Chapter 938: The Way of Business
However, Zhang Yun was not a nerd who was ignorant of worldly affairs. Roger's words were fantastic, but he did not blindly believe them. The operational difficulty of this project was not small even in the time and space before they traveled, let alone four hundred years ago now. Although the operation plan mentioned by Roger has certain feasibility, Zhang Yun still feels that I am a little uneasy, and I always feel that it is really difficult to maintain the operation of this so-called wildlife park with operating income. After all, Ambona Island is an isolated island in the sea. The flow of people is extremely limited, and more than half of this flow is slaves sold to the island by human traffickers. The overall consumption capacity is very limited, and the prospect of running entertainment projects like the zoo is really worrying.
Zhang Yun asked thoughtfully: "Roger, are you planning this matter alone, or have you contacted other departments and have a more complete business plan?"
Roger responded: "I know what you are worried about. Let me tell you this. Several people from our North American team are ready to invest. Schneider is also very interested and has put forward some good business suggestions. Just rely on this project There is definitely no way to revitalize Ambona Island, so there are actually other projects on the Ministry of Commerce’s side, such as funding, publicity, and operations. You don’t have to worry about these things. There will be dedicated personnel in charge of them, and you just need to take care of them. Just the area you are good at. I have no intention of putting the entire project on your shoulders. We will have a team to handle this matter, and you will only be the person in charge of one of the departments. Even if this project ends in the end. If the operation fails, you will not suffer any losses...I mean financially.”
Zhang Yun shook his head and said: "Even if I contribute money, I won't be able to contribute much. How much savings do you think I can have with my daily work and dragging two burdens? What I'm worried about is not the financial loss, but just If this project fails, the negative impact may be huge. Have you considered it?”
Roger pondered for a moment before responding: "Okay, since you think so far, let me reveal a little more information to you. But remember, whatever you hear here, you have only heard it."
Zhang Yun didn't respond, just waiting for Roger's inside information to convince him. He originally suspected that Roger's proposal was not a whim, but was planned in advance. Such a large project involves many aspects and a large amount of funds, so it is understandable that Roger does not want to spit out all the information at once.
Roger did not start talking immediately, but took Zhang Yun on board the ship and entered the captain's cabin. After sitting down, he said: "I won't show the map. I believe you are also familiar with the location of Ambon Island." Clear, then I would like to ask you, apart from the disadvantages we all know, what special advantages does Ambuna Island have in terms of geographical environment? ”
Zhang Yun didn't expect Roger to ask such a strange question. After thinking about it for a while, he answered: "I don't know much about the theories of geo-environment, so don't be offended if I say something wrong. Ambona Island is so far away No country is close. Due to traffic conditions, the flow of people is very limited. This is an obvious disadvantage that everyone can see. But on the other hand, no country can control this place, and its location is perfect. The middle of Indochina, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo is a place that must be passed by the waterway going south, north, east and west. The geographical location is actually quite critical, but there is no natural environment in Ampurna Island. The harbor limits its development prospects, so I don’t quite understand how to take advantage of its geographical location.”
"Actually, you have already thought of part of it. It's just that your thinking is limited by the condition of 'port' and you can't broaden your horizons." Roger explained unhurriedly: "Excluding us, in Anbu There are more than fifteen countries within a thousand nautical miles of Amborna Island, and nine countries exist within a radius of 500 nautical miles. Compared with these surrounding countries, Amborna Island has only the sea supply point. What kind of existence is there besides meaning? ”
Before Zhang Yun could think of an answer, Roger automatically gave the answer: "A land outside the law, a paradise, and all the surrounding countries have no jurisdiction over this isolated island in the sea. We are the rule makers on the island. Come here No matter what their past status was, the people of Ambon Island, as long as they abide by our rules of the game and can get enough money, we will give them everything they want, including food, drink, and entertainment. Schneider has already found someone. We have made a design plan and plan to build the largest casino and the most luxurious hotel in the Far East on the island. We have hundreds of years more experience in entertainment operations than people of this era, something like this. Schneider has a lot more projects. If you are interested in learning more about them, you can have a chat with him after you return to Sanya.”
Roger's words took Zhang Yun some time to digest. He thought that Roger should be more prepared, but what he didn't expect was that Roger and Schneider had already plotted such a big plan. In this plan, the wildlife park that Roger mentioned to Zhang Yun was only a part of the entire Ambrosia Island business plan, and it didn’t sound like it was essential, because Schneider’s original plan seemed It is planned to use the casino as the main attraction of the island.
If Schneider was in charge of the overall situation, the difficulty of operating the entire project would naturally be reduced. After all, he has the richest commercial operation experience in the entire time-traveling team and is relatively skilled in the planning and development of large-scale commercial projects. Thinking about it this way, the feasibility of the entire project seems to have improved a lot.
With Zhang Yun's knowledge and expertise, it was indeed difficult for him to imagine such a plan, but after Roger said it, it was not difficult for him to understand the intention of Schneider and others in making such a plan. The location and surrounding environment of Ambuna Island can indeed give it a special international positioning as a "lawless place", and use this to attract some uneasy wealthy people from surrounding countries to come here for fun and consumption. Although the transportation to Ambona Island is not that convenient, this place belongs to Haihan, who has a very high military value. No one dares to take advantage of this place. Moreover, Haihan's business reputation is well-known, so it is safe to spend money here. It's obviously more secure.
Roger stood up and waved his arms excitedly: "Zhang Yun, think about Las Vegas. It is also a city located in the desert. It does not have any resources and relies entirely on the entertainment industry and The gaming industry has become the largest city and economic center in Nevada, attracting twenty times the number of citizens every year! We can definitely apply this development experience to Ambra Island with certain changes, making it a tourist destination in this region! The ultimate destination for shopping and vacation. We have the opportunity to create an economic miracle in the South China Sea in the 17th century. Isn’t this reason enough? Join us and complete this project together, and you will not only gain fame and fortune, but also You can also do the biological research you are interested in with peace of mind, which is beneficial to everyone.”
After Zhang Yun heard his enthusiastic encouragement, he was really moved, but he still had one last question that he had to ask clearly: "Does the Military Commission know about this plan? I want to know the attitude of the top military officials towards this project. ”
Roger smiled and said: "Mr. Yan went south to stay on Ambon Island for so many days. Do you think he just wanted to see the plantations on the island? There are hundreds of thousands of acres of land on the island. Why should he go to the South China Sea to see this? This planning report was handed in a few months ago. Mr. Yan also took advantage of this military exercise to drop by Ambona Island for an on-site inspection of this project. But I will still participate in the form of labor shares. After all, the defense of Ambona Island is still the responsibility of the military. I am not in a position to disclose more details now, but I believe that Mr. Yan will take part in it after he returns this time. Our preparations will be brought to the executive committee for discussion." Zhang Yun had a rough idea after hearing his explanation. Since the military can gain considerable profits from it, most senior officials of the Military Commission will support this plan. After all, for the rapidly expanding Haihan area, the people in the Military Commission will certainly not think that the military expenditure is too much. And as long as the Military Commission is willing to come forward to support it, then according to past practice, the voting results in the Executive Committee will probably be in favor of it.
"Okay, what should I do now?" After Zhang Yun made up his mind, he immediately began to ask about his responsibilities.
"As I said before, you first make a construction plan for the wildlife park, so that when we establish the project, the budget will also be included, so that we can calculate the funding requirements." Roger was already prepared for this. , immediately responded: "It is best to complete it within a month. If there is a war in the South China Sea after this trip is completed, then this project will definitely be shelved, so it must be reviewed by the Executive Committee as soon as possible."
The two of them immediately discussed the specific operational details in the cabin. As for the local inspection of Banda Lampung, Roger also left it to his men. Although this place has a good geographical location, its ownership rights are in the hands of the Matalan Kingdom. Haihan currently does not want to offend the indigenous government in the Java area, so he will not have the idea of this port for the time being, so the inspection here is just for inspection. Some routine data collection, such as port water depth, nearby topography, population size, etc.
On the other hand, Zheng Zha and Fan Ji, who came with them, negotiated several deals here, all of which involved exchanging grain for spices. There is no other output in these two countries, but there is enough food. The trade with Haihan also involves bartering with food. Roger originally only wanted the fleet to stay here for a day and a half, but due to the requests of Zheng Zha and Fan Ji, the stay had to be extended to three days. Fortunately, after he contacted Yan Chujie through the radio, he knew that the negotiations with the Dutch were also falling into a long tug-of-war, so he was no longer in a hurry to go back.
On November 16, the combined fleet left the port of Bandar Lampung, went all the way south across the Sunda Strait, returned to the side of Java Island, and then headed northeast along the coastline of the western end of Java Island to begin its return journey.
Judging from the results of this inspection, the coast near the Sunda Strait does not have conditions suitable for building large ports, especially naval bases. The military originally planned to build a military base nearby in the future, but in fact there are relatively large problems. implementation difficulty. Of course, if the Executive Committee is willing to invest enough resources, it is not impossible for the military to occupy a piece of land here to do things, but the effect may not be worthy of the military expenditure that needs to be invested.
It took the combined fleet two days to return to the sea outside Batavia Port and reunite with the other half of the fleet that stayed here. At this time, Yan Chujie's negotiations with the Batavia authorities had reached a preliminary agreement on the formation of a trade alliance, but there were still many differences in the specific details.
For example, the two sides have been arguing over the scope of the Dutch's future activities in the South China Sea. Haihan intends to firmly contain the East India Company's sphere of influence in the waters south of Ampana Island, and only allow it to operate in the Java Sea, Flores Sea, Banda Sea and other waters south of the equator in the future. , and the Dutch are obviously unable to accept this. After all, it took more than ten years to open the Northeast Asia route. If they want to give up completely now, the loss will be too great.
The two sides have been talking for a week and still have not come to an agreement. At this time, the itinerary has exceeded the original arrangement. It is impossible for a huge fleet composed of dozens of ships to float on the sea all the time, consuming tons of supplies every day. Yan Chujie had to give up the idea of getting it done at once, and could only temporarily sign a memorandum of understanding with Van Diemen, and then agreed that one month later, the delegations of both parties would continue to negotiate on the relevant agreements of the trade alliance on Ampurna Island. When it comes to this point, in fact, Haihan has only achieved half of the expected goal, which is not an ideal result. However, Van Diemen forced the negotiation to overtime when he did not have the advantage in politics, military and economy. This performance was not bad for the East India Company, and at least it gained a month's buffer time for them. You can slowly think of ways to deal with it.
Of course, the Dutch are not sure whether Heihan will change his mind after a month. If Heihan's patience has been worn out by the long negotiations and he is determined to solve the problem through war, then Van Diemen's delay The tactic backfired. From this perspective, Van Diemen's move actually took certain risks.
After purchasing supplies again at the port of Batavia, the combined fleet sailed north. Their next stop was Belitung Island, one hundred and eighty nautical miles to the north, which was still under the control of the Dutch.
(End of chapter)