Half of these nails were sold for their own use and sold in the Ming Dynasty. The remaining half were shipped to Luzon Palace for trade with Westerners.

The price of Yang Mansion nails is only one-tenth of that in Europe. There are as many as thousands of types.

These pirate captains will have ten times the profit as long as they transport a ship of nails back to Europe.

If they trade in gold, they can also give out half of the nails. This drives them all crazy.

Now, the various steel tools produced by Xincheng Steel Plant have become popular. Because there is no such excellent steel in Europe. Both agricultural tools and industrial tools are in short supply.

Currently, the Thirty Years of War is in Europe, which is a good opportunity to do the arms business. Yang Fan specifically approved cold weapons to be sold.

Xincheng Arsenal sent a sales team to open a warehouse in Manila Port, specializing in selling arms to European merchant ships. As long as it is a large number of cold weapons used in Europe, Yang Fan provides them.

Even stamped surface carburizing hardened plate armor is sold in large quantities.

These steel plate armor stamped according to the figure of Westerners and sizes completely crush the handmade products of Milan plate armor masters.

Theirs are iron armor, while the Yangfu produces steel armor, which has no performance.

Moreover, these steel armors have frosted surfaces and do not reflect under the sun, so you don’t have to worry about the danger of exposure at night. The gray-black surface has been pickled and prevented from decay.

Such considerate and good armor is simply the dream armor of Europeans.

Yang Fan's family was sitting in a wooden house room, sitting cross-legged on the floor, handling the official documents on several cases. Too many things have been accumulated during this period. The ladies are busy reviewing the documents.

Chen Xi has to deal with the affairs of the institute. Lin Yueru has to deal with intelligence matters. The little girl is the busiest. The documents she wants to sign are piled up in a large pile.

She was worried and felt a toothache when she saw it.

"Master, another 7,500 kilograms of gold have arrived in the Xincheng Vault. The Yang Mansion standard gold bars that have been cast into one kilogram per piece have all been put into the warehouse."

The little girl put down her small brush, stretched her waist cutely, and went to Yang Fan's arms next to her, and said.

She didn't understand why the master was so obsessed with gold. The underground vault of Yang's mansion was full of gold.

In the early days, she was very excited every time she went to the vault. Now she has long been numb to see that gold has long been gone and no longer has love.

Yang Fan hugged her happily and said, "Madam is the best. It is all the credit of the Madam who can receive so much gold."

The little girl smiled with a slutty smile, and she cared about the master's praise the most.

He stretched out his little hand and put his arms around Yang Fan's neck and asked, "Master, our family has too much gold. All three warehouses are full. I have approved the money and built five underground vaults. Do we need so much gold?"

Yang Fan smiled and said, "It's not that I need this gold, but that it's very important to me to make others have no gold."

The master always does things they don’t understand, but the little girl doesn’t care.

The master has no hobbies, and he never goes to the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, nor does he keep an outdoor room.

Well, Taozi and Chen Xi are considered special circumstances.

One of these two is a big customer and the other is a big technical expert.

The master was so obsessed with these yellow things, so he thought he was good at it. The little girl thought to herself.

"Master, I have recently read history books and I have discovered it." The little girl lay in Yang Fan's arms in a coquettish way, hugged his neck, and said to Yang Fan's beautiful side face.

"Oh, Madam has found something."

"Master, why do you think the economy in the north is always inferior to that in the south? Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, every time the world is in chaos and the new court is established, it won't take long for the economy in the south to surpass the economy in the north. This is the case every time. Why is this?"

When Lin Yueru heard this, she also put down her pen and said, "The problem of the master Donglin is essentially the problem that the southern economy is stronger than the north. Why is the development of the Ming Dynasty so unbalanced? I only see that the contradiction between the north and the south is derived from this imbalance, but I can't figure it out and don't know what the reason is."

Chen Xi and Mei Xiang also pricked their ears, which was something that they usually couldn't hear.

This involves the underlying logic of deep contradictions within the Ming Dynasty.

Mei Xiang is now in charge of the office of the mansion and has made great progress. She has also become interested in the profound issues discussed by the master and his wife.

Yang Fan was stunned for a while, but he didn't expect his wife to ask this question.

An important reason for the demise of the Tang Dynasty was the loss of the fiscal and tax revenues in Jiangnan, which led to fiscal collapse.

The Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, and even the Ming Dynasty all relied on taxes in Jiangnan.

Why is the economy in the north always worse than the south? Yang Fan has never thought about it seriously.

There was a saying in later generations that investment could not be achieved in the Southern Song Dynasty.

In other words, the economy of China in later generations was also the big end south of the Qinling Mountains and Huai River.

Since the 1980s, the gap between the north and the south has continued to widen. The repeated problems of the south surpassing the north have emerged in history.

By the end of last year, the farts of chickens in the 16 southern provinces accounted for 64.83%. The fifteen northern provinces accounted for only 35.17%. With Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the southern region accounted for 66%.

Twenty years ago, the fifteen northern provinces accounted for 53.26%, and the sixteen southern provinces accounted for 46.74%.

Not only provinces, but also cities. There is only one imperial capital in the top ten cities in the north, and there are only ten northern cities in the top thirty.

At present, the gap will continue to widen in the future. This has aroused the interest of many economists.

Yang Fan thought carefully for a while and said, "Actually, this question is not surprising, it conforms to economic laws. It arises completely naturally. Don't worry too much."

Yang Fan analyzed some of his views. He didn't know if it was right, but he thought there was something wrong with him.

"You see, from the perspective of arable land, there are more arable land in the south than in the north, and it is two or even three. The output is generally twice as high as in the north. This means that the south has an advantage in agriculture."

The little girl and the others nodded. This is indeed reasonable. The north has a shortage of water and is always drought. Moreover, the Yellow River floods every two or three years, which has greatly damaged the north. In terms of agriculture, the south is indeed better.

"In addition, in terms of population, the southern population accounts for two-thirds. People are producers and consumers. If there are fewer people, the total economic volume will definitely be small. This is certain. If there are not so many people creating wealth and consumption, the total economic volume will definitely not be increased."

Yang Fan touched his chin and said, "In addition, I think it has something to do with the climate. The winter in the north is long and it is too cold. One quarter, even in Liaodong, it is a cold period. People are unwilling to go outdoors and are all winterizing at home, so naturally it does not affect consumption and production. The Jiangnan area can consume and produce all year round, and nightlife is also rich, which has driven the economy."

Lin Yueru said: "Master, I think there is another advantage in the south, that is, there are many harbors. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, overseas trade is a plus for the South. Tea, silk, porcelain, and iron are exported in large quantities, which has driven the local economy. There is no bonus for industry and commerce in the north, only agriculture, so it cannot be done."

Yang Fan nodded. Lin Yueru made great progress now, and these analyses were very good.

"Water transport in the south is developed, and transportation is also an important condition for the economy. The lowest transportation cost is water transport, and the transportation volume is much larger than that of horse-drawn carriages. Large and small rivers in the south can be transported all year round. In the north, rivers freeze in winter, and water transport cannot be used."

"And you can see that the Yangtze River can be navigated for three thousand miles, and most of its tributaries can be transported by water. This way, the transportation along the river is as developed as the coastal coast." Yang Fan continued.
Chapter completed!