Chapter 2075
Chapter 2075
Chapter 2075
March 1638, Seoul, Korea.
More than half a year after the end of the war against the Qing Dynasty, Seoul has basically restored normal social order.Most of the people who fled from the war zone in the north last year have returned to their hometowns to rebuild their homes, and most of the people who stayed near Seoul have found new livelihoods.Tens of thousands of war refugees have basically been resettled through the efforts of all parties, and are no longer a local security risk in Seoul.
With the signing of various trade agreements, businessmen from Haihan, Portugal and other countries came to Seoul to engage in trade activities after the war. The influx of a large amount of goods and funds quickly revitalized the economy of the Seoul area and made shipping in the Han River Basin The industry has entered a period of rapid development.The river section from Seoul to the estuary of the Han River, which is only a hundred miles away, has become the busiest waterway on the Korean Peninsula after the war.
Ganghwa Island, located at the estuary of the Han River, has now become the transshipment port with the largest cargo throughput on the North Korean coast.In addition to transshipping various goods from Ganghwa Island to Seoul for foreign merchants, local sailboats also undertake the task of transporting various agricultural and forestry products produced in the upstream area to Ganghwa Island.
It's just that compared with the goods shipped to North Korea by foreign businessmen, the value of these locally produced agricultural and forestry products is much lower.But this is also impossible. There is no large-scale mining of minerals near Seoul. It can only provide commodities such as poultry, timber, and medicinal materials to foreign merchants to maintain trade balance.However, most of the goods Haihan sells to the North Korean market are various industrial products, and the profits are far higher than agricultural products. In fact, there is a very large scissors gap in the trade process.
And some Haihan merchants with rich operating experience have already started to open some processing workshops near Seoul, using the relatively cheap local labor force and raw materials, as well as Haihan's technology and equipment to produce some simple processed goods. Obtain more lucrative profits than simply selling raw materials.
This kind of keen business sense and efficient execution can only be possessed by businessmen from Haihan in this era.Although the counterparts in Portugal have similar ideas, due to the lack of sufficient funds and advanced production technology, operating such business projects is not as fast as Haihan businessmen.However, Haihan merchants can get support from the government, especially after Haihan Bank established a branch in Seoul, the pressure on merchants’ local money turnover will undoubtedly be reduced a lot, and they can apply for loans from Haihan Bank when necessary. To tide over the difficulties.
These processing workshops are labor-intensive industries, so they also provide a large number of employment opportunities for local people, especially those war refugees who fled to Seoul and have become homeless. The workshops opened employ a large number of these refugees with extremely low labor costs, which can be regarded as solving some social problems for the government to a certain extent.
Compared with those refugees who only seek food and clothing, the people who really benefited from the opening of the market are actually the dignitaries who hold real power.
The most profitable industries in Seoul are almost all under the control of big shots.This is also the main reason why all kinds of commodities imported into Seoul from overseas have to be transshipped in Ganghwa Island. Foreign merchants only act as suppliers in this form of trade, while the distribution stage is completed by local commercial organizations.As for these institutions that can obtain agent qualifications, they generally have an official background, so most of the profits of imported products in the sales stage actually flow into the pockets of officials at all levels.
Recently, the topic of dispute among the officials in the court has also changed from last year's deadly battle or peace negotiation to whether the country's business mechanism should be completely emulated by Haihan.But this time, the opinions of the two major factions of officials just reversed. Kim Sang-heon, the former main combatant, abandoned his radical attitude and turned into a conservative, believing that the country’s commercial system should not be allowed to follow Haihan’s example; , At this time, they think that Haihan's business mechanism should be boldly introduced into North Korea, so as to obtain the massive funds needed for post-war reconstruction and development.
Both Kim Sang-heon and Cui Ming-gil have many supporters in the officialdom, so this issue has become the focus of controversy every time they go to court recently.Today was no exception. In front of King Li Zhen, the two had another argument about this.
"Haihan is good at seeking various benefits from other countries by means of business and trade. Our country must be on guard against this!" Jin Shangxian said: "Just look at Daming. Haihan has used business as an excuse over the years. The coast has occupied a lot of places, and the local officials have been bribed with profits, and these occupied areas have been slowly annexed. Although Haihan helped us a lot in last year's war, we have also drawn a large area on the Datong River The area is for its garrison. But does Haihan have any plans to stop here? I don’t think there is any, and eight out of ten ships anchored outside Jianghua Island are from Haihan, and the island has been building warehouses and warehouses. If things go on like this, Jianghua Island will have to be annexed by them sooner or later!"
"Master Jin's words are wrong!" Cui Mingji immediately objected to Jin Shangxian's opinion: "If it was not for the opening of the market, how could Seoul restore order so quickly? If there were no these Haihan merchants who opened various In the workshop, how do the tens of thousands of local refugees make a living? Are we going to send troops to drive these people back to the north? Or is Lord Jin willing to use his salary to solve the problem of feeding these refugees?"
Jin Shangxian said: "Master Cui, don't pretend to be a fool. Haihan people set up workshops in Seoul to hire refugees. Is their purpose to help the people? They just because these refugees ask for a low price, and it costs less to hire them to work. What's more, these After being employed by the Haihan people, the refugees solved their food and clothing. Do you think they will be grateful to the Haihan people or to the court? Are they really safer than those homeless refugees? Over time, these people obey the orders of the Haihan people and have a lot of money. Wouldn't the people whose interests are closely connected with Haihan become another hidden danger of instability?"
Cui Mingji said: "Miss Jin, this is arrogance! The measures of the Haihan people have at least solved the difficult problems we feel at the moment, and the situation that Master Jin said is nothing more than your own imagination. It would be too far-fetched to use a situation that has not yet happened to make a crime!"
Jin Shangxian said angrily: "Master Cui is trying his best to protect it. Could it be that Cui's family has invested in the several wood processing workshops that went into operation last month, as well as the six boat companies that run boats on the Han River?"
Cui Mingji sneered and said, "Master Jin is very good at spitting blood! In my opinion, Lord Jin is desperately opposing the opening of trade with Haihan, probably because the business of the several salt farms originally controlled by the Jin family is about to be taken over by the Datong River Salt Farm." The low-priced official salt was snatched away?"
Li Jing listened to the two people arguing with a gloomy expression, secretly thinking that it was not a good thing.Didn't he know that there are actually huge interests involved behind the party struggles in the court, but since he took office for more than ten years, he has been trying to survive in the cracks, and he has long been accustomed to various harsh environments. The dispute they have started on this is actually nothing compared to the bad situation they faced before.
Both the Kim family and the Cui family are famous families in North Korea, and Kim Sang-heon and Cui Mingji are the spokespersons of these families in the court.Their opinions do represent the attitude of the families behind them to a certain extent, but as the helm of the country, Li Zhen cannot easily favor one of them. If his personal position shows bias, it is easy for these clans to The balance between is broken, and this is not a good thing for maintaining the political stability of the country.What Li Jing needs is for them to maintain a certain degree of conflict of interests, and use this to form mutual restraints to achieve a balance of power in the court.
Although to put it bluntly, it was just a mess, but it was not easy to do it. It is necessary to make the ministers obey their orders and arrangements, but not to completely extinguish their spirit of continuing to fight.To balance the interests of all parties in a reasonable way is actually a difficult problem that will test the means of governance.
"You two lovers, there is no need to be so excited." Seeing that the two had already started to bring out all the black material under the table, Li Jing could only stop them from continuing the debate.If these two guys can't control their anger and talk about the properties operated by the royal family outside, the situation will be difficult to deal with.
Of course, cooperation with the Haihan people in terms of trade is not only the monopoly of the aristocrats. In fact, the Li family also has business cooperation with Haihan, and it is not a trivial operation like partnering with Haihan merchants.Although the Datongjiang Saltworks that Cui Mingji mentioned just now is an officially operated saltworks in name, in fact the Li family is the main investor in the development and construction. The treasury of the family, the rest is the part that goes into the national treasury.
This is not entirely Li's misappropriation of the treasury's proceeds. In fact, several large projects along the Datong River in cooperation with Haihan have exhausted the little surplus food left in the treasury.So much so that last year North Korean officials needed to borrow money from Haihan Bank to maintain the normal operation of official institutions.
Under such circumstances, if several cooperation projects between the two countries are to continue, a huge funding gap must be made up.As for these projects that are related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, it is impossible for Li Jing to allow a large amount of funds from the clan to flow in. Of course, the most suitable thing is to use the private property of the Li family to make up for these gaps. It can also obtain huge economic benefits in the foreseeable future.
Li Jing felt that Cui Mingji mentioned this matter deliberately to use this topic to set a trap for Kim Sang-heon. If Kim Sang-heon fails to answer this question involving the interests of the royal family, he will definitely lose points in front of Li Jing. The purpose is achieved.
However, Li Jing didn't want the two to continue their sloppy debates. He actually had his own views on how to introduce Haihan Commercial.
"Both of you should still remember that our country sent a group of people, including the prince, to study abroad in Haihan last year. Why is this arrangement? It is to learn the powerful skills of the Haihan country! They fought fiercely, and we We sent military officers to learn how to lead troops to fight; they were good at sailing, so we sent people to learn how to build ships; they were good at governing the country, so I asked my son to learn how to govern."
Li Zhen talked eloquently: "The people of Haihan are good at business and trade, and the world knows it. If this is the case, why don't we learn their skills? It is slow to learn in marching and fighting. It is not so difficult to learn how to do business. ? Haihan merchants want to open workshops and storehouses in our country, so let them open, these industries, these technologies, will not all stay in our country in the future? Take a long-term view, and don’t be entangled in immediate gains and losses!"
Li Jing’s statement sounded like he was supporting the expansion of the introduction of Haihan’s commercial mechanism. Cui Mingji was very pleased when he heard it, but Kim Sangheon couldn’t hide his disappointment.
But Li Ji immediately changed the subject: "However, we cannot be unprepared against the Haihan people. Just as Mr. Jin said, Haihan used trade as a bait to buy officials in Daming and occupy islands and ports. These deeds are lessons from the past. We want to avoid a similar situation in our country as much as possible. If we want to do business, we can let them in, but if we want to get more benefits from our country, then we have to be more careful."
"Your Majesty's lesson!" Jin Shangxian immediately expressed his support for Li Zhen's statement, and even glanced at his opponent.
Although Cui Mingji was a little upset by Li Ji's statement on the wall, he didn't show it at all on his face, and also expressed his obedience to Li Ji.
Seeing that the two of them had no intention of continuing to argue, Li Jing began to talk about another matter: "Today, I have invited you two into the palace, and there is one more thing I want to hear from you. General Wang of Haihan Someone sent a letter saying that they are planning to send warships to the southern coast for training in the near future, hoping that our country can provide a temporary supply port on Jeju Island, what do you think about this matter?"
Cui Mingji frowned and said: "The Haihan people want to train soldiers, so why don't they practice near the Datong River, but go far away to the vicinity of Jeju Island? Could it be that there is something special nearby, and the Haihan people specially arranged warships to go there to investigate?"
Jin Shangxian said in a deep voice: "Jeju Island...I'm afraid that the Haihan people are interested in Jeju Island, just looking for an excuse to allow their troops to land on the island. Your Majesty, this matter must be prevented!"
Li Jing said: "Actually, I am also a little worried about the true intentions of the Haihan people, so I have not responded to the Haihan people for the time being. But Jeju Island is such a big place, they will not just occupy it openly, right?"
Jin Shangxian hurriedly said again: "Your Majesty, Taiwan Island in the south and Qiongzhou Island, where the mainland of Haihan Kingdom is located, are dozens of times larger than Jeju Island, and the Haihan people still claim it. There is a precedent, so don’t be careless.”
(End of this chapter)
March 1638, Seoul, Korea.
More than half a year after the end of the war against the Qing Dynasty, Seoul has basically restored normal social order.Most of the people who fled from the war zone in the north last year have returned to their hometowns to rebuild their homes, and most of the people who stayed near Seoul have found new livelihoods.Tens of thousands of war refugees have basically been resettled through the efforts of all parties, and are no longer a local security risk in Seoul.
With the signing of various trade agreements, businessmen from Haihan, Portugal and other countries came to Seoul to engage in trade activities after the war. The influx of a large amount of goods and funds quickly revitalized the economy of the Seoul area and made shipping in the Han River Basin The industry has entered a period of rapid development.The river section from Seoul to the estuary of the Han River, which is only a hundred miles away, has become the busiest waterway on the Korean Peninsula after the war.
Ganghwa Island, located at the estuary of the Han River, has now become the transshipment port with the largest cargo throughput on the North Korean coast.In addition to transshipping various goods from Ganghwa Island to Seoul for foreign merchants, local sailboats also undertake the task of transporting various agricultural and forestry products produced in the upstream area to Ganghwa Island.
It's just that compared with the goods shipped to North Korea by foreign businessmen, the value of these locally produced agricultural and forestry products is much lower.But this is also impossible. There is no large-scale mining of minerals near Seoul. It can only provide commodities such as poultry, timber, and medicinal materials to foreign merchants to maintain trade balance.However, most of the goods Haihan sells to the North Korean market are various industrial products, and the profits are far higher than agricultural products. In fact, there is a very large scissors gap in the trade process.
And some Haihan merchants with rich operating experience have already started to open some processing workshops near Seoul, using the relatively cheap local labor force and raw materials, as well as Haihan's technology and equipment to produce some simple processed goods. Obtain more lucrative profits than simply selling raw materials.
This kind of keen business sense and efficient execution can only be possessed by businessmen from Haihan in this era.Although the counterparts in Portugal have similar ideas, due to the lack of sufficient funds and advanced production technology, operating such business projects is not as fast as Haihan businessmen.However, Haihan merchants can get support from the government, especially after Haihan Bank established a branch in Seoul, the pressure on merchants’ local money turnover will undoubtedly be reduced a lot, and they can apply for loans from Haihan Bank when necessary. To tide over the difficulties.
These processing workshops are labor-intensive industries, so they also provide a large number of employment opportunities for local people, especially those war refugees who fled to Seoul and have become homeless. The workshops opened employ a large number of these refugees with extremely low labor costs, which can be regarded as solving some social problems for the government to a certain extent.
Compared with those refugees who only seek food and clothing, the people who really benefited from the opening of the market are actually the dignitaries who hold real power.
The most profitable industries in Seoul are almost all under the control of big shots.This is also the main reason why all kinds of commodities imported into Seoul from overseas have to be transshipped in Ganghwa Island. Foreign merchants only act as suppliers in this form of trade, while the distribution stage is completed by local commercial organizations.As for these institutions that can obtain agent qualifications, they generally have an official background, so most of the profits of imported products in the sales stage actually flow into the pockets of officials at all levels.
Recently, the topic of dispute among the officials in the court has also changed from last year's deadly battle or peace negotiation to whether the country's business mechanism should be completely emulated by Haihan.But this time, the opinions of the two major factions of officials just reversed. Kim Sang-heon, the former main combatant, abandoned his radical attitude and turned into a conservative, believing that the country’s commercial system should not be allowed to follow Haihan’s example; , At this time, they think that Haihan's business mechanism should be boldly introduced into North Korea, so as to obtain the massive funds needed for post-war reconstruction and development.
Both Kim Sang-heon and Cui Ming-gil have many supporters in the officialdom, so this issue has become the focus of controversy every time they go to court recently.Today was no exception. In front of King Li Zhen, the two had another argument about this.
"Haihan is good at seeking various benefits from other countries by means of business and trade. Our country must be on guard against this!" Jin Shangxian said: "Just look at Daming. Haihan has used business as an excuse over the years. The coast has occupied a lot of places, and the local officials have been bribed with profits, and these occupied areas have been slowly annexed. Although Haihan helped us a lot in last year's war, we have also drawn a large area on the Datong River The area is for its garrison. But does Haihan have any plans to stop here? I don’t think there is any, and eight out of ten ships anchored outside Jianghua Island are from Haihan, and the island has been building warehouses and warehouses. If things go on like this, Jianghua Island will have to be annexed by them sooner or later!"
"Master Jin's words are wrong!" Cui Mingji immediately objected to Jin Shangxian's opinion: "If it was not for the opening of the market, how could Seoul restore order so quickly? If there were no these Haihan merchants who opened various In the workshop, how do the tens of thousands of local refugees make a living? Are we going to send troops to drive these people back to the north? Or is Lord Jin willing to use his salary to solve the problem of feeding these refugees?"
Jin Shangxian said: "Master Cui, don't pretend to be a fool. Haihan people set up workshops in Seoul to hire refugees. Is their purpose to help the people? They just because these refugees ask for a low price, and it costs less to hire them to work. What's more, these After being employed by the Haihan people, the refugees solved their food and clothing. Do you think they will be grateful to the Haihan people or to the court? Are they really safer than those homeless refugees? Over time, these people obey the orders of the Haihan people and have a lot of money. Wouldn't the people whose interests are closely connected with Haihan become another hidden danger of instability?"
Cui Mingji said: "Miss Jin, this is arrogance! The measures of the Haihan people have at least solved the difficult problems we feel at the moment, and the situation that Master Jin said is nothing more than your own imagination. It would be too far-fetched to use a situation that has not yet happened to make a crime!"
Jin Shangxian said angrily: "Master Cui is trying his best to protect it. Could it be that Cui's family has invested in the several wood processing workshops that went into operation last month, as well as the six boat companies that run boats on the Han River?"
Cui Mingji sneered and said, "Master Jin is very good at spitting blood! In my opinion, Lord Jin is desperately opposing the opening of trade with Haihan, probably because the business of the several salt farms originally controlled by the Jin family is about to be taken over by the Datong River Salt Farm." The low-priced official salt was snatched away?"
Li Jing listened to the two people arguing with a gloomy expression, secretly thinking that it was not a good thing.Didn't he know that there are actually huge interests involved behind the party struggles in the court, but since he took office for more than ten years, he has been trying to survive in the cracks, and he has long been accustomed to various harsh environments. The dispute they have started on this is actually nothing compared to the bad situation they faced before.
Both the Kim family and the Cui family are famous families in North Korea, and Kim Sang-heon and Cui Mingji are the spokespersons of these families in the court.Their opinions do represent the attitude of the families behind them to a certain extent, but as the helm of the country, Li Zhen cannot easily favor one of them. If his personal position shows bias, it is easy for these clans to The balance between is broken, and this is not a good thing for maintaining the political stability of the country.What Li Jing needs is for them to maintain a certain degree of conflict of interests, and use this to form mutual restraints to achieve a balance of power in the court.
Although to put it bluntly, it was just a mess, but it was not easy to do it. It is necessary to make the ministers obey their orders and arrangements, but not to completely extinguish their spirit of continuing to fight.To balance the interests of all parties in a reasonable way is actually a difficult problem that will test the means of governance.
"You two lovers, there is no need to be so excited." Seeing that the two had already started to bring out all the black material under the table, Li Jing could only stop them from continuing the debate.If these two guys can't control their anger and talk about the properties operated by the royal family outside, the situation will be difficult to deal with.
Of course, cooperation with the Haihan people in terms of trade is not only the monopoly of the aristocrats. In fact, the Li family also has business cooperation with Haihan, and it is not a trivial operation like partnering with Haihan merchants.Although the Datongjiang Saltworks that Cui Mingji mentioned just now is an officially operated saltworks in name, in fact the Li family is the main investor in the development and construction. The treasury of the family, the rest is the part that goes into the national treasury.
This is not entirely Li's misappropriation of the treasury's proceeds. In fact, several large projects along the Datong River in cooperation with Haihan have exhausted the little surplus food left in the treasury.So much so that last year North Korean officials needed to borrow money from Haihan Bank to maintain the normal operation of official institutions.
Under such circumstances, if several cooperation projects between the two countries are to continue, a huge funding gap must be made up.As for these projects that are related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, it is impossible for Li Jing to allow a large amount of funds from the clan to flow in. Of course, the most suitable thing is to use the private property of the Li family to make up for these gaps. It can also obtain huge economic benefits in the foreseeable future.
Li Jing felt that Cui Mingji mentioned this matter deliberately to use this topic to set a trap for Kim Sang-heon. If Kim Sang-heon fails to answer this question involving the interests of the royal family, he will definitely lose points in front of Li Jing. The purpose is achieved.
However, Li Jing didn't want the two to continue their sloppy debates. He actually had his own views on how to introduce Haihan Commercial.
"Both of you should still remember that our country sent a group of people, including the prince, to study abroad in Haihan last year. Why is this arrangement? It is to learn the powerful skills of the Haihan country! They fought fiercely, and we We sent military officers to learn how to lead troops to fight; they were good at sailing, so we sent people to learn how to build ships; they were good at governing the country, so I asked my son to learn how to govern."
Li Zhen talked eloquently: "The people of Haihan are good at business and trade, and the world knows it. If this is the case, why don't we learn their skills? It is slow to learn in marching and fighting. It is not so difficult to learn how to do business. ? Haihan merchants want to open workshops and storehouses in our country, so let them open, these industries, these technologies, will not all stay in our country in the future? Take a long-term view, and don’t be entangled in immediate gains and losses!"
Li Jing’s statement sounded like he was supporting the expansion of the introduction of Haihan’s commercial mechanism. Cui Mingji was very pleased when he heard it, but Kim Sangheon couldn’t hide his disappointment.
But Li Ji immediately changed the subject: "However, we cannot be unprepared against the Haihan people. Just as Mr. Jin said, Haihan used trade as a bait to buy officials in Daming and occupy islands and ports. These deeds are lessons from the past. We want to avoid a similar situation in our country as much as possible. If we want to do business, we can let them in, but if we want to get more benefits from our country, then we have to be more careful."
"Your Majesty's lesson!" Jin Shangxian immediately expressed his support for Li Zhen's statement, and even glanced at his opponent.
Although Cui Mingji was a little upset by Li Ji's statement on the wall, he didn't show it at all on his face, and also expressed his obedience to Li Ji.
Seeing that the two of them had no intention of continuing to argue, Li Jing began to talk about another matter: "Today, I have invited you two into the palace, and there is one more thing I want to hear from you. General Wang of Haihan Someone sent a letter saying that they are planning to send warships to the southern coast for training in the near future, hoping that our country can provide a temporary supply port on Jeju Island, what do you think about this matter?"
Cui Mingji frowned and said: "The Haihan people want to train soldiers, so why don't they practice near the Datong River, but go far away to the vicinity of Jeju Island? Could it be that there is something special nearby, and the Haihan people specially arranged warships to go there to investigate?"
Jin Shangxian said in a deep voice: "Jeju Island...I'm afraid that the Haihan people are interested in Jeju Island, just looking for an excuse to allow their troops to land on the island. Your Majesty, this matter must be prevented!"
Li Jing said: "Actually, I am also a little worried about the true intentions of the Haihan people, so I have not responded to the Haihan people for the time being. But Jeju Island is such a big place, they will not just occupy it openly, right?"
Jin Shangxian hurriedly said again: "Your Majesty, Taiwan Island in the south and Qiongzhou Island, where the mainland of Haihan Kingdom is located, are dozens of times larger than Jeju Island, and the Haihan people still claim it. There is a precedent, so don’t be careless.”
(End of this chapter)