Chapter 83 Business opportunities brought by the European War
Regardless of whether Zhang Guang is motivated by selfishness or justice, at least his suggestion is very feasible, and the Yazhou Office does indeed need such a living facility now. So the working group quickly approved the plan and decided to make a request to the executive committee when contacting the base camp the next day. Moreover, Zhang Guang also said that he had done plaster work on the construction site before. For this simple shower system, he only needed the materials provided by the base camp and he could complete the installation work himself.
"You really have one specialty and many abilities!" Maliko sighed: "There are so many people in the Ministry of Information Industry. Why did the Executive Committee choose you to be a working group? Now I understand."
Of course, the bathroom construction plan was just a small episode. Everyone also knew that they signed up to join the working group and came to Yazhou not just for enjoyment. The most important task of the working group at the moment is to open the market for the products produced in Sanya in Yazhou as soon as possible, introduce as many people from Yazhou into Sanya as possible, and at the same time guard against the covetousness of hostile forces. Regarding how to divide labor and carry out work, the working group has had many discussions before coming to Yazhou. Now it is mainly to check various plans and then add some details based on the actual situation it has learned.
After breakfast the next morning, a group of Maliko and Mu Xiabai, and a group of Qiu Yuan and Feng Anan, went to visit "Anfuhang" and "Furuifeng", two commercial banks that had done business with each other before. The relationship is familiar, and secondly, I also want to know how the sales of the goods delivered last time were during this period. He Xi was a little late before going out alone. She didn't tell anyone where she was going, and walked away slowly and leisurely. Zhang Guang went to the market alone. He needed to buy some materials for making briquettes, such as coal, charcoal, lime, etc. Zhao Xiaoruo stayed in the office to look after the house, unpacking and classifying some items that had not been sorted out the day before.
When Maliko and Mu Xiabai arrived outside "Anfuhang", a waiter at the door ran over and asked: "Are you two from Haihan?"
Maliko nodded and before he could introduce himself, he saw the clerk running into the store and shouting: "Boss, Haihan's master is here!"
Soon shopkeeper Zhang, who had dealt with the Travelers last time, came out. Although these two people were a little unfamiliar, their strange clothes and short hair were exactly the same as those who came last time. At that moment, They came forward to greet each other, exchanged names, and then welcomed the two of them in.
"If you don't come again, I'm going to ask you to come!" Shopkeeper Zhang took the two of them to the back hall and sat down. After serving tea, he said anxiously: "I wonder if you can bring them to Yazhou this time?" Here comes the glassware we traded last time?”
"Have the last goods traded with your bank been sold out?" Maliko asked in disbelief. If this is the case, then the executive committee may have underestimated Yazhou's consumption power.
"It was sold out in just a few days. After that, there were still customers coming to inquire. I don't know when you will be able to visit again. I even went to Yazhou Water Village to find Mr. Luo, but Mr. Luo also said that he could not get it from you. Contact us." Shopkeeper Zhang said happily: "By the way, as for the saltpeter, sulfur, coke and other materials that you mentioned last time, I have recently prepared a lot of them and can ship them at any time."
"Wait a minute." Malik was not dazzled by shopkeeper Zhang's good news, and asked with some confusion: "Didn't your bank also sell Folangjiren's glassware from Guangzhou in the past? The sales are so good, how can your bank Not introduced in large quantities before? ”
"I didn't explain it clearly." Shopkeeper Zhang explained apologetically: "The thing is like this..."
If it were just Yazhou, the sales situation of glass products is actually not much different from the executive committee's speculation. The sales target of this kind of luxury goods is relatively narrow. Calculated with Yazhou's population of 20,000, there are really luxury goods People's spending power is only in double digits at most, and the sales of glassware in Yazhou has always been tepid. But "Anfuxing" is not just a store in Yazhou. It also has stores in Danzhou and Qiongzhou Fucheng in the north of Hainan Island. When shopkeeper Zhang purchased goods from Chuanzhong, he divided some of the goods and sent them to stores in the other two cities as a gift. Distribution. Unexpectedly, only a few days later, someone came from the main store in Qiongzhou Fucheng to inquire about the source and inventory of this batch of glassware. Only then did Shopkeeper Zhang know that the supply in Guangzhou had been cut off for several months, and the glassware on the market had been cut off. The price of appliances remains high, and the inventory of the Qiongzhou Fucheng main store has long been sold out. At present, there is a situation of price but no market.
At this critical juncture when there was a lot of money but nothing to sell, several sets of glassware sent by Yazhou "Anfuxing" immediately attracted great attention from the head office. After inquiring, the source of the goods was not from Folangji. The person may have been provided by the red-haired Dutch, but the "Haihan people" whom I had never heard of. Of course, it doesn't matter who supplies the goods to the big shopkeeper of the head office. What matters is whether he can seize this wave of market trends and make a lot of money. So the courier from the head office rushed to Yazhou and asked shopkeeper Zhang to quickly organize the supply of goods and transport them to Danzhou and Qiongzhou Fucheng in the north. Shopkeeper Zhang wanted to organize it, but he couldn't get in touch with the Haihan people. The last time the Yazhou Action Team came to the store to discuss business, Schneider did not leave specific contact information out of caution, but only said that he would visit Yazhou every month in the future. When this happened, shopkeeper Zhang was so anxious that he was like an ant on a hot pot every day. He also specially sent a waiter to guard the door. If anyone from Haihan appeared, he would report it immediately. This is how Malik and the others saw what they had seen before. scene.
It was only then that Malico suddenly realized that it turned out that the supply of goods in Europe was interrupted, causing the current tight situation in the market. If it is true that, as shopkeeper Zhang said, even the Guangzhou market is out of stock, then it is conceivable that Qiu Yuan and Feng Annan who visited another "Furuifeng" at this time should have encountered something similar to theirs. situation. As for why there was a large-scale out-of-stock phenomenon at this time, Malik, who spent time studying the history of the 17th century before setting off, happened to guess that much.
At present, the East Asian glass product trade is basically monopolized by the Spanish during this period. However, in fact, around the 17th century, the Spaniards' maritime power has shrunk rapidly, and both transportation capacity and armed forces are no longer what they used to be.
In 1588, Spain and Britain had a great naval battle in the English Channel that changed world history. With more than 130 warships, more than 30,000 sailors, and thousands of ship-borne artillery pieces, the "Invincible Fleet" that the Spanish had always been proud of was in This battle suffered a devastating defeat and almost ended in the annihilation of the entire army. From then on, it gradually gave up its status as "sea overlord".
The Dutch War of Independence, which began in 1568, was another war that sharply consumed Spain's maritime strength. This war lasted for a full forty years until 1609, when Spain, which had been severely weakened by the constant foreign wars, was forced to sign the so-called "Twelve Years Truce Agreement" with the Netherlands, which in fact recognized Independence of the Dutch Republic.
However, things did not end there. The civil war in the Holy Roman Empire broke out in 1618, and then quickly evolved into a large-scale international war involving all of Europe. This was the famous European Thirty Years' War, which would last until the Habsburg War in 1648. It ended with the defeat of the Castle dynasty and the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia. As one of the powerful powers in Europe, Spain was naturally not immune. The Habsburg Alliance it belonged to was the protagonist in this thirty-year war. After Spain was dragged into this mud pit, it never stood up again. .
In 1621, the Dutch took advantage of Spain's mired war to decisively start another war. After the two countries went to war this time, they continued to fight until 1648. It was not until the signing of the aforementioned "Contract of Westphalia" that the Thirty Years' War in Europe and the Eighty Years' War in Spain ended at the same time. A protracted war.
Less than a year before he traveled through time and space, the famous Spanish general Marquis Spinola achieved the most famous victory in his war career and captured the strategically important city of Breda in the Netherlands. This was also the time after the war resumed. One of Spain's few victories. By the way, it is worth mentioning that the famous painting "The Surrender of Breda" by the famous painter Velazquez is the scene of the surrender of the Marquis of Spinola after this battle.
In order to hold this forward position, Spain had to mobilize a large number of civilian merchant ships to ensure the maritime supply line - Spain and the Netherlands were separated by the narrow English Channel, and Britain and France on both sides of the English Channel were Spain's war opponents at this time. The supply lines were a logistical nightmare for the Spaniards. Affected by this, the number of merchant ships sailing from Spain to East Asia was greatly reduced during this period, and correspondingly, various European goods became hot commodities in the East Asian market, including glass products from Europe.
Although the cruel war took place on the other side of the earth, it inevitably had an impact on the commercial trade in East Asia now that the Age of Discovery had begun. Of course, in Malik's view, the effect of this influence is very positive, and it also provides an opportunity for Chuanchuanzhong to make money. If the glass workshop can be put into operation as soon as possible, at least the output in the short term will not worry about sales. of. Due to the leading production technology, Chuanzhong's production costs have an overwhelming advantage. When the Spaniards return to East Asia after the European War, they may find that this market has already been occupied by the Haihan people who suddenly appeared.
If the executive committee had not appointed a working group to come to Yazhou, I don’t know when this market information would be fed back to Chuanchuangzhong. But now we only need to use the radio to contact the base camp to inform the market changes, and it only takes a few days. The glass kiln can be put into operation, and this income alone is enough to earn back the working group's expenses.
(End of chapter)