These news are all among the people, especially in the coastal areas.

There were no news reports in ancient times, and there was no such thing as Douyin, so it was impossible for many things to spread immediately.

Even the imperial court may not know how many Arabs live in Guangzhou and Quanzhou now.

The so-called ocean trade data is even less likely to be available. As for the overall situation, even Qian Jinshu may not know it.

However, at least what is certain now is that in the era when the Song Dynasty itself was willing to trade with overseas countries, the five shipping companies were very busy.

This laid a good foundation for Zhao Ning to expand the ocean.

In fact, there is no development deviation in the historical context of official history. During the Southern Song Dynasty, maritime trade surged.

However, Zhao Ning believes that the layout can be larger and the potential of the ocean can be fully utilized.

He said: "If this is the case, can we increase trade with the cannibals?"

Qian Jinshu said: "If Your Majesty wants to increase trade with the Cannibals, you can do it, but there may be some problems."

"what is the problem?"

"If we increase commerce, we will inevitably need to sell more goods. So where do these sold goods come from?"

"Of course it's the folk. Folk textiles flourished in the Song Dynasty, with many workshops, and tea gardens increased day by day in the south. It would not be difficult for the imperial court to purchase silk, ceramics, and tea."

"But the civilian population is huge. If the imperial court collects these commodities from the private sector, it will inevitably lead to many businessmen or local dignitaries enclosing land to grow mulberry and ramie."

Qian Jinshu helped Zhao Ning analyze it slowly.

"If things go on like this, fertile farmland will be merged, and more fields will be used to grow other crops, resulting in a decrease in grain output. Wouldn't it be possible to cause a grain shortage?"

Zhao Ning said in her heart: It is absolutely right to bring this little lady into the palace!

This is only known by people who have really led people at the grassroots level, who have also done local grain trading, and who understand many details.

By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the population itself was about to exceed 100 million, and more fertile farmland was needed there.

After the Song Dynasty signed the Chanyuan Alliance, why did it abandon the horse breeding lands in the Central Plains and Hebei?

Because horses are extremely complicated and troublesome to raise.

It has a rectum, eats constantly, and often wanders around, so it needs a lot of space.

However, as the population increased year by year, the demand for food among the people was increasing. The princes in the Song Dynasty discussed it and felt that since they had made peace with the Liao State, they should not raise horses.

Farming can feed more people.

After all, talent is the most important right now.

The 100 years of the Northern Song Dynasty were also the 100 years of the great development of farmland and the development of the water canal and river network in China.

The meticulous management of the Song Dynasty made the internal affairs prosperous, and many rural people moved into the city to promote the development of handicrafts and commerce.

The prerequisite for all this is actually that the food supply must keep up.

Returning to Zhao Ning, he wanted to transport goods overseas. Although there was no steam engine, the production capacity could not reach the level of the industrial era. However, judging from the current social structure of the Song Dynasty, once the routes were opened, there would definitely be a lot of goods exported to the outside world.

But goods are not created by magic. To ensure enough silk, you must plant enough mulberry trees, ensure enough cloth, and ensure enough plants such as ramie.

To sum up in one sentence: it is necessary to grow economic crops.

Then this will inevitably involve changing rice to mulberry, destroying the existing agricultural balance.

This is a huge problem.

Qian Jinshu continued: "Take Hangzhou Prefecture as an example. At present, each farmer's harvest per mu of land is three stones a year. There is still surplus grain among the people that can be transported along the canal from the southeast to the capital. But if the imperial court vigorously promotes ramie and mulberry trees, then

The fertile land will be reduced, and some people may even occupy it privately and maliciously, causing public anger. There is a lot of grain produced in the southeast, and a considerable part of it is supplied to the Gyeonggi Province, which may affect the Gyeonggi Province."

Zhao Ning fell silent for a moment, and Miss Qian was right.

It is impossible for this kind of policy to truly achieve targeted results.

For example, the imperial court promoted the conversion of rice to mulberry in Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and only proposed 100,000 acres. Many people would secretly convert it secretly, because the profits would be huge!

The silk, ceramics and tea of ​​the Song Dynasty were violently sold overseas!

There were many "capitalists" in the Song Dynasty!

They smell money everywhere, and they gather wherever there is money, and they do not hesitate to trample on human morality.

Therefore, this matter does not mean that I can solve it by defining a certain range.

What's more, grain production in the southeast also involves disaster relief in Hebei and Hedong in recent years.

If you are not careful and spoil the Southeast, it will be a real disaster.

Zhao Ning said: "If this is the case, how about dispatching grain from Jiangnan West Road (Jiangxi Province), Jinghu North Road (Hubei Province), and Shu along the Yangtze River to the southeast?"

"If His Majesty insists on doing so, it is feasible."

Especially the Jinghu North Road, which is being vigorously developed, the Jianghan Plain was still Yunmeng Ancient Zee in the pre-Qin era, but by the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was already a large area of ​​fertile land.

Jinghu North Road is on the edge of the Yangtze River, and the river transportation network is second only to the southeast. If it can be developed there, it can fill the possible food vacancies.

Zhao Ning said: "Can a large number of mulberry trees and ramie be planted on Jiangnan West Road, Jinghu North Road and Shudi?"

"Okay." Qian Jinshu said, "The folk girl doesn't know much about these places, but according to the folk girl's understanding of the southeast, it would be better if we plant directly in the southeast."

"Why?"

"There are two reasons. One is that the rivers in the southeast are densely packed, making it easier to transport raw materials and commodities. The other is that the craftsmanship in the southeast itself is very developed, and there are many private workshops. In this way, more commodities can be produced faster."

Zhao Ning couldn't help but be shocked. Mrs. Qian had a thorough understanding of these issues.

Why did the southeastern region become the economic center of the country after the Song Dynasty?

Is it because Lin'an became the capital during the Southern Song Dynasty?

Then why did Jiangnan remain the national economic center after Zhu Di moved to Beijing in the Ming Dynasty?

It’s because in Jiangnan, the network of rivers is as dense as human capillaries.

The soil for commercial prosperity is transportation.

In an era of limited productivity, shipping is the cheapest and fastest way.

This ensures that raw materials can be transported to counties in the southeast at low cost and quickly, and that goods can be transported to centralized locations at low cost and sold uniformly.

This is also the fundamental reason why Shanghai has become the largest port in the 21st century, because those river networks are connected to the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River.

This is the convergence of the entire Yangtze River, plus the Jiangnan river network. Where else can there be such a unique port location?

But Shanghai in the Song Dynasty was still a real sea.

Zhao Ning settled for the next best thing. Hangzhou Bay, which leads from the Qiantang River, is also a very good place.

If we put it this way, we can really only develop economic commodity centers in the southeast.

And there is another important reason. Producing more silk, cloth, and tea is not only for external trade, but also for domestic sales within the Song Dynasty, promoting the prosperity of internal commodities.

After all, there are also dense canals between Jiangnan and Gyeonggi.

Shudi, Jinghu, and Jiangnan West Road do not have this advantage.

So after the discussion between the two, they really could only place this economic center in Jiangnan.

If this strategy is really successful, the economy within the Song Dynasty will take off.

It will also help popularize banknote payment.
Chapter completed!