Chapter 211 Best Price Treatment
Schneider continued: "Judging from the current profit margin, glass products are undoubtedly the highest, with a gross profit margin of at least a hundred times. However, there is also a problem with glass products, that is, our current production capacity is still very limited and cannot satisfy the needs of mainland China. This huge consumer market in the region”
Regarding the production capacity of glass products, the Executive Committee has long paid attention to it, and a large area has been planned to build a special glass products base in the mountain depression between the Victory Port Barracks and the Farm Commune. However, because glass manufacturing sites are exposed to high-temperature open flames for a long time, flammable bamboo and wood structures must not be used for safety reasons, and the production capacity of building materials such as masonry and cement is far from keeping up with the construction needs of numerous infrastructure projects. , so the construction speed of glass product base is also very slow. Next, the executive committee will probably give priority to the development plan of the new salt field. In terms of building materials, it will definitely have to first provide the salt field for projects that expand its territory, just like all materials were given priority to the Black Earth Port project. As a result, the production capacity of glass products is unlikely to increase significantly at least this year.
“In the coming period, production capacity will be limited not only for glass products, but also for soaps.” As for the problems hidden under the current good trade conditions, Schneider sees it more clearly than those here: “The problem with soaps is mainly raw materials. "Whether it is animal fats, vegetable fats or soda ash, we currently have no way to mass-produce it. If we want to increase production capacity at the current level, it is not enough to import raw materials from Guangzhou. We must wait until the soda ash production of the chemical industry increases."
"As for trade, the general situation is this." After Schneider pointed out the potential problems, he did not discuss it further. After all, these people here are not members of the material production department, and it would not be possible to discuss the production capacity of goods with them. What's the result?
"Lao He, tell me about the work at hand!" Schneider handed the topic to He Xi.
After He Xi arrived in Guangzhou, he was responsible for collecting intelligence on the one hand, and organizing immigration on the other. After the arrival of the second echelon, some of the work on hand will have to be handed over to the new colleagues. It is definitely necessary to give an introduction first. He Xi cleared her throat and began to talk about some work progress since coming to Guangzhou.
The first is the immigration work. Since the subsequent immigration affairs will be handed over to Sha Xi, He Xi also gave more detailed information about this aspect. Immigration matters have always been the top priority of Chuanchuan Group's external work. Sha Xi is not the only one who is interested in this. Everyone present listened attentively.
After He Xi came to Guangzhou, he first reached an agreement with "Fu Ruifeng" to form a charity organization in the name of the Guangdong Office. Funded by the Guangdong Office of the People's Republic of China, "Fu Ruifeng" came forward to buy a small yard outside Dongcheng and set up an organization called "Yi Shan Tang" to adopt homeless orphans. Naturally, this act of kindness met little resistance, and soon it had more than twenty children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers of fifteen or sixteen years old. The five or six servants currently working in the Guangdong Office were selected from these children taken in by the "Yi Shan Tang".
Establishing such a charity organization, taking in orphans is only one aspect of the work. In the future, organizing immigrants to relocate in the name of this organization will be the focus of the work. The local government and secret service agencies of Ming Dynasty will not pay too much attention to a charity. With this layer of cover, the immigration work of the Guangdong Office in Guangzhou will not be particularly conspicuous in the future.
Of course, in addition to this underground method, open employment on the surface is still one of the important methods of immigration, but this method is mainly targeted at some craftsmen with special skills or those who are urgently needed by the executive committee, such as sailors and boatmen. As long as the flow of such people is not too large, they generally do not attract special attention. The sources of these people are mainly introduced by various local dental shops or local snakes such as "Furuifeng". They usually move with their families directly, and some families have as many as twenty or thirty people.
Before the arrival of the second echelon, He Xi had already organized a group of immigrants through various means, mainly carpenters, blacksmiths, papermakers, carvings and other craftsmen that were urgently needed in Victory Port. In addition to the orphans collected in the early stage, there were more than a hundred people in total. These immigrants will all set off with the returning fleet.
What He Xi wants to hand over to Sha Xi is mainly the various business relationships established in the early stage. Although Sha Xi was not well educated, he was very clever in dealing with people. He quickly understood the meaning of He Xi's words and took over the matter with patting his chest.
In addition to the immigration work, there is also the security work of the Guangdong Office in Guangzhou, which was mainly responsible for He Xizai before. After Xiao Liang, Yu Yao and others arrived at the Guangdong Office, He Xi could leave all these matters to them and concentrate on his own work in intelligence.
Regarding security, the location of the Office in Guangzhou has made this task a lot easier. There is a reed marsh to the east, the Pearl River to the south, the east wall of Guangzhou City to the west, and the East Gate to the north to enter and exit Guangzhou City. If necessary, you can use telescopes on the roof to monitor the conditions of the water and land roads in Guangzhou City. The residence of the General Office of the People's Republic of China in Guangzhou has a solid and high wall, so ordinary thieves cannot enter at all. In order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, the ship that came this time also brought a batch of glass slag and cement, and then built a row of glass slag on the top of the wall, so that even if the snitch came here, he would be able to catch it. In addition, a dog is kept in the front house in the front yard and the back house in the back yard to serve as a warning at night.
The two new members of the Military and Police Department listened very carefully and asked He Xi for the floor plan of the yard, planning to further refine the security measures of the Guangdong Office. He Xi didn't have any grudges about this. Although he worked in the Military and Police Department, his specialty was intelligence work, and security was not his strong point. It was better to leave this kind of professional work to professionals.
By the time they finished talking about the work handover, it was already midnight before they knew it. Everyone was tired from the long journey and drank a lot, so they were tired by this time. Upon seeing this, Schneider announced that that was the end of the day, and everyone went back to their rooms to rest. All the people who traveled through time lived in the third courtyard. This courtyard had five main rooms and three wing rooms in the east and west. They had already been packed up and ready. The naturalized people who followed them were placed in the reverse room and the back room respectively. Covering the house in two courtyards.
Early the next morning, although the General Office of the People's Republic of China did not have a loudspeaker wake-up service, most people still woke up naturally as soon as the time came. However, breakfast in Guangzhou at this time was not as plentiful as in later generations. Because the Guangzhou Office was located outside the city, it could not go into the city so early to buy breakfast, so there was nothing good. There were only noodles and porridge to choose from.
After a quick breakfast, Schneider led a large group of people out of the Guangdong Office and rushed to the dock. There are still a lot of supplies on the ship that need to be unloaded and transported to the Guangdong Office. There are also some goods that have to wait for "Furuifeng" to send a truck for shipment. Some of them are not convenient to be shown in public. Such as arms, private salt, etc.
Hurrying slowly, Schneider and others arrived at the dock a little late. People from the Municipal Shipping Department were already waiting on the shore of the "Hai Xun 02" ship, waiting to board the ship to inspect the goods and then collect taxes. .
There were still a few members of the Maritime Department on board. They knew that the cargo in the cabin could not be seen by the City Shipping Department, so the crew did not cooperate with the City Shipping Department's requirements and removed the gangplank. , refusing to let the other party board the boat, the two sides were in a stalemate for a while.
Schneider cursed secretly in his heart, and quickly stepped forward to pull the man from the shipping department aside, took twenty taels of silver and stuffed it over: "It's convenient, and there's nothing valuable on this boat."
Unexpectedly, the clerk actually pushed the money back: "It's not inconvenient. I'm just doing business! Are you the shipowner? Why don't you ask the boatman to put down the gangplank?"
Schneider couldn't decide whether this guy was looking for trouble or simply because the bribe was too little. When he was hesitating, someone shouted: "My 'Furuifeng' merchant ship has always paid a fixed amount of tax and paid it to the Yamen on time. Why?" Is there any private collection? ”
The person who spoke was He Qiang, the manager of "Fu Ruifeng". He was notified by someone from the Guangdong Office last night, asking him to unload the goods at the dock here early in the morning. It was better to hurry up than to catch up, and he happened to see the scene where the clerk from the Shipping Department wanted to inspect the ship to collect taxes. He Qiang also knew that the goods being traded must not be seen by the people from the Shipping Department, so he quickly stepped forward to rescue Schneider. .
The tax collector also recognized He Qiang, and he cupped his hands and said, "It turns out to be Manager He! Unless I'm meddling, this ship doesn't carry the banner of your trading company, and it looks very strange to me."
"This ship is from Qiongzhou branch. It rarely comes to Guangzhou on weekdays. It's normal that you don't recognize it." He Qiang nodded to Schneider, who understood and stuffed the ingot of silver over it: "Your Excellency, you are out so early. You must have not eaten breakfast before you do anything. A little thought is disrespectful!" This time, the clerk didn't shirk anymore, put the money in his sleeve, handed it over and left. Schneider watched him leave before sighing: "It was such a close call. Fortunately, you arrived in time, otherwise this would have been a minor trouble."
"It's no trouble, it's just the Municipal Shipping Department. Besides, these tax collectors are not official officials, they are just people hired by Yahang." He Qiang looked at the back of the clerk leaving and said with disdain.
Schneider was surprised: "Is there such a thing?"
He Qiang explained: "Nowadays, Guangzhou has frequent maritime trade, and the Municipal Shipping Department has limited manpower, so it has contracted large sections of riverside wharfs to some dental shops. These dental shops will pay fixed taxes and collect taxes for the Municipal Shipping Department in these areas. .”
Schneider is such a shrewd person. He understood immediately when he heard: "The maritime trade business in Guangzhou is so prosperous, and the tax collected is not a small amount. Only a part of it needs to be handed over to the Shipping Department, and the rest will go into the teeth." A great personal pocket! ”
"That's right." He Qiang nodded and said: "There are also many sea-going ships in Jiahang, so I always pay the tax package in Yahang. This can also save some expenses. Your ships coming to Guangzhou in the future can be paid by Jiahang." This can save you a lot of trouble.”
Although He Qiang didn't explain it clearly, Schneider completely understood the trick. Talking about the lack of manpower in the Shipping Department should be just an excuse. Most of these dental shops responsible for collecting customs duties are collusion between government and businessmen to line their own pockets.
And for big customers like "Furuifeng", the tax package they pay every year is definitely not a small amount, so neither the municipal shipping company nor the agency's shipping company will easily trouble them, and they won't even board the ship at all. , let alone inspecting the goods on the ship to determine taxes.
Of course, this kind of blatant corruption is a good thing for the Cross-Travel Group. Among the commodities sold by the Crossing Group to the mainland, illegal salt and arms must not be discovered by the government. However, the attitude of the Guangzhou Shipping Department, which only collects money and does nothing, is exactly in line with the requirements of smuggling activities.
Now that the carriages and horses of "Furuifeng" have arrived, Schneider decided to unload the goods ordered by the other party first. But before that, Schneider would like to consult He Qiang again: "At this time, will it be a problem to unload the salt and guns from the ship?"
He Qiang twisted his beard and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Shi, I'm quite famous on the Pearl River Pier, and no one will interfere."
With He Qiang's guarantee, Schneider felt more relieved. Sun Changmi returned to the ship and immediately directed the crew to start unloading the cargo. In addition to delivering the last batch of matchlock guns to "Furuifeng" this time, five tons of refined salt totaling 10,000 kilograms were also shipped, as well as a batch of newly ordered glass products.
This has to mention the information advantage of the General Office in Guangdong. As long as "Furuifeng" needs any products, they can place orders directly at the Office in Guangdong, and the delivery methods have become more flexible and diverse. If there is a ship coming to Victory Port in the near future, then the delivery location will be in Guangzhou, and the payment can also be completed in Guangzhou. And if "Furuifeng" happens to have a ship going to Victory Port, then the delivery and settlement locations can also be Port Victory. With the radio station serving as a bridge for information communication between the two places, the trouble "Furuifeng" originally worried about caused by poor information between the two places has been easily solved.
While unloading the goods, the two chatted again. Schneider asked: "Most of the trade between your bank and Fujian is by sea. However, I heard before that there seem to be a lot of pirates from the west of the Pearl River Estuary to Quanzhou Prefecture. I wonder how you deal with it?"
Schneider had actually inquired about this issue before, but at that time, the cooperative relationship between the two parties was not as extensive and in-depth as it is now, so every time Li Nai and He Qiang dealt with it in a haha manner and refused to elaborate. According to the inference of the Executive Committee, "Fu Ruifeng" probably has some dealings with pirates in this sea area, either to help sell stolen goods or to pay protection fees. The Executive Committee believes that in order to establish a military bridgehead at the Pearl River Estuary in the future, it is necessary to first understand the distribution of maritime forces in the nearby waters. Since "Furuifeng" has ships operating on this route for a long time, it should be familiar with this area. sea conditions, then the credibility of the information they have should be relatively high.
He Qiang turned his head and glanced at Schneider, and said with a smile: "Mr. Shi has always been keen to find out the news in this area. It seems that you are very interested in the Fujian business!"
Schneider was told the truth by He Qiang, but he didn't even feel a trace of shame. He nodded and admitted: "Not to mention Fujian, even Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and even further north, we are also interested in doing business all the way... It's just that it is said that along the coast of Fujian There are so many pirates that it’s not easy to pass safely.”
He Qiang was silent for a long time before saying: "If you take your business to the north, what good will it do to my business?"
As soon as Schneider heard that this was possible, he quickly cheered up and began to use his magic skills: "Manager He, since merchants like Guihang have been engaged in maritime trade for many years, will they be satisfied with just trading in Fujian and Guangzhou? Develop within the province? We can work together to expand our business further north. Think about it, as long as we pass Fujian, Songjiang Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, which Isn't it a very wealthy place? If your bank can open branches in these places, how much money can it make in a year? As long as your bank is willing to cooperate with us to open up the northern route, I can represent Haihan. The committee will give you a promise that from now on, 'Furuifeng' will always enjoy the most preferential price treatment for Haihan products."
"Best price treatment?" He Qiang grasped this new word very keenly.
"The so-called most favorable price treatment means that all the preferential conditions we provide to third parties in the future will be unconditionally applicable to 'Furuifeng'." Schneider explained to him patiently: "For example, in a certain northern province in the future, because Your bank does not have a local branch, so we must find another agent to sell our products. If we give the local agent a very low price, your bank will automatically receive the same price treatment. ”
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He Qiang is also an old businessman. After Schneider explained it briefly, he understood the purpose of this treatment. Judging from the expansion speed of the Haihan people's business, it is probably only a matter of time before they take their business to the north. Even without "Furuifeng" as a partner, as time goes by, the Haihan people will eventually be able to find other forces to cooperate. Moreover, in areas where "Furuifeng" has not yet reached its tentacles, it is almost certain that Haihan people will find other agents to distribute goods. "Furuifeng" will inevitably face competition from other agents in the future.
As a Haihan product that has no worries about sales, it can be said that Haihan people have complete control over the pricing power. Of course, the price given to agents in each region will not be the same, and this guarantee of the most favorable price treatment can undoubtedly greatly increase the number of "Furui" products. Especially in those areas where business has not yet entered, this treatment ensures that "Furuifeng" has the same market competitiveness as local agents.
(End of chapter)