Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 122 Zhao Xin's Island Country Strategy

Five days later, when the Thunder God returned to the sea off Ishinomaki Port of the Sendai Domain, Zhao Xin took out 1000 taels of fine, and asked Katsuyama Denzo and Murata Jiroemon to buy two Sengoku Bengcai ships in Ishinomaki.At the same time, they were asked not to buy new ships, but to buy two new ones that were probably new.

This is a gift he is going to give to Shen Jingdan and Huang Maocai.These two businessmen from the Qing Dynasty were able to go north with him regardless of everything, so they deserved this great gift.As for the sailors, they should be able to find some among the refugees in Beihai now, enough for Shen and Huang to sail back to Shanghai County.Zhao Xin planned to use the Thunder God to tow the wooden boat to the sea off the southeast of Shandong Province when the two returned to China, and then let them drive the boat back by themselves.

Considering the current training of soldiers in Beihai and the need for large purchases when he goes back, Zhao Xin suggested to Shengshan and Murata that it is best to delay the delivery of sugar and silk fabrics and the operation of Ezodi for one month, because he still has There are important things that need to go back to deal with, and I really can't get away.

The two island country businessmen dared to say no, so they agreed quickly.

Since the defeat of the Saga Clan and the successful blackmail of Nagasaki Magi, Shibata Kakzo and the two businessmen have become more and more respectful to Zhao Xin and others, and even saluted Heita and others very respectfully.

As the head of the Sendai Clan, Shibata Kekzo thought that the strength of these Tang barbarians was terrifying.Especially the two giant cannons on the ship and the huge continuous iron cannon, their power is simply devastating and appalling.

He planned to report to the elders in detail what he saw and heard after returning home, and suggested that he must make good friends with this group of people.As for what Fanli thinks about, it is not up to him to decide.

Shibata Juezo even planned to go back to report to the Fanli this time, and then go to Beihai with Thor next time to see it.

Zhao Xin readily agreed, and said to Shibata Juzou: "If other businessmen from the Sendai Domain want to visit, we welcome it."

Zhao Xin's current plan is to suppress those sa chiefs who will be close to the West in the future, and to support conservative forces like the Sendai Fan.In the "Aizu War" in future history, the "Alliance of Ougoshi Domains" including the Sendai Domain belonged to the faction that supported the shogunate and opposed the return of the great government.

Zhao Xin's specific support strategy is to do business, and attract funds from all over the island country to Sendai Fan through a large number of commodities.At the same time, let those merchants who cooperate with you use part of their profits to help the samurai of the Sendai domain reduce their debts.

If the samurai's debts can be reduced, consumption will increase; merchants can make money, and the market activity will increase; at the same time, taxation within the domain will increase, and the main social conflicts within the Sendai domain will be alleviated.

And if the mouth of the Sendai Fan can be opened, then other clans will follow suit.

Zhao Xin, who is familiar with the history of the island country, knows very well that the biggest crisis in the island country now is not the famine caused by the "Famine of Heaven", but the conflict between warriors and merchants.

In the Edo period, the samurai class, as the main consumer group, had their salaries calculated in terms of rice.Therefore, on the day of receiving their salary, the samurai need to take out rice from the warehouse of the feudal clan or the shogunate, and then transport it to the "rice asking house" to resell it for money.Due to the complicated procedures of exchange, the agency business was born later.

In the ninth year of Xiangbao (1723), the shogunate approved the joint establishment of "Zhachazhu" by the merchants of Miwenya and Shuichaya (the samurai waited and rested in the teahouse when they lined up to sell rice). Zhongjian".Therefore, most of the samurai let "Zhacha Zhuzhongjian" receive their salary on their behalf, while they themselves receive money from Zhacha on a regular basis.

Over time, "Zhacha Zhuzhongjian" has a function similar to that of a modern bank, so the lending business will naturally arise.In the Edo period, the lending interest rate of merchants was generally between 15% and 18%, even if the daimyo came to borrow money.

The salary of the samurai is not enough, so it is inevitable to borrow money from the merchants.Such overdraft spending continued for decades, and many samurai became indebted to the point of bankruptcy.

And the six-year "Tianming Famine" will make these warriors continue to bear higher debts.Once the samurai class, which is the main force of consumption, cannot continue to consume, no matter how much goods Zhao Xin brings in, they will not be able to sell them.

In fact, the shogunate will issue the "Donation Order" five years later (1789), eliminating all loan accounts of the samurai four years before Tianming (1784), and reducing the loan interest rate after four years of Tianming from 15%. ~18% was uniformly changed to 6%.

This decree caused great losses to Zacha merchants. After the promulgation of the "Donation Order", a large number of Zhacha Zhuzhongjian immediately stopped lending business to the warriors, and immediately the entire consumer market of the island country stopped.

By the end of the year in 1790, the samurai needed money for the New Year.So the shogunate threatened those Zacha merchants to lend money to the samurai, and seventeen Zacha merchants went bankrupt and closed that month.The old Nakamatsudaira Sadanobu at the time had no financial resources to solve this problem at all, thus planting a time bomb for the future economic crisis of the shogunate.

After dark, Ding Guofeng and Zhao Liang drove the speedboat to send the three islanders back to the uninhabited beach near Ishinomaki Port.It is only a few miles away from Ishinomaki Town, and the three of Shibata Kakuzo can walk back by themselves.

Afterwards, the Thunder God continued to stay in the sea off Ishinomaki Port for two days. After receiving the third batch of [-] refugees, it turned and sailed north. The next stop was Shachuan in Ezo.

Because the Thunder God bombarded Matsumae Castle before, it killed Matsumae Michihiro, the lord of the Matsumae Domain, and several important officials.At this time, there is no leader in the Matsumae Domain, and they can only wait for the young master and elders from Edo to return to deal with the funeral, so they have no time to take care of the fiasco of the Shachuan War.The samurai of the Matsumae clan who were defeated and returned to the Hirano (Sapporo) tax office were unable to attack again because of heavy losses.

Seeing that Zhao Xin and others came back again, and brought the food promised last time and many irons and weapons, the Shachuan tribe was very happy.

The more than 30 southern horses and a large number of swords and weapons that Zhao Xin left behind before leaving last time are already a lot of wealth for the Shachuan people.

At this time, the injuries of Tuka and more than a dozen other tribesmen have been greatly improved. They knew that "Thor" was coming, so they all walked out of the village to greet them.

Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang, who were traveling with them, were also very surprised to see these short, bearded Ainu people wearing colorful bark clothes.

In the evening of that day, Tuka and a group of people held a banquet in the village to entertain Zhao Xin and others.The local aboriginal diet is mainly based on venison and salmon, usually boiled or grilled; as for the staple food, it is beans and grains.

For Zhao Xin and other modern people, some barbecue is still acceptable; as for the messy cooked food, they can only taste it.

As soon as Tuka came up, he offered three bowls of wine to Zhao Xin, thanking Zhao Xin for saving his life.

Fortunately, Zhao Xin had expected it a long time ago, and brought a box of "Sea King Gold Bottle" before departure.For the development of coal mines in Ezo and the gold mines on the northern islands, he also went all out.

After a big drink, Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng and others took turns to attack after taking anti-alcoholic medicine, and finally got Tuka and others drunk.He hugged Zhao Xin's neck and said that everything was fine.

As for the thing that Zhao Xin was most worried about, it really followed.Tuka, who was drunk, pointed at his sister and said that she would give her to Zhao Xin.

Tuka's younger sister is called "リムセウパシ", which translates to "dancing snow".When Zhao Xin treated Tuka's wounds last time, he didn't bother to ask for his name at all.This girl is only 13 years old this year.

Zhao Xin looked at this little girl with dark complexion, delicate facial features, and typical European characteristics... He really didn't want it!

Not to mention anything else, just looking at the big blood red lips painted on the faces of those Ainu married women at the banquet, Zhao Xin thought of the big villain "Joker" in the movie "Batman".

Zhao Xin's head is very big at the moment, it will be troublesome to accept it or not.

Finally, on second thought, in order to work closely with the Ainu people and control the land of Ezo... that's it!
Tuka's younger sister is still young, and there are also a group of half-grown children in Beihai; raising one is raising, and raising a group is also raising.Forget it, take it back and be with A Miao as a companion.Maybe after a few years, when she grows up, the little girl's mind will turn to others.

So Zhao Xin explained to Tuka.He said that the rules of his family are that women cannot marry until they reach their age.Xue Wu is still young, even if she takes her back, she cannot marry her right away.

Tuka waved his hand indifferently, and said drunkenly: "Since she has followed you, you can decide everything. But I am just such a younger sister, and I didn't agree to those from other tribes who came to ask for marriage..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xin said quickly: "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely treat her kindly."

At this time, Lao Huang, a businessman accompanying him, saw the barbarian patriarch pointing at a woman and saying something to Zhao Xin, so he turned his head and said to Shen Jingdan who was sitting beside him: "Brother Shen, I see that the Ainu patriarch It is to send a woman to Mr. Zhao."

Liu Sheng on the side also drank a little too much at the moment, after hearing what Lao Huang said, he casually continued: "It's just right, he is single."

After hearing this, the merchant Lao Huang rolled his eyes, stood up and toasted Liu Sheng with a glass of wine, and then asked with a smile, "Dare to ask Mr. Zhao Guigeng?"

Liu Sheng said vaguely: "Thirty. This guy is three years younger than me."

It is said that Zhao Xin went to elementary school a year earlier than the average person, and even skipped two grades in elementary school and junior high school, otherwise he would not have become high school classmates with Liu Sheng.

"May I ask Mr. Liu if you have a family?"

"……separated."

"Leaving?" Lao Huang and Shen Jingdan looked at each other, but didn't understand what it meant.But seeing the painful expression on Liu Sheng's face, the two of them couldn't ask any more questions.

In feudal society, the initiative in marriage has always been firmly held by men.According to the "Law of the Qing Dynasty", if the woman wants to initiate a divorce, if the husband does not agree, it will be basically useless.If the woman dares to run away from home without permission, she will be "stuck with a hundred sticks and sold by her husband" after being discovered and arrested by the government;

Shen Jingdan twitched his beard at this moment, looked at Zhao Xin not far away, and felt a slight movement in his heart.But he decided to take another look, and wait until he had seen it in Beihai.

(End of this chapter)