Chapter 83 Just gave me two years, and I gave you a new Suzhou
"The eldest young master is back! The eldest young master is back!"
When the fleet docked at the Liujiagang Pier in Taicang, the pedals had not yet been firmly placed. Shen Shuren just showed his face on the deck and was recognized by a group of dock workers, which then aroused waves of commotion.
The crowd surged over to bow and salute, and it didn't look very safe.
Shen Fu could only ask the servants and musketeers to line up in two lines to maintain order and squeeze out the rest of the crowd, and then he waited for the eldest young master to come ashore.
The bayonets and long-handled tomahawks that were just made ten days ago are naturally brand new, with no trace of rust at all. They look really bright in the sun and can reflect the cold light.
This scene made Shen Shuren feel a little dazed, feeling like he was a villain.
"When I was a child, I read history books that said that Louis XVIII went against the grain and returned to Paris for restoration with the protection of bayonets from the Anti-French Alliance. I guess this was the scene. If he took the emperor back to Paris, there would be no need for bayonets."
He couldn't help but secretly think about this, and wanted Shen Fu to calm down and be more friendly to the people, but in the end he couldn't resist the cowardice in his heart and acquiesced to all this.
I have offended a lot of people recently, but security is still very important. It seems that a cautious person like him will never become Napoleon in his life.
What's more important is that this time he went home to celebrate the New Year, but he brought Chen Yuanyuan and Dong Xiaowan back with him. How could he let his woman be seen by other people?
At this moment, both women were wearing curtain hats, which are hats similar to bamboo hats with a veil on the outside, covering their faces.
Seeing so many people making noises, the two girls became more and more frightened, so they had no choice but to cling tightly to Shen Shuren. Shen Shuren could only protect them like little birds, hugging them left and right in his cloak, and hurried up. car.
Under the looming curtains, the faces of the two women could not be seen clearly by outsiders, but just the vague peerless appearance and the slim and attractive figure were enough to make others dare not look up.
"The women around the eldest young master are really like gods."
"I heard that the number one Kunqu opera housekeeper in Kunshan could only work as a maid next to the eldest young master. And Miss Dong's Embroidery Workshop, who built the flying shuttle loom, was only a maid."
Some of the slightly knowledgeable little country gentlemen in the crowd could not help but lower their voices and talk to show that they knew the inside story of the market. But the ordinary dock workers naturally did not dare to say a word.
"I haven't been back for a year, and yet I made such a big fuss." After getting in the car, Shen Shucai breathed a sigh of relief and asked the two women on the left and right to take off their hats and hold him in his arms for warmth.
Dong Xiaowan said softly: "Young Master, you underestimate yourself. Even if we follow you, it feels like a dream, let alone these people from the countryside. You have been away for a whole year, and when you come back, you have been promoted to three levels in a row. In Taicang A small place like this cannot be used as a talking point by the people for several years."
Chen Yuanyuan on the other side was a little curious and worried:
"However, I feel that when we left last time, there were not so many workers on the dock. I feel that this time when we come back, Liujiagang is at least a few percent more prosperous than in previous years. Is it because there are more refugees coming from the north? It seems that in the new year The month is indeed getting worse."
Shen Shuren can't answer this question, but it doesn't matter.
He didn't even need to move, he continued to sit there hugging each other, and raised his voice a little higher: "Shen Fu, I want to ask you, why are there so many people in Liujiagang."
Shen Fu, who was waiting on horseback outside the carriage curtain, immediately responded: "Master, you have forgotten that when you and I were in the capital, you reported on the change of water transportation to sea. Zhu Dadian said that the food and clothing of millions of Cao people would not be resettled. If the people of Cao Cao are good, they will not be able to change the sea. The master also agreed in front of the emperor.
A total of 300,000 to 400,000 settlers will be resettled in five years, and 70,000 to 80,000 will be allocated this year. In Jinmen in the north and Liujiagang in the south, the number of dock workers alone has increased by 10,000 to 20,000.
There are still some who have not been settled, and they all gathered here in Liujiagang first. Those who should dig mulberry fish ponds, those who should be trained as sailors on seagoing ships, or train as Latin regiments, will also be there. Arrange it slowly. These people all moved here after the autumn harvest. Our family is now responsible for the livelihood of tens of thousands of people. We are full of tenants and fish pond diggers."
Chen Shuren rubbed his temples and then remembered. He had been in Huangzhou for more than half a year, and he had almost forgotten the pitfalls he had made when he was a capital official.
The resettlement of Cao people was an important political achievement of his father. The reason why Chongzhen only promoted his father to the position of a doctor in the Transportation Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs was to see how well he did in the pilot resettlement of Cao people this year. If his performance is good, there will be room for further promotion. .
His father, Shen Tingyang, also knew all this, so he worked very hard, even if he temporarily hired too many people and suffered a small loss in turnover, he still tolerated it.
Thinking of this, Shen Shuren immediately asked: "Father should have arrived before me, right? I remember that he mentioned in his family letter that he would be back during the Chinese New Year, and would also organize next year's grain and sea transportation. He would be out for several months a year, so that's okay. Comfortable.”
Shen Fu obviously remembered his master's schedule and said confidently: "Isn't that right? Master should have gone south a few days after the letter was sent. He should have arrived two or three days earlier than us."
Most of the doctors in the Ministry of Household Affairs are stationed in Beijing all year round, but those in charge of water transportation happened to coincide with the year of the reform pilot, so it is normal for them to travel frequently. Shen Tingyang is lucky. His hometown is the shipping port in the south, so he always travels on business It's a return home.
Hearing that his father was expected to arrive first, Shen Shuren did not dare to neglect, and immediately ordered the carriage and horses to speed up, and also pushed Chen Yuanyuan and Dong Xiaowan away, so that when he got off the car later, he would still be red-faced, disheveled, and lose his family style.
Moreover, Dong Xiaowan has actually become a little healthier recently and has been pregnant for more than a month. Since the end of October, Shen Shuren has been doting on Chen Yuanyuan alone so that Dong Xiaowan can have the baby, and at most he only uses his hands and feet to comfort her.
When I come back this time, I will also leave Dong Xiaowan in my hometown in Suzhou and take good care of her next year. After giving birth, I will consider whether to take her to my new job.
The carriage galloped along the Liuhe River. It was more than ten miles from the dock to the Shen family's residence. There were fewer and fewer pedestrians along the way. Shen Shuren was not afraid of being peeped at the female family members, so she opened the curtains of the carriage to enjoy the scenery.
I haven't been back for a year, and Taicang County has also changed a lot. The mulberry gardens for more than ten miles along the way are still densely populated during the winter slack season, and some strong men insist on digging mulberry and fish ponds there.
It can be seen with the naked eye that the popularity of mulberry fish ponds has been very high. Fields that could only be used to grow mulberry and raise silkworms can now generally produce at least an additional hundred pounds of fish per mu per year, feeding more people. Fish manure fertilization fields can also be used to grow fish. Mulberry leaf yield increased slightly by one or two percent.
In addition to the mulberry gardens, there were originally rows of weaving mills along the river. However, looking back a year later, the number of weaving mills seems to have become less. Some of the original dilapidated and old factories have also been demolished and replaced by even fewer. But a building on a much larger scale.
Many laborers are still working hard in the winter to earn wages, which can probably support their families for a good year. Shen Shuren took a casual glance and could tell from the scale of the buildings that these workshops were at least thousands of looms in size. , there are very few small weaving workshops with hundreds of machines.
He asked worriedly: "Shen Fu, could it be that many local small weaving shops have closed down this year? The flying shuttle loom invented by Xiaowan has been popular for more than a year, right? Those who can't afford a new machine Could it be that our small workshops can no longer sustain themselves? Have the prices of local silk and cotton dropped?"
Shen Fu didn't know this question either. He had ignored the accounts for a long time recently and at most he only cared about his master's household affairs. After being asked, he immediately went to the car in front and called his second brother Shen Shou to ask Shen Shou, who was in charge of the accounting department. answer.
Shen Shou immediately came to the young master's car, sat on the shaft outside and replied: "Master, the price of cotton cloth has indeed dropped a bit this year. The price of narrow cloth has dropped by more than one cent a piece of silver. The key is the extra price of wide cloth. The premium is less.
Originally, the three-shuttle cloth was three feet wide and the narrow cloth was one foot and eight inches wide. However, the three-shuttle cloth could be sold for double the price of the narrow cloth, making six inches of area in vain. Nowadays, the three-shuttle cloth with the same area can no longer be sold. The price is even more expensive. The shuttle cloth that is five or six feet wide can barely pay a premium for the same area.
Many small weaving workshops specializing in three-shuttle cloth were the most severely affected. However, they cannot be said to have gone bankrupt. Suzhou people are not so easy to admit defeat when doing business. They can't scrape together enough to buy new machines, so a few small workshops form joint ventures. , let’s set up a big workshop together.”
When Shen Shuren heard this, he couldn't help but laugh: Isn't this because the technological progress he led led to the upgrading of industrial equipment. Small businesses could not afford the cost of upgrading, so they had to form a "cartel"?
In the process of upgrading capital attention to industrial capital monopoly, trusts appeared in the United States and cartels appeared in Germany. Now, this wave in the late Ming Dynasty should be regarded as a cartel.
The buds of capital attention that Ming Dynasty has been sprouting for so long have been unable to grow. Could it be that they were officially ignited by their own hands?
"That's good, as long as we don't go bankrupt and stabilize the situation, otherwise there will only be a few wealthy people with tens of thousands of looms or more, and all the small workshops will be ruined. Suzhou will be in chaos. We will have to engage in likin in the future. Maybe we will There will be people in my hometown who will jump out to oppose me. Only by giving them food to eat and uniting to resist risks can I manage them."
Although the Shen family also has a large workshop, it still plays the role of a buyer and reseller. Of course, Shen Shuren does not want the capital concentration in the production process to be too high. It would be best if small businesses can unite to weather the storm. .
As the motorcade got closer and closer to the Shen family, the street scene on both sides of the road became more and more prosperous. Finally, when passing by the Shen family's own weaving workshop, Shen Shucai noticed that his home probably had at least tens of thousands of looms.
After more than a year of technological iteration, those who adopt new technologies rely on compound profits to grow bigger and invest in reproduction. The power is really beyond the ability of ordinary people. What's more, the Shen family is still working with the Songjiang Xu family to collect "patent fees" in disguise. , relying on power to control places.
When the carriage finally stopped at the door of Shen's house, Shen Shuren saw that his father had come out to pick him up. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted. As for the female family members, they could only let other maids support them.
"Father, no one makes things difficult for you in the capital, right? It's the children who offended Zuo Liangyu. I should have told you in advance."
Shen Tingyang didn't take it seriously at all, his face was full of joy, he was so proud of his son's success: "What's the matter? There is no danger, how long can I stay here when I come back this time?"
Chen Shuren: "At most, it won't be until the Lantern Festival, and then I have to go to Nanjing to deal with Zuo Liangyu and Hou Xun's party. At this time, we are just discussing how to make His Majesty make up his mind to carry out Lijin's reform next year. It’s given.”
The father and son spent several minutes walking from the first courtyard to the fifth and sixth courtyard. If they didn't have something to talk about, such a big house would be tempted to sit on the slide in its own garden.
While chatting, Shen Shuren couldn't help but ask about his fleet and business. He had not had time to care about these things in the past year.
Shen Tingyang was also very proud, saying that the Shen family's seagoing fleet had nearly doubled from 150 to 600 ships in just one year! At least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were spent on shipbuilding, and every year in the future It can still rise that much.
As for the source of the shipbuilding money, about one-third came from the income from carrying water transportation for the imperial court, as well as other turnover money, and two-thirds came from the expansion of the family's textile industry, profits from selling machines, and additional income from sea trade in the textile industry. profit.
We had previously agreed with Chongzhen to "complete the conversion of water transportation to sea transportation in five years." This means that the Shen family will add at least 150 large-scale ships every year in the past five years, and the total number will increase to 800 ships within five years.
You must know that the Zheng family in Fujian only has one or two thousand self-operated seagoing ships.
At the beginning of Shen Shuren's time travel, the Shen family's property was only equivalent to one-twentieth of the Zheng family's. After a year and a half of time traveling, it had exceeded one-tenth of the Zheng family's, more than doubling it.
In the next three to four years, according to this expansion plan, it will grow to one-fifth or one-third of the Zheng family... By then, the Shen family will also become a first-rate force with a wealth that rivals the country. These are all Shen Shu people. The financial basis for future hegemony.
After making so much money, Shen Shuren was happy to pay more taxes to the court to ensure that his business was legal.
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