Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1070 Marine Industry ([-])

Another batch of fishing boats came back from the south, and a group of workers who had been sitting and joking on the pier immediately got up and got ready to work.Zamparini sat on a bench, smoking a pipe, and looked at these workers who were working hard for their lives with a smile—why wasn't he like this?

Several fishing boats joined together to form a fleet, and it took a lot of effort to berth in the special fishing wharf of Luocha Port one by one.At this time, the fishery businessmen who have been working on the pier all year round looked at each other, and then surrounded them in a tacit understanding. Zhu Chengdong, the third son of Mr. Zhu Heng, was also among them.

This guy was originally arranged by Lao Zhu in Luoqia Town. At that time, Master Zhu Heng Zhu even signed up for him to share the public land, but who knew that this kid didn't want to farm in the countryside at all. He liked to run out since he was a child. With the private money he saved for many years and some cash secretly stuffed by his old mother, he went to Luocha Port to start a small fishery businessman. It's good to have savings.

It is only in recent years that fishing boats come to sell catches at the pier of Luocha Port. With the gradual expansion of the seafood consumption market in recent years, more and more people go fishing by private boats on the east coast. According to the statistics of the Nanhai Fishery Company, by the end of last year, there were more than 60 private fishing boats in the country, with a tonnage of 40-60 tons, which is not large, but the advantage is that the price is cheap, which is good for fishermen with little capital to purchase.

Of course, even if you have insufficient funds, you can still apply for a loan from the Northwest Reclamation Bank. This kind of loan is generally approved quickly and the loan is released in a timely manner. This is a kind of good governance. At this time in Europe, fishermen are generally relatively poor. people, who have insufficient funds, depend to a large extent on the "favor" of fishery merchants or private lenders, such as the cost of boat purchases, boat overhaul costs, and fish processing and storage costs, etc., compared with fishermen on the east coast We don’t know how many times higher it is. After all, they don’t have the kind of large state-owned banks that issue loans to fishermen at extremely low interest rates. You must know that private lenders generally have a relatively large appetite and their methods are often vicious.

Since most of the fishing grounds on the east coast are in the coastal waters of Yancheng Port and the waters south of it (there are also small fishing grounds along the Rio de la Plata), most of the 60 private fishing boats basically sell their catches at the nearby Yancheng Port. The South China Sea Fishery Company purchased them in a unified manner, and at the same time, the company also collected the business tax of each fishing vessel—but there are still about 20 vessels that have worked hard to come to Luocha Port for sale, because the profit margin here is obviously far higher than that in the south, and fishermen can also get Better income, while also repairing the ship by the way.

The five fishing boats in front of them had just landed, and four or five fishery merchants squeezed past them. They seemed to have "rules" and a tacit understanding. They didn't compete for each other, and they didn't lower the price of each other. They started to negotiate the price after choosing a boat.As for the processing ship with the largest tonnage among the five ships (generally more than 200 tons), it was contracted by the most powerful of the several people.

Zhu Chengdong was talking to a wrinkled Latvian at this time. Zamparini guessed that it was probably some price dispute. He estimated that the captain would not have the upper hand because the income of most fishermen on the east coast Although it is not low, it is rare to gain the upper hand when bargaining with fishery merchants with stronger economic strength, especially when a tacit understanding has been formed among these fishery merchants.

Sure enough, not long after, the captain stomped his feet angrily and muttered something quickly, perhaps complaining.However, he did not refuse Zhu Chengdong, who seemed to be offering insufficient prices, and still ordered the fishermen under his command to bring over baskets of fish, intending to sell them to the fishery businessman in front of him—they actually didn’t have much choice, because even the Roughly marinated fish cannot be preserved for a long time, and once the fish deteriorates, its depreciation will be astonishing. At that time, only the poorest non-nationals will be able to buy it, and the ship owner cannot afford this risk.

After Zhu Chengdong settled the matter, he triumphantly called a few helpers and asked them to rent the rail flatbed truck of the Port Authority to transport the fish to a warehouse he set up outside. He will notify some foreign distributors who often cooperate with him as soon as possible The merchants came here, and then transported the fish to other places for sale as quickly as possible——Luoqia County is a place close to the capital, and its infrastructure has improved greatly in the past ten years. Not only have railways and telegraphs been connected, but also The first-class national road (the national defense road leading directly to the capital), the second-class national road, and the third-class national road add up to [-] to [-] kilometers, so it is quite convenient to transport seafood, a time-sensitive commodity.

Of course, despite the fact that these fish are so cheap when they are traded in Luocha Port, once they are transported to other places, the price will increase greatly with the extension of distance. It’s not cheap—especially transportation. In 1640, due to the increase in transportation prices in Calais and other places, the price of fish arriving in Paris increased by 38%, which is amazing. Dongfang County, Luocha County, and Meilin County, where the road network extends in all directions, do not seem to be so serious.

In addition, the salting of fish is also an important part of the price, because whether it is lake salt produced in Yancheng Port or sea salt imported from Portuguese Cape Verde, the price will not be very cheap, so residents in some places like to buy air-dried fish. fish because it is the cheapest way they know how to preserve fish.

Of course, we can't ignore the price rise caused by middlemen like Zhu Chengdong. When seafood from the east coast reaches the final consumer's table from fishermen, it usually goes through two hands, namely large wholesalers and villages. Distributors, these people also have certain requirements for profits, and their profits are also an important part of the terminal sales price of fish.

"Mr. Zamparini, how about it? I said earlier that you should join the gang and work with me. With your investment, maybe I can charter the fish on those big boats, which is much better than the small fights now." It’s gone.” After watching the helpers transport the fish to the rented warehouse not far away from the freight yard (there are people delivering there), Zhu Chengdong came over, looked at Zamparini and said: “This boat contains 5 last— -Well, to change the official statement, 20 tons of fish cost me more than 400 yuan. I wanted to buy more, because a bunch of distributors from other places are looking for me to supply, but this is what I can raise This is the biggest sum of money. How about it, Mr. Zamparini, you have realized my ability now, can you work with me? I know that you officers who came back from the Ming Dynasty have a lot of money in their pockets. Last time When you visited my brother-in-law (Zamparini’s old comrade-in-arms), you sent such a big pot of tea, which is very expensive in China, you might as well sell those tea leaves and do business with me..."

"What do you know, young man?" Zamparini was amused by Zhu Chengdong, who slapped him on the back of the head, and said with a smile: "How can you understand the relationship between our comrades-in-arms?" But I have carefully studied what you said about being a fishery businessman these days, and it’s not impossible. It just so happens that I don’t have anything else to do when I come back, and the Army doesn’t want us old hands and legs anymore, so I voted for one So what if the 2000 yuan comes to you? Alright, stop grinning, I will take you to meet some old comrades from the Luocha Ocean Bureau in the afternoon, and we will do business here in the future without their care. Let’s go to dinner first. Bar."

The two then went to a restaurant outside the pier one after the other, ordered a bottle of Daqu in the river, a few side dishes, and a grilled fish. The price was very cheap, and it was only in places near the sea with a large number of fishing boats. Only then can the residents consume cheap fish, a so-called "poor man's steak" food-of course, the real steak is not much more expensive than fish.

"There have been more and more fishing boats in recent years, and the price of hake, the most domestically consumed seafood, has gradually become unsustainable. Now the price of each fish in the market is about 4 cents (distributors usually put the same weight The fish is sold in a bucket, and a fish usually weighs about 4 kg), hehe, it sounds not cheap, but you must know that it was the price many years ago, and now everyone’s salary is generally doubled compared to that time " Zhu Chengdong, who is only [-] or [-] years old this year, took a sip of wine and opened his mouth to talk about the fish market: "But this is also understandable. After all, the fishery production has increased greatly, but the market has not increased so rapidly."

In recent years, the amount of seafood caught on the east coast has indeed shown a spiral upward trend, as Zhu Chengdong said, although there are some fluctuations.For example, in the whole year of 1654, the Nanhai Fishery Company caught a total of 5760 tons of cod, 2400 tons of squid, and 180 tons of other miscellaneous fish; 7200 tons; in addition, there are more than 4000 tons of Pacific fish such as horse mackerel, cod, and salmon caught by the fishing team of the Southern Railway Company; 100 tons, plus a variety of inland aquatic products (mainly red shrimp and a small amount of fish cultured in cages), the fishery output of the Eastern China Republic in 200 was 1654 tons (excluding whales).

Although the fishery output of this country is not as good as that of the Netherlands in the Old World (this country only exports 5 to 10 Rusters a year, that is, 20 to 40 tons, not to mention the large catch of cod, etc. Red and white are caught), but it is second to none in the New World—well, it is better than the British and French in North America.

"It is also a good thing that more and more people are fishing. I believe that the government will issue policies to protect the fishery in the future, because they generally consider this issue from a strategic point of view rather than economic factors. For example, this can increase seafarers, expand ships The size of the fleet, increasing the naval reserve force, etc., have many benefits.” Zamparini picked up a piece of grilled cod and said while eating: “Now the relationship with foreign countries is not very harmonious, and the navy is the foundation of our country. Ben, it is unreasonable not to develop well, so I can guarantee that the government will introduce policies to protect and encourage the development of the marine industry in the future, after all, this is the cradle of training seafarers."

(End of this chapter)