Liu Deshan thought for a moment and said, "Because the sea masters each have their own territory?!"
"That's right! However, the bigger problem is the government!" Chen Huamin said unceremoniously. 【Read the latest chapter】
Qin Haicheng and Liu Deshan nodded in unison. Indeed, as long as the sea masters buy their flags, they will definitely not embarrass the merchant ships at sea, but the local yamen, local Yamen, government navy and other such ghosts and snakes in official skin will immediately ask for money. Another fatal character. Public security on land and water cannot be guaranteed, and business travelers must be exploited. Most merchants do not dare to travel long distances.
"When selling goods over long distances, there are too many forces that need to be managed, and there is even no way to manage them. When you arrive at the destination, you encounter the unscrupulous locals, who suppress you for years, and even lose all the money you paid for the goods. Now the road is not peaceful, and bandits are there. There are so many water thieves. If a small businessman like us without protection or power encounters him, he will really not be able to save his life. Unless the destination is a 'refined land' and there is local power to take care of it, we really don't dare to traffic over long distances." Liu Deshan specializes in domestic trade and has the deepest feelings about this aspect.
"Your brother can still travel a lot, so he can go far."
"It's not like the connections my father accumulated in the early years. Otherwise, how would I dare to run around like this..." Liu Deshan sighed, "Now I am more careful. I will not go to any place where there is no waterway. Dry roads are too difficult. How much money can I make? Opportunities to make big money can only be looked at and thought about, and you don’t dare to take advantage of them.”
He was very interested when it came to this topic: ideally, merchants would go to the other party to sell the goods they need, and then buy the goods they need and come back. The round trip will not be in vain - especially now that they have their own ship, the waste of empty cabins is irreversible. But the reality is that few cities need bulk goods from each other. "
"For example, the sugar produced in Guangdong can be sold at a good price in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but the porcelain and silk produced in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also produced in Guangdong. These porcelain and other daily necessities are in short supply when shipped to Damo on the other side of the sea, but the deerskin produced by Damo is in short supply. There is very little demand here - Dajuan's deer skins are mainly sold to Japan, and the copper and silver returned in exchange cannot be digested by Dajuan himself, so they have to be transported to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty."
"So when these goods are sold by small merchants, they have to add the cost of empty warehouses on the return journey. In addition, almost every port they pass through changes hands, and the fees and taps incurred in the process make the price high when the goods are transported long distances. No less.”
Chen Huamin nodded: "That's what I mean. Now that the Australians have defeated the Zheng family, their power has spread from Japan and North Korea to Hainan and Annan. Now we can also allocate goods by ourselves and plan to arrive at the port for long-distance trafficking. As long as we With careful planning and reasonable arrangements, try to keep the ship from being empty. You can earn greater profits at less cost."
he said excitedly. Pick up a piece of white paper and scribble on it:
"Look, you two, the Australians have a commercial port on Jeju Island, where they can do business with Japan and North Korea. From Jeju Island southward, you can go to Longxing all the way to trade goods from Shandong - and you can also do business with Henan and North Zhili. Bulk trading. From Longkou further south, you can go to Shanghai, then to Kaohsiung and Da Yuan for trading. Then go directly to Hong Kong. The Australians have a lot of power along the way. Not only are the routes safe, but each commercial port has complete facilities. Various types of goods. There are many, and the key is that there are no countless bad rules. Doing business can be said to be both comfortable and satisfying."
"It's a pity that we can't go to Tianjin Wei - that's the big dock in the north..."
"Tianjin Wei is not yet under the control of the Australians, so it is somewhat of a fly in the ointment. As long as it can reach the level of Shanghai's terminal, Tianjin Wei might as well go."
"It would be great if the Australians could take Shanghai directly in one go. Now they have to deal with the government more or less..."
Chen Huamin's words are actually extremely bold and arrogant, and are almost suspected of advocating rebellion. However, both Liu Deshan and Qin Haicheng have seen the capabilities of Australians and are not surprised at all.
Chen Huamin had made up his mind and said: "Without further delay, before the news of Liu Xiang's surrender to Kun has spread, we will personally go with the ship and embark on this new trade route. But this time it is too hard. Just now I haven’t even taken a breath yet and I’m going to sea again!”
Liu Deshan smiled calmly: "No problem, don't do it for money if you can't do it! It's just that you plan to go to sea this time, what will you carry and where will you go?"
"I have a plan. Look -" Chen Huamin took out a large page of paper from his sleeve. This is a folio tabloid that has only recently been sold in Guangzhou, called "Hong Kong Ship Price Paper". Published every seven days. Sold by children on the street, this newspaper is equivalent to product information. What is published is mainly the type, quantity and transaction price of goods shipped from various places to Hong Kong for trading. It also publishes vessel information, including sailing schedules, cargo shipments and space status of trading vessels on the route. There is also supply and demand information from various locations. Although this newspaper is mainly sold in Guangzhou, it is actually edited and published by the Commercial Representative Office of the Ministry of Colonization and Trade in Hong Kong.
Originally, although the businessmen in Guangzhou were relatively familiar with Australian goods or Lingao goods, most of them were passed down by word of mouth from others, and few of them had a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the details of the goods. This "Price Paper" just meets the requirements. The demand for business information by large and medium-sized businessmen - the flow of information in ancient society was very slow, and the supply and demand information of commodities basically relied on years of information accumulation. It is impossible to grasp timely and explosive commodity supply and demand information. Only a few large businessmen can use the government's stagecoach system to carry a small amount of information.
Lingao has the convenience of wireless telegraphy. Commodities and supply and demand information from Japan to Manila can be instantly transmitted to various ports under Lingao's control, which greatly facilitates the circulation of commodities.
Promoting the circulation of commodities and encouraging merchants to transport and sell goods is the consistent purpose of the Senate. Only when commodities circulate can they create value. Otherwise, relying solely on the Senate's own ships and royal merchants would not be able to meet the growing logistics needs. What's more, the more frequently such goods circulate, the greater the various benefits the Senate will derive from them.
Chen Huamin opened the newspaper, and there were circles on it that had been smeared with ink. His fingers slid quickly over it, then stopped.
"You see, now the Leizhou white sugar from Hong Kong has arrived in large quantities, and the price has dropped. The price of white sugar from Zhejiang and Nanzhi is very high. We can make a fortune by transporting the sugar to Shanghai! We will then ship the grain in Shanghai and ship it to Shandong Earn another vote!”
"Okay!" Liu Deshan nodded, "We'll set off now."
"In that case, I will also participate in one share." Qin Haicheng took out a note from the drawer, "This is Delong's one thousand tael note. It can be redeemed immediately upon seeing the note. It can be used directly as silver. You can use it to turn around and earn money." If you get the money, I’ll take a share of it.”
Liu Deshan and Chen Huamin were overjoyed. After all, they were running a small business, especially after buying the boat, and their liquidity was very tight. Now that the big boss Qin Haicheng is willing to invest, the business can be bigger this time. More importantly, with this additional funding, they can take delivery of the new Dongshanju in advance - after all, it also costs a lot of money to equip a new ship and hire sailors.
The two thanked them and immediately went out to arrange ships and cargo.
"I'm going to arrange for the pick-up of the ship. Hua Min, you go and inform the deputy manager first, and immediately gather the crew to prepare food and water, and go to Huangpu to prepare to board the ship - this time we will use a new ship. Inform the deputy manager and let the guys We immediately unloaded the cargo on the ship overnight, and then replaced all the cargo in the warehouse with sugar from Leizhou; then we went to Delong to break all the silver we had there into notes and bring it with us."
"Okay! I'll do it right away!" Chen Huamin handed over his hand and hurriedly said goodbye. Liu Deshan exchanged some polite words with Qin Haicheng. Qin Haicheng was very interested in the newly ordered ship and asked him to pay more attention to its use - he also wanted to buy one for sailing to the West.
After sending him out, he stood on the stone steps at the door and looked at the sand beside the White Goose Pond. A small steamer with a large water wheel on the outside was spitting out black smoke and pulling a long line of barges past. There are countless masts and sails on the river, moving or stopping, and the ships are still loading and leaving, or stopping to unload, making it a busy scene.
"Australians, Australians..."
The sky is clear at Huangpu Port in Guangzhou, and the gentle autumn wind blows away the white clouds slowly from north to south. It's autumn and the air is crisp, a good day to go out.
At the pier, a brand new three-masted ship was docked at the berth. This ship is completely different from the surrounding ships. Although there are still some traces of Guangzhou ships, it is more like a European-style sea ship: the hull shows typical Western shipbuilding techniques-keel rib structure, nailed long ship material and then covered with asphalt. The bow of the ship is more exaggeratedly pointed than all Eastern and Western ships, plus a long bow mast, and the hull lines are smooth and graceful. At this moment, it can be seen from the low waterline that the ship is fully loaded with cargo. No matter how the tide beats, it remains motionless, only occasionally rising and falling with the waves. Red and blue ribbons were hung up and down the entire hull, reflecting the large three-character ink calligraphy "Dongshan Residence" on the bow. On the bow deck above the ink book, there are tributes such as incense tables, suckling pigs, fruit drinks, etc., indicating that the ship is holding a worship ceremony and preparing to set sail.
"Master..." Manager Liu gently called Chen Huamin, who was looking at the sea in front of the incense table. Chen Huamin came to his senses, waved his hand and said to Manager Liu: "Don't call me boss, it will make us look like bandits. From now on, just follow the habits of that group of Australians and call me boss!"
"Yes, Big...Boss. All the goods and money on the ship have been registered. Second Boss...Second Boss has also completed the inventory and review."
"Okay, I understand." Chen Huamin responded calmly, then turned back and continued to face the sea. (To be continued...)
