Ning Zhongze finally adopted a method that the steward didn't think was a good idea. He ordered his people to stop trading outside. As for how much they would lose in the end, he didn't know now. In short, they would lose money as long as they stayed outside.
Zhang Xiaobao didn't treat the Ning family as an opponent from the beginning. This kind of family was already old. The change of dynasty had changed many aristocratic families.
If it was a third-ranked official from the imperial court, perhaps he would be interested in a fight. Those people were all shrewd, just like Old Man Bi. If he himself did not want to fall into the trap, it would be useless no matter how one tried to trick him. He could endure it, and he could endure it forever. Enduring for eight to ten years was not considered long.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan made a lot of things for their younger brothers and sisters. Basically, they could use them until they were four years old. After that, what they would continue to make would depend on the hobbies of the four little guys.
Hobbies didn't appear out of thin air. They had to let the children see all kinds of strange things so that they could choose one. If they were forced to cultivate them, it was simple. When they played from a young age, they would only be exposed to one kind of thing. There was a high probability that the child would choose that as the most interesting thing.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, who had put down the work of making things, received news that the fleet had returned. Six ships had returned, and the rest were still on the island.
The people they sent out came back very easily. It seemed that the harvest was good, and there weren't any casualties.
The steward who followed the Zhang family was called Zhang Xingjia. When he saw Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, he put the package on his back on the table. Just as he was about to speak, Li Xun, who had received the news, rushed in hurriedly and asked as soon as he saw him.
"How was it? How many people did you kill? Did you raise the prestige of the Tang Empire? How are the casualties? "
Zhang Xingjia was stunned by Li Xun's series of questions until Li Xun ran over and drank the water in the teacup. Then he said, "Young Master, Young Lady, Young Master Li, we didn't kill a single person. The people who went last time didn't even see the people they met last time.
Maybe they were hiding somewhere and ran away when they saw that there were so many of us. The rest of the locals were very peaceful. They were also very happy when they exchanged things with us. A fishing net made of cotton thread with a radius of one zhang could be exchanged for five stones of such ore that they found. That's it. "
As Zhang Xingjia spoke, he took out a piece of ore from his bag. After thinking for a while, he took out another one.
Zhang Xiaobao, Wang Juan, and Li Xun stared at each other. They didn't know what kind of ore these two stones belonged to.
"This is …?" Li Xun took the ore and weighed it a few times before asking in a long voice, "This is …?"
"Gold ore, and the other is copper ore. Seeing that they took it out so easily, it's obvious that there are more ores on the island, and they are easy to mine. I don't know how much they can refine. A fishing net can be exchanged for so much."
Zhang Xingjia explained. He also asked someone after getting off the boat.
Li Xun wasn't afraid of being poisoned. He kissed the gold ore with his mouth and said excitedly to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, "Xiao Bao, Cuckoo, we're rich. We're rich. A fishing net made of cotton and twine can be exchanged for so much. Look at the weight. Normal stones can't be so heavy."
Zhang Xiaobao really didn't care about the gold ore. It was useless now and was usually used to make jewelry. The copper ore was good. As long as there were enough of it, they didn't have to worry about the five punishments. They could replace the coins that messed up the economy and ensure the purchasing power of the copper coins. No one would destroy the copper coins and cast copper wares.
This was not what he cared about the most. It didn't matter whether they had money or not. The most important thing was food. The Kaiyuan era wasn't really prosperous yet. Before the new seeds of food were cultivated and planted in large quantities, getting food from other places was the best way to solve the problem of people's livelihood. Otherwise, they would be poor if they had money but didn't have food.
He didn't know if the high-yield food he grew in Sanshui County would be lower or higher after the seeds were made. He thought that the people of the imperial government's Agriculture Temple had already paid attention to it. He hoped that they could find more ways to increase the production.
Zhang Xingjia seemed to know what the young master and the young lady were most concerned about. Seeing that the two of them didn't attach much importance to the ores, he immediately said,
"Young master, young lady, there is a lot of food on the island. They also know how to farm. They don't all stay in the mountains. There are a lot of flat land. They don't know how to farm, so they directly plant. But I don't know why, the rice yield in the fields they plant is not less than the rice yield in the seeds sold by the Zhang family.
That place is hot. Look, I'm tanned. It's estimated that they can plant it three times a year. The taste may not be the same, but it's edible. On the boat back, there are two boats. Young master and young lady, you can go and have a look later. "
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were satisfied.
"Even if it's bad, it's fine if people don't like to eat it. It can be used to feed pigs, cows, and sheep, especially pigs. It's very good. With more oil, it's not so expensive for people to eat food. Next time we go there, we can find grass and trees that we haven't seen before and bring them back to have a look. Maybe we can find good herbs or good wood."
At this time, Wang Juan leisurely picked up another piece of copper ore and weighed it in her hand. It would be better if there was good grass that grew quickly and could be used to feed cows and sheep. She didn't mean to bring the grass back, but to bring the cows and sheep there to raise. When the time came, they would kill the cows and sheep and bring back the meat and skin.
If they really found good grass and there was no place to plant it here, they would really bring back ships and specially cultivate cows. They would either directly feed the children or make milk slices and dry them to make milk powder that didn't taste good and be transported further away.
Zhang Xiaobao was thinking about another thing. Seeing that Wang Juan and Li Xun were both thinking about different things, he asked, "Have you found a suitable place to build the dock? Can the local people communicate well? "
"Replying to Little Young Master, the dock is simple. I see that the surrounding coast can be built. Does Little Young Master want to hire the locals there to help?"
Zhang Xingjia understood immediately. Seeing that Little Young Master nodded, he said, "But it's not very convenient to communicate with the locals. They can't understand what we're saying, and we can't understand what they're saying.
When we exchange things, we use gestures. We first put the fishing net on the ground and make space for them to come over and see. Then they happily let people take the ore. Little Young Master, I think it's fine to let them take the shell fragrance, hawksbill turtles, and corals in the sea. There's no need to give them better things. "
"Oh, right. Think of a way to let them learn the local language. Cotton is still valuable now. If we can't give them that, what will we use to pay them back? How about pottery? You brought a lot of it. Did you exchange it for good things? "
Zhang Xiaobao's eyes lit up. The people on the island were poor. If you gave them something, they would feel that it was good. They couldn't distinguish the value at all. This was a good opportunity to bully them. In fact, it wasn't bullying.
When Zhang Xingjia heard that it was pottery, he immediately replied, "Little Young Master, you don't know. Pottery is good. We didn't exchange many, only ten. In the end, we got two ships of rice. Five is one ship. We're rich. The ships will stop there. The pottery won't be gone in a short time."
"Good, your work is really reassuring. With the pottery, they can cook food. Does that mean we need to put oil in it? Next time, bring some soybean oil. You guys can do a demonstration for them to see and taste. After that, change the oil. You can't give them too much pottery. "
Zhang Xiaobao was satisfied. It wasn't because of how many things they exchanged, but because the people who went knew how to control it.
But when he thought about the exchange, Zhang Xiaobao began to worry. If the merchants of the Jiangnan East Road saw this situation, would they disrupt the market? The rarer something was, the more valuable it was. In order to get more gold and copper, they would most likely not care about the commercial value of the goods and casually exchange them with others.
"No, definitely not allow merchants to bring any non-consumable goods over. Bring some spices. It smells good and can be used to make delicious food. Especially MSG. We can sell it to the merchants first and let them exchange it."
Zhang Xiaobao, who originally wanted to let the merchants do their own thing, changed his mind. He didn't want to follow the original plan. There must be restrictions.
Spices were good things. In the past, some Europeans even put spices on their bodies to show their identity. It could be seen how precious spices were.
Wang Juan put down the ores and pondered for a while. She pulled Zhang Xiaobao and left.
"Let's go find Grandpa Zhang and Grandpa Bi and ask them for help. Just like you said, non-consumable goods can't appear on the island in large quantities. I think they will use pottery very carefully. It's too difficult to break one. They won't need it when they have more."
Zhang Xiaobao turned back and took the two ores in his hands.
Old Man Chang and Old Man Pi had nothing to do. They were playing billiards with a group of old men. Ten people surrounded a case and were divided into two groups. They didn't feel that the waiting time was long. It was hard to understand why they were so excited.
"Grandpa Zhang, Grandpa Bi, are you guys playing?" Zhang Xiaobao smiled and greeted them.
When Old Man Chang and Old Man Pi saw that Xiao Bao and Cuckoo came over, they knew that the two of them had something to discuss. They gave the opportunity to others and led Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan to a secluded place to rest.
Old Man Zhang picked up a small abalone that was specially used as a snack from the small table and threw it into his mouth. He gently chewed it twice and asked, "Xiaobao, is there something difficult to do? Well, this abalone is not bad. "
Zhang Xiaobao curled his lips. Of course it's not bad. Except for the nursing home, no other place can enjoy such treatment. He put down the two ores in his hands and said,
"There should be a lot of gold and copper ores there. There are a few things that can be exchanged. Pottery and porcelain are also fine. A net made of cotton thread. Also, I thought of spices and soybean oil. Grandpa Zhang, which one do you think is suitable for exchange?"
"Do you still need to ask? Of course it's spices and soybean oil. Anything that can be grown will disappear as soon as it's eaten. How long will it take to refine pottery and porcelain? Oh ~! I understand. Are you afraid that someone will bring a lot of pottery and porcelain? It seems that we have to ask the imperial court for an order. I will write a letter right away. "
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