1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 245 Guangzhou Trade Progress
Compared with the area of ​​Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, the area of ​​Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which is farther north geographically, is the most affluent place of Daming in this era. The profit of the salt merchants in Yangzhou alone in one year has already exceeded the income of the Daming treasury at this time.And this area with the most wealthy people is also the most coveted market for the business department of the Transit Group.Of course, in order to develop this market in the future, the Transit Group must first solve the problem of sales channels.

The two provinces of Fuzhou and Guangxi, including most of Zhejiang, are mountainous areas, and the land traffic is very poor, which is not suitable for long-distance transportation of bulk goods. The sea route has always been the main freight channel from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Fuguang.However, the Taiwan Strait, which is an important channel for maritime transportation, has never been a stable place. Now Zheng Zhilong and the "Eighteen Zhi" are constantly fighting with the Fujian Ming Army, which seriously affects the safety and smoothness of this transportation channel.Now if you want to pass through the waters of the Taiwan Strait safely, you either have to rely on luck, or you have to pay Zheng Zhilong the road money.

The "Road Hog" behavior of "Eighteen Zhi" is definitely the target of the future attack in the eyes of the crossing group, not to mention that Zheng Zhilong is notoriously lacking in morals in history, and he will use the wind to make the rudder, first surrendering to the Ming and then to the Qing , There is no integrity at all.When the executive committee was discussing the future policy toward Fujian, it didn't even consider cooperating with Zheng Zhilong—this guy turned faces faster than books, and what he did was really hard to generate a sense of trust.

However, if it wants to resist the most powerful sea power in East Asia, the crossing group still has a long way to go. Whether it is enough warships or the sailors who control the warships, it will take a long time to slowly Preparation is the only way.Due to the influence of the objective environment, the difficulty of combat at sea is far more difficult than that of land combat. Although the military technology of the Crossing Group is far ahead of this era, the disadvantage of experience in combat at sea is also quite obvious. All existing maritime military training subjects, Almost all of them come from various historical records. Although Luo Shengdong also volunteered to provide some training experience of the Ming Dynasty navy, it was not suitable for the requirements of the Military and Police Department—the goal of the Military and Police Department is not to train Instead of developing a navy with a combat effectiveness similar to that of the Yazhou Water Village, it is necessary to truly form a maritime military force that can still be at the leading level in the world.

Now the preparatory work for the crossing group navy is to set a high goal, but its own foundation is really weak. Most of the reserve sailors are mainly local fishermen and sailors in Hainan. They have neither military skills nor any combat experience. Experience, the instructors are all monks halfway, not even a real navy, the training progress can be imagined.A few days ago, Xiao Liang and Yu Yao had been choosing islands in the Pearl River Estuary for a long time. In the end, everything could only stay on paper for the time being, because the existing sea power of the Transit Group was too weak, and they could not even attack the pole. The small group of pirates on the island can only plan to be carried out by civilian ships-not to mention discussing this kind of plan at the Executive Committee, even the internal review of the Military and Police Department will not pass.

Even the small group of pirates in the Pearl River Estuary can't be dealt with for the time being, let alone entering the Taiwan Strait where the situation is more complicated.So when Schneider said this, Yu Yao shook his head repeatedly and said, "Mr. Shi, if there is no warship escort, the executive committee probably won't agree to send merchant ships directly into the Taiwan Strait. If we have to send ships over by ourselves, at least we have to wait." It will take a year and a half."

Schneider said: "This is not a big problem. As long as we spread the reputation of Haihan products, profit-seeking businessmen will naturally flow to Shengli Port. 'Yongfeng Cloth' can get big orders from us. Others will see Will we not be tempted? The only disadvantage we have is that we have to bear the high cost of the goods sent from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."

"Fortunately, most of the raw materials we need for production can be found in Fuzhou and Guangxi provinces. The only thing that really needs to be shipped in large quantities from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is textiles." Sha Xi replied.

"One more item must be added to the purchase list." Chen Tianqi returned to the study with a piece of paper: "This is the message just sent by the executive committee."

Schneider took it over and looked at it, then handed it to He Xi, and everyone circulated it one by one.When the Executive Committee heard that the Guangzhou Office had reached a trade agreement with cloth merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they immediately asked them to purchase an additional important material—cotton.

"Is the executive committee still planning to engage in the textile industry?" You Yihan was the last one to see the contents of the telegram, and he couldn't help asking in surprise.

"I'm afraid it's not the textile industry." Schneider shook his head and said, "The cost of transporting cotton from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Hainan for processing is too high, and how much cloth can be spun from a shipment of cotton? Without sufficient raw material supply, it is impossible to engage in industrialization." Production, if the output is not high, it is better to buy the finished product directly.”

"Are you going to make absorbent cotton?" Ma Yu has already selected the fabric, and said calmly while sitting on the master chair: "The cotton wool we brought was used up in September, if we don't get it Order, it will not be easy for our medical department to deal with traumatic wounds in the future."

Although the medical department has also prepared a lot of cotton wool, just like the gauze bandage, it also has the problem of expiration date.Although these medical supplies are currently exclusive to the traversing crowd, if a war breaks out, they will be consumed at a very fast speed.And its manufacturing process must use industrial-grade lye, there is no finished product to purchase, and you can only buy cotton yourself for production.

He Xi shook her head and said, "I'm afraid it's not just the absorbent cotton for medical use, it should be some new plan from the chemical department."

"Nitrochemical!" Yu Yao and Xiao Liang responded at the same time.

At present, although the three-acid and two-alkali production line in Tiandu Industrial Zone is still in the state of research and development and construction, industrial-grade concentrated nitric acid can actually be produced in small quantities in chemical laboratories.And the nitrocellulose discovered by the Germans in the [-]th century was born from this. This dangerous product with an explosive power several times greater than black powder has been used in the military field since its inception.Later, Nobel, the representative of the bombing doctrine, used gun cotton whose main component was nitrocellulose to add nitroglycerin to produce fried glue, a new type of gunpowder that changed history.

These chemical products that can be used for military purposes have long been listed in the technology tree planning of relevant departments, but if you want to actually manufacture things, you still have to proceed step by step and realize them step by step.Although these things have been invented long before time travel, and the manufacturing process is not a secret, it is not so easy to achieve large-scale manufacturing in this time and space.Up to now, the Transit Group is still at the non-industrial production level of producing nitric acid with saltpeter and concentrated sulfuric acid, and the actual production capacity of nitric acid is simply unusable.

But now that it has this production capacity, the military industry department will naturally not miss it, and immediately listed a series of products such as nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and yellow explosives into the next research and development plan.It happened that the medical department also had a certain need for absorbent cotton, and absorbent cotton is one of the raw materials for producing nitrocellulose. The executive committee combined two things to deal with it and sent a message to the Guangzhou Office to ask them to increase cotton production. Shopping list.

Of course, apart from dynamite, the military industry department has not been idle during this time.Among the coal tar provided by Heitu Port, there is a very important by-product—toluene, and the chemical reaction of toluene with concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid can produce a very powerful explosive, trinitrotoluene, commonly known as TNT.This light yellow powder explosive is more stable and safer than the yellow gunpowder invented by Nobel, and can only be triggered with a detonator, which is a highly valued weapon by the military industry.However, the output of coal tar is frighteningly low, and the amount of toluene with extremely low content is extracted from it, and the amount is even smaller. It is possible to make a small amount of finished products, but at least within two or three years, it will not be large. used on a large scale.

The research and development of military science and technology is always at the forefront. Although the executive committee has no plans to start a war with the outside world, the sooner these cutting-edge weapons can be manufactured, the better the time-traveling group will face the enemy in the future. Be sure to win the battle.

However, the military industry department has no right to interfere with the specific methods of the military industry department. Everyone can only make limited brain supplements based on the information they know in their minds, and purchase various materials for the needs of the base camp. That's what the CBG should do.

Early the next morning, Shopkeeper Ma, who hadn't figured out what was going on, received an additional new order from Schneider at the breakfast table. Happy to accept.However, the shopkeeper of the horse was quite acquainted, so he turned around and ordered three sets of toilets from Schneider—the reason why he ordered three sets was because his family was monogamous and two concubines, and one person could install one in the room. Don't suffer.As for the boiler equipment that can provide hot water at any time, he has not taken a fancy to it for the time being.Schneider readily gave him an "internal discounted price", three sets of 500 taels in total, plus an installation fee of 50 taels. After a few words, he bought cotton from "Yongfeng Cloth". The money was returned.

And after shopkeeper Ma came to Guangzhou Office to see it with his own eyes, he also gained a new understanding of these Haihan people who spend money lavishly—these people not only can spend money, but also know how to spend money.All the layouts of the Guangzhou Office, ranging from small table decorations and door handles to the design of the courtyard and the construction of the drainage system, all reflect ingenuity. , but if you think about it carefully, none of these things that Haihan people pay attention to can only be completed by spending money and time.Most of these Haihan people only wear clothes made of cotton, and they don't even show much interest in silk and satin, but the temperament on their body is very typical of the upper class. Shopkeeper Ma believes that this is the real rich family. style.

Schneider just smiled lightly at the compliment of the shopkeeper Ma, "We Haihan people believe that only low-key luxury can show a person's connotation."

The manager of the horse shouted that he was right, a toilet in the bedroom cost hundreds of taels of silver, this kind of luxury is indeed low-key enough.Before leaving, shopkeeper Ma said that he would invite colleagues from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce to come and visit some other day to experience the advanced "Haihan lifestyle". Schneider smiled at shopkeeper Ma, who did not forget to drag people into the water after being slaughtered Expressed my sincere thanks.

In the next few days, businessmen from all walks of life continued to visit, and most of them came for the Haihan glass products that are currently in short supply in the Guangzhou market.The 30-year war in Europe has concentrated most of the sea transportation capacity of Western countries to the European continent. The number of ships and merchants going to the Far East has been greatly reduced in the past year. Under the market conditions of glass products that are almost out of stock, the Haihan brand The sudden burst out of the game just rightly filled the gap in the source of goods.In particular, the emergence of Haihan glass stationery met the needs of Ming literati or the wealthy class who planned to enter the literati circle. A practical tool that can be integrated with Ming culture.

Although up to now, the Time Travel Group has supplied hundreds of sets of glass stationery of various grades to the mainland, but there is still a considerable market demand in the city of Guangzhou, and a small amount of it has flowed out from Guangzhou to other surrounding cities. Glass stationery has brought a wave of buying trends.Since there are very few stocks on the market, the value of glass stationery that has been sold is also rising.Whether it is for collection desire, pretentious need, or even investment means, Haihan glass stationery is an excellent choice in the current cultural market. As for the order of high-end customized products with a unit price of more than 500 taels, "Furuifeng" A thick stack has already been picked up here, and highly skilled engravers have been collected from all over Guangdong, and they are going to be sent to Shengli Port to speed up the production of these high-end goods.

Among these visiting merchants, there are also merchants from neighboring provinces such as Fujian, Zhejiang, Huguang, and Jiangxi. Most of them are merchants similar to "Yongfeng Cloth", who have a local branch or come to Guangzhou to buy seafood. .These people are very interested in the various industrial products displayed by the Guangzhou Office, and they can also intuitively realize the huge profits that these products can obtain after they are transported back to their places of origin.But the only problem is that the Haihan people's mouths are too tight. No matter how you say it, the supply is surprisingly small. If you can negotiate a dozen sets of Haihan stationery in one place, that is a great victory. .

At first, the businessman thought that Schneider was just taking Joe, and wanted to increase the price, but later found that this matter had nothing to do with the price directly—the Haihan people did have limited supply capacity, and they could ship to Guangzhou every month. There are not many goods.But this discovery not only did not dampen the buying enthusiasm of merchants, but made them feel that the price of Haihan products will be firm in the future, and it will be easier to spend money.

Of course, for those merchants who have their own ships and are willing to go to sea, Schneider will "kindly" give instructions and ask them to ship some raw materials needed to cross the group to Victory Port for direct transactions-you guard the door of the glass workshop , it’s better than guarding my place. Once the goods are shipped from the workshop, you can buy them immediately and ship them without paying taxes. It’s definitely better than grabbing a few limited goods from people in Guangzhou.

Schneider's rhetoric has really moved many people's hearts. There is no need to pay additional taxes to trade in Victory Port, and the voyage is only a few days. If you are lucky, you can buy a hundred pieces of Haihan in the local area. Things, then really earned.Several courageous merchants immediately expressed their willingness to form a fleet and go to Victory Port to take a look.

In early November, after the cargo ship of the Ministry of Shipping from Shengli Port arrived in Guangzhou, Schneider immediately notified the merchants who were willing to go to Shengli Port to explore the way, and followed the cargo ship of the Ministry of Shipping to go south.Of course, adhering to the principle of not emptying the ship, the ship from Guangzhou to the south this time also shipped a large amount of materials needed by the crossing group, ranging from production to daily life. In addition, there are dozens of craftsmen from all walks of life, and A group of immigrants collected during this period were also transported to Victory Port together. A total of eight ships, large and small, formed the fleet.

With the leadership of the lead ship, this fleet did not take too many detours on the route. It only took five days after leaving the Pearl River Estuary to reach the offshore area of ​​Shengli Port.Here they happened to encounter the North Vietnamese immigrant fleet from the west. This immigrant fleet composed of three large ships brought back more than 100 tons of coal and nearly [-] North Vietnamese immigrants to Victory Port. .

At the same time, more than a dozen ships arrived at Shengli Port, and all of them had personnel and cargo to unload. This was the first time that such a lively situation had occurred in Shengli Port.The last time a large-scale fleet arrived here was in October when Luo Shengdong brought a ship to help transport supplies to Iron Furnace Port, but that time all came with empty ships, and the scene was far less lively than this time.

Both fleets have a large number of people who are here for the first time, so they are full of curiosity about the situation in Victory Port.After seeing the size of the port here, the North Vietnamese immigrants believed that the propaganda they heard before boarding the ship was not false. It seemed that this was indeed a seaport city under construction, not a domestic battlefield in a state of war.

The merchants from Guangzhou paid more attention to the layers of forts built near the shore when they entered the port, and the huge steel ships moored deep in the harbor.Some merchants who have been to Yazhou have already begun to murmur in their hearts: This Victory Port looks much bigger than the ports outside Yazhou City. Looking at the buildings on the shore, this place has already become a climate.When did such a big town pop up, and why hadn't heard of it when I came to Yazhou in the first two years?

But when the fleet approached the pier, these merchants finally felt relieved after seeing the scene on the shore clearly.Next to a thatched hut on the bank was a flag with the words "Daming Yulin Inspection Department" written on it, and several people in official uniforms with knives at their waists sat or stood beside them.

It's still the original formula, and it's still the familiar taste. Seeing the existence of the inspectors, merchants finally don't have to worry about being led into a pirate's den in a daze.

(End of this chapter)