Chapter 173 Sales Skills
As a foreign trade management agency in ancient China, the Shipping Department was established from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, witnessing the history of China's foreign trade over these hundreds of years. The Ming Dynasty's Ship Department also basically followed the setup of the previous dynasty. The chief officer was promoted to one person from the fifth rank, and two deputy officials were promoted from the sixth rank. The candidates for promotion are usually promoted by the inspector or the promotion department of the Salt Class. In the Ming Dynasty, the Municipal Shipping Department was established and abolished several times. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, although there was still a Municipal Shipping Department, it had been changed to a fixed quota bonded system.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", the Municipal Shipping Department has the task of collecting taxes from foreign countries. The goods carried by foreign ships that came to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty were taxed at a rate of 20%. However, in the late Ming Dynasty, due to the implementation of the fixed tax package system, the collection of municipal shipping tax began to be done by private dental shops. However, Yazhou, which has the right to operate foreign trade, uses its identity as a representative of shipping merchants to engage in fraud, and most of the so-called market shipping taxes go into private pockets.
If the delivery point for the trade between Chuanchuan Group and "Furuifeng" is set in Guangzhou, then the cargo ship sent by Chuanchuan Group to Guangzhou will undoubtedly be treated as a "Fan Bang Maritime Merchant" and a 20% tax rate will be levied on this money. It already exceeds the freight costs between the two places. For merchants like Schneider and Li Nai, they are definitely not willing to spend this extra money on their operating costs for no reason.
Of course, this does not mean that local maritime merchants in Guangzhou such as "Fu Ruifeng" do not need to pay taxes to the Municipal Shipping Department. In fact, the Ming Dynasty had various tax systems for maritime trade with inconsistent tax rates. Generally speaking, It can be divided into water rates, land rates and increased rates.
Rates are an export tax based on the volume of cargo ships engaged in maritime trade. In practice, taxes are generally collected directly based on the width of the ship. For example, the width of a ship is one foot or six feet, and the tax standard is five taels of silver per foot. A ship is a trade tax of eighty taels of silver. The larger the ship, the higher the tax rate, which is calculated based on five taels of silver per foot. For example, if the ship is more than 2 feet and 6 feet wide, the tax will be levied at the standard of 10 taels of silver per foot. A ship is at least 260 taels of silver. Two silver. Moreover, different places have different tax systems. The tax rate for merchant ships traveling to the East is 30% lower than that of merchant ships traveling to the South China Sea.
In addition, there are import taxes such as land rates. Maritime merchants like "Fu Ruifeng" who ship goods back from overseas are the targets of this tax. However, because imported goods are so diverse and diverse, it is difficult to unify the tax system. For some goods, the tax rate is calculated based on weight and quantity, while for other goods, the tax rate is calculated based on the quality or actual value of the goods. As for charging more and charging less, it leaves a lot of room for manipulation by the people who handle the goods.
The increased rates are a kind of additional tax on imported goods, which is borne by the ship owner. This is because after many maritime merchants went to Luzon and other places for transactions, they only returned to the country with Mexican silver dollars. As a result, there was no taxable goods on the ship, which was an unprofitable result for the government that taxed according to land rates. In order to reduce the loss of commercial taxes, a new tax category such as increased rates was established to fill the loopholes in the tax system.
From the perspective of "Furuifeng", whether it is export or import, if Haihan people are allowed to bear the freight process between Victory Port and Guangzhou, the operating cost of goods will be greatly increased due to taxation. By setting the delivery location in Victory Port, the cost is almost zero, which is a method that both parties are willing to accept.
So Li Nai proposed that if there is no accident in the future, the delivery locations can be placed in Victory Port. Tao Donglai and Schneider immediately agreed to the proposal. Putting aside the operating costs of the goods, the maritime transport capacity alone helped the Crossing Group solve a big problem.
There are currently eight cargo ships that Cross Group can put into the Black Soil Port-Victory Port route. Two of them are still parked in Victory Port and need to be completed for ship maintenance and personnel adjustments before they can be put into operation. In addition, the remaining poor transportation capacity can only run the route between Yazhou and Victory Port to transport immigrants and various supplies back and forth. The voyage between Guangzhou and Shengli Port is about one-third further than that to Heitu Port. To ensure the smooth operation of this route, the crossing group will need at least a few large ships. This is obviously not something that can be done in a short time. Things that can be done.
Li Nai already knew a thing or two about the transportation difficulties faced by partners before coming to Victory Port. If not, how could the Haihan people entrust "Fu Ruifeng" to buy ships and recruit crews in Guangzhou? Therefore, after confirming the delivery location, Li Nai happily stated that the fleet of "Furuifeng" will be responsible for the freight transportation between the two places.
Of course, "Fu Ruifeng" is not a philanthropic person. Doing this also requires adding transportation costs to the goods shipped to Victory Port. In addition, Li Nai also received Li Jifeng's advice before setting off - since the Haihan people's goods cannot be shipped out for the time being. , that is a good opportunity for "Furuifeng" to monopolize the supply of goods, and it can take advantage of this period to make a lot of money first. In the future, when Haihan people are able to transport goods to Guangzhou by themselves, the source of goods will soon be exposed on the market. For "Furuifeng", it means that it will face more competitors. In comparison It is safer to spend more transportation capacity now to transport goods to Victory Port for trading.
After determining the transaction volume and transaction method, the second large order was concluded. At this time, the transaction amount between the two parties had exceeded fifteen thousand taels, and Li Nai's real trade target, glass products, had not even entered the stage of viewing the goods. If this trend continues, Li Nai believes that it will only be a matter of time before the total transaction volume exceeds 20,000 taels of silver.
After lunch, the delegation took a boat from the salt field back to Victory Port. In the conference room of Base 1, Li Nai saw two new products shown to him by Schneider. One is a small boxy yellow brick, and the other is a small paper box containing some small wooden sticks - these are the latest research and development results of the chemical industry department, soap and matches. However, it is not quite accurate to call this soap, because the sample used for display is made according to the standards of soap, with a little refined essence added to it.
Li Nai naturally couldn't understand what these two things were, but he knew that Schneider took them out to show him seriously and it was definitely not a joke. Li Nai did not rush to ask questions and waited quietly for Schneider to explain to him.
Schneider first picked up the soap and introduced it to Li Nai: "This is our latest soap. It can be used just like soap, and it also has decontamination effects. Of course, its ingredients and production methods are completely different from soap. "Soap has been widely used among the people since the Song Dynasty, and it became a very popular daily necessities in the Ming Dynasty. The method of making soap balls is listed in "Compendium of Materia Medica". However, the soap used in China is made by boiling and pounding the seeds of the honey locust tree and then adding other things. It is not made by saponification of oils, and its appearance is also very different from the products displayed by Schneider.
Li Nai took it over and looked at it, then brought it up to his nose and smelled it, and asked puzzledly: "The production method is secondary. In addition to removing stains, does this product have other functions?"
Schneider said: "After washing your face or taking a bath with this soap, the fragrance will remain on your body."
Li Nai frowned and said: "Soap with a little fragrance can also have this effect. This product is unlikely to be cheaper than the soap used by the public, right?"
"Not only will it not be cheaper than soap, but it will be much more expensive than soap." Schneider pointed to the piece of soap in Li Nai's hand and said: "The piece of soap you hold in your hand costs fifty cents."
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"That's five hundred cents?" Li Nai was already familiar with the exchange rate of circulation coupons at this time, and he immediately reacted when he heard it: "But soap usually only costs tens of cents a piece, and the best ones are only about a hundred cents. This Who would buy five hundred coins? ”
Schneider shook his head and said: "The idea of doing business cannot be so rigid. If you follow Mr. Li's wishes, then the functions of glassware and ceramics can be equally fulfilled, but why are the prices of glassware several times more expensive than those made of ceramics? Use a glass bowl Will the food taste better?”
Li Nai's eyes lit up and he said: "Mr. Shi, do you mean to find a solution based on this sales technique?"
Schneider nodded and said: "First of all, you have to convince your customers that this is a good thing, and this good thing cannot be bought with money. Only those who have identity, status, and certain financial strength are qualified. It’s a good product to use, and anyone who has used this soap will easily recognize it.”
"Oh? I'd like to hear the details." Li Nai really wanted to know how to let others know whether he had washed his face with this soap.
"Smell this smell carefully and think about whether you have smelled a similar fragrance before." Schneider pointed out.
Li Nai smelled it carefully again, and then handed it to He Qiang to also smell it. The two of them thought about it for a long time, and finally shook their heads. Schneider secretly laughed in his heart and thought that this is a fragrance formula that the chemical industry department spent more than ten days preparing. It does not exist in nature. Of course you can't think of a similar fragrance.
"This fragrance is our Haihan's secret formula. This fragrance can never be prepared anywhere else in the world. For those who are lucky enough to use this soap, this fragrance means unique! Unique! Noble!" Schneider tapped his finger lightly on the table: "What we sell is not just a product, but more importantly, this unique sense of superiority. Do you understand the sense of superiority? Just like a royal tribute, only a very few people have the opportunity. Enjoy.”
At this time, someone brought a basin of warm water and a clean towel as planned. Schneider encouraged: "You will know if something is good or not by trying it yourself, please!"
(End of chapter)