Chapter 2707
That afternoon, the three parties finally reached a preliminary agreement on the revision of cross-border trade rules. Although there are still some details that need to be confirmed through further consultations, they do not affect the overall situation.
Shi Chengwu arranged for Fu Guoqing to temporarily stay on Tsushima Island to negotiate with the Japanese on subsequent implementation details. Any subsequent official documents that need to be signed will also be signed by Fu Guoqing on behalf of Haihan. The mission has been delayed for several days over this matter and must set off south as soon as possible.
As the other party involved in the agreement, Wen Zhihong also temporarily stayed on Tsushima Island to ensure that the oral agreement reached so far can be smoothly advanced. At least until the three parties signed a formal document, he could really feel relieved.
The delineation of the Haihan area in Busan was a big blow to Wen Zhihong, and the Busan government also lost a major source of income. However, a blessing in disguise was a blessing in disguise. Due to a combination of circumstances, it actually pushed Haihan to participate in the revision of trade rules. Once the Tsushima stumbling block is removed, it will be greatly beneficial to the long-term development of Busan in the future, and this may even become a major political achievement for Wen Zhihong to express his merits to others.
Before setting off to leave Tsushima Island, the Haihan Fleet and the North Korean Navy led by Adoshi met at sea outside Asu Bay. Dozens of large and small warships spread out in formation on the sea, and the scene was spectacular.
Zong Yizhen and others saw this scene from the heights of Jinshi City, and couldn't help but secretly rejoice that the situation did not deteriorate to the point of using force. Otherwise, how could Tsushima Domain with its existing military strength be able to withstand such a huge maritime armed force.
Of course, they also knew very well that the Haihan people's move was for the purpose of shocking people. The joint fleet stayed outside Asu Bay for at least two hours, ensuring that everyone near the coast had seen its presence before slowly sailing away. this sea area. This scene will probably stay in the memory of the locals for a long time, and will dispel all unrealistic ideas of using force to confront Haihan.
Zong Yizhen looked at the United Fleet retreating on the sea and said with emotion: "Chinese military art says that you can conquer the enemy without fighting, so that's probably it!"
Zongxiong Tai beside him responded: "But is it really worth it for us to make such a big concession?"
"Whether it's worth it or not depends on how much compensation we can get from Haihan." Zong Yizhen said meaningfully: "As the Haihan people said, we have funds, manpower, and experience, but what we lack is the space to play. . If we can get out of the strait and explore the outside world, we may be able to open up a different situation!”
At the same time, in the conference room on the Zhoushan, Zhu Zian was asking Tao Hongfang the same question: "We have given so much compensation to Ma Fan, and even allowed them to send people to learn how to do business. Isn’t this supporting competitors? Is it really worth it in exchange for cooperation with Ma Fan? ”
Tao Hongfang smiled and said: "You only saw the conditions we gave, but you didn't see the benefits we could get. You think he will become our competitor to Ma Fan, but in fact cooperation and competition coexist. . Besides, even without this agreement, wouldn’t Tsushima be our competitor?”
Zhu Zian hesitated and asked: "Profits? In addition to commercial taxes and tuition fees, are there any other benefits?" Tao Hongfang smiled and shook his head: "Things are not as simple as you think. They want to do business at our port, and they want to do business with us If commercial institutions want to integrate into our dominant trading system, they must abide by the trade rules and financial systems we have established. You can think about what this means.”
Expanding the overseas trade system will bring Haihan benefits far beyond taxes and tuition fees. Taking Tsushima as an example, if they want to operate in the trade system dominated by Haihan, they must first adapt to Haihan's various trade rules. The most basic commodity measurement, pricing, settlement methods, etc. must follow the standards set by Haihan from now on.
Haihan has great technical advantages in the field of shipping. First, it uses standard-sized wooden containers to transport ordinary goods, which can easily calculate freight and make full use of the cargo space on the ship. Second, there are specialized bulk carriers to transport dry bulk cargoes such as coal, ore, and grain. The loading and unloading efficiency is much higher than that of old cargo ships. Third, radio stations can be used as a special tool to quickly obtain business information from major ports and allocate shipping capacity according to demand.
With these conditions, Haihan can lower the cost of shipping to a level that is difficult for other countries to achieve, and use its low-cost advantage to defeat competitors and then gain pricing power. Only by using the standards set by Haihan can members in this trading system conduct fair transactions with Haihan and other members.
After several years of unremitting promotion and management by Haihan, any new force like Tsushima that joins this special trading system will not be able to overturn the existing rules and formulate a new set of standards. Trade activities will only further entrench the system. As vested interests, the greater the scale of trade within the system, the more they will become supporters of the system, and will continue to actively promote relevant rules and standards to the outside world.
In addition, the settlement method within this trading system was also formulated by Haihan. The currency plan of banks and banknotes has already followed Haihan's products and penetrated into the foreign trade markets of various countries, even die-hard Tsushima Fan is no exception. Among the various trade activities completed in Busan, at least 40 to 50% are now settled using Haihan banknotes or bank transfers. No matter how cautious Ma Fan is, it is impossible to bypass Haihan's financial system.
If the Tsushima Domain wants to expand its trade scope in the future, it must accept Haihan currency as a means of settlement. The trade activities it engages in will also further expand the scale of Haihan's financial system and promote more Japanese merchants to become users of Haihan currency. who.
Schneider has been planning for more than 20 years to make Haihan currency an international currency, and has achieved excellent results in East Asia. The cost of controlling the minting power of international currency through trade means is much lower than that of war or mining of gold and silver mines, and the actual benefits it brings to Haihan are considerable. Therefore, from the Executive Committee to private commercial organizations, they have been They are all sparing no effort to promote the Haihan financial system to the outside world.
If Tsuima Fan wanted to send people to Haihan to learn various trade rules and business skills, they would also have to learn the relevant systems and standards. When these people return to Tsushima after learning, they will naturally bring back the various standards and financial systems established by Haihan, so that Tsushima can integrate into Haihan's trading system after assimilation. And it is difficult to measure the specific value of such benefits in terms of money.
(End of chapter)