"The interest alone is 600,000 taels a year. Can you pay it back?" Young Master Zhao glanced at Lao Wang and asked, "If you can't pay the interest, I can't lend you the money."
"This..." Old Wang wiped his sweat and said, "If there is no war, it should be possible."
"Can you not fight?" Zhao Hao asked back.
"This chaotic world is not something that I can decide." Otomo Sorin could only say with a bitter face: "Sir, please point out a clear path. I will listen to you..."
He finally recognized the reality and knew that lying down and letting himself be masturbated was his only way out...
"That's right, how could I harm you? As long as you listen and do as I say, your life will get better and better." Young Master Zhao took a plan from Sister Ma and handed it to him with a smile.
"Look, this is the 'Jiuzhou Income Increase Plan' tailored for you based on our company's income increase plan promoted in Jiangnan."
"Thank you for your trouble!" Old Wang quickly took it with both hands and began to read it with full concentration.
To be honest, he was reluctant at first. He had been led around like a monkey by Mr. Zhao for too long. Any monkey would be wary.
But as he looked at it, he became more and more absorbed in it, because this business plan was so tempting.
The so-called "income increase plan" is to try to change the farmers' planting choices and let them grow high-value crops instead. In addition, the Jiangnan Group, oh no, the Tamra Chamber of Commerce will purchase them at a guaranteed price, so the lord's income will naturally increase significantly.
Take the example of growing rapeseed given in the business plan.
If the field is carefully cultivated, 300 kilograms of rapeseed can be harvested per mu of rapeseed field. The oil yield of rapeseed is 40%, which is 120 kilograms. The minimum purchase price given by Jiangnan Group is 2 taels of silver per 100 kilograms of oil, so the yield per mu of land is 2.4 taels of silver.
With the same intensive farming, even in the fertile Kanto region of Japan, the maximum yield of a single-season rice per mu is no more than one stone... However, one stone in Japan is 130 kilograms, almost catching up with two stones in China.
The average grain price in Japan is one koku of copper coin, but silver is cheap and copper is expensive in Japan, so one koku of copper coin can be equivalent to 1.2 taels of silver.
Therefore, the income from growing rapeseed is exactly twice that of growing rice!
In addition, based on the disadvantage of Kyushu, which has many mountains and little land, Mr. Zhao thoughtfully provided several mountain economic crops such as citrus, tea oil trees, and walnut trees to help the Japanese people, who are close to them, to further increase their income.
Thinking about the bright future prospects, Lao Wang was so moved that he drooled... oh no, tears were about to flow.
After much thought, this plan to increase revenue has only advantages and no disadvantages.
"Woo woo, it turns out that the young master really does have good things for us..." Otomo Sorin looked at Zhao Hao with red eyes, choked up and slapped himself, saying: "I am not a human being, I judge others by my own standards, I am such an old bastard!"
"Oh, don't say that. I'm also trying to make money. The people of the Ming Dynasty are hungry for money, so this business will definitely make a lot of money." Young Master Zhao helped him up with a smile and said, "It's just that I've relied on win-win all the way. Do you understand win-win? It means that everyone makes money. If I don't let my partners suffer losses, they will naturally be willing to continue doing business with me, and this is the only way to grow bigger and bigger."
"Yes, yes, it's a win-win situation. I'm grateful for your advice." Old Wang nodded excitedly, remembering Master Zhao's words firmly.
"I've calculated it for you. According to this plan, you only need to increase the rapeseed fields to one million mu and the citrus fields to 500,000 mu within three years, plus 500,000 mu of mountain land with walnuts, tea leaves and other miscellaneous crops. With these two million mu of land, you can pay off your debt within five years." Young Master Zhao was spitting and describing a bright future for Lao Wang.
"After that, even if you deduct the annual one million taels of water police fees, you can still make at least one million taels of net profit."
"Oh my, so much?" Otomo Sorin was so excited that he was shaking. He had always thought that the reason why the Otomo army began to perform poorly after the Battle of Tatarahama was because they were burdened with heavy debts and could not be as generous to their subordinates as before.
It is reasonable that if you don't have enough money, you will feel weak and your fighting power will decrease.
If the debt is eliminated, a net profit of one million taels can be made in a year.
Uh, it seems like there will be something missing? Oh, yes, this will definitely affect food production.
Because the climate of Kyushu is similar to that of the North China region of the Ming Dynasty, the temperature is relatively low in autumn and winter. Therefore, it is not possible to plant winter rapeseed like in Jiangnan, and then plant another crop after harvesting in spring.
In Kyushu, if you grow crops, you cannot grow rapeseed, and if you grow rapeseed, you cannot grow crops. You can only choose one or the other.
But it doesn't matter. Lao Wang still has mountains of gold and silver and commercial tax revenue, which adds up to nearly one million taels of income, enough money to buy food! So in Lao Wang's view, this is not a problem at all.
Otomo Sorin's confidence was not without reason, because the Japanese Warring States period was a very magical era. Not only did the war not affect the grain production, but because the daimyo and local tyrants paid great attention to agriculture, the grain production continued to rise, so the grain price actually dropped.
In recent years, one kan of money can even buy two shi of grain! So buying rice from Japan and selling it back to Jiangnan is also very profitable. But this is inconsistent with Mr. Zhao's strategy, so the Tamra Chamber of Commerce has not added grain to the import list.
So for Lao Wang, the current grain market is a buyer's market. As long as he has money, he will not have to worry about not being able to buy grain. And with his good relationship with the merchants in Sakai City, he has even less to worry about.
After a few years, when I have recovered from this, I will become more powerful than ever! By then, the bullshit Hizen Bear will be able to unify Kyushu and land in the Western Kingdom!
~~
Mr. Zhao asked Otomo Sorin to meet him mainly to discuss the "income increase plan". Now that the two of them have finished their discussion, he served tea and sent the guest away.
As for the specific details, whether it is the 'Iyo Great Retreat' or the 'Revenue Increase Plan', there will naturally be people from the Tamra Chamber of Commerce who will talk to Lao Wang.
Otomo Sorin came with the expectation of being slaughtered, but unexpectedly got a rich harvest. When he left, he was of course very grateful and even presented an eagle as a gift.
After watching Otomo Sorin disappear at the dock on the balcony, Master Zhao turned around to look at the eagle standing proudly in the cage.
"Not only are the Japanese people small, but even the eagles are not big." Sister Ma said fondly of the miniature eagle.
"Of course, the species is different." Zhao Hao said with a smile: "Our goshawk is twice as long as it, and its wingspan is more than one meter long."
"What is the name of this variety?" Ma Xianglan asked curiously.
"Call..." How could Mr. Zhao know what kind of bird it was? Seeing that its toes were golden, he made up a story: "It must be a Kato Eagle."
"Kato Eagle, it really sounds like a Japanese bird." Sister Ma believed it and said, "Then let's give it a name?"
"Of course it's called Golden Finger." Young Master Zhao said with a strange expression.
"Golden fingers, why not golden toes?" Unfortunately, Secretary Ma was looking at the birdcage and didn't see it at all.
"To turn stone into gold, you must use your fingers. Is it appropriate to use your toes?" Young Master Zhao laughed strangely. It seemed that he would have a good time every time he came to Japan. The country of teachers really could easily influence people.
"Oh, so that's it..." Sister Ma naturally felt that he had bad intentions, so she quickly skipped the topic and asked, "I heard that Japanese samurai offered eagles to show their submission?"
"That's what we say." Young Master Zhao nodded with a smile.
The samurai offering an eagle was a courtesy of the Warring States daimyo to show their submission. It seemed that this hero, who was as famous as Mori Motonari, finally put aside the self-esteem of Kyushu Tandai under the threat of reality and the temptation of interests, and bowed down at the feet of Mr. Zhao...
"That's normal. The young master is so good to him, it's only natural for him to show his loyalty." Ma Xianglan put the documents on the table back into the folder.
"Oh, what? Do you think I'm nice to him?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.
"Wouldn't it be nice to help him increase his income?" Because of the Japanese pirates, the people of the Ming Dynasty hated the Japanese, and Sister Ma was no exception.
Although she knew that the price of a pound of oil in Jiangnan was 80 wen, and that shipping it back would bring four times the profit, Xiaotou didn't want to let the Japanese make all the money.
"Hahaha, don't make a mistake." Zhao Hao sat down on the recliner and pulled Ma Xianglan into his arms. He laughed as he touched her clumsily, "I'm not a good person, especially to the Japanese."
"So, are you planning to bargain hard when the time comes?" Sister Ma blushed slightly and quickly held down his mischievous hand. "There are secret guards watching us."
"Don't worry, they will turn their heads around." Young Master Zhao refused to give up and said, "This golden signboard is the most valuable thing for me. How can I waste it on Japanese Lao Wang? I will ask them to purchase strictly according to the contract and not allow the store to bully customers. Only in this way can they be completely relieved."
"Won't their lives get better and better?" Ma Xianglan put her head against his cheek and bit her lower lip lightly.
"If you hang out with me, of course your life will get better and better every year." Zhao Hao said with a smile.
"I won't ask anymore, just tell me yourself..." Ma Xianglan held his hand tightly, her delicate body seemed to melt.
"Don't worry, you will see it yourself in a few years. Now, let me teach you what the golden finger is..." Zhao Hao's thieving hand finally succeeded.
What a joke! Mr. Zhao is in no mood to talk about the Banana Republic right now.
~~
Of course, because of the emergence of Mr. Zhao, the political term "banana republic" was replaced by "rapeseed economy".
But the meaning is still the same. They all refer to economies that have been subjected to economic colonization for a long time, have a single economic model, and rely on exporting one or two primary raw materials in exchange for food and other daily necessities.
Such economies are heavily dependent on the colonial power economically and often become dumping grounds for the colonial power's goods. The national wealth is severely plundered through the scissors gap, and the economic downturn is determined by the colonial power.
The most troublesome thing is that the economic lifeline is in the hands of others, and politically it has naturally become a puppet of others, without independent national sovereignty. So even if you know it is wrong and want to adjust the economic structure, you will fail again and again, and eventually sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire, and completely lose hope...
P.S. Write another chapter...