At a plantation near Crescent City, Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin were visiting this huge plantation. The owner of the plantation, Mr. Qian, enthusiastically accompanied them and introduced the situation in the plantation to them in detail.
"The scale of my plantation is not too large, just over 10,000 acres of land. Several thousand acres of land were awarded to me by the government when my family immigrated. The rest are plantations that have been continuously developed over the years."
Master Qian looked at Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin beside him. At first glance, these two people looked like ordinary people. They were accompanied by dozens of servants. Each of these servants was tall, well-trained, and had a clear division of labor. They always regarded the two people in front of him.
Surrounded by the core, there are people protecting it from all directions.
Listening to their accents, the accents of the Beijing-Tianjin area, it is obvious that they are noble people from the Beijing-Tianjin area. Since you are interested in visiting your plantation, it is also an honor for me.
"More than 10,000 acres of land isn't a big amount of land, right?"
Emperor Hongzhi heard this and asked with a smile.
"So-so. The real large-scale plantations here are tens of thousands of acres, or even hundreds of thousands of acres. Some even cover an entire large island as one plantation. That's what they call large plantations.
, we need thousands of slaves.”
Mr. Qian shook his head with a smile and said: "My plantation is of average size. Nowadays, plantations in Nanyang can generally reach this size. They are all plantations with family units. Compared with those large plantations, there is still a big gap."
big."
"However, although my plantation is not large in scale, the output is still very good."
"The 5,000-acre rubber forest in front of me is currently the biggest source of income for my plantation."
Mr. Qian was very proud to introduce his rubber forest to the two of them.
"Is this a rubber tree?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately became interested and quickly looked carefully at the rubber tree in front of him.
"Yes, this is the rubber tree."
"Rubber is actually the sap that flows out of the rubber tree. It is similar to cutting rosin. You cut some holes in the tree, and what flows out is rubber."
Mr. Qian nodded, pointed to a pot of rubber and said.
"Mr. Qian, the annual income from your 5,000 acres of rubber forest is quite a lot. The price of rubber is not cheap now."
Liu Jin also saw a rubber tree for the first time, and looked at it curiously. Thinking of the current rubber price, he also said.
"Haha, it's okay, it's okay~"
When Mr. Qian heard this, he immediately smiled and said.
The price of rubber is really rising again and again. It is used in many fields, such as medical blood transfusions, infusions, industrial chemical products, tires, etc. Rubber is indispensable for these, and many of them are irreplaceable.
In the past few years, along with Ming Dynasty's automobiles, the bicycle industry has developed extremely rapidly, and the demand for rubber has also been increasing. The price of rubber has also been rising, and it has soared.
Mr. Qian was reluctant to plant rubber at the beginning, because everyone was growing sugar cane at that time. Not only did rubber plantation bring little profit, but the investment was also large, and it would take seven or eight years before rubber could be tapped.
Unexpectedly, things would turn around, and in the blink of an eye, the price of sugar cane would get lower and lower, and the price of rubber would get higher and higher. The income from his plantation in one year would exceed those of those who had been growing sugar cane for more than ten years.
"It's still you plantation owners. Over here in the capital, everyone works in factories and trading houses, and only earns a few taels of silver a month. Although food and clothing are a problem, compared with you Nanyang plantation owners, there is still a big difference.
It’s far away.”
Liu Jin said with a smile.
"Haha, that's right, that's right, when you work in a factory or a business, after all, you are working for others, and the wages are limited. We are our own bosses, and it is our own business to make more or less."
"Of course, this plantation is not that easy to manage. It still needs to be managed carefully."
"Some people are not very good at managing their own plantations, and they don't actually save a few dollars a year. The expenses in all aspects are also very high."
"For example, although my plantation is of average size, I bought more than 200 slaves to manage it. These 200 slaves cost tens of thousands of taels of silver. Just eating every day is a big problem. I have to eat a lot.
Here comes the rice.”
"No matter where you are, those who are capable will make money, and those who are incompetent and lazy will definitely not be able to make it."
Mr. Qian enjoyed Liu Jin's compliment very much.
To say that the most comfortable person now is naturally the plantation owner in Nanyang.
There is a large area of plantation, and the slaves in the family do everything. The annual income is also considerable, some can earn thousands of taels of silver, and many like Mr. Qian, who have a large area of rubber forest, earn a lot of money every year.
The income is quite considerable, tens of thousands of taels of silver a year is possible.
The second is to immigrate to the Golden Continent and overseas vassal states and colonies. Immigrants in these places are rewarded with a large amount of land and slaves. Basically, they live a pretty good life. Many families have groups of wives and concubines, and everything is done by the bought wives and concubines.
Just do it, you are responsible for sleeping, eating, eating, sleeping, and sowing seeds.
Like here in Huangjinzhou, basically every household has many local indigenous wives, ranging from a few to more than a dozen, as well as a large number of female slaves sold from Europe. In addition, the land here is vast,
Fertile, cultivate as you like.
Therefore, among the Ming Dynasty people here in Golden Continent, basically the men were wandering around in search of gold, silver, etc. as explorers, while at home there were a lot of women who were responsible for cultivating the land and taking care of the children.
In this land of Golden Continent, people admire explorers the most, and they all dream about finding a big gold mine and becoming rich overnight.
Next are the immigrants who immigrated to places such as Liaodong, Hezhong, Xiyu, Central Asia, Black Earth, and Nanyun Province. They can often own large areas of land and adopt mechanized farming methods.
Every household owns thousands or even tens of thousands of acres of land, and has its own breeding farms, pastures, etc. Although it is a bit tiring, life is obviously still very prosperous.
The worst offenders are those who stayed in the Ming Dynasty. The better ones can still work in factories and commercial firms, with a salary of several taels of silver a month. They can live a small life and support their families in Hukou. There is absolutely no problem.
The worst thing is those people who are neither willing to immigrate nor work in the city. They stick to the one-third of an acre of their hometown and always feel that the outside world may not be better than the one at home. No matter how you say it, it is useless.
These are the people who don't want to leave.
They are considered to be the poorest and most tired people in the Ming Dynasty. The government has nothing to do with them. They are neither willing to immigrate nor want to go to factories. They work in commercial firms and stay where they are. They enjoy all the dividends and policies of the era.
If not, naturally we can only watch others get better and better.
This is similar to some farmers in later generations.
When everyone goes out to work to make money, some people just don't want to go out and be restrained and managed by others. They cling to the little land at home and farm it every year for a lifetime.
The price of food has not risen by a penny for decades, everything else is rising, and the money in the bank is depreciating. I can only watch others getting better and better, get rich, buy a house in the city, and when I get here,
, The money I have saved after working hard all my life and living frugally is so useless. If I get sick, buy a car for my children, get married, etc., it will be all used up in one go.
Sometimes people just have to break through and move around more. If people move, they will live, but if they move, the trees will die. This is actually the truth.
Look at these Ming people who immigrated. Each one of them has become a plantation owner. They have lived a comfortable life. The poor people in the past have now become lords.
"Well said, well said~"
Liu Jin, who has lived in two generations, naturally fully agrees.
"Haha, let's just say that there are more rich people in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Many of the plantations here belong to you Beijing-Tianjin people."
"You Beijing-Tianjin people love to set up factories, business houses, fleets, and do business all over the world. Each of your businesses is very big, and your work is very grand."
Mr. Qian also smiled and praised people from the Beijing-Tianjin area.
"Yeah~"
"It doesn't matter where you are from, we are all from Ming Dynasty."
Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said.
"Yes, yes, they are all from Ming Dynasty~"
"This is a rubber forest in front of me. On the hilltop in the past, there are durians grown here. This durian smells bad, but it tastes very fragrant. It also has a longer shelf life and can be transported to Beijing and Tianjin areas.
It is sold all over the world, so it is now one of the most important fruits grown here in Nanyang, and the price is still quite affordable."
Master Qian took Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin to another planting area, introducing them to them in detail as they walked.
His plantation covers tens of thousands of acres, where he grows rubber, durian, mangosteen, etc. He also grows rice, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. in some places with water.
Rice, corn, sweet potatoes and the like were obviously grown for slaves to eat, so that they did not have to buy food and could have extra food to raise pigs, cattle and sheep. The rest of the land was planted with cash crops, and the income