Chapter 1721 New Food Deal
Qin Huacheng had no idea how much money Dacheng Rice Bank gave Welbeck last year. Of course, he had no way of knowing how much the so-called 20% of the service fee was. But judging from the Dutchman's attitude, it was obvious that he would only do so after negotiating conditions. He planned to sign, but his negotiating authority was not enough to make such a financial commitment, so he did not dare to overstep his authority. At the moment, he could only agree with a wry smile, and prepared to go back and ask Shopkeeper Wang for instructions.
Welbeck said: "When you go back, make it clear to your boss that starting from this year, the company's board of directors will reconsider grain procurement. If your rice bank cannot come up with better conditions, the board of directors may adjust the grain purchase policy. .”
Qin Huacheng already knew something about the middleman operation mode of Dacheng Rice Store. Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask: "Excuse me, sir, can you tell me how to adjust it?"
Welbeck looked up at Qin Huacheng and added: "Perhaps in the future we will no longer purchase grain exclusively through Dacheng Rice Bank."
Dacheng Rice Store is the undisputed number one in the local grain market, and Cheng Dapeng can even single-handedly influence the local grain price trend. In the past few years, the reserve grain purchased by the East India Company has been organized by the Dacheng Rice Bank. This operating model has both advantages and disadvantages for the East India Company.
The advantage is that Dacheng Rice Bank can provide uniform prices, grain quality, and stable delivery time. The Dutch do not need to spend a lot of time organizing procurement separately. They only need to negotiate the acquisition content with Dacheng Rice Bank several months in advance. The operation efficiency is very high. The disadvantage is that as an officially appointed agent, Dacheng Rice Bank has further gained control of the local grain market, and the price is definitely higher than the cost of separate purchases by the Dutch themselves. Of course, all the Dutch officials in charge of this matter, including Welbeck, have made a lot of money from the grain trade. Since the officials in charge are all vested interests, they have never done anything about it. Objections have been raised regarding this mode of operation.
This trade model has two important and indispensable factors. One is the absolute influence of the Dacheng Rice Company in the local grain market, and the other is that the officials of the East India Company who manage grain procurement can obtain sufficient benefits. If either condition occurs Any change may lead to the collapse of this model.
The Dacheng Rice Company is still the main local grain supplier in Batavia. Even though the East India Company has begun to organize grain farming in recent years, there is still a huge gap between the planting scale and operational efficiency of the Dacheng Rice Company. , the cost of grain production is even higher than the price purchased from Dacheng Rice Bank. Therefore, there has always been controversy within the East India Company about growing grain on its own. It was believed that it would be easier to place orders directly with the Dacheng Rice Company. In particular, officials who could obtain kickbacks from the grain trade took the initiative to act as spokespersons for the Dacheng Rice Company within the East India Company. customers and firmly oppose investing company resources in agricultural projects with lower returns.
But the faction that insists on growing their own food is not weak. These officials believe that the lifeline of food must be in their own hands, rather than left to the black-haired and yellow-skinned Han immigrants. Even though Cheng Dapeng had shared weal and woe with the Dutch in the city during the wars of the previous years, he did not win complete trust within the East India Company. In the eyes of these Dutch people, Cheng Dapeng was a foreigner after all, and important resources such as grain should not be left to him to control all year round. Control of Batavia's grain market would eventually need to be transferred to the official hands.
This leads us to mention the second important factor in the East India Company's current grain procurement model, which is the power distribution model in related matters. For officials in charge of agriculture and grain procurement, the seats under their buttocks are like a cornucopia. A lot of wealth enters their pockets through grain trade every year. This situation will inevitably attract the jealousy of others. After all, such cheap benefits Who wouldn't want that?
If you want to reap the benefits of grain trade, you have to either pry down the current officials and replace them yourself, or cancel the old trading model and start a new one to reshuffle the local grain market. But no matter which one it is, for Qin Huacheng, who is in charge of this matter, it is like a fight between gods. A little shrimp like himself has no way to figure it out. Welbeck said that grain purchase may not all be done through Dacheng Rice Bank in the future, which means that the East India Company's distribution of power in the field of grain procurement will change. All Qin Huacheng could do was to take the news back and see how his superiors would respond.
Although Qin Huacheng did not complete the task of signing the contract when he left, he finally got some information, and he did not leave completely empty-handed. Although he wanted to find out more information, because he had no money to bargain with the other party, Welbeck naturally did not bother to talk in detail with him, an errand boy who could not bring any actual benefits.
When Qin Huacheng returned to Dacheng Rice Shop, the sky had already darkened. Seeing his unhappy expression, shopkeeper Wang guessed that he had failed to get the job done. Before he could open his mouth to report, he took the initiative and said: "Eat first, Chengda will do it later." The shopkeeper is coming over, and you can report the Dutchman’s situation to him face to face.”
Although Qin Huacheng was a little surprised by Shopkeeper Wang's attitude, he still followed his instructions and went to eat first. Sure enough, not long after, Cheng Dapeng came to Mihang, first summoned shopkeeper Wang, and then quickly called Qin Huacheng into the study.
Cheng Dapeng sent shopkeeper Wang away first, and then asked Qin Huacheng about his business trip to these places today. Qin Huacheng did not dare to neglect, so he first told the story of his meeting with Chu Huo and Duan Xuan at two farms in the morning, and then the previous meeting with Welbeck in the city.
"The Dutch want to do new things!" Cheng Dapeng couldn't help but sigh after listening to Qin Huacheng's story: "It has been more than four years. It seems that they don't want to let me control the grain trade all the time. They plan to slowly Destroy my stage!”
Qin Huacheng didn't know how Cheng Dapeng gradually controlled the grain market in Batavia, so he didn't dare to answer this question and could only stand and wait for instructions.
After Cheng Dapeng sighed, he asked Qin Huacheng: "Did Welbeck mention any specific time? For example, how long did it take for us to respond, or when did the change in the procurement plan he mentioned will be implemented?"
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Qin Huacheng thought for a while, shook his head and said: "I have never heard him mention the specific time. Maybe this person is just bluffing to bargain."
Cheng Dapeng thought for a moment in silence, shook his head and said: "If he wants to bargain with me, there is no need to make such an excuse. As long as the conditions he proposes are not outrageous, I should agree. An increase of 20% on last year's basis is nothing." Big deal... He probably rejected you on purpose and asked you to come back with news."
Qin Huacheng said in astonishment: "We need to use this unconventional way to deliver news. Could it be that this Dutch official has..."
Cheng Dapeng nodded before he could finish his words and said: "Yes, he has probably been ignored. Maybe there are still people watching his every move, waiting to catch him. I don't know about his position. How many people are secretly jealous!”
Cheng Dapeng saw that Qin Huacheng could not hide his surprise, so he asked with a smile: "Do you think it is a bit exaggerated that an official in charge of food procurement can cause an official fight?" Qin Huacheng nodded, indicating that what Cheng Dapeng said was exactly what he said. What you think in your heart. When he went to see Welbeck earlier, the office space did not look like the treatment of an important person. Besides, although the job had good benefits, to put it bluntly, he was just a low-level official. How could he be as good as Cheng Dapeng said? serious.
Cheng Dapeng said slowly: "Welbeck is certainly not a big shot, but the person who placed him in this position is one of the seventeen major shareholders of the East India Company. As the saying goes, you have to wait and see when you beat a dog. Master, if someone wants to take his position, it is probably because there is a change in the upper echelons of the East India Company.”
Qin Huacheng didn't know much about the composition of the East India Company, and only after arriving in Batavia did he gradually receive some information about this colonial organization. In a large commercial organization like the East India Company, internal struggles for power are naturally inevitable. Cheng Dapeng said that Welbeck's position may involve high-level power struggles, so the current situation seems to make sense.
Qin Huacheng asked for instructions: "Then if we agree to Welbeck's request, will this year's grain purchase order be secure?"
Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said: "According to what he expressed, if he can't stay any longer, then this year's procurement model may change. I think this is Welbeck reminding us to try to keep his seat. Only in this way can we keep the food business.”
Qin Huacheng said: "Even if the Dutch want to change the way they play, the price of food in Batavia is not in the hands of the big shopkeeper. Logically speaking, they can't get around it anyway, even if Welbeck is replaced. What’s changed?”
Cheng Dapeng said: "The Dutch are not as simple as you think. Think about it, the purpose of changing the way they purchase grain is to weaken the influence of Dacheng Rice Bank on grain prices. Those small grain merchants who have always obeyed us have finally Given the opportunity to come forward, at the same purchase price, they will not hesitate to sell their surplus grain to the government. What we can do is to affect local grain prices by increasing price purchases or increasing sales, but here In this situation, it actually has no effect. If we take the initiative to raise grain prices, small grain merchants will reap the benefits. If we suppress grain prices, the Dutch will get what they want."
Qin Huacheng had never heard anyone from Mihang talk about these market conditions in detail before. After listening to it, he couldn't help but sigh: "So although Mihang can affect local food prices, in fact, this trick is just a decoration to scare people. It is not used when it is really needed." It doesn’t work.”
Cheng Dapeng said: "Whether it works or not depends on the cooperation of the Dutch. In the past, they purchased grain through our rice bank, so it is very useful to control the fluctuation of rice prices. When purchasing grain from the private sector, we can keep the market down. When the Dutch come to purchase grain, we will increase the price. The difference will be given to officials like Welbeck, and everyone will tacitly agree to complete the transaction. But if the Dutch change. Without the grain purchase model, the previous operation is not so easy to use.”
Qin Huacheng thought for a moment and then asked: "But we are the major local grain producers. If the Dutch buy grain from small grain merchants, they may not be able to get the amount they need, right? In the end, they will have to come to us." Buy food.”
Cheng Dapeng said: "That's what I say, but when the time comes, we will be passive, and the seller's market will become a buyer's market, which is very unfavorable for us, and the higher-ups definitely don't want to see such a situation."
Qin Huacheng didn't understand the terms buyer's market and seller's market, but he understood what Cheng Dapeng meant by "above". Although Cheng Dapeng is a powerful businessman in Batavia, he is just a spy leader serving Haihan. The ultimate goal of all his business activities in Batavia is to serve Haihan. The intelligence agency collects all kinds of information. If it cannot complete this main mission, then no matter how much money Dapeng makes here, he will not be considered a qualified intelligence officer after all.
Since Cheng Dapeng said that he did not want to see this situation, it means that his previous control of the local grain market also came from Haihan's domestic instructions. Thinking that another country thousands of miles away could control Batavia's grain market, Qin Huacheng couldn't help but marvel at the economic intervention methods used by Haihan. However, he did not know that Haihan had actually made similar arrangements in Manila earlier, but the scale of operations of Ran Tianlu and others in Manila was far from the influence that Cheng Dapeng had in Batavia.
Since Cheng Dapeng could not sit idly by and watch such a change happen, in order to prevent the Dutch from changing their grain purchase plan, he had to find a way to intervene in the East India Company's power changes and preserve the official positions of these vested interests headed by Welbeck.
However, when Qin Huacheng met with Welbeck before, the other party's words were unclear, and it was difficult for Cheng Dapeng to use the limited information brought back by Qin Huacheng to deduce Welbeck's true situation and thoughts. However, Welbeck once mentioned during the meeting that Cheng Dapeng should go and give him an explanation. Cheng Dapeng thought this was a sign that Welbeck wanted to have a direct interview with him, so he planned to go there again in person.
"You come with me tomorrow." Cheng Dapeng pointed at Qin Huacheng's general: "If Welbeck really needs our help, then this matter may be more troublesome. I want to say hello to him and contact the central contact person. The task is left to you.”
"Leave it to me?" Qin Huacheng was stunned for a moment.
"You are a new face here. Even if someone knows that you work for me, they won't pay much attention to you as a newcomer." Cheng Dapeng pointed to his head and said: "But you have to be smart when encountering problems. Remember you Identity and mission! ”
(End of chapter)