Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 546: The more Guo Kangla people, the better

Considering this, Guo Kang took the initiative and said: "We probably can't provide much of what you need here. If you have a surplus of iron, you can export it to us. But those iron ores must first meet your own military needs. Bar."

"Yes, we are vigorously building armaments during this period, and the export of iron ore and iron tools is expected to be very limited." Sun Shiwan did not hide it, saying: "But it is also because of this demand, we also want to start from You guys are purchasing a lot of things here. As mentioned before, we can also trade these items with commodity quotas such as silk and sugar."

"What do you need?" Guo Kang asked directly.

"Good wood." Sun Shiwan said: "Since your country wants to develop the north, it must cut down a large number of trees. According to our understanding, many places to be developed in the Ross area are covered by swamps and forests. These trees, To the locals, it is a nuisance, but to us, it is excellent wood. We are willing to purchase it in large quantities and the price is easily negotiable.”

"You want so much wood..." Guo Kang thought for a moment and then understood: "Oh, you also want to build a big ship, right?"

"Yes." Sun Shiwan nodded: "We have cut down a lot of wood over there. It is probably not an option to continue fishing like this. Moreover, we also found that there is a lot of wood in cold areas, and the quality is also very high."

"Before, we entrusted the expedition to the Eastern Province and discovered a lot of high-quality forest land along the Whale Sea all the way north. However, they also had to build their own ships, and the Ming Navy wanted to cut off the route from time to time. We believed that it should not be too much. Depend on that.”

"If you want to run a business in Egypt, we can also support it." He proposed: "We can cooperate and transport high-quality wood from the Black Sea, transship it in Egypt, and then send it all the way to us. Of course, I think this is all right It’s a bit of a waste of shipping capacity. If Egypt can be stabilized, I think we can build ships locally.”

"On the spot?" Guo Kang really hadn't thought about this issue before.

"Then how can you do it yourself?" Theodora questioned: "How big a project can you manage by yourself?"

"Yes." Sun Shiwan said: "We currently only control many ports and have always lacked sufficient depth. Therefore, although Dayuan is large, it has no way to retreat now. The only way out is the Java Port. For the long-term war in the future, it is Very disadvantageous.”

"Our shipbuilding industry in Dayuan is all located in major ports in Nanyang. Although the scale and technology are okay, they are too close to the front line and too concentrated." He explained: "We have been fighting the Ming army for decades. , Now the navigation technology of both sides is not comparable to that of the past. Everyone is becoming more and more familiar with sea routes. The performance of ships is getting better and better, and they are more suitable for the sea conditions in the Southeast Asia. The strategic location is a bit of a disadvantage.”

"Didn't you only manage a few charity projects before?" Guo Kang asked back: "I think you can only manage some financial projects in the metropolis. The area of ​​​​the Ross area is too large. If the distribution is too scattered and the specific situation is too complex, it may not work.”

"No problem, thank you Mr. Guo for your help." Sun Shiwan nodded: "I personally hope that we can reach an agreement. If successful, we will still be able to cooperate in iron smelting in the future. Because of our shipbuilding skills We also need iron. In this case, can we also invest in related industries? If you are interested, we can cooperate with you in casting and purchasing guns."

"Yes." Sun Shiwan said with certainty: "Egypt itself has a certain shipbuilding industry, and we can also send craftsmen to build ships directly at the Red Sea ports. If this plan can be implemented, it can give Egypt and your country, It brings a lot of income, which is an added guarantee for us.”

To this, Guo Kang didn't want to give him an answer. Although it sounds nice, investing so much money and craftsmen means that Javanese Yuan will definitely make demands and ask for other benefits in terms of politics and military. There are too many issues involved here, and we have to think about it slowly.

Lama Wang was also very happy and arranged for a clerk to come and prepare to record the specific donation items. As for more cooperation, they will make more detailed arrangements later.

"The sea is no better than land. There are no checkpoints on the sea. Starting from Guangzhou and Jiaozhou, the Ming army can reach major ports in Southeast Asia. If they continue to harass like this, they will definitely interfere with our shipyard. Whether it is to replenish merchant ships or build warships, All will be affected. But on the other hand, because they have many people and ports, if we want to harass them, the effect will probably not be so good."

"So you want to move the shipyard farther away..." Guo Kang understood.

Of course, there are other benefits to him speaking directly. Seeing that such a big businessman expressed his stance directly, everyone also responded. Guo Kang's plan suddenly received a lot of approval.

"However, even if the Ming army increases its troops, it is still running around in Nanyang. It is impossible to go directly to the West. If we build a number of industries there, we should be able to solve this problem." He proposed: " If your country can agree, we can also help contact the countries and ports along the route. Although we cannot provide direct military assistance, we do business in the West all the year round, and we still have these contacts, which should be able to help in the future. ”

"Then how big of a project do you think I can handle?" Theodora looked unhappy and asked, "It's okay if you give me part of it."

Guo Kang also completed his mission and left with Theodora.

"I heard that you want a lot of money from those businessmen." Walking to the corner, Theodora said to him: "This plan is also very big. Judging from this amount, you alone will need a lot of money." It’s a lot of responsibility. Do you need me to help you manage it?”

"You may not be able to take care of this project." Guo Kang thought for a while, but shook his head and refused: "Now is the very beginning, and every step is important. I think it's better to forget it."

"It should be no problem to sell wood." After Guo Kang finished speaking, he looked at Lama Wang and said, "As for shipbuilding, you can negotiate with local businessmen yourself. If they are willing, you can buy our wood and find it made in Egypt. We I probably won’t care. But it’s not up to me to let the government-run workshops participate. I can only ask for you and see what the court’s plans are.”

"Me? Of course the bigger the better." Guo Kang disagreed: "I already have a very detailed idea. The more resources and manpower the court gives me, the better I can do. If they give me two more With the manpower of three legions, I can pull out the first ten auxiliary brigades in five years, and complete the initial organization of thirty battle groups in ten years. "

"Isn't the biggest problem now that we have limited resources and limited investment? Otherwise, I wouldn't have to bother organizing so many private forces and outsiders to help." He sighed and said somewhat helplessly.

"..." Theodora was reluctant, but after thinking about his previous performance, she felt that this guy might not be bragging, and she didn't know how to refute it.

"The last time I said something like this to someone named Liu, he was a very capable person." She complained, "I think it's better if you don't brag like this every day."

"What the hell..." Guo Kang didn't understand for a moment, or maybe he didn't bother to think about it. He was stunned for a moment, then returned to his own topic, and said to himself: "In this case, I plan to take time to visit the presidents of the chamber of commerce just now. You can help me with this kind of thing. "

"Huh? Which one is it?" Theodora asked quickly.

"Anything is fine. Like the guy from Georgia, you can go to him first." Guo Kang said: "In this situation, they may not have made up their mind yet and are unwilling to pay in a hurry. But among the people in their hometown, are there any of these people?" I have few connections, so I thought about giving them some financial benefits and asking them to organize some skilled people to help mine and open up wasteland.”

"After the death of Emperor Timur, there was chaos in western Persia to the Caucasus. Without his strong suppression, various Turkmen warlords raised their troops one after another. Their big-headed men often couldn't control their men, and the fight became a mess. ”

"Our troops stationed in the Caucasus are only enough to defend the existing territories and fortresses. I heard from my father that a few years ago, the Georgians there organized a delegation and lobbied in Dadu, hoping to win over Timur The Sarai Wanhu Mansion sent more troops to recover all the old lands of the Kingdom of Georgia and protect their compatriots. However, the imperial court was using troops in the west and north at that time, and they could not spare any troops, so they did not agree..."

"Even if I could draw it, I don't think I would agree." Theodora shook her head and interjected in a low voice: "The division of the Kingdom of Georgia is actually a good thing. They are just more afraid of Timur, that's why they want to Temporarily surrender to us. Moreover, our annexation of the east coast of the Black Sea is more based on the political means of my great-grandmother Helena, rather than military conquest. Many local nobles are not convinced. "

"Now, if we help them unify the kingdom's homeland, these people will immediately become confident and feel that they are numerous and powerful, and that the surrounding Turkmen tribes will not threaten them, and they will start planning a rebellion."

"Then can they beat others?" Guo Kang asked doubtfully: "There are quite a lot of forces, large and small, around Georgia."

"We definitely can't beat them." Theodora was very confident about this: "Next door to them is the hometown of the Safavid Order. Timur ordered the order to collect local taxes on their behalf, so he often had conflicts with them. There are often various conflicts, large and small, between these two sides, and the local tycoons in Georgia have never won... I know these local tycoons very well. They can do nothing but brag now, even if it is for the benefit of the local people, I don't think so. Their strange requests should be met."

"That's it..." Guo Kang understood a little better: "No wonder the people over there like to run to the hinterland of our side on the other side of the Black Sea. It seems that there may be a storm coming."

"You want to recruit them to help?" Theodora asked.

"Yes." Guo Kang said: "It all depends on our people to fill it. There is still a big gap in the short term, so I plan to recruit people from two sources. One is the Alemanni people, we have already tried this . Also, the Caucasians.”

"The Alemannic people should be fine." Theodora thought for a while and said, "Prince Wu's Mansion hired some Alemannic people before, so I also studied them specifically. The situation is a bit like France a hundred or two hundred years ago. Due to the increase in population, agricultural technology has not improved much. As a result, civilians have no place to live, and small and medium-sized nobles have no place to settle their children. As a result, they must either launch a crusade or launch a crusade. You have to fight each other."

"The French are lucky to have caught up with the catholic church at the time when it has the most appeal. They can let the nobles and knights go to Jerusalem to vent their excess energy. But now, the Alemanni do not have this opportunity. They migrated to Bohemia Asia, moved to Hungary, and wanted to open up a new living space like the Baltic Crusaders, but the people in these places are not that easy to bully. To be honest, I don’t know who to fight. "

"I heard that our King Wu has been active there in recent years." She said, "I think from what they said, although he has no talent, he only needs to make big decisions. Basically, he does bad things. However, he is very popular among European people."

"I also thought at the beginning that he was recruiting gangsters who could not achieve anything. But now, among them - or among those who can persevere, the average level is quite good. If we want to If we want to recruit people from the private sector on a larger scale, we can just contact him directly for introduction.”

"We can provide more preferential terms and ask him to help. With his reputation and connections, we can contact the small local guilds and small lords who want money, and ask them to turn those poor craftsmen who have no business and no quota into regular workers. The old apprentice, the young son who has no property to inherit, the ruined knight who has no territory to claim... and the extra apprentices and subjects can all be packaged for us. This way, it may save money than going to the merchants directly. save trouble."

"This is indeed good." Guo Kang thought for a while and agreed: "What about the Caucasians?"

"Look for the church." Theodora said without hesitation: "Those businessmen are unreliable, but the church is much better. Because the situation there is special, many people who want to leave are attacked by pagans and various Whether it’s because of religious reasons or traditional means of seeking asylum, everyone will habitually go to the church.”

"Compared to the lords and businessmen, the church is actually more isolated and helpless there. It is much more difficult to run away and pretend to convert. Therefore, it is much easier to meet their requirements. Moreover, the people in the church have an average level of education. It’s also higher. What we need most is people with management skills and skills. We should be able to find a lot of them.”

"When these people come to our pioneer land, we will reorganize them and join our reclamation regiments and farms. In this way, the efficiency can be greatly improved."

"No problem." Guo Kang nodded and said, "You can indeed do this directly."

"How about it, you still say that I can't take care of things?" Theodora seemed to still be upset.

"...Okay, you can." Guo Kang said helplessly.

"What an attitude." Theodora grabbed him dissatisfied and dragged him away.

(End of this chapter)