1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1722 New and Old Backstage
Qin Huacheng was still a little surprised by the task that Cheng Dapeng suddenly assigned to him. He didn't think he was already a qualified intelligence officer.The professional training he received after coming to Batavia had just begun, and now he was suddenly sent to carry out the task of delivering important information, which made him a little nervous despite being excited.

"You don't need to be too nervous. If you do well, you will pass the review in advance after the completion of this appointment." As if seeing through Qin Huacheng's thoughts, Cheng Dapeng took the initiative to comfort him with benefits: "After your position becomes regular , there will not be so many restrictions during the operation.”

Qin Huacheng, who is in the training and internship period, can roughly understand what it means to become a full-time job. As for the criteria for becoming a full-timer and what the remuneration will be after being a full-timer, it is probably Cheng Dapeng's personal opinion that dominates.But no matter what, it is Qin Huacheng's current goal to be able to obtain the status of a regular employee in this intelligence agency as soon as possible. Naturally, he will not miss this opportunity offered by Cheng Dapeng.

The next day, as expected, Cheng Dapeng called Qin Huacheng to be his attendant and went to visit Welbeck.When the other party saw Cheng Dapeng visiting in person, his attitude was much more polite than when he was dealing with Qin Huacheng the day before yesterday, and he even asked his servant to make a pot of hot tea and bring it to him, which was a special respect for Cheng Dapeng's Han nationality.

"There are no outsiders here, so I'll just say it straight." Cheng Dapeng said straight to the point: "Why do you want to adjust the grain procurement measures this year? Is there any trouble on your side?"

"It's a big trouble." Welbeck saw that Cheng Dapeng didn't send Qin Huacheng away, but let him stand aside and listen, he hesitated for a while, and told his situation calmly: "The Batavia Council plans to replace me Drop it, and revise the grain procurement plan for the past few years by the way."

"Why is this happening? What does the council want? Or did you offend someone?" Cheng Dapeng continued to ask him the same expression.

"The news just reached the local area five days ago that Mr. Roy Barnett passed away in Amsterdam last autumn. The Barnett family is arguing over his succession and inheritance at this time. At this time, no one can I can take care of my foreign relatives in the Far East, so some people in the council want to take this opportunity to seize the power to purchase food, after all, this is also a stable and expensive income, isn't it?" After finishing speaking Welbeck shrugged helplessly.

The deceased Mr. Barnett mentioned by Welbeck was one of the seventeen major shareholders of the Dutch East India Company. To a certain extent, he was able to serve as an official in charge of agriculture and grain procurement in Batavia. He was distantly related to this Mr. Barnett.Those who wanted to move Welbeck's seat in the past would inevitably beat the dog to see the owner, and they had to first consider whether they could afford to provoke the great god behind him.

However, what is embarrassing now is that the umbrella fell down without a sound. The news did not reach Batavia by sea several months later, but the reaction here was not to hold a symbolic ceremony for this respected gentleman. Instead, he immediately focused on Welbeck, Barnett's spokesperson in the Far East - he had held the position of a lucrative agricultural official for several years, and it was time for someone to take the seat.Even if he can't get him out of this position, at least he has to change the game of the lucrative grain procurement plan, so that only a few people can benefit from it every year.

As for Welbeck's background in the East India Company, Cheng Dapeng had known him for several years, so he naturally knew about it.This situation is in line with his previous speculation. It really is the power change in the top management of the East India Company, which affects the stability of Welbeck's position.But no matter how rich Cheng Dapeng was, he was still an outsider to the East India Company, and it was impossible for him to have a place in the Batavia Council.

"Boss Cheng, if you still want to control the grain market in Batavia in the future, then you can't lose this battle." Welbeck saw that Dapeng Cheng didn't express his position right away, and continued to persuade: "If they succeed, While driving me away, it will also make you stand aside."

Cheng Dapeng smiled and said, "It's not so easy for me to step aside. Mr. Welbeck, why don't you tell me what the East India Company is going to do next? How can I do my best to keep you?"

Welbeck saw Cheng Dapeng intending to make a move, and there was a hint of joy on his face, and he said quickly: "There is only one person who was pushed out to grab this seat, as long as he is dealt with, this matter will be safe..."

The person Welbeck mentioned was named Jean, and he was actually a related family who was stuffed into the East India Company with his backing.Gene is currently holding an idle position in Batavia, and there is hardly any lucrative job in his errand, so when he has the opportunity to take over Welbeck's fat job, Gene is quite active. In just a few days, he Reports have been submitted to the council twice or three times, requesting changes to the existing grain purchase plan in order to save a large amount of money that the company spends on this project every year.

Gene's reason seems to be very sufficient. After all, everyone can see the process of the East India Company buying grain from the market every year, and understand that officials like Welbeck will have a considerable amount of money in the account during the transaction process, but Since the backer behind it is not easy to provoke, irrelevant people can only pretend not to know.Now that some people have taken the initiative to dig out the gray income of relevant officials, a group of people who are not too serious to watch the excitement will naturally join the crowd of onlookers, putting Welbeck under heavy pressure.

Nowadays, more and more people in the East India Company are staring at Welbeck, so that he dare not be as casual as before. When meeting with Qin Huacheng yesterday, he did not dare to speak out, but hinted that Qin Huacheng would go back and inform Cheng Big friend.Fortunately, Qin Huacheng's understanding was correct, and he passed the information to Cheng Dapeng accurately, so Cheng Dapeng took the initiative to come here to meet him today.

After listening to Welbeck's explanation, Cheng Dapeng just shook his head slightly and said: "The person you mentioned is an official of the East India Company, not just some unknown person, you want to deal with him, it's not that simple things."

Vick Baker said: "Boss Cheng, I know you are a person with energy. As long as you are willing to take action, many things may change direction. And this matter is also related to your vital interests, I miss you There is no reason to stand by any longer."

Cheng Dapeng still shook his head and rejected his proposal: "I'm just an ordinary businessman who abides by the law. I don't understand what you mean, and I don't intend to oppose the Batavia Council."

Welbeck said anxiously: "Boss Cheng, this is related to the ownership of the right to speak in the local grain market in the future. Are you really going to sit back and watch others steal what belongs to you? Wait until that Gene takes my position, and you want to control it again?" The local food market is not so easy."

Cheng Dapeng was not affected by him, and responded calmly: "Mr. Welbeck, I just want to know some definite news, not going around in circles. If you just want to kill your competitors, then I suggest You go directly to the black market and spend money to hire a few skilled assassins. If you need my help, then please tell me everything you know, and don’t miss anything.”

It was not the first day for Cheng Dapeng to deal with Welbeck, and his intuition told him that what the Dutchman said was still not true, and there were intentional concealments.Cheng Dapeng is not a person who can be easily aroused, the more he listens, the more doubtful he becomes, and naturally he refuses to let go of Welbeck's request.

Welbeck's face became more gloomy and ugly. Qin Huacheng, who was standing beside him, felt that this guy would stand up and explode in a second. After all, Cheng Dapeng's attitude did not save him any face at all, but kept hitting him.

Welbeck leaned on the seat and remained silent for a long time, Cheng Dapeng just looked at him without saying a word, and did not urge him.The silence in the room lasted for a long time, and when Qin Huacheng was about to lose his patience, Welbeck finally spoke again.

"Well, you are right. Since I need your help now, I should be more frank." In the end, Welbeck expressed his softness: "But please remember that we have common interests, and you can help us." I'm doing myself a favor."

"You don't need to explain this truth, I understand it naturally." Cheng Dapeng nodded and said: "Let's get down to business, what exactly is the meeting going to do?"

"The council is not only planning to change the way of purchasing grain, but also planning to gradually reduce Dacheng Rice's share in the Batavia grain market." Welbeck put down his burden and said surprisingly: "Boss Cheng, they I'm getting more and more worried about you!"

Welbeck claimed that the council in Batavia had already criticized Dacheng Rice Co.'s long-term control of the local grain market. On the one hand, the East India Company will inevitably encounter price fluctuations when purchasing grain from the market every year. Dacheng Rice Co., Ltd. The monopoly operation made the Dutch unable to bargain if they wanted to, so they could only wash their necks and wait to be slaughtered.

On the other hand, the Council believes that such a long-term dependence on one grain merchant to provide more than half of the grain on the market is also a big hidden danger to local security.Although Cheng Dapeng survived with the East India Company in the Batavia War in 1632, this does not mean that the Dutch have completely trusted him.

Since Cheng Dapeng's transnational business has contacts with Daming, Haihan, Annan, Johor, Champa and other countries, and even Portugal, Spain, Mataram and other countries have unclear contacts, the council thinks that it cannot All the important resources to maintain the stability of the local society were handed over to his family.This time, Jean’s proposal to the council clearly stated that the East India Company’s own food crop planting scale should be increased, and the small and medium-sized farmers should be supported to grow food through long-term purchase contracts with favorable conditions, so that they can gradually get rid of the control of Dacheng Rice Co. , Directly provide the East India Company with cheaper food than it is now.

Of course, these methods may not be effective quickly. After all, Cheng Dapeng has been working hard for the purpose of monopolizing the local grain market in recent years. He still has many countermeasures against these expected methods, and Dong For a foreseeable period of time, Indian companies still have to rely on Dacheng Rice to provide part of their food supply.But as long as the momentum of this change picks up, the East India Company will take advantage of its position as a ruler to slowly squeeze out the market share of Dacheng Rice Co., and perhaps after two or three years, it will be able to completely get rid of the Dacheng Rice Co. in the grain market. of dependence.

After hearing this, Cheng Dapeng didn't have any mood swings: "This is the end? If they just want to compete through normal channels, then I have nothing to say."

Welbeck said: "No, how effective these measures can be, in fact, the council has a number, so they will talk to you first, and persuade you to voluntarily give up the manipulation of the Batavia grain market."

"Give up voluntarily? How is that possible." Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said, "You also know the operating conditions of Dacheng Rice Company. If you voluntarily withdraw from the grain market, what will happen locally."

"The supply of food will plummet, while the price of food will skyrocket, and there may be a famine, which will cause a series of problems, and maybe foreign enemies will be attracted due to internal strife." Welbeck immediately answered, but he He still warned Cheng Dapeng: "But the council thinks they have a way to solve the food problem... I heard that under the instigation of Jean, Governor Fan Diemen has sent envoys to Champa to try to get food from there. Purchase a batch of cheap grain to reduce the amount of grain purchased from Dacheng Rice Bank this year."

"Zhancheng? It's interesting..." Although Cheng Dapeng didn't change his face, he was already vigilant in his heart.

Although Champa is just a small country on the Indochina Peninsula, and its military and economics are lackluster, this country is rich in rice. Champa rice was introduced to Ming Dynasty as early as the Song Dynasty, and it is famous for its early maturity, drought tolerance and strong adaptability.At the beginning of the founding of Haihan, it once relied on the food supplied by Champa, and the two countries even used barter to trade grain with weapons produced by Haihan.

As a major grain-producing country, Champa sells a large amount of grain to other countries every year, and if the Dutch want to order grain from it, it is considered a normal operation.Based on the international grain transaction prices mastered by Cheng Dapeng, if the freight is included, the cost of importing grain from Champa is probably slightly higher than the purchase price provided by Dacheng Rice Co. to the East India Company.However, if the East India Company is determined to suppress Dacheng Rice Co., Ltd. and reduce local purchases through this method, then the cost cannot be simply considered from an economic point of view.

(End of this chapter)