Chapter 1463 The value of information
Compared with He Li's eagerness, He Xiao's mood is much more stable. He knew that whether the news was true or not, it would not affect his status, because the He brothers had no intention of directly participating in the competition on the northern route, and how could those big shots care about little shrimps like them? , they deal directly with the Haihan people to negotiate terms, and there is no need to go through an introduction by a second-rate dealer like him.
Of course, He Xiao also understood why his brother was anxious. It was because he believed that there were serious deviations in the existing sources of information, which almost caused his handling of today's matter to be exposed in front of outsiders. This was embarrassing. Secondly, if the He brothers are considered unreliable, it will not be so easy to get along in Ningbo Mansion from now on.
He Xiao continued to comfort him: "Although the commanders you mentioned belong to Ningbo Prefecture in name, Master Qu cannot command these soldiers. Everyone has his own way, and everyone can make their own fortune. Those People in the market are like rain when they hear the wind, and if something big happens, it’s like the sky is falling. You have to keep your composure.”
He Li responded: "Having said that, we can't be looked down upon by outsiders. If we can't control these businessmen, it will not be so convenient in the future."
The business run by the He brothers is mainly to supply and distribute Haihan products to Haihan, and they have to deal with many merchants upstream and downstream. Although He Xiao works in the government, he does not have an official position, he only has connections. The two brothers can make a prosperous business by taking advantage of the situation of information asymmetry, so information The smooth flow of traffic is extremely important to them. If they become passive recipients of information in the information chain, their previous advantages will be gone, and it will become increasingly difficult for them to rely on the information they have to make a living.
He Xiao said: "These businessmen have no background, and their own strength is limited, so you don't need to be too nervous about them. I think you can take advantage of this investment promotion event to go to Zhoushan Island and gain a lot of experience." On the one hand, they are building relationships with the Haihan people, and on the other hand, they are also offering to recover some losses.”
He Li frowned and said: "On business matters, my brother has always been in contact with the Haihan people. Now it is me who suddenly takes the initiative. Will it make the Haihan people feel inappropriate?"
He Xiao shook his head with a smile and said: "You don't have to worry about that, the Haihan people are not that difficult to deal with. And you don't have to have many substantive talks with them, just keep an eye on their investment process, and see clearly the Haihan people's recruitment Which ship lines are used and how the process is operated. If these ship lines are really the hands and feet of the commanders, then just stay away from this field in the future.”
He Li is not very happy to accept such an arrangement. He doesn't mind contacting the Haihan people, but if there are spokespersons for other senior officials in this social circle who are more informed than himself, then he should attend such an event by himself. Aren’t their activities restricted everywhere? In this case, why bother asking for trouble.
He Li didn't say anything, but the look on his face betrayed his thoughts. He Xiao continued to persuade: "This is a good opportunity to gain experience. Many people ask for it and can't go. Such a qualification to attend the conference is worth thousands of taels of silver on the black market."
He Li couldn't resist his brother, so he had to agree first. It was only on the way home that he remembered that he had not found out what he wanted to ask when he came. Instead, he had been deceived into taking a trip to Zhoushan Island. He wanted to ask the bearer to go back again, but then he thought, since He Xiao didn't want to say more, it must have a reason. He would think about it carefully when he went back, so as not to let his brother look down on him.
The news that Haihan was going to recruit carriers in Zhoushan Island for the new year had actually spread half a month ago, but the scope of the news was relatively narrow and was limited to some maritime merchants who had business dealings with Haihan. Unless people outside this industry are interested in asking, few will know about such an arrangement.
Haihan handled the matter in such a low-key manner mainly because he did not want to be caught by Ming Dynasty because of this matter and affect the relationship between the two countries. After all, the places that the northern route passes through are all areas that nominally belong to the Ming Dynasty, but Haihan's investment promotion activities blatantly designated these areas as Haihan controlled areas. If this was made public, the Ming court would definitely be embarrassed.
Therefore, although the date of the recruitment activity is gradually approaching, it has not become a hot topic nowadays. Even if someone is interested in it, it is just like visiting He Li and the three businessmen, and they will not mention it easily in front of outsiders. Nature of recruitment activities.
Of course, He Li was not idle during this period. Although there were some problems with the information obtained from He Xiao, after all, he had been in Ningbo for so long and had some contacts of his own. Some of them were even able to contact the officers of the guard station. Although you may not be able to reach the level of a commander, you can get some intelligence information by spending more time.
According to He Li's inquiries in the past few days, the news brought by the three visiting businessmen is indeed very credible. Changguowei, Linshanwei, and Guanhaiwei all intend to cooperate with Haihan, but their goal is Whether it is the northern route is hard to say.
Regarding this routine, He Li vaguely remembered that Haihan seemed to have used a similar trick in the south, which was to lure the Ming army garrisoned along the coast with huge profits, and the Ming army dispatched ships to escort or even directly serve as maritime transport capacity. For such a routine, it is difficult for the Ming Dynasty to completely eradicate it, and those military leaders who benefited from it will soon become vested interests who support this routine, and then make the situation out of control.
In fact, Haihan did use this method to achieve excellent results in Fuguang, and the Fujian Ming Army became Haihan's most important strategic ally in the southeastern coastal area. After entering Zhejiang, Haihan also used the same tactics to gradually bribe officers at all levels in the Coastal Guard Station. Of course, for non-military personnel like He Li, no matter how interested he is, the information he can get is limited. After all, a lot of cooperation content is discussed face to face between two or three people. If the person in charge is more strict, outsiders will have no way of knowing.
The information He Li could collect was limited, which made it difficult for him to judge what the commanders of the guard post really thought. But one thing is certain, there must be some extremely generous benefits or promises that attract them, so they all choose to take action. If you want to find out the truth, you must go to Zhoushan Island.
So a few days later, He Li sailed from Ningbo to Zhoushan Island to participate in the recruitment bidding. Of course, he knew that his strength was limited, so he did not have any hope of being able to clear the dungeon alone. Instead, he found the three businessmen who had visited him before and expressed his willingness to team up with them and give it a try. These three businessmen can be considered to have some money. The only disadvantage is that they are experts like He Li who can take charge of the business or work together to do business together. Now that He Li expressed his willingness to go out in person, this was an expert that none of the three of them could ask for. He was undoubtedly overjoyed at the moment and agreed without any hesitation.
This is not the first time He Li has landed on Zhoushan Island. Although he does not come as frequently as his brother He Xiao, he must come once every two or three months, so he is no stranger to the environment here. He even disembarked at Dinghai Port. After that, he had enough time to say hello to the port official he recognized, which surprised the three followers and quickly put all thoughts about the He brothers' lack of strength behind them.
Haihan provided accommodation for all the maritime merchants who came to participate in the event. The four of them, He Li, plus their own servants, a total of about ten people, occupied a separate courtyard in the guest house on the island.
Shortly after moving in, staff from the Ministry of Commerce came to register their identities and related procedures. Finally, they had to deposit a deposit of one thousand taels of silver at Haihan Bank. If the bidding failed, the money could be withdrawn on their own. Although one thousand taels of silver is not a small amount, it is only a drop in the bucket for this small organization composed of four companies. The four companies shared the deposit equally. After completing the registration procedures, they finally got a beautifully made one in the afternoon. Wooden number plate, this number plate will be used as a voucher to enter the venue.
He Li and others arrived on the island a day and a half in advance, so they still had time to inquire and search for some information. The most suitable places for inquiring about information on Zhoushan Island are entertainment venues such as casinos, restaurants, and brothels. He Li assigned tasks to the other three people and asked them to go to brothels and casinos to inquire about information, while he went to the largest restaurant on the island, Dongji Tower, which was officially operated by Haihan.
All the funds for the start-up operation of Dongjilou came from the Haihan Ministry of Commerce, and the subsequent operating personnel are also employees of the Ministry of Commerce. Although it is an official commercial organization, the reputation of this restaurant is excellent, and its Haihan flavor characteristics The dishes are widely praised by Haihan people traveling from south to north. Of course, since Haihan citizens are the main consumer group, the consumption here is really not low. Ordinary people will probably be discouraged when they see the prices on the menu.
After this place became famous, many maritime merchants who came to Zhoushan Island for trade would also come here to visit Dongji Tower to experience the living conditions of the great figures in Haihan. Over time, this place gradually became a place for businessmen from all walks of life to exchange business information. The operation staff sized up the situation and changed the first floor of the restaurant into a teahouse-like setting, where businessmen can freely discuss business. As for how to get the information you need from here, it's the Eight Immortals who cross the sea and show their magical powers.
He Li didn't have any special social skills, so the method he chose seemed clumsy and calm, which was to sit down and wait for others to take the initiative to talk to him, and to insert himself into other people's conversations after hearing a suitable topic. Businessmen tend not to be too silent. They need to constantly talk and communicate with others to complete transactions, so the current environment is also very suitable for business discussions.
The business here is not just about the sale of goods or labor. He Li knew that there was also a commodity for sale here that was rarely available in other places, and that was intelligence information. As long as you can afford the price, you can trade all kinds of weird information here, and there are also specialized brokers to solicit business and liaise with them, forming a relatively complete industrial chain.
The first visitor He Li waited for was a broker. After he sat down, he asked directly: "Boss, what do you want to buy?"
He Li whispered: "Do you have any information about the participants of this carrier's recruitment event?"
This broker has single eyelids, a garlic nose, and thick lips. He looks unremarkable at all, but his tone is quite loud: "Of course, I will check one hundred taels for a family, and check everyone for eight hundred taels in a package. No bargaining! If you don't have cash, You can also use Haihan currency!”
"Eight hundred taels is too shameful for you, isn't it? It's enough to buy a second-hand boat!" Of course He Li would not accept this blackmail and immediately protested.
"Is it expensive? Boss, you have to see what information you want to buy. The price is really not expensive!" The broker immediately persuaded: "With this information as a reference, it will be much easier to grab the carrier qualification. When the time comes, Didn’t the money come back easily?”
He Li shook his head and said: "It's not as easy as you said. If you take the northern route, you will make a profit if you don't lose money."
The broker shook his head repeatedly and lowered his voice: "What year are you from? If the Northern Route is still losing money, then why does Haihan come to do this activity? Why don't we just allocate it to a few big companies?"
He Li was moved when he heard this. Before he came to Zhoushan, He Xiao also said similar words to him, so he insisted on letting him come to the island to participate in this event and see what kind of medicine the Haihan people sold in the gourd. At this time, he heard the broker mention the same point of view again, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused.
"From what you said, you seem to know the situation of the Northern Route very well?" He Li asked tentatively.
The broker was very vigilant and said without saying a word: "Boss, if you want to ask about the status of the Northern Route, you will also need money."
He Li said: "How do I know whether what you said is true or false? Should I ask Haihan officials to verify it?"
The broker said: "To tell you the truth, some of the information was released by insiders. It's easy for you to verify whether it's true or not. Just follow the boat to the north and you'll know. I'll tell you if it's true!"
Seeing the confident look on the broker's face, He Li couldn't help but ask him for a price again. The other party may have thought that this question was simpler than the previous question worth eight hundred taels of silver, so they made an offer of three hundred taels of silver.
Three hundred taels of silver was not a big sum for He Li, but it seemed a bit expensive to buy a piece of information that was invisible and intangible, and the truth was unknown. The most important thing is that He Li doesn't know whether the other party's answer is really useful to him. If the broker takes money and talks nonsense, he will not get any benefit and cannot punish the broker. Then he will be very angry.
The broker urged: "You decide quickly. If you don't want to buy it, I won't waste my saliva. If you don't buy it, someone else will buy it."
(End of chapter)