Chapter 809: Focusing on Agriculture and Suppressing Trade
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yin Huaixi shook his head. “It’s very complicated to raise silkworms, and I don’t have the energy to do this. A million acres isn’t much. Even the retail investors in the city have been oppressed by the four families for many years and have limited money and food. In the past few years, there has been a drought in the north, and the Liaodong area has also been affected a little. There won’t be many people who have the ability and are willing to take the risk to buy forests and expand their silkworm farming.”
“The soldiers in the army are suffering and have limited money. Their ability to buy capital won’t be too high. Although this million acres is a lot, only you have the financial resources to buy it. Only you can guarantee that you can settle the refugees after buying the forest land.”
The refugees did not have the ability to buy land to raise silkworms. In order to ensure that the refugees could be settled well, Yu Youyao had to have absolute say in the silkworm industry in Liancheng. Then, she could not have too few silkworm farms under her name. Each of the four families controlled nearly 400,000 to 500,000 acres of silkworm farms.
Yu Youyao nodded. “Alright, I’ll discuss buying the silkworm eggs with the retail investors of the guild. The refugees will raise silkworms in my silkworm farm, and 30% of the harvest will belong to them. Seventy percent will be mine. I’ll buy 30% of their silkworm coc.o.o.ns at the market price in exchange for silver and food. As for the related contracts, after the refugees are settled in Fuzhen and Lianzhen, I’ll sign a contract with each family and distribute a suitable number of silkworm eggs according to the population of each family.”
This was decided after careful consideration and discussion with the two stewards of the silkworm manor under her name.
The North had taken in a large number of refugees, and a portion of them would be arranged to explore and grow sweet potatoes in a spa.r.s.ely populated place.
A portion of the refugees would be settled in places suitable for raising silkworms in Liaodong.
The price of Chinese oak silkworms was higher than domestic silkworms, and the profits were very impressive. She couldn’t let the profits from raising silkworms be higher than farming. Otherwise, everyone in the three provinces of Liaodong would raise silkworms. If no one farmed and produced food, they would have to buy food outside. If they couldn’t be self-sufficient, they would be controlled by others. If there was a natural disaster, the commoners would only wait for death.
She had to make the profits of raising silkworms equal to the profits of farming.
Only by raising silkworms and farming could the North develop.
It was the national policy to focus on agriculture and suppress trade. They had to nip the seeds in the bud from the beginning.
Being able to keep 30% of the silk was already a lot.
Xie Jingliu looked at Yu Youyao deeply. “There have been a few strange droughts recorded in history. The most serious one affected almost ten areas. More than ten million people starved to death, and more than ten million clueless refugees fled to other places. Not only was this a natural disaster, but it was also a man-made disaster.”
“At that time, the Imperial Court was very corrupt. Civil society organized a large-scale uprising and left the Imperial Court to establish a regime. The conflict between the two sides lasted for more than 20 years and affected the entire country, causing a fatal blow to agriculture at that time.”
“The commoners couldn’t recuperate and farm. In order to suppress the uprising, the Imperial Court wantonly collected food. In order to resist the Imperial Court, the rebel army also collected food from the commoners. The commoners didn’t have money or food. When the disaster arrives, they could only wait for death.”
His little cousin’s breadth of mind was not something ordinary people could compare to.
Xie Jingliu looked proud.
Yu Youyao nodded. “This time, the drought in the north is far from being as serious as the strange droughts recorded in history. However, even so, there are still tens of millions of refugees in the entire North, and there are four to five million refugees who have fled. At the bottom of it all, it’s still in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu. The merchant guild is huge and has suppressed agricultural development, causing the productivity in the North to be low and food production to decrease year by year.”
She had also learned her lesson. No matter what way she used to earn money, she had to create favorable conditions for agriculture.
Yin Huaixi smiled and nodded. “We’ll do as you say.”
Yu Youyao frowned. “It’s already the middle of February. I heard from the retail investors who raise silkworms that in the past, silkworm eggs had already begun to hatch at this time. It was only because the weather was colder this year that it was delayed. However, the silkworm eggs will start to hatch at the end of the month at the latest, so the resettlement of the refugees has to be completed as soon as possible. We can’t delay this season’s spring silkworms.”
Yin Huaixi said, “Don’t worry. The basic fortifications will be completed in half a month at most. It won’t conflict with raising silkworms. Yesterday, Lord Li came to look for me. The four families of the city stepped in and joined forces with the local rich families to donate a batch of money, food, tents, and other items to support the resettlement of the refugees.”
Lord Li first brought over the list of donations and the account book. In about ten days at most, everything recorded in the account book would be in place.
Yu Youyao was deep in thought. “That’s good too. The refugees will stay in the tents first. The silkworms will be raised on the trees, so there’s no need to build another place to raise them. As for the building of the silkworm farm, it won’t be a problem to find craftsmen in the future to build it slowly.” At this point, she smiled again. “There are also many people among the refugees who know about clay bricks. We can ask them to do the fortifications of the silkworm farm.”
She could only help settle the refugees. How they settled down in a foreign country and relocated depended on themselves.
From the looks of it, the refugees would be settled down in half a month at most. Yu Youyao couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. “The four families are not careless.”
Yin Huaixi smiled faintly. “After all, they’re families who are deeply rooted in the local area. It’s true that they’re greedy, but they’re not really stupid.”
As she spoke, Xia Tao came over. After bowing to Yin Huaixi and Xie Jingliu, she said, “Young Miss, Lord Li sent someone over. The four families have specially prepared a generous gift for you.”
Yu Youyao was a little surprised, but on second thought, she understood that this was the desire of the four families to live.
The four families were still considered sensible. As soon as the national policy was issued, they took the initiative to donate money, items, and food. Compared to the n.o.bles who occupied Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu, the four families were nothing. Yin Huaixi did not plan to attack them.
Yu Youyao smiled. “In that case, if we don’t accept this ‘big gift’, it’ll make them feel on tenterhooks and uneasy.” She turned to look at Xia Tao. “Just accept it. I’ll ask Lord Li to pa.s.s a message to the four families. In the future, the refugees will settle down in Liancheng. Please take care of them.”
Whether they took care of the refugees or not was secondary. These words were originally meant to warn the four families not to fool them for a moment. At the same time, it was also to calm the hearts of the four families.
Xia Tao bowed and left the small courtyard.
As for how the four families reacted when they heard this, Yu Youyao did not care.
Yin Huaixi chuckled. “I’ve been busy patrolling the border recently. You’ve been in Liancheng for more than ten days, but I haven’t had the chance to accompany you around. The weather has warmed up these past few days, and the spring light is just right. Tomorrow, I plan to go to Fuzhen and Lianzhen to patrol. Tai Mo Shan is there, and the scenery is not bad. Do you want to go over and take a look?”
As he spoke, he looked at Xie Jingliu. Seeing that Xie Jingliu did not object, he felt relieved.
Yu Youyao was a little tempted. In every dynasty, there was a tradition of taking a youth trip. Yu Youyao was the eldest daughter who had lost her mother, so she was more reserved than others. Her stepmother was in charge of the family. Thus, she had never partic.i.p.ated.
However, news of her being in Liancheng had already spread. It seemed that many people were keeping an eye on the courier station. There would definitely be many inconveniences when traveling.