Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1392 Guild ([-])

"There are signs of a full-scale war between England and the United Provinces. Therefore, as soon as the cane sugar shipped from Xinhua Island leaves the port, the price of road goods in Qingdao starts to rise. It really opened my eyes." In a luxuriously decorated teahouse on Qingdao Port Expo Street, a fat businessman said loudly as if no one was around.

Such things as "road goods" had not yet appeared during the first Anglo-Dutch war, and at that time the east coast also lacked commodities available for trading, so this primitive financial model has been in a state of small troubles. No countertops.However, after six or seven years of improvement and development, there are now more and more investors (or speculators?) engaged in this industry, especially when the production of bulk goods such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton is becoming more and more stable. At present, Qingdao Port has gathered such a group of people, buying and selling road goods all day long. In the past one or two years, the behavior of this activity has flourished again, which is very frustrating.

Generally speaking, the cane sugar ordered in Xinhua Island at the previous price is unlikely to have a single transaction before it is transported to the mainland by the merchant ship of the East African Shipping Company. Basically, it will change hands at least once, especially in today's The favorable moment when the price of sucrose continues to rise is that too many people are optimistic about this commodity whose market is expanding day by day.

"When the last war with the Portuguese broke out, the price of sugar rose sharply. Later, as the navy attacked the coastal areas of northeastern Portugal for three consecutive years, it captured a large number of slaves engaged in sugar production and destroyed a large number of sugarcane fields , destroyed a large number of sugar extraction equipment, and Brazil’s sugar production has almost dropped to a historical low, which has increased the price a lot.” A businessman with a red face said with a smile: “This time the war broke out between Britain and the Netherlands. The ability to transport and purchase sugar is severely limited, and it is another feast for us to increase prices."

"Actually, no matter how much the price rises, it won't go up much, at least in the short term. After all, everyone is not rich. Your price has risen too much. I just don't buy it. Who else is in the way?" A businessman who was still wearing a Ming-style straight embroidered shirt waved his fan and said that the clothes on his body looked very luxurious. They should be custom-made from imported Suzhou-Hangzhou brocade and found a private weaver. : "In the future, if the cane sugar market is going to be bigger and everyone wants to make money, I think it is still necessary to lower the price. According to the government's words, it is necessary to expand production capacity and increase supply. Although the price will be lowered, the sales volume should be greatly increased. In this way, the overall profit will not be low. Moreover, the introduction of sucrose into the homes of ordinary people is also of great benefit to the cultivation of sucrose consumption habits, which must be observed.”

The businessman's words resonated with many people in the teahouse. Most of these people are the second-level agents of Southern Railway Company, Air Canada Company, and East African Transportation Company. Cane sugar is sold in New Courland and other places, so they are very concerned about the future price, market and prospects of this commodity.At this time, they heard such an insightful analysis, which is quite different from what they usually think, so they all praised them one after another, thinking that if the sugar market is well managed, it can be done well.

Among other things, the annual supply of more than 1000 tons of sucrose in the entire east coast market (about 1000 to 200 percent of which comes from Xinhua Island) is probably not enough, which has also led to abnormally high sucrose prices.After all, with the popularity of coffee, cocoa, ice cream and a large number of sweets imported from the Ming Dynasty, the annual consumption of sucrose is not a small amount. The supply of more than [-] tons, hehe, is almost doubled, and this is still the demand when the price is high. If the price of sucrose is greatly reduced, the demand can increase significantly.In short, the boom cycle of this miraculous commodity, sucrose, has just begun, and this big bull market still has a [-]-year cycle.

"In fact, as long as people who observe life carefully and investigate the market carefully, it is not difficult to come to this conclusion." At this time, in the corner of this tea restaurant named "Xinfanlou" opened by Xu Hao, a famous catering businessman on the east coast, there has long been The aging Captain Couette and the storekeeper were having afternoon tea.When he was in his prime, the material wealth he saved from going to sea again and again gave him a leisurely and beautiful old age. Except for the current warehouse clerk, his body is so fat that he is a little out of breath when he walks, but he goes to Xinfan Building every afternoon to drink afternoon tea ( Sometimes it's coffee) and some snacks, but it's an unshakable rule.

"The price of Xinfan Building is not low, and it has filtered out many consumers. Now it has become more and more a gathering place for speculators and wholesalers. Hehe, it is similar to some high-end cafes in Amsterdam. Back then, I could only buy coffee in Wandering outside these cafes, but now in the New World, I can sit majestically in the most upscale tea restaurant in Qingdao and drink afternoon tea leisurely. Those businessmen in Amsterdam looked down on me, and now I am afraid that you can’t afford it Let’s go.” Picking up a piece of ghee-soaked snail snacks that is very popular in the capital, Captain Couette’s thoughts drifted slowly: “This Xinfan Building attracts more businessmen or business owners than the stock exchange. More, in the past six months, there have been five equity transactions with me as the middleman alone, which is really surprising."

Ghee snails are refined with cream, cheese, sucrose, and honey, and the external price is relatively moderate. However, in Xinfanlou, a place with high consumption, it is quite expensive. Ordinary small businessmen feel a little distressed about consumption, and that’s all. Financial speculators and large wholesalers can often come here to spend (charge) fees (force), and the storekeeper is undoubtedly one of them.

“Dim sum on the east coast is really getting better, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Madrid don’t have such delicious food (of course, the food in these cities is not even as good as the Ottoman cities such as Istanbul, Smyrna and Athens ), I think back when I first arrived at Dayu River Estuary, it was still a barren land, only a few down-and-out founders on the east coast, but what is it like now? I really dare not even think about it..." I used it again A chicken wing smeared with honey, grilled to a crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, I thought as I ate it.

This kind of chicken wings is priced at a dime a piece. The outer layer is chicken, and the inner part is filled with green shrimps caught in Lake Rocha. There is nothing bad to say - what is civilization, this is a detail of civilization!As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for the people, and this food culture is also an important part of culture. Seeing the delicious, advanced and civilized food of the people on the east coast, I don’t know the noble ladies of the Austrian court who still eat food with their hands. How would you feel, maybe you would be ashamed beyond measure.The east bank is indeed a lighthouse of world civilization!

"Nowadays, the world is becoming more and more an interconnected whole. Thank God, I have witnessed the arrival of a new era." The discussion over there was still going on. Couette followed his reputation and saw a person from A businessman from Rocha County, of English descent, was born as a goldsmith. It is said that he took the gold accumulated by his customers from London and fled to other countries, and finally came to the east coast.Now that many years have passed, he has become a successful and successful businessman. This is a great irony. Captain Couette always despises such people. However, it cannot be denied that what he just said Kind of makes sense.

"The decline in sugar production in Brazil has led to an increase in sugar prices in London, Paris, Hamburg, Lübeck, Genoa, Madrid, Lisbon and other cities across the board, which shows that the market is no longer a scattered and isolated entity, but a An interconnected organic whole, especially when there are only a few places where sugar is produced.” The former England goldsmith merchant continued: “However, as sugar prices continue to rise, new sugar production capacity in Xinhua Road and Hue areas is gradually put into use. The slow recovery in the northeast of Brazil, and the continued investment of the British in Guyana, Jamaica, and Barbados, this market will eventually stabilize and prices will fluctuate within a reasonable range, but the total profit should not be less, or even more ..."

"So you suggest that everyone form a large-scale sucrose wholesale and sales guild?" Someone put down the plate in his hand, wiped his mouth with a wet towel, and asked doubtfully: "Of course I think this is a good idea, because Only when we monopolize the wholesale and sales of sucrose, can this profit be maximized. But I doubt whether Sun Chunyang Nanhuo Shop and the State-owned Department Store will join this guild? You know, they will also take some sucrose from the outside world and put it on the container Sales, if they don't join the guild, then the organization is meaningless, because no one will be stupid enough to ask us for goods."

Sun Chunyang Nanhuo Shop is rooted in Nanzhuo, wholesales high-quality and cheap Peruvian cane sugar from Nantie Company all the year round, and then distributes it to more than ten branches of its branches for public sale.Of course, Sun Chunyang’s Nanhuopu started out in the Ming Dynasty with cured and preserved foods, and it has a lot of delicious sweets. Most of the Peruvian cane sugar it buys every year is for its own use, and only a small part is sold over the counter.But the question is, as long as the sucrose market in the market is optimistic, don't people know how to buy more and sell more?

You must know that the Viceroyalty of Peru has millions of people. Once the plantation economy is vigorously developed, doubling the sugar production is completely a matter of words.In the past, the main reason why they didn't expand their production capacity was that it wasn't necessary, because they were all areas where foreign trade was restricted. However, with the Peru trade led by the Southern Railway Company, their production capacity will be gradually released. talk thing.

In addition, the state-run department store is a chain store even bigger than Sun Chunyang Nanhuo. This company has opened in almost every county in the country. Every year, it eats a large amount of refined cane sugar produced by the Beidao Sugar Factory from the East African Transportation Company. Then it is transported to various large or small cities by railway and national road system for sale.This is equivalent to saying that their large-scale syndicate is both a wholesaler and a retailer. It is somewhat similar to Sun Chunyang Nanhuo Shop, but with a larger scale and a longer history. The price of sucrose has become empty talk.

Therefore, as soon as this question was raised, many people shut up and said nothing.But some people still said: "The guild should naturally be established. Isn't the Netherlands full of various wholesaler guilds? This is not only good for controlling the commodity market, but also helps everyone watch and help each other. Who has no difficulty in doing business? Mutual borrowing Putting down funds and being a guarantee are all tangible benefits. Moreover, even if someone really loses, as long as he is a member of our guild, then we will not hesitate to help his family live a dignified life No? There are so many visible benefits, why don’t we do it? According to me, this guild should not only be established, but also continue to develop, absorbing more powerful wholesalers, so that our strength can grow stronger.”

While drinking tea and eating snacks, Captain Couette thought to himself: "After more than 30 years of development, the domestic business class has already accumulated a lot of funds. It can be said that whether it is funds or The influence has grown a lot, which can be seen from the increasing proportion of business representatives in the political consultative conferences of the counties. Now they have established industry guilds, which is actually what they should mean, after all Watching mutual aid is a very common thing, but once this kind of organization develops for a long time, it is worth considering whether it will become an obstacle to the development of the industry like England and the Netherlands, or even a tool for bargaining with the government. The example of the United Provinces can be Put it there, a large wholesaler came in, magnificently manipulated the country's major policies, and became a master who ruled the country. No one can resist this kind of temptation? Can the members of the executive committee really look at it and say nothing? ?"

Thinking of this, Captain Couette also sighed lightly, feeling that the exquisite food in front of him became boring.He is a businessman, and a businessman with considerable assets. It stands to reason that he should be on the side of these businessmen. After all, it is also in his own interest.But who let me cooperate with the Syphilis Patient Statistics and Investigation Bureau many times on weekdays? Now I can’t get off this thief ship. From now on, I can only obediently follow the baton of the Mei Agency and cooperate with them to continuously monitor domestic businessmen Every time I think about it, I feel very annoyed every time I think about it, and I feel like I have betrayed something.

"Pack up these jujube cakes, steamed cakes, etc., and send them to the warehouse at the dock. Reheat them for dinner before serving them to me." After ordering his grandson to carefully clean up the uneaten food on the table, Couette The captain decided to take a look at the pier to relieve his slightly depressed mood.

(End of this chapter)