After the door opened, Zhao Xin's new guard captain Chai Rugui walked in. The moment he saw Zhao Xin, he felt that the atmosphere in the room was a little wrong, and then he saw Duofu, who was lying at him.

However, Chai Rugui has always been insensitive to men and women. As a guard, his first reaction was to quickly scan Zhao Xin's office and find that there was nothing abnormal. Then he stood attentive and reported: "Chief, Huang Mianshe, Wu Zhangxu, and Lin Changsheng who were in charge of the public service have arrived."

Zhao Xin then remembered the promise of having a meeting with the three of them yesterday, but he still wanted to beat Chai Rugui up at this moment. However, this man's martial arts value was as 3S level as Chen Jishan. Zhao Xin once tried to gesture with the other party once. Chai Rugui had just "black tiger's heart" and kept his strength, so he pushed himself out seven or eight meters and took a stumbling stick.

Seeing that Zhao Xin was about to meet, A Miao picked up Duofu from the table and walked towards the door. Before leaving, she turned around and grimaced at him. Seeing this, Zhao Xin raised his lips slightly and said to Chai Rugui: "I understand, please ask them to come in."

Including the previous time I recommended oil palm planting to the public, Huang Mianshe and others met Zhao Xin for the third time. However, the first time Zhao Xin did not reveal his identity and made a big mistake, which was despised by several businessmen.

A few days ago, when Zhao Xin arrived at Bacheng on the Jinglei, he did not get off the ship directly. Instead, he called the General Administration and the public to the ship for two meetings. Huang Mianshe and the others realized that the guy who was "haired in his mouth" was actually the famous King Zhao, and he was immediately scared and sweated. Lin Changsheng, who had spoken behind him, was even more shocked. If it weren't for the guards stopping him, he would have wanted to lie on the ground and kowtow to Zhao Xin a few times to apologize.

This time, Zhao Xin brought the oil palm seeds, which were high-yield. So when Huang Mianshe and others came into the house and sat down, he opened the drawer and took out a transparent plastic bag containing oil palm seeds and placed it on the table.

Huang Mianshe picked up the bag and looked carefully. He saw that there were several gray-brown oval fruits inside. Others also came over to watch. Lin Changsheng asked curiously: "Is this the oil palm that the prince said?"

Zhao Xin nodded and said, "Last time, I was careless and thought that Java already has this thing. If you are interested, you can take it back and try planting it. When you leave, someone will give you a pack."

"You may ask the prince, how much oil can this thing produce?"

"Based on the terrain, you can plant 8 to 10 pills per mu. As long as you have finished cooking, you can produce 400 kilograms of oil per mu. If you are interested, you can apply to the agricultural department of the Military Control Commission and send someone to our direct farm to learn planting technology."

Wow! The three of them were shocked when they heard this and felt a little unbelievable.

This year, the price of edible oil is as expensive as pork. Take Guangzhou as an example. Nowadays, a liter of rapeseed oil outside the oil bar is at least fifty cents. It can buy several liters of rice, which is enough for five or six people in a poor family to drink vegetable porridge for several days.

As for the soybean oil in the north and rapeseed oil in the south, the prices are similar. For example, the rapeseed grown in Guangdong and Jiangxi produces only about 200 kilograms of seeds per mu. After frying, the oil can be squeezed, and every 100 kilograms of rapeseed can produce more than ten kilograms of oil. It is precisely because it is difficult to squeeze, the price of cooking oil has been rising over the years.

Even if I have a small family income, I will only dare to put a little bit of cooking until the New Year. If I train a scholar at home, it will be over! Just the money for reading at night with a lamp is a big expense.

Promoting oil palm cultivation in large areas in West Java is definitely a big deal for Beihai Town and Zhao Xin himself. You should know that palm oil can be edible, but also refined glycerin, which can be widely used in industry and military. Currently, all the industrial-grade glycerin used in Beihai Town comes from another time and space, that is, propylene synthesis; it costs a lot of money to make double-based gunpowder alone every year.

However, Huang Mianshe and the other two did not come today for oil palm seeds, but for the various gambling halls that were seized. Since the war with VOC again, the Bacheng Military Control Commission has implemented public security controls inside and outside the city. Under Zhao Xin's instruction, it took advantage of the situation to ban the various gambling halls on Chinatown outside the city and ordered that cockfights not be held, and all violators would be punished severely.

At this moment, the Chinese business families related to the gambling industry couldn't sit still. I thought to myself that even the Dutch didn't care about it before, and casinos could pay a lot of taxes every year. How could they say that the officials and the people benefited each other?

The gambling industry in Bacheng began to exist since the Chinese came to this land, and has existed for nearly two hundred years. Anyone who can open a gambling hall in Bacheng is the former Kapitan or the Lei Zhenlan family. These people have been together for generations and have appeared as tax dealers from the beginning. Opening a casino is naturally a matter of course.

It is human nature to let go, especially the Chinese who went to Southeast Asia. Their behavior of traveling across the ocean to Southeast Asia is itself a formal adventure. Although the previous VOC government allowed Chinese people to open gambling halls and obtain high taxes from them, it strictly prohibited the Dutch from entering the casino.

For those wealthy Chinese who lived in Bacheng for a long time, due to the Qing Dynasty's maritime ban policy, it was difficult for them to return home in glory and buy industries, let alone participate in the imperial examination; while a large number of ordinary Chinese workers worked hard for several years and could only make a living, and it was far from being rich.

So there are people who do nothing, and there are people who want to get rich overnight. Many people send the wealth accumulated by their parents or the wages they earn to casinos and cockfighting fields. This makes it common for Chinese in Southeast Asia to be rich for only three generations, and it is common for children or grandchildren to lose their property at the gambling table.

After all the gambling halls inside and outside the city were closed within one day, the bosses of each family first privately found Jiang Asheng, hoping that he could help to get along with the Military Control Commission. Although there were a wide variety of gifts to the door, Jiang Asheng dared not be so bad. You must know that this was an order issued by Zhao Xin himself. So they went to Huang Mianshe to complain.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! These Chinese figures in Bacheng are all related to each other, and many people are intermarried. Huang Mianshe thought about it and felt that this was inappropriate. However, he did not only consider his own interests, but was sincere in Beihai Town.

It is said that the Huang family has moved to Bacheng from Zhangpu, Fujian for more than 100 years. From an ordinary Chinese worker to becoming the leading Chinese family, they have experienced countless ups and downs during this period. Although the Dutch committed the crime of the "Hongxi Massacre", their families still devoted themselves to the Dutch. One of the important reasons is that they are hard to go back to their homes.

During the fifteenth year of Qianlong's reign, the Qing Dynasty did something unethical, which led to all overseas Chinese who had done business and became rich and had no idea of ​​returning home. Even if they had to pluck the courage to go back, they would have to spend a lot of money and they dare not stay for a long time.

Chen Yi Lao, who worked in Bacheng for eight years, left his hometown for more than ten years and missed his mother, resigned and took his concubine and children back to Fujian. Perhaps his Java concubine was too eye-catching, or perhaps Chen Yi Lao brought back a lot of money to make people envious. In short, Chen Yi Lao was arrested before he returned to his hometown in Longxi, and the case was exposed to Qianlong.

Soon, Qianlong took the example of "bandits and people went to foreign countries, made friends with foreign countries, destroyed foreign bans, and caused border quarrels" as an example, and sent more than 30 children to Yili. The concubines and children they married in Java were repatriated, and all their property was confiscated. The owner of the boat he returned to his hometown was also implicated, and not only the shackles, but also the boat was confiscated.

Huang Mianshe is over fifty years old this year. For the ancients, he was aged by the loess, so his homesickness has become more and more serious in recent years. He thought that after his death, he could only turn the tombstone away to his hometown, but he did not know that Beihai Town came. After learning about Beihai Town's goal of unifying the world and not implementing the sea ban, the victory of the Beihai Army became his only hope for returning to his roots.

After learning that the Dutch were going to attack Bacheng, Huang Mianshe took the lead in donating 3,000 Dutch guild silver dollars to the Military Control Commission and called on Chinese merchants across the city to donate actively. After sending a letter to Zhao Xin to obtain approval, the Military Control Commission accepted the donation and then returned it to the people in the form of salary for support. Huang Mianshe and others also received the plaque issued by the Military Control Commission and gave it the title of "Model Support for the Army".

At this time, he bowed to Zhao Xin and said, "The prince is kind to the government and loves the people, and does not forget the people's livelihood and economy. It is a blessing for the people of our Bacheng!"

After saying that, he, Wu Zhangxu and Lin Changsheng, stood up together and bowed to Zhao Xinshen.

"There is no need for this to be the case for three." Seeing this, Zhao Xin raised his hand and bowed.

Huang Mianshe said again: "I have another thing I want to ask the prince, but I don't know whether it should be said or not?"

"Mr. Huang, please tell me."

“That’s it…”

In Huang Mianshe's narrative, he believed that the Military Control Commission closed all gambling halls, which would first cause a great loss to the official fiscal revenue; secondly, gambling has been in Bacheng for a long time, so it is probably difficult to ban it. The Qing court also explicitly banned gambling, but all over the country, from officials, gentry, to the people, participated; especially in Fujian and Guangdong, gambling was extremely popular.

Secondly, when fighting with the Dutch, everyone dares not disobey, but what should we do after the war? Once we move from public to underground, it will probably be more difficult to manage. At that time, the officials and clerks below may cause trouble, and extortion and corruption will also occur.

Huang Mianshe spoke sincerely, Zhao Xin listened seriously, and when the other party finished speaking, he pondered for a moment before saying, "I actually considered this matter. I gave you oil palm seeds, hoping to use its income to make up for the loss of closing the gambling hall. As for the gambling hall, it will definitely not be opened again in the future, so there is no need to discuss this."

Huang Mianshe and the other two realized that it was like this game of chess behind the oil palm seeds. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xin's next words made the three of them confused.

"In the future, the Bacheng Military Control Commission will open an official gambling meeting. In addition to the bonus and a small issuance fee, 30% of the income will be used for medical treatment and widows."

Huang Mianshe and the other two looked at each other and asked in surprise: "Dare you ask the prince, what is gambling?"

Zhao Xin then found a piece of paper, smeared it on it, and explained it briefly. After hearing this, the three people on the other side thought that they were good guys. It turned out that this person was banning private betting. They planned to hold a bet and a flower party themselves! However, if it was true that the bonus income was used for charity as this person said, it would be much better than the previous bet!

Speaking of which, the gambling games in the Chinese society in Bacheng can be divided into several types to adapt to different groups of rich and poor, such as European cards, dice betting or betting, and one is cockfighting. Needless to say, cards and dice are needed, cockfighting requires a venue, and those who are good at this will also raise chickens themselves; betting is simple and cheap, and it is more suitable for the psychology of the bottom of society to spend a small amount of money to bet on luck, so it is the most popular.

The so-called bets have existed since the Ming Dynasty. In southern Fujian, it is called "flower club" and in Guangdong, it is called "white pigeon ticket", which is similar to the nature of the lottery; for example, 12 choose 1, 24 choose 1, 36 choose 1, 80 choose 1, etc., there are different odds.

Every morning, the dealer of the flower party will wrap a scroll and tie it to the beam in public on the middle of the house. This is called "making treasure". The gambler selects one from the name of an ancient man, animal name, or number given by the dealer, fills it on paper, and states the amount of money to bet, and then puts it into a wooden cabinet. When it is time to open the bet, the boss unbuttons the scroll from the beam in public, spreads it down, and then opens the wooden cabinet to bet, and eats or pays the bet according to the name bet by the gambler.

If someone loses, they will shout "flower"; on the contrary, if they win, the winner will shout "yes" happily.

Like the Guandi Temple and Tianhou Temple on Chinatown outside Bacheng, every time the "flower meeting" is opened, there will be a lot of people. They go there not to burn incense and worship gods, but to divine divination, what numbers will the flowers bloom, and then everyone will wait all night for the numbers to come out.

The water here is very deep, and the dealer has countless methods that make people unable to win the prize; even if they win, the ones they get will be a little more expensive than the purchase. Therefore, people who are addicted to this often lose their fortunes, and even sell their wives and concubines' real estate. Among the civil disputes handled by Bacheng Public Affairs on a daily basis, many of them are divorces and property lawsuits caused by gambling.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! In fact, Zhao Xin is very clear that no matter whether the people in power encourage or suppress, human beings' strong demand for gambling has never changed. Hugo, in later generations, has a famous saying about this: "No matter whether gambling in life is gain or loss, as long as there is a pound of meat left, I will bet on it."

Whether it is lazy or looking for wealth overnight, there are people like this everywhere; no matter what method the official method is used to prohibit people from participating, the facts can only prove that the results are limited. Humans have a gambling gene from their bones. As long as there is land, it will grow out, and without land, it will grow out in disguise.

When you come to this time and space, whether it is the first to seek gold or the next to seek the world, you are actually gambled. Every time you fight with your opponent, you are also gambled, but relying on materials and weapons from another time and space, you have a greater chance of winning.

It is precisely because of this that Zhao Xin was very slow on the road to seizing the world, taking one step at a time. He was afraid that everything that was hard-won would disappear with a negligence. But even so, he could not guarantee that he would become the ultimate winner, because the difficulty of conquering the world and governing the world was not the same level as the former. The latter planned for a lifetime, and even several lifetimes.

Professional scholars in another time and space will analyze gambling psychology from many aspects such as personality, unwillingness, self-esteem, greed, and control desire. However, even if they play mahjong with their family members, they always have to bring a lottery ticket. Win or lose. The key is that it is too boring to not have a sound.

Huang Mianshe and the other two finally left with the bag of seeds given by Zhao Xin. They also gave an explanation to the casino owners and the owners behind them.
Chapter completed!