Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 609 Wei's Economics ([-])

After staying in Jeju Prefecture for two days, on July 7, Wei Boqiu arrived in Dajing County by boat; on July 14, he arrived in Jingyi County.After confirming the number of North Koreans trafficked in these two places, on the 17th, he non-stop came to the focus of this trip - Busan.

Busan and Wonsan, as North Korea’s ports open to the east coast, have not been fully utilized before.After Wei Boqiu arrived in the Far East, he decided to make full use of North Korea's potential and make it an economic colony for people on the east coast.These two places are currently regarded as treaty ports in name, but in fact they are quite different.

When the East Bank and North Korea signed the treaty, the North Koreans did not agree to cede the Port of Busan, which had been occupied by the East Bank army, and only agreed to give the East Bank nationals "extreme autonomy" in Busan.But it doesn’t matter too much. People from the east bank have already moved over 2000 Ming people here, and selected some Korean soldiers from the volunteer team to serve as patrol officers, and they are responsible for the daily security work in Busan.

Kim Hong-beom, the county magistrate of the North Koreans here, gave up after repeated protests to no avail, and simply pretended to be dead and let the people on the east bank toss.At present, the status of Jeju Island has not been decided. Wang Jing’s repeated requests have been unreasonably rejected by the people on the east coast. The relationship between the two parties has indeed deteriorated recently. Therefore, it is best not to interfere too much with the people on the east coast at this time, so as not to cause another incident. what the hell.

People from the East Bank of Busan Port also appointed a top administrative official, the chairman of the East Bank Overseas Reclamation Association.The organization of this reclamation association is very simple, with only two branches under its jurisdiction, the Civil Affairs Department and the Patrol Department.In addition, in order to protect the colonial rule of the East Coast people here, the Blackwater Pioneering Team also set up a 500-man Busan garrison here. Japanese soldiers do not require how strong their combat effectiveness is, they only need to be able to suppress the anti-East Bank movement that may exist among the local North Korean residents on a daily basis.

After nearly a year of population statistics, there are still more than [-] Korean residents within Busan County, which is clearly defined with the Kingdom of Korea (the area east of the Nakdong River, a straight line east of Jinjing Mountain to the south of the coastline) people.Most of these people make a living by farming, and a few make a living by hunting, fishing or boiling salt.

After the establishment of the Civil Affairs Office of the Dongan people, a considerable number of Koreans who could understand Chinese were recruited from the volunteer team and the military team to serve as civil affairs officials.It doesn't matter what level these people are, in short, let's put up the airs first.The main task of the Civil Affairs Office is to organize local Koreans and later Ming immigrants to develop production and provide sufficient food for the Heishui area.At the same time, some handicraftsmen among the Ming people will also be relocated here to set up relatively rudimentary handicraft industries in order to gradually radiate the influence of Busan to the surrounding areas.

The Patrol Office outside the Civil Affairs Office is more critical.As we all know, the East Coasters are outsiders and colonists, so they can only dominate the local North Koreans through police rule.In Wei Boqiu's plan to manage North Korea, the first step was to establish the Baojia system in Busan.

The so-called Baojia system actually refers to certain effective systems in later Chinese history.For example, the Baojia system implemented in Busan, its core content is: ten households are Jia, and there is one Jiachang; ten Jia are one Bao, and one Baozheng is set.Jiachang and Baozheng do not receive wages, but they all have certain privileges, such as taxation and exclusive sales of goods from the East Coast, as rewards for their work to the people of the East Coast.If this policy is implemented well, it will be extremely beneficial to Wei Boqiu's plan to rule the dynasty.

According to the current population of more than 427 in Busan (including more than 3995 Ming immigrants), there are 10246 Bao, [-] Jia, and [-] strong men (the specific number of Baojia households depends on the division of natural villages).The main responsibilities of Baozheng and Jiachang are to convey the orders of the people on the east bank, to ban the random flow of North Koreans, to guard against wind, water, and fire, to hunt down bandits, to maintain local law and order, to maintain roads, bridges, and warehouses, to collect taxes, and to assist The east coast patrol police handle cases, investigate illegal incidents such as the anti-east coast movement, and have to undertake more miscellaneous tasks during wartime.

At present, these people are mainly composed of North Korean soldiers who are more trusted by the people on the east coast, and the children of exiled North Korean prisoners on Jeju Island.They don't have much affection for the North Korean regime and are even full of hatred. They are perfect for serving as the minions of the people on the east coast.They will serve as the tentacles and eyes of the people on the east bank, making the North Korean county magistrate Jin Hongfan who has been playing tricks with the people on the east bank helpless.

The households under Baojia also have considerable obligations. For example, when they encounter strangers staying overnight, or when their family members go on a long trip or return home from a long journey, they must report to the head of the armor. Patrol police station.If there is any delay in reporting or concealment, it will be severely punished immediately, and the neighbors around will also bear the responsibility of sitting together.

According to Wei Boqiu's plan, a few years after the implementation of the Baojia system in Busan and Wonsan, the North Korean strong men will also be organized to form a security regiment.The number of members of the security corps is initially set at 500, and all members of the corps shall be persons of good health and good conduct who are between the ages of 16 and 40.Officers at all levels of the security corps were selected by people from the east coast, trained during slack seasons and disbanded during busy seasons, using standard sticks as weapons.If the situation is unstable, the guards will be concentrated immediately. Of course, if the members of the regiment are unstable or disobedient, the officer will immediately expel them and punish them severely.

After the establishment of these systems, I believe that the Koreans in the Busan area will not be able to make any big waves anymore. Over time, in this era when the national thought has not yet sprouted, the colonial rule of the East Coast people over these Koreans will gradually stabilize.After the rule is stabilized, the first priority is still to develop the economy. After all, Wei Boqiu spent a lot of effort to establish a colonial order in Busan and other places not for fun, but to squeeze and exploit the local Koreans more efficiently, making them Become a blood vessel for people from the east coast in the Far East.

However, it is not easy to develop the economy in the Busan area.First of all, this place was a remote and desolate small fishing port in the Joseon Dynasty. Even though some land along the rich and fertile Nakdong River was allocated to the people on the east bank when the border was demarcated, it is still extremely beautiful on the whole. poor.To develop here first, it is necessary to renovate some water conservancy facilities originally built by the Korean Kingdom on the banks of the Nakdong River, and then to vigorously reclaim fields locally and grow various crops.

However, people on the east coast have always been very good at building construction. After arriving at Busan Port by boat on the 20th, he immediately ordered through the chairman of the East Coast Overseas Reclamation Association Jin Wugui (Luo Tiansheng has been transferred to Wonsan) that all the new arrivals of more than [-] Ming people moved to the bank of the Nakdong River, and the local Some North Koreans in the village live together, and the local Baojia relationship and land property rights have been re-divided to ensure that everyone can get a piece of farmland with an area of ​​no less than five mu.Of course, during the process, some North Koreans whose vested interests had been violated rose up to resist, but were soon suppressed by the soldiers of the garrison who came after hearing the news. These rebels and their families would all be locked up and sold to the Dutch.

The people on the east bank also transferred about [-] cattle, [-] sheep, [-] horses, and [-] pigs from the ranch on Jeju Island, and distributed them to farmers in the planting area by the Nakdong River in the form of in-kind loans. in their hands.The principle of distribution is basically set as the priority of the Ming Dynasty farmers, the priority of Baozheng Jiachang’s family, the priority of farmers recommended by Baozheng Jiachang, and so on, and it is the turn of ordinary North Korean farmers in the end.

The agricultural area reclamation plan on the banks of the Nakdong River is an important part of Wei Boqiu's development of the Far East economy. The climate here is suitable, the water source is abundant, and the land is fertile.If the conditions are right, if the three-crop crop rotation system that has been proven to be more efficient in the east coast is implemented here, I believe that a bumper harvest of grain will be obtained.Then these harvested grains can support the large-scale military operations of the people on the east bank in the Heilongjiang River Basin, and the effect is undoubtedly huge.

In addition to agricultural planting, Busan Port is also a port with excellent conditions.The ambitious Wei Boqiu plans to spend three to five years building a ship repair yard, Yonggu Wharf, lighthouse, coastal defense fort, medium-sized bastion and a large number of material warehouses in Busan Port.Then rely on this port to radiate the North Korean mainland and develop commercial trade.What is worrying now is that although North Korea has a population of more than 5 million, the country is not rich. This can be seen from their delay in paying the final payment of [-] taels of silver for the redemption fee.How difficult it is to penetrate North Korea economically!

However, no matter how poor North Koreans are, there is always a need for daily necessities such as food, clothing, housing and transportation.So how to infiltrate through a crack in the door of North Korea that has been pried open by the people from the east bank, and finally sell the goods of the people from the east bank to every corner of North Korea, this is what Wei Boqiu needs to think about and plan closely.

Wei Boqiu believes that to achieve this goal, first of all, the Kingdom of Korea needs to be consciously or unconsciously integrated into the Far East economic circle created by the people on the east coast.For example, organizing young men from the mainland of North Korea to work in the Dutch colonies, and then remit the money they earn back to North Korea through overseas remittances, so that North Koreans have money to consume various goods from the people on the east coast.Of course, in addition to this method, encouraging North Koreans to grow a variety of food or medicinal materials is also a way, because these are bulk commodities that people on the east coast need.

All in all, the economic and political aspects of North Korea should be dealt with together, especially not in a hurry, slowly infiltrating North Korea little by little, and gradually bringing North Korea into the Great Far East Economic Circle envisioned by Wei Boqiu in the way of boiling frogs in warm water.This economic circle includes Sakhalin Island and its surrounding islands, Japan’s Matsumae Domain, the Shandan area, Dutch (or Zheng’s) Taiwan, and parts of the mainland. If this economic circle can self-generate and circulate, it will definitely be able to generate great benefits. Economic interests, and as its leader, the East Coast people will inevitably occupy the largest share of it.

On July 7, Wei Boqiu arrived at Wonsanjin, another open port in North Korea by boat, and then began to guide various plans here.After finishing everything and returning to Dabo Port, it was already early August, and the annual salmon fishing season gradually began to enter the climax stage.

(End of this chapter)