Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 390: The Reality and Fakeness
Pei Yuan thought about the time when he was transferred to be the commander-in-chief of Shandong's defense against Japanese aggression, and vaguely remembered that this was an unpleasant job.

In order to transfer Ding Hong to Xuzhou Zuowei, Pei Yuan managed to promote Shi Yong, the original commander of Xuzhou Zuowei, to Shandong Beiwodusi.

But this guy not only hesitated and was unwilling to transfer out all his confidants who controlled the Xuzhou Zuowei, but also wanted to get the promotion for free.

Pei Yuan could roughly guess what Shi Yong was thinking.

Although being the commander of the Xuzhou Zuowei was of a lower status, it was nominally a garrison but in fact it was an economic unit.

When the shipyard was building ships in the early days, materials and labor were divided according to the ratio of "70% for civilians and 30% for military".

"Minqi" is mainly reflected in the wood materials of the ship. For example, the flat-bottomed shallow boat commonly used to transport grain, after calculating the bottom of the ship, the head of the beam, the dragon mouth beam, the wind beam, and the water-breaking beam, about nine large, medium and small nanmu trees are needed.

The "three military items" are more complicated, including miscellaneous wood materials, silver for porters and craftsmen, leather strips, yellow nails for making rice, iron leaves for climbing heads, straw sandals, vegetables, putty, jute, grain, iron pots, wooden barrels, and hair hoops. Each item has clear entries.

The timber for the Republic of China was generally distributed to farmers in Huguang, Jiangxi, Sichuan and other places with abundant timber resources, and then transported to the shipyard by the farmers.

The reimbursement of "Military Three" is very flexible...

Therefore, most of the cost of shipbuilding is borne by the civilians who serve in the shipbuilding industry.

The officials who were involved in this could keep a portion of the surplus from the "Military Three" and put it into their own pockets.

Later, because it was inconvenient for the people to transport wood, it had a great impact on the progress of shipbuilding.

After discussing it for a while, the ministers felt that Zhu Yuanzhang had acted too recklessly. So, they made a bold decision.

——Marketize it!
Therefore, in the 15th year of Chenghua, the imperial court officially stopped the model of collecting taxes in kind and relying on service to build ships, and made shipbuilding a market-oriented business.

The silver for civilian supplies that the common people should bear was converted into sixty-five taels and collected by the local authorities.

The share borne by the military office was converted into thirty-five taels, which was deducted from the price of the ship when the court purchased it.

In general, it was originally a case of processing materials supplied, with the garrisons and major shipyards jointly completing the construction of a ship with their own labor and miscellaneous expenses.

Now the court only gave them 65 taels of silver and allowed them to purchase wood nearby, and then they just had to wait for the ship.

Therefore, the managers of the various offices and shipyards looked at the huge piles of silver and were very reluctant to spend it.

Managers learn from the market and follow the market.

Not long after, the mighty canal boats on the canal were changed from being made of sandalwood to being made of fir.

Ships made of "cedar" were definitely not as strong and durable as those made of "sandalwood", and the frequency of destruction of canal ships also began to increase significantly.

This incident caused a huge controversy, and the imperial court said it would launch a major discussion to find out what happened to the imperial court's grain transport ships?

The managers of the major shipbuilding garrisons and the shipyards such as Linqing, Qingjiang and Longjiang were extremely panicked, fearing that they would lose their heads.

In the end, the result of the court's discussion played a joke on them.

The ministers believed that the reason why there were so many problems with the grain transport ships was that the marketization was not thorough enough and that the grain transport ships were not given flexible pricing rights. If the court spent more money to purchase grain transport ships, opened up market access, and reduced administrative intervention, it would naturally be able to buy better grain transport ships.

So the result of this matter is:

——"Now we should increase the shipbuilding fee to 20 taels of silver per ship. And prohibit the transport officials and officials from carrying out the malpractice of inspection and punishment, so that the army can be relieved from the difficulties."

——"The emperor ordered that his proposal be followed."

So after this great discussion on grain ships, an idea began to linger in the minds of the commanders of major shipyards and riverside garrisons.

If using "fir wood" instead of "sandalwood" can increase the price by twenty taels, then doesn't "pine wood" have more prospects and room for imagination?

They seemed to see a scene full of vitality and flourishing of all things.

——The sinking market for government procurement is still a blue ocean.

As a highly market-oriented garrison, Xuzhou Zuowei subcontracted a lot of business from Linqing Shipyard and Qingjiang Shipyard. After everyone worked hard for a year and deducted all kinds of expenses, they could make a net profit of at least four to five thousand taels of silver.

As for the Shandong Anti-Japanese War Commander, although the official position was raised by one level, there was not much benefit. Moreover, the Japanese invasion had broken out frequently recently. From time to time, Japanese pirates occupied the small islands in the outer sea and waited for an opportunity to move inland.

Once the Japanese pirates came ashore and attacked important villages and towns, the position of commander-in-chief that he had been promoted to would probably be over immediately.

Pei Yuan pondered the situation with his complicated and tangled psychology at that time and gave a judgment that was very close to the facts.

Shi Yong was a realist at this time. He did not care much about the vanity that came with power, but was very greedy for money.

If he could provide him with an opportunity to cash in on his power, perhaps he could influence the decision of the Shandong Beiwodusi.

In order to manage Liaodong in the future, we must drive away the Japanese pirates who often appear in the sea, so as to ensure smooth transportation.

This coincided with his grand strategy of driving the Shandong Defense Commander to the sea.

Pei Yuan thought about it and felt a little more confident about revitalizing Shandong.

He then asked Wang Chang, "Besides these, do you have any other valuable information?"

Wang Chang hesitated for a moment and asked Pei Yuan, "The thousand households are determined to take over all the bean fields in Shandong. Could it be that they are planning to sell them to the south to make money?"

Making profits is only one aspect of Pei Yuan’s “soybean strategy”. The most important thing is to employ people in this long industrial chain.

The huge number of people who depend on Pei Yuan for their livelihood are even more valuable than those interests.

Although Wang Chang was a core member of Pei Yuan's team, this kind of general strategy could only be kept in Pei Yuan's mind, so Pei Yuan said calmly, "It is true. Everything needs money. It would be much more convenient if there was a large amount of financial support."

Wang Chang heard Pei Yuan say this and immediately took the initiative to say, "In fact, when I received the order from the thousand households to check the bean fields, I also had some guesses. So while counting the bean fields, I also made a simple inspection in various places in Shandong."

"I discovered that in addition to soybeans, which are commodities that can be traded in large quantities, Shandong also grows a lot of cotton. For example, Dongchang Prefecture, Yanzhou, Gaotang, Xiajin, and Enxian all grow a lot of cotton. As the people here say, 'every place in the north or south is suitable for it, and every person, rich or poor, relies on it.'" Pei Yuan smiled, "Forget about cotton, it sounds like it's not easy to mess with."

In this era, the only ones who could grow cash crops in large quantities were large landowners with sufficient surplus grain.

Grain cannot be stored for long and is particularly prone to mildew. It is also particularly prone to fire due to high temperatures caused by backlog in storage.

As long as the landlords and powerful people have enough choices, they generally tend to grow some cash crops and sell them for silver and copper coins for easy storage.

Pei Yuan was taking a risk by starting the soybean war, but he did not have the confidence to fight on two fronts.

Moreover, the civil service families in the south are more dependent on the cotton industry.

Pei Yuan thought about it and asked Wang Chang, "How does Shandong cotton compare to cotton in the south?"

Wang Chang had lived in Nanzhili for many years and was well aware of this. He replied, "It should be even higher. It's just that Shandong is in the north, and the winter climate is cold, so cotton is mainly made into fillings for cotton-padded clothes and quilts. The temperature in the south is hot and humid, and the winter is not that cold. Their demand for cotton-padded clothes and quilts is not as strong as in Shandong, so most of their cotton is woven into cotton cloth."

"The geographical differences between the north and the south have led to the cotton business in Shandong focusing on selling raw materials. However, the cotton business in the south is mainly focused on finished cotton cloth."

Pei Yuan also felt that he had gained a lot and said, "I see."

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and asked Wang Chang, "What if I build a workshop in Shandong and recruit a large number of craftsmen to make cotton cloth? Do you think it will have a future?"

Pei Yuan still likes this labor-intensive production very much, which means that in addition to making profits, he can also employ a large number of people.

If the business of producing cotton cloth in Shandong has prospects, Pei Yuan can use this business to exchange interests with his partners.

Wang Chang answered honestly, "I'm afraid it's not a good idea. Shandong doesn't have relevant industries, nor enough craftsmen. Besides, Shandong has the Grand Canal running through it, so transportation is very convenient. As long as cheap cotton cloth from the south is shipped here, even with the freight, it will probably be cheaper than the cotton cloth produced locally."

"Furthermore, once a weaving workshop is built in Shandong, the price of local cotton will surely rise rapidly. Cotton is the most needed material for poor people to keep warm. Even a small increase in price will inevitably lead to poor people freezing to death on the road."

"By then, how will Captain Pei face the people of the world?"

Pei Yuan heard this and said righteously, "Of course I can't do this kind of thing. It's simply conscienceless!"

Then he asked, "If someone builds a workshop in Shandong to produce cotton cloth, and then makes thick cotton clothes and ships them to the north, such as Liaodong, do you think the gap between cotton products and those in the south can be narrowed?"

The Northeast today is not the fertile granary it will be in the future.

Due to the terrain, the Northeast Plain has difficulty in natural drainage, and there are swamps and rotten land everywhere, with only a few places suitable for farming.

It was not until the subsequent large-scale development of Northeast China that the fertile land was finally able to realize its huge value.

The current Liaodong Regional Military Commission controls the slightly better area of ​​the Liaodong Peninsula, but even so, it is still being developed with great difficulty.

If transported northward, there should be a huge market, and if necessary, Liaodong can be used as a springboard to sell these things to North Korea and Japan.

Wang Chang thought for a moment and said, "It should be fine. Cotton-padded clothes are bulky, and it would be more troublesome to transport and trade them in bulk. The South should not produce similar products to compete with them."

"In addition, Shandong is also rich in madder, cyanidine and safflower, which are very suitable for making dyes, making it easier to color cloth."

Pei Yuan was happy for a while, and then became depressed again.

Doesn't this mean that if I conduct bulk transportation and trade myself, the cost will outweigh the gains?
Pei Yuan thought about it and said, "We can give it a try first. The cotton cloth workshops in Nanzhili will definitely be very interested in establishing a production base in Shandong and using the raw materials here to produce cotton cloth."

"As long as those cotton workshops are willing to invest money and equipment, we can be bolder and find a reason to relax restrictions and allow those southern craftsmen to come to Shandong."

Wang Chang was stunned. "How can those craftsmen leave their hometown? Wouldn't this be a mess?"

The household registration system of this era was very strict. Once you left your place of origin without reason, you would be regarded as a refugee and subjected to all-round repression.

Especially since craftsmen have to bear their own corvée labor, if they just run away, who will do the work?
Wang Chang couldn't afford to get into such big trouble.

Pei Yuan took note of this difficulty and sighed, "If we can create an opportunity to have a large number of corvées in Shandong, then we can naturally recruit artisans from the surrounding areas."

An idea popped up in Pei Yuan's mind: why not fight Japan?
Pei Yuan looked at the three or two people around him, and then thought about the sluggish and incompetent court, and felt that it was not very realistic.

It's not necessary to do that just for some cotton.

Wang Chang saw Pei Yuan scratching his head again, and asked carefully, "Does the commander have to build this cotton cloth workshop?"

Pei Yuan did not hide it from Wang Chang, "I have already asked Chen Toutie to go to Henan to suppress the price of soybeans. I believe that before the soybeans are planted, it will influence the decision-making of those powerful people in Henan and make them significantly reduce the planting of soybeans."

"But this approach doesn't work well in Shandong."

"Because even if we succeed temporarily, when the soybeans mature in autumn, once the soybean prices skyrocket, it will inevitably attract hatred. This thousand households still plan to cultivate Shandong for a few years. Even rabbits don't eat grass near their burrows..."

Wang Chang understood a little, "So Qianhu wants to stimulate the price of cotton to rise, so that those lands outside our control will choose to grow cotton?"

Pei Yuan nodded. "The planting seasons for cotton and soybeans are similar, so we can only choose one. As long as we bring down the soybean price in Henan and raise the cotton price in Shandong, it will be easy for those people to make a judgment."

"As long as we enclose more land in Shandong and build more cotton cloth workshops, Shandong's expectations for cotton prices will inevitably be high."

Wang Chang took a breath of cold air when he heard this.

However, he had just told Pei Yuan about the difficulty involved, so Wang Chang could only emphasize again, "Qian Hu, if those southern workshops produce cotton cloth in Shandong, they can certainly save the shipping cost from south to north, but the money they have to invest and the difficulties they face may make them lose more than they gain."

"If it is further processed into cotton clothes, it will be almost unprofitable due to transportation problems."

"Plus, those craftsmen can't come to Shandong, and the local craftsmen are not good at weaving cotton cloth. I'm afraid this project can't be promoted at all."

Pei Yuan said, "First, enclose the land, and then spread the word. If there are any problems, we can solve them and talk about it. We are not doing nothing. As long as they see that the plan is really being implemented, the price of cotton will not go down."

Wang Chang was speechless when he saw Pei Yuanzhen was moved. Was it the dog who just said he had no conscience?

(End of this chapter)