of the Zhou Dynasty again. Therefore, stimulated by this kind of interest, the demand for ships and even shipyards quickly heated up, which also made companies such as Dengzhou
, the shipbuilding industry in ports such as Ningbo, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Guangzhou has also prospered rapidly.
This has also had a positive impact on the shipping and shipbuilding industries of Yuguan and Dagu in the North to a certain extent. Feng Ziying knew that Yuguan and Dagu now have shipyards, although they can only build sand ships, and even
It’s not too early to build Fuchuan, but compared with the original level of only a few fishing boats, it has improved a lot, and Feng Ziying also believes that with the further development of the maritime trade industry, the shipbuilding industry will develop in Yuguan and Dagu sooner or later.
The cutoff of water transportation also objectively stimulated the heating up of this industry.
Huang Ruliang is not a mediocre person. He is a native of Quanzhou, which has the most developed maritime trade. He is no stranger to the maritime trade industry. Feng Ziying and Feng Ziying have a good rapport with him in discussing the development of maritime trade and shipbuilding industry after the interruption of water transportation, so they are very happy.
A consensus was quickly reached.
The Ministry of Household Affairs will purchase all the grain stored in Dagu, Dinggu, Yuepo Port, and Yuguan Port at a price of 10% off the current market price. At the same time, it will continue to purchase unlimited quantities of grain entering the port from Yuguan, Yuepo Port, and Dagu.
Grain and other materials are almost an ancient version of government procurement. With the current market price locked in, as long as the grain can be transported from the south, it is almost a sure profit, and the profit is huge. As you can imagine
Once this condition is implemented, it will definitely stimulate the shipbuilding and shipping industries, and at the same time, it will also put a big pressure on grain prices in the Gyeonggi region.
However, as the impact of the severe drought in the North is increasing, refugees are migrating to Beijing in large numbers, the war between the North and the South is imminent, and the restoration of water transportation is far away, even with such favorable conditions, if the current price of grain can be maintained without a sharp rise
, can already make the court feel at ease. As for price reduction, don’t even think about it.
"It's finally settled." Feng Ziying picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then leaned on the pillow and stretched her body, "It's not in vain for Brother Tao's hard work for more than a year..."
Baochai and Baoqin were sitting aside, while Ying'er and Lingguan had already changed Feng Ziying's official boots, brought hot water and soaked Feng Ziying's feet.
The most excited person was Bao Qin. His eyes were shining. He couldn't help but get up and walked from Baochai's side to Feng Ziying's side. He sat down next to him and while massaging Feng Ziying's shoulders, he asked: "Mr., if the price is like this,
If you sell it to the imperial court, you will actually suffer a loss in terms of price. From what my husband said, my brother should have some benefits, right?"
Feng Ziying glanced at Bao Qin, couldn't help but shook her head and said with a smile: "Bao Qin, you really think about your brother. When your husband came back from a busy day, you didn't say you cared, but you thought about your brother.
What are the benefits? What, you are not satisfied with selling for a good price? What is the price of wheat and rice that Brother Tao bought from Guangzhou, Songjiang and Huguang? What is the price of grain in the capital now? How much can you earn from one stone of rice? Brother Tao is afraid
I can wake up laughing even when I fall asleep.”
"My lord, having said that, the price of grain in the capital city has tripled, but there is still room for the price to rise. There is no need for the court to purchase it. We just resell it directly to grain merchants, or sell it in our own grain shops. We can make more money. When we sell grain to the imperial court, what we want is not the imperial court's recognition?" Bao Qin's thinking was particularly clear and his words were very sharp. "We are equivalent to giving profits to the imperial court, and we also contribute to the imperial court. If you help, of course the court will give you a reward."
"Baoqin, what you said makes sense, but selling it yourself takes time, takes up funds, and has you considered that if everyone sells grain to the court, will there be a drop in grain prices? How much of the drop will it be? It must be more than 10%, right?" Feng Ziying asked rhetorically.
"Ms. sir, what you said is wrong. News of the severe drought in the North is now spreading. People here in Gyeonggi want to buy grain and hoard it. Even if everyone sells grain to the court, it is still difficult to sell it. Prices have been suppressed, and as for the time and funds occupied, it doesn’t matter. We have time and funds as well. If it doesn’t work, we can also borrow money from Haitong Bank.”
Xue Baoqin has this kind of temperament. He will not dare to refute just because Feng Ziying said it. "My husband is so decisive and generous in selling grain to the court. There must be some reward."
In fact, Feng Ziying also knew that she could not convince Xue Baoqin, because this reason was too far-fetched, and the rising trend of grain prices was too obvious. Without her own early grain storage and shipping guarantee, it can be said that the grain prices in Gyeonggi Province would have doubled.
Now the price of corn in Zhangjiawan has risen to 20,000 yuan per shi, the price of japonica rice has risen to 40,000 yuan per shi, and the price of inferior flour has even risen to 30,000 yuan per shi. It can be said that the public dissatisfaction in Beijing has boiled over. The common people knew that this was due to the double pressure of severe drought and interruption of water transportation. The court tried its best to calm down and barely caused any shock. However, if this continued, Feng Ziying knew that something would definitely happen.
Feng Ziying is not a businessman. Although Xue Biao and he are actually one, and he accounts for most of the money he earns, but for his sake, he no longer cares about that little money. What he pursues is no longer economical. The interests of the people have gradually turned to expanding their influence and control.
Once the price of food really gets out of control and the situation of the court collapses and the war between the north and the south is affected, that is what Feng Ziying cannot accept the most, so he will reach an agreement with the court at all costs. On this point, he also agrees with the court. Businessmen from Shanxi and Shaanxi have exchanged opinions, and not all of them are stupid. They all understand the stakes here, not to mention that the majority of their interests are still in the coal-iron complex and cement business. What they care more about is long-term business. Rather than short-term huge profits.
"It seems that Bao Qin feels that my husband's plan with the court was a bit wrong this time, and he will suffer a big loss?" Feng Ziying asked with a smile.
"My husband's move must have a profound meaning." Baochai smiled and interjected to smooth things over: "It doesn't matter that Brother Tao can't gain anything for the time being. Our Feng family doesn't lack that little money. We won't fight for this moment. On the contrary, it has gained a good impression from the court, which will definitely be of great benefit to my husband in the future."