Chapter 1588 Complex preparations

When he visited Gu Wenchong's sugar cane plantation, Xun Peng also noticed that there were a large number of slaves working in the sugar cane fields. The physical appearance of these foreign slaves was obviously different from that of the Han people. As long as you paid a little attention, you could see that

But at that time, Xun Pengcheng was focused on understanding the operating conditions of the sugar cane plantations, and did not think of asking Gu Wenchong about the slave trade. Fortunately, Lao Gao didn't seem to be interested in the slave trade.

Stranger, Xun Pengcheng believed that he could also get valuable information from him.

As a former media practitioner, Xun Pengcheng understands the value of information and intelligence, and also knows its importance to commercial trade. For businessmen, the economic benefits that first-hand and timely information can bring are even far greater.

Going beyond the usual hard work can also ensure that they avoid detours and make wrong decisions in the business process. Xun Pengcheng wants to invest in plantations here, and one hurdle he cannot get around is manpower security. If there is not enough labor, then

No matter how good the project is, it is just talk on paper.

Although the operation of plantations can be left to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture provides technical and management support, and will not also solve the labor problem. Therefore, the large amount of labor required to open plantations still has to be done by the operators themselves.

Think of a way. The normal way is to hire immigrants who have recently entered Haihan through the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, because the number of immigrants always exceeds demand, it is almost impossible to use this method to get hundreds of laborers to start work in a short period of time.

Things that can be done.

Obtaining cheap labor through the slave trade has become the simplest and most convenient solution to this problem. As long as the buyer can afford the money, whether it is a hundred people or a thousand people, the slave traders will try to organize the "supply supply".

Send them to the area designated by the buyer. For example, the area from Changhua to Danzhou has dense plantations, and the slave trade is naturally extremely developed. Ships transporting slaves will dock nearby and send people directly to the plantations.

Moreover, as the demand for labor in plantations has increased in recent years, some Han Chinese who are familiar with the Nanyang environment have also begun to join the slave trade, organizing fleets to capture local natives in Nanyang, and then transport them back to Hainan Island to sell to local plantations.

The profits of this business are as huge as those of trafficking various gems and spices from Nanyang to the Ming Dynasty in the past. According to Lao Gao, there are at least seven or eight slave fleets operated by Han people in the Changhua area of ​​Danzhou alone.

I have been engaged in this business all year round. Of course, generally 70% to 80% of the slaves shipped back have been booked. Larger orders must be negotiated in advance.

However, this business is not a legal business permitted by Haihan law, so the official registration information and business scope of these slave fleets do not mention the business they are actually engaged in. The contact between the slave fleets and the buyers

, is completed through a local intermediary agency, namely Yaxing.

"If you want to inquire about the market situation in this area, I will take you to see the people from Yahang after arriving in Danzhou." After Lao Gao gave a general introduction to the local slave trade situation, he acted as an intermediary again: "I

The dental shop opened by my brother-in-law in Danzhou does business in this area. If the customer is interested, I can easily negotiate the price."

Of course Xun Pengcheng is interested, and his interest is not small. It can be said that if he wants to start a plantation, he is determined not to bypass the slave trade. And he himself has no connections in this area. If someone can make the connection, it will naturally be omitted.

He caused a lot of trouble. However, when he thought about Lao Gao's special son-in-law, he still felt a thorn in his heart, and couldn't help but ask: "Lao Gao, these things... your son-in-law won't interfere, right?"

Lao Gao responded: "My son-in-law? Why does my son-in-law care about this? Without these slaves transported from Southeast Asia, many farms and plantations would have to stop working. Can he afford such a big responsibility?"

Xun Pengcheng thought about it, and what Lao Gao said made sense. Although the Ministry of Security was in charge of heaven and earth, there were still some things that they could not take responsibility for. The problems involved in the slave trade were not just illegal immigration.

, will have a direct impact on the local economy and the livelihood of many people. The Ministry of Security will not intervene. If it does intervene, it will have to bear the consequences that may arise. However, the Ministry of Security can bear economic responsibilities.

Unable to take the blame for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce, naturally we can only pretend to be deaf and dumb on the slave trade issue and ignore these semi-open slave trades.

Of course, if you really want to talk about it, this choice of the Ministry of Security actually reflects the attitude of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee does not support or encourage the slave trade, but it will not express opposition. After all, Haihan faces a huge labor force.

It is difficult to find a better solution at this stage, and it can only be alleviated to a certain extent in this way. As for the humanitarian problems and subsequent social instability caused by this, the Executive Committee is currently unable to do anything

Taking into account so much.

However, the country does not completely ignore this. In fact, the number of people transported by these slave ships to Hainan Island still needs to be informally registered. However, the person responsible for statistics is not a special department like the Ministry of Security, but a company like Yahang.

Private intermediary agencies serve the country to the best of their ability. This is one of the conditions for these intermediaries to obtain franchise rights. The whereabouts of these slaves are also registered by each intermediary agency and then consolidated to the civil affairs department.

, so that these slave populations can be effectively tracked and managed in the future.

In order to make up for the omissions that may occur in the registration process as much as possible, Haihan has also increased requirements for employees in various plantations. If slaves are found to be registered by an intermediary agency without official approval during irregular inspections, their location

The plantations will be severely punished, and the fleets that provide them with slaves will also be punished.

In this way, a slave registration and management system can be established without spending too much official resources. Although the operation effect of this scheme is not as comprehensive as that of official institutions, it is better than occupying less official resources, and the actual implementation is

The effect was not bad. After more than a year of pilot operation, the relevant departments made up for some loopholes and then quickly implemented it to various areas under the control of relatively concentrated plantations.

Although these management measures will not have a great positive impact on the fate of slaves, they are very effective in improving local security conditions. As long as the origin and destination of most slaves are controlled, local governments will not

Too much trouble has occurred. After accumulating enough experience, the loopholes in this plan will become fewer and fewer, and its practicality will not be much worse than the establishment of a specialized competent department.

When Xun Pengcheng consulted the Ministry of Agriculture on relevant matters in Sanya, he actually had some knowledge of the policies and measures in this area. However, the slave trade was not completely legal in Haihan, so the officials were vague and unclear about it.

He couldn't tell Xun Pengcheng where to go to contact the slave traders. He could only find his own way to slowly understand the various things in between.

No matter how much Xun Pengcheng wanted to be lazy, he could no longer outsource this business. After all, he had to handle it himself. Thinking about his career change from a reporter to a plantation owner, it was originally a very wonderful experience, but he never expected that he would have to become a human trafficker in the middle.

.Although he doesn’t have too many moral obsessions, he is not willing to play such an honorable role.

Lao Gao then took Xun Pengcheng to a spice plantation. The scale of the planting here was not as large as the previous sugar cane plantation, but it also raised more than 200 slaves and dozens of hired workers, so the scene was not small. Here

The owner's name was Guan Pingcai. He used to be a squire in Changhua County, and he and the coachman Lao Gao were old acquaintances. This man was quite hospitable. Seeing that it was almost lunch time in the afternoon, he asked Xun Pengcheng and Lao Gao to stay here.

They stayed one night and then set up a banquet to entertain Xun Pengcheng.

Xun Pengcheng was quite flattered. After chatting for a while, he found out that Guan Pingcai was actually a regular reader of the Express. When Lao Gao introduced him earlier, he came according to the identity Xun Pengcheng claimed. Xun Pengcheng came out this time for convenience.

, claiming to be an employee of Sanya Express, so that when asking people for various information, it would not appear too strange. But he did not expect that he would be lucky enough to meet readers of Express in this plantation in the countryside of Changhua, and read

The other party is so enthusiastic and very loyal.

Before the banquet started, Guan Ping took out a stack of Sanya Express from his collection and showed it to Xun Pengcheng. He proudly introduced: "Since the inception of your newspaper, you haven't missed an issue. I have bought them all. Look,

There’s even this supplement that came out some time ago!”

The newspaper that Guan Pingcai pulled out was exactly the supplement that the Kuaibao newspaper published overnight under official pressure after the news incident caused by the Madalan people. This has an inextricable relationship with Xun Pengcheng. Xun Pengcheng saw that

I couldn't help but laugh and cry, and my expression suddenly felt awkward.

Guan Pingcai looked at his words and said, "What inconvenience does your Excellency have?"

Xun Pengcheng smiled bitterly and said: "It's not an inconvenience, but this special issue and the front page headline of the previous issue are all my work."

"Oh? It turns out that the author signed by 'Babi Sheng' on the Express is your Excellency! I'm sorry, I'm disrespectful!" Guan Pingcai said with a cup of his hands: "In the past few years since the Express was first published, it has published several supplements, but this is the first time I have read it.

The front page headline the day before yesterday and the subsequent supplements were all written by the same person, which is really an anomaly."

Xun Pengcheng couldn't explain to him what was going on. He could only respond vaguely, but he didn't dare to use this momentum to brag. He knew that the background of Ma Dalan's purchase of weapons was quite complicated.

He has been involved in it twice. If he does it a third time, he may not be lucky enough to escape safely. Therefore, even if it is just a topic related to it, Xun Pengcheng will subconsciously avoid it. What's more, there is Lao Gao sitting next to him.

If he smelled something about this hidden danger and went back to tell his son-in-law, wouldn't he have to explain it to the Security Department for a long time?

Xun Pengcheng quickly changed the topic to the operating conditions of the plantation, but Guan Pingcai was not very interested in it: "Both of Lao Ruan's two sons are serving the country now, and I have no interest in letting them come back to inherit the plantation, then...

It can only be regarded as an old coffin book. How much money can you charge?"

After hearing this, Xun Pengcheng did not dare to ask which department Guan Pingcai's son worked for, lest he ask questions that he shouldn't ask. However, Guan Pingcai obviously had little interest in running the plantation, and usually left it to a few of his cronies.

He only takes care of relatively large accounts that require his personal approval. As for the output here, it is underwritten by the Ministry of Agriculture. Once the contract is signed, it lasts for twenty years, and there is no need for him to promote sales on his own.

Xun Pengcheng asked: "Is there anything special about growing spices?"

Guan Pingcai responded: "Are you talking about agricultural technology? Then technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture come regularly to deal with problems. The old man is too old to learn new things, and a few young people are in charge. What should I say?

Being particular about it, naturally the more you plant, the better!”

Xun Pengcheng thought to himself that I would like to plant tens of thousands of acres for fun, but the problem is that I don’t have that much money in my pocket! He thought for a while and asked Guan Pingcai about the price of land nearby. If it was cheap, he might consider surrounding it here.

land.

Guan Pingcai said: "It's no different now than a few years ago. In the fourth year of Haihan, the price of land here was very cheap. As long as you build a plantation, you only need to pay a contract fee of 1,000 yuan a year for 100 acres of land.

There are also discounts for those who enclose more than 500 acres of land. Later, more and more plantations were opened here, and the land price also rose accordingly. Now it has increased about ten times compared with the original. Even so, the big households are still paying for it every year.

If we expand, we would like to encircle all the surrounding land for dozens of miles."

Xun Pengcheng frowned when he heard this. The magnitude of the land price change was indeed beyond his imagination. And based on the current contracting costs, he really couldn't create any big scene with the funds on hand. Looking at the account

The money is quite a lot, but if you think about enclosing the land, hiring people, settling it, purchasing various production tools and seedlings, and outsourcing it to the Ministry of Agriculture, the cost will be even higher, and in the first two or three years, it will basically only be out of pocket.

If he doesn’t make money, he won’t have much income. It’s okay to build a plantation of about 100 acres with the little money he has on hand, but he can’t expect to make much money from such a small plantation, and it may not be able to support the luxurious life he longs for.

.

"What about the land price in Danzhou?" Xun Pengcheng asked without giving up.

Guan Pingcai said: "The land price in Danzhou? Of course it is higher than here! You may not know, but now that a new plantation or farm is to be opened in Danzhou, the enclosure must start at 500 acres. This is not an ordinary

People can afford it.”
Chapter completed!