Chapter 23 The last thing I'm afraid of is that the ancients show their science and engineering skil
Chen Shuren has never been a person who is afraid of trouble. No matter how difficult the task is, as long as it is the right thing or the wrong person, he will always have the execution ability to take advantage of it.
After asking his father for advice and reviewing the risks of his duties as a river official, and understanding Zhu Dadian's plot, Shen Shuren felt a lot more relaxed.
Isn’t it just that you can’t be greedy for money, you can’t give money, you can’t even use the income that can be used by the unspoken rules in previous years, and you have to transport the food in full! Just do it!
Compared with technological innovation in science and engineering, and compared with financial management, modern people are least afraid of the ancients.
The day after returning to Suzhou, Shen Shuren went to his immediate boss, Su Songhedao Cao Zhende, and took up the post. He handed over the formalities and accepted his task.
It is now September, and the people's autumn grain has been harvested, but the tax payment work has not yet been completed. It will be delayed until about October, and after the grain is put into the warehouse in batches and the accounts are cleared, it can be shipped to the Luzhou front line.
Shen Shuren had more than a month to sort out the accounts, ensure collection, and innovate transportation technology.
Fang Yizhi, who came to Suzhou with him to visit and observe, was very curious about Shen Shuren's calmness. When the two had free time to discuss, Fang Yizhi reminded him many times:
"Brother Shen Xian, I see that you are not in a hurry at all. Do you have any clever tips in mind? Even a layman like me can see that this matter is difficult to handle.
In the past many years, no river official has transported grain to the north of the Yangtze River just by relying on one cent and three cents per stone. They will all charge extra. You are being watched so closely by Zhu Dadian, and the law is even stricter. , you can’t use the bad rules that others can use, how can you make it work?”
Chen Shuren smiled calmly: "The cost of water transportation mainly involves changing ships, loading and unloading, and the need for pole poles and fiber pulls in turbulent places. If you really rely on wind power to sail in rivers, lakes and seas, you can travel a thousand miles, and you can spend a few dollars. ?
As long as I can stabilize the purchase and storage of grain, load the ships regularly, and use some ingenuity to reduce the cost of loading and unloading, and save a few times, one cent and three cents will be enough!"
After hearing this, Fang Yizhi obviously still couldn't believe it. He had also asked about the market situation recently and knew that according to the original unspoken rules, the actual consumption of "crossing the river silver" was more than double what was stated on the surface.
It costs more than three yuan per stone to transport the same amount of grain to Yangzhou.
Shen Shuren is not increasing the price now, and the freight is 1 cent and 3 cents to be shipped to Hefei. It is 300 miles further than to Yangzhou. It covers the Yangtze River, 200 miles of Ruxu River, Feishui River and Chaohu Lake. The total is 500 miles. waterway.
Although the cost of keeping the ship floating on the water is not much, the main reason is that loading and unloading is expensive, but this account cannot be calculated no matter what.
Chen Shuren knew that he still didn't believe it, so he encouraged him: "Brother Fang, don't you really want to know the content of Song Changgeng's "Tiangong Kaiwu"? I have read it at least, but there are some things that I can't make. You can discuss it with me. If you tinker, you might be able to gain a lot."
Fang Yizhi was also aroused to be competitive: "Then let's give it a try."
…
For more than a month after that, Shen Shuren did not hesitate. He took Fang Yizhi with him and used all the resources that the Shen family could use in Suzhou.
While tinkering with new machinery, we designed a management system for water transportation loading and unloading to see if we could reduce costs from various angles.
On the other hand, Shen Shuren also did not forget to think of ways to stabilize the local food prices in Suzhou - the food prices had no direct relationship with him. They were the political achievements of the prefect Zhang Xuezeng. But Shen Shuren knew that only by stabilizing food prices could he Get food in large quantities faster and more reliably.
Otherwise, even if the local government cooperates and all the military rations that need to be collected are collected, as long as the goods are delivered in batches and at different warehouses, it will greatly reduce Chen Shuren's shipping efficiency.
As a modern person, Shenshu people know a simple truth very well: scale brings benefits. The larger the scale of anything, the cheaper it is when the loss costs of each link are amortized.
One hundred thousand shi of grain is delivered to you in batches at three points in time and five docks. It is completely different from the one-time delivery at the same dock. The carrier's receiving cost is completely different.
But it just so happens that these two delivery methods are both indistinguishable and comply with the legal requirements of the imperial court. Why are the regulations not so detailed?
…
The time soon came to mid-October. For more than a month, Shen Shuren remained anonymous, and outsiders had no idea what he was up to.
Early that morning, Shen Shuren, who was fully prepared, finally relied on his connections, prepared a gift, and went to Wuxian County in person to ask for an audience with Zhang Xuezeng, the prefect of Suzhou.
I would like to ask Zhang Futai to come forward and help him say hello to the wealthy gentry in various counties in Suzhou.
Zhang Xuezeng didn't want to meet such an eighth-grade official, but in the end he saw Shen Tingyang's face. When they met, he felt quite emotional:
"My nephew is really awesome. I haven't seen him for three months. Not only was he not bothered by the previous lawsuit, but he was admitted to the Imperial College and donated his official position. This shows that a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise."
"Thank you, Futai, for your success," Shen Shuren put down the gift politely, and then got straight to the point,
"I came here because I wanted to ask for something - I wonder what Futai thinks is the price of grain in Suzhou now? Can Futai hope to alleviate the trend of wealthy gentry and rich families rushing to buy up grain?"
This question brought up Zhang Xuezeng's concerns, and his interest was immediately aroused.
"Who says otherwise? There is a severe drought in Zhejiang. The rice bought from outside costs more than three taels per stone in Suzhou! The rich households have nothing, but what can the poor people do? Could my wise nephew be able to solve this stubborn problem?"
There was a hint of expectation in Zhang Xuezeng's tone, but he did not dare to expect too much.
How could a nineteen-year-old boy who had just become an official solve such a serious problem? With such ability, how could he still be an eighth-grade official?
Chen Shuren analyzed sincerely: "I believe that Suhu has always been a prosperous place in the world, a land of plenty and plenty of food. Large local households have accumulated savings all year round. Even if there is a drought in Zhejiang this year and outsourcing becomes more expensive, the local grain reserves in Suzhou will definitely be enough."
The key is that people's hearts are floating, which makes everyone have expectations, thinking that "food will be more scarce in the future, disasters will become more and more frequent, and food prices will rise." This gives rise to buying up and not buying down.
As far as Futai is concerned, the local poor people will suffer from the rise in food prices. As for Hedao Yamen, the township officials will delay the delivery of food as much as possible and deliver it in batches and by land, which will cause a lot of losses and inconvenience. Therefore, both parties should work together. Branch, and work hard to resolve the matter."
Zhang Xuezeng: "Is this what your Cao Daotai meant?"
Shen Shuren didn't hide it either: "Cao Daotai belongs to Governor Zhu. Governor Zhu and our Shen family don't want to deal with each other, so Futai should know about it. But if this thing is done, it will be beneficial to both parties."
Zhang Xuezeng thought for a moment and felt that his own political achievements were more important.
He can afford to offend Cao Zhende. At worst, other people will know that he has in-depth cooperation with Shen Shuren. Just don't offend Zhu Dadian.
Zhang Xuezeng took a deep breath: "Then what can you do?"
Chen Shuren Tuqiongdag said: "In the past few months, I have tried some methods to increase production in my own manor in Taicang, Kunshan and other places, as well as in the old manors of relatives and friends.
Although we alone cannot produce much food, if these wonderful ideas can be promoted, the wealthy households in Suhu will follow suit.
It can definitely give people the expectation that local self-sufficiency in grain and meat will increase in the future, and less grain will need to be purchased from outside. Once this expectation changes, supply and demand will naturally ease, and there will be fewer cases of hoarding and delaying grain payments."
Zhang Xuezeng's eyes finally lit up: "Is there such a wonderful method? I would like to take a look. If it is indeed effective, I will naturally use my authority to promote it in all counties in Suzhou."
Shen Shuren: "Then I would like to ask Futai to come to Kunshan tomorrow to inspect the Shen family's manor."
…
Early the next morning, Zhang Xuezeng took a lot of staff and close officials and took a boat along the Liuhe River from Wuxian County to Kunshan.
Chen Shuren didn't let him go directly to Taicang, as the journey would be too long, and the prefect didn't have the patience.
The manor for the model pilot is actually the "Dong Family Embroidery Manor" that Shen Shuren had just acquired from Dong Xiaowan to pay off his debt a few months ago.
The manor he acquired at that time also included some mulberry fields near Xiuzhuang. Later, since the Shen family had a lot of money, the Shenshu people annexed some surrounding mulberry fields, and now it is quite large.
In the late autumn of October, the cold wind blows by the Yangcheng Lake. The harbor here is crisscrossed with mud puddles, and the countryside is divided into small pieces by the natural low-lying terrain.
Zhang Xuezeng walked for a while, and after entering the boundaries of the Shen family's manor, he found that the terrain became increasingly complex.
Rows of dense mulberry forests alternate with long strips of shallow ponds, and the width of each field ridge is no more than three feet.
Zhang Xuezeng couldn't help but feel strange: "I also know that there are many low-lying muddy areas beside Yangcheng Lake, but in my impression it is not so complicated and difficult to navigate. Are you building farmland around the lake again?"
Chen Shuren pointed out from the side: "Haojiaofutai learned that this is the method described in Xu Ge Lao's "Agricultural Policy Complete Book" and Song Changgeng's "Tiangong Kaiwu" with several improvements in the same year. , the 'mulberry fish pond'.
The biggest problem in people's livelihood in Suzhou and Huzhou is that because sericulture is several times more profitable than growing rice, and the price of Susihu silk is the most expensive in the world, most of the fertile land has been turned into mulberry orchards.
However, after doing some research, I found that mulberry forests only require more water and fertilizer. As long as there is sufficient irrigation and sufficient fertility, mulberry trees can be planted more densely than the current method used by farmers.
Suzhou is low-lying and has many muddy wetlands. As long as the low-lying areas are dug a little deeper and the excavated soil is piled high on both sides to widen the height difference between the ditches and ridges, it is possible to raise fish in the ditches and plant fish on the ridges. mulberry.
Planting two rows of trees on each ridge like this ensures that each mulberry tree is no more than eight feet away from the shore, which can completely save the labor of irrigation. The root system of the mulberry tree is enough to absorb the seepage water from the bottom of the pond next to it, and the fish excrement can also be directly Fat mulberry.
In this way, if the total number of mulberry trees does not decrease, one more fish can be raised than the original dry land. Although the fish is inconvenient to transport and preserve, it can at least subsidize the local people's food, allowing them to eat less rice and squeeze out more The grain and rice purchased from outside are used to pay for grain and military rations."
Large-scale fish farming was still relatively rare in the late Ming Dynasty. It was impossible to raise fish in natural water bodies, and most of them were artificially raised in small ponds. Fish with a high degree of commercialization were mainly sold by fishing.
After all, in ancient times, the population was small, fishing equipment was poor, and natural resources were not exhausted, so there was no time for artificial breeding.
Zhang Xuezeng was still a little suspicious, so he randomly picked a long pond and asked Chen Shuren to check the bottom of the pond, hoping to confirm the output per unit area.
Chen Shuren was also unambiguous, and his operation soon opened Zhang Xuezeng's eyes: these mulberry fish ponds on the shore of Yangcheng Lake even have several gradients based on the natural terrain.
Although the water level difference between each step is only a few feet, who makes Suzhou flat, it is enough.
Shen Shuren blocked the opening with a fishing net at the end of a pond, then removed the sealing soil, allowing the pond water to flow naturally into the fish pond on the first step below. When the water level in the pond ditch on the upper step dropped by two feet, many fish had been It got tangled up in the water blocking fishing net, and even the effort of fishing was wasted.
There are also many hairy crabs that were not raised by Shenshu people, but were naturally flowed in when water was diverted from Yangcheng Lake. After one or two months of fattening, they were quite plump in late autumn.
Unfortunately, to people in the Ming Dynasty, hairy crabs were obviously not as valuable as fish, as they contained too little meat.
"So convenient? It seems that letting people raise fish is indeed much less labor-intensive than fishing in Taihu Lake and Yangcheng Lake. There are so many people planting mulberry gardens in Suzhou, and there is no need to prepare food for the fish. It is a huge profit."
After Zhang Xuezeng figured out this truth, he was overjoyed.
The Shen family's fish and crabs don't matter at all, but this technical idea is too valuable. If Shen Shuren is willing to show it for everyone to learn, the psychological expectations of the people of Suzhou and Huzhou for the trend of food prices will change.
The "short news on futures" was understood by Chen Shuren.