Chapter 1896 The Way of Business
The Portuguese arrived at the Pearl River Estuary much earlier than Haihan. They had already settled in Macau in the middle of the last century. Later, they obtained a long-term lease in Macau by assisting the local government of Guangdong in suppressing the mutiny. From 1572 He began to pay a symbolic rent of five hundred taels per year, and legitimately took this small place located at the mouth of the Pearl River as his own.
In the view of Ming officials, such a remote and small place did not have much economic value, and carrying out normal trade with Portugal in this way would actually be of some benefit to the Ming Dynasty. After all, the Portuguese had a relatively friendly attitude towards the Ming Dynasty, and they could sell advanced European weapons to the Ming Dynasty and train gunners and musketeers for the Ming Dynasty. Such military assistance was exactly what the Ming Dynasty needed.
Of course, this is only one of the many reasons that contributed to Portugal's occupation of Macau. Fundamentally speaking, it was the Ming Dynasty's lack of vigilance against the usual methods of Western colonists that allowed them to take advantage of it.
However, these actions of Portugal really seemed too honest in front of the latecomer Haihan. From the first time Haihan sent a ship to the Pearl River Basin to the occupation of Hong Kong Island, it took only two years to complete what the Portuguese had done in two years. A goal that took ten years to achieve.
After all, Haihan had extremely strong military capabilities when he appeared in the South China Sea. He had already established a military stronghold on Dawanshan Island at the Pearl River Estuary long before Hong Kong, and drove away the Liu Xiang pirates who originally controlled this sea area head-on. gang. When Haihan attacked Hong Kong, the local government in Guangdong basically did not take any military measures. Instead, it ordered the navy to withdraw to the Pearl River Estuary to avoid armed conflict with Haihan.
The Portuguese could not imitate such methods. They did not have colonies like Sanya to rely on in this area, and they did not dare to take risks to offend countries like the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, once the war starts, they may have a slight upper hand in the short term, but in the long run they will definitely not be able to defeat Daming as a landlord.
However, regarding the military weakness, the Portuguese realized this relatively early. In the battle of Hoi An City in Annan in 1628, the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce armed forces who tried to confront the Haihan Army had already learned their lesson and chose wisely. Collaborate rather than confront. Later, the Portuguese Council of Macau took the initiative to contact Haihan and reached a trade agreement. The time was before Haihan occupied Hong Kong.
However, the two countries occupied separate territories in the east and west of the Pearl River Estuary, and the gap also quickly widened in later development. Although Portugal started operating Macau more than half a century before Haihan launched the Hong Kong project, Hong Kong's current trade environment is far from comparable to Macau. The number of businessmen from various countries stationed in Hong Kong is far greater than that of Macau, and the scale of trade The difference is dozens of times.
The Portuguese had no good solution for this. Haihan had a similar language and culture to Ming Dynasty, so it was much easier for them to win over Ming merchants. Moreover, Haihan produced almost all the things they could sell, with better quality and lower prices. Portugal has no competitive advantage at all. As for those who are playing dirty tricks, forget it. The Haihan people are not good-tempered beings. This can be seen from the frequency of their foreign wars. Given Portugal's strength, it is better not to offend them.
In the end, the Portuguese simply followed the market and went to Hong Kong Island to open a business store and do business. Over time, some Portuguese businessmen used this place as a trading destination instead of Macau, which was really under Portuguese control. Now there are at least three to five hundred Portuguese people who have settled in Hong Kong for a long time. Of course, just like the Ming merchants who come here to do business, they must also abide by Haihan's laws and regulations, and they must accept the official punishment of Haihan if they commit a crime.
After listening to You Yihan's introduction, Li Bo finally understood why there were so many Portuguese people in the local area. Although I have never been to Macau, I imagine that the good trade environment created by Hong Kong was the biggest reason why the Portuguese gave up the port they had been operating for decades and came here specifically to do business.
Li Bo slowly walked around seven or eight shops and found that although Ming Shang sold a wide variety of things, it was difficult for him to have the same exciting feeling as when he walked into Nanhai Bookstore yesterday, and he had no desire to buy. However, he had to admit that the business atmosphere here was really strong. Every store he walked into had other customers. Even in the short moment when he walked into the store and wandered around, the people next to him negotiated with the shopkeeper. Buy and sell.
"Master You must have a lot of tricks to make Hong Kong so prosperous. I wonder if Master You has any experience that can be taught to me?" After walking out of a silk and satin shop, Li Pu simply asked the question on his mind. .
You Yihan said: "Your Majesty, the scope of this problem is very large. If you want to know why Hong Kong is prosperous today, the reasons are actually quite complicated. It is not my personal power to manage such a situation."
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Such an answer obviously could not satisfy Li Pu, and he continued to ask: "If I can understand more about this, perhaps businessmen from our country will have less troubles when doing business in Hong Kong in the future."
Of course You Yihan could tell that this was just Li Bo's excuse. In fact, it was not that he wanted to hide any secrets from Li Bo, but that this issue was really not something that could be explained in a few sentences. Haihan's plan for Hong Kong even started before the time travel, and all actions against Hong Kong after the time travel are to achieve this set goal. But it was difficult for You Yihan to explain to Li Bo why Haihan chose this island as his base, and the long-term plan behind Haihan's series of investment attractions in Hong Kong.
"I can explain the institutional things to the Crown Prince, but how to run such a trading port? Then I probably can only ask the Crown Prince to stay here for a while to experience it personally." You Yihan was still very frank. He expressed his point of view, but he also knew that Li Bo would not stay in Hong Kong for too long. After all, he refused to invite him to Guangzhou, so he paused and added: "Actually, the prince doesn't have to worry. Anyway, you are going to Sanya soon. Sanya has everything that is available here. You may not find the answers to some questions here, but when you go to Sanya, you will be exposed to more in that environment. information, you may find a way to solve the problem. ”
Li Ming was a little dazed by his roundabout words, but he finally understood the meaning. Instead of looking for answers to the questions here in Hong Kong, it would be better to go directly to Sanya, which is the center of Haihan Kingdom. Li Ming The real answers to all the questions you care about can be found there.
Whether it can go as smoothly as You Yihan said, Li Bo doesn't know, but since the purpose of this study abroad trip is to learn advanced experience from Haihan, then maybe he should go to the terminal earlier to find out how Haihan became Rich answer.
Li Pu bowed his head respectfully and said: "Thank you, Master You. I have learned from you!"
You Yihan returned the greeting: "Your Majesty is very smart and will definitely learn what you want to learn. When you take charge of North Korea in the future, you will definitely make your country prosperous and strong!" After the day's visit, when he returned to his residence in the evening, Li Mu did not say anything more. I was eager to read "The Rise of the South China Sea", but I carefully recalled what I had seen and heard during this journey after leaving North Korea. He saw prosperous trade, developed shipping, and powerful armed forces in various colonial ports under the rule of Haihan... These characteristics reflected Haihan's national strength from the side, and also fully reflected the Haihan people's ability to govern the country. ability.
This time, dozens of overseas students were carefully selected to learn military, agricultural, shipbuilding and other aspects of knowledge from the Haihan Kingdom. As the heir to the throne, Li Bo needed to learn content that not only covered these fields, but also had to be higher than this level.
Li Pu thought about many questions during this journey, but rarely got real answers. Looking back now, he felt that Haihan arranged these places to stay along the way with this purpose, so that he could discover problems and at the same time It is difficult to get a direct answer from the local area, and in the end we have to focus on the destination of the journey.
During this trip, Li Bo also seized various opportunities to communicate with various people who had been to Sanya. He only had one question, what kind of place is Sanya? But the answers he got were varied. Sailors thought Sanya was a gold-selling cave where they would not want to leave until they ran out of money. Businessmen thought Sanya was a trading paradise where they could make a lot of money just by visiting. Immigrants thought Sanya would be their place. For scholars like him, most people have the same idea as him, thinking that Sanya will have the answers to all questions.
"I hope so."
Li Pu came back from his thoughts, stood up from the bathtub, raised his arms and let his men dry the water on him with a towel.
After putting on the silk bathrobe prepared by the Shanghai Han people, Li Shu said calmly: "I will bid farewell to Mr. You of Haihan tomorrow and set off southward today. Remember to give Mr. You a gift of the gifts you prepared when you set off."
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With North Korea's current financial situation, it is true that it cannot prepare expensive gifts, but fortunately the royal family still has some special reserves - Korean ginseng, a specialty product, has always been very popular, and Li Bo would give it to the local Haihan wherever he went. The Archon has high-quality Korean ginseng, and even if he wants to visit Yihan, he will not refuse this rare gift.
The next day, You Yihan received a gift and a farewell application from the North Korean envoy early in the morning. He was not surprised by this. After answering Li Bo's question yesterday, he guessed that the North Korean prince would not be able to stay any longer. Although the other party did not stay in Hong Kong for a long time, You Yihan believed that the reception was impeccable, and he basically implemented the intention of Fort Victory, allowing Li Bo to fully experience the prosperity of Hong Kong and Haihan's business operations here. outstanding ability. The task has been completed. Now that Li Shu has decided to leave, You Yihan will not make any further attempts to persuade him to stay.
After leaving Hong Kong, the fleet of Li Bo and his party sailed west around the island, passed through the Sulfur Strait, and then headed southwest. While passing through the waters near Dawanshan Island, the diplomats on the ship lost no time in introducing the special status of this island in the history of Haihan to Li Bo and his party. At that time, Haihan relied on the coastal defenses of Dawanshan Island to severely damage the invading Liu Xiang pirate fleet, and then seized control of the Pearl River Estuary in one fell swoop.
However, after Haihan occupied Hong Kong Island, the naval garrison was also moved from the small harbor of Tai Wan Shan Island to Ap Lei Chau on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Due to the limited development space of Tai Wan Shan Island, its military functions were basically removed. , retaining part of its function as a cargo transfer station, and was later taken over by the Haihan Ministry of Agriculture and used as a specialized fishing port.
After setting off, Li Bo specifically inquired about the upcoming flight arrangements and determined that he should fly directly to Sanya without stopping in the middle, and he felt much more relaxed.
During this trip to the south, he stopped and visited many times. Although he gained a lot of knowledge as a result, Li Bo was indeed a little tired of the diplomatic entertainment. He is not a long-sleeved politician. This is the first time he has handled foreign affairs alone. His opponent is a shrewd and powerful Haihan man. Being able to deal with Haihan senior officials for so many days without being humble or arrogant is almost beyond what he can do so far. The upper limit has been reached.
After arriving in Hong Kong, Li Pu could clearly feel that he was tired, not only from the physical fatigue caused by the long journey, but also from the intensive diplomatic interactions and exhaustive thinking about the problem. Although it was an unexpected surprise to discover the book "The Rise of the South China Sea" here, Li Bo finally figured out that the answer he was looking for could only be obtained by going to Sanya.
However, all good things come to pass. There is still more than a thousand miles to travel from Hong Kong to Sanya, and the weather conditions during this period are not ideal. Not long after the fleet left the Pearl River Estuary, there was a storm on the sea. For safety reasons, the fleet could only choose to sail north to the mainland to avoid wind and waves. So the voyage, which had no planned stopovers, had to stay at a fishing port near Yangjiang for two days due to weather conditions.
After the weather improved, the fleet set off south again. This time it was smooth sailing. Only one day later, we could already see the outline of Hainan Island on the sea level in front of us.
After hearing the news, Li Bo also came to the deck from the cabin and used a telescope to look at the large island regarded as the homeland of Haihan Kingdom. But the fleet was still quite far away from the coastline at this time, and Li Bo could only see a vague outline of the land in the telescope. But it doesn’t matter. Now that we have seen the coastline, Sanya must not be far away. Li Pu excitedly told his men to go to the cabin and pack their luggage first.
In fact, the coastline Li Bo saw at this time was the Tonggujiao area on the east coast of Hainan Island. It was still hundreds of miles away from Sanya, and it still took a day to reach Sanya in the south of the island at normal speed. This is probably because Li Bo has no concept of the size of Hainan Island, and he did not expect that there is still quite a distance to sail around the island.
(End of chapter)