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Text Chapter 599: Divide the Benefits

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    The New Year of the 22nd year of Zhenguan has just passed, and the acrid smell of gunpowder smoke released by the burning fireworks has not dissipated. The entire city of Keelung is still immersed in the joy of the New Year. Even the usually busy port has stopped hustle and bustle.  Because the staff in the port are unwilling to be on duty during the Chinese New Year, they can only take the holiday and the port is temporarily closed. It usually does not open again until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. And this is not only the case in Keelung. All ports managed by Han people generally have this pattern.  a practice.

    However, this year Keelung broke this routine. On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, all Keelung Port staff returned to the port from their homes, and then began to work intensely. They not only had to debug the various facilities of the port, but also had to work around the port.  Dress up, because today the port will welcome a group of warriors returning from afar.

    Before noon, the people in Keelung City who had received the news had already arrived spontaneously. Groups of people were standing on the pier, eagerly waiting for the return of the American exploration fleet. All this looked familiar. Lu Wan had  When they set sail, many people came to see them off spontaneously, and today they welcome their triumphant return.

    When there are more people on the pier, it naturally becomes very lively. Loud chatter and laughter among friends, the cries of vendors selling food, greetings from acquaintances, etc., fill the entire port, and among these sounds, the loudest one is undoubtedly  It was the sound of discussion about the American exploration fleet.

    "Brother Zhou, I heard that among the American species spread from His Highness King Qi, there is a plant called the rubber tree, which can produce rubber with a wide range of uses, such as bicycle tires, which are now made from the gum of the fig tree.  . If there is rubber, the performance is better than that of fig trees. What do you think, are you interested in bringing in a batch?" One person was wearing a bright red silk suit.  The fat businessman said to his friends.

    After hearing this, the friend surnamed Zhou shook his head and said: "Although rubber is a good thing, I remember that it takes at least several years of planting for rubber trees to produce rubber, and this time Captain Lu brought all kinds of rubber back from America.  There are not too many crop seeds or seedlings, so in comparison, plants with shorter planting cycles are more cost-effective, such as corn or peppers. If you can get some seeds, you can get a lot of them in less than a year.  Seeds. Then start planting on a large scale, so that the cost can be recovered faster."

    The businessman surnamed Zhou was obviously a very shrewd person. He even took into account the growth cycle of crops. This made the fat businessman very impressed. Then he asked him about the advantages and disadvantages of other crops. As a result, he  All analysis is clear and logical.

    The fat businessman and the businessman surnamed Zhou are just microcosms on the dock. Around them, there are countless businessmen discussing what kind of benefits the return of the American fleet can bring to them?  Especially some large plantation owners, who originally made profits by planting various cash crops.  Naturally, I am more concerned about this.

    At noon, Li Min came to the port with Princess Wenxin, Chou Chou, Li Qi and Li Mian's three children, and followed their arrival.  The noise in the entire port became much quieter, and some prominent businessmen came forward to pay their respects.  If this was the case a few years ago.  I can't even imagine it, but now the status of businessmen in Taiwan has been greatly improved.  So even on these occasions, these businessmen dare to come forward.

    For these businessmen.  Li Min also received them cordially. Occasionally when he met one or two people he knew well, he even made a point of joking with them, which made the other person feel more dignified and their whole face almost lit up.

    However, this situation did not last long. Soon, the American Exploration Fleet appeared outside the port, and this also made the entire port suddenly quiet. Everyone was tapping their toes and stretching their necks to wait for the return of these warriors.  .

    "Boom~boom~boom" As soon as the American exploration fleet docked, a deafening salute sounded in the port, and then the band that had been prepared began to play, and then Li Min and Wen Xin came in person  The bow of America 1 welcomed Lu Wan and others to disembark.

    Lu Wan and others on the ship also felt flattered. Lu Wan took the lead at the moment, followed by Feng Shijie and others. Groups of thin but energetic crew members disembarked one after another, with Lu Wan walking at the front.  Holding a tray with both hands, on which were placed various crop seeds such as corn, peanuts, and peppers, as well as seedlings of crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, and then presented them to Li Min with both hands.

    Li Min looked at the various crops in front of him that he had been looking forward to for a long time, with an excited look on his face. Even when he took the small tray with both hands, his arms were shaking uncontrollably.  Others may not know the value of these things, but Li Min, who came from later generations, knew that the several high-yielding crops on the tray could save countless people from hunger.

    The moment Li Min took the tray, the crowd at the port burst into cheers like a tsunami.??, intertwined with the sound of playing music, seems to be announcing that a prosperous era is coming.

    In the grand welcome ceremony, Lu Wan and the crew behind him were like heroes returning from victory. They entered Keelung City surrounded by everyone. When they arrived at the large square in front of the palace in the city, Li Min stood in front of the building that had been built for a long time.  On the high platform, a speech called "The Declaration of Navigation" was delivered.

    In this speech, Li Min first summarized the achievements of mankind in navigation, and then talked about the distribution of the world's continents and their special products. Finally, he changed the subject and began to speak about Lu Wanzi.  The trip to the Americas brought positive significance and far-reaching influence.

    Li Min¡¯s voyage declaration is very famous in history, because it not only marked the discovery of the American continent, but also marked the beginning of the Chinese nation¡¯s exploration of the Americas, laying a solid foundation for the future great migration to the Americas.

    Next, Li Min held a grand welcome banquet for the American fleet, and it was held for three consecutive days. During this period, all residents of Keelung could apply to enter the banquet, talk face to face with the crew, and the crew would also answer their questions.  The various difficulties encountered on this voyage, and of course the conditions there in America.

    However, at the same time as the banquet, gentlemen from various newspapers in Taiwan also flocked in. They surrounded one or several crew members, vying to ask about topics they were interested in, and then wrote articles on the spot, which were published in various publications the next day.  In the newspapers, the results also gave people who could not make it to Keelung a deeper understanding of the voyage.

    It is also worth mentioning that just after the banquet, Li Min held a small distribution meeting in the palace. The attendees of the meeting were all the sponsors who had contributed money and efforts. According to the original agreement, the proceeds from this voyage would be distributed according to the original agreement.  The amount of investment or effort will be allocated. Among them, Li Min is naturally the one who contributes the most money and effort, so he also has the right of priority.

    Speaking of which, Lu Wan and the others collected quite a lot of things this time. Not only did they collect all the peppers, corns, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other crops that Li Min requested, but they also collected some things that Li Min didn't expect, such as the seeds of the cocoa tree.  Cocoa beans are the key raw material for the production of chocolate. Chocolate not only tastes sweet, but also can quickly replenish physical strength. There is a huge market for both civilian and military use.

    In addition to cocoa trees, there are also pineapples, sunflowers, etc., and even Lu Wan and the others also brought back tobacco seeds. This was mainly because someone on the crew saw that Mayan priests liked to smoke this stuff, so they brought some back.  At first, Li Min only looked at the seeds and didn't know that they were tobacco. It wasn't until the crew told him about the Mayan priests smoking that he understood.

    The seeds and seedlings of these various crops were well taken care of. Although many seeds were eaten by the crew, the rest were enough for breeding.  In addition, when the fleet left America, it also brought many live animals, such as turkeys and grizzly bears. Unfortunately, due to the lack of food on the road, these food-consuming animals were naturally slaughtered first, so Li Min and the others only saw  There were a bunch of turkey feathers and bear skins, which made many people secretly say it was a pity.

    In addition to the above animals and plants, the fleet also brought a lot of gold, which was enshrined in the temple in Mansa City. Later, the old priest was killed, and the Mayans discovered that Luwan and the others liked gold very much, so  The Lord of Mansa City gave them the gold, which weighed more than a ton. After all, the gold was brought from the original Mansa City, and it took many generations to accumulate it.

    The distribution of plant seeds is presided over by Li Min. High-yielding crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes naturally need to be fully promoted, so they are all owned by the Taiwan government. As for cash crops such as peppers, tomatoes, pineapples, etc., Li Min and others  The sponsors will share the rights, and they will have the exclusive right to grow these cash crops for three years. In other words, within three years, these cash crops can only be grown by their sponsors, and it is illegal for others to grow them.

    In fact, this exclusive planting right seems very overbearing, but in fact Li Min has already calculated it. Because there are not many seeds of these economic crops, it will take at least one to two years of breeding before large-scale planting. In other words, three  The exclusive planting rights for years finally fell into the hands of everyone. In fact, they only had the privilege for one or two years.  Three years later, there will be enough seeds for cash crops, and the market for new cash crops has been opened, making it much easier to promote them.

    Of course, those sponsors have not suffered a loss. Even the exclusive planting rights for one to two years are enough for them to seize the market opportunity. When others want to compete with them in the future, they will suffer a disadvantage.

    As for the feathers and furs of those animals, they were taken away by various sponsors as souvenirs. That one ton of gold seems to be a lot, but whoever can sponsor the fleet is rich and powerful, and there are not enough people to share it.  , so in the end everyone carried forward their style andA batch of gold was distributed to the crew members of the fleet as an additional reward for this voyage.

    But after Li Min dealt with the American exploration fleet, he finally had to face the problem of Java Island that gave him quite a headache.  (To be continued)
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