Therefore, except when disasters occurred in the south and it was inconvenient to transport grain from the north, and grain was imported from Southeast Asia to solve the problem locally, the Song Dynasty did not import goods from other countries.
This is also why foreign trade has been so developed since the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, with basically a trade surplus and a large amount of silver flowing in, but there are very few Chinese regimes importing goods from outside and having a trade deficit.
The Opium War broke out during the Qing Dynasty because even though Britain was industrialized, it was unable to compete with the Qing Dynasty's domestic manufacturing industry. An industrial country still had a trade deficit with an agricultural country.
Britain needed to import large quantities of Qing Dynasty porcelain, tea and silk, and their wool and woolen cloth could not be sold at all.
The so-called British Empire was so angry and humiliated that it used foreign guns and cannons to solve the problem by exporting opium, which was truly despicable.
Now Zhao Jun lets Guangdong Road import grain from Southeast Asia. His original intention is that although the import cost is high, he knows that the war will start this year and the price of grain will rise sharply. At that time, even if the cost is high, it will not be able to compare with the skyrocketing grain prices in the country.
Therefore, imported grain can be used to stabilize food prices at that time, which is at least much better than sudden inflation.
In addition to inspecting the port conditions in Guangdong, Zhao Jun also went to see the cotton planting situation.
Last year, the Political System Council had already ordered Guangzhou to plant large quantities of cotton. It cannot be said to be fully promoted now, but local counties have political tasks, and cotton has begun to take root in the Song Dynasty.
However, judging from the inspection, the output of this poisonous cotton is still not as good as that of Xinjiang cotton in later generations. After all, Xinjiang cotton is all well-cultivated, and the output and quality are naturally very good.
In ancient times, cotton was not cultivated scientifically, and the yield was considered good if it was half of that of later generations. It was definitely not as good as that of later generations.
Zhao Jun stayed in Guangzhou for more than two months, during which he handled some cases. Some were people who were exiled to Lingnan and cried out for justice, some were problems with local officials, and some were disputes between foreigners and Han people.
He recorded everything he saw and heard, and wrote a report on the governance and arrangements of Guangzhou and sent it back to the court. It was not until March of the first year of Baoyuan that he left Guangzhou and went to Guangxi.
In June, he returned to Hunan and continued his inspection tour.
At this time, the war in the northwest was intensifying. A special unexpected situation made the two sides on the verge of a war, and there was a faint sign of the beginning of a war.
I know that these two chapters are a little bit boring, but they are mainly about the change in the protagonist's mood, which makes him feel more belonging to the Song Dynasty. After that, it is basically a new beginning. The protagonist's inspection is over, the Song-Xia War breaks out, and then the reform is promoted in an all-round way. It is the climax of the whole book, so stay tuned.
(End of this chapter)
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