1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2697
Ning Zijing added: "In recent years, with the assistance of our country, North Korea has exploited a lot of mineral deposits, especially coal mines. Therefore, among the goods exported to Japan, coal and coke have become a big business. According to our According to the information we have, the coal and coke sold to Japan via Busan Port each year account for about [-]% of the total trade volume.”

Japan's coal reserves are not many, and even less is mined in this era. The production capacity and cost are far lower than those of North Korea today. Therefore, even if it is trafficked across the sea, middlemen still have relatively rich profits.However, this kind of bulk cargo trading requires strong capital and sufficient sea transportation capacity. Ordinary merchants do not have such strength, and both parties participating in the meeting and trading will more or less have certain official backgrounds.

Tao Hongfang continued: "No matter what kind of business it is, once a monopoly operation is formed, the income will become considerable. Although there is no local production in the Tsushima domain, they have controlled the trade routes between the two countries for a long time. A disguised monopoly has been formed, people sit at home, and money comes from heaven, the money is earned effortlessly, and it will naturally be very lavishly spent.”

Zhu Zian understood what he heard, but he still didn't quite understand. To Ma Fan's methods are so simple and easy to understand, why should Japan and Japan sit idly by and let this middleman easily monopolize the trade between the two countries? .If this middleman is kicked out so that the two countries can trade freely, wouldn't it be more conducive to the development of trade?
However, it was too late for him to continue to ask questions at this time, the convoy had already driven into Waguan Castle, and the people in the car were about to get out of the car to meet with the other party after a little tidying up their appearance.

Before that, Zhu Zian had seen a shop opened by a Japanese businessman in Zhoushan, but it was the first time in his life that he really dealt with Japanese people.

In his eyes, whether it is a Japanese samurai with a Tsukidai head or a low and cramped Japanese-style building, they are all very novel.Although the culture of this country is said to be in the same line as China, in Zhu Zian's view, it seems that the degree of cultural variation far exceeds that of North Korea, which is closer to China.

And Zhu Zian didn't quite understand, since Japanese culture originated from China, why didn't they copy over the most basic furniture, there was not even a chair in the reception room, just put a cloth cushion on the floor to sit on the floor, it didn't work No matter what posture you do, you can't help but feel very awkward.

Kneeling is definitely impossible, no matter Daming or Haihan, this kind of posture is a self-deprecation.Zhu Zian looked around and could only imitate Tao Hongfang and others and sit down cross-legged.

The person who came to receive them was Zongxiongta, the owner of the Wakan. He looked about 30 years old, with fine eyes and long eyebrows, and a slightly fat body. He was dressed in a black patterned hakama made of silk. Wearing several glittering rings.Not so much an official, but a wealthy businessman has more style.

Zong Xiongtai has been resident in Busan for many years, and he has dealt with Haihan merchants a lot, so he can speak the not-so-standard Haihan Mandarin, which saves the trouble of translation in terms of communication.

After the three parties exchanged a few pleasantries, Wen Zhihong, the initiator of the meeting, introduced the main topic: "Master, it has been more than 40 years since our two countries signed the "Qingchang Amity Treaty". During this period, The trade situation between our two countries has also undergone great changes, especially in the past ten years, a large number of merchants from Haihan State have entered Busan to engage in trade activities, and the local situation has also changed a lot from when the treaty was signed. Some of the old clauses are obviously out of date. Therefore, I believe that part of the treaty should be renegotiated according to the current actual situation. Those that should be revised should be revised, and those that should be canceled should be cancelled. Only in this way can it be more in line with the balance of interests of our three countries. "

After Zong Xiongtai finished listening, he just nodded his head slightly, without expressing his opinion, but turned his eyes to Hai Han.It seemed that he also understood very well which of the two groups of people who visited today was the one who really made up his mind.It doesn't matter what the North Korean officials say, the key still depends on Haihan's meaning.

Tao Hongfang said: "When North Korea and Japan signed the agreement, my country did not participate in it. But after more than 40 years, my country has become the largest participant in the trade of Busan Port. I think it is time to sign a new three-nation trade agreement. , in order to guarantee the interests of our country in the Port of Busan. And we are sure that in the long run, a new agreement that can take care of the interests of all parties will also greatly help the future cross-border trade activities between North Korea and Japan .”

Now that they have decided to participate in the meeting, they will not just come to support the North Koreans. Of course, the mission must fight for Haihan's interests in the process.Turning the conflict of interest between North Korea and Japan into a three-party negotiation will make it easier to put pressure on Japan, so Wen Zhihong did not express any objection to this.

After hearing this, Zongxiong felt a little uneasy.After the Haihan mission came to Busan, he thought about inviting the mission to meet in Yeongdo, but the invitations he sent were all rejected by the other party in the name of busy work.Later, the Busan government sent people to the island to arrest people. Zongxiong too knew that this was the result of pressure from the Haihan people on the government, but he did not take any countermeasures. He let the government arrest a few rogues who had no roots and went back to work, hoping to use this Show kindness to Haihan.

But unexpectedly, the bilateral meeting he expected was dragged on and turned into a tripartite meeting, and the topic of trade activities between Haihan and Japan was supposed to be the topic, but now North Korea was forced to step in.

Regarding Wen Zhihong's suggestion, Zong Xiongtai has no interest at all.In the history of trade between the two countries, the Tsushima Domain has always been an indispensable existence.Whether North Koreans want to sell things to Japan or buy Japanese products, they have never been able to bypass Tsushima.

Especially in the past 40 years or so, the Tsushima Domain has almost completely monopolized the direct trade between the Asahi and Japan, and there is no willingness to renegotiate the trade agreement at all.If it must be discussed, Tsushima Fan will probably only add one more item to the original agreement, which is to prohibit Haihan merchants from engaging in intermediary trade activities between North Korea and Japan.

That's right, since Haihan's business power entered Busan, it is difficult for the Tsushima domain to completely monopolize the trade between Asahi and Japan as in the past.Many Haihan merchants realized the business opportunities and simply bypassed the Tsushima domain to engage in transnational trade between Korea and Japan.

From the perspective of the Tsushima Fan, this kind of behavior is tantamount to smuggling, but because the practitioners are Haihan merchants, and the Tsushima Fan does not want to repeat the mistakes of the Hirado Fan, so they can only turn a blind eye to it. only eye.As long as such behavior has not shaken the foundation of Tsushima Fan, it will be over after a while.

But now the Haihan people came to their door and demanded to negotiate a tripartite trade agreement, which obviously meant to make the small actions of the past public.This is undoubtedly a very dangerous signal for Zongxiongtai.

(End of this chapter)