Urban Sims

The sea salt experiment was a great success. His father, Tian Feng, almost no longer had any doubts about the agricultural and animal husbandry farming model and the marine fishery plan. "Big Farm Plan", "Big Salt Pan Plan" and "Ocean Fishing Company Plan".

The big farm plan, as the name suggests, is to unify the land, tenant farmers, livestock, and farm tools, implement the semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral farming model, promote agricultural mechanization, and change the original working method of tenant farmers from self-cultivation to hired labor. When the tenant farmers have no worries about food and clothing, a certain year-end reward will be issued based on the final income from the land.

This "big farm plan" is indeed a bit big. For the tenant farmers who are extremely dependent on the land and can even be said to be their lifeblood, they have a lot of concerns. Do experiments on the mountain and cross the river by feeling the stones.

However, for some young tenant farmers who are not so conservative in their thinking and still have some energy in them, the new employment system has a unique appeal.

First of all, the income of the hired labor system is stable, and the income is guaranteed during drought and flood. Compared with the tenancy system, which depends on the weather, two years of harvest and one year of flood, and always worry about not being able to pay the rent (landlords in this world, the land rent is generally 60-70%), it is much more stable. Although I’m not sure how much I will get as a year-end reward, at least I don’t have to worry about going hungry or freezing in the meantime.

Secondly, becoming a hired worker on a large farm has a lot of benefits, a lot of strong cattle and livestock, advanced agricultural tools, fertilizers and pesticides, you can choose at will, unified irrigation, save time and effort, just like soldiers on the battlefield, wear rags with stones, and hold swords Wearing armor, the two feelings are completely different. That is, the columbine, which can sow hundreds of acres a day, attracted the greedy eyes of many tenant farmers.

Not to mention, agricultural artifacts such as horse-drawn harvesters, threshing machines, and windmills.

Finally, employees’ working locations are not fixed, their time is dispersed and they are free, and there are many directions to choose from.

Because there is only so much farm work in the field, relying on so many agricultural artifacts, working on the land for two or three months a year will reach the peak. In the rest of the slack time, hired workers can go to the salt field by the sea to dry salt, and they can also help cook. Dried fish in the sun, if you are more courageous, you can go fishing with the fishing company...they all have extra income, and it is much more than the income from the land. As a result, some hired workers who are a bit pursuing have completely left the land and become Occupational "salt workers" and "fish workers."

In just three years, the big farm plan has achieved great success. Those tenant farmers who were originally reluctant to leave the land saw those hired workers build big brick houses and marry young and beautiful wives in two or three years. Guang, all of them couldn't sit still, and took the initiative to apply to join the "big farm" without being urged by their father Tian Feng.

However, among the three plans, the one that achieved the greatest success was the "Great Salt Field Plan".

Salt is a substance that the human body must ingest. The ionization balance, pH balance, and osmotic pressure balance of human body fluids must rely on the participation of salt ions. If the human body lacks salt intake for a long time, nervous system weakness, loss of appetite, and weakness of limbs will occur. , dizziness and other symptoms, and more seriously, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, accelerated heart rate, blurred vision...

Because of the indispensability of salt, the price of salt is generally higher in various parts of the Zhou Dynasty. Due to transportation problems, the more remote and backward areas are, the higher the price of salt is. In fact, the cost of purchasing salt has become a major factor. The largest expenditure item accounts for 80% of the annual income of some poor families.

There are two main salt producing areas in the Great Zhou Empire. One is the sea salt produced in the Changlu Salt Field in Yangtze, accounting for about 80% of the market share; the other is the brine salt produced in Lujing County, Changgong County, Shu, because Due to output and market share, Shuzhou tribute salt accounts for less than 20%.

However, this situation was soon broken.

Starting from the 14th year of Tiansheng, the Tian family in Haiping County, Hedong County, Qingzhou built a salt field covering an area of ​​5,000 acres from the sea. After they began to produce salt in large quantities, the salt markets in various counties and counties in Qingzhou were first opened. It was quickly occupied by a kind of "Haiping salt" with white color, fine grain, better taste and cheaper price, and its market share continued to expand. By the 16th year of Tiansheng, there were basically no other salt brands on the market in Qingzhou. 's existence.

The situation was great, but when his father Tian Feng was about to expand the salt field to 10,000 acres, and bring "Haiping Salt" into the surrounding markets such as Youzhou and Jeju, Zhou Ming stopped him and asked him to Don’t be in a hurry to expand the scale. Build good relationships with the government first.

Zhou Ming said: "Father, the Haiping salt produced in our Haiping Salt Farm can bring more than 300,000 yuan of income to the Tian family every year. However, if we want to expand the scale and occupy a larger market share, we can't do it without establishing good relations with the officialdom. Okay... In this way, in the name of joint stock ownership, we will give County Magistrate Chen 10% of the salt farm shares, so that he will not hinder us behind our backs. And then in the name of paying the salt tax, we will give Qingzhou Governor Gao a 20% salt share. Let him allow the Haiping Salt Farm to continue to operate... Otherwise, if the Haiping Salt Farm is targeted by the court, the fat sheep of the Tian family will be bitten sooner or later. It is better to let out some blood and let Gao Cishi give an explanation to the court."

The supreme ruler of any feudal dynasty, in peacetime, is most worried about the emergence of the following aristocratic families. After possessing huge capital, they threaten their supreme rule. It is an attitude of restricting and suppressing. Therefore, those aristocratic families can pretend to be grandchildren in a low-key manner, but it is best not to be caught or create excuses for others. Otherwise, once the ruler seizes the opportunity, even if it is a thousand-year-old family. Possibility of genocide.

The current Haipingtian family is not considered a rich family, at best they are big landlords with some money. The government wants to make a deal of it. I don’t know how many ways they can throw a few dead people over, saying that they were poisoned after eating "Haiping salt" If he dies, the Haiping Saltworks can be sealed, and the Haipingtian family may even risk being sued and imprisoned.

Therefore, before the Haipingtian family has fully grown into a "big fat sheep" that everyone covets, and before this "big fat sheep" grows claws and sharp horns, cut some meat and put some blood on it to give those "big fat sheep" It is necessary to satisfy the hunger of the "hungry wolves" so that they will no longer stare at the Hai Pingtian family.

"All right……"

Throwing out 30% of the income from sea salt at once, his father, Tian Feng, said that it was impossible for him not to feel pain, but what his son said made sense. How many aristocratic families, because of the underground copper mines, iron mines, and gold and silver mines, were banned by the court? Remember, the family that finally died and offended the imperial power will not die immediately, but the officials sent by the emperor will still have many ways to fix you and torture you.

After giving away 30% of the revenue, the Haiping Salt Farm continued to develop steadily without encountering any major obstacles. However, as the market share of "Haiping Salt" continued to expand, accounting for half of the country in four or five states, the Haiping Salt Farm was handed over to Qingzhou. The governor's share of the salt tax has gradually increased from the initial 20% to 40%, and I believe it will increase in the future... But this is all for another day. At that time, Zhou Ming's development focus was no longer on the salt farm. Instead, it has fully shifted to the marine fisheries and marine transportation industries.

Yes, the Haiping Salt Farm is just a springboard for accumulating original capital in all Zhou Ming's business plans. His strategic focus is still on the ocean!

In the sea, there are endless fish resources, and there are countless maritime trade routes leading to places of wealth. Most importantly, above the sea, there are countless large and small islands that are either occupied by indigenous people or uninhabited... There is no so-called feudal dynasty or so-called emperor on these large and small islands. He can completely occupy all these islands and plan and develop them as he wants according to his own ideas. He can do whatever he wants, but lord it over.

The overseas islands, as well as the endless sea, are forbidden things in Zhou Ming's eyes. They all belong to him and no one can touch them!

This is why Zhou Ming, after being restricted by system rules, took a step back and combined with Haiping County's geographical advantages, prepared to take the path of ocean hegemony.

"However, ocean strategy is a path of long-term pursuit, long-term planning, and long-term practice. Now, the ocean fishing company has been established for more than five years, and there is no large ship with more than 500 tons of material (displacement of 100 tons). , the largest ship at present only has more than 300 materials, and there are few professional fishermen, with less than a thousand people in total. It will take at least 20 to 30 years to develop into a giant ship with a thousand ships and a crew of 100,000..."

"Take your time, I'm still young, I can still afford to wait twenty or thirty years..."

"Leave all these things to my father. He is more concerned about it than me now... Moreover, I will go to Wenyuan Academy to study soon. I wonder what kind of excitement will be waiting for me there?"

In the room, 12-year-old Zhou Ming muttered to himself while packing his luggage.

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