Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1453 He Jian (Nineteen)

"I hope to open a gap with the Spaniards and get the urgently needed funds for the construction of the county." On September 1666, 9, it was already the season of spring and flowers blooming. On the right bank of the Las Palmas River in Las Palmas, Zhao Ke, the newly appointed magistrate of Baoyi County, stood outside a Spanish farm, thinking thoughtfully.

Outside the farm is an endless grassland, and occasionally there are some vegetable fields near the houses. Some indentured slaves from Sicily are busy in the fields, maybe they are fertilizing and getting ready for the next vegetable planting—in this In the southern New World that lacks everything, it is better to be self-sufficient in everything.

But then again, as the careers of people on the east coast are becoming more and more prosperous, the lives of Spanish immigrants in the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District are correspondingly easier, and the cost is also lower. Because the people on the east coast can provide everything from settling down to enjoying life, and they are cheaper than those in the old continent, and the quality may not be inferior.For example, Alvarez, the helm of the Rodriguez family, just bought many high-end musical instruments produced by Haidiao Musical Instrument Factory for his beloved little daughter, including a piano that can be called an addition. His daughter's praise.

And the tens of thousands of pesos that Alvarez Rodriguez needs to buy a musical instrument are naturally obtained by exporting goods to the east coast, except for a small amount of wood (sent to Paraguay to buy), absolutely Most of them are livestock products, to be precise, wool, hides, cheese, tallow and even live animals.In addition, Alvarez also relied on the friendship accumulated by his grandfather and father (the family was the first batch of merchants who exported beef to the east coast at that time, and they still know many cross-travelers and have rich network resources), and purchased a large amount of meat from the port of Shangcheng. Medicines, textiles, metal utensils, alcohol, and even some small animal or hydraulic machinery were resold to densely populated places such as Paraguay, Tucumán, La Rioja, and Jujuy, and the scale was quite large.

These booming trades have naturally amassed enormous wealth for the Rodriguez family, enabling them to recruit indentured slaves from overpopulated Sicily, Naples and other places, and then transport them to Buenos Aires and other places. Work and earn profits for them - such as rough processing wool and hides with various chemicals imported from the east coast, and then sell these semi-finished products to enterprises on the east coast to earn some processing fees.

Moreover, with the increasing scale of industrial production on the east coast in recent years, a group of relatively enlightened native white aristocratic families headed by the Rodriguez family have begun to invest more and more capital in this primary processing In the industry, sometimes because of the shortage of manpower, they will organize slave hunting teams to capture the Kelandi and Quechua people on the grassland, and then force these people to work to earn money for the factory owners. Profit, just as the East Coasters have done before.

This kind of primary processing industry that is parasitic on the economic system of the east bank has been recognized by more and more people. Zhao Ke, who worked so hard to cross the river to come here, is one of them.He has just taken office as the magistrate of Baoyi County, and he has already taken a fancy to the rich tallow resources of the Spaniards, and wants to establish a large-scale procurement channel with them, and then transport them to Baoyi County, where they will be processed into industrial products such as soap Profit from export, and this is one of the ways that Mr. Zhao thought of to get rich for his poor and white county. After all, if you don't work, you can't get rich. Zhao Ke still knows this truth.

Of course, the main reason why he, the magistrate of Zhao Da, came up with the idea of ​​animal fat is because he is familiar with this process, can purchase relatively cheap and high-quality production equipment, and can recruit some skilled workers with relevant technologies. Workers, which are very critical for industrial production.In addition, the transportation between Baoyi County and Buenos Aires is convenient. Not to mention the small steamboats in the inland rivers, even the big ships can go back and forth.

Therefore, relying heavily on the cheap raw materials in the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District to develop industry and commerce has become the inevitable choice for many settlements in the southern delta sub-region of Hejian.Baoyi County, as the head county of the Delta Sub-District, would be a real pity if it couldn't take advantage of this great opportunity to take the lead.

And when it comes to the cheap raw materials from the Spaniards, regardless of other things, this tallow (mainly tallow) is really an extremely cheap material.You know, before and after the arrival of the people from the east coast, in the ten or twenty years after the arrival of the people from the east coast, when the Spaniards in La Plata rounded up the unbelievably many bison on the grassland, they usually only took the horns and cowhide, and the meat only ate the back of the eyes. A small piece of meat is not enough to eat at all, so most of the meat and tallow are discarded at will, which is cheap for the cougars, jackals and vultures on the grassland.

Later, after the East Coast people imported whole cattle to them, these Spaniards gradually realized that the beef and tallow they had discarded at random were also "valuable", and they stopped their previous wasteful behavior.However, because there are countless bison on the grasslands—the Spaniards estimate that there are about 2000 million head, and the number has been slowly increasing—the price of beef and tallow has not risen much, and the bulk of the Spanish export goods is still It is cowhide, followed by beef. Beef tallow is the worst and sells the least, which makes people very depressed.

However, Zhao Ke, as a person who has been in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for a while, clearly knows that with the gradual changes in the hygiene habits of the people on the east coast and the continuous expansion of overseas markets (mainly for the Japanese market, a small number of European People started buying soap for bathing too), and demand for soap made from cheap tallow began to rise.At this time, if Baoyi County enters this market strongly, it will still be able to get a share of the pie, but the action must be fast. If it is too late, other people may also start this project, so the advantage will not be so great.

Alvarez quickly greeted him from his family's farm. His attitude was very humble. Maybe he knew Zhao Ke's distinguished status, or maybe it was because the situation in the southern New World has become increasingly clear (the east bank is the only one). In short, he gave the highest courtesy to find someone, and asked his wife and family members to come out to meet him.

In all fairness, Alvarez doesn't have a good impression of people on the east coast, which has both ethnic and religious factors.His family knew very well that since Alvarez succeeded his father Alvaro who died of illness, although his economic ties with the East Coast have become closer and closer, when he faced his family, he never concealed His own dislike for the people on the east coast - he always called the people on the east coast who kept calling for free trade "arms dealers" in front of his children, and pointed out that they should be responsible for the continuous fermenting and heating up of the European situation, although the old continent Those overjoyed monarchs and nobles are not good birds either.

Over the years, the Rodriguez family's business has been doing better and better, but the situation in La Plata has been declining day by day, even after the establishment of the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District and trying to revive it. Same.All kinds of rumors are fermenting on the prairie, bringing uneasy emotions to people. For example, Madrid is studying the "fertile soil but frequent floods" of Mesopotamia to the people on the east coast in exchange for funds is the most important of them one.

The news passed from tavern to tavern, and from fireside to fireside, arousing a great commotion among white yeomen, farmers, ranchers, and priests, who united to make Buenos Aires In the name of the city councils of Sri Lanka and Asunción, they submitted letters of inquiry to Lima, but there was no follow-up. Perhaps the Governor, who knew the inside story, could not bear to tell the truth to these pure white settlers.

Alvarez is one of these white natives who are worried about the future of La Plata. Without getting any answers, he can only watch the people on the east coast unscrupulously cultivate and open up wasteland in the river area step by step. Nothing could be worse than to watch their merchants take, for almost nothing, much of the produce of the Prairie de la Plata, with their ships passing freely on the Paraná and its tributaries.

But Alvarez is a businessman, a relatively "qualified" businessman.The emotional resentment in his heart can't affect his various business layouts. Over the years, he has gradually tied the family business with the East Coast economy, and then successfully increased the value of the property passed down by his grandfather and father. times.He did not prevent his children from learning Chinese and the rules and regulations of the east coast all the year round, because he knew that the future of La Plata might be taken away by the east coast people. Although he was very frustrated with this knowledge, his reason told This is almost an unalterable fact.

Before Zhao Ke came to him, he had been in contact with him twice through friends. Alvarez had basically understood the intention of the other party and expressed his approval of the business in his heart.Isn't it just some beef tallow that doesn't sell much all the year round, just sell it, it's better than rotten in your own hands, and you can get some money back and spend it.

"...About obtaining a large amount of tallow, it is actually not difficult at all. As you can see, a large number of livestock are slaughtered in my ranch every year, and there is a lot of fat obtained. If you need it, I can certainly sell it." At the lunch for Zhao Ke, Alvarez skillfully fried and roasted the mutton, and said: "These are the things that are abundant on the La Plata Prairie, and there is no problem with the supply. Moreover, if you are willing to make some If the finished product (that is, soap) is handed over to me to sell as an agent, I can even guarantee an extra two thousand barrels of tallow for you every year, how about it? Of course it will be charged, haha.”

Zhao Ke looked at the iron pan on top of the charcoal fire. The bottom of the pan was already very hot, and Alvarez threw a large piece of mutton on it.Under the effect of high temperature, the thick fat slowly flowed down the edge of the iron pan, and the aroma immediately hit the nostrils, and the hunger quickly turned into a gluttonous desire. The almond-gold, fat-free ribs Tell us again that the best lamb in the world is probably produced in La Plata-of course the residents of Patagonia will definitely not agree with this. The lamb ribs grown from sprouts are the best lamb in the world - and what is better than the "best" is to tear it with your hands and eat it!

"Looking for suitable and qualified agents is also one of our pursuits, Mr. Rodriguez, your family has cooperated with our country for many years, with strong financial strength and outstanding business reputation. It is exactly the kind of agent we are looking for. If you want, we are of course willing to share the profits of soap with you in the future, and this is also our consistent way of treating friends." Zhao Ke thought while eating mutton, and said after a long while: "But the fat I still hope that you can take care of the price of these basic raw materials."

Alvarez laughed boldly when he heard the words, then wiped his greasy hands with a towel, took a sip from the wine glass, and then said with a smile: "Friends should always We help each other, the price of tallow is negotiable, and the quantity is also open to supply, of course I also hope to get enough soap.”

"Naturally, there is no problem." Zhao Ke clinked glasses with Alvarez and said happily.

After confirming the supply of tallow with Alvarez, Zhao Ke talked with them about the agency sales of some other special products, such as the high-quality honey on the La Plata Prairie, etc., and finally signed an agreement , This is also a consistent habit of people on the east coast, and the Spaniards have long been familiar with it.

On September 9, Zhao Ke, who had finished his trip to Buenos Aires, returned to Baoyi Port by boat. At this time, the soap production machines ordered from the local area had also arrived, and more than ten technicians were recruited. With the help of the manufacturer's technicians, the equipment is installed and debugged, and the efficiency seems to be quite high.Zhao Ke is also quite satisfied with this, because the faster the production, the faster the income can be generated. This is a very clear thing. Baoyi County, a poor place, really needs other income besides the land transfer fee, especially It is business income.

Of course, the development of industry and commerce also requires a large amount of labor, and this is also very lacking in Baoyi County now-there are only more than 500 people at present, even if the executive committee will arrange a group of about [-] new workers in the next stage It is still not enough to immigrate to Huai'an Mansion.Therefore, Zhao Ke reckoned that he might still have to find the companies of the three major labor brokers in the future, otherwise where would there be so many cheap manpower available?With the rapid development of the East Bank Republic's industry and commerce, the life of these three labor chiefs is getting better and better, especially now that the Hejian area has basically been determined to belong to the China East Bank Republic.

(End of this chapter)