It is not an easy task to sail south from Keelung in this month, whether through the Taiwan Strait or the east coast of Taiwan. The strong Kuroshio and the prevailing southerly winds mean that the sailboat can only sail a hundred miles a day.
Maybe this is also the reason why Ryukyu focuses on the galley technology tree.
Hearing that an elder sister like the Great Prince who understood people's hearts was the most considerate, she invited him to Yilan and also arranged a fleet of paddle boats to wait for Master Zhao at Keelung Harbor.
The fleet was led by Zheng Dao, Zheng Dao's younger brother. It was heard that when the prince left Ryukyu, it was he who led the fleet to protect him.
Now, with the support of Jiangnan Group, especially the Coast Guard Base in Naha, the Zheng family has completely taken control of the military and political power of Ryukyu, making Shang Zongxian and his ilk completely useless. The only person they are afraid of now is Wen De.
It is said that the Queen is not only the religious leader of Ryukyu, but also the sister of the king, one of the two ruling systems of Zhongshan Kingdom. As long as she is there, the Zheng family will not be able to change the dynasty, let alone shake the status of the Shang royal family. At best, they are just powerful ministers.
The Zheng family and Wen De Dajun were destined to clash, but Mei Nan seemed to be naive, but in fact she was a very steady veteran. Before the Zheng family could react, she had already hooked up with Zhao Hao.
Although Wen De Dajun never admitted that he was Mr. Zhao's lover, their intimate relationship was obvious to all, and they even went to heaven together.
After returning to Ryukyu, the high-ranking nuns around her, while drinking tea and gossiping with the noble ladies, intentionally or unintentionally revealed that they heard that the prince had had negative distance contact with Mr. Zhao, and that it was in heaven, with the permission of the goddess...
Mei Nan also asked the Ming Dynasty, through Zhao Hao, to canonize her nephew, Shang Yong, the second son of King Shang Yuan, as the Crown Prince of Zhongshan and include him in the imperial edict. Shang Yong was also sent to Yufeng Middle School to study, which completely cut off the Zheng family's idea of supporting the eldest son of King Shang Yuan.
In this confrontation, Mei Nan was very skilled in maneuvering and won the Zheng family without fighting. For a time, it was heard that the great prince was very famous in the Ryukyu Islands and had the potential to turn the tide.
However, Mei Nan decided to stop while he was ahead and took the initiative to propose promoting Zheng Zhaozuo to the position of prime minister, allowing him to set up a government office and take charge of the country's affairs with full legitimacy.
Since then, the two sides reached a tacit understanding. The Zheng family no longer interfered with theocracy or coveted royal power, and Ryukyu Shinto also supported the Zheng family in taking charge of the military and political power of Zhongshan Kingdom. Its system was quite similar to that of the Japanese emperor and the shogunate.
This was the limit of what Menan could achieve for the royal family. If it were someone else, there would be many Ryukyu kings dead by now.
Mei Nan also consciously accepted the Zheng family's surveillance to dispel their unnecessary speculation about his behavior.
~~
Young Master Zhao happily boarded the paddle boat arranged by Sister Mei and sailed towards the east coast of Taiwan.
As we all know, Taiwan Island has a long and narrow terrain, and the towering Central Mountain Range runs across the island from north to south, separating the east and west coasts.
Unlike the west coast which is mostly plains and plateaus, the east coast is all mountainous. Only the Yilan Plain in the northeast corner and a narrow Taitung Valley Plain are suitable for farming.
Compared to the narrow and remote Taitung Valley, Yilan, located in the northeast of Taiwan Island, is only 80 miles away from Keelung in a straight line and only 120 miles by sea. It also has excellent harbors and vast plains and will obviously be developed earlier.
A breakwater has been built outside Wushi Bay, the northernmost part of the Yilan Plain. Countless fishing boats flying green sun and moon flags are dotted near the coast, and there seem to be as many as two or three hundred of them.
"So many fishing boats!" Zhao Hao was surprised. How many years have immigrants come here? Where do so many fishermen come from?
"Yilan is a great place. Not only is the land fertile and the rainfall abundant, but there is also a super fishing ground near the coast," Tang Youde explained proudly. "I heard from Mr. Bei that it's because of the Kuroshio. We don't know the details, but we know there are a lot of fish here, such as flag, mackerel, bonito, and flying fish. And they come in different seasons, so no matter how much you fish, there's always a lot of fish."
"Yes." Zhao Hao nodded. The east coast of Taiwan is steep and deep, where the Kuroshio Current flows, and it is a must-go for migratory fish. In short, if you cast a net at your doorstep, you can catch fish from the entire North Pacific. With the current level of fishing, of course, the catch is inexhaustible.
"But the Taiwan Strait is a place where cold and warm currents meet, and fishery resources are equally developed. There's no need to come here to fish, right?"
"You're right, sir. We did use some tricks. At that time, Tamsui had only been open for a year, and the number of immigrants had exceeded 100,000, but no one was willing to settle in Yilan." Tang Youde smiled bitterly, "Those Minnan people were very cunning. They allowed the management committee to praise Yilan to the sky, and they believed that Tamsui was close to the mainland, and the land would be more valuable than the east in the future."
"That makes sense." Mr. Zhao nodded with a smile. In another time and space, Fujian immigrants also reclaimed wasteland along the Tamsui River and went deep into the Taipei Plain. It was not until the first year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty that Western Taiwan had been occupied by the first comers, and only then did the Han people enter Yilan to cultivate the land.
“But after investigation by teachers from the Agricultural College, they found that the land here in Yilan is the most fertile and it rains frequently, unlike in the west where it sometimes doesn’t rain for several months, so the difficulty of reclaiming land is the lowest,” Tang Youde added.
Zhao Hao nodded. The towering Central Mountain Range blocks the moisture brought by the tropical monsoon, so there is a distinct dry season on the west coast of Taiwan.
Yilan is an alluvial plain surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea to the east. Not only is there the Lanyang River with abundant water and numerous tributaries, but this dustpan-shaped terrain is particularly prone to orographic rainfall.
Even in winter, under the blowing of northeast monsoon, Yilan can still absorb the rain and moisture, so it is called "Bamboo Wind and Orchid Rain". So at this time, looking at the Yilan Plain from afar, you can see dense forests everywhere. You can develop forestry first and then agriculture. Isn't it wonderful?
But the people of southern Fujian are not as obedient as the refugees from the north, and they are even a little stubborn. They have decided that Tamsui is a good place, so they flock to the farms along the Tamsui River and don't care about Yilan Paradise.
"But the young master has given the management committee so much authority and freedom, and we, Old Tang, can't control them?" Tang Youde took a sip of the orange soda on the boat and said proudly:
"I played three cards and immediately they came to Yilan!"
"What are the three moves?" Zhao Hao asked while sipping soda.
"One trick is to use the excuse of preparing for the Japanese invasion and stipulate that all fishing boats must fly the offshore fishing flag issued by the Fisheries Department of the Management Committee before they can go out to sea to fish." Tang Youde said proudly: "We instructed the Fisheries Department to only issue 100 flags to Danshui. But Yilan is open to unlimited. Then we went back to Suzhou and shamelessly asked President Jiang to approve a canning factory."
"You have a lot of face, then. Canneries are in great demand now, and heads of various counties have come to me for help." Young Master Zhao laughed and said, "It's a pity that this matter is not under my jurisdiction."
"Hehe, President Jiang should still give some face to our old Tang." Tang Youde smiled shyly, "I have known for a long time that the lives of the people in Jiangnan are getting better and better, and the demand for meat will be increasing. Jiangnan has a dense population and little land, so it is impossible to develop animal husbandry. But there are endless fish in the sea. As long as the problem of long-term preservation is solved, there will definitely be great prospects!"
"So you built this cannery in Yilan?" Zhao Hao said with a smile.
"Yes, the Yilan Cannery directly operated by the Management Committee." Tang Baolu presented a can of fish like a treasure and said, "It is built on Wushi Harbor. The boats catch the fish, process them on site, and then send them to the cannery, and they become this..."
Zhao Hao took it and looked at it. He saw that it was a slightly rough black sauce-glazed porcelain jar, which looked no different from an ordinary wine jar.
In fact, it is just an ordinary wine jar, which is fired everywhere along the coast of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. Its biggest advantage is that it is available in large quantities and at low prices.
Glass is unaffordable, and clay jars are breathable. This cheap porcelain, which is slightly more expensive than clay jars, has a thinner glaze but is sufficient to ensure sealing, making it the most suitable canning jar.
After knocking off the mud seal on the mouth of the jar, Zhao Hao found a large cork inside.
Tang Youde carefully turned the cork and said with some concern: "Actually, if we sell locally, we don't need the cork. But the canning factory mainly supplies Jiangnan, so we can only sell it to rich people at a high price."
"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded, thinking of Tang Youde's deeds of reselling sugar. He thought he had made a lot of money, but this guy gave it a nice name and made a deluxe version. He made several times more money by reselling it. He relied on the rich and stupid people...
"So we have to add this cork, otherwise it will explode in the sea and the can will have a strong smell of mud, so it won't sell at a high price..." Tang Youde pulled out the cork with a pop, and a strong smell of salted fish wafted into his nose.
"Only in this way can we sell it at a high price!"
"Fuck, you're selling salt here!" Zhao Hao looked at the can of salted fish with white salt foam inside and suddenly realized. No wonder this guy's canned food is so expensive!
"As the young master said, this is... market demand-driven. The canning factory also tried braised, fermented black beans, smoked... and other canned foods at first, but the sales were far inferior to this one." Tang Youde laughed and said, "We have no choice but to produce them all in the same way."
"I think you're just upset because you can't make any money from smuggling salt." Young Master Zhao rolled his eyes at him.
How could he not understand Fatty Tang's tricks? With the production of the Budai Salt Field directly operated by the Management Committee, the warehouses were full of white salt, but it could not be sold to the mainland. It could only be sent cheaply to the chemical plants on Xishan Island as industrial salt.
To Fatty Tang, what’s the difference between this and begging while sitting on a mountain of gold?
Tang Youde was anxious, and he had many ideas. Suddenly, he thought, "Oh, I am not a government-run salt field. I cannot sell salt to the country without a salt permit. But I don't need a salt permit to buy salty goods, right?"
So he set up pickle factories in every city under his jurisdiction, producing all kinds of choking meat and vegetable pickles.
Of course, pickled vegetables are definitely not as expensive as the canned food that is popular in Jiangnan. Moreover, this guy named the canned fish "seawater salted fish can", for fear that the people would not know that there are three taels of salt in each can!
Can ordinary people stop going crazy buying sprees?
ps. Write one more chapter...