Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 94 Mercosur ([-])

After chatting with Alvaro and his son, Lieutenant Leo and others for a while, Xiao Baitu turned over and rode on his horse, and walked slowly towards Colonia.

Colonia, a city born of trade, is not big.A circle of thin wooden fences encloses a piece of land by the sea, and then this becomes the trading place agreed by the two parties in the "Rocha Peace Treaty".Governor Gutierrez and Baron Bravo, who agreed to sign the contract at the beginning, must have never imagined that the La Plata trade door, which was forcibly opened by the people on the east coast with guns, will become wider and wider, and may eventually lead to the entire La Plata The loss of trade in the Lata region may even spread to the neighboring Chilean and Chalcas prosecutorial court districts.

The profit-driven native white group and the people on the east coast are highly in step. They also pulled a large number of middle and low-level officials in the La Plata colony into the water. As a result, the booming smuggling trade in the city of Colonia was half a century away. The way of disclosure is fixed.According to the agreement signed between the East Coast Republic of China and the Spaniards, only 500 tons of goods are allowed to be traded each year.But in actual operation, such a small amount may be broken easily in two or three months.The Spanish representatives in Colonia, fed by silver bullets, turned a blind eye to this, because the higher the trade volume, the higher their extra income.These days, who would have trouble with their own money bag?

In addition to the people on the east coast, many well-informed Portuguese, British, French and even Dutch rushed over like sharks smelling blood.They brought all the goods from the old continent that could be sold at a high price in the new continent, and then went to Colonia to sell them.The native white people in La Plata welcome this very much, while the representatives of the East Coast Republic are often very unhappy. While imposing heavy taxes on these goods through their own power, they secretly increase production capacity and strive to pass the market. Explode these European merchants and let them know that it is best not to sell goods that compete with the people on the east coast next time.

As soon as Xiao Baitu arrived at the gate of Colonia City, he saw a ship with a red-bottomed double-sword goshawk flag docking on the pier. It looked like the frigate "Red Trout" of the Eastern China Republic.

"Who is here?" Xiao Baitu had just raised this question in his mind, when he saw three people boarding the port first along the steps.

"Hey, Xiao Baitu, haha, I haven't seen you for a few days. You look good. Why, is this a place to raise people?" Xu Xinyang, the leading vice minister of trade, started to say hello.

"Hehe, what a place to raise people. I'm so idle here that my body is going to rust!" Xiao Baitu curled his lips in disdain and said.He knew the two people behind Xu Xin, Tao Chenxi from the textile factory and Minghui from the brick kiln factory. The two had a little friendship in the early days when they were in the logging team.

"Isn't that good?" Minghui stepped forward and punched Xiao Baitu, and said, "It's free here, and we have a lot of extra money, why don't we change. Look at us, we are busy all day long." Coming and going, I am exhausted, and no one has said a few words."

"Okay, okay, I'll be the host to buy you a drink in a while." Xiao Baitu said carelessly, "Colonia can't do anything else, there are still one or two taverns. Let's not talk about that, you guys What are you doing here for the first time? Buying gunpowder and wool? No, it’s not time yet, are you here to sell things?”

"You're right!" Xu Xin snapped his fingers and said, "Look, the goods are being unloaded at the back. 1000 cotton cloths, 300 woolen cloths, 10 yuan of bricks, and 500 sabers. Pay attention, this time Cotton cloth is our key product for earning foreign exchange.”

"Cotton?" Xiao Baitu also had a rough idea of ​​the executive committee's plan to develop the textile industry, so he quickly reacted and asked, "Where is it? Let me see. How is the quality? You don't know, the British The Indian cotton cloth re-exported by you is so popular here. Those unscrupulous merchants are ashamed to sell a piece of cloth for 4 pesos, so the supply is still in short supply, which is really profitable. Of course, their woolen cloth is also very good, at least the quality is very good. We have to compete, we need to think of ways.”

"Of course, the quality is much more stable than those of the British handmade products. Although it may not be as good as some of their well-made top products, but the quality is stable, and the average quality is better than their no pressure. Moreover, our yarn is inherently better than Theirs is much better." Tao Chenxi said confidently, "Here, the unloading has already started, if you are interested, go and have a look."

Xiao Baitu walked to the pier and opened a pine box, which contained neatly stacked cotton cloths.He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the pure white cotton cloth, and found that the feel was relatively smooth and soft, and the cotton cloth was also very breathable, which should be regarded as the finest fine cotton cloth.

"Not bad! It's not worse than those Indian products, um, it's even better in terms of texture!" Xiao Baitu said excitedly, "Why isn't it dyed? No floral cloth? Oh, there aren't enough varieties! It's a pity!"

"Uh...this...take your time." Tao Chenxi said with a little embarrassment, "We haven't touched the printing and dyeing area yet. More importantly, we don't have any dyes at all now. The road needs to be taken step by step, and the meal needs to be eaten. Stuttering, take your time. The market for these ordinary white cloths is the broadest, and people will color them and then process them after they buy them back.”

Several people chatted for a while, and the sailors on the ship had already unloaded 1000 bolts of cotton cloth and 300 bolts of woolen cloth, and they were already starting to unload bricks.Xiao Baitu recruited several Italian security guards and asked them to escort his goods to the commercial warehouse in the city.The commercial warehouse established by the East Coast Republic of China is just a few simple houses with a mixed structure of brick and wood. There are some messy goods piled up inside, which are not worth much. The 4 police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are playing cards for fun. .

Xiao Baitu asked them to hurry over to help, and carefully piled up the cotton cloth and woolen cloth.The Italian porters hired on the pier began to move in some boxes containing sharp sabers one after another, and these were also placed carefully.As for the 10 yuan bricks on board, Ming Fai decided to start selling them at the pier.Don't underestimate these bricks, they are still in short supply in La Plata and Brazil.The Ministry of Trade prices these bricks at 500 yuan for every 1 yuan, and it may not take a while before someone will buy them all.

After all the goods were brought in, Minghui and Xu Xin also followed in, talking and laughing.Sure enough, Minghui's 10 yuan of bricks had already been bought by someone. He was carrying a jingling purse and looked at everyone with a smile.

"You guys are waiting here. I'm going to find Alvaro. This guy is the man who speaks his mind here. If we want to open our east coast textile market in La Plata or other places, we still have to rely on him." Xiao After Bai Tu finished speaking, he ran away without a trace.

"I just did some research. Now some British merchants on the pier generally sell Indian cotton cloth for more than 4 pesos (about 3.2 yuan). Most of them are white cotton cloth, and only a small part of floral cloth. 'It's not well-known now, and if you want to open up this market, it seems that you still have to go the low-price route." Tao Chenxi stroked his bare chin and said thoughtfully.

"What is the average cost for you to weave a piece of cloth now?" Xu Xin asked.

"The cost of cotton cloth is about 0.9-1 yuan per piece, and the cost can continue to be reduced if it is mass-produced. As for woolen cloth, the cost is much higher, about 12-13 yuan per piece. And the market is now in the UK. The price of people’s woolen cloth is generally around 35 yuan, and according to my estimation, the price they get from China should be around 24-25 yuan, and the cost is almost twice as expensive as ours.” Tao Chenxi said it almost without thinking, obviously These data have been passed through his mind countless times for him.

"I remember that the British imported cotton cloth from places like Gujarat, Bengal, and Orissa for about 7 shillings (about 1.4 yuan), and they had to travel across the ocean. Hey, let's give our stuff Shore cloth is priced at two pesos (about 1.6 yuan) per piece. For woolen cloth, we set the price at 25 yuan per piece. In short, it is to suppress their cost line, so that those British guys can’t sell a piece of cloth.” Xu Xu Xin slapped his thigh excitedly and said loudly.

"Haha, you set the price well." Xiao Baitu stepped in from the door and said with a smile.Behind him was a young man in his 20s—Alvaro's son, Alvarez. "Those British people don't need to fight price wars with you here. They are here to make money, not to do labor. They can't make money here, and they can still pack up and sell them elsewhere. Of course, the cost estimate in that case It will improve a lot. After all, the sites in those places have already been divided, but it is better than not making money or losing money here. Let me introduce, this is the eldest son of Mr. Alvaro, the president of the Chamber of Commerce here, Alvaro Vares Rodriguez. Alvarez, these are Mr. Xu Xin, the Deputy Minister of Trade of our country, Mr. Tao Chenxi, the Deputy Director of the Textile Factory, and Mr. Minghui, the Manager of the Building Materials Company.”

Alvarez shyly shook hands with several people, and then couldn't wait to check the cotton and woolen cloth.He checks very carefully, and almost every horse has to carefully observe or try the feel.Xiao Baitu and the others waited there quietly without urging them.

After a long time, Alvarez breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and smiled shyly at everyone: "They are all high-quality goods. Although the variety is very simple, they are indeed of high-quality goods. You can make a price." Well, our chamber of commerce will eat them all."

(End of this chapter)