Chapter 463 Bond
On September 7, 1629, the Qionglianfa Qiongxi expedition group consisting of seven ships arrived at Changhua Port. This expedition team did not come from Sanya, but set out from the mainland, crossed the Qiongzhou Strait along the Leizhou Peninsula southward, then stayed in Qiongzhou Fucheng for a day, and then headed west via Danzhou to Changhua.
The inspection team was supposed to arrive at Changhua Port three days ago, but encountered bad weather on the way and delayed the trip. However, perhaps because the Guangdong Office in Guangdong Province did a good job in promoting the project during the project promotion meeting, the group of business representatives did not show the fatigue that they should have after many days of running around after disembarking, but looked excited. Qiao Zhiya, who came to greet them, asked when they could go and see the local development progress. Obviously, in the minds of these people, making money is the most important thing.
Qiao Zhiya wanted to quickly lure these rich people into the pit, so naturally he wouldn't mind them jumping into the pit. He immediately responded: "Everyone, where you are now is actually part of the Changhua development site. Only in San A few months ago, this was just a small fishing village with less than 20 households, but everyone has seen the current situation. More than 500 workers work here every day, constantly expanding the port, improving the facilities here, and receiving from Various tools and raw materials shipped from Sanya and other places. By the end of the year at the latest, the number of workers is likely to double, and the port's cargo handling capacity will also surpass Qiongzhou Fucheng and become the third largest on Qiongzhou Island. Port.”
As for the first two major ports that Qiao Zhiya did not mention clearly, they naturally refer to Victory Port and Sanya Port. The merchant representatives who listened to his introduction did not question this at all, and listened to Qiao Zhiya's continued words with a matter-of-fact expression.
"I think everyone already knows the reason why we built a large port here. Yes, that's right, there is a very large iron mine in the inland mountainous area about eighty miles away from here. As for how big it is, "How much?" Qiao Zhiya deliberately kept it off and continued after a moment: "The iron buried in this place is enough to meet the entire Ming Dynasty's demand for iron. Please note that I am not talking about a year's supply, but a year's supply." Hundreds of years!”
There was a low exclamation from the crowd, and there was no doubt that Qiao Zhiya's description deeply shocked them. But even though this statement sounded as mysterious as a fairy tale from heaven, no one still questioned the authenticity of Qiao Zhiya's statement. The reason is also very simple. The outside world has long said that the Haihan people have some secret technique of prospecting and determining veins, and they specialize in finding large ore veins that no one has discovered, such as the Tiandu area where Haihan is currently mining and the The large mineral deposits deeper inland, as well as the Heitugang coal mine in northern Annan, known as Little Sanya, were all discovered by the Haihan people using this magical magic.
Almost all of these major shareholders and merchants have sent people to visit the Tiandu iron mine, and even the Damao manganese and phosphate mine farther away has gone to the trouble to visit it. As for the popularity of Heitugang Coal Mine in Guangdong and Guangxi, it has surpassed Tiandu Iron Mine. In Lianzhoufu and Gaozhoufu, which are closest to the sea in the west of Guangdong and Guangxi, the coal market has almost been monopolized by the cheap clean coal produced by Heitugang. So much so that the local coal merchants either changed their careers to other businesses, or simply established a relationship with the Black Tu Port Management Committee and became the agent dealer of the Black Tu Port Coal Mine. Not to mention Qiongzhou Island, which has been riddled with holes by Haihan. Since the Heitugang Coal Mine was put into operation, the small coal mines on Qiongzhou Island went bankrupt in less than half a year. A large number of miners went south to invest in Haihan. Now There are no other sources of coal on Qiongzhou Island.
Haihan's past achievements in mining development have made it impossible to question their proposed development plan. After all, in this field, no one dares to stand up and say that they are better than Haihan. As for whether the hundreds of years Qiao Zhiya claimed were three hundred or five hundred, no one planned to get to the bottom of it, because this issue was explained to them by Malik when they were in Guangzhou.
Of course, Maliko was not talking about the specific reserves of Shilu Iron Mine, but the profit model of the bonds issued by Haihan. The benefits that can be obtained from this kind of bond are actually dividends from the development of Shilu Iron Mine. It is said to be a bond, but its operating mode is closer to that of stocks. Every year, you will enjoy a certain proportion of dividends based on the number of shares held. The difference is that these bonds still have a stipulated repayment period. After the period, the principal will be returned and dividends will no longer be enjoyed. One of the most attractive aspects of investors' interest is the high annual rebates. It only takes a few years to get back the principal by relying on the rebates, and the subsequent holding period is to collect money without capital.
As for the length of the profit period that investors are concerned about, it is directly linked to the number of immigrants introduced to Haihan by the buyer within a certain period of time. The Haihan Ministry of Commerce has set the threshold for purchasing bonds relatively high this time. Depending on the number of immigrants introduced, the total amount of bonds that can be purchased is also different. If investors want to obtain this considerable long-term income, in addition to sufficient capital, more importantly, they must be able to provide Haihan with a sufficient immigrant population.
Although the operation process is very troublesome, the return on investment is steadily higher than those development projects Qiong Lianfa has invested in in the past. Moreover, those agriculture-related projects are very dependent on the weather, and may not always be profitable every year. This mining operation is much safer. If the scale of immigrants introduced is large enough, buying a fifty-year long-term bond in one go can leave a considerable amount of wealth to future generations - and there is no need to spend any energy to operate this mine. One transaction can add an amount of income to the Haihan Bank account every year. This is an heirloom for future generations to make money while lying down!
It was with this in mind that the shareholders of Qiong Lianfa came here for a special on-site inspection. After receiving reconfirmation from Qiao Zhiya, the eyes of the merchant representatives present became brighter and brighter.
"If you have any questions, you can ask me at any time and I will try my best to answer them." Seeing that these people were agitated, Qiao Zhiya decided to strike while the iron was hot and add some more ingredients to them.
"Director Qiao, please tell me how to develop the iron mine that is eighty miles away from the sea. Is it possible that we need to build a road to the area?" Someone asked immediately.
"Good question! Please follow me!" This question undoubtedly gave Qiao Zhiya an opportunity to introduce the current status of the project in depth.
Soon the inspection team followed Qiao Zhiya to the Changhua Port Railway Station a few hundred meters away. Of course, this place is only a planned train station at present, and there are no platforms or waiting rooms. However, business representatives who have been to Sanya many times quickly recognized the actual situation of this place. use.
"There are railroad tracks here, it's the Haihan train!" Someone soon recognized the true purpose of this place from the special roadbed and track.
"Yes, this is the transportation line construction plan we are currently working on. This rail transportation line will lead directly to the mines we will develop in the future. Iron ore will be continuously transported from the mountains through this transportation line." Qiao Zhiya introduced loudly: "Those who are interested in taking the train can take the train eastward for about six miles later. This is the area we have opened to traffic."
However, there was little response to this invitation. Someone answered the question: "Are the trains here the same as those in Victory Port?" Qiao Zhiya nodded, and the man added: "Then I'd better choose to walk or take a sedan to see the situation."
One thing that foreigners must do when visiting Shengli Port is to take the Haihan train, which is not dragged by animals but can move on its own. However, after being blown by soot in the face, few people are willing to take a second ride. Only distinguished guests who have received invitations from Haihan people are eligible to ride in the fully packaged high-end carriages with Haihan people. In Changhua Port, even a train station has not been built yet, so it is conceivable that there will not be any high-end carriages for business representatives to ride.
Sure enough, not long after, a train rumbled in the distance. The three wagons dragged behind the front of the car were not even fully wrapped, not even half wrapped. They were just a few iron wheel tires installed on the chassis. This train back to the port area did not carry any cargo, but more than 300 migrant workers who had just returned from the construction site. As for the expressions of these migrant workers after taking the train, they could only be described as black as carbon.
Seeing the distress of these migrant workers, everyone gave up the idea of taking this train to see the front of the construction site. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya had no choice but to cancel the itinerary and said that he would find other means of transportation the next day to send the business representatives to inspect the construction site. Of course, given the local conditions, the other means of transportation that Qiao Zhiya could find were at most the level of an ox cart.
The inspection team stayed in Changhua for five days, which verified the huge financial resources Haihan invested here in the early stage. Thousands of laborers have been working here for three months. The Haihan people even tried their best to transport a huge steel locomotive here. The track built and laid for this purpose has been nearly ten miles long, and it is still running every three days. The high speed continues inland. No matter from which aspect, Haihan people have invested heavily in this project, and the merchant representatives have a more real understanding of the various publicity and commitments made by Haihan.
During this period, Tao Donglai and representatives of the local government in Changhua also attended a briefing to show that the project here had been recognized and supported by the Ming Dynasty - if President Xiao Laosan could represent the Ming Dynasty.
Xiao Laosan himself did not reject Haihan's propaganda method, and even felt a little secretly happy in his heart - I never thought that I, Xiao Laosan, would one day represent the imperial court!
Strictly speaking, Xiao Laosan, who received 200 taels of silver from Qiao Zhiya, is not qualified to represent the imperial court, and he is not even qualified to represent the official county government of Changhua. What's more, iron, like salt, should be controlled by the state. Quan, what Haihan did was simply illegal.
However, the business representatives present did not care whether this nominal thing made sense. What they wanted to confirm was whether the Haihan people had settled with the local government. As for who would express their position on behalf of the local government, the garrison commander or the county magistrate? That's not the point of the problem - this person has received Haihan's trust and support, and that is the evidence to confirm the fact.
As for the fact that Haihan's development of iron mines here would violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, no one cares about this issue. Which of these businesses that work closely with Haihan has not resold Haihan’s private salt? Have you ever smuggled Haihan arms? Didn't you rely on the ports Haihan established on the mainland coast to evade taxes? Who cares about the laws of the country when you can make a lot of money? The current situation is that people who abide by the rules of the Haihan can make a lot of money, and they also have enough strength to protect their own industry. Anyone who is not a fool knows how to choose.
The merchant representatives happily left Changhua Port and returned to the mainland with the hard work fees and valuable souvenirs issued by the Haihan Ministry of Commerce. If nothing else, the major shareholders behind these business representatives will soon take action to recruit immigrants to Sanya in various ways in exchange for the qualification to invest in bonds in the Qiongxi Iron Ore Project. As for how much benefit can actually be obtained, it really depends on each person's ability to see who can get more people.
As the Changhua project progressed smoothly, Qiao Zhiya, the interim manager, was naturally promoted by the executive committee because of his outstanding performance during this period. The area and population under Qiao Zhiya's jurisdiction ranked second among all foreign agencies, second only to Annan Black Earth Port. However, the Executive Committee has recently let out rumors that it will make structural adjustments to Annan's management department before the end of the year.
This adjustment is not because of any problems with the local military and political officials, but simply because the original institutional setup is no longer able to effectively manage the current concession in Annan. From the northernmost Black Tu Port to the southernmost Da Nang, which is still under planning, the distance has far exceeded the functions of local governance institutions required by the Hai Han Executive Committee. Although messages can be exchanged through radio stations, in actual work, it is difficult to achieve effective management when they are thousands of miles apart. Splitting the management agencies of the Annan region has become the next thing that must be done.
According to the vision of the Executive Committee, in the future, there will be at least two sets of leadership teams in the Annan region, the north and the south, with the rivers and mountains as the boundary. The three early concessions will be under the jurisdiction of the north, and the four new ports in the south will be classified as the jurisdiction of the southern agencies.
On September 20, 1629, the advance team of the Da Nang project, representing the Hai Han Executive Committee, arrived. The leader of the advance team was Liu Shanxia, who was urgently transferred from the Changhua construction site by the executive committee. After he rushed back to Victory Port to report his work, he quickly devoted himself to the Da Nang project and was appointed as the person in charge of the preliminary work. In addition to people from relevant departments, there was also a person with a special status who was traveling with him.
(End of chapter)