Chapter 892 Cooperation Routine
Since Qian Tiandun was transferred to Fujian in the summer of 1631, he has been dealing with Ming officials for two years and has a relatively deep understanding of their habits and ways of thinking. Although there are indeed honest officials who are loyal to the emperor and patriotic and unwilling to accept Haihan's benefits, most officials cannot refuse the temptation of real money. Their attitude only depends on the price Haihan bids and the risks he needs to bear for it.
After Haihan entered Zhejiang, he still followed the same operating methods that had achieved good results in the southern region. He first bribed and wooed civil and military officials in the coastal areas. As soon as the gates of the coastal areas were opened, the vested interests would take the initiative to move inland. The establishment of regional ties drags more people into the water in order to seek greater profits in the Haihan-dominated trading system. Therefore, when Haihan first arrived in Zhejiang, almost all the official figures he came into contact with were working in Ningbo Prefecture. The purpose was to capture this area first and use it as a springboard between Zhoushan and the mainland.
After spending a lot of money, the civil and military officials of Ningbo Prefecture changed their stance, gave up their initial resistance to Haihan, and began to enjoy the dividends brought by Haihan. Those with smarter minds, such as the prefect Qu Yutong, have already found agents and directly joined Haihan's trading system to participate in operations. The profits in the future will definitely be more substantial.
Local officials in Ningbo want to involve officials from other prefectures, which is exactly what Haihan wants. For Haihan, he was not afraid of Ming officials being greedy for money, but he was afraid that the other party would not mention conditions. As long as they were willing to offer a price, they would have to negotiate. As for the money spent, sooner or later it can be recovered from the local area hundreds of times through trade, which is not the primary issue. What's more, this matter also involves the maritime navigation safety issue that currently worries the command the most. Whether this matter is true or false, we must find out.
At that moment, Qian Tiandun wrote a reply to Xu Shaohua, explaining what he meant and giving the meeting place and approximate time. The news was passed from Zhoushan to Guanhaiwei, and then to Linshanwei. After the commanders of the two guard posts unified their opinions, the process was repeated again, and it took several days. Fortunately, Qian Tiandun took into account the slow speed of information transmission in this era and specifically set the meeting time for five days, so it was not affected.
The two sides set the meeting place on the southern coast of Jintang Island, which is currently controlled by Haihan. Gao Qiaonan took a company to the place one day in advance and conducted a clearance search within a five-mile radius of the meeting place. In addition, the Navy also dispatched four expedition-class and four exploration-class warships to deploy a maritime cordon between Jintang Island and the Yongjiang Estuary in case things change.
Qian Tiandun chose this place for the meeting to fully consider the positions of both parties. Although Jintang Island is an island controlled by Haihan, there are no armed personnel stationed on the island. Its south bank is less than ten miles away from the mainland and less than twenty miles away from the mouth of the Yongjiang River where naval forces are stationed. Ming officials do not need to worry too much about safety issues when they come to meet, and there will not be too much psychological burden.
Linshan Guard Commander Wei Shan and Guanhai Guard Commander Huang Tao arrived in the same boat, and the person who sent them over was Navy Commander Xu Shaohua, who acted as an intermediary. After landing, they were welcomed into the large tent that Haihan's party had set up in advance. Here they finally met the Haihan man rumored to be called the "Chief".
Wei Shan and Huang Tao are both soldiers, and have a very good impression of Qian Tiandun. He has a dark complexion and a strong build, and exudes a confident and steady aura. This kind of aura can only be achieved by those who have been in high positions for a long time and are used to giving orders and controlling the power of life and death. Talent will have it. The other party even allowed them to bring their sidearms into the negotiation venue. This courage and magnanimity were enough to win their hearts.
After Xu Shaohua introduced both parties in the middle, he could not help but say polite words such as long-admired names, and then Qian Tiandun invited them to take a seat and ordered tea.
"The tea just sent by a friend from Hangzhou a few days ago is said to be Mingqian Longjing picked from the old tea tree in front of Hu Gong Temple at the foot of Shifeng Mountain. Let's take a look and see if it is genuine." Qian Tiandun was not busy talking about business. , but I tasted the tea first.
Although Wei Shan and Huang Tao were military officers, they were not rough people. Qian Tiandun was not in a hurry to get to the point, and they were not so impatient. They each picked up their teacups and tasted the tea. Although Mingqian Longjing is good, it is not particularly rare for them, and they can still buy it if they want it. But the Haihan people have always been known for their shrewdness, so they would not just drink a cup of Longjing tea to kill themselves. They would first see what they can do.
Qian Tiandun put down his tea cup and continued talking about tea without mentioning the business: "The Book of Tea written by Lu Yu, the tea saint of the Tang Dynasty, contains records about the tea production in Tianzhu and Lingyin temples in Hangzhou. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was already It became a tribute tea, and Su Dongpo also wrote poems praising Longjing tea. The famous tea lists compiled by Huang Yizheng and Xu Wenchang also included West Lake Longjing tea."
Wei Shan and Huang Tao looked at each other and didn't understand why Qian Tiandun wanted to talk about this tea. Wasn't he here to talk about the threat to Haihan's trade routes? How could he still have the time to talk about such an irrelevant topic if he didn't mention serious business.
Qian Tiandun didn't seem to notice the expressions of the two of them, and continued to talk to himself: "When we first settled in Qiongzhou, Nanhai, we couldn't drink good tea from Zhejiang at all. Why? First, it was too far, and second, it was too far away. It is too expensive, but it is actually caused by the long distance and inconvenient transportation. We wanted to drink authentic Longjing tea, so we paid a high price. We brought it back from Zhejiang through connections and wanted to drink the tea produced that year. For new tea, we have to start trying to establish connections at least six months in advance. But now that we have arrived in Zhejiang, we have discovered that it is not that difficult to buy, and it is not as expensive as we thought. We couldn't buy it in the past, but now the situation is different. ”
Qian Tiandun pointed to the tea cup put back on the table and said: "After we tasted it, we immediately placed an order for three thousand kilograms of tea with the local merchants. Because we purchased a large amount, the price was only one-third of the price in the southern market. First, when we traffic the tea to the south, we will have at least double the gross profit. If we sell the tea to Annam, Champa, Siam, or even the Ban people in the West, the profit will be doubled. ”
Wei Shan and Huang Tao listened in a daze, seeming to understand some of the implications, but they still didn't seem to understand what Qian Tiandun wanted.
Qian Tiandun asked: "Since you two are willing to come here to interview me, you are both smart people who can understand the situation. I would like to ask you two, why can we obtain huge profits from the tea trade?"
Huang Tao pondered: "This is naturally because the place of production is too far away from the market."
"That's right." Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "The reverse is the same. Why did our Haihan products sell so expensively in the past, and were often sold at high prices but not in the market? It's because our place of origin is too far away from Zhejiang, and the goods are only It can be shipped here for sale through layers of transshipment and increased prices, but it is different now. We can produce many things locally in Zhejiang and sell them locally. Even if we lower the price, because the supply volume has increased, so The benefits that can be obtained will be much greater than before. The purpose of our previous investment conference was to provide businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas with an opportunity to make a lot of money together. "There is endless money, and we can make more by working together." Yinzi, and we believe that everyone can find their own place and play their own role in our system." Qian Tiandun said with a smile on his face: "If you two are willing to cooperate with us, we actually have more things to do. I can leave it to you to do it. Of course, these things will not be in vain, and they will be richly rewarded.”
"General Qian, can you tell me in detail?" Wei Shan couldn't help but ask after hearing this.
"It's very simple. Help us control the local trade routes, both land and sea, and control the passage of goods in and out of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Money will naturally flow into our pockets." Qian Tiandun noticed the other party's eagerness. Only then did the conversation begin to slowly turn to business.
Regarding how to win over Ming officials, Haihan had accumulated several years of practical experience in the south and summarized it to form standardized operating procedures. Although Qian Tiandun is not an official in charge of commercial affairs, he can still achieve good results by reading the relevant information in advance and following the instructions.
The first thing is to make these officials realize that the money they obtain is not ill-gotten gains, and they do not need to do deviant things in exchange for these gains. The money they can obtain in the future will be through reasonable and legal means. With the means, there is no need to betray one's country, no need to feel ashamed of the emperor, and no risk of losing one's official position or head.
To achieve such an effect, they must first understand the basic profit method of Haihan's business model, which is to make profits by controlling maritime trade channels. The high value of Haihan's goods itself is only part of the profit, and the various commodities produced in the Ming Dynasty and sold well at home and abroad will also bring huge profits, provided that the sea trade channels are in the hands of Haihan.
The wealthy Haihan can use the liquidity in his hands to influence the price trend of certain commodities. For example, the Longjing tea mentioned by Qian Tiandun just now can be used to influence or even directly obtain this commodity by sweeping large quantities of goods. Pricing power. Tea can almost be used as hard currency in international trade in this era. Controlling pricing power is equivalent to controlling the market. Although there are a lot of wealthy businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, compared with the Haihan trading system that has been operating as a group for many years, the ability to mobilize funds is still very different. At this level of operation, it is impossible to form a business with Haihan. compete.
In this process, Ming businessmen would act as agents or compradors to pave channels for Haihan to sell or purchase goods. What Qian Tiandun wanted the Ming military to do was to operate on the surface in some unscrupulous ways. affairs. For example, it provides protection for Haihan's agents, carriers, and partners, combats competitors who are hostile to Haihan, and provides Haihan with necessary intelligence, etc.
Of course, these are only preliminary means. After cooperation reaches a certain level, there will inevitably be further military cooperation. Haihan will provide different forms of military assistance to the local garrison on the pretext of providing weapons, providing training, etc., and then infiltrate the garrison through various training methods, support pro-Haihan officers to rise to the top, and make the local garrison gradually control Haihan's Military aid creates dependence. These methods have been implemented many times in Fuzhou and Guangzhou in the south, and have been proven to have good effects and operability. Qian Tiandun hopes that through this kind of cooperation, a peripheral buffer zone will be formed in Ningbo Prefecture and its surrounding areas. Even if the Ming Dynasty wants to take action against Haihan in the future, this buffer zone will be enough to help the Zhoushan Islands prepare for war in advance. Prepare.
As long as the local civil and military officials in this area have more and more common interests with Haihan, Haihan can use this as a foundation to slowly spread out in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, gradually transforming the most prosperous and prosperous area in the Ming Dynasty. Become Haihan's sales market and raw material supplier. During this process, it was also a normal expense item to leak some benefits to these Ming officials.
Of course, Qian Tiandun will not talk about in-depth cooperation projects yet, mainly focusing on some operating methods that the two commanders are currently capable of. This also incidentally mentioned the original purpose of their trip - the so-called conspiracy to attack merchant ships.
Wei Shan was hesitant at first and refused to tell the whole situation. When Qian Tiandun saw this, he did not ask further questions, so he ordered two boxes to be brought up. When he opened them, they were filled with dazzling silver ingots.
"These two boxes each contain five thousand taels of silver. They will be considered as payment for the hard work of the two adults. They will be sent to the two adults' ships later." After Qian Tiandun finished speaking, the guard opened the box lid. Close it and carry it out.
"Actually, if I spend ten thousand taels of silver in Hangzhou Prefecture to buy this information, I think I can buy it. Maybe I can even buy the other party's head. But I think it would be better to spend 10,000 taels of silver in Hangzhou Prefecture. It's better to use it to make friends, don't you think so?" Qian Tiandun said calmly.
Wei Shan swallowed and did not answer immediately. His annual official salary was only a hundred taels, and with all kinds of gray income, he could only make two to three thousand taels a year. This Haihan man threw a box of money out whenever he disagreed, which really shocked him greatly. As for the fact that Qian Tiandun said that he would buy information in Hangzhou for 10,000 taels, Wei Shan thought that there was no need to pay such a high price, so I said half the price.
Huang Tao saw that Wei Shan was silent, but he was a little confused about his thoughts. He didn't want to offend Qian Tiandun, so he smoothed things over and said: "The inside story of this matter is complicated. It's not that Mr. Wei doesn't want to talk about it, but he just wants to understand it first." Understand the ins and outs of this, right Master Wei?”
Only then did Wei Shan come back to his senses and responded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, Master Huang is right. General Qian, this is what happened..."
(End of chapter)