Mr. Zhu's home is in the suburbs of Luoqiagang, with a courtyard house in front and back, covering a large area and a lot of rooms. It is said that the total cost of buying land, construction labor, and materials during construction is more than 700 yuan, which can be called a sky-high price. However, when Master Zhu fled from Shandong, he brought a lot of precious jewels with him, and he was rich, so he didn't care about these expenses.

Moreover, it is said that when building the house, Mr. Zhu originally planned to build it in the style of a villa on the side of the reservoir in the suburbs of Chengdu Dongfang County, but later he was worried that this would "exceed the system", so he gave up. But at present, this kind of building, in an economically backward county like Rocha Port, is still very eye-catching and stylish.

There were no servants in Zhu's house—in fact, few people on the East Coast today could afford to use them. Master Zhu's two sons were serving tea and water, and were responsible for welcoming guests. They were all born and raised in Qingzhou, and now they have all married and started a family, and the eldest son married a woman who is also from the Ming Dynasty, and is currently at home with his father in business - in order to punish Zhu Heng for violating the unspoken rules of national marriage, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau even found fault and fined Zhu Heng 100 yuan in cash; When the second son got married, Master Zhu was much more honest, and his youngest son married the daughter of an Italian craftsman (stonemason) who came to the east coast to earn a living, and is currently working as a farmer at home, operating 30 acres of farmland, and learning stonemason skills with his father-in-law in his spare time.

Li Qun had already been to Master Zhu's house several times, and his eldest son was already familiar with him, so he smiled and stepped forward to take the old horse he was riding, and then asked him to sit in the front yard hall. Li Qun nodded, and walked straight to the hall to take a look, and now there are more than a dozen people sitting here, most of them are the township party when Master Zhu was in Qingzhou before.

Besides. There are also two businessmen with razor-faced faces. But these two people are recognized. One of them is from their Wuding Township. At first he was a goldsmith from England, but later he absconded to the East Coast with his gold family - a standard scum; The other is from Venice, and it is said that he was originally a trader and mainly engaged in coffee, but unfortunately the European market at this time did not accept this drink, and unfortunately went bankrupt. After coming to the east coast, these two men have worked hard, and now they are also small merchants—well, only medium-sized merchants within the limits of Luoqia County.

Li Qun found a seat closer to Master Zhu and sat down. Picked up the glass on the table and took a sip of tea, well, fresh yerba mate from La Plata, the taste is okay. There were also some dried fruits on the table, which made Liqun a little surprised, today, when the war has been going on for almost a year, it is still possible to buy these in-demand materials from the market, and Master Zhu is not shallow.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Seeing that the people were almost there, Master Zhu suddenly put down the teacup in his hand, and then sighed heavily and said, "Everyone knows." It's not easy to do business right now. Since the imperial court ...... Well, since the government and the Spaniards went to war. I'm afraid you've been sitting at home for a long time, right? Boss Qian, I heard that you have been farming and raising pigs at home recently, what's the matter, are you ready to be a farmer for the rest of your life? ”

"Master Zhu, in this situation, if you don't farm at home, isn't it sitting on the mountain? It's not easy for us to save some money, and if we don't work for a year, maybe the capital for business next year will not be enough. Boss Qian touched the top of his shaved head, and then said with a smile: "Master Zhu, you don't know who my Boss Qian is, and his family used to have less than 100 acres of land, and he was busy farming all day long. It's been almost two years since I came to the East Coast, and I really miss it for a long time without farming. ”

"Something that doesn't make a difference! How much money can I get by planting some corn grains all year round? Master Zhu scolded with a smile, and then said: "But if you want to farm, there is a promising farming career waiting for you now." Go to New China to open a plantation, do you dare to go? ”

"New Huaxia?" Boss Qian's face changed, as immigrants who came to the east coast from Daming, which of them hadn't lived in Xinhua Port or Tacheng Port for a few months? They were impressed by the hot weather and humid climate there.

"There is a miasma rampant in that place, and no less than 400 people die of various diseases every year, so what's the point of going there to farm?" Boss Qian's head shook like a rattle, "Besides, I also know about the plantations, there are a lot of them in Brazil, which requires a lot of labor, and we can't recruit these many people." And I'm afraid the government won't approve my relocation, right? ”

"You don't have to worry about that." Master Zhu waved his hand and said, "Some time ago, I learned that there was an epidemic in New Huaxia last year, and there were many deaths, and there was even a tragedy of the whole family, and some sisal plantations were deserted. At the beginning of this year, Captain Shi of the New China Pioneer Team publicly auctioned 18 plantations, ranging from 300 mu to 800 mu, all of which were cooked land that had been cultivated and tended for many years, most of which were planted with sisal, and a small part were planted with a medicinal herb called strychnine. The auction price is extremely low, requiring only two dimes a year for each acre of land, but it needs to be leased for at least 20 years at a time, and the rent for the first five years must be paid immediately. I learned that the crops in these fields have been planted for one to three years, and now they are taking over and taking advantage of it. What do you think? ”

After Master Zhu finished speaking, everyone in the room immediately began to discuss enthusiastically. There are two main risks, one is the harsh environment and rampant epidemics, which can be seen from the annual mortality rate of up to 1o%; Second, the government has set up a strict household registration management system, so that no one can move within the country at will. Of course, there should be no more obstacles in this regard now, because the New China Pioneer Team has been publicly auctioning off the plantations, which is a government act, and the policy obstacles to household registration obviously no longer exist.

With the risks out of the way, let's talk about the opportunities. As Master Zhu said, others have been operating plantations ranging from one to three years, and a large amount of upfront investment has been smashed, and now you are going to take over, which is naturally very advantageous. And sisal this material is now in great demand in China, with the large exhibition of ocean and offshore fisheries, the domestic demand for fishing nets has increased greatly, and sisal is a very good fiber for weaving fishing nets. Moreover, not only in fishery, but also in the navy, the navy also needs a large number of nets, ropes, etc., and in industry and agriculture, a large number of high-quality ropes are also needed, so the demand for sisal in China is rising.

Prior to this, the New China region had begun to export some sisal to the mainland for 6 consecutive years, but these were all wild sisal fibers, and the production was limited. Most of the domestic demand is still solved by importing hemp fiber from Russia from the Dutch, which is not only time-consuming, expensive and unsafe, so the Government Council has promoted the vigorous development of sisal plantations in the new China region to a strategic level. At present, the Ministry of Agriculture has planned a large amount of wasteland, slope land and forest land near Xinhua Port to develop plantations, and at the same time encourage private capital to enter here and vigorously develop and expand the new Huaxia area.

Master Zhu obviously got some signals from the people who traveled through the crowd this time, just like Xu Wenxuan, a famous entrepreneur in the north who had been in the newspaper, to act as a white glove for these people and go to the new China area to show the plantation economy. In order to enhance his own strength and at the same time have more helpers, Master Zhu summoned some businessmen in the county with some net worth to his house today, preparing to persuade them to invest in the "adventurous" business of New China together.

Those who can sit here today are either middle-level or above businessmen who can raise hundreds of yuan in cash at any time, or they are the former township party members of Master Zhu, who are both excited and afraid of Master Zhu's mentions. Of course, what I am excited about is the extraordinary "money scene" of this business, but what I am afraid of is naturally the harsh natural environment over there. Therefore, everyone has a difficult choice for a while.

Li Qun saw that everyone was arguing and shouting for a long time and still didn't figure out a clue, so he came forward and said: "Master Zhu, I am not a farmer, and I don't take life and death very seriously. Since you said that this plantation is so easy to do, then it is good for me to have a share, and if there is no more, I will contribute 200 yuan to make a share, how about it? ”

"If you want to come, I can't ask for it." Master Zhu smiled, and then took a pen and wrote it down on the paper. After remembering, he said: "I didn't make it clear just now, the laborers who run the plantation can partly employ the people of the Eight Banners of the island there, and partly can be solved by the government. I heard that the government was going to buy from the Portuguese some black slaves from near the Gulf of Guinea, who were naturally resistant to fever (malaria) and although they generally did not live past the age of forty, they were quite good for plantation labour. The price of these slaves should not be very expensive, how about it, everyone, are you interested? ”

As soon as Master Zhu said this, two or three more businessmen agreed to buy shares, one of whom was the former English goldsmith.

"Of course, you don't have to worry about funding." Seeing that everyone was still hesitant, Master Zhu added another weight, only to hear him say: "Some big people in Jingli (Dongfang County) told me that if I, Zhu, am willing to work hard there, I will hand over a sum of more than 20,000 yuan in cash, and at the same time, I will also say that I will mobilize the Northwest Reclamation Bank and arrange a low-interest loan for us, the amount will not be less than 5,000 yuan." If we raise a few thousand dollars here, there is a lot to be done! Ladies and gentlemen, the government has been encouraging the development of the rich tropics to enrich the domestic commodity market, so why sit still when there is such a good opportunity? ”

The bombshell thrown by Master Zhu immediately detonated everyone's enthusiasm. Since there was a big man behind it, the risk was naturally lowered, so five or six more people soon agreed to take the shares, including the Venetian merchant. The few who remain, either out of fear of illness or for family reasons, are still hesitant. And Master Zhu no longer urges them, to invest in a place like New China with a bad environment, everyone is afraid, and it is reasonable for them to hesitate. Therefore, Master Zhu just twisted his beard and smiled, waiting for them to make a decision. (To be continued......)

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