The weather in Lingnan changes at any time.

As everyone was talking, it began to rain outside the Wangjiang Pavilion. Millions of water drops fell from the dark clouds and landed on the roof tiles of the pavilion, making a crisp sound.

The sounds of the strings are mixed together, and pearls, big and small, fall on a jade plate.

Looking at the light smoke on the river, the sails are shrouded in the rain. The majestic Guangji Bridge is also shrouded in mist and rain, like a mirage.

The Chaozhou gentry had no time to appreciate the beautiful landscape. They were only concerned about what Mr. Zhao's factory produced.

"Of course we produce what makes money." Zhao Hao asked with a smile: "I still need to ask the experts for advice on this."

"Of course it's an export product." Speaking of this, the gentry in Chaozhou would no longer be sleepy, and they would offer suggestions to Mr. Zhao one after another.

"There are few people in Chaozhou, and even fewer rich people, so you can't make money here except selling daily necessities." Then Yue Yunpeng, the richest man in Chaozhou and the head of the Yue family in the west of the city, said: "So we need to see what sells well in Guangzhou City, and what sells well in Yuegang, Zhangzhou, which is closest to Chaozhou. And the most urgent needs in these two places are always export products such as silk and porcelain."

"Chaozhou is too hot, so it's not suitable for growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Then let's produce porcelain first."

"Producing porcelain..." Yue Yunpeng couldn't help but sigh and said, "Our Chaozhou porcelain has a history of thousands of years. We have been producing blue-and-white glazed porcelain on a large scale since the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, porcelain kilns were spread all over the suburbs of the city, covering an area of ​​15 miles. In the Bijia Mountain area alone, there are 99 porcelain kilns, known as the 'Hundred Kiln Village'!"

"Yes, at that time, there were chimneys on both sides of the Han River, which was known as 'Ten miles along the river, fireworks can be seen', which was spectacular." Liu Zixing also said with a nostalgic look on his face: "It is said that at that time, one-third of the porcelain exported from Guangzhou came from our Chaozhou. It's a pity that these scenes can only be seen in the local annals. I want to see the prosperity of the past, I wonder if there will be another chance in this life?"

"That's exactly what I want to ask. Why has Chaozhou porcelain disappeared?" Zhao Hao asked in return: "I heard that even the broken porcelain pieces you use to inlay the roof have to be ordered from Jingdezhen."

"Alas, one reason is that after the Tartars entered the Central Plains, they forcibly relocated all the porcelain workers in Chaozhou. Secondly, at that time, the porcelain clay in the city and on both sides of the Han River was gone." The gentry sighed and said, "A good cook cannot cook without rice. The remaining craftsmen were forced to make a living and either changed their careers or moved to places like Foshan where they could use their skills. Over time, there are no large-scale kilns in Chaozhou. The craftsmen have also lost their inheritance, so that now ordinary people don't know that we were once a porcelain capital as famous as Jingdezhen."

"Is that so..." Zhao Hao nodded. He finally understood why there was a clear gap in the famous Chaozhou porcelain between the Tang and Song dynasties and the Ming and Qing dynasties.

He initially thought that it was because the Yuan Dynasty, in order to monopolize the profits from porcelain exports, forcibly relocated craftsmen from kilns all over the country to Jingdezhen to centrally produce porcelain.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty followed the practice of the Yuan Dynasty and listed all the porcelain workers in Jingdezhen as artisan households, allowing them to fire kilns in Jingdezhen from generation to generation. This not only made management easier, but also if the emperor wanted Longquan kiln, Ru kiln, Jun kiln porcelain, etc., he only needed to order Jingdezhen to fire them, which was extremely convenient.

As for whether this would destroy the porcelain industry across the country and affect local employment and economy, it was never a question that the emperors considered. Of course, they didn't understand this either...

Unexpectedly, the resources for firing kilns were also exhausted. No wonder Chaozhou porcelain industry disappeared for a long time during the Ming Dynasty.

However, Mr. Zhao had great prophetic powers. He knew that during the Wanli period, Chaozhou's porcelain industry would flourish again, and it would continue from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and the new China. Chaozhou porcelain would once again become famous throughout the country.

Therefore, it is obvious that there are still plenty of porcelain clay mines in Chaozhou, but they cannot be mined near the city or on the Hanjiang Plain for the time being.

However, after the opening of the port in the Longqing period, porcelain, which accounted for more than half of the foreign trade, was continuously exported from Yuegang to overseas, in exchange for a large amount of silver. This would definitely drive the Chaozhou people, who love to make money, to look for new mines again...

~~

"It doesn't matter." Young Master Zhao encouraged the gentry of Chaozhou, "We in Jiangnan Group have rich porcelain clay mines and a powerful transport fleet. If it really doesn't work, we can send ten or eight ships to Chaozhou every month, which will be enough for you to burn!"

"That's great!" The gentry expressed their gratitude to Master Zhao: "Master and Jiangnan Group are truly living Bodhisattvas who save people from suffering!"

"It's all for the sake of getting rich. I just want to help everyone get rich together." Mr. Zhao smiled modestly. In Chaozhou, you can openly say "get rich" without having to use the excuse of serving the country and the people as in Jiangnan.

"Hahaha, we must respond actively." As expected, the Chaozhou people really love to get rich, and they are all ready to go.

"However, long-distance transportation is not only too costly, but also unpredictable at sea. So unless it is absolutely necessary, we should still rely on local mineral resources." After reading the answer, Zhao Hao spoke with confidence.

"As far as I know, kaolin mines for porcelain making should be mostly in mountainous areas, right? Chaozhou is surrounded by mountains. I wonder if anyone has explored the mountains before?"

"Yes, and the reserves are definitely not small." Yue Yunpeng gave him a positive answer: "Several decades ago, my grandfather's generation discovered a large mine in Feitianyan. It is said that once mined, it will be enough for many years."

"Feitianyan..." Mr. Zhao's eyes lit up, thinking that four hundred years later, it was still a famous porcelain clay mine. "Why isn't it mined? Is it inconvenient to transport?"

"In terms of transportation, it's not too bad. Just four miles down the mountain from Feitianyan, there is a Phoenix Creek that can be navigated by boat and flows directly into the Han River." Yue Yunpeng shook his head.

"What is the reason?" Zhao Hao asked.

"Because that is the territory of the Hakka people." Yue Yunpeng said a little depressed: "Our fathers organized several offensives to seize Feitianyan. Unfortunately, they were repelled by them relying on the natural barrier, and hundreds of people died. Gradually, no one mentioned this matter anymore."

"I see..." Master Zhao nodded in understanding. It turned out that there was also a conflict between the natives and the Hakkas involved.

No wonder even the flexible Chaozhou people, knowing that Jinshan has been there for decades, could only watch.

After all, once things rise to the level of conflict between natives and Hakkas, rationality goes to the wind, and the only thing left in everyone's mind is "fight if you don't agree."

~~

The conflict between natives and Hakkas has existed extensively in Chinese history. What is native and what is Hakka? They refer to the first settlers and the later settlers.

Because according to the old household registration system, immigrants were registered as Hakkas, so the ethnic group that later immigrated was called Hakka.

Whenever there was troubled times, the people would migrate from the Central Plains, which was a battleground for war, to the uncivilized south on a large scale in order to escape the chaos of war. The largest number of Han people migrated southwards during the Yongjia and Jianyan periods.

These northerners who migrated to the south in clans naturally squeezed the living space of the locals. But in times of turmoil, both the locals and the Hakkas had a small population, and the Hakkas also brought advanced culture and technology from the north, which greatly improved the local economy. So the two sides were able to live in peace.

However, as the chaotic times passed and peace came, the population gradually increased, and the two sides were bound to clash over water, land, and resources. This is the so-called "Hakka-Punti conflict."

Contrary to popular belief, the conflict between natives and Hakkas is not actually an ethnic conflict, but a conflict between different ethnic groups within the Han nationality for the purpose of competing for living space.

In Guangdong and Fujian, this conflict was particularly intense. For example, the Hakka people in Chaozhou originally lived in the mountainous areas of Meizhou, Jieyang, etc. The locals lived on the plains, and the two sides were clearly divided and basically peaceful.

However, during the 200 years of peace in the Qing Dynasty, the Hakka population increased rapidly. The barren mountainous areas could no longer support them, prompting them to expand eastward from the inland. Thus, the Hakka and the natives met in the mountainous areas on the edge of the plains.

They called each other "thieves", and bloody conflicts continued. Coupled with the harassment of mountain bandits and Japanese pirates, as well as the conflict between the Han people and the local She people, Chaozhou became a mess.

Therefore, it is normal that Chaozhou cannot develop industry and commerce locally, and it is also a normal choice for Chaozhou people to go to Southeast Asia to make a living.

~~

But for Zhao Hao, this was an opportunity. What he feared most was that the local people were united and factions were easy to manipulate!

However, this topic is obviously not what we should discuss today.

So he went back to his previous decision - to use a fleet to transport kaolin here to build a factory and kilns!

This was also what the Chaozhou gentry hoped for, so they all expressed their willingness to contribute.

Of course I want to have a piece of the pie.

"Okay, okay, we will definitely all get rich together. But we can discuss this topic later, otherwise we won't be able to get back to today's main topic before dark." Zhao Hao said to everyone with a smile.

"Yes, yes, we are obsessed with money." The rich dog owners said embarrassedly.

Although it was not appropriate to ask at this time, everyone kept it in mind and planned to ask Master Zhao or the people around him for information when they got back.

"Young Master just said that the education revitalization plan is like five fingers forming a fist." Liu Zixing brought the topic back. "Yufeng Academy is one finger, the affiliated primary and secondary schools are another, the free primary and secondary schools are another, and Chaozhou Polytechnic is another... That's four fingers. What's the last one?"

"This last finger is very important." Zhao Hao replied with a smile: "Phoenix Island is so big that it is not enough to open just one academy. So I also plan to set up Chaozhou Agricultural College here!"

"Good, this will remind those nerds who don't know the difference between grains to always remember that agriculture is the basis." Liu Zixing praised without asking any questions, and then asked awkwardly, "But what does this agricultural college teach?"

P.S. I said I would update three times in three consecutive days, and I will definitely do it. There is one more update... I guess it won't be much earlier than yesterday, so you can read it tomorrow morning.