Chapter 2361
As far as the North Korean cities that Tom Wang has visited, the prosperity of Busan is basically on the same level as Seoul, and even worse in the field of maritime trade. After all, Busan is an authentic seaport city, but Seoul is still dozens of miles away from the coastline, and the local censorship of foreigners is much stricter than in Busan, which invisibly limits Seoul's development prospects in the trade field.
Of course, for those merchants with official background or strong economic strength, Seoul, the capital of North Korea, is a better choice. The so-called threshold and regulatory measures will not be a problem for them. Opening shops in Seoul In order to better demonstrate its business strength.
Haihan merchants are obviously extremely adaptable to both environments. From what Wang Tom saw and heard in Busan, the Haihan merchants' business conditions are pretty good, which makes him quite gratified.
According to Mu Guang's introduction, the Han people doing business in Busan, especially the businessmen from Haihan, are obviously better than their competitors from other countries in terms of business methods. Similar to the use of various publicity and marketing methods, it is really different from other peers. In addition, most of the products sold by Haihan in Haihan are industrial products or agricultural products that have been deeply processed. The cost of similar products on the market is either much higher or the quality is too different, making it difficult to compete with Haihan products. .
Therefore, after Haihan merchants entered Busan, they did squeeze out many of their peers, and they quickly formed a monopoly on some high-end products. For example, the high-end wines sold on the market have now become almost dominated by Haihan wine, so much so that some businessmen have begun to think about setting up local winemaking workshops to produce and package them locally for sale.
Compared with businessmen from other countries, Haihan's business system is more mature and advanced. In most business projects, it has advantages that its peers are difficult to catch up with. It also has faster information feedback on market conditions in various countries, so it can be in business. It’s no wonder that they quickly gained the upper hand in the competition.
Compared with the glamorous Haihan shops, those Japanese shops looked a bit old. Wang Tom randomly picked two and went in for a walk. The goods sold were basically handicrafts produced in Japan. Such as lacquerware, pottery, etc. Tom Wang was not very interested in these things, so he gave up after just taking a look.
Mu Guang introduced: "Some Japanese businessmen used to sneak to Zhoushan to do business. Now many Haihan products can be bought in Busan. Not only is it closer here, but there are no restrictions on Japanese businessmen, so come to Busan and follow my country." There are more and more Japanese businessmen doing business.”
The round trip from Nagasaki Port in Kitakyushu to Zhoushan Dinghai Port is more than 3,000 miles, while the round trip from Nagasaki Port north to Busan Port is only a few hundred miles, and Iki Island and Tsushima Island are much closer. . Considering the freight and navigation risks alone, it is obviously more cost-effective for Japanese merchants to trade in Busan.
This is actually equivalent to transferring part of Zhoushan's trade to Busan. However, this has no obvious impact on Zhoushan's trade situation. On the contrary, because of the entrepot of Busan, the trade volume between Haihan and Japan has increased. large, thus also driving the export shipping of Zhoushan Port.
Based on the current development situation, Wang Tom believes that Haihan Bank and large commercial banks and shipping companies will soon follow suit and deploy operating institutions in Busan. When those giants flood into Busan, the current market will probably go through a round of reshuffle, and a considerable number of businesses in the same industry will probably be squeezed out of the market.
Of course, such cruel market competition does not only exist in Busan. In fact, it will appear in every market where Haihan merchants enter, and it will become more intense as the volume of trade related to Haihan increases. Some smart people will quickly realize this momentum, seize the time to change their identities, and turn themselves into suppliers or distributors of Haihan, while those who are slow will probably be taken away before they have time to react. , or went bankrupt, or were merged and acquired, becoming victims of this business wave.
When Tom Wang visited Busan City, Shen Xueyi also stayed with him so that he could immediately reveal his identity and coordinate if he encountered any problems. He had listened to all the situations introduced by Mu Guang. At that moment, he couldn't help but sigh that the Haihan people's business methods were so powerful that they were able to manage the current situation in just one or two years.
Shen Xueyi didn't have any objection to Haihan's business practices. What he thought was that since the Haihan people could make a lot of money here, whether his family could also benefit from Busan's trade environment.
After getting along for the past two months, Shen Xueyi and Wang Tom had a decent personal relationship. When the group stopped to rest, Shen Xueyi asked Wang Tom if there was a suitable business in Busan that he could buy.
Shen Xueyi asked so straightforwardly that Wang Tom couldn't help but be stunned for a moment after hearing it. However, he looked at Shen Xueyi and it seemed that he was not asking for benefits from himself, but really regarded himself as the object of consultation.
"You are not really planning to abandon your official position and go into business, are you?" Wang Tom shook his head and said: "Based on your family background, I think it is better to pursue an official career. Although doing business can make a lot of money, at a certain stage, We still have to rely on connections in the officialdom to support us.”
Shen Xueyi explained: "I have no intention of giving up my official position. I just happen to have someone in my family who is engaged in business, so I would like to hear the general's opinion."
When Wang Tom heard this, he suddenly realized that Shen Xueyi was itching to see the prosperity of Busan and wanted his family to enter this market to make money. But as a layman, he probably wasn't sure what kind of business would be easy to do here, so he wanted to seek his own opinion and test whether Haihan could provide him with some special help.
Tom Wang smiled and said: "I see. Then I will tell you the simplest way. You can decide whether it is feasible."
Seeing that Tom Wang was willing to give advice, Shen Xueyi quickly thanked him.
The method Wang Tom taught him was indeed simple and crude. After returning to Seoul, he asked him to find the Haihan official business store outside the city and act as an agent for Haihan products that he believed had better prospects in the North Korean market. As for the specific conditions and operation methods, there will be a dedicated person responsible for arranging them at that time, and Shen Xueyi only needs to follow them.
Haihan originally formulated this business method. In addition to expanding the sales of goods, one of the main purposes was to use it as a way to convey profits and provide powerful people in various countries with a quick and clean channel to make money. This routine has had many successful examples in countries such as Ming Dynasty and Annan. The Ministry of Commerce also has a mature operation plan. As long as an official with a background like Shen Xueyi opens his mouth, Haihan will have a dedicated person to tailor a business plan for him. plan.
How could Shen Xueyi know Haihan's tricks? He was silently thinking about whether this approach would be approved by his father. If Shen Jingzhen felt it was inappropriate, then no matter how good the prospect was, it would be in vain.
Seeing that Shen Xueyi was silent, Wang Tom could guess a little bit of the other party's thoughts at the moment, so he comforted him: "You don't have to rush to make a decision right away. After you return to Seoul, you can make a careful calculation with your father." Shen Xueyi reluctantly said Squeezing out a smile, he said: "General Wang is right. This matter is not urgent at this moment. We will talk about it when we return to Seoul."
When their group was almost wandering around the city, local officials finally got the news and hurried over. Although Shen Xueyi's official position is not high, it is still a Beijing official, not to mention that his father is a powerful military officer. As for General Haihan, who was accompanied by Shen Xueyi, his accompanying escort turned out to be an armed fleet of thousands of people. One can imagine how noble his status was.
However, Wang Tom had no intention of socializing with local officials and politely declined the banquet. He only said that the fleet was passing through Busan for a short rest and did not want to disturb the place, so there was no need for those red tapes.
After the fleet lingered in Busan for two days, it set off again. It is worth mentioning that on the day the fleet set off, almost all the local Haihan people put down their work and rushed to the dock to see the fleet off. It was indeed a scene that had never been seen in the local area. Although it was indeed someone who took the lead in organizing this, the effect it caused far exceeded the meaning of the send-off itself.
No matter which country they are from, after seeing the farewell scene at the dock, they will all think that Haihan's move is to show his muscles to the outside world, indicating that the Port of Busan is within the protection range of his armed fleet. Anyone who wants to do something detrimental to Haihan in Busan must weigh the consequences.
As a military observer, Shen Xueyi felt a little sour when he saw the crowded farewell scene on the pier. He secretly wondered whether his country's naval fleet would be able to receive such courtesy in the future.
Tom Wang actually didn't care much about these "performance sessions". When he left the port, he waved his hands to the shore symbolically a few times, then got into the captain's cabin and began to organize his sailing diary during the trip.
Although Wang Tom’s writing skills in Chinese characters are very average and his handwriting can be said to be ugly, and he usually lets the combat staff do it for him when writing documents, he still doesn’t want to write things like the navigation diary by pretending to be written by someone else’s hand. He spends time every day to write it himself. Finish. His voyage diary is also mixed with many English and Latin terms and place names. Probably only he can understand the contents of these diaries.
After leaving Pusan, the fleet did not rush to the west, but first sailed south to Tsushima Island. A considerable number of Japanese businessmen in Busan are from Tsushima Island, which makes Tom Wang want to stop by and see this place.
Tsushima Island is about a hundred miles away from Busan, right in the middle of the strait between North Korea and Japan. It has a long and narrow terrain and a land area of about 700 square kilometers. On a clear day, the horizon of Busan can be seen from the heights at the northern end of Tsushima Island.
As early as the "Three Kingdoms" written by Chen Shou of the Jin Dynasty, there was a relatively detailed record of this island. There is a saying in the book: The island where I live is more than four hundred miles away, the land is dangerous and mountainous, there are many deep forests, and the roads are like deer paths. There are more than a thousand households with no fertile farmland. They live on food from the sea and go to the north and south to buy goods in boats.
This description basically explains the special environment of Tsushima Island. The island is full of mountains and forests, and there is no farmland for farming, so everyone basically makes a living by fishing, while other daily necessities are imported from North Korea through trade. and Japan to the south gained.
This island was under Japanese rule for most of its history, and during the two wars of the Yuan Dynasty across the sea to attack Japan, Tsushima Island was captured as an advance base for attacking Japan.
In the 15th century, North Korea sent troops to Tsushima Island in the name of fighting against Japanese pirates, and briefly occupied Tsushima Island. This period of history was called Yingyong Waibuo in Japan, while North Korea called it Jihai Eastern Expedition. . This is also one of the few records in North Korea's history that it proactively launched a war with foreign countries and achieved victory.
At that time, the So clan, which had ruled Tsushima for generations, even accepted an official position in North Korea and acted as an agent for cross-border trade between North Korea and Japan. However, this situation did not last long, and it did not substantially change the ownership of Tsushima Island. North Korea only prepared two months of food and grass for this operation, and was unable to station on Tsushima Island for a long time to resist Japan's counterattack. Therefore, after receiving a peace commitment from Tsushima Daimyo Zongzong Zongmori at the time, the North Korean army retreated back home.
In the "Records of the Kaidong Kingdoms" written in 1471 by the North Korean leader Shen Shuzhou, it is also clearly recorded that Tsushima Island belongs to Japan's West Sea Route. The island is ruled by the Tsushima Domain, headed by the So clan as daimyo.
Of course, you have to pay it back if you come out to fool around. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to attack North Korea in 1592, Tsushima Island became the forward base for Japan to land in North Korea. If the Ming Dynasty had not sent troops to rescue later, Li's Korea would have come to an end in that war.
After the war, Tsushima quickly won the support of North Korea and Japan and acted as a middleman to open a Japanese pavilion in Busan to engage in trade activities. Most of Tsushima's financial revenue comes from trade activities between the two countries.
Objectively speaking, Tsushima, which relies on trade between the two countries for survival, has always had a relatively neutral stance, and its attitude towards North Korea can even be described as friendly. Therefore, when Wang Tom's fleet approached Tsushima, it was not reckless. Instead of breaking into the port directly, they first sent a ship to the shore to communicate with the island's officials.
However, perhaps it was the tragic end of the Hirado clan last year that made Tsushima clan wary. The island government did not show a welcoming attitude towards the arrival of the uninvited guests like Kaihan. Instead, they declined the application for the fleet to dock in the port and only allowed the dispatch of The boats came into port to get the supplies they needed.
Such an attitude is, of course, to be on guard against a sudden landing by the Haihan fleet to attack Jinshi City, where it is governed. After receiving the reply, Wang Tom felt a little helpless. This was not the first time he had encountered a similar rejection during this trip. He had had the same experience before on Sado Island. It can be seen that the Japanese are quite wary of external forces. , and Haihan has obviously become the target of Ma Fan's key precautions.
(End of chapter)