In fact, there was another person, Sun Lin, who had the idea of joining Xujiazhuang when he saw that his friend Qian Chengzhi and his brother-in-law Fang Yizhi had both joined Xujiazhuang.
He also basically agreed and accepted Xujiazhuang's philosophy and realized the major shortcomings of Confucian governance.
But after thinking about it, he had to give up.
Because he is a hereditary military attache, once he joins, he is very likely to be impeached and criticized, and even his family will be affected.
So he only put on Xujiazhuang's new clothes without shaving his hair, which was considered half a change.
…
End of January.
The weather is gradually getting warmer.
The road surface has begun to thaw and is barely passable, and spring will officially begin soon.
From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, Xujiazhuang's senior staff discussed and deliberated for more than a month.
Xujiazhuang's "Ocean Strategy" is about to be officially launched and implemented, taking a new and extremely important step.
What is maritime strategy and what is its specific content?
There are three main aspects: making sea salt, developing marine fishing and marine trade.
"The ocean contains endless opportunities and wealth. If Xujiazhuang wants to achieve better development, it must explore the ocean and obtain more resources and development space from the ocean."
"First of all, salt. The Ming Dynasty has a population of nearly 200 million. Even if each person only eats one kilogram of salt per year, 1.6 million shi of salt is needed. If each person consumes up to 10 kilograms of salt per year, that is a salt market of up to 16 million shi. Today, the market
The coarse salt on the table costs about one hundred wen per catty, which is equivalent to one cent of silver. The quality is very poor and the price is very expensive. However, salt is a necessity. Even the poorest families must buy one or two catties of salt every year, otherwise they have to work hard.
I don’t even have the strength.”
"Therefore, based on the market price of consumer terminals, the market space for salt is more than 20 million taels every year, and even reaches 50 million taels. However, the production cost of salt, depending on the production method, ranges from 5 to 20 taels per catty.
Etc., the profit margin is five to twenty times, but most of these profits are obtained by salt merchants, officials, nobles and gentry. They all eat to their advantage and monopolize the production, transportation, sales and other aspects of salt, reducing the cost
Salt worth a few cents or more is sold to the people at ten times the price, making huge profits, but the people are getting poorer. But because salt is a necessity, no matter how the price is manipulated, the salt merchant interest groups will not make less."
"I plan to change this situation and build a large-scale salt production plant on the beach. Using the most advanced solar salt, electric heating, filtration and purification processes, we can achieve the goal of producing 1 million tons of salt per year (1 ton = 16 stones).
To meet the needs of every Ming Dynasty citizen to consume at least ten kilograms of salt, because of the use of the most advanced salt-making technology, our cost of producing one kilogram of salt, after increasing the quantity, can be reduced to about 1 Wen per kilogram. In terms of consumer price
, it costs 10 to 20 taels, allowing people to buy high-quality and cheap sea salt, and at the same time ensuring that we get about ten times the gross profit. The people get benefits, and we make at least tens of millions of taels of profit every year.
.”
"The Haiyan business is hugely profitable. Xujiazhuang must enter, even if it offends countless salt merchants and interest groups! If they dare to use force, we will use force against force and kill them directly!"
"The second step is to build a large seaport city, recruit a large number of sailors and fishermen, purchase the latest electric fishing boats, use this seaport city as a base to develop the fishing industry, and obtain countless marine fish and seafood from the sea as a new
source of meat.”
"Compared with land, the ocean area is infinitely vast. The number of fish, shrimps, crabs, and snails living in the sea is difficult to count. In the Daming offshore area alone, there are at least tens of millions of tons of fishable resources every year. We only need to
There are about 100 advanced fishing boats, each of which catches 500 tons of seafood every year, which is 50,000 tons, allowing 500,000 people to eat 100 kilograms per person every year."
"Marine fish and seafood have the advantages of delicious taste, high protein content, less fat and less fat, etc. Although the calories contained are low and the feeling of satiety is not strong, three kilograms of marine fish and seafood can offset one kilogram of pork.
The sea is a second-level meat farm, with the disadvantage of low nutritional value, but the ocean is infinitely vast, there is no management cost, and you can fish as much as you want without restrictions."
"From the perspective of food consumption, every kilogram of seafood caught from the ocean is equivalent to reducing the food consumption by one kilogram. Three kilograms of seafood caught from the ocean is equivalent to reducing the consumption of pork, beef and mutton by one kilogram. Nowadays, Ming Dynasty has more
There is still a shortage of food on the ground, and it may become even more scarce in the future. If enough fish and shrimps can be obtained from the sea, it will bring a new source of food. As long as the fishing boats leave the port, it will be the harvest season for food at sea. Even if every fishing
The quantity is not large, but it can at least bring a bite of survival food to countless hungry refugees."
"If you catch more fish, it can also be made into dried fish, canned fish and other by-products, which can improve food utilization and bring more profits."
"Therefore, ocean fishing is of equally great significance and must be developed as soon as possible."
"Finally, there is maritime trade. After our seaport city is built and there is a large berth, we can set up our maritime trade fleet to do business around the world, or allow foreign merchant ships and cargo ships to dock in the port and guide those
Foreign businessmen who come to Harbor City purchase Xujiazhuang goods in the business district and then sell them to all parts of the world."
"We have many special products in Xujiazhuang, including bicycles, glass mirrors, lighters, soaps, shower gels, sugar, grains, canned food, various non-staple foods, etc. They are all very good goods and are urgent needs of the upper class. Through sea trade
Open up broader overseas markets, such as North Korea, Japan, and Western countries. The combined potential of these overseas markets is no less than that of the Ming Dynasty. Once sales and channels are opened, hundreds of millions of taels of gold and silver will be accounted for every year.
.”
"In this way, our Xujiazhuang's goods will earn benefits for the whole world, and it will also be the beginning of extending tentacles of interests to the wider world outside. As long as the external maritime trade of Harbor City develops, in addition to earning a large amount of gold and silver
, you can also obtain resources from all over the world, such as high-quality wood, iron ore, coal, cotton, grain, shipbuilding and cannon craftsmen, etc., and then you can develop your own shipbuilding industry and manufacture a large number of cargo ships, merchant ships, warships, etc.
If you accumulate enough strength through sea trade, you can sound the clarion call to conquer the world, using Harbor City as your starting base to conquer every corner that can be connected through the ocean."
The above three major aspects!
The purpose of making sea salt is to control the huge consumer market of table salt.
The purpose of developing marine fishing is to develop new food sources and alleviate food shortages.
The purpose of developing maritime trade is to dump more goods through maritime trade, and at the same time bring or attract raw materials and resources from all over the world, forming a larger external economic cycle.
These three major aspects, no matter which aspect, all contain huge benefits, all have reasons to enter, and all represent huge new development space.
Taken together, it is what Xu Yuan calls the "marine strategy", which is the only way for Xujiazhuang's future development and a grand strategy that must turn the blueprint into reality.
Seeing the huge benefits, Xujiazhuang's senior officials were naturally not as ignorant and short-sighted as the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty. Their eyes were red, and they all howled to express their support, and immediately entered with an order.
In a state of full mobilization, it has turned into a super-efficient machine, mobilizing almost all human, material and financial resources to serve this strategy.
…
February 3rd, morning.
After the swearing-in mobilization meeting was held.
Give an order!
300 tractors lead the way.
100 excavators and 50 road rollers followed closely behind, widening the road in front and repairing it at the same time.
Then there were 1,000 heavily armed village guards on bicycles to escort the village.
Finally, 30,000 young men and women who had been organized and trained, either pushing four-wheeled carriages, pushing wheelbarrows, or riding sand boats on dry rivers, all loaded with various supplies, went straight to the seaside of Rugao County, more than a hundred miles away to the east.
And go.
This huge team marched both by land and water, creating huge commotion along the way.
The humming and rumbling mechanical monsters emitting black smoke were lined up in a row and stretched for ten miles, shaking the mountains and rivers. The mountains and rivers undulated like walking on the flat ground, giving onlookers an unforgettable shock.
Behind them are an endless stream of bicycle teams, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages, unicycle teams, and fleets of boats. There are at least tens of thousands of vehicles and boats, leaving countless tracks. Not to mention the huge amount of supplies they carry, and what terrible things they plan to do.
?
The people in Rugao County, who had never seen such a scene before, were trembling with fear. Rumors spread that Xujiazhuang was in rebellion and its momentum was unstoppable. It would be better for them to surrender immediately.
The officials and gentry in Xinghua County were also panicked, feeling as if their boots were on the ground and the end was imminent. They just waited and discussed countermeasures for several days. The capitulation faction even gained the upper hand and prepared to cut off the head of Xin Shiqi, the county magistrate.
, when I presented the city to Xujiazhuang to accept surrender, I was told that Xujiazhuang was going to build a harbor city on the seaside, implement some kind of maritime strategy, and was not interested in rebellion at all. Don't believe and spread rumors.
The officials and gentry looked at each other with wonderful expressions and complicated moods. They were relaxed and happy, but also felt humiliated by being ignored and despised. Finally, they were angry. This abominable Xujiazhuang had caused such a big scene and movement to scare them away.
Half a life, but they are not rebelling. What do they want to do? What will happen when they really rebel? Are they going to be frightened to death? This abominable Xujiazhuang is so outrageous!
Xujiazhuang's plans and actions to build a harbor city also attracted their attention and attention. I want to know the purpose of Xujiazhuang's building this harbor? What exactly is it trying to do? In addition, it occupies so much seaside wasteland. Has it been approved by them?
And because the commotion was so great, not only the local officials, but also the officials and gentry of Yangzhou Prefecture, and the officials and merchants of the entire Southern Zhili Province also turned their attention to the coast of Rugao County, expressing their high attention and vigilance.