Chapter 210 Trade Progress
Seeing You Yihan's familiarity with these numbers, He Xi immediately labeled him a "keyboard strategist" in her heart. This is not because there is any big difference in the figures You Yihan listed, but because his understanding of U.S. national policy is still too superficial. At the national level, whether it is military means or economic means, their purpose is to serve politics and national interests. Perhaps external means will affect political decision-making to a certain extent, but that is not what You Yihan understands. "yield".
Clausewitz said in "On War" that "war is nothing more than the continuation of politics through another means." This fully illustrates the essential role of military means in foreign policy. Waging wars abroad or simply exporting arms are not just for the military-industrial complex behind them to gain massive profits, but are mainly for achieving certain political goals. The executive committee's governing policy can be said to be very close to this theory. Whether it is economic or military means, they all aim at the long-term interests of the traversing group, rather than simply making money or expanding their territory.
If, as You Yihan understands, the country's foreign policy will "succumb" to the interests of the military-industrial complex, then the U.S. arms ban on a certain major country may have long since become a dead letter.
But You Yihan was right about one thing. If more interests could be placed in front of each unit, it would indeed prompt the Chuanchuan Group to establish a military-industrial complex to coordinate and manage military-industrial projects. The current chaos in military industry development is essentially caused by the internal management system and the allocation of responsibilities and powers that are not clear and perfect. It is not just the fault of a few units or decision-makers. Fortunately, everyone’s starting point is to do a good job and promote development. Among the people here, there are no public intellectuals who want to gain a sense of presence by criticizing high-level officials - such people will definitely jump out and accuse "all this is the system." problem" and the only solution they can propose is to "overthrow the existing system."
Of course, if such a person really appears in the Time Travel Group, the most likely thing that will happen is not that such a loudmouth will become a public opinion leader or a grassroots V, but that he will quickly disappear from public view and be sent to the executive committee. Black soil port or exploration team in the mountains to do things. Everyone has seen a lot of the tricks of street politicians before time travel. The time travel group does not need a clown-like figure to lead public opinion. This was repeatedly emphasized in the group training before time travel, so the members We all have a bottom line in our hearts. Even the Ministry of Information Industry, which controls the mouthpiece of public opinion, must obey the decision-making opinions of the Executive Committee.
However, even if He Xi did not agree with You Yihan's point of view, he would not immediately refute the other party's statement. Before the second echelon came to Guangzhou, Schneider and He Xi had full communication and believed that the people selected by the executive committee to come to Guangzhou must have certain working abilities, but other aspects, especially ideological understanding, may not necessarily They all keep the same pace as the Executive Committee. It remains to be seen whether and how these people can use it after they arrive at the Guangdong Office. Both Schneider and He Xi are good at observing people's emotions. After a brief contact, they will naturally have a general understanding of these people's thoughts and ideas.
Today's induction banquet provided just such an opportunity. After three drinks, everyone had relaxed and had no reservations in the chat. He Xi also had a preliminary impression of these newcomers.
Everyone was eating, drinking, and chatting, but Chen Tianqi couldn't drink enough and soon fell into a semi-conscious state. He Xi called two servants over and sent him back to his room to rest. Not long after, Ma Yu also said goodbye and left. She was used to going to bed early and getting up early, so it was almost time to rest.
After these two people left, the topic slowly turned from the military-industrial complex back to the Cross-Travel Group's expansion policy on the mainland. At the request of everyone, Schneider first introduced the current progress of business activities in Guangzhou.
Because the previous export products had signed an exclusive agency agreement with "Furuifeng", after Schneider came to Guangzhou, there were no other products to sell to the outside world for the time being, so the current business activities are mainly based on the purchase of raw materials. . Compared with the limited supply of commodities in Yazhou and Qiongzhou, the market here in Guangzhou is undoubtedly much larger. Many raw materials that are difficult to buy in large quantities in Hainan Island, such as mercury, tin, copper, etc., can be produced here as long as they are If you can afford it, you can naturally find a merchant to sell it. Even if there is not enough quantity to meet Schneider's purchasing needs, the merchant will quickly organize another source of goods.
Some civilian supplies that are relatively expensive in Hainan Island, such as Songjiang cloth, tung oil, etc., are purchased at a much lower price in Guangzhou. Most of these purchased supplies have been loaded on the newly purchased second-hand fortune ship, and they can be taken back directly when Sun Changmi and the others return to Victory Port.
The glass products "Furuifeng" shipped back from Victory Port in the early stage are said to have been put on sale in several branches in Guangdong. However, due to the limited quantity of their purchases, most places almost immediately sold them in the first wave of sales. sold out. Especially in Shaozhou, Nanxiong, Huizhou and Chaozhou areas to the east of Guangzhou Prefecture, the newly appeared glass stationery has received rave reviews. Many people have even paid deposits to Semicolon in advance to reserve the next batch. goods. And there is a trend of collecting Haihan stationery in the city of Guangzhou - this is naturally the idea that Schneider gave Li Nai at the beginning. As long as he sponsors a few poetry gatherings and pays some public figures to publicize on such occasions, in Of course it is appropriate for it to be popular among consumers in the market.
As for glass mirrors, there is no need for "Fu Ruifeng" to do any official promotion. It would be simply unimaginable if the back houses of wealthy businessmen and officials did not have one or two silver mirrors produced by Haihan. Although the price of "Fu Ruifeng" is very high, with a two-inch silver mirror costing more than 50 taels of silver, this cannot stop wealthy people from buying it. Even a one-foot square mirror priced at 2,000 taels of silver Already sold out. He Qiang from "Furuifeng" came to visit two days ago and asked Schneider if he could sell larger mirrors. It is said that the wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang liked the Haihan Silver Mirror very much and expressed their willingness to pay a lot of money to buy it. For the larger mirror, the specific price was not specified - for some truly wealthy businessmen, money is really just a number, whether it is in this era or hundreds of years later.
The new products, matches and soaps, are only sold in the "Fu Ruifeng" store in Guangzhou City due to limited production. Of course, businessmen like Li Jifeng will not forget to use those sales methods that the Han people in Shanghai call them. This is the first OEM product of "Furuifeng" in the true sense. According to the original agreement, all the outer packaging of the soap will be printed in Guangzhou and will be sold under the name of "Furuifeng". In order to ensure this new The product can become an instant hit, and Li Jifeng has invested a lot in it.
The latest product from Haihan, the moisturizing and nourishing soap, can only be purchased by paying a deposit. As for how good this product is, "Furuifeng" promoted it among the public through various channels half a month before its release. Although a lot of publicity expenses were spent, due to the reputation of silver mirrors and glass stationery, the marketing of the new product "Furuifeng Soap" was unusually smooth. And Li Jifeng also came up with another promotional method without any knowledge. Customers who pay a deposit in advance will be given a box of another new product "Haihan Matches".
For soaps that have been so hyped by the public that the pre-sale price is as high as five taels of silver a piece, giving a box of matches that cost only a few dozen cents as a gift will not lose money, but will give customers something new. feel. And these customers who will spend five taels of silver to buy soap have strong spending power. After these people have used matches, they will definitely like this convenient daily necessities, and they will definitely come back to buy them after using them. As for The price of two hundred coins per box is really just a drop for the wealthy class. While selling soap, he also marketed matches, killing two birds with one stone. After learning the news, Schneider praised Li Jifeng for having a certain business acumen and actually knowing how to use this method to target his target. Customer launches commercial promotion.
Sales of salt, the fast-moving consumer goods that Chuanchuan Group attaches most importance to, are also selling relatively smoothly. Although "Furuifeng" successively brought more than 10,000 kilograms of salt from Victory Port back to Guangzhou, "Furuifeng" was not stupid enough to sell the private salt only in Guangzhou. Instead, it transported it to various places and cooperated with Li Po and Li Nai went to lobby salt merchants in various places to demonstrate their supply capabilities. After these private salts are distributed evenly throughout the province, each town will receive only about a hundred kilograms, which will not have a significant impact on the market. Currently, both Li Po and Li Nai are still doing marketing promotions in other places, and it is estimated that it will take at least a month or two before they can return to Guangzhou. However, "Furuifeng" has placed an order with Schneider in advance, hoping that the next ship to Victory Port can transport at least 50,000 kilograms of refined salt. Judging from this move, the marketing promotion done by the Li family in Guangdong should have achieved success. Made some progress. Finally, there is another major export item of arms. Last time, after Li Nai visited the military base in Victory Port, he ordered two hundred Type 27 matchlock guns, ten of them, under the strong promotion of Tao Donglai and others. The large order of 6-pound cannon and five 12-pound cannon, totaling more than thirteen thousand taels of silver, can be regarded as a good start for the military industry sector. Last time, because there was not enough matchlock guns in stock, only one hundred were delivered. Later, Li Nai was delayed for some time in Victory Port and handed over fifty more when he left. The remaining fifty guns were used this time. The shipment has arrived in Guangzhou, and the last order will be completed tomorrow.
According to Li Nai's original plan, this batch of arms was to be transported to Fujian and sold to the "Eighteen Zhi", a large pirate group that was at war with the Ming army. But for this sales direction, the Executive Committee directly intervened and required "Fu Ruifeng" to only sell this batch of arms to armed forces other than the "Eighteen Zhi" in Fujian - such as Zheng Zhilong, the leader of the "Eighteen Zhi" The opponent Xu Xinsu is currently deliberately trying to get rid of.
The reason why the Executive Committee wants to intervene in this matter is also for long-term planning considerations. After the death of Li Dan, a large merchant, Xu Xinsu inherited his property in Xiamen, Fujian, and became a thorn in Zheng Zhilong's side. In 1626, Xu Xinsu, forced by external pressure, defected to Yu Zigao, the commander-in-chief of Fujian, and sent all his pirates to the navy, and he also held the title of general in the navy. Of course, one person is not the other person. Xu Xinsu, as the largest maritime merchant in Fujian at this time, needs money and people. However, there are hundreds of ships going out to sea to fight, and they are stronger than their colleagues in Yazhou. Luo, a senior officer, is much stronger.
After becoming an official businessman, Xu Xinsu became the only trade middleman between the Fujian local government and the Dutch. He also seized this opportunity and took over almost all the Dutch East India Company's business on the southeast coast in a contracting situation. This was obviously This greatly hindered the "Eighteen Zhi" who wanted to control the entire waters of the Taiwan Strait. Zheng Zhilong wanted to destroy Xu Xinsu so as to take full control of the maritime trade business on the southeast coast. Xu Xinsu also wanted to destroy Zheng Zhilong's pirate gang and regain the part of Taiwan's industry that Zheng Zhilong "illegally occupied" after the death of his friend Li Dan. Under such circumstances, the two sides have been fighting in the waters of the Taiwan Strait since 1626, with each side winning or losing.
According to "Fu Ruifeng", it is obviously more realistic to sell arms to "Eighteen Zhi", because it is very troublesome for the Ming army to purchase arms. First, they have to report to the Ministry of War, and then several departments argue back and forth over the budget. It may be the year of the monkey and the month of the horse when it is approved. As long as buyers like "Eighteen Zhi" like it, they can pay cash immediately, which is more than ten times more efficient than the Ming army.
However, the Executive Committee, which is aware of the historical development trend, is very clear that Xu Xinsu will defeat Xiamen next year, and he himself will be killed by Zheng Zhilong. His boss Yu Zigao was also defeated by the "Eighteen Zhi", and the entire The Taiwan Strait will completely fall into Zheng Zhilong's hands. After that, Zheng Zhilong accepted the recruitment of Xiong Wencan, the governor of Fujian, and also became an officer of the Ming Dynasty Navy.
The Taiwan Strait is an important waterway from the South China Sea to the north. If the Crossing Group wants to expand its power to East China, North China and even Northeast Asia in the future, it must pass through the Taiwan Strait, a transportation artery. And if such a place is controlled by a person like Zheng Zhilong In the hands of a pirate leader with expansion ambitions, it is not a good thing for the Crossing Group. Among other things, ships passing there need to pay Zheng Zhilin thousands of taels of silver in protection fees every year. This condition cannot be easily accepted by the Crossing Group. Moreover, Zheng Zhilong has always been good at playing annexation tricks. His entire history of success has been accompanied by the constant big fish eating small fish routine. It is difficult to say whether he will also covet the crossing group in Hainan in the future.
From a historical perspective, no one in the entire southeastern coast can stop Zheng Zhilong's rise. However, this historical development trend is not a good thing for the Chuanchuan Group, so the executive committee is determined to reverse this trend, at least not to allow Zheng Zhilong's power to expand. So easy. The current crossing group does not even have enough merchant ships for its own use, so there is no need to organize an expeditionary force to deal with the 30,000 pirates entrenched in the Taiwan Strait. If they go there, they will just deliver food to their doorsteps. If you want to cause some trouble for Zheng Zhilong, the most effective way is to fund his opponents.
Although the Ming army did not have money to buy arms, Xu Xinsu, as a large merchant, did not lack the money to purchase high-end equipment. Moreover, with such a large market on the mainland, Xu Xinsu's financial resources can be said to be endless, and the situation is much better than that of the "Eighteen Zhi", which still partially relies on maritime plunder to maintain its operations. In the eyes of the Executive Committee, the sales targets of "Eighteen Zhi" are only ordinary consumers at best, but Xu Xinsu is an officially certified "RMB warrior". A proper VIP player must first make money. This Lord is richer.
First arm Xu Xinsu and gradually reverse his decline in the struggle between the two parties, thereby stopping the trend of the "Eighteen Zhi" family becoming dominant. After Xu Xinsu's side has a clear upper hand, the executive committee will consider opening arms sales to "Eighteen Zhi" - the harder these two fight, the more beneficial it will be to the Crossing Group. If a fight breaks out in a few years and both sides suffer losses, it will be easier for the fully-fledged Crossing Group to go to the Taiwan Strait to clean up the mess.
Currently, through some channels, "Furuifeng" has reached a preliminary arms transaction agreement with Xu Xinsu. The first batch of artillery and matchlocks have been shipped from Guangzhou to Xiamen by sea, and delivery is expected to be completed by the end of September or early October at the latest. Although he didn't know the actual price of the transaction between "Furuifeng" and Xu Xinsu, Schneider discovered from his recent contacts with Li Jifeng that the other party had been intentionally or unintentionally trying to find out about the arms production capacity of the Chuanchuan Group. It seemed that he was selling The price was good, and we are already planning a long-term purchase.
After the briefing, Schneider concluded with a smile: "As far as the current trade situation is concerned, although our export commodities are not many in variety, they are very profitable, and we have initially opened the trade window in the mainland, and also in Guangzhou. A certain brand effect. Even with the current export volume, it is more than enough to support the people of Victory Port.”
Everyone felt excited when they heard this. After obtaining a stable income through trade, the Crossing Group could do more things. Chuanchuan Group imports raw materials and labor from the mainland at relatively low costs, makes industrial products and sells them back to the mainland at high prices, earning high profits. This business model will help Chuanchuan Group quickly accumulate capital, and is expected to grow in the future Explosive development speed was achieved within a period of time.
(End of chapter)