This has always been the weather in New China Island during the rainy season. It has just been clear for one day, and soon after it was rainy for several days. The heavy rain continued until November 20, and it was a little lighter.

Shire McKinley walked through the dirt road that was soaked in the rain with a deep foot. Four or five people followed him, all of whom were investors from the local area. It is said that they had to rent some plantations that had been abandoned for several months. Before leaving, McKinley had already received a reminder from Assistant Kyle in Xinhua Town, that was, to take these people to see the major plantations around Xinhua Port.

Everyone has seen the sisal plantation on the Xixiang Peninsula, and is generally quite satisfied. Those are areas that have been developed and mature. The earliest sisal planted can start small-scale cutting in almost one year, and then enter the large-scale harvesting period in three or four years, with a large-scale harvesting space. Therefore, the merchants from the two major business groups from the local area - Luoqia County and Dongfang County Chambers of Commerce - are eager to take over these vacant plantations and have begun fierce competition.

As an inconspicuous little figure in the Dongfang County industry, Chen Tingmei saw that the competition in Xinhua Port sisal plantation was too fierce, so he didn't want to mix his small body into it, so he came to a small coffee plantation in the back mountain with a few small and medium-sized businessmen from the county.

The varieties prepared for planting in this coffee garden are medium-grained species native to West Africa and Central Africa. This coffee is the predecessor of the famous Robusta coffee beans. It is all diploid and has a high caffeine content. It is different from the mainstream small-grain species (Arabica species) in the Muslim world. But there is no way. The East Coast Control Area on New China Island lacks the conditions for planting Arabica species (alpine areas). Only West African species that can grow at low altitudes and on flat grounds are planted.

This area is called a coffee plantation, but in fact it is a barren mountain. The logging team cut down all the trees on this mountain, leaving behind bare stumps and large messy shrubs. Considering that the mountain cannot be exposed, the government has planned it as a coffee plantation. As for mature and well-developed coffee plantations, how could it be their turn, such as outsiders? You can give a portion of the farmers of the local coffee plantation association, and he can put a bunch of them down the vacant plantation, and it is impossible for outsiders to take advantage of it. Even if the local farmers can't take the place, these mature plantations will most likely be taken down by those relatively strong merchants.

Not to mention anything else, Chen Tingmei knew that among the merchants who came to this county, there were quite a few big businessmen with deep backgrounds. Most of these people were injected by some dignitaries, and the funds they brought were generally more than 10,000 yuan, and some even had tens of thousands of yuan, which was shocking. Chen Tingmei only had only 2,000 yuan on hand. What could it be for him? Only 500 yuan of these 2,000 yuan was his savings for many years, and another 1,000 yuan was lent to him by his friend Xu Wenxuan, and the remaining few hundred yuan was also borrowed. If the price was too high during the auction, the money was not enough for him. Fortunately, at least these wastelands would not participate in the auction. As long as you register at the town government and pay the rent for the first five years, this wasteland will be yours (twenty-year use rights). There is a priority renewal right after the lease expires, which seems to be relatively cost-effective.

After walking up the mountain in the rain along a road cleaned by a logger, everyone looked at the nearby environment carefully and found that the surrounding mountains were covered with large tracts of tall trees. Most of the mountains were red sandalwood, yellow sandalwood, red sandalwood, and ebony (African ebony) that were relatively precious in the Ming Dynasty. They grew for hundreds or thousands of years, but here they were just ordinary wood. In order to avoid soil erosion, the areas on the mountain where the trees were cut down were all uniformly planned as plantations. The main crop was coffee - a commodity with huge demand in the Islamic world.

"Everyone, I also know that it is difficult to clean up these wastelands. For example, people have to be sent to dig these wooden stakes; these shrubs must be set fire during the dry season. But everyone knows that those mature plantations are not your turn. For example, the plantation on the hillside in front has a total of more than 2,000 acres, and the coffee trees have been planted for a year or two, and they are growing quite well. However, as far as I know, several chambers of commerce have already offered bids, and the rent per acre has increased by more than two cents.

Next, an organization called the "Zaixiang Military Investment Association" from Ping'an County will come to inspect the investment. They have arrived in South Africa and are expected to arrive at the beginning of next month. The number of investors in this organization is large, and all soldiers who have retired from the front line and have retired from illness. The financial strength cannot be underestimated. When they come, they will likely continue to drive the land price and rent of mature coffee plantations." Shire McKinley stood on the hillside wearing an oilcloth raincoat, looking at five or six small and medium-sized businessmen from Ping'an County in front of him.

"So, I advise you to be more realistic. If these wastelands do not participate in the auction, the land price and rent are fixed at 20,000 cents per acre. I think you all come together. It would be nice if you eat one or two thousand acres of wasteland to grow coffee. To be honest, I subscribed 300 acres nearby to prepare for land planting. If you are interested, I can help you solve some practical difficulties, such as labor problems." Shire McKinley continued. He used to create the famous 108 drugs with Pei Suoning, and he enjoyed 5% of the rights and interests according to the agreement. As the Facai wine derived from the 108 drugs gradually became a mass consumer product in the new China region, McKinley's wealth has really increased a lot in the past two years, so he can now buy hundreds of acres of wasteland to cultivate coffee without blinking.

"Oh? Can you really help us solve the labor problem?" Chen Tingmei's heart moved and then asked: "It's not a black man who got it from Guinea, right? I heard that these black man will not get malaria innately, but they who have hidden diseases can only live in their forties, and the child's death rate is also very high. Is the labor force you are talking about? But I heard that the government prohibits private employment and raising black slaves from privately, and only state-owned farms, forest farms, and mines can use it. There are hundreds of Guinea black men in Tacheng Coal Mine. I know that it is indeed easy to use and will not get malaria. But the problem is that it is illegal for us to hire these people? It's inappropriate or not!"

"Why is Mr. Chen so anxious?" After being snatched by Chen Tingmei, Charle McKinley was not angry and said with a smile: "The labor force I am talking about is not black people. We will not do illegal things. The labor force I am talking about refers to Persians or Baloch people. We have some familiar Muscat merchants. Yes, it is the merchants who provide us with female slaves and children all year round. They are becoming more and more powerful in Muscat, and their business is getting bigger and bigger. Now they can often mobilize thousands of people at once.

Slave hunting. At the beginning of the previous year, they ordered two flute-shaped ships from our Xinhua Shipyard, which were specially used for armed slave hunting in the offshore areas. In the past, we only had female slaves and children, and the men they caught were not sure where to sell them, but last time we tentatively proposed that male slaves could be sold, and they seemed very happy. According to my estimate, they can now provide one or two thousand adult male labor every year. If they work harder, they may have more, which can meet a large part of our needs."

In fact, just like McKinley, the Muscat merchants made a lot of profits from the trade (slaves, commodities) that had lasted for many years with the East Coast. Now they are strong and famous. Two years ago, they not only ordered two flute-shaped ships from the East Coast people, but also bought two hundred pairs of armor, three hundred muskets, one thousand sabers and six small cannons. At the same time, they also asked New China to send several officers to train them. Now this strength cannot be underestimated in the Gulf region. India can easily attack Persia across the sea, provided that it does not fight head-on with the other's main force.

As the saying goes, if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. After these Muscat merchants' "tools" are profitable, the efficiency of doing things is absolutely great. Last year and this year, the number of female slaves in Persia, which doubled, bringing good news to a large number of bachelors in New China, South Africa and Australia. At the same time, they also represented the sales rights of many East Coast goods in the Gulf region, and also made the re-export trade in New China prosper.

"There's no problem." Chen Tingmei was also a little happy when she heard McKinley say this: "It's not a ban on hiring Persians, and it's just right to use them in these plantations. By the way, what's their price? I mean the price of adult male slaves?"

"Well, it depends on the strength." Charles McKinley pondered for a while and said, "But in general it should be around 60 yuan. I think this price is quite reasonable, and it really cannot be considered high. Of course, if you think it is high, there are no other ways. Now, from here, there are eight small tribes that depend on us, well, they are all Betsmisalakas. These tribes are called the Eight Banners of the Islands, they bully the weak and fear the strong, and are more aggressive. Now we are instigating them to march south and occupy the territory of other tribes. They have me.

We provide some high-quality weapons, and we should not be too disadvantageous when fighting. As long as the war begins, a considerable number of slaves will inevitably be produced. Women and children will probably be swallowed by themselves, after all, they also want to strengthen the strength of their tribe. But adult men are not necessarily the case. According to the past practice, I estimate that they will sell us a batch more or less to exchange for necessary weapons or commodities. And the price is extremely low, which is a good choice for investors with weak capital. You see, this can also solve the gap in a considerable number of labor."
Chapter completed!