Chapter 131: The country is poor and the people are poor
The commercial department thought over and over again, and in addition to the Hongyi cannon that they most desired, only armor could really impress Huang Taiji into selling his kidneys.
Notes from the Ming Dynasty state that Houjin's blacksmith shops outside Shenyang City stretch for several miles, and they all manufacture armor weapons for the army. The armor must be tested by arrows, and if it penetrates, the craftsmen who make it will be killed. Although the elders think this is not possible I am skeptical about its general significance, but it is true that Houjin had strict requirements on the quality of weapons manufacturing.
Obviously, the industrial system under the control of the Senate, although primitive by modern or even modern standards, had unparalleled quality and cost advantages in the 17th century. It produced armor that was more protective and lighter than the Manchu armor. Lower cost armor is not a problem.
Generally speaking, the armor that the Senate intends to export is a plate armor made by stamping process, with movable joints. This kind of armor can be made in ancient society, but it is limited by material properties and processing methods, and requires skilled craftsmen to spend a lot of time. Man-hours are required to manufacture, thus the cost is high, and the range of equipment is limited.
The industrial system of the Senate has advantages in both materials and production. Continuous stamping technology can batch and standardize the manufacture of each part of the armor plate, and combined with simple manual assembly, the finished product can be manufactured in large quantities. Moreover, the improvement of steel quality has made the armor plate The armor itself does not need to be too heavy, and the armor is lighter. Its protective performance is better than all the various armors currently equipped by the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The arms trade has been a profitable and shady business since ancient times. The Senate has always wanted to be an arms dealer in the 17th century. At first, it considered exporting the artillery factory to Li Luoyu. Later, some people in the Senate questioned "improper export of productivity and technology". was strangled, so the export of weapons is limited to finished products, and they must be finished products with generation differences.
Standard spears, machetes, half-plate armored Nanyang-style flash cap muskets are all products under this guiding ideology. As for smoothbore guns, they are currently controversial and have not yet been included in the exportable list.
Originally, the Senate tried to take advantage of Li Luoyou's white glove, but long-term observation led the Foreign Intelligence Service to come to the conclusion: Although this person did smuggling business with the Manchus and made a lot of illicit money, there was nothing like selling arms. He was determined not to do it.
Everyone has their own feelings and bottom line. Li Luoyou is probably that kind of person. Although he is essentially smuggling goods for the Manchu Qing Dynasty to support the enemy, he must have something to comfort himself with, otherwise it will be difficult to live up to his "conscience" "Yes.
Li Luoyou's lack of cooperation forced the Senate to send Huang Hua to fight in person.
Huang Hua's mission was very dangerous. It was so dangerous that many elders questioned whether he could come back and whether it was necessary to send a elder to take such a big risk in the trade with Houjin. However, Huang Hua himself repeatedly stated at the hearing that this It was his personal wish. He was willing to take the risk, even if it cost him his life.
"Furthermore, even if the two countries are at war, they will not kill the envoys. I am a businessman who brings them urgently needed goods. Why do they want to kill me?" Huang Hua was full of confidence.
Despite this, the Foreign Intelligence Service was still very uneasy about his first mission. The Foreign Intelligence Service once considered that he would simply lead a business group to Shenyang as a "businessman". However, considering that most of the Manchu officials in the Later Jin Dynasty They were of rough origin. They were proud of their violence and arrogance, and because they had lived too hard in the past, they were all very greedy. In history, when the prince of Joseon was a hostage in Shenyang, he was constantly blackmailed by Manchu officials and his subordinates, which made Li Chao suffer. It is unspeakable. Every time the Manchu and Qing envoys and business groups went to Korea to trade, their behavior was no different from bandits, so much so that the Li Dynasty had to exempt the five Anzhou cities passing along the way from taxes as compensation to the local officials and people - if not for With Huang Taiji, a far-sighted ruler, he still had some restraints. Then he could do anything without a bottom line.
Even if Huang Taiji and other high-level Manchu officials were aware of Huang Hua's importance, there is still the possibility that vulgar middle- and lower-level officials and nobles would rush to kill and rob business groups in pursuit of wealth. Therefore, the final decision was still to adopt a "public versus public" approach. mode to conduct trade, instead of sending a business group directly there.
Since the New Year, Huang Taiji has been staying in Shengjing to handle government affairs. He has not gone on a siege. For the Manchu Qing regime, hunting is not only a pastime for the upper class, or a more honorable "training sergeant", but also an important national economy. Income. The large amounts of meat and furs obtained during hunting are indispensable for Houjin.
He was born in 1592 and was in middle age at this time. Although he had begun to gain weight, he was strong, energetic, with a rosy face and bright eyes. His career was entering a prosperous stage.
When Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, the Hou Jin regime had actually fallen into recession. The economy mainly relied on plundering and large-scale reversal of history to build slave estates. Coupled with the severe cold of the Little Ice Age, agricultural production plummeted. There was serious strife among the upper class. Because it was difficult for the middle and lower classes to obtain a satisfactory distribution of spoils, even the armored men who died in the battle only received a few pieces of bloody clothes ripped off the dead bodies as compensation. They were dissatisfied and their combat effectiveness began to decline, not to mention the internal conflicts between Manchu and Han. The situation has become unprecedentedly intensified under the rule. Even the die-hard traitors Li Yongfang and Fan Wencheng who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in the early days were almost executed, and everyone in the Han officials was in danger.
If it were not for the almost buggy Huang Taiji who succeeded the throne, the future of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the history books would probably be just a short-lived local regime.
After several years of hard work, he had saved the Hou Jin regime from the brink of collapse. Although the situation of the poor and poor people in the country had not been fundamentally improved, it was much better than relying on killing people to maintain food supply. .
A few years ago, he sent troops into the customs for the first time and received rich rewards. Not only did he obtain loot and countless people, he alleviated the lack of state supplies and the complaints of the Eight Banners soldiers, he also found out the details of the Southern Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was nothing more than that! "Recovery" For the first time, the thought of “big gold, drinking horses from the Yellow River” entered his mind.
In the political strife among the upper echelons of Houjin, he successfully eliminated the power of heavyweight opponents such as Amin and Mang Gurtai. Finally, in the first month of last year, he changed the old system of sitting alongside the three major Baylors to one in the south, with the other three majors sitting alone. Baylor sat sideways and truly became a ninety-five-year-old.
At this moment, Huang Taiji was at the stage where he was beginning to buy into glory, so whether in action or in conversation, he showed full confidence and ambition.
However, he still has many problems to face at the moment. Externally, although he has seen through the nature of the Southern Dynasty, which is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, it will take some time to drink the Yellow River. To the east, the Dongjiang Army is fighting against itself.
Although they were weak and weak after the massacre, they were still on the bed in the end; North Korea was secretly collaborating with the Southern Dynasties; in the west, the Chahar Mongols had not yet completely surrendered.
Internally, the lack of state supplies has always been a lingering shadow for him. Although the village land system is no longer practiced and the grain production situation has improved to some extent, it is still difficult to get more grain in the bitter cold land. Grain prices
It has always been very expensive. Because of his destiny, he can eat Liaoyang Qing, a high-quality upland rice grown in Tuokesuo (Huangzhuang) outside Shengjing City, for every meal. As for ordinary princes and nobles, they can only eat it during the New Year and festivals.
Only then can they enjoy it. As for the ordinary people who are waiting, they can eat not only grains, but also tares. For this reason, they have to spend a lot of money to buy grain from Shanxi merchants, and the price is more than ten times that of the pass. From the pass
The gold and silver gained through robbery were quickly lost to Shanxi merchants.
In addition to food, there is almost no shortage of daily necessities in the country, and everything is very expensive. Even the most basic people's food such as salt and paste cannot be guaranteed to be supplied: the Jurchens cannot make salt, and after the supply within the customs was cut off, they all relied on North Korean merchants.
Not only are the prices extremely expensive, but they are often out of stock. To the extent that you can eat salty sauce, you are considered a first-class person.
The state cannot solve the problem, people's livelihood is difficult, and his grand plans are just phantoms in the water. Huang Taiji has been worried about this recently.
It would be a good idea to enter the customs again to rob, but the current situation is still unstable. In addition to external troubles, although Mang Gurtai has removed the title of "Big Baylor" and demoted him to the other Baylors, his family's power is very strong.
, there is always the danger of a comeback...
While he was deep in thought, a memorial from the Ministry of Revenue was delivered. When he opened it, he learned about various situations during his trip to Yiju to trade with North Korea. Trading with North Korea was one of the most important economic sources of the Later Jin regime.
Many of Jin's commodities depended on North Korea for supply, and they also needed to re-export North Korean goods and trade with Mongolia to obtain Mongolian horses. Therefore, Huang Taiji was very concerned about every exchange with North Korea and personally inquired about them.
However, North Korea was very indifferent to the mutual trade with Hou Jin. On the one hand, the Li Dynasty always regarded the Ming Dynasty as Zhengshuo, insisted on the distinction between Hua and Yi, and was unwilling to form an alliance with Hou Jin. On the other hand, Hou Jin often regarded himself as the winner in the mutual trade, and everywhere
The strong bully the weak, buying and selling by force. Selling high and buying low, and even asking for "credit". In 1629, during the first trade with North Korea, a North Korean businessman shipped three thousand dan of grain to sell. As a result, two thousand dan were "gifted", and only one
Thousand stones can be sold, so North Korean merchants are not willing to trade with them.
Huang Taiji was of course aware of all the "actions" of his officials, but he turned a blind eye to it - the small court of Hou Jin Dynasty was really embarrassed and could only rely on his fists to squeeze the soft persimmon of North Korea.
A few days ago, the caravan he sent to North Korea just came back from Yiju. It brought 1,600 kilograms of ginseng. The asking price was 16 taels per kilogram, but North Korea only offered 9 taels. The price difference was 11,200 taels. This price was too far from his expectations.
The disparity was too great. He also hoped that the money would be able to buy more goods.
What made him even more unhappy was that the goods purchased from North Korea were often shoddy and sold as shoddy goods. A piece of cotton cloth was sold in two or three pieces, and six or seven pieces of paper were removed from a roll. It was difficult to detect without careful inspection.