1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 197
For the Guangzhou Office with only two members at present, they still have a lot to do, and there is no time to stop and rest.The first task is to be familiar with the geographical environment of Guangzhou City in this era, so as to prepare for the future work.

Counting the area outside the city walls, the city of Guangzhou has an area of ​​only ten square kilometers, which is a huge gap with the greater Guangzhou of more than 7000 square kilometers in later generations.But despite this, it is not an easy task for an outsider to get familiar with and understand this land in a short period of time.

In order to solve this problem, the historical research team at the base camp spent several days sorting out the data, and drew a simplified map of Guangzhou city on the basis of satellite maps and handed it to the two-person advance team.This sketch map is mainly based on the records of various historical materials, and there must be a big discrepancy with the actual situation, but at least the accuracy is much better than the graffiti level of contemporary maps.

This sketch shows some main streets of Guangzhou city, such as Huiai Street, the main road from east to west, main streets running from north to south, such as Chengxuan Street from the Chief Secretary’s Office to the Zhengnan Gate, and the Great North Gate leading to Guide in the south. Dabeimen Zhijie Street, Panyu County Government’s Dezheng Street leading to Dinghaimen, Xiaonanmenzhi Street and Xiaoshi Street in the new city that lead directly to the riverside wharf.

With the street as a reference, the layout of the entire urban area becomes easier to distinguish.The entire city of Guangzhou basically takes Chengxuan Street as the central axis. The northern area of ​​the city to the north of Hui'ai Street is mainly the government office area. On the east side of Chengxuan Street, there are Panyu County Government, Panyu County School, Qingjun Road, Fuxue, and Salt Department, etc. On the west side are the Guangzhou Government Office, the Metropolitan Government Office, the Nanhai County Government Office, the Zongbing Mansion, the Procuratorate, Tixue Dao, and Yacha Division, etc.

The new city in the south, which was expanded in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, was mainly responsible for the function of trade. There are various workshops, shops, and warehouses here, which can be regarded as the business district of Guangzhou City at this time.

Having such a simple map for comparison can greatly speed up Schneider and He Xi's familiarization with the local environment, and it will also facilitate them to carry out more targeted activities and collect local military, political, and commercial intelligence.

As the sky was getting dark, He Qiang came to the door according to the agreed time to invite the minister.Calculating the time, Li Nai's work report should be almost finished. The goods ordered from Shengli Port this time are enough to attract the attention of the shopkeeper of "Furuifeng".Schneider estimated that the other side would also like to seize this opportunity to strike while the iron is hot and further expand the scale of bilateral trade.

Sitting in a swaying sedan chair, the two came to the place where the other party was hosting a banquet, a restaurant called "Drunken South Sea".However, He Qiang, who was leading the way, did not go upstairs after entering the store, but took the two of them directly through the lively store and walked into the backyard.There were two servants standing outside the gate of the backyard. Seeing He Qiang coming, he quickly opened the door to let them in.After the two entered the courtyard, they realized that there was only one big room in front of the courtyard, which was already brightly lit.There was a banquet in the room, and the people in the banquet stood up one after another.

Shi He and Shi He exchanged glances, and they both had the same thought in their hearts: "There is also a dedicated VIP room, which is very compelling!"

A man in his fifties came out first to greet him, and said repeatedly: "Your guest is here, I'm sorry to welcome you!"

Schneider saw that this person was wearing a blue brocade robe with twigs and treasure patterns, a square flat scarf on his head, and his breasts and belly were full of dignity. Li Po and Li Nai followed him, so he guessed that this person was probably the rightful owner.

Sure enough, He Qiang introduced from the side: "You two, this is the shopkeeper of the luggage."

"I've been looking forward to it for a long time." Schneider greeted Li Jifeng with a smile.However, he was still a little unaccustomed to the Ming-style brocade robe he was wearing, and his movements were somewhat awkward.On the other hand, He Xi, because he often wandered around in Ming-style clothes when he was in Yazhou, his reaction was more natural.

"Please, please, please take your seats first." Li Jifeng greeted them very enthusiastically, and then ordered: "Serve the food, let's open the table!"

Later generations say that they eat in Guangdong, but the Cantonese cuisine at this time is not so rich, and there are not as many choices of seasonings and spices as in later generations. According to the well-informed two people, this is at best a farmhouse. The standard - and it's still that kind of low-grade.But the advantage is that the ingredients are natural and pollution-free. You don't have to worry about gutter oil, and you don't have to suspect genetically modified.

Only Li Jifeng, his two sons and He Qiang were present here. Schneider thought to himself that there was not even an outsider at the table, and it seemed that the other party still wanted to talk about business.

Sure enough, after three rounds of wine, five flavors of food, and after some formalities, Li Jifeng took the initiative to bring up business matters: "I heard from the dog that the two of you are coming to Guangzhou this time, and are you planning to set up a business here?"

"That's right, we have a lot of supplies that we need to buy from Guangzhou. Setting up a store will make it easier to do business in the future." Schneider nodded in response.The time travel group set up a business store in Guangzhou, which is mutually beneficial to both parties, and Schneider is not worried that the other party will have negative thoughts about it.

Li Jifeng continued to ask: "I have seen the samples of the goods that Quanzi brought back from Shengli Port this time, and they are indeed excellent things. But after you set up a store, these goods will be sold..."

Li Jifeng just dragged his tone and did not continue, but Schneider had already understood the meaning of his words, and immediately continued: "Master Li, you can rest assured that the agreement we have reached before will continue to be implemented. Your bank will be responsible for the agency sales of glass products, soap, and matches in the whole province of Guangdong, and your bank will be responsible for the agency sales of firearms and refined salt in Fuguang and Guangxi provinces. Within the framework of this agreement, we will not The goods are sold to other commercial banks until the agreement expires. In addition, after that, your bank also has the priority to renew the contract under the same conditions, and we can continue to extend these agency agency agreements through negotiation."

Although there were many uncommon words in Schneider's words, Li Jifeng probably understood about [-]% to [-]% of them, nodded and said in a deep voice: "This is the best."

In fact, regarding the series of trade agreements reached by the two parties, Li Nai has already recounted the original text to Li Jifeng today, and also showed the written agreement signed by both parties.However, out of prudence, Li Jifeng still had to reconfirm in person to ensure that "Furuifeng" would not be attacked by other competitors during the sale of these items.

A large part of the reason why Li Nai did not make a substantial bargain on the products of the Crossing Group during the trade negotiations at Shengli Port was because of Li Jifeng's instruction.In his opinion, as long as he can ensure that he can make enough profits, it doesn’t matter if the purchase price of the goods is higher. Anyway, he can earn back doubled as soon as he changes hands. If the price is pressed hard, maybe the Haihan people will find another way out. Go find another agent.

Although the two parties signed a written agreement on agency sales, it really has no legal effect at all.What Li Nai had seen and heard in the Haihan people's territory had already made Li Jifeng understand that the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" would not work in that place. If the Haihan people unilaterally tore up the agreement, they would have no place to sue.Moreover, in Li Jifeng's view, there are many loopholes in the agreement itself, such as the time limit of agency rights and restrictions on the types of goods.Li Jifeng noticed that the other party specifically specified that the consignment sales of "Furuifeng" only include "existing" products. Taste, according to the Haihan people's explanation, is something other than agency rights.If the cooperation between the two parties is not pleasant enough, Haihan can easily find a way out of "Fu Ruifeng" in a very "reasonable" way.

Li Jifeng felt that it was because Li Nai was young and ignorant, and the other party took advantage of these loopholes when signing the agreement. If he had made the trip himself, he would definitely not have reached such a condition.However, Li Nai's performance is already remarkable. In addition to expanding the original scale of trade and increasing the types of trade commodities, this visit also found out the inside information of many Haihan people, and the credit cannot be ignored.Besides, these agreements did not cause any actual loss to "Furuifeng", but only increased the difficulty of controlling the market in the future. Li Jifeng could not blame Li Nai for this.

At this point, Li Jifeng can only maintain the status quo, look at the needs of the Haihan people, and then try to deepen the cooperative relationship between the two parties.Li Jifeng has been rolling in the mall for decades, and he has much more knowledge than Li Nai. When he sees the things sold by Haihan people, he knows that he has found a treasure. You can really make a lot of money.But if it cannot be tied, competitors will soon appear on the market and squeeze "Fu Ruifeng" aside.

But to do this, Li Jifeng must first find out the veins of the Haihan people, especially the two Haihan people who came to Guangzhou for inspection this time.Li Nai specifically emphasized Schneider's status among the Haihan people - all the import and export trades were decided by this seemingly genteel Mr. Shi.As for business matters, as long as Schneider nodded, it would basically be done.

For Li Jifeng's temptation, Schneider actually knew it well.The original agency agreement was drafted by him himself. How could he not know the tricks in the middle? It is very easy for "Fu Ruifeng" to maintain trade relations with the Time Travel Group, as long as it is an honest agent and does its own business well, but it is not what Schneider wants to see if it wants to tie the Time Travel Group situation.

Afterwards, Li Jifeng tried his words several times, and Schneider dealt with it seamlessly. He could say anything, but if he wanted to renegotiate the agency agreement, he would be sorry.

(End of this chapter)