Chapter 1003 Founding Celebration (3)
Although these congratulatory messages paid to be published in the "Haihan Times" are very official in style, if Van Diemen, an old fox, carefully tastes them, he can indeed unearth some information that is not noticed by others. In addition to the closeness and distance between countries and Haihan can be gleaned from the congratulatory messages, Van Diemen also noticed that each overseas colony also had differences in the space occupied in newspapers.
For example, the wealthy Guangdong Office and the Fujian Office each occupied half of the page for their congratulatory messages, which was much larger than the pages of many small countries, while the ports in Annan were much more reserved. Van Diemen believes that this can be regarded as a side reflection of the political status and economic status of overseas colonies in the Haihan Kingdom. It also shows that the conditions of the colonies operated by Haihan along the coast of the Ming Dynasty should be much better than that of several areas on the coastline of the Indochina Peninsula. This current situation also reflects the difference in the scale of trade between Haihan, Daming, and Annan. The resources and markets that Daming, with its vast territory and abundant resources, can provide to Haihan, obviously surpass Annan by a large margin.
In addition to these official congratulatory messages, various congratulations from the private sector also occupied a large amount of newspaper space. These seemingly advertisement-like words also aroused Van Diemen's interest.
Some of these private business organizations are ones that Fan Diemen has heard of before, such as the famous Qiongzhou United Development Company, Guangdong Business Alliance, Fujian Maritime Merchants Federation, Nanhai Chamber of Commerce, etc. These commercial organizations have jurisdiction over countless commercial firms, car dealerships, shipping agencies, escort agencies and upstream production units. They basically integrate production, supply and marketing, and have strong cross-border trade capabilities. They not only have strong economic strength, but also have many channels. There is almost nothing that the private sector can't do, which can be regarded as one of the biggest boosters for Haihan to carry out cross-border trade.
However, these so-called private business organizations actually have Haihan officials participating in them in the form of shares. For example, Qiong Lianfa, a large commercial organization that has cooperated closely with Haihan in the early days, is actually the one behind the scenes who directs Haihan. Department of Commerce. Some of the business measures of these commercial organizations can actually be understood as a reflection of Haihan official’s will in international trade. The performance of these organizations during the Haihan founding celebrations can also partly reflect their strength and their status in the Haihan trade system.
In addition to these business organizations, there are also congratulations published by some powerful and wealthy businessmen in their own names. Needless to say, these people are naturally vested interests attached to Haihan. However, Van Diemen did not study Haihan's international relations thoroughly, so his understanding of these people was also very limited. He only had some impressions of the names of Li Jifeng, Zhan Gui and others.
This kind of advertisement published in the newspaper is just a fun thing for ordinary people to watch, but professionals like Van Diemen can naturally see some clues from it. Van Diemen has secretly made a decision. He must order a copy of various newspapers published by Haihan and send them back to Batavia regularly in the future to serve as an information reference for the company's planning.
While Van Diemen was following Ning Qi on his expedition around the island, Su Keyi also issued an official congratulatory letter in the name of the Dutch East India Company. Although the layout is not as good as others, it is at least visible in Haihan's official media. Van Diemen saw the palm-sized page of the newspaper and asked casually: "How much did this cost us?"
"It works out to about fifteen hundred guilders." Su Keyi reported a number that surprised Van Diemen.
"So expensive? These damn businessmen, this is totally extortion!" Van Diemen shouted with dissatisfaction.
The exchange rate between Dutch guilder silver coins and Haihan dollars is about three to one, which works out to 500 Haihan dollars. This price is enough to buy a complete set of Sanya blue and white porcelain sanitary ware on the market. You can negotiate with the boss for a price. You can also get a set of glass tableware as a gift. If it were in Batavia, this money could buy fifteen to twenty healthy young male slaves, or fifty sacks full of South Sea spices. But here, you can only get a palm-sized page in the "Haihan Times". This price-performance ratio seems to be too low.
However, Van Diemen quickly calmed down. He had never seen the propaganda power of this kind of media before, but now that he has stayed in Haihan territory for so long, he naturally realized the importance of its role. Is this price expensive? Of course it is expensive, but considering the influence of Haihan's official media, fifteen hundred guilders can make prominent figures in many countries, not limited to Haihan, notice the existence of the East India Company. It is still a good deal. If you calculate the value of the intelligence collected from this newspaper, the price is actually not expensive at all. The East India Company spends more than four figures every year on collecting and exploring intelligence about Haihan, but it gets The return may not be much more than the information that such a newspaper can provide.
Van Diemen quickly thought about the cause and effect, and did not get angry about the expense. After all, the matter Su Keyi did was not only necessary, but it was not really a big loss. After all, other families also paid for it. There is nothing psychologically unbalanced about publishing notices. Moreover, if Su Keyi did not pay for the notice because it was too expensive, it would put the East India Company in a passive position - the Haihan Executive Committee may not be able to remember all those who posted the notice, but which company did not, then It's very conspicuous.
"You did a good job in this matter." After Fan Diemen calmed down, he praised Su Keyi: "This kind of newspaper in Haihan can be regarded as a channel for us to understand the social conditions of Haihan, and there may be similar ones in the future. The need to spend money to publish notices.”
"My Lord Governor, it's not a possibility, it's a certainty." Su Keyi took another newspaper from the table and handed it to Fan Diemen: "This is another newspaper "Haihan Business News" published today, one issue every seven days. The content published here is news worth paying attention to for any businessman.”
Van Diemen took a look at it and saw that it was densely packed with small characters, but he didn't understand what it was about, so he had to ask Su Keyi to explain it to him.
"Sir, in addition to the latest trade policies and measures from the Haihan official, the other pages in this newspaper are full of supply and purchase information for various commodities." Su Keyi happily introduced this latest discovery to Fan Diemen: "With this newspaper, we are equivalent to having a savvy market guide. Even if you don't know the Haihan market, you can purchase products at the right price in Haihan just by following the information in this newspaper."
Fan Diemen said: "But Haihan has so many ports, such a newspaper will definitely not be able to cover it." "That's right, so the Haihan people have published a similar newspaper in every large trading port." Su Keyi nodded, He also handed over a newspaper called "Sanya Business News": "All the business information in this newspaper comes from Sanya itself. It contains both official products sold by Haihan and merchants from other countries. Merchants will also list the goods they want to buy and their prices on it... Sir, I have to say that this move by the Haihan people has made international trade easier."
"I don't think this is necessarily very convenient. To be able to understand the contents of this newspaper, you must master Haihan's writing." Van Diemen knew that this was not a fatal shortcoming, even if it came from a non-Han Chinese Businessmen in the region can hire brokers at the port who are familiar with Haihan trade rules and can interpret the contents of these newspapers on their behalf. But Van Diemen still wanted to step on Haihan with forceful words, otherwise he would feel sour in his heart, just like he felt during the inspection a few days ago.
Su Keyi probably guessed what Van Diemen was thinking. He did not refute at the moment, but continued to introduce to him: "Sir, this kind of official newspaper is not just for looking at product quotations. As long as it is operated properly, it can easily Can affect market conditions. ”
As the head of the East India Company, Van Diemen immediately understood what Su Keyi meant as soon as he heard about the rule. Businessmen who maintain a relatively stable trade relationship with Haihan will definitely pay attention to this kind of business newspaper, and Haihan only needs to blow a whistle in the newspaper in the name of the government, which can easily cause the market fluctuations that the officials want to see.
For example, if a newspaper publishes an official news that a certain area has been hit by a hurricane, oil crop plantations have been severely damaged, and the output is expected to be reduced this year, businessmen who are sensitive to the market will immediately realize the increase in oil prices after seeing it. Just around the corner, we will then reduce the supply of related products and raise prices to obtain more profits. Releasing another kind of news, such as the news that a 10,000-acre oil plantation in a certain place has a bumper harvest, may have the opposite effect.
Of course, this kind of easily debunked fake news is definitely not a common method used by Haihan. However, with the official credibility of Haihan, coupled with the pertinence and speed of news dissemination of this kind of newspaper, it is necessary to gain the trust and reaction of the market, and then influence The direction of the market will be very easy to do. Now that Haihan is taking the lead in establishing the South China Sea Trade Alliance, it does not seem unimaginable that he would like to use some commercial propaganda methods to influence the form of international trade in the future.
"These Haihan people... are really difficult to deal with!" Van Diemen thought about it for a while, but couldn't think of a way to deal with it, so he could only sigh.
Su Keyi added: "Haihan people have always had some kind of method of sending messages across thousands of miles, so this kind of newspaper will not only contain local business information, but also occasionally news from other places. For example, here, the Haihan official There is news about purchasing grain in Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan. They urgently purchase 200,000 kilograms of rice at a purchase price that is 20% higher than the market price. Starting from April, the purchase period will last for 60 days. Naturally, they have mastered this wonderful method. You can understand the price difference of goods in various places, know the demand for goods in various places, and then easily buy low and sell high.”
"In other words, they have both the tools to influence the market price trend and the means to know the market conditions thousands of miles away..." Van Diemen sighed: "The role we play in this situation is simply Like a defenseless child against an adult."
As a sea coachman who conducts maritime trade all over the world, the Dutch naturally attach great importance to their voice and influence in this kind of international trade. If they can effectively influence or control the market prices of certain commodities in a certain region, it means that Huge gains. The methods used by Haihan in this regard were obviously more sophisticated than the violent conquest used by the East India Company. Even Van Diemen would pay more attention to a newspaper like this, let alone the reaction of ordinary businessmen.
Haihan people have a way of knowing the market conditions thousands of miles away, and then use this kind of business newspaper to set the pace and try to widen the price difference between the two places. This profitable business is simply not easy to do. Thinking further, it is not difficult to imagine that Haihan can use this to suppress the production resources they need to purchase, raise the price of deep-processed finished products, and easily obtain higher profits.
Countries that have joined the South China Sea Trade Alliance will open their own markets to each other to varying degrees. In this way, basically no one can stop Haihan from entering the markets of various countries through trade means. Van Diemen has already witnessed the extent of the financial and resources that Haihan can mobilize during his previous inspection around the island. He is convinced that except for a few relatively large countries, many countries in this trade alliance have significant influence on the sea. There is no resistance to Han's economic means. Soon, places like Guangdong, Guangxi and Annan will become Haihan's resource suppliers and commodity sales markets. In turn, politics, military, culture, finance, etc. will also be reduced. Gradually, he was influenced and controlled by Haihan.
The worst thing is that even if he clearly knows the methods of the Haihan people, Van Diemen can't think of a way to deal with or delay this trend. The Haihan people's methods are obvious. Anyone with a little discernment can understand what's going on, but they just can't compete with them. This is indeed a very passive situation for the East India Company, which wants to control the international trade market in the Far East.
Van Diemen suddenly remembered that during the inspection around the island, he had asked Ning Qi where the basis for the various major decisions Haihan had made in the past came from, and why he had the confidence to implement these decisions, which made Haihan invest a lot of resources and even In all measures, Ning Qi's answer to him was that everything Haihan did was in line with the trend of social and productivity development. Anyone who wanted to block or go against the trend would be crushed by the wheels of history. , this is not a dispute of interests between countries, but an irreversible kingly way.
Van Diemen said at the time that he could not understand this rhetoric, and Ningqi simply explained it as destiny. However, this destiny is not a certain person or even a certain country, but the driving force for the objective development of society. The emergence of the Haihan people only artificially accelerated this development process. The history of social development that originally took hundreds of years to complete has been accelerated to a hundred times. Decisions that may seem risky to the outside world, but to Haihan, are often just the simplest and most efficient way to solve a certain problem. Between the current situation and the preset results, Haihan will choose the shortest path to achieve it.
(End of chapter)