Chapter 310 Customs (I)
Shandong from north to south, Zhejiang from south to north. After completing the investigation, the Chinese court began to confiscate the family land of the Qing Dynasty Jiangsu officials. Similar to the previous implementation in Shandong, the officials' family members at least got land to maintain their lives...if they were willing to farm.
Huo Chong was somewhat surprised after reading the report. Combined with the land confiscated from officials and the official land owned by the government, at least one-third of the land in northern Jiangsu has been nationalized.
"These guys are really good at hugging." Huo Chong exclaimed.
"My lord, now that we have the land, what's next?" asked the acting Minister of Revenue Weber.
"What problems are you facing here?" Huo Chong asked back.
Weber answered readily, "The money is not enough."
"Is there not enough money?" Huo Chong asked puzzledly.
"We ourselves don't really trust money," Weber sighed.
Huo Chong smiled bitterly, "That's it. From now on, when you buy food at the grain store, you must use cash."
As soon as Weber left, the customs of Jimo Port sent a message. The Spanish fleet loaded with copper ore and silver arrived at Jimo Port, and Jimo Port allowed the Spanish fleet to enter the port. At the same time, a large amount of materials needed to be mobilized to Jimo Port.
Soon, Huo Chong convened a committee to discuss the Spanish request and made a decision to establish a telegraph network.
"Why did the Spaniards think of buying so many muskets? Do they want to fight? Or do they want to sell them?" Lei Hu asked puzzledly.
This question spoke to everyone's mind. Even if the committee members did not work in the military, they had at least touched a gun. They all understood the significance of a musket. So everyone thought this was very interesting.
According to the information provided by Jimo Port, the Spanish applied to purchase 1,000 percussion cap guns, and also purchased the corresponding bullets and percussion caps. Huo Chong's mind was on making money, and judging from the ratio of bullets to percussion caps, the Spanish were not stupid. The number of percussion caps far exceeded the number of bullet shells, and the Spanish obviously wanted to make reloaded ammunition.
Lamenting the Spanish's cunning, Huo Chong said, "I think the Qing Dynasty probably can't afford such a batch of muskets."
Qian Qing disagreed with Huo Chong's opinion. "Each of these muskets is sold for fifteen taels, and one thousand percussion caps are sold for two hundred taels. The Qing Dynasty should be able to afford it, right?"
Huo Chong shook his head. "It's a 100,000 tael deal. Don't the Spaniards make money? If they sell it to the Qing dynasty, won't they have 200,000 taels of silver? How can the Qing dynasty afford 200,000 taels of silver?"
The committee members frowned, feeling that this statement seemed right, but also wrong. Weber looked at everyone and asked, "My Lord, why do I feel that what you said makes sense, and what's wrong with it?"
"Because the Qing Dynasty actually relies on taxation. If you don't spend money, you'll end up eating up all the money. You have to spend the money and then collect it back through taxation. That's why I want to promote paper money. It's not that paper money can buy more things than silver or copper coins. It's that paper money is not easy to store privately for a long time. Think about it, with the same denomination of paper money or silver coins, which one will deteriorate faster."
"Paper money, of course," Weber replied.
Huo Chong continued to expand on this, "So people have to spend the paper money quickly, and we are the ones who accept the paper money. Doing so is equivalent to completing a certain tax collection. After all, in times of war and chaos, everyone has to bury their silver and copper coins."
Everyone probably understood this seemingly plausible explanation. Just when Huo Chong thought the matter was about to move on to the next topic, Qian Qing asked, "Sir, why can the Spanish just sit back and eat up all the food? I heard that the Spanish always bring in a lot of silver and money, and they have a lot of silver coins."
Huo Chong had an idea. He simply started from Zheng He's voyage to the West. Perhaps because they had watched the drama about "changing rice to mulberry", everyone was very interested in the Ming Dynasty.
Comparing the map, Zheng He went to the Red Sea. Seeing the long voyage, the people in 1731 sighed. The customs commissioner sighed: "The Qing Dynasty's ban on the sea is really a sin."
Huo Chong laughed dryly. "The sea ban is one thing, but it was Ming Dynasty officials who destroyed Zheng He's fleet. This incident can be used as a drama to show everyone how many bad things the Ming Dynasty officials did in the name of so-called justice."
When it comes to history, no one wants to interrupt. Huo Chong began to talk about the colonial history of Spain and Portugal. Seeing the original sizes of the two countries on the map, the people in the Chinese court were stunned.
Qian Qing, who was not easily surprised, asked in astonishment: "How could such a small country conquer such a large territory?"
"Yes. So, when there are no heroes, young men become famous. In the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's fleet sailed south, especially building the Ming Dynasty's Jiugang Xuanwei Office thousands of miles away. However, after the Ming Dynasty officials ordered the burning of the treasure ship drawings, the fleet no longer went south. The Ming Dynasty Jiugang Xuanwei Office eventually disappeared because it could not be contacted. Since we are the heirs of China, we have to take back this ancestral land!"
Everyone looked at each other for a while, and with an expression that they wanted to make Huo Chong happy, they all said loudly: "We will follow the commander's orders."
Huo Chong knew how clever his men were, so he pointed to the world map with a stern face and said, "Spain and Portugal are both small countries, but they were able to build such a huge colonial country in Fuso Province. If the invaders can go there, so can I. China will also have land several times larger than it is now. I never underestimate myself, and I will never underestimate you. I also ask you not to underestimate yourself. And Jiugang Xuanweisi is the homeland of my Ming Dynasty, the land of my ancestors, and we must never abandon it!"
Everyone knew Huo Chong's character, and Lei Hu was the first to say, "Since you say so, sir, I am willing to serve you, my lord!"
Others followed suit and shouted: "We are willing to serve our lord."
Huo Chong chuckled: "Everyone, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. But even if we are gone, we will still have descendants. Even if our generation cannot accomplish it, there are still our descendants. In short, this earth is very big, and we must build up the land of China, and on the land of China, the sun will never set!"
"Huh? Sir, are you kidding? How come the sun never sets? Is there no night?" Qian Qing made a little joke.
Huo Chong asked someone to bring a globe and said, "Let me ask you, what is the biggest shadow on Earth?"
Everyone shook their heads, and Huo Chong explained: "The biggest shadow on Earth is night."
After more than ten minutes of geographical explanation, everyone suddenly realized that the so-called Empire on which the Sun Never Sets did not mean that Huo Chong had the ability to freeze the earth and stop it from rotating. Instead, it meant that the land occupied by China spanned more than twelve time zones, so in every time of the twenty-four hours of a day, there was a piece of land where the sun could be seen. The country with such a vast land was the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets.
It was obvious that everyone was excited. Although conquering the world was already an unimaginable feat, establishing a future with a larger territory than the current Qing Dynasty was an even more ambitious blueprint.
The impact of briefly jumping from China to the world has stimulated the guys in the Chinese court.
Lei Hu suddenly said, "Sir, the reason why you use Wakoku instead of Japan and Fusozhou to refer to the continent on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean is because you don't want to use the name Japan."
When the name Wakoku was mentioned, Huo Chong was a little unhappy. "That place was originally called Wakoku. It was Wu Zetian who gave them the name Japan for the sake of sounding good. This name is not in line with common sense, so of course I don't want to use it."
Weber laughed and said, "Haha, but Japan seems to like this name very much."
After hearing this, no one even laughed. It must be said that the scope of the jokes of literati is sometimes too narrow. It is not that people lack humor, but that the humor of literati does not have a universal model.
Huo Chong added a new task here, preparing to rehearse the story of Zheng He's voyage to Southeast Asia. Especially about the establishment of the Jiugang Xuanwei Office by the Ming Dynasty . In Huo Chong's view, this is a very important matter.
Jiugang Xuanweisi was an administrative institution of the Ming Dynasty, with its seat located in Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia. The first Jiugang Xuanwei envoy was Shi Jinqing. In 1405, overseas Chinese businessman Shi Jinqing assisted Zheng He's fleet in sailing, and also participated in the suppression of Chen Zuyi's pirate army. After that, Shi Jinqing sent his son-in-law to China to pay homage to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In order to reward Shi Jinqing's "loyalty and righteousness", Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty granted Shi Jinqing the title of Jiugang Xuanweisi.
The establishment of the Jiugang Xuanwei Office was one of the few overseas "enclaves" in Chinese history.
The Ming Dynasty navy built city walls and warehouses in Malacca in the Strait of Malacca as a transit station for conducting business in the West, which was another major event of Zheng He's voyages to the West.
Huo Chong did not think that the Chinese court would shrink to East Asia. This country must be an empire on which the sun never sets. If it wants to restore its leading position in the entire Western Pacific, rebuilding the Jiugang Xuanwei Office is an important step towards the world.
Jiugang, also known as Palembang, is located in the southern part of Sumatra Island, near Palem. It was a gathering place for merchants at that time. Srivijaya, the local Chinese called it "Jiugang". It was a country from the previous dynasty to the Hongwu period. It is now the site of the Jiugang Xuanwei Division, the ancient Gandharva. It is located in the south of Champa, five days away. It is located in the sea, or between Chenla and Java.
In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a country called Srivijaya on the island of Sumatra. Before Zheng He sailed to the West, the Kingdom of Java sent troops to destroy the ancient country of Srivijaya, causing chaos in the area. Because the land in Sumatra is fertile, many Chinese who went to Southeast Asia settled there and engaged in rice production. "There was a man named Liang Daoming from the South China Sea who abandoned his hometown and settled there. Thousands of people from Fujian and Guangdong followed him to do business. They elected Daoming as the chieftain and Shi Jinqing as his deputy." Liang Daoming led troops to guard the northern territory of Srivijaya and fight against Majapahit. In ten years, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians crossed the sea from Guangdong and Fujian to join King Liang Daoming, who dominated the area.
At that time, he was in charge of Sun Xuan's overseas mission, and happened to meet his son, so he took him with him. In the third year of Yongle (1405), Emperor Zhu Di sent the King of Liang Daoming's fellow townsman, Supervisory Censor Tan Shengshou, and Qianhu Yang Xin to bring an imperial edict to recruit the king; King of Liang Daoming and his minister Zheng Bo Ke went to the court together to pay tribute, and were rewarded and returned. In the fourth year, the chief of Jiugang, Chen Zuyi, sent his son Chen Shiliang, and Liang Daoming sent his nephew Liang Guanzheng to the court.
Let's not talk about the Chinese court's initial expansionist thinking, because Huo Chong's subordinates actually had a "playing along" mentality. Even Feng Yukuan, who was overseas, had no intention of expansion at all, but concentrated on completing his work, which was to restore normal trade between China and Japan.
Edo was getting used to the restored trade. The current shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshimune, was quite pleased with the trade because the eruption of Mount Fuji more than twenty years ago (1708) had made the Mount Fuji region in the shogun's direct territory rich in sulfur.
Sulfur, if exposed to the natural environment, would cause many problems. The sulfur that could be obtained directly by digging had no cost, but it could be exchanged for a large amount of materials, especially a large amount of food, from this trade. The general was very satisfied.
Therefore, Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune set the trading point of this trade line directly in Edo rather than Nagasaki, in order to keep food and supplies firmly in his own hands.
Hearing that the fleet was coming again, Tokugawa Yoshimune asked Sanjo Yoji who had gone to contact him, "Did you bring anything new?"
Sanjo Yoji did not answer directly, but handed over a tray. Wooden trays were very common in Edo. Since Japan had a separate dining system, food, wine, tea, tokens, and other gifts could be placed on the tray.
Of course, if necessary, we will spare some lives.
General Tokugawa Yoshimune looked at the tray, which was full of large crystals. Most of them were as big as the belly of a little finger. He picked one up and saw that the crystal was not very transparent and had a lot of impurities. It was also very light, obviously not a gem.
"What is this?" asked General Tokugawa Yoshimune.
"General, this is salt. It's the salt from the Ming Dynasty." Sanjo Yoji replied respectfully and happily.
Hearing that this inferior thing turned out to be table salt, General Tokugawa Yoshimune was shocked, "This... is the Ming Dynasty's imperial salt?"
The so-called amulet salt has a long history. It is said that it was accidentally discovered by a Japanese ship worker named "Hatake Sasashi Kamei" in the 1st century AD. During a meal, "Hatake Sasashi Kamei" found a strange crystal in the salt, which tasted extremely salty and astringent and was inedible. Therefore, the ship worker picked up the salt with chopsticks and threw it under the bed. Because there are many hidden ghosts and monsters on the seashore, ship workers are often possessed by ghosts.
Since Hatake Sasa Shikaaki threw the salty and astringent salt under the bed, he no longer had ghosts. So every time he cooked, he would pick out the salty and astringent salt and distribute it to his friends. Later, when the famous Japanese psychic "Rai Liang" asked boatmen to help transport books and medicinal materials from the Han Dynasty of China, he found that some boatmen did not have any turbid air on their bodies. Some of them had a large number of ghosts attached to their bodies. So he called some boatmen to ask and found out that it was because they were carrying a kind of salty and astringent salt on their bodies. Therefore, "Rai Liang" named this salt "Omamori Salt" and invited "Hatake Sasa Shikaaki" to pick the Omamori Salt.
In the sixth century AD, the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements mixed with Taoist spells and esoteric Buddhism was introduced to Japan. It was during the Heian period in Japan that Yin and Yang masters became popular. At this time, amulet salt was used as a sacred object for feng shui layout and to eliminate evil spirits.
If this legend of amulet salt happened in China, no one would believe it. But in Japan, it is no longer just a saying, but a real custom passed down from generation to generation.
Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune was particularly surprised to see such large crystals of salt. After all, this is also a human habit, big is beautiful.
After looking at the large grains of salt for a while, the general asked, "Since it was sent from the Ming Dynasty, how much is it?"
In Japan, Huo Chong's regime was regarded as the Ming Dynasty, not a completely new regime. Of course, Japan did not care whether this view was correct. Compared with the illusory politics, the price of salt was more important.
"My lord, the price of this kind of salt in the Ming Dynasty is much cheaper than the salt fields in Edo." Sanjo Yoji replied.
Just when the general was paying attention to such products, Feng Yukuan, wearing a Feiyu suit, arrived at the salt fields on the Japanese side under the guidance of long-term staff.
Feng Yukuan was already grinning as he saw the short Japanese salt-making workers moving buckets of seawater to the nearby salt fields. The observer who came with Feng Yukuan was also grimacing.
Actually, it is also a matter of the eldest brother not laughing at the second brother. Not long ago, China did not have such salt fields. It was only when Huo Chong's machine-filled salt fields were developed that these problems were solved.
But it is precisely because the Shandong Salt Field of the Chinese court solved this problem that everyone feels particularly proud.
In Japan, the seawater brought ashore is poured into the salt pans filled with sea sand. After the sea breeze and the sun dry the sand in the salt pans, the salt makers collect the "salt mud" and add seawater again to mix it into brine with a very high salt content. The brine is then poured into a huge pot and boiled for a long time to evaporate the water until it is completely dehydrated and only soft and white sea salt remains.
"Brother Feng, can we make money by transporting coal here?" the observer couldn't help but ask.
Feng Yukuan immediately thought that this guy was a little elf. But after thinking about it, Feng Yukuan replied: "The coal is transported here to make salt. Wouldn't it be more convenient if we transport the salt directly?"
After hearing this, the observer suddenly realized what was going on and quickly praised Feng Yukuan for his insight.
Feng Yukuan was very happy and continued to visit the salt production site. In terms of methods, there is actually no difference between them, they all boil.
The brine boiling process determines the taste and flavor of the final salt. This process requires pouring 1,000 liters of brine with a high salt content into a large pot and boiling it for 17 hours. During this period, the salt maker needs to observe the flame temperature uninterruptedly and must not sleep during the entire boiling process. However, after 17 hours of "boiling" this 1,000 liters of brine, only about 180 kilograms of sea salt can be obtained.
Freshly boiled sea salt cannot be eaten immediately. It needs to be left for four or five days to let the bitter taste disappear. Then it will become pure white and delicious sea salt.
After watching this series of operations, Feng Yukuan and the observers immediately gained confidence. Originally, the price of Shandong salt shipped here was several times higher than that in China, and everyone was still worried. Now seeing the production capacity of Japan, everyone is no longer worried. Several times the price is still much cheaper than Japan.
