Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 499 Hai Shuzu’s Predicament

In the cabin below the deck of the Guangding, Lin Baiguang leaned on his luggage roll, thinking about a few urgent things to do after arriving in Qiongshan.

The first is to do the work of Hai Shuzu.Originally, the Traveling Group wanted to use the opportunity to lure him to Laigao to go through the formalities to take back the big ship and win him over.But Hai Shuzu obviously had doubts, hid in Qiongshan and refused to come to Lingao.

Of course, if I were him, I wouldn't dare to come rashly.Lin Baiguang thought to himself, who knows what the Australians are planning?After all, he, Hai Shuzu, was also a man of some wealth.

If he doesn't come to Gao, it's good to get a large ship and a lot of goods for nothing from the Transmigration Group, but Hai Shuzu is much more useful to the Transmigration Group--it's not that he wants to use the fact that he is a descendant of Hai Rui to win him over. The local gentry, but has a more practical use.

The Workers' Energy Committee has been sending reports to the executive committee, asking for ways to exploit coal mines in Qiongshan.The coal mines in the Haikou area are relatively good coal mine resources on Hainan Island. They are mainly lignite, which can be used for coking. After the development of the Tiandu Iron Mine, the coal used for coking will become a big problem.Vietnam's Hon Gi Coal Mine produces high-quality anthracite that is not suitable for coking, and there are various difficulties in mining in foreign countries.It is also limited by shipping capacity.The Workers' Energy Committee hopes to have a nearby place to obtain stable coal resources.

However, in this time and space, the coal mines in the Haikou area have not been exploited on a large scale.Mining mines was a troublesome thing in ancient times. This is not because the procedures are difficult or the tax pressure is too heavy-but the mining of minerals is often interfered by too much local forces.Sometimes it is driven by economic interests, sometimes it is influenced by sayings such as "feng shui" and "divine veins", and sometimes it is suppressed by primitive environmental protection concepts-mining and smelting will inevitably damage the local environment and cause serious damage. pollute.

There is no standard for the government to allow mining, and it is very arbitrary-in general, the local government is not too enthusiastic about mining: Daming has no concept of resource tax, except for the short-term collection of mining taxes in the Wanli Dynasty, mining is very important. There is no benefit to local finances. Although it can bring personal benefits to officials big and small in the county, mining will inevitably attract a large number of miners to gather.Workers have always been an "unstable factor", which often puts strong pressure on the government to maintain stability.It is not beneficial and it is easy to provoke right and wrong, so that once a dispute arises, the government will mostly adopt the method of banning it.

If there is no powerful person in the local area to preside over the overall situation or to establish a relationship with such a person and use it as an umbrella, it will be difficult to open the mine.

It is precisely because of these unfavorable factors.Time Travel Group did not rashly send agents, such as Lin Quan'an, to directly invest in the local mines.Instead, they hope to lure the locals to open mines, and their own purchases are such a safe way to collect resources.However, mining does not produce coal overnight, and the investment is quite large.If the purchase price of the Crossing Group is lowered, no one is willing to open the mine; if the price is higher, the planning committee will feel that it is not worthwhile.

So in the end, another method was changed: looking for a local agent to come forward, and the time-traveling group actually invested in the mining.

In the opinion of the executive committee, Hai Shuzu is an excellent agent, and it is easy to settle the government and local forces with the reputation of the Hai family in the local area.

How can we convince Hai Shuzu?Lin Baiguang thought that Hai Shuzu's ability to raise funds to buy ships and go overseas for trade shows that there is an element of adventure in his character and he is full of desire for money.With these two prerequisites, it shouldn't be difficult for such a person to convince him to open a mine.And according to the information collected by Chen Tong, the Hai family is now facing a serious economic crisis.This is a great opportunity.

Lin Baiguang calculated over and over again on the floor of the cabin.Without further ado, the current coke ovens are currently using coal bought from Guangdong. The amount of coal used is not large, but it can still be dealt with. When the first batch of iron ore from Tiandu arrives next year, coke will immediately become a bottleneck in the steel industry. .

After Lin Baiguang arrived in Qiongzhou, the shopkeeper and staff transferred from Leizhou, and the bodyguards transferred from Guangdong also arrived one after another.House renovations are in full swing.

During this vacancy, Lin Baiguang advised Chen Tong to intensify his infiltration into the Hai family, keeping abreast of his first-hand information, while Gao Di sent out to investigate the social situation.

After seven or eight days, the information obtained from various sources is very good for Lin Baiguang: this time Hai Shuzu raised funds to buy a ship and trade in Bacheng, and a total of 51 households including his family contributed money or goods, a total of 23 shares , Hai Shuzu owns 51 shares.The structure of these [-] households is very complicated. There are family members, relatives, and friends of the Hai family, as well as small local businessmen who heard that they wanted to go to the West to make a lot of money to invest. There are even servants of the Hai family and other families. The servants pooled their savings and collectively participated in four shares.

There are quite a few such small shareholders among the ninety shares, and some even only have half a share.The failure of Hai Shuzu's venture was a fatal blow to these small shareholders—many of them made this "investment" out of their coffins.Although these small shareholders with the worst ability to resist risks are ancient people, they will not be easily dismissed by the phrase "maritime trade is risky, and participation should be cautious." The ancients did not understand what "limited liability" is. Instead, they unceremoniously gathered at the gate of Hai's house, making a scene every day, demanding that Hai Shuzu pay back the money.

To Hai Shuzu, who valued his family's prestige very much, this was a slap in the face in public.Originally, operating sea trade was not a matter of face among scholar-bureaucrats, but now there is such a trouble, Hai Shuzu's current embarrassment can be imagined.

His troubles don't stop there.In addition to equity participation, there is also a loan—otherwise, such a large sea-going ship would not be built, and the loan will naturally have interest, which is not low.When the creditors heard that the ship had been robbed by pirates, they also came to sue.

Finally, there is a more terrible group of people, those small traders who are neither shareholders nor creditors.They are the passengers on the big ship of Haijia.Although most of them were rescued by the Traveling Group, they not only survived, but also recovered their economic losses to some extent.But many of them are empty of people and money.Those orphans and widows whose husbands and sons died came to his door one by one with disheveled hair, asking him to "return their lives".

"It's really hard to argue." Lin Baiguang sighed, "It seems that this sea trade business is really difficult to do."

"Master, this is just like the so-called only seeing thieves eat meat, but not seeing thieves being beaten." Brother Gao said from the side, "There are a lot of people who have lost their fortunes in maritime trade. When I was young, I often heard Master Gao mention it. Those who were buried in the belly of the fish, some went bankrupt, and some lost their capital and could not return to their hometowns and drifted abroad...Even Mr. Gao himself lost several times of ship cargo, and the sum totaled tens of thousands of taels of silver."

Lin Baiguang nodded. The risk of accidents in this sea trade is too great, and what is even more frightening is that the ancient business practice is "unlimited liability", and all his public and private properties will be used to pay off debts.A business failure can completely destroy the operator, and there will never be a day of recovery.

Of course, Hai Shuzu was also aware of this terrible consequence.Moreover, he is still a descendant of Lord Hai. If he falls into such a fate, it will not only be a matter of personal gains and losses, but also humiliate the family.

Lin Baiguang could fully imagine Hai Shuzu's current mood.

After pondering over and over again, he asked Chen Tong: "How about the Hai family's property?"

"It's just empty space." Chen Tong said, the Hai family only had less than [-] mu of land except for the [-] mu of sacrificial land shared by the clan. At that time, I couldn't even afford a decent coffin, so my descendants naturally didn't have much property.

Because there was such a famous person known for his honesty and integrity in his family, in order to maintain his family's reputation, some crooked ways that local gentry often used to make money were never involved in Haijia.

"It's not easy!" Lin Baiguang exclaimed, "As expected of being a descendant of Lord Hai."

"Who says it's not." Chen Tongshen agreed, "Everyone is also discussing, saying that this is doom."

"If the Hai family can survive this catastrophe, they will surely prosper." Lin Baiguang said implicitly, "It depends on whether Hai Shuzu's understanding is enough."

Lin Baiguang told Gao Di: "Go and find out, those creditors who have loaned money to the Hai family, are they willing to transfer their IOUs?"

Brother Gao understood: "I understand, little one."

"Don't be too anxious to make a move, you have to bargain hard." Lin Baiguang took care of him, "Hai Shuzu's IOU is almost worthless."

If Hai Shuzu had no other source of income, no financial support from outsiders, he would have gone bankrupt in fact.He roughly calculated in his mind that just repaying the debt and interest would be enough to make him bankrupt.

"Buying debts must be done in secret." Lin Baiguang instructed Gaodi.

Of course, buying debts by myself is not to do good deeds, but to threaten them with this. Once the news gets out, it will be bad for both parties.

Hai Shuzu simply hid in Guangzhou.There was nothing he could do.Ever since the ship was robbed in the strait, he hasn't had a good night's sleep. The people on the ship came back one after another. He only knew from their mouths that the ship was robbed by pirates in the Qiongzhou strait. Fortunately, he got Lingao's With the help of the Australians, everyone escaped with their lives, and they still did some business in Lingao.The five-masted ship was also towed to Lingao.Because the steward he sent to accompany the ship died, Hai Shuzu couldn't believe the words of these small merchants and sailors on the ship.It was not until the captain of the five-masted ship came back with letters and gifts from the Australians that he learned the exact news.

Asking him to go to Lingao to retrieve the ship and goods in person, Hai Shuzu hesitated for a long time—it's not that he didn't want to go, after all, there was still a glimmer of hope to recover part of the cost of going to Lingao, and if he didn't go, he would just sit and wait.But his family and friends advised him not to go, saying that the Australians did not use this as a bait to let him throw himself into the trap as a meat ticket.

(End of this chapter)