Chapter 630 Competition and Threats
"This bottle is no worse than the one produced in Venice!" Brower couldn't help but admire as he played with the bottle of Sanya's special wine.
"Venetian glassware has been unsaleable in Daming in the past two years." Fan Longgen, who is relatively familiar with the market, explained: "The glassware produced by Haihan is no worse than the Venetian goods in terms of craftsmanship, and their production volume and freight costs are They all have great advantages and can beat the prices of goods from Venice. Not only us, but also the Spanish and Portuguese have rarely sold glassware to Daming in the past two years.”
In terms of production technology, the production skills mastered by Venetian glass craftsmen in the 17th century are definitely incomparable to Haihan, who has accumulated more than 400 years of technology. Although there are no professional glass craftsmen in Chuanchuan Group, they have a rich theoretical knowledge foundation. Haihan glass products have demonstrated a production level that is no less than that of imported products in a short period of time, and the rate of increase in production capacity has kept pace with The growth rate of the labor force under Haihan was also proportional, from a three-digit monthly supply level to a four-digit level very quickly. In addition, the distance between Qiongzhou Island and the mainland is much closer than that between Europe and the Far East. The shipping cost of glassware produced in Europe cannot compete with that of Haihan products.
There are more factors that contribute to the popularity of Haihan glass products in the market. There are at least two reasons that Van Longen is not particularly familiar with. One is Haihan's product development and innovation capabilities, and the other is Haihan's unique business promotion techniques.
Haihan has taken a unique approach since the beginning of making glassware and developed a wide variety of glass stationery for the literati of the Ming Dynasty. These practical glassware are naturally more likely to be consumed than glass ornaments purely used for decoration. favor. The various fancy promotion routines specially designed by the commercial department for this purpose are tricks that businessmen in this era cannot even think of. In just two or three years, a culture of pride in using Haihan glass stationery emerged in the cultural circles of the two southeastern provinces. For Ming Dynasty scholars with great reputations in these areas, it was normal for them not to have glassware sold to Ming Dynasty by Folangji people at home, but if they didn’t even have a piece of Haihan glass stationery, it would be a bit of a loss of status.
The consumption trend led by the cultural circle soon had an impact on all levels of society. The glassware produced by Haihan took away the market share of European products in a short period of time. The Portuguese didn't care about this, because after establishing commercial relations with Haihan, they had obtained more trade opportunities, and the benefits they could obtain were far better than trafficking glassware from Europe to the Ming Dynasty. The Spanish and Dutch suffer. For them, they really lack a highly profitable business, and it is no longer possible to take the market back from the Haihan people through technical means.
Of course, these Western colonists, who were unable to penetrate into the Ming Dynasty for trade like the Haihan people, did not realize the real advantages of Haihan in a short period of time. They still believed that the Haihan people relied on production and geographical advantages to rob When it came to the market, Haihan people had long relied on more advanced technical means to consolidate their position and sales channels, leaving no opportunities for them to take advantage of.
After opening a bottle and tasting the wine produced by Haihan, the three Dutchmen all spoke highly of it. It's no wonder, after all, Sanya Special Brew is a finished product that imitates the brewing method of rum, and in the time and space before time travel, rum was a very popular wine in Europe and the United States.
However, in this time and space, even the Dutch, who have traveled almost all over the world, have not yet tasted this distilled liquor made from sugarcane rhizomes. Although Columbus brought sugar cane to Cuba during his second voyage to the Americas, and the history of sugar cane cultivation in Cuba began, the Europeans discovered that the local natives used sugar cane juice to make strong medical treatments, and were inspired to develop soju. , but it was already at the beginning of the 18th century. It was not until the mid-19th century that advanced technologies such as steam engines were introduced to the country before Cuba began to produce rum on an industrial scale.
The rum copied by Haihan is based on the authentic taste of Cuba. Of course, it is currently impossible for Haihan to produce wine that is aged for more than seven years or even twenty years. The products are basically light-flavored wines produced with sugarcane juice raw materials, and there are also a small amount of strong-flavored wines prepared with sugarcane syrup, such as the bottle of "Sanya Special Brew" in Brower's hand.
"This tastes different from the liquor produced by Daming. This kind of wine... is sweeter!" After drinking another glass, Broward gave his own comment: "This may be brewed with some kind of fruit."
"It's sugar cane, Mr. Brouwer. The Haihan people plant a large amount of sugar cane on Qiongzhou Island. According to the information we have received before, at least tens of thousands of people are managing large-scale sugar cane plantations for them." Van Longen explained. . Although it was his first time to drink this kind of wine, he had heard many rumors about this kind of fruit wine before.
"Haihan people planted so much sugar cane on Qiongzhou Island?" Spikes asked with some confusion: "Then their sugar production is also amazingly high?"
Spikes's cousin is also a Dutch maritime merchant. He owns several sugar cane plantations on the other side of the world in the Caribbean and has thousands of slave workers. Therefore, Spikes generally knows what the scale of a large plantation is. . A sugarcane plantation with tens of thousands of people working is a scale that can only be achieved by at least ten or more plantation owners in the Americas uniting. Since the Haihan people had settled in Qiongzhou for just over four years, Spikes was a little suspicious of the information provided by Van Longen.
Fan Longgen was silent for a moment before saying: "Actually, a kind of white sugar produced by Haihan is now a hot commodity in the Guangdong and Fujian markets. Rich officials and wealthy businessmen will buy the sugar produced by Haihan, which is higher in purity and sweetness. Cane sugar. I tasted this kind of white sugar when I was in Taiyuan Port, and I have to admit that they have some unique features in their sugar making process.”
"Can't our plantations produce sugar of the same quality?" Spikes asked in disbelief. Although the Dutch have not been operating plantations in the tropics for as long as the pioneers of navigation in southern Europe, they still have a history of several decades. Van Longen's statement is really shocking.
"I have also asked the local plantation in Danyuan about this issue. It can be made, but it is very labor-intensive and material-intensive, and the cost will be nearly twice as high as the selling price of Haihan white sugar." Fan Longgen said The tone also sounded very depressed.
If the production cost is much higher than the selling price, then naturally no one will be stupid enough to spend money to produce such a product. As a result, there is no doubt that the income from sugar cane plantations under the name of the East India Company will also be affected accordingly. "Then our sugar cane plantation in Da Yuan will no longer be able to operate?" Brouwer had more things on his mind and asked immediately.
"In fact, when I went to Damuan half a year ago, the local sugarcane plantations had already begun to partially convert to planting other crops. Farmers believed that the chance of winning in competing with the Haihan people in this area was very slim. According to some people in Daming Insiders said that the Haihan people's agricultural skills have surpassed those of the Ming Dynasty, and some immigrants even think that their farming methods are magical skills." Fan Longgen began to have a sense of helplessness in his words: "Is it a magical skill? I don’t know, but after the Haihan people settled in Qiongzhou Island, they did not hear of any famine or other disasters there. They even recruited a large number of immigrants from Guangdong to ship to Qiongzhou Island by providing food relief. The food supply is very abundant.”
"Where did these monsters come from!" For a competitor who seemed to be stronger than him in every aspect, all Spikes could do now was to spit on him unwilling to admit defeat.
Mayor Jonke cautiously interjected: "I have heard some merchants from the Ming Dynasty say that they are from the other side of the sea in the east, thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty."
"These are just people who don't know the truth." Brouwer shook his head and said: "Those Ming maritime merchants have only been to places like Batavia and Malacca. As for the other side of the sea in the east, they have never been, but But we know what the situation is there. There is no civilized country on that continent, let alone the existence of the Haihan Kingdom.”
"But their origin is indeed a mystery." Van Longen took over and said: "I have asked people about it before, but the information I can get is similar to what Mr. Jonker said. No one knows where they come from. , the only thing that can be confirmed is that all the large iron ships they took when they arrived at Qiongzhou Island are still docked in Victory Port, and that kind of iron ships are not what we can make now."
"They have been very troubled in Fujian in the past two years. Maybe they will be the ones to fight us head-on in the future, instead of the Ming Dynasty's navy." Brouwer said with a gloomy look.
What Brower didn't know was that two months ago, the Haihan Militia Army had engaged in the first exchange of fire in the history of both parties with the Dutch East India Company. Haihan, with his mental arithmetic and unintentional calculations, coupled with his superiority in strength, won a complete victory in this confrontation. However, not even one of the Dutch on Ambrosia Island escaped from the trap, so that Batavia Not even a hint of news was received here. However, it has to be said that Brouwer's vigilance is commendable. He has noticed the ambition of this emerging force to expand externally from Haihan's various behaviors.
"Yes, they provided military assistance to the Fujian government. Not only did they sell a large amount of weapons to the Fujian government, but they also helped them train the army. This made Zheng Zhilong's situation very embarrassing." Spikes said about the company's local plans He knew a little bit about it, so he started talking when he was drunk: "The governor originally intended to support Xu Xinsu, but this guy was not so reliable after he defected to the Ming Dynasty. Then he planned to support Zheng Zhilong, but this guy failed to live up to his expectations. , they have been unable to defeat Xu Xinsu for several years. Now that the Haihan people have intervened, Zheng Zhilong's army is even more struggling, and the range of sea lanes he controls is getting smaller and smaller."
What Spikes didn't know was that the Haihan people had recently sent a fleet to Fujian to assist the local Ming army, or more accurately, with the assistance of the Ming army, they had conquered the key to the Fujian waterway that had been controlled by Shibazhi. Location Nanri Island. The loss caused by the change of hands of Nanri Island is almost equivalent to the loss of an arm. Without this place, there is almost no way to threaten the ships passing nearby waterways to pay tolls, and the annual income generated by this The loss was at least hundreds of thousands. This is a serious blow to the finances of Shibazhi, which has been mired in war in recent years.
"However, our soldiers have faced various opponents all over the world. I believe that our strength must be higher than that of the Haihan people!" After Van Longen finished speaking, he thought for a while and added: "At least in naval battles, we will definitely not Will lose to them!”
"For the honor of the company!"
"Cheers!"
The three commanders were all a little drunk that night, so the three prostitutes that Mayor Jonker kindly prepared for them were not put to use. In the end, they could only be given one silver coin each and sent home. However, Jonker will not be disappointed by this. In fact, he is not happy to receive these senior figures from the company headquarters, because they are often very picky about the local reception work and living environment, and will point fingers if they are slightly dissatisfied. Feet, demand this and that. Being able to drink these guys down and spend a quiet night is already a very ideal effect.
Of course, this has to exclude the five bottles of "Sanya Special Wine" they drank. The value of these five bottles of wine alone is almost equivalent to more than half a year's salary of Jonke. If he paid for it himself, he would definitely be heartbroken. Fortunately, these wines were sponsored by Zhan Gui, one of the regular customers who often come here. Jonke had a very good impression of this Han man, because every time Zhan Gui came here with the boat, he would take time to eat and chat with Jonke. The most important thing was that he was very generous with his actions, and almost every time he came, he would not take advantage of him. Show up empty handed. For example, Zhan Gui led a fleet here two months ago and stayed on the island for half a month. Even the transactions that were originally going to Batavia were handed over to his subordinates. It was that time that Zhan Gui brought two boxes of "Sanya Special Wine" and gave them to Qiong Ke as a gift.
In Jonke's eyes, Zhan Gui is a warm and philanthropic Han Chinese, rich and generous, and does not seem threatening at all. It is a blessing to make such a friend in a foreign country. But what he didn't know was that Zhan Gui's purpose for staying on the island for so long last time was not that simple. He came here to perform a mission with instructions from the military and the Ministry of Security.
(End of chapter)