The next day, Zhang Qi left Dayuan County and arrived at a villa not far away.
Today's sugar cane only matures in August and September, and the best sugar cane has the highest sugar content accumulated during the winter, so sugar extraction is the most suitable.
Due to the emperor's orders, the imperial court was the first to come to Taiwan to reclaim wasteland on a large scale to plant sugar cane, and thus chose a good location near the river.
In this way, not only does the sugarcane field no longer have to worry about water shortage, but water can also be used when pressing sugar, saving countless manpower and material resources.
"Reporting to Yuanwai, we are now in Da Yuan County. We have 100,000 acres of sugar cane fields, both raw and cooked. One acre of land can produce about 600 kilograms of brown sugar. This year, we can produce a total of 600,000 shi of sugar."
"Six hundred thousand stones?" After learning this figure, Zhang Qi was unhappy and worried: "With such a large output, I'm afraid the purchase price for Xiyi will not be high!"
"You're right."
The steward smiled bitterly and said: "The price was sixty cents per catty the year before last, fifty cents last year, and it has dropped to ten cents this year. It's still very expensive and has no market!"
"Those Fujian businessmen made countless amounts of money through Yuegang in the early years. Now they come to Taiwan in droves to open up wasteland and plant sugar cane. Who can bear this?"
"How much can you charge this year?"
Zhang Qi couldn't calculate such a big number and asked hurriedly.
"Based on ten cents, we can only earn about 600,000 silver dollars."
"How can you do business with such money?" Zhang Qi said angrily: "The emperor is afraid that he will use the royal guards to take away people."
The price of sugar is cheaper than salt, which is simply unreasonable.
"I proposed to the prefect that Ming merchants form a sugar merchants' guild. I originally wanted to increase profits and create greater glory, but it turned out to be a rescue."
When the steward heard this, his eyes lit up: "It should be like this. The Westerners can only buy our brown sugar. It is appropriate to increase it to fifty cash, or one hundred cash."
"Nonsense!" Zhang Qi scolded: "How many noble people in Taiwan have built sugarhouses here, and you just banned it like this? I don't know how many people you will offend."
Isn’t my sugar house going to starve to death?
After saying this, he suddenly remembered that the emperor had given instructions before leaving, saying: "Starting today, taking advantage of the low sugar price, we will vigorously buy brown sugar, and then do this and this..."
When the steward heard this, he frowned.
"White sugar? I've never heard of sugar as white as snow!"
"This is an instruction from Your Majesty. Just go and collect the sugar and ask those Westerners to go to Tianjin Mansion. There will be sugar there."
Although he couldn't figure it out himself, he didn't delay Zhang Qi's attack: "This time I brought 100,000 silver coins, all of which were used to buy brown sugar. Don't sell our brown sugar, and transport it all back to Tianjin."
After giving instructions, Zhang Qi asked someone to lead him to find a suitable place to reclaim wasteland.
"Excuse me, there are too many sugarcane fields, they are being cultivated and ruined."
"Who said planting sugar cane? This means planting cotton."
Zhang Qi put his hands on his hips and said, facing a piece of land by the river: "Cotton prices in the south are getting higher and higher now. Your Majesty is worried about the shortage of cotton, so he came to prepare for a rainy day and get more cotton fields."
"You can also tell those businessmen that the price of cotton in Jiangnan has gone up, and it's not enough to just stick to the sugar factory."
After arriving in Taiwan for a few days, Zhang Qi formed a sugar merchants' guild, decided on the sugar harvest business, and decided on cotton field planting. Zhang Qi, exhausted, began to return north.
When the boat arrived at Songjiang Prefecture, Zhang Qi asked someone to stop the boat.
He came to Jiangnan in person and wanted to see how it would turn out.
As far as the eye can see, there are cotton fields, mulberry fields, and rice fields everywhere. People are happy to grow these economic crops.
Of course, in addition to the benefits that attract people's hearts, another factor is the heavy tax policy in Jiangnan for many years, which has made people tend to this so that they can afford the heavy taxes.
Nowadays, the new policies of the Shaowu Dynasty, although the third-class land tax is still the highest three cents of silver, it has relieved Jiangnan of a heavy burden.
But it is precisely because of this that the Jiangnan region is also richer.
Through Zhang Qi's research, he gained a deeper understanding of Jiangnan's wealth.
Just from the way he dresses, he is impressive.
On the road, although most of the pedestrians' clothes are shabby, they all wear clothes to cover their bodies and wear cloth shoes. There is one person in ten or so who is well-dressed, and there are many fat people.
In the fields, buffaloes were seen and heard, and there were many iron tools of all kinds.
Walking towards the village, an ancestral hall comes into view, and the sound of reading loudly can be heard in the ears, coupled with the rushing water not far away, making people immersed in it.
"The clothes are woven by oneself, there is no shortage of food, there are many rivers and ponds, the fish are fat and the vegetables are green, the land is harvested twice a year, and during the slack period, people go to and from the cities to do day labor. How can Jiangnan not be rich?"
In the midst of emotion, he actually asked about the price of cotton.
The price of cotton rose from one hundred cents per catty to one hundred and twenty cents, while the price of cotton cloth fell from three hundred and fifty cents per piece (three feet and two feet) to three hundred cents.
"Cotton is imported from Jiangnan, spun in Tianjin, and then sold in Jiangnan, which forces the price of cotton to drop."
After pondering for a while, Zhang Qi figured it out.
But the merchants in the market don't understand, because according to common sense, the cost of cotton cloth should increase, but unexpectedly it is falling.
However, due to the Yangtze River water transport, grain from Huguang has flowed into the south of the Yangtze River, and sea transportation has allowed grain from Guangdong and Guangxi to flow in. The price of grain in the south of the Yangtze River has dropped to 80 cents per bucket.
This makes people more willing to grow cotton instead of rice.
Zhang Qi couldn't stand the canal for too long, so he still sent ships northward.
And because of the smooth flow of shipping, people became accustomed to it and no longer feared it too much, which gave birth to passenger ships.
Passenger ships sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, just like the escorts back then.
The merchants changed the warehouses into small, medium and large rooms to accommodate dozens of people at a time, and the shipping fee ranged from ten yuan to fifteen yuan to fifty yuan.
Since there is no need to go to the highly competitive freight industry, the time is faster, and a round trip by passenger can earn hundreds of silver dollars, which is much better than freight.
When Zhang Qi arrived at Tianjin Mansion, he was escorted into the restaurant and washed away.
Once you eat and drink, you will feel relaxed.
"Executive member, you don't know that the biggest advantage of Tianjin Prefecture today is the textile factory, Baibu family, the sound of machines and machinery, it's a lively atmosphere..."
"But nowadays, there are the most people doing it, so this line of work is even more difficult!"
A certain merchant with a big belly and a Shanxi accent started to complain.
"Why is this?" Zhang Qi was stunned: "There are tens of millions of people in the world. No matter how much cloth you make, you can still sell it."
"No matter how bad it is, there are still North Korea, Japan, Annan, and Ryukyu that can be resold!"
"To tell you the truth, cotton prices have increased, but you can still buy it, but no matter how good the machine is, someone has to do it, right?"
The businessman smiled bitterly and said: "I bought a hundred machines and paid them three silver yuan a month. Even three yuan can't recruit anyone."
"Where are the people?"
"Everyone in Tianjin Mansion has been signed by that group of people. We have no one to live with."