From Chief to Ball

Page 634

He still retains a bit of personal dignity from the beginning to the end. If he had to kneel and kowtow three times in front of this monarch here, he would definitely not come here.

From the previous exchanges and these words, Chen Jian heard the meaning of Qihou. I am afraid that this is already ready to open the sea to communicate, because this is not an obvious hierarchical society, but a secretly hidden wealth hierarchical society. The basis of the rule is no longer country gentry, priests, aristocrats and warriors, so you can confidently and boldly communicate with foreign countries without worrying about breaking your own ruling basis or changing your blood and destroying the country-Qihou State has already perished, so there is no need to fear death.

Thinking of this, Chen Jian stood up and said: "Marquis Qi summoned me today, I'm afraid there is something else?"

Qihou smiled and said: "Mr. is smart. Mr. is quite famous in the academy. Although the article is not gorgeous, it is practical, and the conclusion and logical deduction are also proposed by him. I would like to ask Mr. one thing first, and please don't refuse. I don't force my husband to do immoral things, and I don't violate my original intention, just for the sake of the common people in the world."

"please say."

"I would like to ask you to stay in Qi for a few more days, and take a walk along the mountains, rivers, cities and villages of Qi to have a look. Although people come to China's homeland, they only hang out in some ports. It's hard to go deep into the hinterland... Besides, some things may not be clear to Mr.

"I don't know what Qihou wants me to see?"

"Look at this piece of land, and write it truthfully, so that those people in the homeland of Huaxia know that this is no longer the time to be panicked decades ago, and it is no longer possible to break through Qi State in one go. Sir, don't you?" This needs to be said, and those who see it will naturally understand what is being said."

When Qihou said this, he laughed and said: "In the past, there were often fine works who borrowed merchant ships, and I think Mr. Chen's ship may not be clean."

Chen Jian was slightly startled, then smiled and said nothing, Qi Hou said with a smile: "Sir, you don't have to hide it, it's nothing. This time I let you go to watch, except for some places, you can pass freely. Even if you want to watch Bing, I will also accompany you."

"Where there is sunshine, there must be shadows. I don't believe in roads, not picking up lost things, and not closing doors at night. I am happy with my yellow hair and drooping hair."

"Please don't worry about this, sir. It's okay to see beggars if you want. Similarly, I don't believe that everyone in the hometown of China is rich. Mr. has a steelyard in his heart, and he can see what needs to be seen. I think Mr. will neither only look at the shadows, nor Don't just look at the sun."

Chen Jian also said with a smile: "I admire Qihou's courage, but I don't know where Qihou's courage comes from?"

"Millions of people."

Chen Jian shook his head and said: "No. It's because of the barrier of the sea. Qihou's navy is still relatively strong, and the Huaxia Navy competes with it in the far sea. If it is close to the sea, it will win three times and lose seven. The sea is far away. , Even if the navy wins and transfers the army, it may not be able to stand firm, after all, it is no longer the time when we just moved here and now there are endless disputes."

Qihou was noncommittal, and Chen Jian said again: "If the Chinese navy wins, it will inevitably harm the interests of the people of Qi State by using the power of the navy to harass the port cities from time to time. After a long time, the hatred has arisen, and the people of the East China Sea Islands will be united in the same hatred—anyway At that time, Marquis Qi must have given up the oath of alliance, and Huaxia will learn from no one."

Qihou laughed and said: "In the end, it depends on the millions of people. If I go against the law, everyone will be hungry, and the serfs will rebel everywhere. No matter how bad it is, it will be so bad that everyone will be numb and desperate, thinking that they are just paying taxes for themselves. At that time, what is the use of the danger of the vast sea?"

"Nowadays, the isolated island is more than enough to protect itself, and the legal system of the homeland is self-abandoning. Of course, it is necessary to open up the sea and trade for mutual benefit. How can a mere island compare with the tens of millions of people in the homeland of China. Although there is Taixue, the learning and learning have lagged behind the school. Mr. OK, the route has been opened up, the distance has been shortened, this is the right time.”

"It is true that there is some new knowledge in the Academy, but my Qi Taixue is not useless. It is better to communicate with each other than to build a car behind closed doors. If there is business, it must be profitable to go on board. If it is not profitable, it is considered to be open to trade. There is still no contact."

"Mr. walk around more, look more, just let more people know through Mr.'s eyes. As for the rest, Mr. Don't need to worry about it."

Chen Jian hesitated for a moment, and finally agreed. It is not for him to decide whether it will be successful or not. He is just a mouthpiece for the people, and it is also a matter for the other party to use his identity and fame.

1 Forty Chapters Thriving

In the following two months, Chen Jian wandered around with the chartered passage, either on horseback or by boat.

In two months, with the means of transportation at this time, it is actually not too far to go, but this is a big island, and it is convenient for boats to pass.

Except for some forts or fortress areas, Wang Zhe, who was with Chen Jian, was handy. He drew a lot of blueprints, and Chen Jian also took a lot of black and white photos. At the same time, he did not forget to measure latitude and draw maps.

Chen Jian did not go far, but only went to four places, and stayed in each place for half a month.

A very ordinary county, a port city, a rural area, and a mining area.

Every night, I record what I see and hear without any personal feelings, neither saying good nor bad.

From the rich to the poor, from the plain port to the nearby mountain mines, Chen Jian saw many things even if he just took a quick look at the flowers.

Prices, fertile land, labor intensity, taxation, bribery, rural self-government, refugee control... Chen Jian can see clearly by relying on the passage documents chartered by Marquis Qi.

Qihou is also a believer, neither censored Chen Jian's writings, nor painted, except for some places where he really couldn't go, he was completely relaxed.

At the end of August, the wind direction changed and the cargo was ready. Chen Jian bid farewell to Marquis Qi and prepared to return.

When going back, Qi State sent four boats, hoping to follow Chen Jian on a new route that had not yet been traveled, and followed Chen Jian, but Chen Jian did not refuse.

It is said that in addition to these four boats, Marquis Qi also sent more people to take a more normal route, and went to the capital of China with the books written and printed by Chen Jian, and the specifications of the people who went there were not low.

The way back was not the way he came here. Chen Jian went south from the port and took another way back to Mincheng with the help of the wind, but agreed to send two interns to follow the four boats from the waters near Mincheng to the sea route in Qi State. go back.

……

During the four months from May to September, Chen Jian knew nothing about what happened in Mincheng, and this was the speed at which information spread.

In the four months since he left, many things have happened in Mincheng, and many changes have quietly taken place over time.

The cotton gin, which was promoted last winter, has caused a great sensation in the countryside of Min County. This year, the cotton planting area in Min County has increased a lot.

Some large pieces of land were rented out by the owners to some rich operators, who decisively seized the opportunity to promote the cotton gin and planted cotton in large quantities.

Landowners are not necessarily farmers, and there are two types of landowners.Operating landlords or rentier landlords.

The former will hire a large number of hired workers, relying on their own technology and capital such as seeds, cattle, horses, and utensils, to plant their own land according to market prices, and hired workers are only working for them.

Such operating landlords generally choose to improve seeds on their own land, build small-scale water conservancy projects, fallow to breed horses, and use more labor-saving and labor-saving tools.The premise is that the land owned by these people must be large, and these people can be said to represent the advanced productive forces in the countryside.

The other type is the rentier landlords, including some manor nobles in the original Hou Bo Kingdom in the north.

Or lease the land into small pieces, only collect rent, and rely on rent and usury to make a fortune without having to care about your own land at all.

Or the ownership of the land is not privately owned but a noble fiefdom. They will try to tie the peasants to the land. While the land is distributed to the peasants for farming, the ownership of the land is not the peasants'. The peasants need to do a lot for the landowners.

Either way, these are things that must be eliminated, and they are both backward and ugly.

Under the premise of profit, a large number of commercial land owners seized the business opportunity and planted cotton.

And some ordinary small household farmers were organized together with the help of members of the Mexican Party, and Chen Jian also invested a lot of money.

Those who have less land will lease the land to the established voluntary cooperatives and do the work themselves. According to the lint purchase price promised by Chen Jian, which is actually still very profitable, they can earn [-]% more than last year.

If there is a lot of land, a guaranteed minimum order is signed to ensure the minimum income is the same as growing food crops. If the minimum purchase price is higher than this minimum purchase price, you can choose to sell it yourself.

With the help of fairs, cotton ginning workshops, and cooperation with mill owners, the Mexican party quickly spread in the countryside near Min County.

Didn’t preach any truth, both official members of the party and hired workers are just a profession, and the reputation of helping farmers get rich has attracted a large number of sympathizers and curious people, and they began to get close to the previously vague name of the Mexican Party stand up.

If the purchase of cotton in winter can fulfill Chen Jian's promise, this kind of closeness can attract more people and preach some seemingly useless things.

These people spread out are still a group of utopians with ideals, full of passion but don't know what the future will be like, and regard this kind of thing in the countryside as a kind of ascetic practice to obtain a kind of self-satisfaction with self-actualization.

They don't know whose interests they want to represent, and they don't even know that some interests are in conflict with each other, but they shout loudly that they want to be better for everyone-it is impossible and no one can be better for everyone, but never Chen Jian didn't say anything from the beginning to the end, but let these people do what they thought would benefit more people, and then faced countless divisions, and finally understood which side he was going to stand on—this faction , is infinitely divisible.

It may take a long time for them to understand that what they are pursuing is not the path of sainthood, nor the path of Puritan-style asceticism, but they have enough time to wait.

Moreover, at the beginning, fantasy is also a kind of progress.

In addition to these people who hold a religious mentality, there are more more realistic people with interests in their eyes who also set their eyes on the profitable cotton.

The cotton gin is clearly in front of us, and it is already profitable to grow cotton on a large scale, and the more you grow, the more profitable it is. In this case, some people find that... there seems to be a relative shortage of labor.