1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1720 Pass the test
Cheng shopkeeper mean?Duan Xuan's words made Qin Huacheng understand instantly. The farmer's request to increase the price of grain was not just their own wish, but more likely a secret instruction from Cheng Dapeng. That's why the two farms made the same request. price increase.As for the reason for this arrangement, whether Cheng Dapeng wanted to make more money in this year's grain trade, or whether he had other purposes, Qin Huacheng still couldn't figure out the key point.But it was clear that Cheng Dapeng didn't want the outside world to realize that the change in grain prices came from him, and even Qin Huacheng, who was in charge of the matter, was temporarily kept in the dark.

But why Duan Xuan would tell himself this inside story, this is what Qin Huacheng wants to understand the most at the moment.If Cheng Dapeng wanted him to know, he would have been told by Shopkeeper Wang when he was arranging the matter, instead of telling him through Duan Xuan's mouth when the matter was at an impasse.If Cheng Dapeng didn't intend to let him know at all, then Duan Xuan would not be able to escape punishment afterward if he said that much now.

"You don't have to guess." As if expecting Qin Huacheng's wild thoughts after hearing this, Duan Xuan took the initiative to announce the answer to him: "If you agree to receive benefits from Chuhuo or from me, then No one will tell you the answer to this mystery. But since you resolutely rejected our conditions in these two places, I will tell you the inside story of this matter according to Shopkeeper Cheng's instructions."

Now that Qin Huacheng really understood, he said in astonishment, "So I didn't mess up this errand, right?"

"Of course it's not a failure, the performance is not bad, it's a pass." Duan Xuan gave an evaluation with a smile.

Qin Huacheng finally put a big stone back in his heart. He has only now truly straightened out the cause and effect of this errand. It turns out that there are two lines going on at the same time. The farmer put forward conditions to try to buy him. If Qin Huacheng could not withstand the pressure and temptation and accepted the conditions of the farmer, even if the content of the contract passed smoothly, it would still be judged as a mission failure.The real test is not whether he can successfully complete the contract negotiation, but whether he can relentlessly reject the benefits offered by the farmer.

Cheng Dapeng asked Mihang's shopkeeper Wang to arrange this errand for him. The main purpose was to test whether he had enough self-control to deal with the temptation from the outside world. Qin Huacheng couldn't help but feel a little scared when he thought about it. Most of the new students who have just started will stop here.This is also thanks to the fact that I had just seen the bloody execution scene the day before yesterday, and I had to restrain myself with lingering fear, otherwise it is really hard to say what the result will be.

Qin Huacheng swallowed with difficulty, and continued to ask: "Then what should we do with this contract after passing the test?"

Duan Xuan smiled and said: "The price on this contract is originally set by the shopkeeper. In previous years, it was done after signing. If it is not for testing you this time, why do you need to send someone to send the contract to confirm again?"

Qin Huacheng finally relaxed a little after hearing this answer, and said with an apologetic smile, "That's a small trouble for Boss Duan and Boss Chu!"

Duan Xuan shook his head and said: "They are all doing business for shopkeeper Cheng. If there is nothing troublesome, but there was some impoliteness earlier, I hope Brother Qin will not blame him."

Qin Huacheng even said that he didn't dare, Duan Xuan and Chu Huo obviously had more trust in Cheng Dapeng than him, otherwise they wouldn't have received such a secret mission.In front of these two people, Qin Huacheng didn't dare to trust him, otherwise God knows how they would describe his performance in the report to Cheng Dapeng afterwards.

Now that the task is over, Qin Huacheng is also happy to relax.However, he still has a grain supply agreement signed between Dacheng Rice Company and the East India Company. He wanted to ask Duan Xuan about it, but he felt that it was a bit inappropriate to ask a former employee about the business of Dacheng Rice Company. Right, I suppressed this thought again at the moment.

After Qin Huacheng bid farewell to Duan Xuan, he planned to go back to the city for a business trip. On the way, he went to Chuhuo's farm again, and took the initiative to confess to him.Chu Huo heard that he had already completed this task with Duan Xuan, and his immediate attitude was much more amiable than before: "Chu's attitude was a bit rough before, and it was due to the situation. Don't blame me, brother!"

Qin Hua thought about his great acting skills. He really thought that Chu Huo had turned his face because he couldn't agree on a price. He didn't expect that this guy was acting, and his emotions were brought in quite well.

Back at the rice shop in the city, Qin Huacheng approached Shopkeeper Wang and confessed to him the results of his talks on the two farms.Shopkeeper Wang nodded after listening and said, "Since Duan Xuan and Chu Huo have already told you the truth, what do you think?"

Qin Huacheng said sternly: "The little one has the opportunity to come to Batavia to make a living under the care of the big shopkeeper, so he should do his best to serve the big shopkeeper. As for the matter of privately receiving benefits, the small one can't do it right now, whether it is now or not." In the future, I will never dare to do it, and I hope the shopkeeper will clearly observe."

Shopkeeper Wang twisted his beard and said: "If you really think so, it's best. Although the big shopkeeper employs people who are eclectic, they also value whether they can be clean and innocent. If they are lustful and greedy, let alone reuse them. Don’t even think about earning ordinary errands. So after joining the job, most of them will arrange some situations to test newcomers, so don’t worry too much, this is just a routine assessment.”

Qin Huacheng replied: "The small one has always been dedicated to his duties and has never violated the rules. The big shopkeeper will ask a test, but the small one is not afraid. But what should we do with the remaining contract?"

Shopkeeper Wang didn't answer his question immediately, but asked instead: "Do you have a more intuitive understanding of the local grain production situation now?"

Qin Huacheng nodded and said: "With the guidance of Chu and Duan, I have roughly understood the operation of this kind of private farm."

"Then you should also understand the position and role of the rice trade in the grain trade system. The rice is purchased from the field by us and then sold into the official warehouse of the East India Company. You can count the price changes in the process. ?” Shopkeeper Wang continued to ask.

Qin Huacheng responded bravely, "The villain knows."

"Okay, then you go to the East India Company and ask their officials in charge of grain procurement to sign the contract." Shopkeeper Wang waved his hand and said, "Go quickly, and try to finish this matter before dark today, don't worry about it again." Delayed."

Talking with Chu Huo and Duan Xuan, two Han farmers, was fine. After all, Qin Huacheng could also speak Chinese, so there was no obstacle in communication.But he had not dealt with Dutch officials before, and it might be a little troublesome to communicate.He was about to explain this issue to shopkeeper Wang, but the other party had already talked about it: "Don't worry, the officials in charge of this matter over there can speak Chinese, so communication should be no problem."

That being the case, Qin Huacheng had nothing to refuse, so he immediately took the remaining sales contract and rushed to the official office of the Middle East and India Company in the city.

During the war a few years ago, the central fortress built in Batavia became the last stronghold of the Dutch. Improvements were also made.The offices of some non-critical departments were moved out of the fort area to make room for food and weapons storage.For example, the logistics department in charge of purchasing food moved to a small two-story building in the city after the war, and was crowded with the medical and health departments, culture and education, religion, and transportation departments in the same building.

Naturally, Qin Huacheng could find this kind of place only after getting advice from Mihang. After declaring his identity and purpose at the door, a guard took him to one of the rooms, where he met Welbeck, an official in charge of local farming.

As shopkeeper Wang said, this Welbeck can speak relatively fluent Chinese, but he obviously has a Lingnan accent. It seems that the people he learned Chinese at the beginning should be the descendants of Han people from Lingnan.

After Qin Huacheng expressed his intention to come, he presented the prepared contract for the other party to review.Welbeck didn't read the above content at all, and asked Qin Huacheng to dictate to him after receiving it.Qin Hua deliberately thought that although the Dutchman could speak Chinese, he might not be able to read through the contract written in Chinese characters, so he quickly explained: "My lord, this contract is written in two languages, so you can compare it."

"I know." Welbeck waved his hands impatiently and said, "You say what you say."

It was only then that Qin Huacheng realized that he had taken it for granted. Since this Dutchman signed an agreement with Dacheng Rice Company every year to buy and sell grain, and even learned Chinese, how could he fail to consider the issue of contract language.But fortunately, he has read through the contract many times to ensure that there are no loopholes in it that would be detrimental to Mihang. He is already very familiar with the content, and he can fully recount the terms even if he has to leave the draft.At that moment, Qin Huacheng explained the content of this contract to Welbeck while recalling.

According to the cooperation habit of Dacheng Rice Bank and the East India Company, a pre-purchase contract for grain trade will be signed every year in late spring and early summer.Considering that the harvest time of summer grain in various farmlands may vary, and the purchase volume of the East India Company is very large, it is likely that the delivery cannot be completed at one time, so this purchase contract is not one, but divided into several , each delivery quantity and time will have a certain difference.

The contract Qin Huacheng brought was the first batch of grain orders to be delivered to the East India Company this summer. The quantity was 18 buckets of new local rice, weighing about [-] catties.According to the price previously negotiated by the two parties, the total price of this batch of rice is [-] silver coins, and the unit price is one silver coin per bucket of rice.The East India Company first paid [-] silver coins as a deposit, and the rest will be settled when the grain is delivered.

Of course, this price is not yet the final transaction price before the contract is signed and becomes effective, and Qin Huacheng's task is to make Welbeck accept the conditions of this contract, at least not to make any unfavorable price and transaction conditions. Changes in rice lines.

Regarding the conditions listed in the contract, shopkeeper Wang did not make any more arrangements for Qin Huacheng, so for him, there was no room for flexibility in this negotiation.If Welbeck is not satisfied with the terms of the transaction, then Qin Huacheng has no room for him to make concessions.

After hearing this, Welbeck yawned and said impatiently, "Is this all gone?"

Qin Huacheng responded: "Your Excellency has clearly observed that the content of the contract is like this."

Welbeck said, "What about the content outside the contract?"

Qin Huacheng remembered that shopkeeper Wang had mentioned when he handed over this job to him that if the Dutch asked about anything other than the contract, they would say that everything was business as usual.As for what this extra content is, although shopkeeper Wang didn't say anything, Qin Huacheng can guess a little bit, it must be kickbacks given to Dutch officials in the grain trade.If this specific number is leaked out, it may implicate many people in bad luck, so Qin Huacheng can only respond with the order of shopkeeper Wang.

"As usual? Same meaning as last year?" Welbeck was still not satisfied after hearing Qin Huacheng's response, and continued to ask.

Qin Hua intentionally said that I don't know when it was the old way, so he could only forcefully respond with a smile: "It should be the meaning that adults understand."

"The amount your boss gave me last year was too little. If it wasn't for the fact that he gave me [-] acres of vineyards last year, I wouldn't have considered your family in this year's grain purchase." Welbeck's face was gloomy. The conditions given by Mixing do not seem to be satisfactory.

Qin Huacheng smiled apologetically, "My lord, this condition was set by the treasurer of Chengda, and I must have considered all aspects of the situation, so I shouldn't treat my lord badly."

Welbeck said: "When Cheng Dapeng first approached me to discuss this business, he agreed to increase the service fee year by year. How come it remains the same this year? This is because the wings are stiff and they plan to cross the river and tear down the bridge?"

Qin Hua thought to himself that this ghost has a deep understanding of Chinese, and even knows the idiom "crossing the river and tearing down the bridge".However, he was not in the mood to feel sorry for the other party's Chinese level at the moment, and just continued to persuade: "There may be a misunderstanding in the middle, sir, don't get it wrong."

Welbeck threw the contract on the table and said, "If it's a misunderstanding, let Cheng Dapeng explain it."

Qin Hua intentionally said that if he went back to invite the big shopkeeper in a desperate manner, he would inevitably appear to be useless, and Mi Xing sent himself here to negotiate with the Dutch, probably not to touch this nail.Since it's a negotiation, we have to talk about the conditions again.

Thinking of this, Qin Huacheng took the initiative to suggest: "My lord, why don't you talk about what kind of conditions are suitable, so that such a small person can go back and report to the big shopkeeper, so that he can have a clear explanation."

"What kind of conditions are suitable?" Welbeck repeated Qin Huacheng's words, then pointed to the contract on the table and said, "Add [-]% to last year's standard for service fees!"

Well, it was another one who wanted to add [-]%, and Qin Hua thought that he would do it with [-]% today.When I went to visit those two farms earlier, the other party also asked for a [-]% increase in the purchase price. Although the condition was arranged there, it was a coincidence that the Dutchman also encountered the same situation.

(End of this chapter)