In the early morning of May 5th, the eighth year of Chongzhen reign.
Xujiazhuang Harbor City is a large port and an inner bay port (i.e. inner harbor) that is not open to external ships.
Eight shipping cargo ships, driven by electric tugs, entered the inner harbor almost silently and docked next to the pier.
Then the cabin was opened, and a large number of capable workers boarded the ship. With the assistance of cranes and nets on the shore, packages of goods packed in sacks were transferred to electric pickup trucks parked at the dock.
In the truck compartment, and finally in the dim night, these goods were transferred and stored in an unknown warehouse.
Speaking of which, what kind of cargo is it? It is so mysterious and silent, as if it cannot be seen in the light.
Could it be some particularly high-value goods, such as gold and silver treasures?
But there are as many as eight of these shipping cargo ships, and the cabins are full of the same sacks. No matter the density, weight, or size, it can be seen from the surface that they contain the same items.
On average, each ship carries 16,000 shi.
This batch of eight ships is worth 128,000 shi.
Judging from this quantity, it is definitely not a very high-value product.
So what's in those sacks?
…
White Castle, twenty-fifth floor.
A small secret meeting room.
Xu Yuan only called a few fully trustworthy senior officials to come over and held a secret meeting without taking any notes.
"Master, the first batch of rice shipped from the grain estate in Hainan has arrived. It is all white-flowered high-quality rice with the husks removed. The quantity is close to 130,000 shi, and this is only the harvest of the No. 1 grain estate.
The rice planted in No. 2 Grain Manor, No. 3 and No. 50 Grain Manor will also mature one after another, and then 130,000 shi of rice will be delivered. It can be transported continuously for fifty days, but it is estimated that it will not be long before the third
The second crop of rice has matured again, and then grain shipments can begin again... This process can be repeated three times a year. In Hainan alone, fifty grain estates can deliver nearly 20 million dan in a year.
Rice is enough to meet the food needs of six million people."
"In addition, starting next month, our thirty food estates in the Kingdom of Vietnam will also be able to start delivering food."
"Starting from next month, our fifty grain estates in the Kingdom of Champa should also be able to start producing grain."
"Total all together, these 130 grain estates should all be able to enter grain production this year. Once all are matured and stable and high yields are achieved, the grain produced every year should solve the food ration problem for 20 million people.
It is approximately equivalent to one-tenth of the population of the Ming Dynasty."
"Of course, there is a lot of land in Nanyang. If necessary, we can build new grain estates and increase the number to two hundred, three hundred or even five hundred. We are fully capable in this regard."
Li Jin, who is in charge of agricultural work, said.
"It would be enough to get two hundred food farms, but I can't provide that many resources."
Xu Yuan shook his head. This round of overseas colonization has almost bankrupted him, and there are hundreds of collective estates. Wouldn't this kill his wallet?
It is better to expand in moderation.
There are only 130 grain estates, which can solve the food ration problem for at most one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty's population. Compared with the shocking plan they are brewing, isn't it a little insufficient?
You must know that Xu Yuan has now begun secretly stockpiling food. He will store the rice shipped from Hainan like ammunition into secret grain depots and send elite Xu Jiajun to guard it closely. The main purpose is to prepare it within a few months.
Finally, to fight a terrifying food war, a shocking situation must be planned in advance!
hat?
Food war?
Enough wars have been fought with real swords, real guns, and real cannons. Xu Yuan plans to start playing more high-end games, right? Can he even fight for food?
In fact, Xu Yuan had no choice but to take this step.
Because there are too many crazy people in the Ming Empire, and their energy is too huge. Regarding the issue of food prices last year, even though the "Oriental Times" repeatedly stated that this year's food production is enough to feed everyone.
, Xujiazhuang will also release 150 million shi of low-priced grains to the northern market, and help 10 million hungry people. Xujiazhuang has exceeded the fulfillment of these two promises.
The actual amount of low-priced grain released reached 180 million shi.
The number of hungry refugees rescued reached 13 million.
What's the result?
The price of grain in the northern market has always remained high, only rising and rarely falling. Even though the "Oriental Times" repeatedly denounced the hoarding behavior and uncovered and punished many typical examples, it was of no use. It could not be controlled for two days.
On the third day, food prices rose again, driving up prices in all aspects.
Tens of millions of people in the north are living in miserable conditions. Even if they have not yet reached the stage of uprising, they are not much different.
Xujiazhuang has no good way to deal with this. Continue to sell grain to the northern market? How much grain is thrown away will be eaten by those who hoard it. Xujiazhuang's grain reserves are not large. Even if they are all thrown out, they will all be eaten, which will in turn cause damage.
own food security.
I can only bear this loss. Seeing those people who speculate in food and hoard it, they are all making a lot of money. It can be said that they are smiling.
It can also be seen from this that although Xujiazhuang is very powerful, within the territory of Ming Dynasty, in the field of grain, Xujiazhuang is really not able to get wind and rain, or even cover the sky with one hand, even if Xujiazhuang holds at most more than
Half of the food reserves.
But when it comes to food, Xujiazhuang has principles and bottom lines.
And those people didn't.
So in this confrontation, Xujiazhuang lost.
But Xu Yuan is not willing to give in. It is impossible for him to swallow this breath. This year, he must find a way to get back in the game, or in other words, he must set a shocking trap to push those people into the bottomless abyss.
So there was a scene where grain transport ships from Hainan entered the inner harbor at night and quietly loaded, unloaded and transshipped.
The number of sea freighters responsible for transporting grain will continue to increase, and even grain fleets will arrive every night for secret loading, unloading, and transshipment... This frequency will gradually increase.
But here comes the problem.
There are only 130 grain estates.
It can solve the food ration problem for at most one-tenth of the population of the Ming Dynasty.
Relying on only such a small amount of food, you want to win the food war and lay shocking traps. Isn't this really naive and looking down on your opponents?
If we don’t have a grain reserve of more than one billion dan, how can we catch all those who speculate in grain and hoard it? How can we plunge them into the bottomless abyss?
In fact, the food war is not about food. It is essentially about money. What is fought for is the power to price food. Xu Yuan has Tianxiatong Bank in his hands. He has endless ammunition in terms of money. He is not afraid of any opponent. When it comes to food.
, it’s not that the more preparations, the better, but it depends on whether you can surprise and win at the critical moment, sealing the throat with one sword.
Therefore, these grains from Hainan do not need to serve as the main force, but only as surprise troops.
What's more, Xu Yuan's plan has always been one after another. Before launching the food war, he still has a lot of big moves and smoke screens to launch. Maybe some people or forces won't be able to wait until the food war happens.
, the available ammunition may have bottomed out in advance.
"Manager, in addition to the grain from Hainan, the sugar cane in Taiwan's sugar cane manor is growing very well and will mature soon. The first batch of sugar will be produced this month, and it will enter the peak production period next month. It can be seen that
Our overseas expansion strategy is extremely successful. In just over half a year, rice and high-value sugar have been shipped continuously, and the returns are very rapid. Although the initial investment is indeed huge, the results are very gratifying, and
The immigrants have basically adapted to the local environment and climate, and less than a hundred people died from the disease, which shows that those magical medicines are very helpful and should not be underestimated, but..."
Zhao Jinfu, the rotating consul, also said: "Should we publicize the news of our success in overseas colonization widely and let everyone in Ming Dynasty know it? Or should we keep silent and make a fortune and not spread the news, otherwise it will be profitable to colonize overseas."
, maybe everyone will swarm to expand overseas, taking up a lot of good land and good resources, and eventually they will become our competitors... Village owner, why don't we make any announcements?
Forget about getting rich in silence."
"Yes, there is no need to promote it in a big way this time."
Wei Mancheng, the head of the Ministry of Industry, agreed: "We can just devour this treasure land of Nanyang ourselves. At most, we can give two pieces of meat to the Zheng family in Fujian. Other forces should not join in the fun. A grain estate only has more than 30,000 acres of paddy fields."
, in addition to being self-sufficient, the net output of nearly 400,000 tons of white rice a year will definitely make many people in Daming go crazy, because even if they plant 200,000 acres of rice, they may not be able to produce so much rice.
, the difference in efficiency is six to seven times. If it were me, I would go crazy. Even if I lose everything, I would go to Nanyang to make a fortune and enclose dozens or hundreds of acres of land."
"Yes, that's the truth. I don't recommend being too public."
"Not only can't we publicize success, we also have to release some false news about colonization failures and epidemic outbreaks to dissuade those people's interest."
"Good Lord, let's do it this way. We only report the worries but not the good news. Let those people stay in Daming Juan and don't go to Nanyang to steal our business."
Other senior executives also said this.
"That's enough! It's just Nanyang. The world is so big and there are so many good places. Look at you guys, you can't make a living."
Xu Yuan knocked on the table and scolded them: "The established publicity plan remains unchanged. When the first shipment of sugar arrives from Taiwan, we will publicize it with great fanfare to make everyone aware of Ming Dynasty and attract more people."
Many Chinese people are going overseas to develop and occupy more living space. I have emphasized many times that Xujiazhuang's capabilities are limited. It would be great if they can take in the best places in the world. Why bother staring at them?
Those crooked fruits, secondary fruits, patterns, you have to have some patterns, not to mention that we only have the magic medicine in our hands, and Xujiazhuang has the steam clipper. We have already taken advantage of it. Others in the Ming Dynasty went to overseas colonization and made
No matter how great their achievements are, they must rely on us, and no matter how much income they make, they will still be ripped off by us. When they go overseas to develop, they are actually helping us make money. We should be happy to see the results, rather than looking at them narrowly."
I heard this criticism.
Li Jin nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, the owner of the village is saying that we are indeed narrow-minded."
Zhao Jinde said: "As long as we firmly control these magic medicines, steamships, and ports and choke their necks, no matter how big they break out, they will still have to pay us obediently and hand over at least 50% of their profits.
"
Wei Mancheng said: "It's better to be more cruel and let them cough up 70% of their profits. In this way, even if they become big shopkeepers, they will still be wage earners in front of us."
"We'll talk about it later. Anyway, it's decided like this. Once the sugar ship from Taiwan arrives, let's go according to the established plan."
"yes!"
"clear!"
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Chapter 227 The secret arrival of Hainan grain is free to read. This chapter has been completed!