March 31, 1653, Luoqia County.∟

Mr. Li Qun and Mr. Zhu Heng were sitting in the yard and playing Go comfortably. A pot of tea was brewed on the coffee table next to him - this is Mr. Zhu's favorite - next to the tea was a cup of coffee, which was the drink of a guy from a bandit. Unfortunately, he never drank any good tea in his life, but after he got rich on the east coast, he became crazy about coffee, which made Mr. Zhu despise him quite despise him.

"I said what's good about your green tea?" Li Qun was not good at chess. Seeing that a big dragon was not safe, he began to complain about Mr. Zhu in dismay: "I, Lao Li, can't drink these bitter tea leaves. Even if I drink them, I have to put a lot of sugar to remove the bitterness, otherwise I can't drink it even if I beat you to death."

Who is Zhu Heng and Mr. Zhu? Naturally, he would not be disturbed by Li Qun's outside the pan. He took a sip of tea and said leisurely: "Drinking tea and adding candy is a bad habit of Semuyi people. You, a man of Han, have learned such a custom of Hu Yi, which really shamed our ancestors. However, I heard that the price of sugar has increased sharply recently, and Brazil has cut off its trade in the market. It will not be easy to eat some candy in the future, right?"

Liqun was stunned when he heard this. Now more than 70% of the sucrose in the East Coast Republic is imported from Brazil, while the rest is imported from Dutch Brazil and Peru. If the Brazilians really cut off trade with each other, the source of this sugar is indeed a problem. You should know that most of the Dutch sugar is transported back to Europe to make money. It is not easy to be able to evenly give it to the East Coast. The yield of sucrose plantations in Peru is limited and most of them are used for local consumption. The East Coast people will be in a long-term sugar shortage in the future.

In fact, not only the sugar is gone, but the supply of cotton, tobacco, high-quality ship materials, cocoa, dried fruits, candied fruits and other commodities from Brazil will be cut off. Especially the two most serious items of cotton and ship materials. The massive amount of cotton required by the East Coast textile industry can only be self-sufficient. The rest must be imported from Brazil, the Caribbean, Florida and other places. At the moment when cotton cultivation in New China Island is just starting, people in the East Coast must adjust their import channels as soon as possible. If the conditions are appropriate, they can try to import from Peru (there are small-scale cotton cultivation there) to fill the gap after the Brazilian trade is cut off.

As for ship materials, it is even more difficult. You should know that the strong superstition of the East Coast Navy is absolutely outrageous. They only like to build the main ships with old-fashioned Brazilian sumu, and these obviously have to be imported from Brazil, and now they are naturally gone. The Navy may still have some inventory in its hands, but once it is used, it will be useless. This must also be solved.

So, if you don’t look at it, you’re shocked to see it. The East Coast and Brazil have been in great dependence for so many years. The severance of trade between the two sides has indeed been a little uncomfortable in a short period of time.

"I can't eat candy, it's boring, I can't take it anymore." Li Qun pushed the chessboard like a trick, stood up and relaxed, then picked up a cup of coffee and said, "Wouldn't my small shop that runs cocoa powder also be closed? Mom. Without candy, who will buy cocoa powder to eat?"

"Close down as soon as possible." Mr. Zhu slowly put away the chess pieces one by one. Then he said, "I said I should concentrate on everything I do! Isn't it good to run a plantation in New China? Not to mention the amount of your sisal plantation every year, there is still a profit of three to five hundred yuan, and it is still increasing. Where can I find such a good thing? If I listened to my advice and bought the plantation of the family who died of illness, now you can make money comfortably. Unfortunately, you actually invested your money in opening a store to sell cocoa powder. How can you say hello?"

"Oh, don't I think that the broken island in New China is too hot and it's not good to live in Li?" Li Qun said depressedly: "Besides, I'm not like Mr. Zhu. My son has grown up several years old. Once the stalls in New China are big, I have to move my home and keep an eye on them all year round, which is boring. Lao Li, I don't like the wet and stuffy weather all year round. Now this is great. I'll open a plantation with people and have brothers to help me take care of it. I can go there and work for a year and rest for a year or two. It's great. Luoqia County is a good place, this mountain, this water, and this land support people, and I just don't bother to move."

Mr. Zhu's family mentioned by Li Qun is indeed prosperous now. He has given birth to six children over the years, four of which survived, which is considered to exceed the national average. Three of these four children are now adults, and the eldest son is his successor. He is currently training in his own plantation in Xinhuaxia Island. The second son took a sum of money given by Mr. Zhu a while ago, and passed the family and passed it together. He signed up to go to a new settlement in Wujiang area to reclaim land. He once learned the stonemasoning skills from his Italian father-in-law. He could still divide his land into thirty acres of land when he arrived in Wujiang. He would definitely not live too badly.

Mr. Zhu's third son has just grown up. Zhu Heng, who does not want his son to leave his hometown, has already found out that Luoqia Town is going to divide a batch of land in the countryside (unallocated land, state-owned assets, and in fact most of the land on the east coast is commons) for the distribution of the new population of the town (mainly the new generation of adult youth). So he also signed up for his son, hoping to get 30 acres of land in the newly built village.

It has to be said that the Chinese people are extremely persistent in their desire for land. The so-called "urban household registration" like Mr. Zhu originally had no land. The only way for them to obtain land was to register to reclaim land in new settlements. Thinking about when the east coast industrial and agricultural income was inverted (farmers' income exceeded urban residents' income), many urban residents took the initiative to register to explore the border in order to get a share of their own land. Of course, the income of urban residents has grown rapidly in recent years, and farmers' income has been stagnant for a long time, which has suppressed this kind of behavior of competing for farmers. Of course, this is more related to the policies of the Government Council. After all, the quota for old residents who signed up for reclaim land in frontiers (which is conducive to bringing new people with the old and assimilating newcomers) is not unlimited.

Although Mr. Zhu registered his son, he could not guarantee that his third son would stay in Luoqia Town. No, there were many people who signed up, but the government only took out a little bit of land for distribution. Whoever could get the share depends on the luck of the lottery. However, those who were not too much land should not be discouraged, because they could also sign up to settle in a newly built settlement. While sharing their own land, they could also help assimilate new foreign immigrants.

"But Mr. Zhu, do you think the court will really go to war with the Franji people?" Liqun was still obsessed with his small business after all, and only heard him say, "I heard that the Franji country is still fighting with the Risbamia country in Tessie, and is having a lot of fun fighting with the Dutch Red Hair in the New World. Do you think they dare to go to war with the court? Do they have the courage? They are so bold. They actually said that they would cut off trade, so bold..."

At the end, Liqun was a little angry again: This Franji man is very unaware of things. In the past, people who had cocoa powder wholesale business with him were all profiteers who were not trustworthy! He had just received several orders for cocoa powder, but you actually dared to cut off the trade! Do you know that Lao Li has to pay a lot of liquidated damages? Not to mention the credit losses! Alas, it is really unfavorable for the passing year!

"Your little business is nothing!" Zhu Heng and Zhu packed up the chessboard, then he stood up and bowed to the northeast, and said, "I think Chairman Liu of the imperial court is more anxious than you. The textile factories in the middle of the country are waiting for rice to be put into the pot. Brazilians no longer sell cotton. Where can we buy it in a short time? Florida (Florida), how can we buy it in a hurry? Moreover, the freight costs from Brazil and Florida to Luoqia Port are very different, and the length and danger of the route are incomparable. It is better to let the textile factories in the middle of the country go to Florida to grab cotton with the Thai-Siyi Yi to make a fortune! Humph, watch it, the good show is still behind, and the court will definitely have some action."

"That's not enough to relieve the near thirst. My Laoli will have to pay hundreds of dollars for the penalty alone, and I have to pay an old face. How can I do this? Oh, indeed, it would be great if I listened to your advice at the beginning. I will buy a sisal plantation in New China. I can't guarantee it. It's a pity that the difference is just a matter of thought!" Li Qunchang sighed, "There are people from Ping'an County. Many of them have built cotton plantations on both sides of the Mian River. Isn't it going to be a big hit this time? Last time I heard that the natives of Sakarava attacked Mian River Port, I laughed at them for spending money and wasted playing in vain. In a blink of an eye, the natives were defeated, and the cotton in their plantations were also on the market. Oh, it's such a good life! Why is my Laoli so miserable?"

"What's the big deal?" Mr. Zhu took a sip of tea and pointed at Li Qun and said, "I heard that there are people growing cocoa in Peru, and maybe some imported from the Nantik Line may be? I think you might as well take a boat to see if you can get some cocoa back through the Nantik Line. If you do, wouldn't everyone be happy, it's much better than you crying here and grabbing the earth."

"In addition, I have some experience reading "Three Kingdoms" recently." Zhu Heng stroked his beard and said with some satisfaction: "In this new southern continent, our east coast country is like Cao Wei, with strength and spirit firmly ranked first; that day, Sparmia and Franji were like Shu Han and Sun Wu. Both had a gap with our east coast, and they also had distractions between each other. When the two joined forces to fight against our east coast, they might be able to compete with each other, but now it seems unlikely. Our east coast country only needs to be patient and slowly plan to defeat each other and unify this new southern continent."

"Well, then what should I do with this Dutch red hair?" Li Qun asked.
Chapter completed!