Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 278 - Go to Hongji

Neglect is neglect, but the sale can be negotiated: the other party is very interested in the thousand stones of sugar he shipped, and although he can't come up with this much cash, the condition of exchanging rice is hit it off.

"Eight Spanish Silver Oceans per rock sugar." The butler offered the price.

Chang Shide was furious, what if we are Kaizi?The lowest price in the market is obviously seven taels of silver per stone, and each stone is eight Spanish silver coins. It is only worth combining cash...but...he quickly calculated, "It's only five taels!"

Quickly shook his head and said it was too low, much lower than the market price.Zhang Dasara muttered to the butler again, only to see the butler smiled slightly and began to speak, Zhang Dasara translated:

"Only our lord here can come up with enough rice and silver to buy your sugar in cash, otherwise you can sell it to the Ming merchants on the wharf, and come back to get the money at this time next year. Perhaps—" Zhang Daba pulled hesitantly It took a while to translate, "You can wait for other more generous customers on the pier, but the weather here is very hot..."

Chang Shide's blood surged, and he really wanted to shoot the profiteer, but seeing his fearless appearance, he had no choice but to hold back the anger in his heart. "Have a personal experience.He said to Zhang Dasara: "Discuss with him, can you add another one or two dollars?" If it is added to 10 silver dollars, it will be seven or two dollars. Although it is not the best price, it is still acceptable. .

The profiteer shook his head again and again: "You can't add a dollar. Then the cost of transporting the rice to the dock will be paid by our Zhuangzi."

Chang Shide began to convince him that doing business with him is definitely profitable, because he has all kinds of novelty goods, and he can make a lot of money—I can’t wait to find a mirror somewhere to show him, hoping that he will continue the long-term cooperation According to the principle, the price should be increased appropriately, and so on. Anyway, it is selling the "win-win" theory. Unexpectedly, the profiteer's housekeeper showed an impatient look, and said something loudly at Zhang Da Scar, causing Zhang Daba to make a big fuss. Scara also looked unhappy, so she had to say to him:

"It is said that either the deal will be done according to this market price, or he will not accompany him."

In the end, Chang Shide finally gave in. One thousand stones of sugar was sold at eight silver dollars per stone, Wu Yujia paid him 8000 Spanish silver dollars for the 1200 yuan payment, and the other payments were converted into brown rice at five dollars per stone.Chang Shide did some calculations, and he can get about 900 Shimi!The equivalent is more than [-] tons--by comparison, the Zhengfu of Lingao County is less than [-] shi.The difference in agricultural productivity is too great!

Although he suffered a small loss, but thinking of transporting it to Guangzhou for sale, the purchase price of the British was only three or eight dollars. No matter how he made a lot of money, this is a bit of consolation. Besides, if this batch of rice is shipped to Leizhou, According to the market price, it is [-] taels of silver.Once in and out, the profit is still considerable.This reminded him of the days when he played Age of Discovery and sold art and carpets between Athens and Istanbul.

Although the cargo capacity of the Big Whale is superior to other ships, it can only carry [-] tons when fully loaded, not to mention that Bei Kai has to go to the Hongji Coal Mine.Therefore, the grain should be stored in the local grain warehouse for the time being, and then shipped when the ship comes next time.

Bei Kai knew that this place was not far from Hongji, maybe the big landlord knew where there was an open-pit coal mine, so he asked Zhang Dabao to ask if there was any coal exposed on the ground?

The housekeeper nodded slowly after hearing this, and said, "I heard that at Jinpu's side, it's just mountains."

Bei Kai became interested and hurriedly asked, "Where is Jin Pu?"

The housekeeper rolled his eyes, probably thinking that this dark, thin, unremarkable little man was not a businessman from Ming Dynasty, but a "violent man", with a look of disdain on his face, he said something to Zhang Dabao.Zhang Dabao smiled wryly, and looked at Beikai sympathetically—it would not be a good word to think about.

In the end, Chang Shide asked again, and the housekeeper answered:

"It's not far from here. Go south along the coastline. If you take a boat, you can get there in a day." The housekeeper showed a strange expression on his face, "What's so rare about this black stone? If you want to make a fire, you need to burn firewood or charcoal. Zhuangzi has them all. Don’t dare to say, the shopkeeper wants one or two hundred stones, and they will have it immediately.”

Chang Shide originally wanted to ask for details, otherwise it would be nice to have a guide, but when the housekeeper saw that they didn't want to buy charcoal, he stood up boldly and went out, and the servants came to "see off the guests".A group of people were kicked out like this.

The matter is done, and the profit is not bad, but the whole thing is awkward no matter how you think about it.Whether it was Chang Shide, Bei Kai, or even Zhang Dascarla, they all felt very uncomfortable.

"In the future, I will be the governor of Beiqi, who will do all kinds of evil and bully men and women!" Bei Kai gritted his teeth.

"When the time comes, destroy this family of traitors first!" Chang Shide always hated to call people traitors casually, but at this moment, nationalist sentiments exploded.

Zhang Dabala also scolded: "Wu Yuqing is so arrogant now! One of his servants is so rude! When we helped here, this old boy went to the pier to greet him. There is no shortage of wine and meat women. He even gave me a woman!" His words felt like a phoenix is ​​not as good as a chicken.

Chang Shide asked: "Has your gang ever been to Vietnam?"

"I've been here, and I helped them fight. It is said that they were fighting some kind of Guangnan king named Ruan Huang. But the woman sent here is really nice—" In Zhang Dasara's mind, these things are obviously not as memorable as women.

Back on the boat, everyone rested for a day, and waited for the people from Wujia Manor to unload the goods before continuing to sail south.

Zhang Dabala is familiar with sea routes. Although he doesn't know where Jinpu is, he has been to the coast of Vietnam many times over the years. There are indeed many places along the coast of Chalong Bay where coal can be dug in the open air, but no one has ever been here. mining business.Since the Australian businessmen liked the black stone so much, he just led it to find it.After things are done, rewards are always indispensable.

There was nothing to say all night, and Chang Shide woke up early the next morning, feeling that the boat had stopped.Looking out from the window of the stern building, Chang Shide found himself in a fantastic scene.Hundreds of strangely shaped verdant hills cover the sea, and mist drifts among the birds and islands in the sky.

"Damn, it's so beautiful!" Chang Shide knew that this must be in Halong Bay, and was about to go to the deck to have a look, when Axiu came in.Holding a washbasin, a cup and a mouthwash bowl.

"Master, please wash up."

"When did the ship stop?" Chang Shide asked.

"Master, the boat has been parked for a while." Axiu handed him a toothbrush filled with toothpaste, and gave him a charming smile at the same time.These days, the master visits her more often than Azi and Abi, making her think that her market value around this master is good, and the attitude of the other two female slaves towards her becomes submissive.This time I took her out again, and she felt that it was more likely that she could go further.Of course, Axiu knew that she couldn't be the hostess, but it was very possible to be a concubine.Therefore, the service to Chang Shide has become more and more meticulous.

After Chang Shide washed, he went to the deck. The sun had not yet risen. He checked his watch, and it was not yet 6 o'clock in the morning.The air is slightly salty, fresh and intoxicating.

On the surface of the sea, there are limestone hills far and near, all of which are bluestone mountains with strange shapes, very similar to the stone mountains in Guilin and Yangshuo, Guangxi.These mountain peaks protruding from the emerald blue sea have different images and various poses, with dense vegetation and flocks of birds rising and falling from time to time.There are protruding mountains on the sea, the reflection of the mountains on the sea, and the reflection of the almost transparent blue sky in the spring morning on the sea.Every mountain is like looking empty in the blue transparent endless illusion.The sun is projected on the rippling sea, ever-changing and colorful.In the distance, there are some fishing boats with ochre-colored double sails sailing out from between the mountain gorge, floating in the green mountains and blue sea, and disappearing into the shadow of the mountain in a blink of an eye.Complicated and confusing, like a dream.

"This is a good place," Chang Shide became more and more affirmative, because the scene in front of him was very similar to the tourist scenery film of Halong Bay he had seen. He also had a lot of thoughts about Vietnamese girls in the past. Now that he saw this beautiful scenery, The idea of ​​the girl came out again. "We want to build a beach house here, let hundreds, not dozens of Vietnamese girls lie naked on the beach..."

Just as he was thinking wildly, he suddenly saw that Bei Kai was also on the deck. After boarding the ship, Bei Kai had been learning Vietnamese with Zhang Dabaola.Is he planning to be a Vietnamese landlord here?Chang Shide was surprised by his enthusiasm for learning.

Zhang Dasara sat next to the steering wheel in thick clothes and bulging. He didn't look like a heroic pirate at all, but looked like an old poor lower-middle peasant who remembered bitterness and sweetness.

Seeing Chang Shide coming up, Zhang Dabara introduced that the place where the coal is produced is not far ahead, and after landing on it, he can buy coal from the local villagers.

"Buy coal? No one goes up to mine?"

"Chang Dong's family, this black coal is not a rare thing. It can be bought in Guangdong. Anyone who is full and has nothing to do will come here to buy coal. Besides, except for ironsmiths, ordinary people can't use up all the firewood. Why bother?" Use this black and dirty thing."

It turned out to be like this.Chang Shide thought that without demand, there would be no development.It's a pity that there are 200 billion tons of high-quality anthracite here.

Under the guidance of Zhang Dasara, the boat moored in a deserted harbour, and the advantages of the shallow-draft boat were reflected. There was no need to put down the boat, and one could land on a springboard.

Chang Shide and others put on Ming people's clothes, and went ashore under the guidance of Zhang Dabara. This place is hilly, the ground is uneven, and the vegetation is not too dense.It is said that Zhang Dabala said that because the soil layer is very thin, the harvest of farming in the coal fields is not very good. Except for fishermen, few people settle here.

Mr. Wen's instruction to Chang Shide was to "do business first, and then try to start a coal mine after opening up channels", but this place is unfamiliar, and there is no living person to be found, and no one is interested in doing business.

I took people deep into the inland and walked a few kilometers, but I didn't see many people. Sometimes I just ran away when I saw a figure, faster than a monkey.

Bei Kai held the map and the compass to constantly interpret the surrounding scenery and terrain, pointing the way forward.

What Bei Kai was looking for was a stone mountain called "Poetry Mountain". It is located on a peninsula protruding into the sea and looks like a cat's ear. The famous "celebrities" and "heroes" also wrote poems on this mountain, and they got this title.

"What kind of poetry mountain, let's call it Mao'er mountain, it has more images!" Chang Shide didn't take it seriously after hearing his explanation.

Mao'er Mountain was quickly found under the guidance of a compass and a map. Its elevation is more than 400 meters, and it is very conspicuous among a bunch of small hills.Another space-time Hongji Coal Mine Corporation was built around the foot of this mountain along the seashore.The entire city of Hongji was two kilometers long from east to west when the French had just retreated, and had 3 residents.It is a very large mining city.

Here and now, there is nothing here.Only the vegetation dances rustlingly in the sea breeze.Hongji has a natural port.This is also the reason why it can become the seat of the Coal Mine Corporation.

"It's too desolate." Chang Shide murmured, it is convenient to dig coal in this place, but who will be a miner when he is poor and white?

"Is it possible to dig coal here?" Chang Shide said.

"Not yet," Bei Kai said, "There are three or four large open-pit mines. I don't know if this is the Jinpu mine. This is the only open-pit mine near the sea."

"There should be small open-pit mines too."

"There should be." Bei Kai was not very confident. He was a prospecting team member who became a monk halfway. "It's a pity that Captain Cui went to Tiandu for inspection, otherwise he will definitely come."

Naturally, Bei Kai still did the same old thing--exploring pits.The soldiers began to draw lines and work in this hilly area. I don't know if it is because of the sea breeze blowing all the year round or the soil here is really barren. There are no big trees here, only some low shrubs. The inland of Yangyang is full of vitality and full of spring, which is completely different.This provides great convenience for their prospecting work.

According to the data, there is no pit at the headquarters of Hongji Coal Mine Company, so the test excavation site chosen by Beikai is almost 2 kilometers inland, and it is already completely on the hilly slope.

Beikai chose a small hill as a standard point, and divided the hilly area within a range of 15 meters around the hill according to a 1500-meter point. Then, a group of 3 people started to set up 8 points in these 100 groups. Work, the main content of the work is to dig a pit.

The requirement for the exploration pit is 3 meters deep. Hongji is famous for its large open-pit mines, and the coal mines are large and concentrated, but there are only three or four open-pit mines outcropping. Maoer Mountain is not an open-pit zone. Can you find small ones? Open pit mines are left to chance.

(End of this chapter)