Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2429

On June 1701, 6, at Wonsan Port in the Kingdom of Korea, a merchant ship flying the flag of the east coast was dragged by two small steamers and slowly entered the port.

This is a small transport ship of the Blackwater Transportation Company, about [-] tons, and it is just right for North Korea and Japan routes.In fact, there is no need for a large ship over there, the trade volume is only so small, and your whole [-]-ton ship is not suitable, unless you encounter someone buying bulk materials.

Heishui Transportation Company is a small local shipping company in the five feudal states of the Far East. The Transportation Bureau of Heishui County holds a certain share, but does not hold a controlling stake.Most of the shares are social funds, most of them are businessmen from Heishui and Denglai. The wealthy Ningshao area has no shares. It’s not that they don’t want to participate in the shares, but it’s too late to get the news. Denglai and Heishui The businessman tacitly quickly bought the share of the public offering and completed the fundraising.

The competition between North and South business groups has never been a secret.In the past, Blackwater Fishery Capital controlled the Qiandao Islands, the largest fishing ground in the world, and strictly guarded against the Ningshao fishermen who came to fish. Later, Ningshao businessmen suppressed Shandong Capital trying to enter the Shunguo silk tea market. They imported a large amount from the Qing people, and this opened a small gap.Even in the area under the jurisdiction of the Lianwu Management Committee, which is the weakest, some local wealthy businessmen are trying to form offensive and defensive alliances to compete with the influx of foreign capital and protect their own interests as much as possible.

There is no way, people are selfish, and it is normal to have local protectionism, which has not been completely resolved in the 21st century.What's more, in addition to the relative unity of the military, the five feudal domains on the east coast and the Far East are all independent economic entities. They have cooperation and competition. You can think of them as a large free trade zone. ——Political A free trade zone that is highly unified with the military, well, it is a bit like an enhanced version of the European Union in later generations, because it has a joint army that the president who married his teacher couldn't do.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Trade on the east coast once sent special commissioners to investigate the economy of the five Far Eastern kingdoms, pointing out that they can unite and use several super-large enterprises as a platform to unite and cooperate, give full play to the advantages of group army operations, and make money together.It should be said that so far, they have done a good job in this regard. The three companies, Bank of Taiwan, East Coast Japan Company, and East Coast Korea Company, act as platforms. A lot of money, which more or less bridged the conflicts between the parties and produced a certain amount of economic exchanges. The Black Water Management Committee once planned to go south to Ningshao to establish a heavy industry enterprise is a proof.

Today, the merchant ship of the Blackwater Transport Company is carrying goods from the North Korean company on the east coast.They purchased a large amount of mechanical equipment and parts, weapons and ammunition, whale products, high-grade fur, chemicals, horses and other traditional export commodities in Heishui. These are very easy to sell in North Korea and can generate a lot of profits every year.Especially now that North Korea's industry is developing rapidly, there is a huge demand for heavy metal products, and it is an important customer that Heishui Industry can maintain.

After the ship docked, a large group of North Koreans greeted it.The fastest runners are not the wharf staff, but businessmen who sell all kinds of small commodities and solicit customers for dinner and entertainment.Although their clothes are not so glamorous, they are not too bad. At least there are quite a lot of cotton clothes, which shows that after years of development in Wonsan Port, the lives of the people have indeed greatly improved.

Wonsan Port, before the people from the east coast came, was nothing more than a small fishing port.The reason why people on the east coast are interested in this place is because there is a bay with sufficient water depth. At the entrance of the bay, there are more than a dozen islands of different sizes to block and weaken the waves. On the right side of the harbor, there is a peninsula extending out as a natural breakwater.After passing through these two lines of defense, the wind and waves at the anchorage area of ​​the ship dropped to a very good level, which can be described as a good natural harbor.

After the opening of Wonsan Port, a large number of businessmen from the east coast flocked here to build material warehouses, buildings, and trade markets, and almost single-handedly controlled the import and export trade of Wonsan Port.Later, even with some concessions, the agents at all levels under the East Coast North Korean company still grabbed the largest share of Wonsan Port trade.

But no matter who gets most of Wonsan Trading's profits, as far as the local economy is concerned, it actually doesn't matter much.Those east bank merchants who made a lot of money lived in Wonsan Port most of the time, their families also lived here, and all kinds of consumption (including daily consumption and real estate consumption) also stayed in the local area, which promoted Wonsan locality. economic development.According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of North Korea, the population of the entire Wonsan County (including the port and surrounding rural areas) has exceeded 17. After deducting the local interception every year-this is a special request from the people on the east coast, Wonsan must have enough funds It can be used for local construction - the various taxes that can be sent to Hanyang City are as high as [-] yuan, which can be said to be an important economic center in northern North Korea.

The monarchs and ministers of Hanyang City are very happy that industry and commerce can bring such a huge amount of income.In today's court, the Qingliu conservatives have basically lost their power. The reason why they have not been completely cleared out is that the king of North Korea is worried that the reformists will dominate and it will be difficult to control them.But in any case, North Korea has no way to go back, and they are not willing to go back.We have already tasted the sweetness of a rich country and a strong army. The Japanese who often bullied them during the Battle of Tsushima lost their armor and abandoned their armor. If anyone stands up and shouts at this time to return to the pastoral life of traditional scholar-bureaucrats, I am afraid that they will be punished. Take it for a fool.You know, even the Japanese are now groping for a path to reform. If you go back to the past, do you want to wait for the Japanese to come over?

"Go away! Go away!" A group of guards who maintained order at the pier came over, drove the merchants and brokers aside with sticks, and then began to check various documents and certificates of the ships in port.They didn't dare to check it too carefully, fearing that the captain on the east coast would get impatient, so they only read it briefly, and then respectfully returned it, leaving only two people here to verify the quantity and value of the goods on board with the people on the east coast , in order to calculate the amount of tariffs to be levied.

"Lieutenant Quan, how is the beauty of Yuanshan compared to Gaocheng?" Shao Rujie, deputy general manager of Taiwan Bank, got off the boat and asked Quan Douyong, who was following him, with a smile.

Shao Rujie didn't come to North Korea specially, in fact he went to Yantai by boat.The ship only stays in Wonsan Port for a few days, and it is boring to stay on the ship. It is better to come down to get some air and see the local social conditions.Quan Douyong, on the other hand, went to Gaocheng County, his fiefdom. Before that, he sent a group of children from the three counties (Gancheng, Gaocheng, and Xiangyang) to study at the Vladivostok Army Academy.

To be honest, as the first heir of the three counties of Gancheng, Quan Douyong was very popular during his transfer studies at the Vladivostok Army Academy.He is proficient in Chinese, he is generous, and he will come to things. Whether it is Han, Mongolian or Tunguska students, he has a good relationship with him. He has accumulated quite a lot of network resources.What's even more rare is that Quan Douyong's academic performance is also very good, and he was ranked first in his grades when he graduated. Therefore, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant of the East Coast Army, which is a great honor.

The three counties of Gancheng, which the whole family ruled under, originally supported many troops, and the financial burden was extremely heavy.However, under the persuasion of the Dong'an people, the whole family reformed it, and now it has been reduced to more than [-] people in one division.Although the scale is still not small, it is really necessary to keep such a scale in consideration of the threats they face.

Quan Douyong is now the deputy commander of this division and the head of the first regiment.Under his vigorous training, the first regiment has become the main force of the division, with first-class combat power.After a careful inspection, the instructors on the east bank also praised the combat power of the first regiment, thinking that even if it could not be the first among the nearly [-] troops in North Korea, it would definitely be among the top three.For this reason, they solemnly suggested that a batch of weapon aid be given to the three counties of Gancheng in exchange for the first regiment to go to Manchuria to fight.Quan Douyong already knew about this, he didn't reject it very much in his heart, on the contrary, he was eager to try, thinking of the Manchurian Eight Banners meeting with those Manchurian Eight Banners who forced North Korea's monarchs and ministers into exile on Jianghua Island.

"Mr. Shao, the scenery of Yuanshan is already good, much better than Gaocheng." Quan Douyong said this not because of self-effacing, but because it is true.Although the economy of the three counties of Ganseong is not bad in Gangwon-do, it is not enough to look at the whole country.It is a pity that no city in the three counties can match the prosperity of Wonsan's economy and trade.

"Hehe, Yuanshan is prosperous, but it is due to trade. Once the merchants leave, they are nothing, and the foundation is not stable." Shao Rujie said with a smile: "If Lieutenant Quan's White Tiger Regiment plays well in Manchuria in the future, If you make great achievements, then you are likely to get industrial assistance. You don’t need much, as long as one or two industries are set up to support the big factories in Denglai or Ningshao, life will improve immediately. Your whole family can also get more funds to build places and stabilize the rule."

The White Tiger Regiment is the nickname of the first regiment that Quan Douyong was the leader of.Because the Khalkha Mongolian tribes under the control of the Manchu Qing continued to fight against the people on the eastern bank of the Mobei Grassland, the Manchurian and Mongolian pioneers planned to open up a second battlefield in the northern Manchurian area, focusing on advancing to the southern Manchurian area to contain the Manchurians. The energy prevents him from fully supporting his tens of thousands of horses in the battle on the Mobei grassland.

Considering that the Manchurian pioneering team has already had a considerable amount of troops pinned down on the Mobei Grassland, the Northern Manchurian troops have more than enough defense but not enough offense, so they had to mobilize troops from outside.In addition to Denglai and Ningshao's half of new military divisions, North Korea will also dispatch a large number of troops, the total number will not be less than 5000, and Quan Douyong's White Tiger Regiment is part of it.

In addition, according to unreliable sources, the Second Mixed Regiment of the East Coast Army, which is currently undergoing training in Wuzhou, may also go north to join the battle.If this matter can finally come true, it will be a big surprise for the Qing army entrenched in South Manchuria!

(End of this chapter)