New Shun 1730

After all, Liu Yu was just a platform for these people.

How to really reclaim the wasteland still depends on them themselves.

Liu Yu could only give them some initial support in terms of coordinating funds, internal board strategies, long-term planning, etc.

Since they have chosen business operations, they must be willing to accept defeat.

Poor management, bankruptcy, debt repayment; or internal board quarrels and disagreements; investors want to see short-term profits and insufficient capital investment, etc.

Liu Yu didn't care much about these problems.

The entire area of ​​nearly 40,000 square miles was not something he could manage.

After all, he could only choose to support one or two companies first, make a model after making money, and let more capital choose this direction after the Lianghuai salt industry was ruined.

After expressing his support for them as a whole, Liu Yu also patiently listened to some of these people's complaints.

Or in other words, it is a common necessity for agricultural society to transform into a modern one.

In addition to land ownership and enclosure issues, these people mainly complained about several aspects.

The first complaint was that the hired workers had no sense of time, because most of them were farmers before. Except for some people from Haimen who were hired at a high price to grow cotton, most of the hired workers were farmers who lost their land due to disasters.

The board of directors and the management director complained to Liu Yu that it might take three to five years for the company's time system to be promoted.

For example, spring is coming soon.

They set the time to get up at six o'clock, eat at six-thirty, take a car to the field at seven o'clock, and start working at about seven-thirty to eight o'clock.

They worked until eleven-thirty and walked back. Lunch was ready here. They started work at one-thirty in the afternoon and left work at five-thirty.

In Liu Yu's view, these were very normal. Things that later generations seemed to think did not need to be cultivated at all were very abnormal here.

In the era when Liu Yu lived, he went to school from a young age, and gradually cultivated the concept of time, punctuality, and collective cooperation, which was a kind of invisible cultivation.

At this time, it was difficult for these hired farmers to follow the concept of going to work on time, leaving get off work on time, and eating on time.

After complaining, the managing director sighed sincerely: "We really prefer those who have served in the army or those new students. At least they don't need to be taught to go to work and eat on time."

Liu Yu had no better way to deal with this, so he had to say: "Since we have chosen to do this, there is no other way. Take it slowly. In three to five months, you will learn it anyway."

"Another thing is that if we want to solve this problem, we still have to run a school to teach children what time means from an early age, and seamlessly turn going to school into working."

"I also know that investors are just for making money and will not spend money to run a school. But this is indeed a long-term solution to this problem."

The school problem is also a long-standing problem.

The reclamation of wasteland today is different from the era of Zhang Jian's reclamation in later generations.

In Zhang Jian's era, the reclamation company also had large and small bloodshed and bloody enclosures. However, after all, the leader was a person with the sentiment of "saving the country through industry", an old champion, with family and country ideas, not a pure capitalist.

But now...

The current state of Dashun is so bad that it doesn't matter whether it needs the sentiment of "saving the country".

Since there is no sentiment, the only purpose of investors is to make money.

It is destined that they will not invest in things like setting up schools.

Because they found that the talents they need can be hired. For example, those who are educated and can read and study agriculture can be hired from the new learning system.

For example, setting up a school to teach children to read? It would be cheaper to use this money to hire disaster victims.

So, just like when the Dongyang Trading Company was established, the Dongyang Trading Company obtained the monopoly right, and the price was that they had to fulfill their military obligations and help the Dashun Navy train sailors.

And these reclamation companies, Liu Yu also imposed obligations on them, or in other words, it was a kind of exchange.

Liu Yu guaranteed that they could enclose land at a very low price, and he would deal with all those who hindered the enclosement, and if there was a large-scale resistance, he would directly use the army.

And the price is that these people need to pay 2% of the total profit every year as various expenses.

This of course also includes education.

This money doesn't need to be spent in the early stage. In the later stage, Liu Yu will split the Academy of Sciences and build a special agricultural university in northern Jiangsu, as well as supporting primary education.

Given that southern Jiangsu has already carried out the eleven-tax reform, the eleven-tax reform will be implemented throughout Jiangsu in the future. After the national tax is turned over, the local government will have some money. The local government should also pay some money to build the primary education system as much as possible.

Although all investors feel that spending 2% of the profit every year will definitely be more expensive than the money spent on enclosure in the long run.

But they also know that without Liu Yu's support, their reclamation company will not be able to run at all.

These salt households, small farmers, and the market merchants behind them have many ways to make them cry.

For example, when the cotton is ripe, set fire to the cotton fields; for example, burn the workers' sheds at night; for example, dig up the irrigation canals; for example, pull up the dams to open the sea tide.

These need to be killed to scare the monkeys. If no one supports them, they will cry to death.

Of course, it is still early to make a profit, so there is no need to pay this money for the time being.

Since the conditions have been set long ago, the management director can only say: "In my opinion, it is true that we can only establish education and train people from an early age."

"The board of directors initially agreed to the Duke's conditions, but now they are actually willing to pay to build a professional agricultural school first. It's just a matter of building a few more rooms."

"We still have to rely on them to improve cotton seeds and cross-breed cattle and sheep."

"Anyway, the initial investment is a lot of money. Since this can please the Duke, everyone is still willing to pay this amount of money. We also hope that the Duke will be able to show his favor in the future. If there are difficulties in the operation and the capital turnover is urgently needed, we still hope that the Duke The public can provide some low-interest loans.”

He also made it clear that a group of investors were willing to pay to build the school just to please Liu Yu. Some wealthy businessmen from Songjiang Prefecture built a steam engine to emit black smoke in a beautiful garden, which was almost the same.

Of course, it is impossible to get Liu Yu to help them get low-interest loans just by relying on this small pleasure. Since Liu Yu supports and wants to set an example, there still needs to be some formality on the surface.

Regarding this request, Liu Yu smiled and said: "Don't worry, I know the difficulty of reclaiming wasteland, and I also know your plight. If you need money urgently in the future, I will help you coordinate."

He said it sincerely, and he was indeed prepared to coordinate the loan when the reclamation company encountered financial problems.

The environment here is no better than that of the British enclosure movement. This is Northern Jiangsu.

Floods, floods, tides, wind disasters... several major disasters come one after another.

And to really make money here, a huge amount of capital needs to be invested in soil improvement and water conservancy projects.

There will be no profit within one or two years, and millions of taels of silver must be invested in water conservancy project construction every year.

Moreover, this is a silted plain, and seawalls need to be built.

These are large investments and the reason why small farmers have no interest in the wasteland here. Small farmers don’t have the capital to engage in these things, so they just plant them. Even if the court inspects the pastures and doesn’t catch those cooking salt, small farmers won’t be able to support them.

And this involves the particularity of joint-stock companies.

For investors, their purpose has never been to realize the modernization of Jiangsu or to help Dashun build a little family foundation.

They have one and only one purpose.

Get high returns.

This return and average profit must be very high.

Once a natural disaster occurs and water conservancy and seawalls need to be repaired, funds may be urgently needed.

And if it is profitable, investors absolutely do not want to rely on issuing additional shares to relieve financial pressure.

They will naturally tend to borrow money and pay it forward.

Of course, if the land is cleared, they will also be eligible for loans. It is the best and most intensive cotton field in Quandashun and may have the best water conservancy facilities. With this as collateral, a loan will definitely not be a problem.

But the interest on the loan involves the generally high interest rate in Dashun.

In fact, the most likely way for Quan Dashun to obtain large-amount low-interest loans can only come from internal funds. The emperor once lent money to some salt merchants at a very low annual interest rate of 10%, helping some merchants to pay for it.

In fact, banks in Songjiang Prefecture can also provide loans. But this bank is not essentially a bank, but an exchange house for banknotes and silver.

Those who are really in charge of these are the official forces, who can lend money when necessary. The application procedures are too troublesome, but Liu Yu can definitely help solve it.

Another one is that Liu Yu's reputation can help them get loans in Europe with lower interest rates. However, the trouble is that this is land, and Dashun does not allow European capital to set foot in the land. The emperor asked the Netherlands for a loan to repair the Huaihe River. It was essentially an unsecured loan, borrowed with the crown of the "Chinese Empire" that had stood for two thousand years.

Of course, if you want to borrow money, you can always get around the rules.

After all, Liu Yu's help is needed here, or the court's help is needed.

Generally speaking, when it comes to land, it is best not to borrow money privately, because something will inevitably happen if you borrow money privately.

France has done many things, such as placing orders and borrowing money to make a fortune, and then with a little manipulation, farmers went bankrupt and had to sell their land.

It is also common in North America. For example, if you want to merge, you deliberately dig and cut off canals, or you set fire to it when it is mature, forcing it to go bankrupt and then merge.

This is all normal.

Judging from the current situation, growing cotton here, once the land is developed, will definitely be very profitable.

Because Japan does not produce cotton and Nanyang has popularized the consumption habit of Indian cotton cloth, what Dashun needs to do now is to replace Indian cloth with Songjiang cloth.

Even if European smuggling channels are not opened for the time being, cotton will definitely not lose money in the early stage and it will be a steady profit.

Investors are all smart people, and they have done this kind of deception, abduction, and land annexation a lot, so they still hope to get loans from official channels.

Although in fact the imperial court was even worse, and maybe another emperor would just take over the land and turn it into an imperial estate. But Liu Yu's credibility is at least good. Compared with the risks, these investors also feel that it is safer to let Liu Yu come forward to coordinate the loans.

After all, this is northern Jiangsu, where famines occur frequently, and it is impossible not to consider unexpected emergency expenditures to resist natural disasters.

Liu Yu naturally agreed to this, and also promised that if there was a natural disaster within three years, he could lend the company a sum of money in the early stage.

Just when I was about to discuss with these people about the follow-up cotton gin plant, cotton transportation to Songjiang Prefecture, and cotton seed recycling, I was preparing to promote Mexican cotton to replace short-staple Asian cotton in Quandashun.

Several young people ran in in a panic. They were new students hired by the company, with a few bloody scratches on their faces.

After greeting, he didn't care about anything else and said, "Duke, sir, something happened. There are more than a hundred women, and some old men and old ladies, gathered around the reeds. They won't let us set fire to them."

"We don't dare to set fire to them. Besides, if it were men, we would have done it. But they found a group of women, and old men and old ladies, and they are all frozen. What can we do?"