1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3673

Singh, the envoy who came to the meeting on behalf of the Mughal Empire, seemed to be well-informed. When he met Qian Tiandun for the second time, he took the initiative to mention that Hai Han merchants were paying a higher price to purchase local high-end embroidery.

Qian Tiandun didn't know the other party's intention, so he was not in a hurry to express his attitude and waited for the other party to speak it out.

Sure enough, Singh was not as patient as Qian Tiandun. Seeing his indifferent reaction, he finally explained his purpose.

It turned out that one of Singh's relatives was the owner of the largest local embroidery workshop. He had spotted the business opportunity of Hai Han entering the Surat market and hoped to become an exclusive supplier for long-term cooperation.

Of course, since the local high-end embroidery exports have always been monopolized by the Portuguese, the goods supplied to Hai Han, a latecomer, must be sold at a higher price than the current price. Singh wanted to use his status as a guarantee to facilitate cooperation between the two parties.

Although Qian Tiandun didn't know the details of how Dong and Li went to the local market to buy embroidery, he knew very well what the temperament of the natives here was. Even if Singh had an official identity, what he said might not be credible.

Qian Tiandun didn't believe it at all. He was sure that Singh took the initiative to participate in this matter and must have other purposes.

"Sir Singh, if you act as a guarantor, then I think it would not be a risk in vain, right?"

Even after the translation, Singh could hear the temptation in Qian Tiandun's words, and responded with a smug smile: "I facilitated the cooperation between the two parties, so it is reasonable to charge some hard work fees, right? I don't ask for much, just 10% of the transaction price from both parties!"

Singh stated his request very calmly and did not think there was anything wrong with it. It seemed that this was not the first time such an operation had been done.

Qian Tiandun breathed a sigh of relief. This undoubtedly confirmed his guess. Since the other party just wanted money, then the matter was simple. He just had to let the merchant handle it. Qian Tiandun was not interested in whether Dong Shangyi and Li Yuande wanted to purchase goods from this place.

There is another deal, and Qian Tiandun wants to talk to Singer to see if the other party is interested.

Just like in Goa, Qian Tiandun took Singh to visit the Hai Han fleet stationed in Surat Port and showed him some of the special warfare division's equipment.

However, different from the previous arrangement for the Portuguese to visit, most of the weapons Qian Tiandun showed to Singh were models used for export by Hai Han, rather than advanced weapons equipped by the special operations division itself.

The purpose of doing this is of course very clear, which is to allow the Mughal Empire behind Singh to purchase Hai Han arms on a large scale in the future.

In this era, the weapons manufactured by Hai Han were definitely first-rate. Even the old models such as the matchlock and flintlock rifles had much better manufacturing technology than their contemporary competitors. Anyone with a little vision could see the function and value of these weapons.

Singh could become the king's special envoy, so he naturally had some vision and insight. He quickly realized that these weapons were more powerful than those produced in Portugal.

After several test firings, Singh took the initiative to ask Qian Tiandun for a quotation for these equipment, and it was obvious that he was quite interested in it.

After quickly browsing the quotation sheet submitted by Qian Tiandun, Singh's statement was somewhat beyond Qian Tiandun's expectations: "Excuse me, are the prices of your country's weapons really so cheap?"

Qian Tiandun was stunned for a moment. The price on the quotation was set by the ordnance department under the Hai Han Industry Ministry. It was a unified standard to the outside world, but it also left a certain amount of room for maneuver. The actual transaction price would often be different for each buyer.

As far as Qian Tiandun knew, the price of Hai Han weapons was slightly higher than that of similar weapons made by Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries, and it was definitely not the cheapest on the market. He was also prepared for Singh to bargain, but he didn't expect that the other party would think that the price was cheap as soon as he opened his mouth. Qian Tiandun knew that the other party was not a fool. Not only did he not bargain, but he also thought that the price was cheap, which meant that Singh was planning something tricky again.

"Your country's weapons are good, indeed they are good stuff, but it is not so easy to persuade His Majesty the King to purchase from your country..."

Hearing Singh's hesitant statement, Qian Tiandun immediately understood the other party's intention and quickly said, "If Lord Singh can facilitate the transaction, then it is reasonable to charge some hard work fees!"

These were exactly what Singh had said when they were discussing the embroidery business. Qian Tiandun knew what he was thinking and simply said it for him.

Singh smiled and said, "I'll give you a number. If General Qian thinks it's feasible, I'll immediately persuade the king to place an order with your country after I return."

Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "Please speak!"

Singh said: "You should charge 90% of this offer, but the actual offer should be 30% higher than this offer!"

Singh's words were a bit confusing after translation, but Qian Tiandun still understood his intention.

Simply put, Singer required that the actual transaction price be adjusted to 130% of the quoted price, but Hai Han only charged 90%, and the money deducted from it naturally flowed into Singer's pocket.

In foreign arms trade, Qian Tiandun had encountered some buyers who demanded high kickbacks, but this was the first time that someone like Singh had actively asked for a price increase in order to get more kickbacks.

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Qian Tiandun couldn't help but sigh inwardly that these Indians would do anything to pursue their own personal gain.

Seeing that he did not answer for a long time, Singh thought that Qian Tiandun thought that he took too much, so he explained: "General Qian, don't think that all this money is mine. Such a big business cannot be operated by me alone. It takes money to manage everything, doesn't it?"

Qian Tiandun smiled and said, "Lord Singh, I don't care where the money goes. I only care whether this deal can be done. If you can really make the deal happen, I can agree to all these conditions."

Singh smiled happily and said, "Please rest assured, General Qian. The king married my sister, and she is deeply loved by the king. With this relationship, this deal will definitely be successful!"

Although Qian Tiandun could not be sure whether what he said was true or not, if Singh was really a royal relative, then it made sense for him to be so confident.

After Singh left with the quotation, Qian Tiandun called Dong Shangyi and Li Yuande who were listening and asked them to share their thoughts.

Dong Shangyi said: "Such a way of making money is really amazing to me!"

Li Yuande said: "But it is hard to tell whether what he said is true or false. If you want him to operate a transaction, you need to be extremely careful!"

Qian Tiandun said: "It doesn't matter whether what he said is true or not, as long as we remember not to release the eagle until we see the rabbit. When doing business with the people here, remember to make the transaction face to face, and never pay or ship first. Even if their king comes in person, we must do this!"