Chapter 1719 Grain Trade
There are a lot of private money transactions in this grain business. Qin Huacheng had heard shopkeeper Wang talk about it before, but he didn't expect that he would encounter such a situation on his first errand, and someone would forcefully give him benefits. And according to what Chu Huo means, not only will he, the person in charge, get benefits, but his boss, Shopkeeper Wang, will also get a share. This is probably not the first time such an operation has been carried out between Chu Huo's farm and Dacheng Rice Shop.
If measured by the transaction amount agreed upon by the two parties in this contract, Chu Huo's price of two hundred silver coins was actually not high. However, considering that Qin Huacheng was only the manager and not the decision-maker during the transaction, more than half of it was The work content is just running errands back and forth to solicit opinions from both sides. The hard work of two hundred silver coins is not a small amount. You must know that this amount of money is almost a year's living expenses for ordinary people in the local area.
But Qin Huacheng didn't dare to take this trick. The execution scene he saw yesterday was still deeply imprinted in his mind. If he was greedy for this little money, he might be tied up and used as a victim to scare the monkeys. Not to mention two hundred silver coins, even two thousand or twenty thousand, compared to the safety of his own life, it is not worth it. Qin Huacheng is not a poor man who has never seen money. When he was in Manila, every time Ding Feng gave money, it was more than one hundred or two hundred.
Qin Huacheng said: "Brother Chu, I have only been working in Mihang for a few days, and I am really not very clear about the rules here. Why not let me go back and ask shopkeeper Wang for instructions first to see what he wants."
Chu Huo's face turned even uglier: "It seems that I really don't want to give face! Well, then I will go to Shopkeeper Wang to explain the matter myself. Then don't blame me for not taking care of you!"
Qin Huacheng was about to say a few more words of persuasion, but Chu Huo was no longer willing to continue the conversation and directly served tea to see the guests off. Qin Huacheng couldn't force him, so he left Chu Huo's farm in despair and headed to the next location.
On the plain south of Batavia, grain fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Since the end of the war with the Matalan Kingdom, Batavia's agricultural development has never stopped, and today's farmland has even exceeded the pre-war level. Since food was extremely tight during the war, the Dutch learned their lesson and gave more support to farmers who grew food during post-war reconstruction, including preferential measures in terms of land prices and taxes. Dacheng Rice Company also seized this opportunity. After the war, it dedicated thousands of acres of land in the south of the city to growing grain crops, becoming the largest local grain merchant in one fell swoop.
Cheng Dapeng was still not satisfied with this situation, and successively arranged for many related households to come forward to open some other farms in this area, and through private joint ventures, they realized industry alliances in disguise and controlled the food price trend in the area. . There are as many as ten members of this Han Grain Merchant Alliance, and they operate tens of thousands of acres of cultivated land locally. It only takes one sentence to influence the grain prices on the market.
The Dutch are not completely unaware of these actions of Cheng Dapeng and others, but the grain supplied by them accounts for more than half of the local market. If these Han grain merchants are to be sanctioned, the local grain market will inevitably decline in the short term. A collapse occurs and causes social unrest, which is a situation that the Dutch have to try to avoid. Of course, there is another part of the reason, which is that the officials in charge of agriculture and grain trade in the East India Company can benefit greatly from large grain merchants like Cheng Dapeng. There are vested interests in the middle who act as a protective umbrella for grain merchants, so as long as The fundamental interests of the East India Company have not been violated, and the Batavia authorities will still turn a blind eye to the informal business methods of grain merchants.
As a large grain merchant, Dacheng Rice Company purchases grain from farmers and then sells it to the Dutch at a uniform price and quality standard, saving them the trouble of purchasing scattered grain on the market. In this process, the managers of the farm, Dacheng Rice Company, and the East India Company all had the opportunity to make a fortune from it as personal income. Qin Huacheng didn't know how many shady transactions there were, but he knew that he would never make another mistake because of money this time. The same accident had already happened once in Manila, and he couldn't repeat the same mistake in Batavia, so Regardless of whether he would offend Chu Huo and Shopkeeper Wang because of this matter, he still decisively refused to accept the benefits offered by Chu Huo.
But now Qin Huacheng is a little worried whether a similar situation will occur at the second farm he is going to visit next. After all, according to Shopkeeper Wang, the two farmers who have reached grain transactions with Dacheng Rice Bank are both from the rice bank. The old employees have probably communicated with each other for a long time. It is impossible to say that this second company will follow Chu Huo's operation and take the initiative to ask for a price increase, and then give a little sweetener to Qin Huacheng to facilitate this.
"No matter what, the money cannot be collected." Qin Huacheng looked at the farm gate in front of him and reminded himself silently again.
The owner of this farm, whose surname is Duan Mingxuan, looks a few years younger than Chu Huo, and has a bit more of a scholar's air. Duan Xuan claimed that he used to be a clerk at Dacheng Rice Store, specializing in drafting various sales contracts and the like, and he was considered to be half a scholar. Qin Huacheng thought that this man was an expert, and he had to be very careful when dealing with him to negotiate the contents of the contract.
As if he had guessed what Qin Huacheng was thinking, Duan Xuan said proactively: "Actually, this sample of grain sales contract was drawn up by me. For each transaction, you only need to modify the details of grain quantity, grade, price, and delivery time. . You must have read the contents of this contract. Are they all the same? ”
Qin Huacheng suddenly said: "I see, that little one won't do anything here anymore. I would like Boss Duan to give me a clear answer as to whether the conditions in this contract are feasible."
Now that the other party has made his words clear, Qin Huacheng no longer needs to waste words explaining the contents of the contract. He can simply let Duan Xuan give him a quick word to save everyone's time.
Duan Xuan said: "Since Brother Qin is a cheerful person, I will tell you the truth. I am afraid that the transaction price in the contract will have to be increased by another 20%. Of course, this matter will not make Brother Qin's hard work in vain. The fee must be paid.”
Qin Huacheng's heart sank when he heard this. The other party's conditions were indeed almost exactly the same as Chu Huo's, requiring an additional 20% increase on the originally agreed price. But it was not Qin Huacheng who had the final say on the price increase. When the other party put forward such conditions, they probably asked him to be the microphone in the middle.
Qin Huacheng said: "To be fair to Boss Duan, when I went to visit Boss Chu when I was young, he also made such a request."
Duan Xuan said: "Huh? Since you made a request, Boss Chu must have made other conditions for you, right?"
Qin Huacheng nodded and said: "Boss Chu did promise to give me some benefits after the matter is completed, but I didn't agree." "You don't like it? Or are you afraid of trouble?" Duan Xuan saw him admit so frankly, so he asked again. .
"Afraid of trouble." Qin Huacheng frankly admitted the other party's guess: "The younger one came to Batavia not long ago, and he doesn't understand the rules here, but the big shopkeeper Cheng once specifically told him that any benefits without his consent would be ignored. Not a single copper plate can be touched.”
Duan Xuan said: "Shopkeeper Cheng sometimes just talks to scare people, so you don't have to take it all seriously. Besides, it's the rule in this industry to give you benefits, not to harm you. Even if shopkeeper Cheng knows about it in the future, he won't do it for such a trivial matter. Blame it on you.”
Qin Huacheng shook his head and said: "Whether Shopkeeper Cheng will blame me is his idea, but since he told me, I can't make this mistake. If Boss Duan wants to take advantage of me and let me try to promote a price increase, then there is no need No, I won’t accept the money.”
"You are quite honest in what you say." Duan Xuan nodded and said, "But if you don't accept my money, this matter won't be done. You won't be able to report to your superiors after you go back, so what should we do?"
Qin Huacheng smiled bitterly and said: "We can only tell the truth. If Shopkeeper Wang really wants to blame him, then he will admit it."
"Would you really rather be punished for failing to complete the task than take the money and go back and say a few nice words to Shopkeeper Wang to persuade him to raise the price?" Duan Xuan was still trying to persuade Qin Huacheng to give up this unnecessary insistence: "In fact, even if the price is raised, If the price is set, Dacheng Rice Store will not suffer any loss, because the price sold to the Dutch will rise accordingly, and the rice store will make no less money. Please think about this clearly!"
At this time, Qin Huacheng seemed to have turned into a dead-headed person who was trying to get into trouble. He just shook his head and said: "The truth is indeed what Boss Duan said, but I still can't accept this benefit. Boss Duan doesn't need to persuade me anymore."< br>
Qin Huacheng knew very well that his work at Dacheng Rice Store was just a transition. According to Cheng Dapeng, he was sent to the rice store to learn about matters related to grain trade. After completing his studies, he would definitely not stay in the rice store. work. As for whether he can earn more profits for Mihang during his tenure, this is not the main criterion for Cheng Dapeng to test his training results. As an intelligence officer lurking among the people, making no mistakes is the primary quality. A companion had already been eliminated because of greed for money, so how could he fall into the same pit again.
If this offends Chu Huo, Duan Xuan, or even shopkeeper Wang, Qin Huacheng is not worried. After all, these people are unlikely to affect his future development. Cheng Dapeng does not use him because he needs him in business. Dacheng Rice Bank creates profits. As for what kind of punishment Shopkeeper Wang can give, the most he can do is complain to Cheng Dapeng. Therefore, no matter how much Duan Xuan tried to persuade him, Qin Huacheng still made up his mind and was determined not to join in the troubles with these peripheral small grain merchants.
Qin Huacheng refused to let go, and the deal was naturally not settled. However, Duan Xuan did not drive Qin Huacheng away angrily like Chu Huo, but instead invited him to visit his farm after suspending the negotiations. Although Qin Huacheng didn't know what he meant, he could feel that Duan Xuan's move was not malicious. Anyway, he was not in a hurry, so he accepted the other party's invitation. After a brief lunch, Qin Huacheng followed Duan Xuan to the farm and inspected the farming conditions on the farm with him.
The two of them walked slowly along the field path, one behind the other. As he walked, Duan Xuan introduced the situation of this farm to Qin Huacheng: "Two years ago, shopkeeper Cheng asked me to come forward and encircle 500 acres of cultivated land here, all of which will be used for planting rice. To be honest, Brother Qin said that the money to set up the farm , 99% of it was done by Shopkeeper Cheng first. Although I also understand that he did this not entirely to take care of me, but to control the local grain market, but after the farm operation started, Shopkeeper Cheng also handed over the place to me. I took care of it. In two years, not only did he repay the advance payment, but he also built a manor here with the remaining money. This year, he also surrounded 300 acres of land to open up wasteland and grow food. Even if he runs it by himself, he can support his family and his family. Dozens of long-term workers on the farm.”
Qin Huacheng did not interrupt and listened to his story quietly. However, in two years, the initial investment was recouped and there was still a surplus by relying on the income from farming and growing grain. This shows that Batavia's grain trade is indeed very profitable. But he immediately thought that only after farming reaches a certain scale, the cost of growing grain will be diluted accordingly. If an ordinary family cultivates ten or eight acres of land, it will probably only be enough for the family to make ends meet. .
Sure enough, Duan Xuan went on to talk about this issue: "But it would be unrealistic for local owners to open up wasteland and farm land here without the investment from shopkeeper Cheng. Now, latecomers want to open up farms here, and the cost It is also much higher than two years ago, so the local grain market is basically controlled by shopkeeper Cheng. In fact, the price of grain is just a matter of his words."
Qin Huacheng carefully savored Duan Xuan's words and found that his statement was consistent with that of Shopkeeper Wang of Dacheng Rice Store, both of which confirmed Dacheng Rice Store's dominant position in the local grain market. But since the price of grain has always been controlled by Cheng Dapeng, why do these farmers dare to ask for a price increase? Not to mention that they all relied on Cheng Dapeng's support to start their careers. They should be grateful and aweful. Aren't they afraid of Cheng Dapeng? Dissatisfied with this, they resorted to other means to suppress their food prices.
Duan Xuan continued: "It is not our turn to mention price increases. The purchase price of grain every year is basically decided by shopkeeper Cheng. Of course, he will not treat us badly, and the price he gives will not be treated badly. It can make everyone make money. Dacheng Rice Company has thousands of acres of grain fields under its name. Shopkeeper Cheng may know better than us how much this grain will cost. If anyone makes excuses to ask Dacheng Rice Company to increase its purchase price, Then he will probably come back in disgrace with shopkeeper Cheng.”
Qin Huacheng finally couldn't help but ask: "In this case, why do Boss Duan and Boss Chu insist on raising the price?"
Duan Xuan smiled and said: "Why do you think it is? Of course it is the intention of shopkeeper Cheng. We are just following the order."
(End of chapter)