Chapter 2857
Bai Letong was a little puzzled by this: "Since the agreement is to carry out trade activities between the two countries, why should the official purchase it? Is it possible that no one cares about these goods shipped to our country from the Manchu Qing Dynasty?"
Chen Yixin said: "That's not the case. The official acquisition is also a temporary measure taken as a last resort due to the current environment."
The goods sold by the Manchu and Qing Dynasties to Haihan were mainly agricultural products, medicinal materials, furs and other local specialties. Due to the limited population size in Shenyang, it is difficult for these goods to be digested in the local market. Most of them can only be transported to Jinzhou or even Shandong for sale. However, after removing the freight, there is not much profit. Therefore, many Haihan merchants are interested in Manchu and Qing goods. There is not much willingness to acquire.
However, if the cross-border trade business was to be maintained, the Manchus could not be allowed to only buy but not sell, so Chen Yixin instructed the Shenyang government to come forward to purchase bulk goods shipped by the Manchus and then transport them to the south for distribution by merchants. This can appropriately lower the purchase price, and then use the price difference to subsidize the freight, ensuring that the merchants responsible for distribution in the south can make money.
The question raised by Ning Zijing was much more knowledgeable: "I also don't understand something. The Manchus sold us low-value agricultural products, and then purchased large quantities of our industrial products. There must be a huge trade deficit. . They don’t have gold and silver mines like Japan, can they survive over time?”
Chen Yixin smiled and said: "That's a good question. Let me explain it first... Come on, let's go into this house and have a look!"
Chen Yixin led the way, and the group turned into the street shop called "Xianghongji".
The people in the shop had obviously noticed the formation of their group, and the shopkeeper in charge immediately came to greet them. Judging from his clothes, he turned out to be a Han Chinese.
Chen Yixin introduced to everyone: "His name is Erlu, his Chinese name is Lu Ping, and his mother is Han, so he can speak Chinese."
After Lu Ping greeted everyone respectfully, he invited them to sit in the tea room behind the shop. Bai Letong noticed that the products displayed in the shop were all agricultural and animal husbandry products as Chen Yixin said.
Lu Ping asked the waiter to serve hot tea, but Chen Yixin was not here to drink tea. He asked Lu Ping: "Is there any news from the north about what I told you last time?"
Lu Ping bowed and responded: "Reply to Mr. Chen, the reply from the north was only delivered last night. Before I had time to contact the government, you are here now."
Chen Yixin nodded and said, "What did your master say?"
Lu Ping responded: "The racecourse matter is no big deal and is already under preparation. The horses can be delivered to your country in one year at the earliest and two years at the latest. We just need to reach the transaction number required by Mr. Chen. I’m afraid we have to wait another two years for the horses to breed.”
Chen Yixin said: "What about the other thing?"
Lu Ping's face showed a slight hesitation: "The other thing seems to be a bit troublesome. The north is still trying to find a way to solve it. I hope Mr. Chen can understand the difficulties!"
Chen Yixin snorted and said: "The money path I pointed out to your master will not always be empty. If your family is not willing to cooperate, there are still a lot of people outside waiting for this opportunity! If you can't do it, just say so. ,Don’t delay the business!”
Lu Ping responded quickly: "Master Chen, please calm down. If you can do it, you can do it!"
Chen Yixin said solemnly: "I leave this business to your family just for the sake of my old friend's sake. If you think this business is worth doing, then I won't waste my time here." Lu Ping said: "This is the time for you, villain. Write a letter immediately and send it back quickly. I believe there will be a reply within four or five days."
Chen Yixin said: "Then I'll wait here, you go and write it right away, and let me see it after you finish it."
When Lu Ping saw that Chen Yixin was not joking, he didn't dare to neglect it and hurried out to find paper and pen to write a letter.
Bai Kesi then asked: "If Xianghongji can sell you a horse, he must have a good background, right?"
Chen Yixin did not deny it, and immediately introduced the background of this shop to everyone.
Lu Ping's master also had a great background. He was the fifth son of Huang Taiji, Prince Heshuo Chengze, Shuosai. This Shuosei was only nine years older than Shunzhi, but he was trusted by Shunzhi and was in charge of the Manchu War Department and the clan government.
Shuosei is a member of the Xianghong Banner, so he also serves as the commander of the Xianghong Banner, that is, the highest official in charge of a banner's household registration, production, training and other affairs. The name of Xianghongji comes from the meaning of "embedding red flag". All trade transactions are business involving bordering red flag.
After the Shenyang Battle, the two countries signed an armistice agreement and began normal trade activities. Each side chooses a place to open a border market and allows merchants from the other side to cross the border to do business.
Haihan took a bigger step and set aside an area in Shenyang City specifically for Manchu merchants to open shops.
Of course, not everyone is qualified to set up a permanent office in Shenyang City. Haihan set certain thresholds for this, and by the way, he also screened out a group of Manchu and Qing merchants with strength and background.
During the trade process, Haihan naturally got in touch with Shuo Sai. With the business resources Haihan has at his disposal, if he lets them slip through the cracks of his hands, Xianghongji will be able to make a lot of money. And Shuosei also relied on this cooperative relationship to provide better supplies of living materials to the people of Xianghongqi.
But as time went on, the trade situation between the two sides also became just as Ning Zijing questioned. The output of Xianghongqi was far from enough to balance its purchase needs. It was unable to make ends meet every year. With Xianghongqi’s financial situation, it would be difficult to transfer this amount of money to Xianghongqi. This trade method is maintained for a long time.
At this time, Chen Yixin promptly provided Shuosei with some new ideas that could help Xianghongqi improve this unbalanced trade situation. One of them was to vigorously develop animal husbandry and export horses to Haihan.
There are large areas of pasture in the jurisdiction with red flags, which have the conditions for establishing animal husbandry. As for Haihan's industrial development of the Liaodong region, in addition to manpower, the demand for livestock was also astonishingly large. If Haihan's own livestock production alone was far from enough to meet demand, Chen Yixin turned to the Manchus.
As long as Xianghongqi provides Haihan with a certain number of horses every year, Xianghongqi's trade deficit can be effectively balanced. For Xianghongqi, the animal husbandry industry has extremely low operating thresholds and is easy to develop. It is indeed an excellent industry.
The only problem is that horses are considered strategic materials in Manchuria. Whether they are war horses or pack horses, they generally cannot be exported to enemy countries.
However, such restrictions are of course only for ordinary people. Nobles of Shuosei's level are naturally not within the restriction. Compared with the other cooperation plan proposed by Chen Yixin, exporting horses to Haihan is really not a big deal.
(End of chapter)