Chapter 2172
As one of the busiest ports in the eastern coastal area of Ming Dynasty, Dinghai Port has hundreds of people arriving or departing every day. Some people are unwilling to leave this highly competitive port to find another way out, but at the same time, there are also more People come here with the expectation of getting rich, convinced that they can make a career in this golden place.
Just when Yu Chengli and Gonzalez were saying goodbye, a blessing boat docked slowly at the pier next to them. A gangplank was stretched out from the boat and set up on the pier. Then an old man in his fifties wearing a black silk robe walked in front of several entourages. Slowly came ashore surrounded by people. Although the old man did not look striking, the entourages around him were all wearing uniform clothes, and they looked like they belonged to a wealthy family.
However, there are too many dignitaries coming in and out of Zhoushan, and it is not unusual to have a group of servants with them, so the arrival of this group of people did not attract the attention of others, not even Yu Chengli and Gonzalez, who were not far away. Pay more attention to the arrival of these people.
The men of the old man in black were already waiting at the pier, and the carriage was prepared in advance. The old man did not stay at the pier after getting off the boat. After boarding the car, the group quickly left the port and headed for the city.
"Have there been any new developments after the Haihan army in Zhoushan returned to camp? Did they have any definite news about the results of their previous expedition?" On the way, the old man began to eagerly ask his men stationed in Zhoushan about the current situation on the island.
This old man is Ma Zhengping, a Yangzhou salt merchant who visited Zhoushan before the East China Sea Fleet set off. At that time, he came to Haihan on behalf of the Huizhou salt merchants to seek peace with Haihan and seek opportunities for future cooperation. At that time, the person who received him in Zhoushan was Yang Yun, the chief commercial officer. The two parties negotiated relatively smoothly, and reached a cooperation intention on the development of the salt industry in Yangzhou. They even reached an agreement for Ma Zhengping to set up a business store in Zhoushan to engage in salt industry. Long-term operation.
However, at that time, Haihan's senior officials had already confirmed that they would send troops to attack Hirado. In order to ensure stability in the rear, Shi Diwen asked Yang Yun to suspend the approval of foreign merchants' plans to purchase land on Zhoushan Island. The entry of Yangzhou salt merchants was also temporarily blocked. After watching the military parade on Zhoushan Island, Ma Zhengping returned to Yangzhou, leaving only two men to follow up in Zhoushan.
After the East China Sea Fleet returned, Zhoushan, which was under wartime military control, gradually returned to normal social order, and various temporarily suspended commercial activities began to restart. Ma Zhengping's men found out that the temporary restrictions on foreign businessmen had been lifted, and quickly sent the news back to Yangzhou. After receiving the news, Ma Zhengping rushed to Zhoushan as soon as possible, hoping to strike while the iron was hot and cooperate with Haihan officials according to the previously negotiated terms.
Before going to see Yang Yun, Ma Zhengping had to confirm the results of Haihan's East China Sea Fleet's overseas operations. If the battle is won, everything will be easy, but if the Haihan Army suffers a defeat, it may have to wait and see for a while.
These messages were not described in detail in the letters sent back to Yangzhou, so after getting off the ship, Ma Zhengping was eager to implement the relevant information first to judge what measures he should take next.
Of course, from Ma Zhengping's point of view, he definitely hopes that the Haihan Army can defeat the Japanese and completely cut off the source of weapons for the Yangzhou Shanshan salt merchants, so that the Huizhou salt merchants can have a chance to defeat their competitors.
The men who stayed in Zhoushan reported to him the recent news. The Zhoushan military had officially declared victory in this overseas campaign, and there was reliable news that the Japanese port of Hirado was completely razed to the ground by the Haihan army.
"What? Hirado Port is gone?" Ma Zhengping couldn't believe it when he heard the news. Although he has never been to Hirado, he also knows that Japan across the sea mainly relies on Hirado Port for cross-border trade. Almost all the various commodities shipped to Japan from the Ming Dynasty flowed into various parts of Japan through Hirado Port.
However, Haihan's troops sent out this time completely destroyed Hirado Port. Ma Zhengping felt that his imagination was too short, and he never expected that Haihan's troops would make such a big move.
"They... massacred the city of Hirado?" Ma Zhengping thought about it and seemed to think that this was probably the most likely scenario. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to imagine how Haihan could raze a port city to the ground.
"According to the information that the villain found locally, the Haihan Army kidnapped all the local people after the war, and then burned Hirado Castle to the ground!"
Ma Zhengping was shocked when he heard this. Transporting all the locals away was much more difficult than massacring the city. Are the Haihan people really willing to spend so much effort to clear them out?
"Is the news true?" Ma Zhengping felt that this matter should be implemented. Maybe the Haihan people were just exaggerating to deliberately expand the results of the victory.
"When the East China Sea Fleet came back, it loaded many Japanese ships, and many local businessmen also evacuated to Zhoushan with the fleet. The villain went out of his way to get to know some Han Chinese who came to Zhoushan from Hirado, and they all said the same thing. The Haihan people indeed evacuated Hirado. Many Japanese were transported to other places for resettlement, and at least a thousand people in Zhoushan were assigned to various towns. "
Ma Zhengping still doesn't know Haihan well enough, otherwise he should know very well how much Haihan needs manpower. Taking away all the local people after the war is not a trouble for Haihan, but part of the spoils. From a long-term perspective, these people are even more valuable than the property looted locally by the Haihan Army.
Although the Haihan Army had not included the local population of Hirado in its combat plan when it started operating, in the later stages of the war, it discovered that such a big fruit was right in front of its eyes, and it would be a shame not to pick it, so it temporarily revised the plan. Take away all the local people. Although there were inevitable confrontations and conflicts among the immigrant groups during this period, they could not cause much trouble under the strong control of the Haihan Army.
These Japanese were transported to Zhoushan and then distributed to various towns and villages for resettlement. This was done openly, so this was no longer a secret locally. What's more, businessmen like Yu Chengli can move around the local area without restrictions and contact people at will, so the actual situation in Hirado naturally spread among the people quickly. Ma Zhengping's men wanted to collect relevant information, and they could easily find many witnesses, and their credibility has been fully verified.
After the men finished telling how they got the news, the carriage had already arrived at the hotel where they were staying. Ma Zhengping did not take a break and continued to inquire in detail about the local situation.
According to what Ma Zhengping knew, the muskets owned by the Shanshan salt merchants were provided by the Japanese in Hirado. Whether the actions of the Haihan people completely eliminated the source of weapons for the Shanshan salt merchants was a must for him. important information for implementation.
However, the news about the Hirado Arms Workshop is already classified as a military secret. Even the weapon craftsmen captured by Haihan from the local area have been relocated separately, so almost no relevant information has leaked to the outside world. Although Ma Zhengping's men were diligently investigating in Zhoushan, they had no access to senior military officials, so they were completely unable to learn this key information.
This can't help but make Ma Zhengping a little disappointed. If he wants to try to find officials to get information, he will have to spend a lot of time. The only official he knew now was Yang Yun, and Yang Yun was not an officer. He was in charge of business activities. Ma Zhengping felt that even if he found Yang Yun, it would be difficult to get exact information. However, Ma Zhengping came to Zhoushan this time to handle follow-up matters, and he had to visit Yang Yun. He thought that maybe Yang Yun could introduce some officers to him. Of course, if he could get in touch with Yang Yun's boss, General Shi, That would be best. As soon as he said it, Ma Zhengping asked his men to prepare the gift list and greeting cards, and then went to see Yang Yun after dark.
The reason why he had to wait until dark before going was of course because Ma Zhengping didn't want to go to Yang Yun's office to show his face, but planned to go directly to his home for a private visit. In this way, the two parties can be more straightforward when discussing, and there is no need to limit the topic to the scope of work.
"Boss Ma, long time no see. How are you?"
Later that day, Ma Zhengping finally met Yang Yun. Seeing that the other party's attitude was still quite warm, Ma Zhengping felt relieved and said, "Thank you, Mr. Yang, for your concern. I recently went back to Yangzhou and just arrived today." To Zhoushan.”
After greeting each other and sitting down, Yang Yun asked straight to the point: "Boss Ma came to see me right away when he arrived in Zhoushan this time. I don't know why?"
Ma Zhengping said: "Firstly, I brought some Yangzhou specialties here, and I wanted to say hello to Mr. Yang. Secondly, I wanted to ask for permission to buy land and build a business store in Zhoushan. Thirdly, it was the cooperation that I had agreed with Mr. Yang before. Matters, do you need to make any changes?”
Seeing that Yang Yun went straight to the point, Ma Zhengping stopped beating around the bush and made his intention clear to the other party. Of course the souvenirs he gave were not worth much, but they were just things to hide from others. The real gift was actually a 500-yuan Haihan note. Now that Yang Yun accepted the gift, Ma Zhengping could calm down and discuss these topics with him.
But regarding the musket trade, Ma Zhengping did not bring it up immediately, intending to decide whether to ask based on the situation later.
Yang Yun responded: "If Boss Ma has not changed his mind, then of course we welcome Boss Ma to open a business store in Zhoushan for long-term operation. Just take time to go to the Business Office to go through the relevant procedures. As for our cooperation, I remember Boss Ma At that time, he said that he would go back to Yangzhou to discuss with other salt merchants. I wonder if there is any result? ”
When the two met last time, they roughly agreed on the cooperation in the salt industry. The main content was that the Yangzhou salt merchants’ future purchase channels should be mainly from the salt farms affiliated to the Zhoushan Colonial Zone. Haihan Salt is located in Yangzhou Salt The proportion of merchant sales volume must be maintained at more than 70%.
Of course, the "Yangzhou salt merchants" referred to in the agreement do not include the Shanshan Salt Merchant Group in Yangzhou, but specifically refer to the Huizhou salt merchants represented by Ma Zhengping. After all, the relationship between Haihan and Shanxi salt merchants is basically irreconcilable, and Huizhou salt merchants are a relatively good partner. Haihan also needs such channel distributors to open up the market of Haihan salt beyond the Yangtze River. Sales in the northern region.
Ma Zhengping said: "After I returned to Yangzhou, I gathered together the salt merchants I knew well to discuss the plan proposed by Mr. Yang. There is no problem with the general direction of cooperation. It is just that a large amount of sea salt must be purchased from Zhoushan from the beginning to maintain the 70% The sales case will make it difficult for us to communicate with the Guanyang Salt Factory! ”
Yang Yun smiled and said: "Boss Ma doesn't think that I don't know anything about the salt industry in Yangzhou, right? This won't affect the quantity of goods you purchase from the official salt field. How can anyone make things difficult for you!"
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Boss Ma was criticized by Yang Yun face to face. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned and did not panic. He gave another reason: "My counterparts in Yangzhou are worried about unstable supply in Zhoushan, so they feel that they still need to maintain the original supply." Channel.”
Yang Yun said with a slight expression on his face: "We propose to start cooperation at a ratio of 70%. This is to leave you with a way out and allow you to continue to maintain the relationship with the Guanyin salt farm, so as not to be completely disconnected and make it difficult for you to operate. I want to say Supply, even if there are a few more Yangzhous, we can supply them together. How can we say that the supply is unstable? ”
In the past, most of the salt sold by Yangzhou salt merchants was purchased from the official salt field using salt guides. Salt merchants paid money to the government to obtain salt leads, and then used the salt leads to go to salt farms to distribute salt, and then transported the salt to designated areas for sale. The real value is not the salt, but the salt that is the certificate of qualification for selling salt.
A portion of salt can cost 300 kilograms of salt, but the actual salt sold by salt merchants is often more than this amount, and the extra amount is extremely profitable private salt. The salt merchant was so wealthy that a considerable part of his wealth actually came from this tricky operation between buying and selling.
The cooperation plan discussed by the two parties before was that while Yangzhou salt merchants purchased salt from the government, they also purchased salt from Haihan in proportion. Each portion of salt would require 700 kilograms of salt from Haihan. In this way, behind each portion of salt is 300 kilograms of official salt and 700 kilograms of private salt. It is not surprising that a salt merchant who is good at operation can sell thousands of kilograms of salt for one piece of salt, but not every salt merchant has the courage and ability to dare to operate like this.
If all this salt can be sold, it will naturally be a lucrative business, but salt merchants must also consider the risks involved. If you find it difficult to ship goods, you can only reduce the amount of private salt purchased. Therefore, what Ma Zhengping meant was that he hoped that Haihan could reduce this purchase ratio, and it would be best to let Yangzhou salt merchants decide the purchase volume on their own. But he didn't dare to put forward such a condition directly, so he could only express it in a roundabout way.
Seeing the hesitation on Yang Yun's face, Ma Zhengping had no choice but to explain: "Master Yang, Yangzhou is the salt capital of the world. Countless pairs of eyes are staring at big salt merchants like us. If we break the rules, our lives will not be the same." It’s better. How about… adjusting it to 50%?”
Yang Yun did not reply to his proposal, but asked instead: "Is Boss Ma worried that the enemies in Yangzhou will report you to the government if they know the source of your goods?"
Ma Zhengping smiled awkwardly and said: "Mr. Yang obviously sees that this is indeed possible."
(End of chapter)