The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 59 Big Deal

"No, this is unfair, this is deception. You can't treat a sincere and passionate partner like this. Don't forget that we are partners. I introduced other collaborators to you. You can't treat me like this."

Garvey Torres jumped up as if he had been stung by a wasp, with a look of disbelief on his face, waving his hands like crazy and shouting;

"I've brought you everything you need, good muskets, the best Spanish armor, and the English damn steam engine. Isn't that enough?"

After looking at the goods, Feng Guohui took the Spanish businessmen back to the meeting hall, served tea, and prepared to discuss the next step of cooperation.

The Spanish businessmen were so impatient that they directly asked to start price negotiations.

At this time, Garvey Torres' identity is embarrassing.

For no other reason

If Spanish businessman Gavi Torres was a partner of Nanyang Company, he should have returned to Surabaya more than a month ago and brought a large amount of funds and weapons and equipment.

Funds were used to purchase spices, and weapons and equipment were used to strengthen the Nanyang Company.

But the fact is that except for the dozens of muskets, dozens of Spanish armors and some supplies initially invested, with a total value of about 2500 silver coins, there was nothing else.

With this battle, the Nanyang Company destroyed the indigenous Irwandi-Yusuf family and seized more than 200 flintlock muskets and a large amount of wealth, and then it grew rapidly.

nowadays

The warehouse was already full of spices, and all risks were borne by Nanyang Company. Garvey Torres arrived belatedly, shouting that he was a partner.

How can it be so cheap to pick fruits?

Feng Guohui was not used to him either, and said with a cold and contemptuous smile;

"Dear Garvey, you and I agreed on 10 days. It has been more than a month and the agreement has long since expired.

If I'm counting on you

There won't be a pound of spices in the warehouse and you will never come to Surabaya again, that's the closest thing to the truth.

When we were opening up new trade routes in the south, we launched bloody battles with local forces and bandits. Where were you?

When we borrowed money everywhere in order to raise funds, even bearing high interest rates, and we were in a hurry to buy a house, where were you at that time?

When we had bad blood with plantation owners over credit for spices, where were you at that time?

When we were in desperate need of funds and equipment during hardships, where were you at that time?

Now we have overcome many difficulties, and with the joint efforts of our brothers, we have finally opened up the situation and raised enough spices.

You came here to pick fruits, what do you mean by partner?

I, Mr. Feng, don’t have sand in my eyes, and I don’t have a partner like you.

How about this

For the 2500 silver coins you originally invested in weapons, equipment and supplies, I will supply you with spices worth 1 silver coins at cost. From then on, the money and goods are settled.

As for the goods you brought, our Nanyang company will purchase them all at market prices. You can make a fortune by flipping them, so you won’t be in debt and your work will not be in vain.

What do you think of this approach? "

"Oh, God, are you going to abandon me mercilessly?" Garvey Torres looked painful, still wanting to pester him endlessly.

The purpose is naturally to obtain more benefits.

Everyone does things from the perspective of their own interests, rather than looking at the things themselves fairly and calmly.

Garvey Torres's uncle, Mr. Cervantes Torres, was a businessman who was accustomed to grand scenes, so he stopped his nephew's performance.

What we are talking about now is an unprecedented big business, and it is not worth wasting time for a mere profit.

After entering the fierce bargaining session, Mr. Cervantes-Torres and Mr. Igor rolled up their sleeves and started to separate from Feng Guohui bit by bit.

This is a big business worth millions of silver coins, and a slight concession can affect tens of thousands of silver coins.

More importantly, this is the first business.

It will inevitably set a price benchmark for the future spice trade, which is difficult to change easily and may last for one year, two years or even longer.

This made the progress of the negotiations even more difficult. After six or seven hours of debate, it was already dark outside.

Feng Guohui waved his hands a little tiredly and said, "Okay, stop for a moment, dear guys.

We've talked long enough, heck, everyone's bellies are full of coffee and wine, and now we need to enjoy a nice dinner.

This is ready and negotiations on the deal are temporarily suspended.

We can wait until we have a sumptuous dinner, have a good night's rest, and then get up tomorrow to discuss this issue. We have plenty of time. "

"No... Dear Feng, we are not far from the final victory. Why not wait until all differences are resolved before sitting down and enjoying food and women?" Igor now looked very proud, shaking his head like a wavy drum Same, continued;

“Without a negotiated deal, even the most delicious food tastes tasteless in my mouth.

We admit that you can indeed sell the spices at a higher price, but not so high, which will greatly squeeze our profit margins.

Pricing three times based on the acquisition price is absolutely impossible. The most we can concede is 1.6 times, which is the most sincere offer.

For the high-quality products, we can get twice the price, but this does not include ordinary goods. Their value in Europe is not as high as you think.

Damn it, don’t forget that we will undertake a long route of tens of thousands of miles from here to Europe, passing through the vast Indian Ocean and countless rough waves, which will last up to 9 months or even a year.

You can never imagine the difficulties that needed to be overcome during this period, and we took huge risks for this. "

Cervantes and Garvey nodded their heads after hearing this. This is the correct way to start a business discussion.

If they want to build a spice transportation and smuggling route to Europe, the partners will bear huge risks, which must be reflected in the transaction.

Instead of always emphasizing how expensive European spices are, how can this product be a huge profit?

Seeing that the Spanish businessman had no intention of dining, but was eager to negotiate the current deal.

Feng Guohui stopped talking. Instead, he sat down and calmly knocked on the table and said;

“Dear friends;

You are all businessmen who are good at maritime trade. You must have heard that this year the French have officially started the canal digging project in the Sinai Peninsula in conjunction with Pasha Said, the Egyptian governor of the Ottoman Empire who holds real power there.

The journey from Malacca via the port of Chennai in the Indian subcontinent, across the western Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, takes only two months.

From Port Suez on the Red Sea, you only need to hire a desert camel team to cross a distance of just over a hundred kilometers to reach Port Said on the Mediterranean coast.

I believe I don’t need to say more, how many cargo ships return to Spain from Port Said?

This relaxing voyage takes only three or four days and can reach any major coastal city in Spain.

Friends, I can understand the huge risks you will face, but this is proof of your own strength.

Just like when the Nanyang Company opened up new trade routes, it needed to conquer each indigenous tribe with swords and guns, and use iron and blood to declare its strong strength.

I sincerely hope to share risks and gain profits with my partners, but this does not mean bottom-line concessions.

You have only seen the brilliant success of the Nanyang Company, but ignored the tremendous pressure we will bear. The white Dutch are not easy to fool.

I want to ask something

When the colonial army of the Governor's Palace comes to attack, how many Spanish warriors are you going to send to fight alongside us? "

Igor was speechless at these words. He did not expect that this young Qing man had such a thorough understanding of the international situation tens of thousands of miles away, and he was by no means an easily deceived master. From the beginning, the Spaniards had the idea of ​​taking the Red Sea route.

The voyage has been shortened by more than half, no fool would not take this route.

Now being bluntly exposed by the other party, Igor's trump card of lowering the price is useless. He can only look to Cervantes Torres for help.

Cervantes-Torres didn't have any good ideas at the moment, and the price Feng Guohui wanted was just above his heart's content.

Say yes, it hurts a little.

Don't agree. The other party's price is very high, and the reasons are very good. Maybe the negotiation will collapse this big deal.

So he was very hesitant in his heart and hesitated for a long time.

If it were just this one transaction, the price of more than 10 silver coins would be accepted with one bite.

Anyway, after the spices are shipped to Europe, the price will double several times, which means the profit will be slightly less.

The key is that this transaction will set a benchmark for future transactions.

If both parties have no objections, the price of this transaction will be used as the basis, and the negotiation will be much simpler.

There won’t be repeated discussions like this transaction, where prices will be discussed one product after another.

The prices at which the Dutch purchase spices locally are transparent and have not changed for hundreds of years.

The price of the spices purchased by Nanyang Company must be higher than this standard. Feng Guohui himself said that he borrowed a lot of usurious loans and the acquisition standard was higher than 70%.

The Spaniards don’t believe this. At most, it’s 2% to 3% higher, which is as high as the sky. Coupled with the cost of borrowing funds, the total amount can be settled within %.

The two sides spent several hours arguing about this standard, and finally settled on 1.55 times the Dutch acquisition standard as the basis for negotiations.

This basis is the acquisition cost of Nanyang Company.

After repeated back and forth between the two parties, the price was finally determined at 2.25 times the acquisition cost of Nanyang Company, and a total of 292 tons of spices were acquired in one fell swoop.

The total transaction amount reached 97.62 silver coins, excluding the two Spanish galleons that brought an astonishing amount of daily necessities, weapons and equipment, steam engines and other materials worth 11.72 silver coins.

The Spanish businessman also needed to pay 85.9 silver coins to make up for the transaction price difference.

In order to prevent the two Spanish galleons from being empty, the Nanyang Company will organize 400 tons of rice, 60 tons of kapok and 180 barrels of natural rubber for them, with a value of 8120 silver coins.

The Spanish businessmen agreed to offset this money with weapons and equipment, including seven Napoleon nine-pound field guns and a batch of surplus armor stored on the ship.

These six Napoleonic nine-pound field guns were not used on the ship. They were obsolete supplies traded with the French more than a year ago and were placed on the ship for ballast purposes.

After Napoleon's defeat, war supplies from France gradually dispersed around the world.

The Spanish merchants were completely useless with this batch of old war supplies. The naval guns and field guns used on the sailboats were completely different things, and it was completely cumbersome to put them on the ship.

The Spanish businessmen were overjoyed to be able to get rid of these burdens of ballast.

Even happier than the Spaniards was Feng Guohui. After getting these seven field artillery pieces, he couldn't stop smiling and was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

Napoleon's artillery was very famous these days. The French Emperor Napoleon, who traveled across Europe, relied on his sharp artillery and cavalry to almost defeat the European royal family.

To be honest, even in 1859, these Napoleonic cannons were the most elite equipment of the army.

With this batch of cannons, Nanyang Company can form an artillery team with strong attack capabilities.

No matter whether it is an ordinary fortress or a fortified city, it will tremble under the muzzle of the cannon.

If time were set back a few days, the Huang family's house that had been conquered at Lando Mountain Mine would only need one cannon to crush the Huang family's will to resist to ashes. Just ask if the rhinoceros is sharp, right?

The only pity is that the quantity is less.

But Feng Guohui has already negotiated with Spanish businessman Mr. Igor Casillas Fernandez.

next transaction

Larger-caliber Napoleonic field guns, war horses, inventory of military uniforms and soldier equipment are all materials that can be traded with priority, as well as new high-horsepower steam engines, British metallurgical equipment, various machines, etc., at favorable prices.

Since the Spanish sailing ships carrying spices arrived at the Red Sea and were bound to load cargo on their return journey, why not purchase advanced metallurgical and factory equipment from Europe, especially the United Kingdom?

In today's era, Britain's metallurgical equipment is the most advanced, including various new steam machinery.

A Spanish galleon has a load capacity of more than 800 tons. As long as the price is in place, it is just a matter of convenience to haul a ship of machinery and equipment on the return trip.

Feng Guohui has not forgotten that there is an iron mine in Landa Mountain.

If it can be used to build the first steel factory in the Dutch East Indies, and not to mention other things, just to produce various tools, the market will be unique in the entire Southeast Asia region.

Recruit thousands of workers and put them there. The entire city of Surabaya will be so numb. Who dares to compete with you?

These days, steel plants are all manual operations, and there are so many workers needed.

For example, cast iron pots, hammers, and plowshares are all molds.

Even when the iron cannon is cast, it is cast in a lost-wax mold and completely hand-rubbed.

A steel factory can be subdivided into dozens of factories, such as mold factories, farm tools factories, casting factories, anchor chain factories, barbed wire mesh factories, knives, iron pots, gun castings, etc. It can also develop modern steel and shipbuilding industries.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is effortless for a company to support the backbone of a city.

a few days later

When two Spanish galleons loaded with spices, rice and other specialties set sail, Feng Guohui led his people at the pier and waved frequently, full of expectations.

It is expected that when the Spaniards return, they will bring more of the latest metallurgical equipment and talents from Europe, including professionals to start steel plants.

Only by relying on professionals can the desired steel plant be successfully launched.

Feng Guohui himself does not have such ability.

(End of this chapter)