The fleet did not stop in Guangzhou and continued sailing north. In the morning, the fleet arrived at Quanzhou Port, where Zhang Lei's fleet needed supplies. The crew rested for two days before continuing to sail north.
Quanzhou itself was not damaged, but was temporarily suspended due to the war. Once normalcy was restored, its business recovered very quickly, and its business prosperity was no less than that of Guangzhou in the south.
Zhang Lei had a trading house in Quanzhou and several large warehouses, specializing in sugar, tea and cotton. The trading house was near the dock. Zhang Lei got off the ship and took Yang Xuanwu to the trading house.
Yang Xuanwu followed Zhang Lei's tall and fat body and asked puzzledly: "Uncle, why don't you open a business in Guangzhou? Isn't it more convenient to go to Guangzhou from Nanyang?"
"You guys don't understand, you don't understand. Your aunt also owns a tea shop, and your Aunt Guo also makes refined sugar. There is only sugar in Guangzhou, but there is sugar and tea in Quanzhou. We transported it from Nanyang
Spices can still be stored here, isn’t it killing two birds with one stone?”
"But can't tea be purchased from Bashu?"
Zhang Lei turned around and glared at him, "In business, you have to pay attention to profits. The tea from Bashu is shipped to Chang'an. The quantity is small and the price is high. It goes all the way over mountains and ridges. The transportation cost has exceeded the price of tea. The quality of tea in Fuzhou and Jianzhou
Good, cheap, large output, and it’s not expensive to transport it by water. Others cost twenty guan per load of tea cakes, but I only cost 15 guan per load of tea cakes here. Do you understand?”
Yang Xuanwu scratched his head, "I understand sugar and tea, but what about cotton? Isn't Anxi planting a lot of cotton?"
Zhang Lei smiled proudly, "You don't understand this. Cotton only gives people a sense of freshness, but its quality is actually not as good as kapok, especially its warmth. Your uncle also said that the introduction of cotton is mainly for the middle and lower classes.
When people consider it, the truly wealthy will still choose cotton."
Yang Xuanwu muttered softly, "Rich people should choose duck down and cashmere!"
Zhang Lei was stunned for a moment and then scratched his head. It seemed that this was indeed the case. Cashmere, duck down and goose down seemed to be warmer than wood wool. Although they were more expensive, rich people didn't care about the money.
"It's too early to say anything now, don't just act blindly without knowing anything!"
Zhang Lei glared at him and walked towards a row of big houses.
There are hundreds of large warehouses by the seaport. Zhang Lei bought seven large warehouses here, as well as a steward and five or six clerks. Their task was to purchase tea cakes, jaggery and kapok, and then store them in the warehouses.
Two accounting offices will come to us every six months to clear the accounts and verify the goods.
The steward's surname was Zhou. He was a middle-aged man of about fifty years old. He was from Qinghe County, Beizhou. He was honest and cautious. Zhang Lei liked his character and asked him to come to Quanzhou with his family to work as a steward. He received a monthly salary of twenty
Guanqian, the guys also have a monthly salary of six Guanqian. In Quanzhou, where the average daily income is only fifty or sixty Wen, this salary is not low.
Hearing that the proprietor was coming, Manager Zhou rushed out to greet him, "Welcome to the proprietor!"
"Lao Zhou, get some food, I'm starving along the way!"
"Proprietor, there is good seafood in Shanghai!"
Zhang Lei waved his hand and said, "I'm tired of eating seafood on the sea. I want meat. It's a big piece of meat that's delicious and rich."
"There is a restaurant in the county that specializes in large pieces of braised pork. It is very famous. I asked the waiter to buy it and he will be here soon."
"Go quickly! Buy more."
Manager Zhou gave a few instructions to a waiter, and the waiter got on his mule and galloped away.
Zhang Lei took Yang Xuanwu into the business. It was a small building covering an area of two acres. It was very spacious and had more than a dozen rooms. There was a door at the back leading to the warehouse area. Standing in front of the window, you could see their largest room.
storehouse.
This is a concentrated area for commercial banks, with at least two dozen commercial firms, including the Dugu family's commercial firm here.
Zhang Lei and the other two entered the business and sat down. Manager Zhou served them hot tea. Zhang Lei took a sip of tea and asked, "Does the tea need to be cooked over fire?"
Manager Zhou smiled and said: "This is not a warehouse area. It is outside the wall. You can light the stove and make a fire. We specially hired a cook. He understands the rules and is very careful."
Zhang Lei looked at the business store and said: "This place is so wide, your family can't live here?"
"They all live in the county town! I was also in the county town at night. The proprietor didn't know anything. Although this is not a warehouse area, there are still rules. No one is allowed to live here at night, so everyone goes back to the county town at night. They come here every morning.
All the clerks have gone to various places to inspect the goods, and currently there are only two of them in the firm."
"Is the government causing trouble for you?" Zhang Lei asked again.
Manager Zhou quickly shook his head, "Prefect Cai is a good person. He is very supportive of trade and has helped us solve many practical problems. Especially since the proprietor has a close personal relationship with the King of Jin, he has taken great care of us."
Zhang Lei grinned, "He actually knows?"
"The proprietor underestimated him. The Cai family also has a house in the capital. A nephew of Governor Cai was admitted to the Jinshi this year and works in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He is very well-informed."
Zhang Lei nodded and asked: "How is the progress of Liuqiu Island on the opposite side?"
"The proprietor is also interested?"
"I'm a little interested. If the land is cheap, I'm going to build a sugar cane plantation!"
"I heard that as long as they are willing to go, each household will be given five hectares of land, the government will help build houses, and three generations will be exempted from taxes."
"The conditions are very favorable!" Zhang Lei exclaimed.
"It's really attractive. Two of our guys have decided to go. They have signed up and will go back to Qinghe County to pick up their families right away."
Zhang Lei frowned, "Is there a county seat over there?"
"It's being built! The imperial court spent a lot of money and hired thousands of people to build the city and dock there with a monthly salary of ten guan."
"What about the indigenous people? Will the indigenous people come to cause trouble?" Zhang Lei asked again.
"There are not many indigenous people, and they all live in the mountains. In fact, they have always been in contact with Quanzhou. Many fishermen bring daily necessities with them in exchange for furs and mountain products. Their territory is not Liuqiu Island, but their mountains. As long as they do not enter the mountains, both sides can
We can all live in peace, this is what Governor Cai said."
Just as he was talking, someone outside asked, "Excuse me, is Boss Zhang here?"
Zhang Lei was startled, got up and walked out of the room. He saw a few people standing outside. The leader was an official. He was in his forties or fifties, with a thin face, a gauze hat on his head, a crimson official uniform, and a leather belt around his waist.
"You are?" Zhang Lei asked in confusion.
"I am Cai Yong, the governor of Quanzhou!"
Zhang Lei suddenly realized that he quickly raised his hands and said: "It turns out to be Cai Shijun. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"I heard that Boss Zhang is coming to Quanzhou, so I came here to visit!"
"Please come in quickly!"
Zhang Lei invited Cai Yong into the room, but Yang Xuanwu avoided it. Manager Zhou had already tidied up a little, and both parties took their seats respectively.
Cai Yong smiled and asked: "Dr. Zhang, is he going to sea or coming back from overseas?"
"I just came back from Nanyang. I have a trading company here, so I stopped in Quanzhou for two days."
"I see, is Dongzhu Zhang going back to Chang'an directly?"
Although the other party asked many questions, Zhang Lei was not in a hurry and said with a smile: "We will change the small cargo ship in Yangzhou, and then my nephew will return to Chang'an. I plan to go to Silla to buy some ginseng. The price of ginseng in Chang'an has skyrocketed this year."
Seeing that the other party was silent, Zhang Lei asked with a smile: "Do you need my help, Mr. Cai?"
Cai Yong nodded, "Our government has 100,000 shi of jaggery that needs to be transported to the Yangzhou market, but we can't find a ship at the moment. If Boss Zhang has an empty ship, we would like to rent some transportation capacity."
"What is Yangzhou Forecasting Market?" Zhang Lei asked in confusion.
"The Yangzhou Salt, Iron, and Sugar Transfer Department was renamed last month as the Salt, Iron, and Sugar Transfer Department. From now on, the imperial court will set up a salt, iron, and sugar transfer department in Chang'an, Yangzhou, and Guangzhou. My batch of sugar will be transported to the Yangzhou Forge Farm, and then transferred to the various states.
Mainly used in Sanku stores in various states.”
“How much can the government earn from selling jaggery?”
"The selling price is 100 Wen per catty, and you can earn almost 70 Wen per catty."
Zhang Lei suddenly remembered something and asked quickly: "Can we still buy coarse sugar in Quanzhou?"
Cai Yong shook his head, "It used to be possible, but after the Salt, Iron and Sugar Transfer Department was established, you can no longer buy jaggery in Quanzhou. You have to go to Yangzhou or Guangzhou to buy it. Unless you grow your own sugar cane, press it and boil it yourself, and then report it to the government."
The tax of fifty cents per catty can be used directly, but after careful calculation, the cost per catty is more than one hundred cents. It is better to buy jaggery directly from the government, unless it is tax evasion, but the risk is too great, and you will be beheaded if caught.
.”
Zhang Lei made quick calculations in his mind and was silent for a moment.
"How's it going? Are there any empty ships?" Cai Yong asked cautiously.
Zhang Lei thought for a while and said: "Let's do this! I can't afford so many ships when I go to Silla. After the fleet unloads the cargo in Yangzhou, I will arrange for the fleet to come back and make a trip specifically for Governor Cai to transport sugar."
Cai Yong was overjoyed, "Thank you so much, Boss Zhang."
Zhang Lei thought that the Cai family was the largest family in Quanzhou and would ask him for help in the future, so he decided to have a close relationship with Cai Yong.
He added: "Actually, there is something else that may be very beneficial to Cai Shijun's career. I wonder if Cai Shijun is interested?"
Cai Yong laughed and said: "It is good for official career, how could I not be interested? Boss Zhang, please tell me!"
"That's it. This time I went to Nanyang. His Highness the King of Jin asked me to buy some high-quality rice seeds in Linyi State. This kind of rice is early rice. It only takes more than fifty days from sowing to harvesting. It has strong adaptability and high yield. The yield per mu of land is
There are seven to eight hundred kilograms, and if cultivated carefully, the yield is estimated to be one thousand kilograms. I originally wanted to send these rice seeds to the Jiangnan area, so why not let Quanzhou plant them first, and then send them to Jiangnan after they are successfully cultivated."
Cai Yong's eyes lit up. Currently, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, and Jianzhou practice rice-wheat rotation, with winter wheat and late rice. Although it is two crops a year, the wheat yield is low. The yield per mu is only three to four hundred kilograms. If there are seven or eight hundred kilograms,
If there are two crops of early rice in a year, the grain output will increase greatly. This is the greatest political achievement!
"No problem, leave all the rice seeds to me, and I will personally supervise the planting next spring."
"You don't have to plant them all, you have to test them successfully first."
Cai Yong smiled and said: "Don't worry! I will make arrangements. I appreciate Boss Zhang's kindness!"
After resting for two days, Zhang Lei's fleet changed warehouses, unloaded half of the spices, pearls, and ivory and stored them in the warehouse. Then they left Quanzhou and sailed towards Yangzhou with tea cakes and cotton bags fully loaded.