Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 828 The Usefulness of the Dutch
Although it's only February, the temperature has already started to rise.Skade thought to himself that the ground energy air conditioner should be installed in place this summer.Of course, in order to benefit the administrative department, the problem of copper must be solved first - no matter how simple the structure of the ground energy air conditioner is, the exchanger still needs copper.Although the quantity is not large, it belongs to non-production and non-essential consumption.The previous proposal to install ground-energy air conditioners in the senior apartment was also aborted due to the opposition of the Planning Institute.In the end, only the installation location was reserved.

Where can I find copper?At present, what they can obtain in large quantities is Japanese copper bought from Guangdong.Scaled has a lot of opinions on the Japanese copper imported from Guangdong - silver can be extracted from Japanese copper bars, which keeps the price of Japanese copper high for a long time, and the large amount of purchases by the trade department has contributed to the upward trend of prices.Every time Skelder sees the Japanese copper trade list, he feels pain.

Although the trading price of copper in Japan has dropped this year, thanks to the suspension of the banning trade in the previous year, the drop is not large. After all, copper is always a scarce mineral in China, and like silver, it is swallowed up as much as it is.

"It seems that we can't directly control several large copper mines." Skaide looked at the large sand table under his feet and muttered to himself.

In the hall, some naturalized interns are working on the stakeout of the sand table.The process of lofting is to use a parallelogram lofting drawing frame to enlarge each contour line on the contour map to several large sheets of paper.Then the Guihuamin students who are studying surveying and mapping will dip the dry clay sheets of uniform specifications produced in Lingao with water and spread them on the drawings, and then pile them up layer by layer to form mountains, rivers, and submarine continental shelves.The bottom of the sea is painted blue, and the forest is pinned out with green paper strips, indicating different tree species and average diameter at breast height.Then use simple models to mark out details such as towns, mines, and ships.

In the old time and space, this simple model was made of corrugated paper.Since Lingao's paper mill didn't make corrugated paper, the Colonial Department used cement instead, and later changed it to a mass-produced standard clay mosaic according to Mr. Wen's suggestion, which can greatly reduce the drying time, because if the next layer does not If it is dry, it will be deformed if a few layers are built on it.

Next, several veterans from the Colonial Department and other relevant departments climbed onto the sand table in turn holding pins, pens, and paper card models representing various equipment, facilities, and buildings, swinging them around, and the inserted buildings represented the construction plan. , the pulled out pins represent available wood resources.The military personnel reminded the focus of fortification.The transportation department used black, gray, and white ropes to mark the future roads and railway positions... In the continuous placement, the layout plan of the entire colony was optimized.The clerks of the Colonial Ministry and other ministries held piles of materials to remind them to answer the elders' questions at any time, and some other clerks took notes.

In the small conference room next to it, kvass and food were placed, and the elders who got off the sand table sat down to discuss while drinking drinks.In these small conference rooms that used to be the dormitories of the veterans, there were often discussions on all the details all night long, and the success or failure of the entire operation depended on the cooperation of countless details.All of these conference rooms have clerks taking notes of the details of the discussions,
All these records will eventually be compiled after the completion of the model project to form a colonial development plan, which will be copied by the Colonial Ministry to the relevant ministries for countersignature, and each ministry will also provide its own file attachments to prove its countersigned opinions.Then submit it to the executive committee through the general office. If the executive committee is going to use military force or a large amount of human, financial and material resources to complete these plans, it must prepare a relatively concise proposal and submit it to the Senate for approval, or at least a hearing.

The military is also making a larger and more accurate Hongji sand table. The General Staff has a larger sand table room dedicated to war games.However, Skaide knew that the military's attitude towards Hongji's development plan was extremely contradictory.

On the one hand, they hope that the final solution to the coal problem will lead to a higher level of military equipment and scale expansion, not to mention the navy. The stock of coal will directly affect the fleet that is about to be steam-engined.On the other hand, the army is afraid that the armed conflict that will occur in the development of Hongji will put a heavy burden on the army.This forward-looking and backward-looking attitude made Skade very dissatisfied.In his opinion, the army is like a typical example of wanting to eat meat but afraid of causing trouble.

Skaide knows: A few days ago, Xi Yazhou was recalled to Lingao by the Military Affairs Tribunal.He Ming, who was by-elected as the chief of military affairs at the third elder meeting, asked him to host a war game in the sand table room of the general staff, roughly deducing the strategic form around Hongji.The official report of the game has not yet come out.Skade doubted that they were "polishing up".

At this time, the phone on his desk rang.Skade returned to the office and answered the phone:
"Yes, it's me. What? Henan, no, the Dutch are here? All right, yes, lock them on the boat to cool off first."

He put down the phone.It was Mond who called.The sudden arrival of the Dutchman in Lingao greatly exceeded his expectations.The Executive Committee and the Senate have always regarded the Dutch as a serious problem-this is somewhat out of national sentiment.However, the Dutch's ambition makes them indeed the most threatening opponent on the sea in East Asia.What's more, they still occupy Dayuan Port in Taiwan - this is the territory that the Traveling Group will control in the future.The so-called fundamental conflict of interests.

But so far, no one expected that the Dutch would take the initiative to ask for trade, instead of pulling the fleet murderously to compete with Lingao.Before that, the army had done countless deduction on whether Liu Xianglao would join the Dutch to attack Lingao, Sanya and even Hongji, but they never thought that the purpose of the other party was to come to peaceful trade.

Among the various memos and proposals that Skeider piled up in filing cabinets and safes, the Dutch were almost ignored.Because the Ministry of Colonization and Trade did not plan to do too much business with the Dutch, because most of the things the Dutch can provide are not irreplaceable, the goods that the Dutch can provide, the British can also, and they can transport goods from Lingao, the Portuguese can also.Most of the silver that the Dutch can provide comes from Japan and Persia.

Of course, if the terms of trade are favorable enough, it is not impossible to do business with the Dutch.After all, Lingao is still an entity dominated by an export-oriented economy.A large number of raw materials are imported and products are exported in large quantities. It is also good to have a few middlemen who can deliver goods to the door when the own transportation capacity is insufficient.

However, the relationship with the Dutch is "diplomacy" and as a rule is decided by the Senate, or by the Standing Committee of the Senate.

During the quarantine period of the Dutch business group, the Standing Committee of the Senate in Lingao had a heated debate on how to arrange for the Dutch.The newly elected speaker of the Senate was Qian Shuiting—after Feiyun became a club in Lingaojiao Park, it was once neglected.Later, the main members held a meeting and deeply reflected on the shortcomings of setting up "overseas clubs".Through the spare no effort to publish advertisements in newspapers and extensively carry out a series of popular activities such as mud pigeon shooting, bonfire parties, pistol shooting training and so on, it gradually won popularity.Qian Shuiting has also become someone "everyone knows".Therefore, in this by-election, he was selected for the by-election based on his "relationship with the masses".This surprised him.Because he didn't intend to take up the role of the chairman of the Senate so soon-he originally nominated Hai Lin from the Ministry of Timber Industry.

In the Standing Committee, most of the veterans believed that one mountain could not accommodate two tigers, and that sooner or later they would have to fight the Dutch. The line of thinking that "the Dutch are the main rivals among the Europeans in East Asia" has not changed.However, the Dutch suddenly came across the ocean to express their willingness to conduct trade, sign trade agreements, and even establish a certain degree of alliance relationship. According to the current situation in Lingao, there is no need to reject potential opponents who express friendship—not to mention the Dutch temporarily There is no conflict of interest with Lingao.

Even if the Dutch wanted to fight, they probably had no soldiers to send, and Lingao was temporarily unable to organize an expeditionary force to attack Badawi or Taiwan.However, Lingao will launch an action against Taiwan in about two years, so the Senate does not want any covenant or peace to bind itself.So the final resolution of the Senate was to agree to sign a trade agreement with the Dutch.

Skade got a license to trade.He studied the Dutchman's manifest - which was still stacked in warehouses on the docks.Everything the Dutch brought in was useful, except spices.The linen cloth made his eyes shine, and the linen clothes are much more breathable and comfortable than cotton cloth.The agricultural department did not promote the cultivation of flax and hemp on a large scale in Lingao, so they only had a small amount of flax, most of which were traded with the Li people.

It suddenly occurred to him that the Dutch are currently the main country that trades with Japan, and the Dutch trade with Japan was interrupted after Zheng Zhilong completely monopolized China's coastal trade. Now is the time when the Dutch are making a fortune on the Japanese route. If you can buy Japanese copper bars through the Dutch, it will be much cheaper than buying them in Guangzhou through second or even third dealers.

As long as the import of copper can be increased by 3 or 4 times, it is not a great luxury to install air conditioners in offices and apartments.Compared with the consumption of the industrial sector, this is only a drop in the bucket.

As for the goods to be exported to the Dutch, Skade considered again and again——Among Lingao's bulk industrial products, glass products were exported because the price was so low that it would be profitable even if they were sold back to Europe, so the export volume continued to increase.Other than that is pond products; paper is not needed by the Dutch - they are pure middlemen, and there is no great demand for paper in Southeast Asia, Japan or Persia.

(End of this chapter)