Chapter 1044 Tobacco Trade
Wang Tom then asked: "According to the original establishment, your Shipu Station should be equipped with warships, right?"
Ma Ling responded: "There were originally a few ships, but last year... in short, there are none now."
Of course, Ma Ling couldn't clearly explain that all the original warships had been sunk and captured by Haihan, and he didn't quite understand Wang Tom's intentions, so he could only respond vaguely.
Wang Tom said: "Shipu Port is dozens of miles deep, and we only rely on a few sentry ships to maintain public order. I think this pressure is too much. This time I plan to leave a few warships and corresponding manpower to assist the local area in maintaining public order." , what does Ma Qianhu think?”
Only then did Ma Ling understand Wang Tom's intention to take the initiative to intervene in the matter. He wanted to arrange for armed personnel to be stationed in Shipu Port to replace the role of the Qianhu garrison. Although Haihan had stationed some staff in Shipu before this, he had not revealed that he would replace Qianhu. Ma Ling was a little panicked at the moment. If Haihan took over all the security and defense here, then he, Qianhu, would be in trouble. The existence of households seems to have become dispensable.
"Chief, in fact, the people in Shipu Port are simple and simple, and there have been no pirate activities nearby. There is no need to arrange for additional troops to be stationed. The subordinates led by the humble post can do the job." Ma Ling quickly declined.
Tom Wang shook his head slightly and said: "The overall situation is the most important thing. You don't need to talk about this anymore. It's just decided."
Wang Tom did not intend to explain Haihan's intentions to him in detail. Haihan had not stationed troops here before, mainly because there were too many places where troops were needed in the Zhoushan Islands, and he would not be able to come here for a while, but after a year Haihan slowly freed up his hands, and naturally he would no longer turn a blind eye to the situation in Shipu Port. Just like Yacheng, which was adjacent to Sanya, it was only a matter of time before it was gradually taken over and annexed by Haihan.
Shipu Port itself is a natural harbor, and Sanmen Bay to the west is also an important coastal area with excellent terrain. The mouth of this semi-enclosed bay faces southeast and is connected to the East China Sea through the Shipu Channel. The bay covers an area of nearly 400 square kilometers, with six deep-water harbor branches distributed within it. It is the second largest bay in Zhejiang's coastal area after Hangzhou Bay. Shipu Port on the east side of Sanmen Bay and Jiantiao Port on the west side are both large natural seaports. In addition, there are many ports such as Haiyou, Chenhu, Liyang, Che'ao, Crab Claw, Zhengyu, Qimen, etc., which have been developed Conditions for the maritime industry are ideal. In addition, the vast coastal tidal flats of Sanmen Bay can also be used to build saltworks, which is one of Haihan's best-known low-cost industrial projects.
In the original history, Western powers had also made plans here. In 1899, Italy tried to forcibly lease Sanmen Bay as its naval base in the Far East. However, due to the Qing government's tough attitude, the Italians failed in the end.
However, Haihan was not Italy, the weakest among the Western powers that entered the Far East in the 19th century, and the Ming Dynasty was not the Qing court that had declined after the Sino-Japanese War. Haihan did not intend to obtain Sanmen Bay from the Ming Dynasty through the public method of leasing. control, but intends to exercise actual control over this area through garrisoning.
This method is somewhat similar to the Qiongbei area before Haihan declared the founding of the People's Republic of China. Although the local Ming government agencies were retained, they were all ignored by Haihan, and they had long lost their actual jurisdiction over the local area. Sanmen Bay happened to be at the junction of Ningbo and Taizhou. The garrisons on both sides were unwilling to offend the evil man Haihan, but it provided Haihan with a lot of convenience.
However, the scale of Haihan's garrison in Zhejiang is currently limited, and he will organize a march northward within the year, so the measures to control Sanmen Bay cannot be achieved overnight. Wang Tom believes that controlling the Shipu Waterway at this stage can be regarded as winning a city for Haihan. As for the navy stationed locally, there is actually not much need, just a few ships can calm the scene. Although the establishment of the local Ming army is still there, the military camp is actually mostly empty. The actual number of troops retained by Shipu Qianhu is only about a hundred or so, which is not enough to pose a threat to the Haihan garrison.
Wang Tom pretended to ask Ma Ling, but in fact he was just trying to find a reason for this arrangement. Whether Ma Ling supported or opposed it would not affect Haihan's decision. If Ma Ling knew better, he would have continued to be his Shipu Suo Qianhu, doing smuggling business on an empty salary, and steadily becoming a wealthy man with a public position; if he felt that Haihan's move was unacceptable, then he would just have no choice but to Ma Ling can be given other not-so-good endings.
Ma Ling listened to Wang Tom's firm tone and left no room for him to argue. After hesitating for a moment, he finally gave in and said, "Can the garrison stay in Shipu in the name of the militia? This way, we can avoid making false accusations and causing all kinds of inconvenience in the future."
"I just like to deal with quick-thinking people like you." Wang Tom smiled and patted Ma Ling on the shoulder and praised: "As you said, the warships and related personnel will be in this area in the name of Shipu Militia from now on. Activities.”
The presence of Haihan armed personnel in this area in the name of Shipu Militia is undoubtedly a more compromise approach. This can indeed effectively avoid the guilt of Ishiura Senhusato's foreign connections, and allow Haihan to achieve his goal. From a certain perspective, it is a win-win situation. What Haihan wanted now was actual control, and he didn't need to care about fame. Ma Ling's proposal suited Tom Wang's wishes and also gave him a step down.
Ma Lingji did his best that day and arranged a sumptuous reception banquet for Wang Tom and others, including eating, drinking and having fun. Finally, he also prepared several jade ornaments bought from Hangzhou government as gifts. He knew that the people of Haihan had little interest in gold and silver, but had a hobby of collecting small things of low value but exquisite craftsmanship, so he specially selected such handicrafts as gifts for the high-ranking officials of Haihan. Of course, the cost of purchasing these gifts was not paid out of his own pocket, but directly deducted from military expenses as training expenses - anyway, there is no daily training in Shipu Institute nowadays, so these empty military salaries are naturally Ma Ling's. Spend it however you want.
"Ma Qianhu is very interested!" Wang Tom admired the jade snuff bottle given by Ma Ling. He couldn't help but play with it and couldn't put it down.
Snuff was introduced to China by the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci during the Wanli period, and was presented to the emperor as a tribute along with items such as chiming bells and paintings of nations. The raw material is dried tobacco leaves that are rich in oil after being dried. In fact, as early as the early Ming Dynasty, the Luzon Kingdom offered tobacco as a tribute to the Ming Dynasty. During the Wanli Period, sporadic tobacco cultivation appeared in the Zhangzhou area of Fujian Province. According to the transliteration of the Spanish tabacco, the tobacco was called Tamba wild rice. However, most of the snus at that time was produced by the Spanish colonies, and the quantity trafficked to the Ming Dynasty was not large, and its production technology did not flow into the Ming Dynasty at the same time. Therefore, snuff was not popular among the people of the Ming Dynasty during this period, and was only a pastime for a few upper-class people.
However, after Haihan captured the Qiongbei area, he began to promote tobacco cultivation in Danzhou. The reason why I chose this place is because there was already a precedent of successfully growing tobacco in this place in the time and space before traveling, so there was no need to slowly examine the soil and water environment of various places. In addition, tobacco cultivation has been gradually promoted in Heitu Port, Leizhou Peninsula, Pearl River Estuary, Fujian, Taiwan and other places in recent years. Except for a few low-grade products from the local area that were sold among the private sector, most of these grown tobaccos were recycled by Haihan for deep processing, made into cigarettes and snus, and then sold to the Ming Dynasty.
Haihan imported almost all raw materials from Daming, while exporting highly processed high value-added products. This scissor gap was also one of the main means for Haihan to quickly accumulate wealth through trade in just a few years. How big the market potential of the tobacco industry is and how huge the profits can be expected in the future. Travelers naturally know much better than people of this era. Therefore, after key export products such as salt, glass products, and weapons, tobacco and related products It has also become a new export profit project for Haihan. Compared with cigarettes, snus that does not require carrying fire is obviously more convenient for users. In addition, its flavor can be blended with other drugs and spices, and the requirements for tobacco quality are relatively low, so it has also become a brand based in Danzhou. The most important product of the cigarette factory.
When making snuff, the tobacco leaves are first dusted, ground and sifted, then mixed with medicinal materials and spices, sealed in pottery jars and buried underground for more than a year, and finally taken out and packaged for sale. Most of the snus trafficked by the Spaniards to the Ming Dynasty was made in the North American colonies and had to travel halfway around the world to reach the Far East. Freight accounted for most of the cost. It was difficult to compete with the snus produced in Haihan in terms of price.
In addition, in the southeastern coastal areas, the living habits of the Haihan people have gradually become the objects of imitation by the upper class of society. The use of glassware, riding box carriages, installing ceramic sanitary ware and hot water boilers at home, etc. were all pioneered by Haihan The trend began, and some powerful people also followed suit after discovering that the Haihan people began to use snuff. The Ministry of Commerce instructed some literati to start writing articles to promote this new pastime, saying that snuff "can improve eyesight, and is especially effective in fighting epidemics". They also changed the unappealing name of "Tamba Snuff" and created a new one. The noun is "Jinsixun", and this level of prowess has improved a lot.
However, in just a year or so, snuff began to become popular among the upper-class social circles on the southeast coast, and snuffing and sneezing became a new pastime. Whenever you see someone holding a palm-sized glass snuff bottle, you don’t have to ask whether it is produced in Danzhou.
The snus product also followed Haihan's consistent development method. Not only did it soon have a variety of different flavors, but it was also developed based on the quality of the tobacco, the value of the added drugs and spices, the differences in the manufacturing industry, and the differences in packaging. It has launched multiple series of products with prices covering all classes from grassroots to rich people, and has completed its occupation of the market in a very short period of time.
Since the Spaniards were expelled from Taipei last year, the major sea trade ports in Fuzhou and Guangzhou are almost inevitably affected by Haihan. Although there are still some Ming maritime merchants who go to Manila for trade, Haihan overtly and covertly Under the signs and threats, Spanish snus soon disappeared from the Ming Dynasty market due to supply interruption. In this way, Haihan successfully completed its monopoly on the tobacco market without spending much effort.
After Haihan entered the coastal areas of Zhejiang last year, snuff was naturally one of the many Haihan products that flooded into the local market along with sea routes. During this year, Qian Tiandun, Shi Diwen, Chen Yixin and others stationed in Zhejiang also served as voluntary spokespersons to promote this new product. A person like Ma Ling, who has openly supported Haihan and will go to Zhoushan Island every month or two, naturally knows the preferences of Haihan's senior officials. He purchased the materials for this snuff bottle by himself and put it in Hangzhou Mansion. Custom-made by a craftsman.
Wang Tom certainly knew that the Haihan Commercial Department was sparing no effort to promote tobacco products to the Ming Dynasty, but the effect of allowing the Ming Dynasty officers to give snuff bottles as gifts to him was indeed something he had not expected.
Wang Tom called the guards over, gave a few instructions in a low voice, and then asked Ma Ling: "Ma Qianhu also likes to take snuff?"
Ma Ling responded: "I think this thing is really good for clearing the brain, improving eyesight, and driving away filth and diseases. The thousands of households in Qiancang and Juexi also have high praise for this thing. This snuff bottle is When I went to Hangzhou for business, I asked a skilled craftsman to make it. Although it is not a valuable thing, it is still elegant to play with. I hope the leaders will not dislike it. "
Neither Wang Tom nor Chen Yixin had done much research on jade, but Hao Wanqing was a discerning person. While playing with it, he asked: "This jade has a bit of green, is it Lantian jade from Shaanxi?"
"Thank you, Chief!" Ma Ling responded quickly: "This is exactly what Lantian Jade is made of."
"You are willing to spend money!" Hao Wanqing did not comment on the value of the snuff bottle. Instead, he made an unclear comment to Ma Ling.
Ma Ling said with a smile: "They are all small items, not valuables, which made the chief laugh."
Tom Wang turned to Hao Wanqing and asked, "Is there something wrong with the thing?"
Hao Wanqing shook his head and said: "There's nothing wrong. The stuff is good. Just keep it. This is what Ma Qianhu wants."
"Yes, yes, what the chief said is that the humble position is just to express one's feelings. There is no other meaning." Ma Ling responded quickly.
Wang Tom's bodyguard came back soon, holding a small iron box in his hand. Wang Tom motioned for him to put it on the dinner table, and then said to Ma Ling: "This is high-grade snuff produced in Danzhou. The weight in the box is five yuan, but it costs twenty or thirty taels of silver in the Guangdong market. Here in Zhejiang There is nothing for sale yet, and I don’t have much with me. Ma Qianhu shouldn’t think that the portion is too small.”
How could Ma Ling dare to object that the portion was too small? It was already a great honor to receive a gift from a high-ranking official of Haihan in person. He accepted it with great gratitude, and his initially uneasy mood finally settled down.
(End of chapter)