"No need now." Chang Shide said. "It takes too much time to explain. Print a passbook or something like that for them first and write down the amount. This will give the sugarcane farmers something to think about, and it will be easier to call them for a meeting later."
Wen Tong smiled and said: "What a great idea, how did you come up with it?
"Look at those who sell health care products, they just want to get people for free physical examinations. If you don't give them some small favors, who will listen to your nonsense?"
"But how should I print this passbook? It must be used multiple times and be able to write on it." Wen Tong hesitated, "Should we ask Lingao for help?"
Liao Daxing said: "This matter is not difficult to handle. It's just a matter of setting up a coupon for the sugarcane farmers. You can just find a paper shop to do it."
"?" Several time travelers looked at Liao Daxing in unison. Chang Shide asked: "Is there also a local passbook?"
Liao Daxing was a little confused and said: "Yes, every shop has a brochure." He took out a brochure from his sleeve and handed it over. Wen Tong opened it and looked at it. There were records written in small regular scripts. The date and amount of the transaction were stamped with the private seals of both parties.
"This is the food bank's account that brought us food."
"Okay, let's use this one." Wen Tong said happily, "Let's order three thousand copies first."
Liao Daxing was shocked. When he opened his mouth, there were three thousand copies. Even all the paper shops in Leizhou couldn't find this many. He said hurriedly: "There are not many products. From my perspective, this discount is too big. This discount is not used all the time, so I'd better order some immediately. Smaller sizes will be fine. It's quick to do this and the price is very good." Also low.”
The matter was settled. Several people discussed various arrangements for the opening day together. The biggest problem for Wen Tong was the matter of mobilizing money. He had already found out that the sugar exported here every year amounted to more than 200,000 shi. It is estimated that most of the sugar will be purchased by Haiyitang's sugar store. I can collect about 20,000 shi. This requires almost fifty thousand taels of silver. When the Guangzhou Station arranged for Qiwei Escort to set up a post in Leizhou, they deposited 10,000 taels of cash locally. Wen Tong came to Leizhou with another three thousand. But this money was almost all spent on infrastructure construction, resettlement of immigrants, and making friends with the government. The only thing that can be used is Guangzhou's 10,000 taels.
This amount is too far apart. Guangzhou Station was willing to give full support, saying that it could allocate one hundred thousand taels of silver at any time, but there was no money exchange agency in Ming Dynasty, so the money had to be sent all the way, which felt really unsafe.
Several people thought for a long time but could not come up with a suitable solution. On this day, Chang Shide took Liao Daxing to the county town to go shopping and relax. This is his only hobby besides training female slaves: wearing a silk straight dress and walking proudly on the dusty streets. His unusual height, build and fair skin make people look aside in awe - it feels good to be a boss. Chang Shide quickly discovered a phenomenon while shopping - the prices here in Xuwen are very high!
In the past, Liao Dahua purchased food for the immigrants, and when he paid the bills, he always paid two liang and one stone. Chang Shide once thought that Liao Dahua was suspected of profit-making, but after a few months, he found that although the price of grain fluctuated, it had never been lower than two taels, and it was showing a gradual upward trend. Although there is only one Qiongzhou Strait between Lingao and Lingao, the price of food in Lingao was only one to two to five yuan at its highest.
Except for food, the price of everything here is higher than that in Lingao, from firewood, ironware, cloth to ordinary pots and pans used in daily life. It became even more obvious when they carried out construction projects for the second time. Moreover, there are very few copper coins circulating here, and most of them are made of silver. Small-amount payments use a kind of silver beans that seem to be specially cast. This phenomenon aroused great interest in Chang Shide. Although he is not studying economics. The basic economic principles are still clear - the silver here is obviously depreciating compared to Lingao.
"Shopkeeper Liao," Chang Shide asked Liao Daxing, "Why is the price of rice in Xuwen so high?"
"You've got to ask the right person." This topic is scratching Liao Daxing's itch. "When I was young, I worked in a grain store. Not only Xu Wen, but also Haikang, the price of rice was so high! Suixi is better. The reason is simple: growing sugar cane is profitable. Everyone has destroyed paddy fields to grow sugar cane. If there is not enough food to eat, it has to be transported from other places, and the price will naturally go up."
"That's right." Chang Shitong nodded.
"That's not it!" Liao Daxing said, "Sugar cane consumes water, fertilizer, and labor. Once sugar cane is planted, no one will be able to plant paddy fields again."
“Where does the food from other places come from?”
"If you transport it by sea, it's more likely to come from the north. Things can happen at sea. If you encounter pirates or get caught in a storm, you'll suffer huge losses if it floats. Since it's not easy to transport it, it's naturally expensive. ”
Liao Daxing didn't say anything about Chang Shide and pursed his lips. He smiled and said, "Actually, I still have an idea, but I don't know if it's right or not -"
"Tell me about it."
"I think the key is that Leizhou has too much money -"
Chang Shide stopped and glanced at him, feeling quite surprised - he thought the ancients didn't understand this truth and would directly equate precious metals with wealth itself.
"It makes sense!" Chang Shide suddenly looked at this former grain store clerk in a new light.
"Yes," Liao Daxing saw the proprietor's expression full of approval, and quickly added a few words, "In Leizhou, more than 200,000 shi of sugar are shipped out every year, and the total amount of silver flowing in is four to five million taels. . With too much money, department stores will naturally become more expensive."
"Yes, things are expensive, but sugar is something that everyone needs." Chang Shide pondered, and he seemed to see a solution in the dark.
"Shopkeeper Liao, what do you think of the income of the sugarcane farmers?"
"It's not bad. No matter what, it's much better than growing rice!"
Shi De asked another question, "Are there any ships here that go to Champa?"
"What are you doing in Champa?" Liao Daxing was surprised. "No one in the area is engaged in maritime trade."
The outline of the plan in Chang Shide's mind gradually became clear. He patted Liao Daxing on the shoulder with some excitement, "Let's go back."
That night, he really couldn't wait for the contact information to be sent to Guangzhou via carrier pigeon, so he wrote a superstitious letter directly and told Qiwei Escort: Take a boat to Lingao early the next morning. This matter requires the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chang Shide’s plan is simple:
Since silver is worthless in Leizhou, using cash to purchase sugar is an unworthy business practice.
Because there is too much money in Leizhou, everything is expensive. It is a cost-effective business to use a commodity that everyone needs and the price is very high to obtain sugar. This kind of thing is rice.
If rice were transported via the Guangdong North Road in the traditional way, the sea route would be too long. The various risk factors are huge.
So his idea was to transport sugar from Leizhou to Vietnam for sale. Since Vietnam does not grow sugar cane, the price of sugar will be very high, but the price of rice in Vietnam has always been cheap. The rice exchanged for sugar is then paid to the sugarcane farmers according to the rice price in Leizhou as the purchase price. This is equivalent to earning double profits.
But this involves trade issues with Vietnam. Chang Shide does not know Vietnam’s trade rules, nor does he know the sea conditions along the coast of Vietnam, nor does he know the local rice and sugar prices in Vietnam. It is obviously a risk to rashly organize a ship to Vietnam. .
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not hesitate to receive this letter and quickly reported it to the Executive Committee. All departments immediately started functioning. The Intelligence Committee soon announced that this plan was feasible. The Portuguese sold Chinese sugar to Vietnam at eight taels per stone! This price is twice as high as the British purchase price in Guangzhou! The huge profits from maritime trade have made everyone unable to hold back. He ordered the Executive Committee to immediately open the door to Vietnam trade.
"It's time, Vietnam's rich resources can no longer sleep." Fanatics incited at the enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee, "Let's turn it into our raw material base and market!"
"Expedition by force!"
"Wherever the artillery reaches, trade opens the way!"
"Let's put a few cannons on the coast of Vietnam and completely enslave a country!"
"It's better to establish this trade route in Vietnam as soon as possible." Ma Qianzhu was not very interested in the trade between sugar and rice, but he had long coveted Hongji's coal.
In this way, the plan to open up trade with Vietnam was finalized. Considering that the political situation in Vietnam at this time was relatively chaotic, with the North and South dynasties confronting each other, and the Dutch and Portuguese behind them, the Jesuits were also involved, and there were many interests involved. In the end it was decided to enter in a more low-key way.
The trade situation between Vietnam and the Northern and Southern Dynasties with China is that entering the ports of the Northern and Southern Dynasties requires an annual fee of one thousand taels. The Southern Dynasties opened a city specifically for Chinese trade. The location that the Crossing Group chose to enter was Li Chao in the north, which not only has rice but also coal, and is relatively close to Hainan and Leizhou Peninsula.
The ship that the Executive Committee sailed to Vietnam was the "Big Whale" transport ship that had been to Leizhou. Although the attempt to use it as a container ship failed, the advantages of the ship being wide and loaded with cargo are obvious to all, and it has a shallow draft. The characteristics are more suitable for docks in this time and space where water depth is generally shallow and port facilities are lacking. As for the slightly slower sailing, it’s not a big problem—to the Hon Gai area in Vietnam, the voyage by sailboat only takes less than two days.
The "Big Whale" came to Leizhou. A thousand stones of brown sugar were loaded at Hai'an Port. In order to ensure the safety of the ship, the ship was temporarily equipped with four 12-pound howitzers and an infantry platoon - serving as both bodyguards and coolies. It was Chang Shide himself who directed this operation.
As for the necessary translation, neither Lingao nor Leizhou can solve it - although they are close, no one has ever been to Vietnam to do business. Guo Yi originally tried to find one among the maritime merchants in Guangzhou, but the familial and closed nature of the maritime merchant group made such recruitment completely ineffective. Finally, they thought of the Jesuits in Macau. This organization has many tentacles and goes everywhere. Zhang Xin rushed to Macau and found Lu Ruohua.
With the help of Lu Ruohua, Zhang Xin recruited a down-and-out pirate leader in Macau, named Zhang Dascara. This man was a fat black man with a big scar on his face, so he got this nickname. As for his real name Even he himself couldn't remember anything clearly. It was originally under the hands of Yang Liu and Yang Qi. After the failure of Yang Liu, Zhang Dasca, who had a lot of savings, ran to Macau. The old pirate, who had suffered many serious injuries and whose scars ached aching every rainy day, began to feel that he was unable to do what he wanted. So he lived in seclusion comfortably. Unexpectedly, he fell into the trap of letting loose doves in Macau and all his money was wiped out. He had been a thief for many years and did not know how to make a living. He soon ended up living on the streets, living on the assistance of the Jesuits. Later, just for the sake of two meals of gruel a day, he was baptized into the church and became a member of the church.
Although Zhang Dascara can no longer fight and kill, he is still an old seal who has been around for many years. He is very familiar with the sea routes in various parts of Southeast Asia, and he is fluent in several languages, including Vietnamese and Malay.
Zhang Xin felt that this was a suitable candidate at first sight, and made a decision on the spot to hire him. He said that he did not need to be a life-and-death person, just a translator, and he would be paid twelve Spanish silver dollars a month. Zhang Dascara, who drank porridge until he looked like a bird, immediately boarded their pirate ship.
When the whale was leaving at the Hai'an Street Pier, Chang Shide told Wen Tong: "Old Wen, it will take at least ten days for me to leave. The house is almost built now, so don't wait any longer. You are here Let’s arrange to buy sugar locally first. We have ten thousand taels of silver available. It should be enough to support me until I come back.”
"Okay," Wen Tong shook his hand tightly. What a good comrade. Not only did he come up with such a good idea, he also volunteered to go to the unfamiliar Vietnam to engage in trade and create a new situation. Turning around, I saw Axiu waiting to board the boat with a basket on her back. She thought to herself that this person was really hopeless.
Chang Shide unceremoniously occupied a separate cabin and asked Axiu to arrange it into a small cozy home. Then we waited comfortably for the boat to arrive in Halong.
The ship sailed on the sea for two days, and finally——
be lost!
"where is this?"
"It should be in Halong Bay." Le Lin held the sextant and said hesitantly - he is the temporary captain of this ship.
"What do you mean you should!" Bei Kai finally burst out in the pain of seasickness. This person was selected into the trade delegation to Vietnam purely because he looked like a Vietnamese. The Great Whale has entered a relatively calm and large bay since yesterday. There are many small islands in the bay, which is somewhat picturesque. But I just don’t know where to drive Hongji.
Le Lin's calculations of longitude and latitude have always been in great swings, and the errors are so large that people cannot trust his measurements. Some people have long been muttering that a local helmsman should be hired instead of letting him, a second-hand man, command the ship.
"You come and take the helm." Master Chang Fude kicked Le Lin away with one last kick, and called Zhang Dascara to sail the boat. (!)! ~!
