Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

[Recite the URL silently three times. Do you remember it? If you don’t remember, I’ll ask again in the next chapter. It’s best to share it on Facebook for me]

"What, twenty taels!?" Upon hearing this quotation, Qin Hao was in a daze for a moment, thinking that Zhuge Xuan had made a mistake.

After knowing that he had repeatedly confirmed that it was 20 taels and not 2 taels, Qin Hao sighed: How could the cost be so high.

According to the purchasing power of silver during the Tianqi period, one tael of silver could buy 300 kilograms of rice. Compared with later generations, it was about 600 yuan, which means that a waterwheel cost 20,000 yuan.

However, this was the price of food during the Tianqi period. During the Chongzhen Dynasty, natural disasters plus man-made disasters would cause the price of food to rise faster than the price of airplanes. Qin Hao remembered that the price of food when the Qing soldiers entered the customs was 10 yuan. Even the money of the people could not buy a bushel of grain. At that time, it was truly miserable and indescribable. Selling sons and daughters and exchanging sons for food were the norm in the world.

Qin Hao's calm face was a little sullen. It would not be more than ten years later, so why was it so expensive? How dare the money from the Chongzhen Dynasty be used by the Tianqi Dynasty? Don't think that just because the two brothers can be so unscrupulous.

Zhuge Xuan was not surprised to see his master look like this. This was what he expected. He continued: "This is quite low. The beams on the waterwheel were built before Pingyuan Village was demolished." For the house, the rest of the wood is cut on site, so the materials cost basically nothing.”

"It didn't cost anything, and it cost so much money."

"It's mainly used to recruit craftsmen."

"Can't we collect labor? Just provide food. You can't think of such a useful method of working for relief." Qin Hao put forward his own opinion, crossed his hands, and waited for his Lord Zhuge to explain to him. .

Qin Hao knew that the current silver reserves were only 1,000 taels, and 50 waterwheels could consume them all, not to mention the money used in other places. According to Zhuge Xuan's current expenses, he could declare bankruptcy in less than a month. .

Without this money, I still go to Daming.

"My Lord General, you really don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are. Do you know how many people we have now?" Zhuge Xuan also began to pour out the bitter water.

"How many?"

Qin Hao really didn't understand this. He only remembered that there were about 3,000 people before he went out.

Zhu Ge There are 5,572 women, 4,959 strong girls over 13 years old, and 613 young girls under 13 years old.”

Looking at the recorded numbers on the document, Qin Hao was shocked. It was not that Zhuge Xuan memorized it word for word, but he did not expect that the population of his territory would increase five times in more than a month. It was simply terrifying.

"Are there so many people on Taiwan?" Qin Hao couldn't believe it.

"There must be, and more than that, if I remember correctly." Zhuge Xuan's attitude was clear, "The refugees told us that there were floods in Jiangsu and Zhejiang this year, and there was also a severe drought in Fujian and Jiangxi. The people at the bottom couldn't survive at all and had to flee. ”

"If this is the case, our life will be difficult." Qin Hao said softly.

Sometimes having a large number of people is not always a good thing, especially when the company is starting up. I didn't see that these refugees are all from the south, and life there is not good either.

"Indeed, there are still one to two hundred people being recruited every day. There has been no decrease in the past few days, and there is a vague upward trend. So many people need 1,500 dans of daily rations."

"You have to eat so much food. Then did I?" Thinking of the extravagance and waste of the previous feast, Qin Hao felt a little ashamed.

If he had known this earlier, he would never have thought of hosting a banquet. Zhuge Xuan just let himself go without reminding him, which was really derelict in his duty.

But this is not important now. The most important thing right now is to survive the food crisis smoothly.

"Then with the current food reserves, how long can it last?"

"Two months will probably last until the autumn harvest."

"Um, didn't you say there wasn't enough food? How could we survive until the autumn harvest?"

These words made Qin Hao a little confused. Isn't this contradictory to what he just said? Or does he have other ideas?

Looking at the calm look on his face, it was probably clear that he was confident.

Otherwise, how could he be worthy of the name of the Zhuge family, and how could he be his own minister of interior in the future?

"What method was used? Could it be that they didn't care about the lives of those refugees and stopped releasing food?"

"How could that happen?" Zhuge Xuan immediately retorted.

What kind of person does my master think of him? Corruption, extortion of bribes, and disregard of human life have nothing to do with him.

The steady flow of refugees at present is the cornerstone of their future. The various craftsmen recruited these days are selected from them. They can develop so fast without their contribution. If they don't care about their life and death, they don't have to wait for their own adults to take action. Just end it yourself.

Besides, who is Zhuge Xuan? This difficulty is easy to grasp. It is a piece of cake and can be solved without much effort.

"Actually, the method is very simple. It was done with just 1,000 taels of silver."

Zhuge Xuan began to explain rationally: "Sir, please don't underestimate this silver. Although these 1,000 taels can't buy anything, its role is not small. I mainly use it to promote a cycle of material flow."

"Sir, think about it, now all the people's rations and grains are provided by us. They don't have much surplus food in their hands. They only plow the fields every day and wait for relief food. If they are allowed to continue like this, sooner or later they will be killed. It was too late, so I set up a grain collection and storage station in each village, which can sell grain and give out grain, using silver as an exchange substitute. "

"But didn't you say that the people have no food? How to sell it and what to buy it with?"

"It doesn't have to be food to sell. You can eat wild animals and meat from the mountains. In this way, a cycle can be formed. After selling the meat and getting money, you can buy food to eat. In this way, the food originally used for relief will be saved. If you switch to meat, you’ll get an extra serving of food.”

"Good idea, then how do you get people to take action? Isn't it good to sit at home and wait for relief?"

"My lord, our relief food is not free. They will have to pay it back during the autumn harvest. Do you think they are still willing to eat their own food? Those who have constant production have perseverance, and these people are reluctant to part with it.

Moreover, when these refugees came, they were hungry, cold, and undernourished, and could not do heavy work at all. Moreover, there were not many projects in the territory, so the work-for-relief method was not available. "

Qin Hao's admiration is beyond words!

Zhuge Xuan's method will not consume too much food, but can also collect a lot of meat. We must know that the human body has insufficient energy, and the demand for food will increase rapidly. In the 21st century, you will not see many big men who can eat 4 or 5 bowls in a meal, but in the late Ming Dynasty, a thin man could eat 5 or 6 bowls. A bowl of white rice is a manifestation of energy deficiency, making them need more grains.

If there is enough meat as a supplement, one pot of food can feed two pots of people, and this transaction cannot be lost no matter how hard it is.

After thinking about this, Qin Hao had to praise Zhuge Xuan's method, which was very suitable for the current predicament of insufficient food.

"But this is not a long-term solution. It is best to go to Ming Dynasty." Zhuge Xuan knew that this method could only last for a while, so he continued to speak.

Qin Hao nodded in agreement, and after thinking for a while, he told Zhuge Xuan his next thoughts.

Things happen at the right time, and you should follow the trend.

The previous plan made by the two of them to occupy Taiwan Island may have to be put aside for the time being, and the plan to go to the Ming Dynasty will be moved forward.

"I'll go to the salt fields in a few days and head to Daming immediately. It seems I can't delay this matter any longer."

"indeed so."

Zhuge Xuan murmured in a low voice, but still reminded Qin Hao: "But you have forgotten one thing, sir. Now we have no boat and can't go out to sea."

For a moment, Qin Hao felt that Zhuge Xuan, his teammate, was really a fool...

No matter what thoughts he has, he can find loopholes in himself, so he can't hope that he will get it right. It is really helpless and a headache.

[At the beginning of the chapter, I asked you to read it silently three times. Do you remember? Share on Facebook and there may be surprises]