Five days later, when the Thor returned to the sea outside Ishinomaki Port of the Sendai Domain, Zhao Xin took out a small sum of one thousand taels and asked Katsuyama Denzo and Murata Jiroemon to buy two Senseki Benzai ships in Ishinomaki. At the same time, he asked them There is no need to buy new boats, just buy two that are 80% new.
This is the gift he plans to give to Shen Jingdan and Huang Maocai. These two Qing businessmen are worthy of this gift if they can follow him northward regardless of the risk. As for the sailors, there should be some among the refugees in Beihai now, enough Shen and Huang were asked to sail the boat back to Shanghai County. Zhao Xin planned to use the Thor to tow the wooden boat to the outer sea of southern Shandong when the two returned to China, and then let them sail back by themselves.
Considering the current situation of soldier training in Beihai and the large-scale purchase he wanted to make when he returned, Zhao Xin proposed to Katsuyama and Murata that it would be best to postpone the delivery of sugar and silk fabrics and the operation in Ezo for one month, because he still had There are important things that need to be dealt with back home, and I really can't get away.
The two island businessmen didn't dare to say no, so they quickly agreed.
Since the defeat of the Saga clan and the successful blackmail of Nagasaki, Shibata Kakuzo and the two businessmen have become more and more respectful to Zhao Xin and others. They even bowed very respectfully when they saw Heita and others.
As the head of the Sendai clan, Shibata Kakuzo thought that the strength of this group of Tang Yi was terrifying. Especially the two giant cannons on the ship and the huge continuous-fire iron cannon, their power was simply devastating and horrifying.
He planned to report in detail what he saw and heard to his elders after returning, and suggested that he must make good friends with this group of people. As for what the feudal clan would consider, it was not up to him.
Shibata Kakuzo even planned to go back and report to the feudal clan this time, and then go to the North Sea with the Thor to experience it next time.
Zhao Xin happily agreed and said to Shibata Kakuzo: "If other businessmen from the Sendai clan also want to visit, we welcome it."
Zhao Xin's current plan is to suppress the four Sacho Doi clans that will be close to the West in the future, and support conservative forces like the Sendai clan. In the "Aizu War" in future history, the "Ou Yue clan alliance" including the Sendai clan "Belongs to the faction that supports the shogunate and opposes the return of the great government.
Zhao Xin's specific support strategy is to do business and attract funds from all over the island country to Sendai Domain through a large number of commodities. At the same time, he allows those merchants who cooperate with him to use part of their profits to help the samurai of Sendai Domain reduce their debts. .
If the debts of samurai can be reduced, consumption will increase; businessmen can make money, and market activity will increase; at the same time, tax revenue in the domain will increase, and the main social contradictions in Sendai Domain will be alleviated.
And if the Sendai clan can open its door, other clans will follow suit.
Zhao Xin, who is familiar with the history of the island country, is very clear that the biggest crisis within the island country now is not the famine caused by the "dawn famine", but the conflict between warriors and merchants.
During the Edo period, the samurai class, as the main consumer group, had their salaries calculated in terms of rice. Therefore, every time it was time to receive their salary, the samurai had to first take out rice from the warehouse of the domain or shogunate, and then carry it to the "rice store". "Ask a house" and resell it for money. Because the exchange procedures were very complicated, the agency business later emerged.
In the ninth year of Kyōho (1723), the shogunate agreed to jointly establish the "Zhachazhu" by merchants from the rice house and the water tea house (the samurai had to wait in the water tea house to rest when lining up to sell rice). Zhongjian". So most of the warriors let "Zhacha Zhu Zhongjian" receive their salary on their behalf, while they themselves received money from Zhachai regularly.
Over time, "Zhachazhu Nakama" has functions similar to modern banks, and the lending business naturally arises. The lending interest rate for merchants in the Edo period was generally between 15% and 18%, even if
Daimyo's coming to borrow money is no exception.
The samurai's salary was not enough, so borrowing from merchants in Zhacha became inevitable. This overdraft consumption behavior continued for decades, and the debts borne by many samurai had reached the point of bankruptcy.
The "dawn famine" that lasted for six years will continue to burden these warriors with higher debts. Once the warrior class, the main consumer, can no longer continue to consume, Zhao Xin will not be able to sell no matter how much goods he brings.
In fact, the shogunate will issue the "Donation Order" five years later (1789), which will eliminate all loan accounts of the samurai before the fourth year of Tenmei (1784), and increase the interest rate on loans after the fourth year of Tenmei from 15%
~18% is uniformly changed to 6%.
This decree caused huge losses to the Zhacha merchants. After the promulgation of the "Donation Order", a large number of Zhacha and Zhuzhong immediately stopped lending business to the warriors, and the entire consumer market in the island country immediately came to a halt.
When the New Year came to an end in 1790, the samurai needed money to celebrate the New Year. So the shogunate forced the Zashi merchants to lend money to the samurai. Seventeen Zashi merchants went bankrupt and closed down that month. The then-old Naka Matsudaira Sadanobu
There was simply no financial resources to solve this problem, thus laying a time bomb for the shogunate's future economic crisis.
After dark, Ding Guofeng and Zhao Liang drove the three islanders back to the uninhabited beach near Ishinomaki Port in an assault speedboat. It was only a few miles away from Ishinomaki, and Shibata Kakuzo and the other three could walk by themselves.
go back.
After that, the Thor stayed outside Ishinomaki Port for two more days. After receiving the third batch of 5,000 refugees, it turned and sailed north. The next stop was Sagawa in Ezo.
Because the Thor previously bombarded Matsumae Castle, killing the lord of Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Michhiro, and several important ministers. At this time, Matsumae Domain was leaderless and could only wait for the young master and family elders from Edo to return to deal with the funeral affairs, so for
There was no time to care about the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Sagawa. The Matsumae clan samurai who were defeated and returned to the plain (Sapporo) tax office suffered heavy losses and were unable to attack again.
The Shachuan people were very happy to see Zhao Xin and others returning again, bringing with them the food and many iron weapons and weapons promised last time.
The more than 30 southern horses and a large number of swords and weapons left behind by Zhao Xin before he left last time were already a huge fortune for the Shachuan people.
By this time, the injuries of Tuka and a dozen other tribesmen had greatly improved. When they knew that the "Thunder God" was coming, they all came out of the village to greet him.
Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang who were traveling with them were also very surprised when they saw these short Ainu people with hairy beards on their faces and wearing colorful bark clothes.
In the evening of that day, Tuka and a group of tribesmen held a banquet in the village to entertain Zhao Xin and others. The local indigenous diet mainly consists of venison and salmon, which are usually boiled or grilled; as for the staple food, they are beans and grains.
.
For modern people like Zhao Xin, they can still eat some barbecue; as for the messy cooked food, they only taste it lightly.
As soon as the picture came up, he offered Zhao Xin three bowls of wine and thanked him for his life-saving grace.
Fortunately, Zhao Xin had expected it and brought a box of "Neptune Gold Bottles" before setting off. He also risked his life for the development of coal mines in Ezo and the gold mines on the northern islands.
After a heavy drinking session, Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng and others, who had taken anti-alcoholic drugs, took turns attacking, and finally got Tuka and others drunk. They hugged Zhao Xin's neck and said everything was fine.
As expected, the thing that Zhao Xin was most worried about came true. The drunk Tuka pointed at his sister and said that he would give her to Zhao Xin.
Tuka's sister is called "Rimans", which translates to "Dancing Snow". The last time Zhao Xin treated Tuka's injury, he didn't even bother to ask her name. This girl is only thirteen years old this year.
Zhao Xin looked at this little girl with dark skin, delicate facial features, and typical European features... He really didn't want her!
Not to mention anything else, just looking at the big blood-red lips painted on the faces of the Ainu married women at the banquet, Zhao Xin thought of the villain "The Joker" in the movie "Batman".
Zhao Xin has a big head at the moment, and it will be troublesome whether he accepts it or not.
Finally, I thought about it, in order to work closely with the Ainu people and control the Ezo land... let's do this!
Tuka's sister is still young, and there are a group of half-grown children over there in Beihai now. It's better to raise one child, and it's better to raise a group of them. Forget it, take her back with A Miao as a companion. Maybe she will grow up in a few years.
The little girl's thoughts turned to others.
So Zhao Xin explained to Tuka. He said that his family's rule is that a woman cannot marry before she is eighteen years old. Xue Wu is still young now, so even if he takes her back, he cannot marry her right away.
Tuka waved his hands indifferently and said drunkenly: "Since she has followed you, everything is up to you. But I am only a sister, and I have not even agreed to the other tribes who came to propose marriage..."
When Zhao Xin heard this, he quickly said: "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely treat her well."
At this time, the merchant Lao Huang who was accompanying him saw the barbarian clan leader pointing at a woman and talking to Zhao Xin, so he turned to Shen Jingdan who was sitting next to him and said, "Brother Shen, I see this Ainu clan leader.
I want to give Mr. Zhao a woman."
Liu Sheng on the side had drank a little too much. After hearing what Lao Huang said, he casually said: "It just so happens that he is a bachelor."
After hearing this, businessman Lao Huang rolled his eyes, stood up and toasted Liu Sheng with a glass of wine, and asked with a smile: "Dare you ask Mr. Zhao about Geng?"
Liu Sheng said vaguely: "Thirty. This guy is three years younger than me."
It is said that Zhao Xin entered elementary school one year earlier than the average person, and he also skipped two grades between elementary school and junior high school, otherwise he would not have become high school classmates with Liu Sheng.
"May I ask Mr. Liu if you can start a family?"
"……separated."
"Leaving?" Lao Huang and Shen Jingdan looked at each other, not understanding what they meant. However, seeing the painful look on Liu Sheng's face, they couldn't ask any more questions.
In feudal society, the initiative in marriage has always been firmly controlled by men. According to the "Qing Law", if the woman wants to initiate divorce and the husband does not agree, there is basically no chance. If the woman dares to run away from home privately, she will be
If the government discovers and arrests the person, he will be punished with "a hundred sticks, and he will be married off to his husband and sold"; if he dares to remarry someone else privately, he will be sentenced to "hanging a prisoner".
Shen Jingdan was twirling his beard at this time and looking at Zhao Xin not far away, his heart moved slightly. However, he decided to take another look and wait until he saw it in Beihai.