Chapter 1671 Power and Money Transaction
Due to the impact of this war, market transactions in the Manila area, especially bulk trade and cross-border trade, have almost come to a complete standstill. Only some scattered transactions of daily necessities such as food and medicine are still in the Haihan Army. carried out under supervision. Businessmen like Ran Hui see no hope that the market will return to normal in the short term, so they will naturally want to get rid of the goods as soon as possible and exchange them for gold and silver. It is more convenient whether they choose to stay or leave.
Transporting goods to other trading ports for sale is undoubtedly the most realistic approach, but when looking at the major trading ports in the South China Sea, except for Manila, most of them are under the control of Haihan, and the porcelain in Ran Hui's hands It was impossible to transport it back to the Ming Dynasty and sell it. The only option left was Batavia, but Spain and the Netherlands were direct competitors. How could the Dutch allow merchants with Spanish backgrounds to enter their ports for trade. So after all the calculations, Sanya is actually the most reasonable choice. At least from Ran Tianlu's perspective, Ran Hui's choice is completely understandable.
If this deal is facilitated, Haihan's military can get a fairly good economic income. Although it is not a big amount, it should be enough to impress the generals to let go of their fingers and let a cargo ship leave the port. Of course, Ran Hui's promise to give Ran Tianlu 10% of his personal return was one of the reasons why he was moved. Although he had to declare the money to the superiors according to regulations, the nature of the work of the Ministry of Security was quite special. Income control has always been relatively loose, and it is basically certain that the money will go into his personal pocket by then.
Ran Tianlu is not a saint, and the saying that money touches people's hearts also applies to him. Moreover, the source of the money is legitimate. He does things first and collects the money later. There seems to be nothing wrong with him. If calculated based on the market price, the remuneration he can get afterwards is enough to buy a decent apartment in Sanya. Of course, if measured based on the prices in Manila, it is probably enough to buy a two-story building in the city. A small building. In short, no matter where he is, this money is enough to bring his quality of life to a higher level.
After receiving the remaining guests, it was already noon. Ran Tianlu closed the door to thank the guests, but did not rest. Instead, he hurried out into the city to find the general of the Haihan Army who could make the decision to report Ran Hui's affairs. After the city was broken, the headquarters had moved into the city from the south, and was located in the castle where the Spanish governing body was originally located. The South Gate has spent a day clearing out the original gate passage, and has barely restored 50-60% traffic capacity. Although some large items and carriages and horses still need to go through the east and west gates, the South Gate side Letting pedestrians pass is no longer a problem.
So far, Ran Tianlu's true identity has not been disclosed, and Ming Shang is still used as a cover to the outside world. Until the Ministry of Security makes arrangements for his next step, he must continue to live in his current capacity. However, the military still gave him some conveniences while being as unobtrusive as possible. For example, Ran Tianlu was among the first batch of people to receive temporary passes issued by the Haihan Army and be able to enter and exit Manila freely.
The ordinary soldiers of the Haihan Army naturally did not recognize him as an espionage agent lurking in Manila. The pass was much more useful than his identity as a Mingshang. They arrived at the castle without any hindrance and went to inquire outside the headquarters. Tom Wang was not here, but went out of the city to the Manila Port to count the captured ships. Ran Tianlu thought that was just right. If Wang Tom could agree to this, he could book the ship on the spot, and then turned around and went to Manila Port.
When we arrived at the port, it was not difficult to find Wang Tom. We only needed to look where the martial law was enforced to know where he was. However, Ran Tianlu was stopped by the soldiers guarding the perimeter all the way away. He first showed the pass issued by the military, but it didn't work in this situation. He had no choice but to take out the identity token from the Ministry of Security. The soldiers under martial law then went to inform their superiors. Not long after, a second lieutenant came. He first checked Wang Tom's identity token to verify his identity, and then asked him about his purpose before taking him to see Wang Tom.
Wang Tom met Ran Tianlu at Chaosheng Merchant Inn and knew his true identity. He didn't notice him when he came, so he called him to ask about his purpose. Ran Tianlu told everything about Ran Hui in detail, and then stood respectfully waiting for Wang Tom to make a decision. However, things did not seem to go as smoothly as he imagined. Wang Tom did not agree immediately, but asked him whether Ran Hui was reliable.
Ran Tianlu and Ran Hui had occasional business cooperation but did not have a close relationship. According to Wang Tom's tone, he did not dare to take the initiative to vouch for Ran Hui. Although the conditions offered by the other party were attractive, Ran Tianlu was always cautious in doing things, so how could he risk his own future? adventure. Immediately and honestly, I reported to Wang Tom that this matter has not yet been fully implemented, but if necessary, Ran Hui can ask Ran Hui to hand over a deposit first, and then the more will be refunded and the less will be replenished after the transaction is completed.
Wang Tom shook his head and said: "You don't understand what I mean. If this person just wants to transport a batch of goods to Sanya, that's not a big problem. It's not a big deal to charter a cargo ship that will be returned empty to him. But I'm afraid of this person." What tricks are you playing in this process?”
Ran Tianlu said: "If he wants to use this method to take people out of Manila, then he can do it. Anyway, after going to Sanya, the security department and the port authority there will search the ship and verify the identity of the crew. What's the trick? Others are here I probably won’t be able to escape on the boat.”
Wang Tom said: "Since Ran Hui said he would personally escort the goods to Sanya, have you asked how many people he will bring on board and where he will load the goods?"
Ran Tianlu nodded and responded: "Of course I asked about it. He said there are about fifteen people. Except for a few family members, the rest should be servants. As for loading, he said the goods are all on the bank of the Pasig River in the north of the city. In the warehouse, our cargo ship should be able to dock at the estuary dock.”
Wang Tom said: "In that case, then you should work hard and make another trip to ensure that the specific time and place are in place. I will issue a warrant to you and send someone back to Chaosheng Commercial Store. You will come with the warrant then. Let's transfer the ship out of the port. As for the deposit, let him pay 30% of the market price of the goods first. After the goods are sold in Sanya, he will refund the amount and make up for the amount you said."
Wang Tom's response was watertight. Anyway, it was the other party who asked Haihan to do something, so he should get the money first before doing anything. If Ran Hui wants to play some tricks, the money has already gone into Haihan's pocket anyway, so he can't possibly kidnap the ship - not to mention that the sailboat used to transport the goods is not worth the high freight he paid. As for security issues, Wang Tom is quite relieved that Ran Tianlu will handle the matter. After all, most of the relevant information he provided before was accurate, especially the military information, which saved the Haihan Army a lot of trouble and avoided A large number of unnecessary casualties. Based on this alone, Wang Tom had to do this favor so that Ran Tianlu could also get this benefit.
Ran Tianlu was naturally overjoyed after receiving Wang Tom's arrangement. He quickly thanked Wang Tom on Ran Hui's behalf, and immediately rushed back to the city to inform Ran Hui of the good news. The two immediately agreed on the time to load the goods and set off, but the deposit was not small, and Ran Hui needed some time to raise the money.
Although Ran Hui felt a little pained to pay for the money, he had come up with the conditions himself. The other party just wanted to collect the money first and then do the work, leaving him no room for bargaining. He could only grit his teeth and make up the money all night long. After paying the money, he was sent to Chaosheng Commercial Inn by carriage early the next morning.
Wang Tom's warrant arrived at the store almost at the same time as Ran Hui's deposit, which happened to save Ran Tianlu a lot of trouble. He immediately took out 20% of the army's receivable fee and asked the officer who sent the warrant to sign for it, and then sent another officer. A carriage was sent back with people and money.
That afternoon, Ran Hui and Ran Tianlu met at the West Gate near Manila Port, and then went together to receive the cargo ship allocated by the military. Seeing that there were only three or five people around Ran Hui, Ran Tianlu asked him if he had changed his mind and set off with only these few people. Ran Hui laughed and said that he had sent several people to the warehouse near the Pasig River to count the goods in advance to save loading time. .
Ran Tianlu didn't doubt him. After leaving the city, he went to the port and showed Wang Tom's warrant. Someone immediately took them to a cargo ship that had been arranged. The ship's boss was named Meng Ge. He had served in the navy for a period of time in his early years. He was injured when the Haihan Army attacked the Zhoushan Islands, so he was discharged from the army and returned to the local area. He worked at Zhan's Shipping Company, which had a very close relationship with the Haihan government. In this attack on Manila, many cargo ships responsible for supply tasks were recruited from the private sector. The James Shipping Company alone dispatched fifteen cargo ships to assist in the battle, and the Meng Ge ship was one of them. All the supplies on the ship have already been unloaded. If I hadn't accepted this errand, I would have returned to Hainan Island empty in two or three days at most.
Of course, since this errand is chargeable, Meng Ge has also received a shipping fee from the military. After Ran Tianlu and others all boarded the ship, Meng Ge ordered the anchor to be raised and the sail to be lifted, leaving the port and sailing north to the mouth of the Pasig River.
The distance from the dock where the ship docked to the mouth of the Pasig River is very close, and it only takes a moment to arrive. The ship slowly sailed into the mouth of the river, and went upstream along the river bank for about two miles to the warehouse area that Ran Hui mentioned. The docks and warehouses built here basically serve merchants in the city, and the cost of use is more affordable than that of Manila Port. Therefore, merchants like Ran Hui usually store goods shipped from overseas here.
The ship docked at a certain pier according to Ran Hui's instructions. Usually there are workers on the pier here to help tie the cables and pick up the work, but at this time the war is over, social order has not been restored, and there are no idle people on the pier. , only a few of the men Ran Hui sent here to count the goods came over.
After Ran Tianlu and Ran Hui got off the boat together, Ran Hui took the initiative and said: "Thank you Brother Tianlu for helping me with today's matter. I cannot thank you enough. If we have the chance to meet again in the future, I will host a banquet for Brother Tianlu. I would like to thank you for this." A lot of kindness.”
Ran Tianlu heard what he said solemnly, and then he said a few words modestly, saying that he was paid to do things and should try his best to do them well. After Manila returns to normal after some time, Ran Hui can come back and continue doing business.
The two exchanged a few words, and Ran Hui took the initiative to see the guest off: "It's getting late. Brother Tianlu has been running around all day. Go back and rest early!"
Ran Tianlu also remembered that there were still a lot of things to deal with at the store. Since the things here were almost settled, he didn't need to keep an eye on it, so he said goodbye to Ran Hui and left.
But at this time, Ran Tianlu suddenly noticed that Ran Hui's men who had arranged to carry goods here in the warehouse, although they were covered intentionally or unintentionally with cloth hats, at a glance, they all seemed to be Spaniards with tall noses and deep eyes, and he suddenly felt a little strange - Spain No matter how bad the immigrants are in the local area, they are still farmers or traders who open shops. How can they work for a mixed-race person like Ran Hui, let alone such a humble laborer.
Another person might have asked on the spot, but Ran Tianlu was a professionally trained intelligence officer. Even though he discovered that something was fishy, he did not show any hesitation. He still said goodbye to Ran Hui and walked south calmly. Return to the city.
However, when he confirmed that he was out of Ran Hui's sight, he didn't care about attracting the attention of passers-by, and immediately let go and ran towards the Haihan Army headquarters, which was very close to the North City Gate. Panting, he ran to the gate, took out his ID badge from the Security Department and shouted to the sentry: "I am Ran Tianlu, an agent from the Security Department. Go and report it as quickly as possible. There is an urgent military situation!"
After seeing the number plate in his hand, the sentry did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly ran all the way to report. Not long after, he came back with an officer, who took him to see the senior generals in the headquarters.
It just so happened that today the headquarters was full of people, and the troops sent to the north bank of the Pasig River to pursue the Spanish fugitives had already set off early in the morning. The generals were listening to the battle reports sent back from the front.
Ran Tianlu's arrival did not attract the attention of the generals at first, but Wang Tom was the first to ask: "Aren't you supposed to do that errand of transporting porcelain to Sanya today? Is it done?"
Ran Tianlu knew that the situation might be serious, and he didn't care about Haihan etiquette at the moment. He knelt down in front of Tom Wang and confessed his guilt. When Wang Tom saw this, he quickly asked him what he was doing. Ran Tianlu responded: "The people Ran Hui was going to pick up on the boat outside the city were a group of Spaniards. I'm afraid they were not going to Sanya as he claimed. I thought they were probably going to leave the port. Then they seized the boat and ran away, so I came back quickly to report the news, hoping that I could stop them in time.”
"Spanish?" Wang Tom didn't look angry at all. He just asked Ran Tianlu, "Are you sure?"
Ran Tianlu responded with great certainty: "What I saw with my own eyes must be correct. There are about ten people waiting for the boat in the Pasig River. They all covered their heads and faces, but how could I hide it from my eyes?" < br>
(End of chapter)