Chapter 305 Business Talk
Regarding the emergence of Western forces in South Vietnam, the Executive Committee has already set the tone for response-the Indochina Peninsula, especially the east coast where the Crossing Group intends to establish a stronghold, cannot allow other large-scale Western forces to exist. The southern region of Vietnam is the only way for the Transboundary Group to pass through in the future to the Malacca Strait shipping route. Controlling this area will basically control nearly one-half of the sea routes for Western powers to Northeast Asia. The development is of great strategic significance.
At the beginning of the year, the Executive Committee decided to send troops to Annam to provide military assistance to the Zheng regime. One of the important reasons was that it learned that the Nguyen family in South Vietnam was supported by Western forces. If this thing hadn't happened, the Executive Committee would probably have sat back and watched the war between North and South Vietnam continue slowly. But now that Western forces have begun to intervene in this regional struggle, the Executive Committee will naturally not stand idly by and the way to deal with it is better than hiding behind the scenes. The opponent was more aggressive and just rolled up his sleeves and went to the battlefield.
This decision of the Executive Committee somewhat feels like it was rushed to the shelves. The training time of the North Vietnamese troops was too short, and their combat effectiveness was doubtful. The situation of the North Vietnamese troops retreating steadily on the battlefield did not leave the Executive Committee much time to respond. If the Executive Committee did not choose to send troops at that time and allowed the situation to develop, the North Vietnamese regime would be in danger. This would be an unacceptable situation for the Crossing Group. After all, the Crossing Group had invested a large amount of materials and manpower in North Vietnam in the early stage, and the North Vietnamese regime would have been in danger. The collapse of the company means that all of this work will most likely be in vain.
In addition to military risks, the executive committee's decision to participate in the war also lurked political crises. Compared with the Western forces that have been at sea for hundreds of years and have occupied a large number of colonies around the world, the current crossing group is still relatively lacking in maritime strength. If it has a choice, the Executive Committee does not want to do it at this time. Become a direct enemy of Western forces. If a fight broke out, the Chinese-style sailing ships owned by the Cross-Travel Group, mainly Fuchuan and Guangzhou, would not be able to pull them out to compete with the Westerners' Galen-armed merchant ships.
Although the expeditionary force failed to intercept and kill the foreign military advisers in the South Vietnamese camp during the battle for the Yangtze River in Hengshan, based on various information obtained afterwards, it can be inferred that the force behind the South Vietnamese regime was most likely the Portuguese. These Portuguese, who were afraid of chaos, caused a lot of trouble after entering Asia, and they were extremely enthusiastic about arms trading. They even did such dirty things as selling cannons from sunken British ships to the Ming Dynasty. It is difficult to speculate that they What would be the reaction to the defeat in South Vietnam.
After research, the Executive Committee believes that the possibility of the Portuguese directly falling out with the Crossing Group is extremely low, because their closest stronghold to Victory Port is Macau, and Macau, which was co-ruled by the Ming Dynasty, was not strong enough to attack Victory Port. It is even more unrealistic to mobilize troops and ships from Manchuria, which is thousands of miles away. In this era, the supplies required for large-scale cross-sea operations are not something that a small colony can afford. A cross-sea operation with a thousand-person scale like the Crossing Group organization, which is only more than a hundred nautical miles away from the base camp, has already been launched. It took nearly a month to prepare for the trip. If the Portuguese are really ready to take action against Victory Port, it will take at least half a year. The preparation period of time, and the Executive Committee believes that this period of time is enough for Victory Port to train a group of navies with basic combat capabilities.
Compared with the attack on Victory Port, the Executive Committee was more worried that the route from Victory Port to Guangzhou was used by the Portuguese as a place for revenge. At present, this route is still the most important material input channel for the Crossing Group. There are more than 30 ships heading from the Pearl River coast to Victory Port every month. Although this number will still look extremely shabby from the perspective of future generations, considering that it has been less than a year since the opening of Victory Port, it is not easy to attract so many merchants from the mainland. This waterway is also regarded by the Executive Committee as one of the lifelines of the crossing group. For this reason, the Military and Police Department has already planned to establish a maritime stronghold at the Pearl River Estuary to ensure the safety and smoothness of this waterway.
However, the node of Macao, located on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, is a threshold that cannot be bypassed. If the Portuguese want to cause trouble in the Pearl River Estuary, the Crossing Group does not have a good way to deal with it. Even though the shipyard has launched several warships, the Military and Police Department does not dare to casually send these ships to fight in sea areas thousands of miles away without supply points. In short, if it is a land battle or amphibious battle, the crossing group is not really afraid of the Portuguese, but if the battle occurs at sea, the Portuguese's advantage in navigation will still be more obvious.
Of course, the outbreak of war was actually just an extreme situation. Although the Portuguese operations in South Vietnam were hit, it actually did not cause very direct losses to them. If the outbreak of the war is driven by interests, then there are currently not enough interests to push the Portuguese to launch a war with uncertain prospects.
Before the battle in Annan broke out, the Crossing Group had actually intended to contact the Portuguese in Macau and planned to purchase through them some items that could not be purchased in the Ming Dynasty - such as canvas from the Indian Peninsula.
Cotton cultivation appeared in the Indus Valley Civilization as early as BC, and the island cotton introduced to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions through Southeast Asia came from India. The cotton textile industry has always been one of the important specialties of the Indian peninsula. In order to monopolize the maritime spice trade route from India to Europe, the Portuguese Vasco da Gama chose Goa as his base in 1498 and began to establish a colony there. In 1510, the Portuguese fleet commander Albuquerque led his troops and sailors to defeat the local Punjab king, occupied the city of Goa, and declared sovereignty over Goa, adding it to the many overseas colonies under Portugal's name.
When other Western powers came to India in the 16th century, most of the Portuguese territories were divided between the British and the Dutch. Goa soon became Portugal's most important overseas territory, and even had armed conflicts with India over sovereignty issues until In the 1970s, after the "April 25 Revolution", Portugal recognized India's sovereignty over Goa.
As an important stronghold of the Portuguese in Asia, almost all the canvas needed by the Portuguese fleet comes from Goa. However, the Executive Committee has never been particularly satisfied with the canvas fabrics produced in Daming, and still hopes to buy some from its Western counterparts. A tougher fabric. However, after Annan's incident, the executive committee suspended its work with the Portuguese. Unexpectedly, the Portuguese in Macau could sort out the situation so quickly after learning about the war in Annan, and took the initiative to come to discuss the matter.
However, Enrique did not show any obvious attitude in his words. Tao Donglai was not sure whether he was here to ask questions or had other motives, so he could only say vaguely: "About Annan." During the war, we had no intention of participating in the dispute between the North and the South. We were only retaliating for our merchant ships that were plundered by the South Vietnamese navy. Of course, given that we have always maintained relatively close business ties with the North Vietnamese regime, we did participate in this civil war. We have chosen to support the Zheng family in North Vietnam, but we do not want the North and the South to resolve political differences by force.”
Although Enrique is mostly a "China expert" and can listen and speak Chinese, Tao Donglai's diplomatic remarks still left him a little confused. He was clearly participating in the war, and he said he was not fighting for North Vietnam. He clearly chose to support one side, so why did he say anything against force?
Tao Donglai continued: "If our information is correct, the person who supports the Nguyen family in South Vietnam and provides them with weapons and military training should be your country?"
Enrique did not deny Tao Donglai's speculation, but readily admitted: "Chinese merchants have a lot of business in Hoi An Port in the south. If the Nguyen family fails in this civil war, it means that our merchants will suffer huge losses as a result.”
"So you want to persuade us to leave Annan and not interfere in the civil war in Annan?" Since Tao Dong came to see the other party and made his position clear, he no longer continued to hide it, but directly asked the other party the purpose of his visit.
"Although I did have such an intention when I came here, looking at it now, I don't think I am confident enough to convince you." Enrique said: "Before coming to Guangzhou, I had heard a lot about Hainan. Regarding Han affairs, after arriving in Guangzhou, I was also surprised by some of your actions. In my opinion, although you look the same as the people of Ming Dynasty, your style of doing things is quite different. You do not pursue orthodoxy in everything like the people of Ming Dynasty. Good face is more like what we Westerners do, everything is based on actual interests.”
"No, no, no, our approaches are different." Tao Donglai immediately shook his head and denied Enrique's point of view: "As you said, we do have similarities in pursuing interests, but our starting points are completely different. It's different. You just do everything you can to exploit everyone, including your own people, to satisfy your own selfish desires. Our purpose is to allow more people to make money, live a better life, and be accepted. Anyone who is willing to join our camp, whether it is Daming or Annan, can become our partners. In your eyes, they are just piles of gold and silver waiting for you to move home."
"According to what you said, Mr. Tao, then we can also become trading partners?" Enrique asked sarcastically. He has seen many people who talk nonsense, but he has never seen a guy who talks nonsense like Tao Donglai. Make money with everyone? How could anyone believe this casual bullshit? "Of course." Tao Donglai's answer made the expression on Enrique's face freeze for a moment: "Mr. Enrique, we Haihan people are also businessmen. In business, the conflict we had in Annan is not It means we cannot cooperate in other aspects. I have a point of view that I don’t know if you can agree with.”
Enrique recovered his mind, nodded and said: "Mr. Tao, please speak."
"The civil war in Annan must ultimately be resolved by the Annan people themselves. Neither we nor you can send a large number of troops to directly influence the war in Annan. When we were in Annan, we may not have met each other, but Why can't we become trading partners outside Annan? We Haihan people don't have trouble with money. I wonder if businessmen in your country find it too troublesome to make money?" After Tao Dong said this, He looked at Enrique silently, waiting for his answer.
Enrique did feel something from Tao Donglai's words. First, the Haihan people did not seem to intend to have a head-on conflict with their side on the Annan battlefield; second, the Haihan people had plans to conduct trade activities with their side. Compared with the casualties of those South Asian monkeys on the distant Annan battlefield, the topic of how to make money is obviously more attractive.
Enrique asked cautiously: "I wonder if Mr. Tao has any trade suggestions?"
Tao Donglai smiled and said: "As for trade, I think we will have many common topics to talk about."
Most of the materials purchased by the Portuguese in the Ming Dynasty were silk fabrics, ceramics, cane sugar, etc. Although these materials have not yet been produced on the territory of the Crossing Group, Tao Donglai was confident that the trading location of these goods Gradually move to Victory Port.
Although the Portuguese established a settlement in Macau, the area was governed by both parties, and the Ming Dynasty still had a seat of government. Therefore, the Portuguese could only purchase Ming products through formal channels, although the transaction locations were all in Daming, but this kind of transaction will undoubtedly be regarded as export trade by the Shipping Department and taxed, which will lead to an increase in the cost of goods in disguise. And Victory Port, which has used "duty-free port" as its biggest selling point since its opening, can avoid this link.
If the trading place between the Portuguese and the Ming Dynasty merchants was changed to Victory Port instead of Guangzhou, both parties to the transaction could save a lot of taxes. In comparison, the transportation cost for the five-six-day voyage from Guangzhou to Victory Port is actually a small amount. The Portuguese businessmen coming from the direction of Malacca were able to save a lot of voyage because of this, and no longer had to risk all kinds of unknown risks at sea to sail directly from Hoi'an in South Vietnam to Guangzhou in the Ming Dynasty.
Several commodities that the Portuguese purchase the most are currently on the list of development projects of "Qiong Lianfa". The sucrose, which has the fastest yield, is expected to be harvested in the second half of the year. Silk fabrics, a project with relatively slow yield, The Executive Committee also optimistically estimates that it will not take more than five years. By then, when Hainan Island begins to produce these local products, the Portuguese may no longer have much interest in Guangzhou.
Of course, it will still take a lot of effort to convince the Portuguese to accept such an arrangement. After all, from a certain perspective, the two sides are still in a subtle state of hostility, and it will not be possible to quickly switch roles from opponent mode. to things. For example, the Portuguese, who have invested a lot of resources in South Vietnam, may not agree with this reconciliation with Haihan. Moreover, this Enrique is just a special envoy sent by the Portuguese. I am afraid that he does not have the power to participate in decision-making. Which step he can take depends on God's arrangements.
That afternoon, Schneider, who temporarily ended the "Qiong Lianfa" symposium, also joined the offensive against Enrique. Schneider's appearance greatly relieved Tao Donglai's pressure. At least he could communicate more directly with Enrique in fluent Portuguese, avoiding various misunderstandings caused by improper expression and understanding in Chinese.
Enrique was obviously also surprised that the business manager of the Haihan people was actually a person with a tall nose and deep eyes who could speak Portuguese. This also gave him a sense of intimacy in his heart. After all, in the far east, he could meet people who spoke the same language. It is an extremely rare thing.
As a bystander, Li Nai once again observed the rhetorical skills of the Haihan executive committee members at close range. Although Schneider couldn't understand more than half of what Schneider was saying in foreign languages, it didn't stop him from noticing that Enrique's expression gradually became more relaxed from the initially wary one. If it hadn't been for Li Nai's personal introduction, he would have even doubted whether these three guys had known each other somewhere before.
Enrique left the General Office of the People's Republic of China as quietly as he had arrived that afternoon. He would rush to Macau overnight to report to the local chamber of commerce the results of this meeting. The amount of information obtained from the Office of the General Affairs Office was too large this time. Big, the time on the road should allow him to digest it well.
On the same day, the preparatory symposium for "Qiong Lianfa" finally came to an end. A total of 13 shareholders, including Haihan, initialed the preparatory agreement for "Qiong Lianfa" in the Guangdong Guangdong Office. What happened on this day was recorded in the history textbooks of later generations as "a memorable meeting in the history of Haihan business", "creating a new business model", etc., together with the other twelve people who founded "Qiong Lianfa" Each shareholder has also been evaluated as "the wise man among the businessmen of the Ming Dynasty" and "the pioneer of the business revolution". After the Guangdong Office became a historical and cultural memorial hall, there was even a room labeled "Signing Site of the First Preparatory Meeting of Qiongzhou United Development Company". Participants at the time would never have imagined that they were here purely for money. The meeting held turned out to be an object of commemoration for future generations.
Of course, the actual situation was not as grand as recorded in historical data. In fact, most of the last two days of the meeting were spent in disputes and even abuse among shareholders. After confirming the profit-making prospects of "Qiong Lianfa", shareholders began to verbally compete for the unsold equity, and Schneider had to stop the meeting several times to persuade. No matter in which era, rich and willful people are very difficult to control, and what is even more troublesome than this is the gathering of a large group of rich and willful people.
(End of chapter)