Chapter 1723 Maximizing Benefits
From an economic point of view, it was not cost-effective for the East India Company to import grain from Champa across the sea, and the cost was much higher than local procurement. But from a political point of view, this cost difference is not that important. The stability of the rule of the Batavia region is the first priority. Dacheng Rice Bank, which almost monopolizes the local grain market, is already a hidden danger of instability in the eyes of the Dutch, and the current grain supply structure must be changed to a certain extent.
However, since according to Welbeck, the East India Company is looking for a purchase from the Champa State, there is something to be done here.
If Cheng Dapeng is really just an ordinary businessman, it is certainly unlikely to affect the high-level trade between countries like the Netherlands and Champa, but his other identity can come into play at this time. As long as he reports the matter to the country in a timely manner, and then the country notifies the embassy in Champa to negotiate with him, it is not too difficult to disrupt this transnational grain trade.
The relationship between Haihan and Champa has always been maintained well. Most of the new weapons and equipment installed by the Champa State in recent years are from Haihan. The military has also hired Haihan’s military consultants to assist in training all year round. Militarily, it is one of Haihan's allies. If Haihan proposed to Champa not to accept the Dutch's food orders and provided certain compensation in other aspects, then Champa would be happy to sell this face to his allies.
Of course, there is basically no need for Cheng Dapeng to worry about how to implement this kind of diplomatic affairs. As long as he reports the news as soon as possible, the domestic executive committee will naturally make corresponding arrangements for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the Sanya side was more efficient, perhaps Haihan would have already negotiated with Champa one step ahead before the people sent by the East India Company arrived at Champa.
Seeing that Cheng Dapeng still looked calm, Welbeck couldn't help but admire his calmness. If he were in the opponent's position, he might have been unable to hold back. He couldn't imagine where Cheng Dapeng's confidence came from, but he knew very well that if he wanted to protect himself, he had to try his best to get Cheng Dapeng to help. Otherwise, if he was kicked out by Ji En, he would be very harmful to Cheng Dapeng's business in the future. There will be no use value, and it will not be easy to make a comeback in Batavia by then.
"Boss Cheng, it took us several years to integrate the local grain market. Do you really have the heart to give up this hard-won result to others?" Welbeck still refused to give up and continued to persuade Cheng Dapeng, hoping that he Can take action.
Welbeck's belief in Cheng Dapeng's ability to change the situation was not just blind trust. In the past few years of his friendship and cooperation with Cheng Dapeng, he had never seen anything that could stump this Chinese businessman. . Moreover, Cheng Dapeng was extremely prudent in his work. There were almost no flaws in the operation of annexing the local grain market in the past few years. Even the council could not find any faults, so he believed that Cheng Dapeng would definitely be able to think of a way to save the situation.
But Cheng Dapeng had his own ideas. The current situation was not irreversible, but how to proceed and how to maximize the interests of Haihan and himself still needed to be carefully considered. If used properly, crises can also be transformed into opportunities.
"Mr. Welbeck, if I really have a way to get everything back on track, what benefits can I get? Just maintain the status quo? Then should I go to Mr. Jean immediately to talk about the conditions that are more practical? Maybe he will He has also prepared generous conditions and is waiting for me to show up to persuade me to change my position and support him." Cheng Dapeng looked at the other party and proposed a possibility. Although this was just his unilateral imagination, if Cheng Dapeng If Tomo is willing to take the initiative to move towards the other side's camp, then maybe the other side will welcome him to change sides.
Of course, Cheng Dapeng was just talking. His purpose was to bargain with Welbeck and reduce the other party's room for maneuver. If the other party chose to compromise, then he could use subsequent methods.
Sure enough, Welbeck was a little panicked when he heard Cheng Dapeng's attitude, and said quickly: "Boss Cheng, please think clearly, that Jean has not been in Batavia for a long time, and he is far less familiar with the local situation than I am. You If you want to cooperate with him, you have to do a lot of things from scratch. Be careful that the gains outweigh the losses!”
Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said: "That's not the case. What if he gives me more benefits because he is not familiar with the local conditions? Maybe after he takes your seat, the East India Company and Dacheng Rice The cooperation with the bank needs to be closer. I also want to see what kind of conditions he can offer me.”
Welbeck was on the verge of tears. He felt that he had sold himself out. He told everything he knew about the situation, but Cheng Dapeng decided to continue to wait and see for an opportunity to raise the price. In this way, his position was really in jeopardy. . As long as the conditions offered by Jean are better than what Cheng Dapeng is getting now, then Cheng Dapeng will probably abandon him without hesitation.
Welbeck was unwilling to miss out on the opportunity like this. His intuition told him that there would still be a turning point if Cheng Dapeng didn't put his words to death. It just depends on whether he can offer good enough conditions for Cheng Dapeng to confirm his position. But he was still not sure what conditions would make the other party interested, or what Cheng Dapeng really cared about.
"Okay, Boss Cheng, let's be honest with each other and tell me, what are your conditions? I think our common interests should far outweigh our differences." Welbeck's tone became even weaker. Some. Although he may not have noticed this himself, even Qin Huacheng, who didn't fully understand the conversation between the two, had noticed this subtle change in attitude.
Cheng Dapeng naturally felt more intuitively about this change. He smiled and said, "Can you agree to the conditions I set out? Think carefully before answering me."
What Welbeck is now afraid of is that Cheng Dapeng refuses to make conditions for him, and he immediately responded: "Promise, promise, as long as it is within my ability, I will agree!"
In desperation, Welbeck couldn't care less. He knew that the conditions proposed by Cheng Dapeng would definitely conflict with the interests of the East India Company, but so what, his position in the East India Company was almost gone. If it's saved, do you still have to sacrifice yourself to save the fat-minded bureaucrats in the council at this time?
Of course, Welbeck is not such a soft-hearted person. The official position under his butt means an income of tens of thousands of silver coins every year. He has to rely on this income to support his family in the Netherlands. If this income is cut off, how can he expect the company council to Can you be kind and continue to use money to support his family? No, of course it was impossible. The East India Company was not a charitable organization, so he had to try his best to keep his position, even if it would violate some of the company's rules.
"Okay, since you agreed, let me first put forward some conditions to see your sincerity." Cheng Dapeng immediately made several conditions to him: "First, I want to know that the East India Company plans to purchase goods this year The accurate amount of grain and procurement budget. Second, the East India Company will prepare detailed plans for farming and growing grain in the next two years, such as how much arable land it plans to cultivate and what types of grain crops it plans to plant. Third, Bada. Give me an accurate amount of the grain currently in Weiya’s official warehouse.”
Welbeck's face didn't look very good when he heard these conditions. Although he and Cheng Dapeng had a tacit understanding of cooperation in grain procurement in the past few years, he would never inform the other party of this relatively sensitive information. The two parties just agree on a price that is acceptable to both parties, and then Dacheng Rice Bank will return a certain percentage of the benefit fee to him after the transaction. The demands made by Cheng Dapeng now are tantamount to asking Welbeck to show all his trump cards, which is a great test of his determination and sincerity. Welbeck began to sweat on his back. The questions raised by Cheng Dapeng were no longer a matter of relaxing the purchase price during grain procurement and turning a blind eye to the grain sent to the official warehouse. It actually involves the internal secrets of the East India Company and is of a very different nature. To put it more seriously, if this information is leaked to Cheng Dapeng, then Welbeck will be equivalent to completely betraying the East India Company.
Cheng Dapeng asked these questions quite thoughtfully. He was asking for information related to the grain trade, so it was not out of the blue. It was difficult for the other party to think of the deep meaning of Cheng Dapeng's spying on information, let alone to notice it at this time. It seems that this shrewd boss Cheng intends to drag him into the water and become a source of intelligence for Haihan.
No matter how strong Cheng Dapeng's professional ability is, the intelligence he can collect from Batavia will inevitably be subjective and one-sided. If the intelligence comes from within the East India Company, the meaning will be completely different. Therefore, in the past few years, Cheng Dapeng has been cautiously contacting officials of the East India Company, hoping to develop one or two "insiders" to provide him with more valuable and accurate intelligence.
Cheng Dapeng has actually been optimistic about Welbeck for a long time, but out of caution, he has never directly interviewed Welbeck. But now this opportunity is really rare, and Cheng Dapeng wants to take this opportunity to see Welbeck. Whether this person's position will be shaken.
Qin Huacheng, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, finally figured out Cheng Dapeng's intentions at this time, and couldn't help but admire his response. In his opinion, Cheng Dapeng should respond to the changes in the East India Company's grain procurement policy. After all, being able to control the Batavia grain market is definitely a very important advantage for Haihan and cannot be given up easily. . However, Cheng Dapeng could hold back until the other party revealed his restless mood, then he seized the opportunity to attack and put forward the conditions without leaving any trace. This kind of calm operation was indeed beyond Qin Huacheng's ability.
Welbeck's ideological struggle lasted for several minutes. During this period, Cheng Dapeng did not speak to urge him, but still sat patiently waiting for the other party to respond.
Cheng Dapeng's fingers gently rubbed a piece of white jade pendant tied to his waist. This round jade pendant did not have any patterns engraved on it, but the edges were processed into a puzzling gear shape. The style was quite unique. But few people except him knew that this jade pendant was actually a special medal awarded to him personally by the Executive Committee after the Batavia War. This jade pendant deliberately retains its original smooth surface, and only the gears on the edge symbolize Haihan's industrial civilization.
In fact, Cheng Dapeng didn't quite understand the true meaning of the gear jade pendant, but it was a reward issued by the Executive Committee, so he regarded it as a treasure. In the past few years, he almost always carried it with him and played with it whenever he had time. , I had already rubbed the jade pendant until it was smooth and smooth. The only people who can really know the origin of this jade pendant are a few high-ranking officials in the Executive Committee and the Security Department. He doesn't have to worry that carrying this thing with him will expose his other identity.
After a long time, Welbeck finally made a decision and said to Cheng Dapeng: "Boss Cheng, I can tell you the information you want to know, but you must promise not to leak it to a third party, otherwise there will be no need to discuss it. ”
Cheng Dapeng smiled and said: "This information is useful to me, but it may not be useful to others. It won't do me any good if it is leaked, right? To be honest, if it doesn't involve you and my future cooperation prospects, I don’t want to ask you for this information rashly. If you misunderstand it as spying on the East India Company, I won’t be able to clean it up even if I jump into the South China Sea!”
Welbeck was still a little worried and confirmed again: "Boss Cheng, after you get this information, can you really help me keep my official position?"
Cheng Dapeng said seriously: "No kidding, I will definitely try my best to let you sit in this seat for a few more years. After all, it is not easy to find a partner who has such a tacit understanding like you. If If possible, I will certainly choose to continue working with people who know the basics.”
"That's good." Welbeck's expression finally relaxed a little, and then he winked at Cheng Dapeng, signaling him to send his entourage away first. The information he wanted to tell Cheng Dapeng was the secret of the East India Company. Although he trusted Cheng Dapeng, it did not mean that he also trusted Cheng Dapeng's entourage.
Cheng Dapeng nodded towards Qin Huacheng and said, "Then you wait outside first."
Qin Huacheng responded, quickly walked out of the room, and closed the door. He was actually not very interested in the information provided by Welbeck. Anyway, Cheng Dapeng would probably take out the information and analyze it together immediately after returning, so there was no need to rush at this moment.
Cheng Dapeng and Welbeck closed the door and muttered inside for about half an hour before ending. Welbeck politely sent Cheng Dapeng outside to say goodbye.
"If I have any arrangements here, I will ask him to come to you." Cheng Dapeng pointed at Qin Huacheng and said: "If you have any news, you can ask him to tell me."
Welbeck nodded and said: "Don't come here to look for me in the future. There are many people here and it is easy to attract attention. If you have any news, you can send it to my home. This is more convenient."
(End of chapter)