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Chapter 645: Every Trade Has Its Own Knowledge

"What's the meaning of exclusive agency?" Although Wang Datou is very talented in intelligence, he is not very proficient in business. After listening for a long time, he didn't think there was anything wrong with exclusive agency.

Anyway, as long as we sell as many goods produced in the Ming Dynasty's factories and workshops as possible, and get as much silver, spices and grain in exchange as possible, it doesn't matter who does the buying and selling.

If the Dutch had the ability to swallow up all the goods in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it would save the Ming merchants a lot of trouble. Why not do it?

"Do you remember that your majesty used the sugar monopoly for a few years to make the Portuguese people in Macau willingly purchase and transport rice for the Ming Dynasty?" Zhuque was finally able to hold his head high and be a teacher at this time, but he inevitably had a problem. Instead of answering directly, he had to ask back.

"Of course I remember... Yes, the Portuguese are not stupid, so they will not help for free. There must be great benefits here. Wait a minute, let me think about it... It's the selling price, yes! That's the selling price. Rare goods are in high demand, and the Dutch want to become the exclusive agent so that they can sell at a higher price in Europe, right?"

Wang Datou's head is not empty. He had an epiphany as soon as he mentioned the incident. After thinking about the logic, he got a very realistic answer. He said he was not 100% sure, but he could not hide his smug expression.

"You're only half right..." Looking at this funny face, Zhuque also laughed. It turned out that the powerful man who was so arrogant on weekdays didn't know everything and his knowledge was so shallow.

"What do you mean?" Wang Datou is not a particularly conceited person. When he encounters a problem he really doesn't understand, he is willing to ask for advice calmly.

"If the agency rights of a product are all given to a certain person or a certain business, it will benefit you now but bring disaster to you in the future. This is not something Zhu said casually, but written by your majesty himself.

The so-called benefit in the present means that factories and workshops have stable sales channels, and they don't have to worry about not being able to sell their products no matter how the market fluctuates. At the same time, the government also saves a lot of trouble. It only needs to collect the points step by step to ensure stability under its rule and worry-free taxation.

But this good time will not last long, and you can’t get more for more work. Imagine if the exclusive agency rights were given to the Dutch, then the Ming Dynasty merchants would no longer be able to deal in this kind of goods, and would lose the corresponding market share.

Of course, there are other goods that can be sold, but the most profitable goods cannot be touched. It may not be a big deal for one or two years, but as time goes by, buyers will form inertia, and when they want to buy certain goods, they will think of Dutch merchants first, and they will not easily trust others.

At this time, Dutch merchants could raise prices at will, and use Ming products to earn several or even dozens of times the profit in other regions. On the other hand, Ming factory and workshop owners could only sell according to the prices agreed upon at the time, and could not sell privately even if they increased production.

Under such circumstances, the Ming Dynasty's factories, workshop owners, merchants and the imperial court would all suffer huge losses.

The so-called unique products are not dropped from the sky, but are the result of repeated failures by craftsmen. Since the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty can do it, craftsmen from other countries will be able to do it sooner or later, and even surpass it.

By that time, the exclusive agency would become a dead letter, and the Dutch would certainly not renew it. The factories, workshops and merchants of the Ming Dynasty would not only lose the cargo owners, but also the more precious market share and reputation. The hard work of a generation would all be gone, and it would be too late to repent for a long time. "Seeing Wang Datou so modest, Zhuque was embarrassed to call himself a teacher, so he brought up the emperor, one to prove that what he said was true, and the other to ease the awkward situation. In any case, this person was also the emperor's confidant, and it would be troublesome sooner or later if he offended him too much.

"…Your Majesty is really thinking ahead. Doing business can actually have such an effect. It really opens my eyes. Manager Zhu, can you tell me more about what else His Majesty said?"

When Zhuque was halfway through his speech, Wang Datou had already entered the thinking mode. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense and was likely to come true. Then he no longer dared to underestimate this businessman with a royal name, and saluted with his fists clasped in a proper manner.

"Your Majesty said this is called political economics. If a country wants to profit from trade with many countries, it needs to develop a sense of competition. Not only should we cultivate a sense of competition among factory owners and sea merchants, but we should also make sure that officials are not satisfied with the status quo and always maintain a mentality of sailing against the current.

A soldier who does not fight on the battlefield is not a strong soldier, a businessman who lacks a sense of competition is not a good businessman, and an official who has no sense of crisis is even more unqualified.

But His Majesty also said that everything in the world should not be excessive, including competition. If the competition between factories and factories, and between businesses is too fierce, it is not a good thing. It will increase internal friction and give rise to evil.

Similarly, too intense competition between countries will lead to war. As an official, when formulating policies and managing, you must encourage competition while not intensifying it, and you must be able to regulate it at any time, only then can you be considered a capable official.

Zhu has been working in the sugar factory for nine years. After following Governor Li to Guangdong, he learned a lot of things that he had never thought of or seen before. He also often received guidance from His Majesty, which made things suddenly clear for him. He also felt more and more that he was looking at the world from a well.

Over the years, I have summarized a lot of experience, mainly the annotations to your majesty's instructions. If you don't mind, Zhu is willing to shamelessly show it to you, but I have to get your majesty's approval!"

Speaking of business strategies, Zhuque suddenly became excited. He was originally just a smart royal relative who had to deal with business due to life pressures. Unexpectedly, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was a profound subject. Especially the instructions and plans given by the emperor in the secret letters, every time they could make people suddenly enlightened.

In addition to strictly enforcing the rules, he also spent a lot of time researching privately and wrote down a lot of his experiences. Although he didn't dare to shamelessly publish a book about it, he could still show it to outsiders with the emperor's consent.

"I thank you in advance. I will ask Your Majesty for your approval in person after I return to the capital. But the most important thing right now is how to respond to the Dutch. I see that he doesn't seem willing to give in easily today, and you haven't completely rejected it, as if you left a glimmer of hope. Why is that?"

Wang Datou was naturally very happy that Zhuque was willing to share his experience, but he did not forget himself and immediately brought the topic back. The previous discussion was just to better understand the details of this negotiation, so as to understand the Dutch mentality and be more proactive in future work.

(End of this chapter)