Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1493 New Business Experience

Liu Deshan thought for a while and said, "Because the sea masters each have their own territories?!"

"That's right! However, the bigger problem is the government!" Chen Huamin said bluntly.

Qin Haicheng and Liu Deshan nodded in unison.Indeed, as long as the sea masters buy their command flags, they will definitely not embarrass merchant ships at sea, but government offices, local government officials, government navy officers and other such ghosts and snakes in official clothes are asking for money immediately. Another terrible character.Water and land law and order cannot be guaranteed, and business travelers have to be exploited. Most businessmen dare not travel long distances.

"Long-distance sales, there are too many forces that need to be filial and managed, and there is no way to manage them at all. When you arrive at the destination, you will meet the wicked local people, and you will be pressed for years, and even the money will be lost. Now the road is not calm, the bandits There are so many water thieves. Small businessmen like us who have no guards and no influence will really lose their lives if they encounter them. Unless they are going to the 'shudi' and have local forces to take care of them, otherwise they really dare not long-distance trafficking." Liu Deshan specializes in domestic trade, and he has the deepest feeling about this aspect.

"Your brother can still run a lot of places anyway, it can be regarded as a long way."

"It's not the contacts my father accumulated in the early years. Otherwise, how dare I run around like this..." Liu Deshan sighed, "Now I am also more careful, and I will never go to places that are not accessible by large waterways. Dry roads are too difficult. How much money? Opportunities for big money can only be seen and thought about, not dared to touch."

He was very interested when it came to this topic: Ideally, traders would go to the other side to sell the goods they need, and then buy the goods they need, and they would not go back and forth in vain—especially now that they have their own ships. Under such circumstances, the waste of empty cabins is irreversible.But the actual situation is that few cities need each other's bulk goods. "

"For example, the sugar produced in Guangdong can be sold at a good price in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but the porcelain and silk produced in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also produced locally in Guangdong; these porcelain and other daily necessities are shipped to the opposite sea. There is very little demand here—the deerskins of the senior officers are mainly sold to Japan, and the copper and silver exchanged by the senior officers cannot be digested by themselves, so they have to be transported to the mainland of Ming Dynasty.”

"So these goods are sold by small merchants, and the cost of returning empty warehouses is added. In addition, almost every port they pass through will change hands once. The costs and taps incurred in the process make the price of the goods high when they are sold long-distance. No more."

Chen Huamin nodded: "That's what I mean. Now that the Australians have defeated the Zheng family, their forces have covered from Japan and North Korea to Hainan and Annan. We can also deploy our own goods and plan to reach the port for long-distance sales. As long as we Careful planning and reasonable arrangements, so that the ship is not empty as much as possible, can make greater profits with less cost."

He spoke excitedly, picked up a piece of white paper, and scribbled on it:
"Please see, the Australians have a commercial port in Jeju Island, where they can trade in Japan and North Korea. From Jeju Island to the south, they can go all the way to Longkou to trade goods from Shandong—even large transactions in Henan and North Zhili. .From Longkou to the south, you can go to Shanghai, then to Kaohsiung, Dayuan Trading, and then directly to Hong Kong. The Australians have a lot of influence along this route. Not only is the route safe, but also the commercial ports are well-equipped with various types of goods. , the key is that there are no countless bad rules. Doing business can be said to be comfortable and satisfying.”

"It's a pity that I can't go to Tianjinwei—that's the big pier in the north..."

"Tianjin Wei is still under the control of the Australians, which is somewhat of a fly in the ointment. As long as it can reach the level of the pier in Shanghai, Tianjin Wei is also a good place to go."

"It would be great if the Australians could take Shanghai directly in one go, and now they have to talk to the government to some extent..."

Chen Huamin's words are actually extremely bold and rebellious, almost suspected of advocating rebellion.However, both Liu Deshan and Qin Haicheng have seen the abilities of Australians, so they are not surprised at all.

Chen Huamin made up his mind and said, "It's not too late. Before the news of Liu Xiang's descent spreads, we will go with the boat and step out of this new business route. It's just that this time it's been too hard. Just now I’m going to go to sea again before I get back out of breath!”

Liu Deshan smiled calmly: "No problem, if you can't do it, it's not for money! It's just that you plan to go to sea this time, what are you carrying, and where are you going?"

"I've made a fuss. Look——" Chen Huamin took out a large page from his sleeve. This is a folio tabloid that has only recently been sold in Guangzhou, called "Hong Kong Ship's Bow Price Paper".Published every seven days.Sold by children on the street, this newspaper is equivalent to the best commodity information.It mainly publishes the types, quantities and transaction prices of goods transported to Hong Kong from various places.It also publishes vessel information, including the schedule, cargo and space status of trade vessels on the route.In addition, there are supply and demand information from various places.Although this newspaper is mainly sold in Guangzhou, it is actually edited and published by the commercial representative office of the Ministry of Colonial and Trade in Hong Kong.

Originally, although the merchants in Guangzhou were relatively familiar with Australian goods or Lingao goods, most of them were passed on by word of mouth from others, but few of them had a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the details of the goods. This "Price Paper" just satisfied Business information needs of large and medium-sized merchants——The flow of information in ancient society was very slow, and the supply and demand information of commodities basically relied on the accumulation of information for many years.It is impossible to grasp the time-sensitive and explosive commodity supply and demand information, and only a few big businessmen can use the government's stagecoach system to carry a small amount of information.

Lingao has the convenience of wireless telegraphy, and the goods and supply and demand information from Japan to Manila can be transmitted to all ports under the control of Lingao in real time, which is of great convenience to the circulation of goods.

Promoting commodity circulation and encouraging merchants to transport and sell goods is the consistent purpose of the Senate. Only when commodities are circulated can they create value.Otherwise, relying on the Senate's own ships and royal merchants alone will not be able to meet the growing logistics needs anyway.What's more, the more frequent such commodity circulation is, the greater the various benefits the Senate will obtain from it.

Chen Huamin opened the newspaper, and there were circles and circles on it that had been smeared with ink.His fingers quickly slid across it, then stopped.

"Look, the white sugar from Leizhou in Hong Kong has arrived in large quantities, and the price has dropped. The price of white sugar in Zhejiang and Nanzhi is very high. We can make a fortune by selling the white sugar to Shanghai! We then ship the grain in Shanghai and ship it to Shandong. Earn another vote!"

"Okay!" Liu Deshan nodded, "Let's set off now."

"In that case, I'll take a share too." Qin Haicheng took out a note from the drawer, "This is Delong's 1000 tael note. It can be redeemed at the sight of the note. It can be directly used as silver. You can use it for turnover and make money." I have a share of the money."

Liu Deshan and Chen Huamin were overjoyed. After all, they were operating on a small budget, especially after buying the ship, and their liquidity was very tight. Now that Qin Haicheng, a big boss, is willing to invest, the business can be bigger this time.More importantly, with this additional funding, they can take over the Xindongshanju in advance-after all, it will cost a lot of money to equip a new ship and hire sailors.

Thanks to the two, they will go out to arrange ships and goods right now.

"I'm going to arrange to pick up the ship right now. Hua Min, you should first inform the deputy leader, and immediately gather the crew to prepare food and water, and go to Huangpu to prepare for boarding—this time we will use a new ship. Inform the deputy manager and let the man We unloaded all the goods on the ship overnight, and then replaced all the warehouses with white sugar from Leizhou; then went to Delong to stamp all the silver we stored there into tickets and take it with us."

"Okay! I'll do it right away!" Chen Huamin cupped his hands and left in a hurry.Liu Deshan exchanged some polite words with Qin Haicheng. Qin Haicheng was very interested in the new ship they ordered and asked him to pay more attention to the use of it—he also wanted to buy one for sailing to the west.

After sending him out, he stood on the stone steps at the door and looked at the sandy surface beside the White Swan Lake.A small steamer with a large paddle on the outside was belching black smoke, pulling a long line of barges past.The shadows of countless masts and sails on the river are moving or stopping, and the ships are still loading and leaving, or stopping to unload, which is a busy scene.

"Australians, Australians..."

Guangzhou Huangpu Port has a clear sky, and the gentle autumn wind blows the white clouds slowly from north to south.It is a good day for going out in autumn.

At the pier, a brand new three-masted ship was docking at the berth.This ship is completely different from the surrounding ships. Although there are still some shadows of Cantonese ships, it is more like a European-style sea ship: the hull shows typical Western-style shipbuilding techniques-keel ribs, nailed long boats wood, covered with asphalt.The bow of the ship is more exaggerated than all the eastern and western ships, with a long bow and mast, and the lines of the ship are smooth and graceful.Now, from the low waterline, it could be seen that the ship was full of cargo, no matter how the tide beat, it did not move, only occasionally rising and falling with the waves.Red and blue ribbons are hung up and down the entire ship, reflecting the big three-character ink script "Dongshan Residence" on the bow.On the bow deck above the ink book, tributes such as incense table and suckling pig fruit wine are being placed, indicating that the ship is holding a worship ceremony and preparing to set sail.

"The head of the family..." Guanshi Liu softly called out to Chen Huamin who was looking at the sea in front of the incense table.Chen Huamin came to his senses, waved his hands and said to Guanshi Liu, "Don't call me the master, making us look like bandits. From now on, follow the habit of those Australians and call me the boss!"

"Yes, big...boss. All the goods and money on the ship have been registered and recorded, and the second...second boss has already counted and reviewed it."

"Okay, I see." Chen Huamin responded lightly, then turned around again, and continued to face the sea.

(End of this chapter)