Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 77 The Value of Ginseng

Compared with raw silk, saltpeter yellow is not valuable. Lin Hai's purchase price of one thousand tons of Indian saltpeter was less than 3000 taels.As for sulfur, it was all obtained from Dongfan trade, and the cost was not worth mentioning.

So he really wasn't afraid of Shen Shikui's extortion. The Ganfu came to Pi Island not mainly to sell goods, but for other purposes.Of course, inspecting the trade situation in Pi Dao is also considered as a side goal of Lin Hai. As for the saltpeter on the ship, it is just a stepping stone. He will not feel bad if he loses it all.

Lin Hai smiled and said: "In that case, may I ask Master Dusi when he will send someone to disembark the ship to inspect the goods?"

"I'm not busy." Shen Shikui waved his hand and continued, "Brother, I heard that the Japanese country is short of cloth and the price is very expensive. Can shopkeeper Lin bring some green cloth, silk and other goods with him when he returns?"

Lin Haixin said, "If I want to buy cotton and silk, do I still need to buy it from you?"He immediately laughed and said, "I'm a newbie here, and I don't know the price of fabrics in Dongjiang yet. I'll tell you more after I know more about it."

Shen Shikui smiled and said: "Don't worry, most of the cloth bought by the Koreans from Dongjiang was sold to the Japanese country. These second-rate dealers made a lot of money."

Lin Hai was surprised. It seemed that Shen Shikui didn't want the middlemen to make a profit, so he treated him so politely. In fact, he was interested in direct trade channels with Japan.But he couldn't agree to this. After all, cotton and silk in Dongjiang couldn't be cheaper than in Jiangnan, and he couldn't buy them from Shen Shikui.

Shen Shikui saw that he was silent, and then said: "Well, I have always been open-minded, so I will say whatever I want. If shopkeeper Lin is not rich for the time being, he can also introduce other Japanese businessmen to Dongjiang. As long as the deal is completed, Shen I am willing to give Shopkeeper Lin [-]% of the interest."

This Lin Hai is even less likely to agree. Not to mention whether Shen Shikui will turn his back on the Japanese businessman after contacting him, he cannot be greedy for petty profits just to monopolize the direct route between Pidao and Japan.

Lin Hai smiled and said: "Lord Du Si has worked hard for the country, how dare I covet the intermediary fees? Besides, I really don't know the Japanese businessmen well. I just have a sworn brother doing business in the Japanese country, but he doesn't go to sea."

When Shen Shikui heard what he said, his face suddenly turned cold.He planned to check Lin Hai's old background next. If he didn't have a strong backer, he would give him a red ticket. Whether he could redeem it or not would depend on Lin Hai's performance in the future. If he could change his mind and help him open up the Japanese trade route, he might consider it. .

Before he could speak, Lin Hai added: "My sworn brother is mainly engaged in medicinal materials business. If Mr. Dusi has good ginseng, there will be a ready market for him."

Shen Shikui really didn't know the prices of Japanese products. After all, the trade between Japan and North Korea was mainly official trade, and the trade location was as far away as the Domopo Japanese Museum in Busan.He pondered for a moment and said, "I have plenty of ginseng here. I wonder what price Shopkeeper Lin can ask for? How much can he purchase every year?"

Lin Hai didn't know the market price of ginseng in Pidao, but he learned about the price of ginseng in Nagasaki from Li Guozhu, so he asked tentatively: "If I purchase more than two thousand kilograms every year, what price will Shen Dusi give me?"

When he said it, it was two thousand kilograms, which shocked Shen Shikui. It should be noted that ginseng was worth the same weight of silver in North Korea, let alone in the Ming Dynasty.Therefore, most of the commodities in Northeast Asia's maritime trade are sold by the stone, but ginseng is sold by the pound or even by the liang.

The participants in scalp island trade this year are all small and medium-sized businessmen, and almost none can make tens of thousands of taels of silver in one move.After all, the unit prices of grain, saltpetre, cotton cloth, etc. are very low, and a shipment of goods is not worth much at all.

Shen Shikui said calmly: "The best old Changbai Mountain ginseng costs 25 taels per catty." This price is acceptable to Lin Hai. After all, the price of ginseng in Nagasaki is as high as 60 taels per catty, and the distance from Pidao to Nagasaki is not much. It is not considered too far, and it is mainly along the west coast of North Korea, so the navigation risk is low.

"Twenty-five taels is too expensive. If it's 25 taels, I can guarantee that the annual purchase will not be less than three thousand jins." Lin Hai counter-offered. The price of Jiangnan ginseng he learned from Ren Wuye was only 20 taels per catty. Pi Dao Just on the edge of the Korean Peninsula, the price of these 30 taels definitely has room to go down.

The two bargained for a long time, and finally settled on an agreed price of 23 taels. The additional clause was that starting from next year, they would purchase no less than [-] jins per year, all of which would be traded in cash.

After negotiating the ginseng trade with the highest profit margin, Lin Hai also said that he could buy some mink skins, dongzhu and even cloth every year as appropriate. In addition, he would also bring some sulfur, copper ingots, swords, ceremonial objects and other Japanese goods.After all, if the ship is empty, it is still empty. Silver and ginseng are valuable items and do not account for much weight.

He was already thinking about the person in charge of the Pidao Hirado route. It was too far away from Zhoushan and he couldn't interfere with everything. He had to leave it to his trustworthy subordinates.Although this route is not as important as the Zhoushan-Hirado route, it cannot be ignored. In particular, the future potential of ginseng trade is very large.

Lin Hai remembered reading in a book that Hou Jin made more than 200 million taels a year through ginseng trade, but he didn't know whether it was true or not.However, the demand for ginseng imports from Japan cannot be met due to North Korea's restrictions, so there is huge room for growth.

As for the Zhoushan Pi Island route, Lin Hai found it boring. Selling goods from Jiangnan and North Korea to each other was not as cost-effective as selling them to the little devil. Who said the little devil had a mine at home?Everything is expensive in Japan, but silver is the cheapest. It can be called one of the two big dogs in the East Asian trade game, the other is the Spanish in Luzon.

Shen Shikui also said that in addition to Japanese goods, he could only bring Western rhinoceros horns, ivory, precious spices and other items, and he, Shen, accepted them all.After all, the current Dongjiang generals' pockets are bulging. There is a market for these rare gadgets in Pidao, and they can be used to make friends with the court bosses.

In fact, Phidao does have a lot of goods from Siam, but these were obtained by North Korean merchants from the Japanese trade in Busan, and the little devils obtained them from the Zhuyin Ship trade. They were sold several times in the middle, and the prices were frighteningly expensive. dead.

After chatting with Lin Hai, Shen Shikui was in a good mood. After washing his feet, he grabbed the North Korean maid's arm and dragged her to the kang in broad daylight... Mr. Shen realized his long-cherished wish to trade with Japan. It is a happy event for a man who has the right to do so. He felt so refreshed that he seemed to have returned to his youthful days when he was a vigorous and vigorous boy, tossing the maid so much.

However, Korean women have always been known for being well-behaved and docile. No matter how much Mr. Shen tried to do, they would just try to please her.After all, Silla maids had already gained a reputation in the Tang Dynasty. Now, who doesn’t have a few Goryeo girls in the back houses of the Dongjiang generals?

"The master is so powerful today. Could it be that the businessman named Lin donated medicine to the master?" The North Korean maid gasped weakly in Shen Shikui's arms.

After all, Mr. Shen was no longer young. He was panting harder than the beautiful woman in his arms, but he said bravely: "Master, do you still need that thing? The only thing on the boat named Lin is saltpeter and sulfur. Why does Mr. Mo not take aphrodisiacs but gunpowder?"

"That's hard to say. Aren't our Dongjiang Hongyi cannons just for taking gunpowder? The master is as powerful as a cannon, so he just needs to take some gunpowder." The Korean maid giggled, her eyes narrowed like crescent moons. , the mood seemed surprisingly good.

　I saw all your messages last night, thank you very much.Lao Zhu's Taoist heart has been solidified, so it's time to pick up his clothes and move forward!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)