Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 126 Donglin Falls into Decline (I)
The representative figure of the Huating Xu family is of course Lord Xu Jie.
This old man was a very important figure in the Jiajing and Longqing dynasties. His deeds of forbearance and finally bringing down Yan Song and his son are enough to make people sigh even today - he is a true master of power.
Unfortunately, although Xu Jie was powerful, his descendants were rather bastards. While he was struggling with Yan Song in Beijing, his descendants were rampant and bullying them. By the time Xu Jie retired, the Xu family in Huating owned more than 240,000 acres of fertile land, and more than 5,000 hired farmers and servants in various manors.
Although Gao Gong later came to power and used Hai Rui, Cai Guoxi and others to attack him, Xu Jie's eldest son was exiled and forced to give up part of his land. But not long after, Xu Jie's student Zhang Juzheng drove Gao Gong away. Therefore, most of the Xu family's land was retained, and the eldest son who was exiled returned home safely.
In short, the Xu family still owns more than 200,000 acres of fertile land, making them the top super landlords of this era.
What does it mean to have 200,000 mu of fertile land in the Jiangnan region? In the Ming Dynasty, the average yield per mu of land in this area could reach 450,000 dan, and most of the land could be used to grow double-season rice. Tenants had to hand over at least half of their harvest to their landlords every year. The Xu family collected 700,000 to 900,000 dan of grain in rent alone each year. Converted into silver, it was about 350,000 to 400,000 taels.
With such a foundation, it is very convenient for the Xu family to do anything.
Of course, it was too slow to make money from land alone. The Xu family naturally took a fancy to sea trade, which made money very quickly.
Silk, tea, and porcelain are the three major products of China's foreign trade. The Xu family has a lot of land, so they can grow tea and mulberry trees. The Xu family is a super landlord and a great gentry, so they can build their own loom factory. As for porcelain? Foreigners are not picky, they don't have to be from Jingdezhen. The Xu family can also build their own factory to make porcelain!
In addition to their own production, the Xu family can also rely on their huge influence to purchase from ordinary farmers in the surrounding areas. In this way, the amount of self-production and purchase is very huge - only sea trade can swallow such goods.
Therefore, there is no reason not to get involved in maritime trade.
In fact, the profits that the Xu family made from maritime trade every year far exceeded the income from grain. According to the agreement between them and the Portuguese merchants who often traveled along this route, the Xu family organized a fleet to go out to sea three times a year and trade with the Portuguese on a small island in the East China Sea. Basically, the profits that the Xu family could make from these three trades alone were no less than 700,000 or 800,000 taels!
This is just the Xu family!
Soon after Zhu Youdong arrived in Jiangnan, he was already salivating over the profits after hearing the explanations from the Jinyiwei and the eunuchs of the Jiangnan weaving factory: it is necessary to do business, otherwise the country's industry and technology cannot develop. However, making money from business is not as fast as making money from trading by buying low and selling high!
Therefore, we should do business honestly. However, we should also have a share of the maritime trade.
Of course, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still young and it is not possible to attack all the maritime merchants at once. But the Xu family can really be attacked.
Since Xu Jie, the descendants of the Xu family have never been very successful. Except for one grandson, Xu Yuanchun, who passed the imperial examination and once served as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, all the others were hereditary officials.
His family could not produce an official, but they had such a huge fortune. Especially when Old Xu just retired, the Xu family was punished by Gao Gong. As a result, the Xu family was extremely generous in contacting court officials for their own safety. Therefore, the Xu family became one of the main sponsors of various academic activities of Donglin Academy.
However, anyone with a little social experience knows that money may buy some connections and temporary peace, but as long as your own political status does not rise, such connections will be absolutely unreliable at the critical moment.
Therefore, it is possible to move the Xu family. It will not cause too much backlash, and it can also cut off a considerable part of Donglin Academy's financial resources.
Specifically speaking of the anti-smuggling operation on June 25, Li Guozhu and his men intercepted the merchant fleet that was returning westward after the Xu family completed the second trade of the year, loaded with silver and various Western goods.
After Li Guozhu and his companions led the Xu family fleet to Chongmingsha and spent seven or eight days sorting out the gains, even though Li Guozhu had been working in this business at sea for more than ten years, he was still shocked.
Except for one that was sunk, the remaining 19 Dafu ships looted a total of 270,000 taels of silver, as well as a large number of spices and dried fruits from Southeast Asia, gauze from India, and ten flintlock pistols produced by the Portuguese.
You have to know that these silver and goods are all the gross profits of Xu family's maritime trade this time - the cost of Xu family's purchase of silk, tea and porcelain is not included in this!
Then Li Guozhu sent a messenger to inform Cao Sanxi in Nanjing with great satisfaction: "Boss, haven't you always been dissatisfied with our navy for only going out but not coming in? Look, look, if we do it a few times, won't the cost be recovered?"
But after the stingy manager found out the whole story, he of course started to curse at him.
After cursing, Cao Sanxi waved his hand and asked Li Guozhu to come closer: "Are you sure it's the fleet of the Xu family in Huating?"
"Confirmed. Their route this time was originally provided by the spy we planted in advance."
"Well, prepare a big ship for the cargo on the ship. I will take it all away after this matter is over. I will convert these things into 20,000 taels of silver. According to your highness's previous regulations, one-third of the spoils belong to the navy to distribute. I will take a loss, so I will leave you 100,000 of the 270,000 taels."
"Haha, how can I be so embarrassed." But Li Guozhu immediately followed up with a sentence: "Thank you very much, boss."
"I've left you this much money, but you must be careful about how you distribute it. It's not the lack of money that's worrying, but the inequality of it."
"Don't worry, boss. I made a living on the sea in my early years, and I treat my brothers fairly. Besides, we are now the official army of the Ming Dynasty. Your Highness has sent accountants, quartermasters, and Jinyiwei to this army."
"Yeah." Cao Sanxi nodded without comment and said, "Give the remaining people of the Xu family a good meal and give some money to the dead and injured on the sunken ship. Then let them get out!"
"Ah?" Li Guozhu was not happy when he heard this: "Boss, how can we release them all? Let alone throwing them all into the sea to feed the sharks. After all, they are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty. It is not a good idea to do this. But now the shipyard, the port and even the ship are in need of people everywhere. Wouldn't it be better to keep these guys to do hard labor?"
"I thought so before I came here this time, but His Highness said that our strength is still insufficient. So it is not appropriate to go to war against the gentry in Jiangnan. The Xu family is the big money sponsor of Donglin, so we should be on guard. If we really have to deal with all the sea merchants without pilots, I am afraid that Jiangnan will be in chaos! So, Xu family, just be on guard. Who knows, if the head of their family understands, we can cooperate with them."
In fact, it is also the sadness of Zhu Youdong, the grandson of the emperor: in the original historical plane, Zheng Zhilong could collect protection fees from all Chinese and foreign merchants, and turn into a pirate when he was unhappy. But the gentry in Jiangnan still had to flatter Zheng Yiguan. That was because Zheng Zhilong was not a ruler and did not need to consider social stability.
But for Zhu Youdong, stability is paramount.
So, there are some things that, although he wants to do very much, he cannot do.
"Well, since it is His Highness' order, I will follow it. However, Boss, I am really short of people. In the future, although we will not rob these sea merchants, we also want to participate in the sea trade. The warships are enough for the time being. As for the sea ships, we got so many big Fu ships at once, plus the fleet of my father. There are enough ships, but manpower?"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is already working on this. A few days ago, he asked Li Shizhong to bring a group of people over from Liaodong."
"Ah? Those landlubbers from the north?"
"Humph, aren't all the people in the north landlubbers? They were all soldiers in the Liaodong navy in their early years. Now that they are old, they want to make room for their children and grandchildren. But even these guys in their forties and fifties are still capable of sailing on the sea."
"Oh, that's true. Well, then we'll have people build a bunch of houses in Nansha right away."
"Yes." Stroking his beard, Cao Sanxi continued, "Before letting the Xu family go, tell their steward to have their head come to Chongmingsha to talk to us. If the talks go well, they can continue their maritime trade in the future. If the talks don't go well, then don't do it!"
"Yes, I understand."
