1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1723 Profit maximization
From an economic point of view, it is not cost-effective for the East India Company to import grain across the sea from Champa, and the cost is much higher than that of local procurement.But from a political point of view, this cost difference is not so important, and the stability of the Batavia region is the first priority.The Dacheng Rice Company, which has almost monopolized the local grain market, is already a hidden danger of instability in the eyes of the Dutch, and the current grain supply structure must be changed to a certain extent.

However, since according to Welbeck, the East India Company is looking for a procurement target this time that is Champa, there is something to be done in the middle.

If Cheng Dapeng is really just an ordinary businessman, it is of course unlikely to affect the high-level trade between the Netherlands and Champa, but his other identity can play a role at this time.As long as he notified the matter to China in a timely manner, and then the country notified the embassy in Champa to negotiate with him, it would not be too difficult to disrupt Huang's cross-border grain trade.

The relationship between Haihan and Champa has been maintained well. Most of the new weapons and equipment installed by Champa in recent years are from Haihan. In terms of military affairs, it can be regarded as one of Haihan's allies.If Haihan proposed to Champa not to accept the Dutch's food order, and to give some compensation in other respects, then Champa would be very happy to sell this face to its allies.

Of course, there is basically no need for Cheng Dapeng to worry about how to implement this kind of diplomatic affairs. As long as he reports the news as soon as possible, the domestic executive committee will naturally make corresponding arrangements for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.If Sanya was more efficient, perhaps Haihan would have already negotiated with Champa before the people sent by the East India Company arrived in Champa.

Welbeck saw that Cheng Dapeng was still calm, and he couldn't help admiring his calmness. If he was in the opponent's position, he might have been unable to hold back.He can't imagine where Cheng Dapeng's confidence comes from, but he knows very well that if he wants to protect himself, he must try his best to get Cheng Dapeng to help him, otherwise if he is kicked out by Gene, his future business with Cheng Dapeng will be very serious. There is no use value, and it will not be easy to make a comeback in Batavia by then.

"Boss Cheng, it took us several years to integrate the local grain market. Don't you really have the heart to give up this hard-won achievement to others?" Welbeck still refused to give up and continued to persuade Cheng Dapeng, hoping that he would Can shoot.

Welbeck is so convinced that Cheng Dapeng has the ability to change the situation, but it is not just blind trust. During the years of his friendship and cooperation with Cheng Dapeng, he has never seen anything that can hinder this Chinese businessman. .Moreover, Cheng Dapeng was extremely prudent, and there were almost no flaws in the operation of annexing the local grain market in the past few years. Even the council meeting could not find any faults, so he thought that Cheng Dapeng would definitely think of a way to save the situation.

But Cheng Dapeng has his own ideas, the current situation is not impossible to save, but how to do it, how to maximize the interests of Hai Han and himself, that still needs to be studied carefully.If used properly, crisis can also be transformed into vitality.

"Mr. Welbeck, if I really have a way to get all this back on track, what benefits can I gain? Is it just to maintain the status quo? Then should I go to Mr. Jean to talk about the more realistic conditions, maybe he He has also prepared favorable conditions, and is waiting for me to show up to persuade me to change my position and support him." Cheng Dapeng looked at the other party and raised a possibility, although this was only his unilateral imagination, but if Cheng Dapeng If Peng is really willing to take the initiative to lean on the opponent's camp, then perhaps the opponent will also welcome him to change his position.

Of course, Cheng Dapeng was just talking. His purpose was to bargain with Welbeck and reduce the other party's room for maneuver. If the other party chose to compromise, then he could use subsequent means.

Sure enough, Welbeck got a little flustered when he heard Cheng Dapeng's statement, and quickly said: "Boss Cheng, think clearly, that Gene has not been in Batavia for a long time, and he is far less familiar with the local conditions than I am. If you want to cooperate with him, you have to start from scratch, so be careful not to lose more than you gain!"

Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said: "That's not the case. What if he gave me more benefits because he is not familiar with the local situation? Maybe after he takes your seat, the East India Company and Dacheng Rice The cooperation between them will be even closer. I also want to see what kind of conditions he can offer me."

Welbeck wanted to cry without tears, feeling that he had sold himself. He told the whole situation that he knew, but made Cheng Dapeng decide to continue to wait and see for an opportunity to sit on the ground and raise the price. In this way, his seat was really in jeopardy up.As long as the conditions offered by Jin are better than what Cheng Dapeng is getting now, then Cheng Dapeng will probably abandon himself without hesitation.

Welbeck was not willing to just miss out on this opportunity, and his intuition told him that if Cheng Dapeng didn't say it to death, there would still be a turning point, it just depends on whether he can offer enough good conditions for Cheng Dapeng to confirm his position.But he is still not sure what kind of conditions can make the other party fall in love, or what Cheng Dapeng really cares about.

"Okay, Boss Cheng, let's be honest with each other and tell me, what is your condition? I think our common interests should far outweigh our differences." Welbeck's tone became weaker. some.Although he may not have noticed this himself, even Qin Huacheng, who did not fully understand the conversation between the two, had already noticed this subtle change in attitude.

Cheng Dapeng's feeling for this change is naturally more intuitive. He smiled and said: "Can you agree to the conditions I set out? You can answer me after you think clearly."

What Welbeck is afraid of now is that Cheng Dapeng will not make conditions for himself, so he immediately replied: "Yes, yes, as long as it is within the scope of my ability, I will agree!"

In desperation, Welbeck couldn't care less. He knew that the conditions proposed by Cheng Dapeng would conflict with the interests of the East India Company, but so what, his position in the East India Company was about to be lost. Sure, do you have to sacrifice yourself to save the fat bureaucrats in the council at this time?
Of course, Welbeck is not such a soft-hearted person. The official position below his butt means that he earns tens of thousands of silver coins every year. He has to rely on this income to support his family in the Netherlands. Can he show kindness and continue to take money to support his big family?No, of course it was impossible. The East India Company was not a charitable organization, so he had to try his best to keep his position, even if it would violate some of the company's rules.

"Okay, since you agreed, let me make some conditions first to see your sincerity." Cheng Dapeng immediately offered him several conditions: "First, I want to know that the East India Company plans to purchase The exact amount of grain and the procurement budget. Second, the East India Company’s detailed plan for planting grain in the next two years, such as how much arable land it intends to reclaim and what types of food crops to plant. Third, Bada Give me an accurate amount of grain stored in Via's current official storehouse."

When Welbeck heard these conditions, his expression was not very good.Although he and Cheng Dapeng have cooperated tacitly in the grain procurement in the past few years, he will never tell the other party about these sensitive information.The two parties just agreed on a mutually acceptable price, and then Dacheng Rice Bank returned a certain percentage of the benefit fee to him after the transaction.The demands made by Cheng Dapeng now are tantamount to asking Welbeck to show all his cards, which is a great test of his determination and sincerity.

Welbeck began to sweat on his back. The questions raised by Cheng Dapeng were no longer a small problem of letting go of the purchase price in the grain procurement and turning a blind eye to the grain sent to the official warehouse. It really involves the internal secrets of the East India Company, and the nature is quite different.To put it more seriously, if Welbeck leaked this information to Cheng Dapeng, then Welbeck would have completely betrayed the East India Company.

Cheng Dapeng raised these questions thoughtfully. All he inquired about was information related to the grain trade, and it was not too abrupt. He realized that this shrewd Boss Cheng was planning to drag him into the water and become a source of information for Hai Han.

No matter how strong Cheng Dapeng's professional ability is, the information he can collect from Batavia will inevitably be subjective and one-sided. If the information comes from within the East India Company, the meaning will be quite different.So in the past few years, Cheng Dapeng has been carefully contacting the officials of the East India Company, hoping to develop one or two "inner ghosts" from them to provide him with more valuable and accurate information.

In fact, Cheng Dapeng has been optimistic about Welbeck for a long time, but out of prudence, he has never interviewed Welbeck directly. Whether the person's position will be shaken.

And Qin Huacheng, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, finally figured out Cheng Dapeng's intention at this time, and couldn't help admiring his response.In his opinion, Cheng Dapeng should respond to the changes in the East India Company's grain procurement policy. After all, being able to control the Batavia grain market is definitely a very important advantage for Haihan, and he cannot give up easily. .But Cheng Dapeng was able to bear it all the time, until the other party showed his restlessness, he seized the opportunity to attack, and put forward the conditions without any trace. This kind of calm operation is indeed beyond Qin Huacheng's ability.

Welbeck's ideological struggle lasted for several minutes. During this period, Cheng Dapeng did not urge him, but sat patiently waiting for the other party to give a response.

Cheng Dapeng's fingers lightly stroked a white jade pendant tied around his waist. This round jade pendant did not have any patterns engraved on it, but the edge was processed into an inexplicable gear shape, and the style was very unique.But few people except him knew that this jade pendant was actually a special medal awarded to him by the Executive Committee after the Batavia War.This jade pendant specially retains the original smooth surface, only the gears on the edge symbolize Haihan's industrial civilization.

In fact, Cheng Dapeng didn't quite understand the true meaning of the gear jade pendant, but it was a reward issued by the executive committee, so he regarded it as a treasure. In recent years, he almost always carried it with him, playing with it whenever he had time. , has long rubbed the jade pendant smooth.The only people who could really know the origin of this jade pendant were a few high-ranking officials from the Executive Committee and the Ministry of Security, and he didn't have to worry that bringing this jade pendant around would reveal his other identity.

After a long time, Welbeck finally made a decision and said to Cheng Dapeng: "Boss Cheng, I can tell you the information you want to know, but you must promise not to disclose it to a third party, otherwise the discussion will be avoided. "

Cheng Dapeng smiled and said, "The news is useful to me, but not to others. It won't do me any good if it really leaks out, will it? To be honest, if it doesn't involve the future cooperation prospects between you and me, I don't want to ask you for this information rashly, if you misunderstand it as spying on the East India Company, then even if I jump into the South China Sea, I won't be able to clean it up!"

Welbeck was still a little worried, and confirmed again: "Boss Cheng, after you get this information, can you really help me keep my official position?"

Cheng Dapeng said sternly: "I'm not kidding, I will definitely do my best to try to let you sit in this seat for a few more years. After all, it is not easy to find a partner like you who has a tacit understanding. If If possible, I will of course choose to continue working with people who know the basics.”

"That's good." Welbeck's face finally relaxed a little, and then he winked at Cheng Dapeng, signaling him to retreat his followers first.The information he wants to tell Cheng Dapeng is the secret of the East India Company. Although he trusts Cheng Dapeng, it does not mean that he also trusts Cheng Dapeng's entourage.

Cheng Dapeng nodded to Qin Huacheng and said, "Then you wait outside first."

Qin Huacheng responded, walked out of the room quickly, and closed the door behind him.He was actually not very interested in the information Welbeck provided. Anyway, after returning home, Cheng Dapeng would probably take out the information and analyze it immediately, so there was no need to rush at this moment.

Cheng Dapeng and Welbeck closed the door and whispered inside for about half an hour before ending. Welbeck politely sent Cheng Dapeng outside the door to say goodbye.

"If I have any arrangements here, I will let him come to you." Cheng Dapeng pointed to Qin Huacheng and said, "If you have any news, you can ask him to tell me."

Welbeck nodded and said, "Don't come here to look for me in the future. There are so many people here that it is easy to attract attention. If you have any news, you can send it to my home. It will be more convenient."

(End of this chapter)