Chapter 643: Explore new sources of income!
Youyan, Jingmen County
Jingmen was originally just an ordinary small county town near the sea in Youyan. As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the sea, eat by the sea. The people in the county are mainly engaged in salt industry, fishery and other related industries...
However, there were tens of thousands of people working in the salt industry in Beijing, which was a highly profitable industry in feudal society. However, due to the collusion between officials and businessmen and the rampant salt gangs, ordinary salt workers were exploited and lived in poverty, and could only struggle to survive.

In addition to exploiting salt workers, interest groups composed of salt merchants, salt gangs, and officials, in order to obtain high economic benefits, did not hesitate to hoard salt, keeping the price of salt in Youyan high all year round. As a result, these people made a lot of money, but ordinary people could not afford to eat salt, which led to health problems and many people lost their lives.
After the Fengwu Army entered the capital, under Ye Mingsheng's thundering means, the Fengwu Army wiped out the salt gangs and illegal salt merchants who were harming the local area, established fair and just rules for the salt industry, improved the treatment of grassroots salt workers, and protected the interests of the middle and lower class people.

In addition, the craftsmen of the Second Manufacturing Bureau also greatly increased salt production and market supply through innovations in salt-making technology. They used a two-way strategy of market and administrative means to lower the high salt prices in the market, allowing the people of Youyan to eat reasonably priced salt.

In addition to the salt industry, Ye Mingsheng also took a fancy to the geographical location of Jingmen. He planned to build a port here and provide small loans to the local shipbuilding industry to vigorously promote the development of the local shipbuilding industry.

With the implementation of these policies, Jingmen County has become full of vitality in just over a year. Everyone is looking forward to a bright future. However, the entry of thousands of Fengwu troops today broke the tranquility of the small county.

"I, Wang Quan, the magistrate of Jingmen County, greet the commander-in-chief! Shen Gui, the commander-in-chief of the militia of Jingmen County, greets the commander-in-chief!"

A middle-aged scholar and a bearded man walked up to Ye Mingsheng with some fear and trepidation, knelt down and saluted, saying:

Just late last night, Wang Quan and Shen Gui received orders from above, saying that Ye Mingsheng was coming to Jingmen County for inspection, and they were told that Ye Mingsheng required a low profile on this visit and that they had to look at the most realistic situation, so they were not allowed to make any special arrangements...

Although it was already late at night, the two men could not sit still when they heard the news that Ye Mingsheng was coming. They immediately gathered together overnight to discuss countermeasures. However, after discussing for half the night, the county magistrate and the militia commander still had no clue. They just felt that Ye Mingsheng's visit to Jingmen County this time was most likely to inspect the local salt industry and the local militia situation.

Although they were told not to make any arrangements, they called a meeting overnight to ensure that when Ye Mingsheng came to inspect tomorrow, there would be no negligence that would cause them to be blamed by Ye Mingsheng. Of course, it would be best if they could perform well and be praised by Ye Mingsheng.

Looking at the slightly tired expressions of the two people in front of him, although Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything on the surface, he shook his head slightly in his heart.

Jingmen County was a very important part of the development plan he formulated for Hebei and Henan. Based on this, even when the Fengwu Army was in financial difficulties, Ye Mingsheng gritted his teeth and provided loans to the local shipbuilding industry.

The reason for this sudden visit to Ye Mingsheng was that he had heard that Jingmen County had developed well, so he wanted to see the development achievements of Jingmen County. He wanted to see the real situation rather than some superficial projects, so Ye Mingsheng specially ordered the Governor to inform Jingmen County one day in advance that he was coming to inspect...
However, it can be seen from the expressions of these two people that after knowing that he was coming to inspect, these two people probably did not sleep all night and made preparations for his arrival overnight. Although he was somewhat disappointed, Ye Mingsheng could understand these two people to be fair, so Ye Mingsheng did not reprimand them too much, but just asked the two people to stand up and lead the way in front to introduce the local development to him.

Although the main purpose of Ye Mingsheng's inspection of Jingmen County was not to inspect the local salt industry, Ye Mingsheng still chose the salt industry as the first stop of his inspection. After all, the salt industry is the largest pillar industry in Jingmen County. Nearly one-third of the county's population is engaged in salt-related work, and it occupies nearly 10% of the market share in the Fengwu Army area.

Ye Mingsheng learned from Wang Quan that the salt production in Jingmen County has doubled compared to the past, and according to the guidance of the governor, the salt industry in Jingmen County is still continuing to expand in scale, striving to double the production capacity within three years. In this regard, Ye Mingsheng also affirmed the efforts made by the Jingmen County government in promoting the development of the salt industry.

In addition to listening to the reports from Wang Quan and others, Ye Mingsheng made another sudden move. When he was inspecting the salt field and observing the workers making salt, he suddenly "recruited able-bodied men" at the salt field and found several front-line workers, wanting to hear their opinions.

After learning that it was the Fengwu Army Marshal Ye Mingsheng who was questioning them, the front-line workers in the salt field were very excited and knelt down to Ye Mingsheng. Although they were not well educated and had not read many books, they all knew that it was Marshal Ye who cleared out the salt gangs and illegal salt merchants who were riding on their heads and doing evil, allowing these poor people to have a stable meal...

After pacifying the salt field workers, Ye Mingsheng began to learn about the situation from them. At first, the workers were a little timid, but under Ye Mingsheng's gentle attitude, they gradually started talking.

Their main problem was that the work was too tiring. Although the wages had increased significantly compared to before, they were still in arrears, and it often took one or two months to settle the wages. Secondly, as for cases of injury, disability or death due to work, the salt merchants' attitude had improved greatly under the rule of the Fengwu Army, compared to their previous indifference. They were willing to pay silver as compensation, but the amount they gave was too little, with only three or five taels of silver required to buy a life.

After learning about this situation, Ye Mingsheng asked Wang Quan to record the workers' responses, resolve them as soon as possible and report the results to him, and strengthen supervision of several salt merchants in the future to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of these front-line workers are protected accordingly.

Hearing that Ye Mingsheng really stood up for these poor people, the salt field workers were filled with tears and thanked Ye Mingsheng profusely. After waving goodbye to these workers, Ye Mingsheng left the salt field and came to the real destination of his trip - Jingmen Port.

Jingmen Port was built with loans from the Dadongsheng Company and undertaken by local militiamen. It can handle the loading and unloading of treasure ships of 1,500 tons. This port was decided by Ye Mingsheng and is one of the key infrastructures planned and constructed in Youyan’s development plan.
Looking at the bustling and prosperous scene of Jingmen Port in front of him, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction. Coming from the future, he knew very well the importance of a port to economic development. That was why he insisted on spending tens of thousands of taels of silver to build the Jingmen Port despite the opposition from the Governor.

In Ye Mingsheng's opinion, the Jingmen Port is only in its initial stage. It will continue to be built and gradually become a super-large port that can drive the development of the entire northern part of the Great Zhou. Wang Quan was thoughtful when he saw the smile on Ye Mingsheng's face. He seemed to understand why Ye Mingsheng came for this sudden visit. At this moment, Ye Mingsheng looked at him and asked:

"How big a ship can Jingmen build now?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Wang Quan hesitated for a moment and then said:
"Reporting to the commander, at present, the number of ships that can be built in Jingmen Port is only about 600 tons..."

Hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly and asked back:
"I heard that the Fushan Shipyard in Jiangnan can build a treasure ship of 3,000 tons?"

As if sensing the dissatisfaction in Ye Mingsheng's tone, Wang Quan, the county magistrate, gradually had a layer of fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and said helplessly:
"Marshal, Jiangnan's shipbuilding industry is indeed much more developed than ours. We are now able to build ships of 600 tons, thanks to the loans provided by the Dadongsheng Company and the increased trade demand between us and Jiangnan, Dongdao, and Gongdu. That's why we have been able to develop. Previously, the largest ship we built in Jingmen was only over 100 tons, and most of them were sampans!"

After hearing Wang Quan's explanation, Ye Mingsheng didn't say much, but there was a hint of disappointment in his heart.

Because it can be foreseen that a major war will be imminent next year, the Fengwu Army will need to expand again in order to cope with the war. In order to expand, a large amount of money and food will be needed as support. However, for future sustainable development and the support of the people, Ye Mingsheng has invested most of the results of the war into the post-war recovery of Hebei and Henan.

Although there are still hundreds of thousands of grain and silver in the treasury, Ye Mingsheng dare not touch the money. After all, the economy is not good now and no one knows when natural disasters or man-made disasters will occur. It is reassuring to keep some money in the account. If there is a snowstorm or war, it will be terrible if he can’t take out the money from the account...

He had to expand the army and prepare for war, but also keep a sum of money for unexpected needs. For this dilemma, Ye Mingsheng's solution since he started his army in Liaoyang was to ask for money from the gentry represented by the aristocratic families. However, this time it didn't work. After several attacks by Ye Mingsheng before, these people had been seriously injured and had little money in their pockets.

Although Ye Mingsheng could have reaped the rewards if he had forced the harvest, at this point in time when the war was imminent, Ye Mingsheng still felt that he should focus on internal unity and not oppress the enemy too much. Just as Ye Mingsheng was racking his brains to figure out where to find the money to expand his army and prepare for war.

A report from Ye Hongsheng, the chief manager of Dadongsheng Company, made Ye Mingsheng suddenly enlightened. Although in name, Dadongsheng Company was just a private company, any discerning person could see that Dadongsheng Company, which had the only financial license in the Fengwu Army area and was allowed to conduct foreign exchange business, was a state-owned company.

As the Fengwu Army's territory expanded, the business empire of the Dadongsheng Company was also gradually expanding, and their novel products were also popular among the general public.

However, because Ji, Yu, You, Yan and Liaoyang were not wealthy provinces in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and coupled with years of war, the common people liked Dadongsheng’s products but were short of money and had little purchasing power. They did not dare to spend the money they saved after filling their stomachs, so they saved it in their hands...

As a result, Dadongsheng could only earn money from wealthy people such as the powerful, wealthy merchants and gentry. However, these people were a minority after all, so the money earned from them was limited after all.
In addition, although Dadongsheng made some money from finance and trade, under the guidance of Ye Mingsheng, the Dadongsheng Company also had to shoulder its social responsibility and provide loans to poor people so that they could buy seeds, farm tools, and livestock to engage in productive labor.

Occasionally, when Liaoyang's finances were tight, Ye Mingsheng would withdraw money from the account of the Dadongsheng Company to subsidize the finances. This caused a lot of pressure on Ye Hongsheng, the head manager of the Dadongsheng Company. In order to reduce the pressure on himself, Ye Hongsheng decided to expand the southern market and sell goods to the most prosperous and wealthy Jiangnan Huainan area of ​​the Da Zhou.

Facts have proved that this was a very correct decision, although Dadongsheng's products did not enter the Huainan market due to war and hostility in the Huainan region.

However, in the Jiangnan market, Dadongsheng's new fabrics, kerosene lamps, glassware and other products were widely welcomed and praised. In just two or three months, goods worth 100,000 taels of silver were sold. After deducting the dealer's fees and manufacturing and transportation costs, Dadongsheng earned 30,000 taels of silver.

At the same time, many local businesses in Jiangnan smelled the business opportunity. They placed a large number of orders with Dadongsheng. Some business owners with financial acumen even made huge offers and favorable conditions, hoping to become the only designated distributor of Dadongsheng in Jiangnan.

Ye Hongsheng was pleasantly surprised by the great success in the Jiangnan market and he met with Ye Mingsheng to request expansion of production capacity and greater business layout in the Jiangnan region!

Ye Hongsheng’s report also made Ye Mingsheng realize the emergence of a huge financial growth point. Just when Ye Mingsheng was overjoyed, good news and bad news came one after another······························
(End of this chapter)