Chapter 1588
Complicated Preparations
Chapter 1588 Complicated Preparations
When visiting Gu Wenchong's sugarcane plantation earlier, Xun Peng also noticed that there were a lot of slaves participating in the labor in the sugarcane fields.The body and appearance of these foreign slaves are obviously different from those of the Han people, and they can be distinguished with a little attention.But at that time, Xun Pengcheng's attention was focused on understanding the operating conditions of the sugarcane plantation, but he didn't think of asking Gu Wenchong about the slave trade by the way.Fortunately, Lao Gao seemed to be no stranger to the slave trade, and Xun Pengcheng believed that he could also get valuable information from him.
As a former media practitioner, Xun Pengcheng understands the value of information and intelligence, and also knows its significance to business and trade.For businessmen, the economic benefits that first-hand timely information can bring far exceed daily hard work, and it can also ensure that they avoid detours and make wrong decisions during the business process.Xun Pengcheng wants to invest in plantations here, but one hurdle that cannot be overcome is manpower guarantee. If there is not enough labor force, then no matter how good the project is, it will be just talk on paper after all.
Although the operation of the plantation can be handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, what the Ministry of Agriculture provides is technical and management support, not the labor force.Therefore, the large amount of labor required to start a plantation still has to be found by the operators themselves.The normal way is to hire immigrants who have recently entered Haihan through the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, because the number of immigrants always exceeds the demand, it is almost impossible to gather hundreds of labors to start work in a short period of time through this way. thing.
Obtaining cheap labor through the slave trade has become the simplest and most convenient solution to this problem.As long as the buyer can afford the money, no matter whether it is 100 people or 1000 people, the slave traders will try to organize the "source of goods" and send them to the area designated by the buyer.Plantations in the area from Changhua to Danzhou are dense, and the slave trade is naturally extremely developed. Ships transporting slaves will be close to the shore and send people directly to the plantations.
And in recent years, with the increase in labor demand for plantations, some Han Chinese who are familiar with the Nanyang environment have also begun to join the slave trade, organizing fleets to go to Nanyang to capture local natives, and then transport them back to Hainan Island to sell to local plantations. The profit of this business is as lucrative as in the past when all kinds of gemstones and spices were transported from Nanyang to Daming.According to Lao Gao, in the area of Changhua in Danzhou alone, there are at least seven or eight slave fleets operated by Han people who are engaged in this business all year round.Of course, [-]% to [-]% of the slaves brought back were pre-ordered, and larger orders must be negotiated in advance.
However, this business is not a legitimate business permitted by the Haihan law, so the official registration information and business scope of these slave fleets do not mention the real business they are engaged in.The contact between the slave fleet and the buyer is done through a local intermediary agency, that is, a dental office.
"If the guest officer wants to inquire about the market in this area, after you arrive in Danzhou, I will take you to meet the people in the tooth shop." After Lao Gao gave a general introduction to the local slave trade situation, he became an intermediary again: "I The dental shop opened by my brother-in-law in Danzhou has this kind of business, if the guest officer is interested, the price is easy to negotiate."
Of course Xun Pengcheng is interested, and the interest is not small. It can be said that if he wants to open a plantation, he must not get around the stall of the slave trade.And he himself has no connections in this area, if someone can match up, it will naturally save a lot of trouble.However, when he thought of Lao Gao's son-in-law with a special status, he still felt a thorn in his heart, and couldn't help asking: "Old Gao, these things... your son-in-law won't interfere, right?"
Old Gao responded: "My son-in-law? Why does my son-in-law care about this? If there were no slaves brought over from Nanyang, many farms and plantations would have to stop working. Can he bear such a big responsibility?"
Xun Pengcheng thought about it, what Lao Gao said was also reasonable. Although the Ministry of Security is in charge of the world, there are still some things that they cannot take responsibility for.The problems involved in this slave trade are not just illegal entry, but also have a direct impact on the local economy and the livelihood of many people. It is fine if the Ministry of Security does not intervene. cause consequences.However, the Ministry of Security cannot take responsibility for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce in terms of economic responsibilities. Naturally, it can only play deaf and dumb on the slave trade issue and ignore these semi-open slave trades.
Of course, if you really want to talk about it, this choice of the Ministry of Security actually reflects the attitude of the Executive Committee.The Executive Committee does not support or encourage the slave trade, but it will not express its opposition. After all, it is difficult to find a better solution to the huge labor shortage Haihan is facing at this stage, and it can only be obtained through this method. It must be relieved.As for the resulting humanitarian issues and subsequent social instability factors, the Executive Committee is currently unable to take into account so much.
However, the state did not completely ignore it. In fact, how many people were transported by these slave ships to Hainan Island still needed to go through informal registration, but it was not a special department like the Ministry of Security that was in charge of the statistics, but the Yahang. private intermediaries.It is also one of the conditions in exchange for these intermediaries to obtain franchise rights to serve the country within their ability.The whereabouts of these slaves are also registered by various intermediary agencies and then summarized to the civil affairs department, so that these slave populations can be effectively tracked and managed in the future.
In order to make up for the omissions that may occur in the registration process as much as possible, Haihan has also increased the requirements for the employers of various plantations. The plantations in the country will be punished heavily, as will the fleets that supply them with slaves.
In this way, the registration and management system of slaves can be established without spending too much official resources. The effect is not bad.After more than a year of pilot operation, the relevant departments have made up for some loopholes, and then quickly implemented it to various areas under the administration where plantations are relatively concentrated.
Although these management measures did not have much positive impact on the fate of the slaves, they were effective in improving the local security situation.As long as the source and whereabouts of most slaves are controlled, there will be no major disturbances in the local area.After accumulating enough experience, the loopholes in this set of plans will become less and less, and the practicability will not be much worse than the establishment of a dedicated competent department.
When Xun Pengcheng consulted the Ministry of Agriculture in Sanya, he actually knew about the policies and measures in this area. However, the slave trade is not completely legal in Haihan, so the officials are also vague about this, and the language is not clear. He will not tell Xun Pengcheng where to contact the slave trader.He can only figure out a way to understand the doorways in the middle.
No matter how lazy Xun Pengcheng wanted to be, it was impossible to outsource the business, and he had to handle it himself after all.Thinking about my job-hopping from a reporter to a plantation owner, it was a very good experience, but I didn't expect to need to be a human trafficker in the middle.Although he doesn't have much moral obsession, he is not happy to play such an unglamorous role.
Lao Gao then took Xun Pengcheng to a spice plantation. The scale of the plantation here was not as large as the previous sugarcane plantation, but there were more than 200 slaves and dozens of hired workers, so the scene was not small.The owner here is named Guan Pingcai, who used to be a squire in Changhua County, and he was an old acquaintance with the coachman Lao Gao.This person was quite hospitable, seeing that it was already time for lunch in the afternoon, he let Xun Pengcheng and Lao Gao stay here for one night, and then set up a banquet for Xun Pengcheng.
Xun Pengcheng was quite flattered, and after chatting for a while, he found out that Guan Pingcai was actually an old reader of the Express, and when Lao Gao introduced him earlier, he came by the identity Xun Pengcheng himself claimed to the outside world.For the sake of convenience, Xun Pengcheng claimed to be an employee of Sanya Express, so that when he asked people for various news, he would not look too strange.But he never imagined that in this plantation in the countryside of Changhua, he would be lucky enough to meet the readers of the Express, and seeing the enthusiasm of the readers, he was still a very loyal type.
Before the banquet was held, Guan Ping took out a stack of Sanya Express from his collection and showed it to Xun Pengcheng. He introduced it proudly: "Since the publication of your newspaper, there has been no issue. I bought all of them. Look, Even this supplement that came out some time ago also has it!"
The newspaper that Guan Pingcai drew out was a supplement issued overnight by Express News under official pressure after the Matalan people caused the news incident. This had an inextricable relationship with Xun Pengcheng.Xun Pengcheng couldn't laugh or cry when he saw it, and his expression suddenly became a little embarrassed.
Guan Ping observed his words and said, "What's the inconvenience, Your Excellency?"
Xun Pengcheng smiled wryly and said, "It's not inconvenient, but this special issue and the front page headline of the previous issue are all handwritten."
"Oh? It turns out that the author who signed the 'bald pen student' on this Express is Your Excellency! I'm sorry!" Guan Ping cupped his hands and said, "In the past few years since the Express was founded, there have been several supplementary issues, but this is the first time I read it. The headlines on the front page the day before yesterday and the subsequent supplements were all written by the same person, which is really an anomaly.”
Xun Pengcheng couldn't explain to him what was going on in the middle, so he could only respond vaguely at the moment, but he didn't dare to use this momentum to brag himself.He knew that the background of Ma Talan's purchase of weapons was quite complicated, and he had already been involved in it twice, and if it happened a third time, he might not be lucky enough to escape safely.So even if it was just a topic related to it, Xun Pengcheng subconsciously avoided it.What's more, there was a hidden danger of Lao Gao sitting next to him. If he heard something and told his son-in-law when he went back, wouldn't he have to explain it to the security department for a long time?
Xun Pengcheng quickly shifted the topic to the operation of the plantation, but Guan Pingcai was not very interested in it: "The two old sons are now serving the country, and I have no interest in letting them come back to inherit the plantation. It can only be regarded as an old coffin book, and how much money can be collected is how much money."
After hearing this, Xun Pengcheng didn't dare to ask which department Guan Pingcai's son worked for, so as not to ask questions that should not be asked again.However, Guan Ping was obviously not very interested in running the plantation. He usually left it to a few cronies under his command to take care of it, and only asked about larger accounts that needed his own instructions.As for the output here, it is underwritten by the Ministry of Agriculture, and the contract is signed for 20 years, and there is no need for him to find sales on his own.
Xun Pengcheng asked, "Is there anything special about growing spices?"
Guan Ping responded: "Are you talking about agricultural technology? The technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture come here regularly to deal with problems. The old man can't learn new things when he is too old. They are all in charge of a few young people. What can I say? Pay attention, the more you plant, the better!"
Xun Pengcheng thought to himself that I would like to plant tens of thousands of mu for fun, but the problem is that I don't have that much money in my pocket!After thinking about it, he asked Guan Ping about the land price nearby. If it was cheap, he could consider enclosing land here.
Guan Pingcai said: "It's not a few years earlier now. In the fourth year of Haihan, the land price here was very cheap. As long as it is to build a plantation, you only need to pay a contract fee of 1000 yuan a year for [-] acres of land. There are also discounts for those with more than [-] mu of land. Later, more and more plantations were opened here, and the land price has also risen accordingly, and now it has increased by about ten times compared to the beginning. Even so, the large households are still expanding every year I can’t wait to enclose all the land within a radius of tens of miles.”
Xun Pengcheng frowned when he heard this. The magnitude of the land price change was indeed beyond his imagination.And in terms of the current contracting fee, he really can't make any big scenes with the funds on hand.It looks like there is a lot of money in the account, but if you want to enclose land, hire people, resettle, buy various production tools and seedlings, and outsource it to the Ministry of Agriculture, the cost will be higher than this, and the first two or three years Basically, it is only going out but not in, and there is no income.It's okay for him to build a plantation of more than [-] acres with the little funds in his hand, but such a small plantation can't expect to make a lot of money, and it may not be able to support the luxurious life he yearns for.
"What about the land price in Danzhou?" Xun Pengcheng asked persistently.
Guan Pingcai said: "The land price in Danzhou? Of course it is higher than here! Your Excellency may not know that, if you want to open a new plantation or farm in Danzhou, the enclosure needs to start with [-] acres of land, which is not ordinary. People can afford it."
(End of this chapter)
When visiting Gu Wenchong's sugarcane plantation earlier, Xun Peng also noticed that there were a lot of slaves participating in the labor in the sugarcane fields.The body and appearance of these foreign slaves are obviously different from those of the Han people, and they can be distinguished with a little attention.But at that time, Xun Pengcheng's attention was focused on understanding the operating conditions of the sugarcane plantation, but he didn't think of asking Gu Wenchong about the slave trade by the way.Fortunately, Lao Gao seemed to be no stranger to the slave trade, and Xun Pengcheng believed that he could also get valuable information from him.
As a former media practitioner, Xun Pengcheng understands the value of information and intelligence, and also knows its significance to business and trade.For businessmen, the economic benefits that first-hand timely information can bring far exceed daily hard work, and it can also ensure that they avoid detours and make wrong decisions during the business process.Xun Pengcheng wants to invest in plantations here, but one hurdle that cannot be overcome is manpower guarantee. If there is not enough labor force, then no matter how good the project is, it will be just talk on paper after all.
Although the operation of the plantation can be handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, what the Ministry of Agriculture provides is technical and management support, not the labor force.Therefore, the large amount of labor required to start a plantation still has to be found by the operators themselves.The normal way is to hire immigrants who have recently entered Haihan through the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, because the number of immigrants always exceeds the demand, it is almost impossible to gather hundreds of labors to start work in a short period of time through this way. thing.
Obtaining cheap labor through the slave trade has become the simplest and most convenient solution to this problem.As long as the buyer can afford the money, no matter whether it is 100 people or 1000 people, the slave traders will try to organize the "source of goods" and send them to the area designated by the buyer.Plantations in the area from Changhua to Danzhou are dense, and the slave trade is naturally extremely developed. Ships transporting slaves will be close to the shore and send people directly to the plantations.
And in recent years, with the increase in labor demand for plantations, some Han Chinese who are familiar with the Nanyang environment have also begun to join the slave trade, organizing fleets to go to Nanyang to capture local natives, and then transport them back to Hainan Island to sell to local plantations. The profit of this business is as lucrative as in the past when all kinds of gemstones and spices were transported from Nanyang to Daming.According to Lao Gao, in the area of Changhua in Danzhou alone, there are at least seven or eight slave fleets operated by Han people who are engaged in this business all year round.Of course, [-]% to [-]% of the slaves brought back were pre-ordered, and larger orders must be negotiated in advance.
However, this business is not a legitimate business permitted by the Haihan law, so the official registration information and business scope of these slave fleets do not mention the real business they are engaged in.The contact between the slave fleet and the buyer is done through a local intermediary agency, that is, a dental office.
"If the guest officer wants to inquire about the market in this area, after you arrive in Danzhou, I will take you to meet the people in the tooth shop." After Lao Gao gave a general introduction to the local slave trade situation, he became an intermediary again: "I The dental shop opened by my brother-in-law in Danzhou has this kind of business, if the guest officer is interested, the price is easy to negotiate."
Of course Xun Pengcheng is interested, and the interest is not small. It can be said that if he wants to open a plantation, he must not get around the stall of the slave trade.And he himself has no connections in this area, if someone can match up, it will naturally save a lot of trouble.However, when he thought of Lao Gao's son-in-law with a special status, he still felt a thorn in his heart, and couldn't help asking: "Old Gao, these things... your son-in-law won't interfere, right?"
Old Gao responded: "My son-in-law? Why does my son-in-law care about this? If there were no slaves brought over from Nanyang, many farms and plantations would have to stop working. Can he bear such a big responsibility?"
Xun Pengcheng thought about it, what Lao Gao said was also reasonable. Although the Ministry of Security is in charge of the world, there are still some things that they cannot take responsibility for.The problems involved in this slave trade are not just illegal entry, but also have a direct impact on the local economy and the livelihood of many people. It is fine if the Ministry of Security does not intervene. cause consequences.However, the Ministry of Security cannot take responsibility for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce in terms of economic responsibilities. Naturally, it can only play deaf and dumb on the slave trade issue and ignore these semi-open slave trades.
Of course, if you really want to talk about it, this choice of the Ministry of Security actually reflects the attitude of the Executive Committee.The Executive Committee does not support or encourage the slave trade, but it will not express its opposition. After all, it is difficult to find a better solution to the huge labor shortage Haihan is facing at this stage, and it can only be obtained through this method. It must be relieved.As for the resulting humanitarian issues and subsequent social instability factors, the Executive Committee is currently unable to take into account so much.
However, the state did not completely ignore it. In fact, how many people were transported by these slave ships to Hainan Island still needed to go through informal registration, but it was not a special department like the Ministry of Security that was in charge of the statistics, but the Yahang. private intermediaries.It is also one of the conditions in exchange for these intermediaries to obtain franchise rights to serve the country within their ability.The whereabouts of these slaves are also registered by various intermediary agencies and then summarized to the civil affairs department, so that these slave populations can be effectively tracked and managed in the future.
In order to make up for the omissions that may occur in the registration process as much as possible, Haihan has also increased the requirements for the employers of various plantations. The plantations in the country will be punished heavily, as will the fleets that supply them with slaves.
In this way, the registration and management system of slaves can be established without spending too much official resources. The effect is not bad.After more than a year of pilot operation, the relevant departments have made up for some loopholes, and then quickly implemented it to various areas under the administration where plantations are relatively concentrated.
Although these management measures did not have much positive impact on the fate of the slaves, they were effective in improving the local security situation.As long as the source and whereabouts of most slaves are controlled, there will be no major disturbances in the local area.After accumulating enough experience, the loopholes in this set of plans will become less and less, and the practicability will not be much worse than the establishment of a dedicated competent department.
When Xun Pengcheng consulted the Ministry of Agriculture in Sanya, he actually knew about the policies and measures in this area. However, the slave trade is not completely legal in Haihan, so the officials are also vague about this, and the language is not clear. He will not tell Xun Pengcheng where to contact the slave trader.He can only figure out a way to understand the doorways in the middle.
No matter how lazy Xun Pengcheng wanted to be, it was impossible to outsource the business, and he had to handle it himself after all.Thinking about my job-hopping from a reporter to a plantation owner, it was a very good experience, but I didn't expect to need to be a human trafficker in the middle.Although he doesn't have much moral obsession, he is not happy to play such an unglamorous role.
Lao Gao then took Xun Pengcheng to a spice plantation. The scale of the plantation here was not as large as the previous sugarcane plantation, but there were more than 200 slaves and dozens of hired workers, so the scene was not small.The owner here is named Guan Pingcai, who used to be a squire in Changhua County, and he was an old acquaintance with the coachman Lao Gao.This person was quite hospitable, seeing that it was already time for lunch in the afternoon, he let Xun Pengcheng and Lao Gao stay here for one night, and then set up a banquet for Xun Pengcheng.
Xun Pengcheng was quite flattered, and after chatting for a while, he found out that Guan Pingcai was actually an old reader of the Express, and when Lao Gao introduced him earlier, he came by the identity Xun Pengcheng himself claimed to the outside world.For the sake of convenience, Xun Pengcheng claimed to be an employee of Sanya Express, so that when he asked people for various news, he would not look too strange.But he never imagined that in this plantation in the countryside of Changhua, he would be lucky enough to meet the readers of the Express, and seeing the enthusiasm of the readers, he was still a very loyal type.
Before the banquet was held, Guan Ping took out a stack of Sanya Express from his collection and showed it to Xun Pengcheng. He introduced it proudly: "Since the publication of your newspaper, there has been no issue. I bought all of them. Look, Even this supplement that came out some time ago also has it!"
The newspaper that Guan Pingcai drew out was a supplement issued overnight by Express News under official pressure after the Matalan people caused the news incident. This had an inextricable relationship with Xun Pengcheng.Xun Pengcheng couldn't laugh or cry when he saw it, and his expression suddenly became a little embarrassed.
Guan Ping observed his words and said, "What's the inconvenience, Your Excellency?"
Xun Pengcheng smiled wryly and said, "It's not inconvenient, but this special issue and the front page headline of the previous issue are all handwritten."
"Oh? It turns out that the author who signed the 'bald pen student' on this Express is Your Excellency! I'm sorry!" Guan Ping cupped his hands and said, "In the past few years since the Express was founded, there have been several supplementary issues, but this is the first time I read it. The headlines on the front page the day before yesterday and the subsequent supplements were all written by the same person, which is really an anomaly.”
Xun Pengcheng couldn't explain to him what was going on in the middle, so he could only respond vaguely at the moment, but he didn't dare to use this momentum to brag himself.He knew that the background of Ma Talan's purchase of weapons was quite complicated, and he had already been involved in it twice, and if it happened a third time, he might not be lucky enough to escape safely.So even if it was just a topic related to it, Xun Pengcheng subconsciously avoided it.What's more, there was a hidden danger of Lao Gao sitting next to him. If he heard something and told his son-in-law when he went back, wouldn't he have to explain it to the security department for a long time?
Xun Pengcheng quickly shifted the topic to the operation of the plantation, but Guan Pingcai was not very interested in it: "The two old sons are now serving the country, and I have no interest in letting them come back to inherit the plantation. It can only be regarded as an old coffin book, and how much money can be collected is how much money."
After hearing this, Xun Pengcheng didn't dare to ask which department Guan Pingcai's son worked for, so as not to ask questions that should not be asked again.However, Guan Ping was obviously not very interested in running the plantation. He usually left it to a few cronies under his command to take care of it, and only asked about larger accounts that needed his own instructions.As for the output here, it is underwritten by the Ministry of Agriculture, and the contract is signed for 20 years, and there is no need for him to find sales on his own.
Xun Pengcheng asked, "Is there anything special about growing spices?"
Guan Ping responded: "Are you talking about agricultural technology? The technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture come here regularly to deal with problems. The old man can't learn new things when he is too old. They are all in charge of a few young people. What can I say? Pay attention, the more you plant, the better!"
Xun Pengcheng thought to himself that I would like to plant tens of thousands of mu for fun, but the problem is that I don't have that much money in my pocket!After thinking about it, he asked Guan Ping about the land price nearby. If it was cheap, he could consider enclosing land here.
Guan Pingcai said: "It's not a few years earlier now. In the fourth year of Haihan, the land price here was very cheap. As long as it is to build a plantation, you only need to pay a contract fee of 1000 yuan a year for [-] acres of land. There are also discounts for those with more than [-] mu of land. Later, more and more plantations were opened here, and the land price has also risen accordingly, and now it has increased by about ten times compared to the beginning. Even so, the large households are still expanding every year I can’t wait to enclose all the land within a radius of tens of miles.”
Xun Pengcheng frowned when he heard this. The magnitude of the land price change was indeed beyond his imagination.And in terms of the current contracting fee, he really can't make any big scenes with the funds on hand.It looks like there is a lot of money in the account, but if you want to enclose land, hire people, resettle, buy various production tools and seedlings, and outsource it to the Ministry of Agriculture, the cost will be higher than this, and the first two or three years Basically, it is only going out but not in, and there is no income.It's okay for him to build a plantation of more than [-] acres with the little funds in his hand, but such a small plantation can't expect to make a lot of money, and it may not be able to support the luxurious life he yearns for.
"What about the land price in Danzhou?" Xun Pengcheng asked persistently.
Guan Pingcai said: "The land price in Danzhou? Of course it is higher than here! Your Excellency may not know that, if you want to open a new plantation or farm in Danzhou, the enclosure needs to start with [-] acres of land, which is not ordinary. People can afford it."
(End of this chapter)