1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 878 Zhoushan Merchants Association ([-])
"Please take the NO.17 brand friend to go to the B counter to go through the formalities!"

When Wu Huanzhi heard the summons, he quickly put down his teacup, hugged the people who were chatting, and went to check in with his number plate.He has been waiting here for this period of time, and he has already seen the process clearly.There are three counters, A, B, and C, under the temporary bamboo shed at the wharf. Special personnel call the number in turn, and go through the formalities with the number plate you get when you enter the venue.I heard that a few days ago, someone came in to occupy a seat and resell the number plate rounds, but they were discovered by the Haihan soldiers who kept the law and order nearby, and they tied them up and took them away.

"Next is NO.17." Wu Huanzhi said while reaching out and handing the number plate to the young man sitting behind the counter.

The other party took the number plate and put it aside, picked up a pen and ink, and asked, "Please tell me your name, age, where you come from, and what kind of business you run."

"I'm Wu Huanzhi, I'm not confused this year, I'm from Taicang, Suzhou, and I'm in the silk business." Wu Huanzhi replied honestly.

The other party continued to ask: "How many ships will go to Zhoushan Island by then? How many crew members?"

Wu Huanzhi responded: "Just one boat, with 22 crew members, plus myself and four attendants, a total of 27 people."

The other party was writing in a notebook while asking, and after asking another seven or eight questions, he stopped writing and said: "After arriving at the port, we will check again according to your registration information. Ships docking at Dinghai Port are not allowed to carry weapons on board. Do not leave the designated activity area at will, if there is any violation, the owner or employer shall bear the relevant responsibilities. Remember?"

"I must obey." Wu Huanzhi also knew that the Haihan people were worried that people from Donghai would sneak in and make trouble, so he didn't have any objection to such an arrangement.

"When the time comes to enter the port for identity verification and stay in a local hotel, you will need to show this number plate. You take care of it."

Wu Huanzhi then got another number plate, a bamboo plate two fingers wide and three inches long, with a ribbon punched through one end for easy carrying.It's just that this number plate is engraved with words or symbols, and the turns and turns are like earthworms rolling sand, but they can't recognize any of them.Wu Huanzhi thought that this is probably the writing of the Haihan people, and it is indeed difficult for outsiders to imitate.

Seeing that Wu Huanzhi was sitting still, the person who went through the formalities urged, "You can leave after finishing."

"That's the end?" Wu Huanzhi hesitated before asking, "What fees do I need to pay?"

"The China Merchants Association does not need to pay fees. If someone asks you to collect money, please report it to us in time. If you bring too much cash and it is inconvenient to carry, you can exchange it for a bank note issued by us at the Dinghai Bay Wharf, and then cash it when you leave. Cash is."

Wu Huanzhi responded repeatedly, got up and left, thinking that this Haihan man was meticulous and thoughtful enough, no wonder he was able to get along well in the south, and now he was even more looking forward to the Merchants Fair two days later.

After Wu Huanzhi came out, Zhou Haiyuan, who was waiting on the pier, greeted him and asked him, "Boss Wu's business is going well?"

Wu Huanzhi nodded and said, "The Haihan people are quick and easy to do things, much easier than the Ming government. After you go back, follow my instructions and buy a lot of supplies. You don't have to go to sea for two days, but I will pay for the boat. Don’t ask your people to cause trouble when they arrive on Zhoushan Island, otherwise my employer will be blamed!”

"Yes, yes, the villain remembered it, thank you, Boss Wu, for the reward!" Zhou Hai thanked him happily.

On April [-]th, the sixth year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, the day before the Zhoushan Merchants Fair, the Yongjiang River in Ningbo Prefecture was very lively. Many merchants who were going to participate in the Merchants Fair chose to go to Zhoushan Island in advance on this day, so as not to miss the meeting tomorrow.Many local merchants also loaded a large amount of goods onto the ship, hoping to reach a deal with the Haihan people, so that even if they did not get the franchise, they would still have other deals to do, so the trip would not be in vain.

The boat hired by Wu Huanzhi was also among them. He actually wanted to leave early, because he only learned yesterday that several colleagues he knew were going to Zhoushan Island, so he planned to go early to occupy the pit and try to find a way to go to the Haihan people first. While brushing up his familiarity, he specially loaded the various silk samples he brought on board the ship one day in advance.But I didn't expect that [-]% of the boats on the pier were going to Zhoushan Island, and the boat he hired was blocked by several other boats that were loading cargo. The waterway was blocked until noon. , wasted half a day in vain.

If the destination is farther away, the half-day delay is fine. Anyway, there is a chance to catch up with the trip on the way, but it is only half a day's voyage from Yongjiang River to Dinghai Port in Zhoushan. It was a mess, and it made him very angry.Fortunately, the ship I hired is very familiar with this channel from the boss to the sailors below. After leaving the river mouth, it turned eastward along the ocean current, passing between Goose Reef and Huangmang Island, and arrived at Daxie Island. At that time, there were already many boats going to Zhoushan along the way.

Wu Huanzhi's ship arrived in the waters near Panzhi Island and saw several sailboats flying the Haihan flag cruising and patrolling. Without his instructions, Zhou Hai, the ship's boss, asked the sailors to keep a relatively safe distance from these Haihan ships. distance.After slowly approaching Dinghai Port, you can see that there are many newly-built wooden trestles on the seaside wharf. Forty or fifty ships have already docked at this time, and many ships are unloading on the shore. The goods that came are not going to be pulled back.In the distance, a huge warship could be seen docked on the coast. Wu Huanzhi guessed that it was the "Giant Haihan Ship" that had been the most talked about in Ningbo these days.It is said that this warship is equipped with dozens of cannons, and ordinary ships will be blasted into pieces as long as they meet each other, the power is really powerful.

After Wu Huanzhi's boat docked, someone boarded the boat after setting up the gangway, and asked the owner to show his registration certificate.Wu Huanzhi quickly untied the number plate from his waist, and handed it along with a piece of broken silver: "Thank you!"

The man only took the number plate, but pushed the money back: "Don't hurt me, if I take your money, I will lose this job! The people on the boat wait for me to verify the number plate." You can disembark after that." After saying that, he took the number plate and went down to the shore again.

Wu Huanzhi guessed that he probably took the number plate to check his registration information from the previous two days. Sure enough, the man came back after a while and asked Wu Huanzhi the same questions.

Wu Huanzhi answered one by one according to what he said during the registration, and the man also asked all the people on the ship to gather on the deck and count the heads.At this time, two more Haihan soldiers in gray uniforms came up, making everyone on the boat, including Wu Huanzhi, tense.Fortunately, nothing happened. After counting the number of people, the man returned the number plate to him, announcing that Wu Huanzhi and his entourage could disembark and check in.

"You guys are living on the boat for the first few days, don't cause trouble, and when I come back after finishing my work, there will be another reward!" Before Wu Huan got off the boat, he did not forget to remind Zhou Hai again.

After disembarking, it is not difficult to see a conspicuous text signboard erected at intervals along the road, allowing the participants of the China Merchants Association to follow the direction indicated.Of course, if you are an illiterate person, you can see Haihan soldiers in gray clothes everywhere in the area of ​​the pier. If you are brave enough, you can go forward and ask.

After walking about half a mile, Wu Huanzhi saw a huge sign in front of him with the words "Check-in".Wu Huan went forward to show his number plate, and completed the formalities in a few clicks.

This Dinghai Port was originally one of the most prosperous sea ports in the Zhoushan area. There are many hotels and restaurants, but the operators are all insiders of the Zhoushan Ship Gang. took over together.After Haihan took over the place, he naturally included it in the unified management first, and after the completion of the investment promotion meeting, he will see if he wants to contract it to other people to manage it separately.

As soon as the few people settled down, they heard noises outside. Wu Huanzhi sent someone out to check, saying that the Haihan people posted a notice about the Merchants Association tomorrow on the street, but this attendant was not very literate and didn't know the notice. What exactly is written on it.Wu Huan couldn't sit still when he heard this, and hurriedly dressed again and went out to read the notice.

There are already many people around on the street looking at the notice. Those who appear here and now are basically rich businessmen with some family background, and their education level is not bad, and they can understand the content of the notice without any explanation from others.

The content of the notice is mainly the schedule of the investment promotion meeting for the next three days, and it is filled with three big sheets of paper.Wu Huanzhi went through it first, and found that he really couldn't remember it, so he hurriedly asked someone to go back to the room to get a pen and paper, intending to copy the contents of the notice.

These days, there are too many business meetings, many of which Wu Huanzhi doesn’t understand or are not interested in, and he doesn’t plan to participate in the whole process. He mainly wants to find an opportunity to have an interview with Haihan people and sell his products to them.The mentality of these businessmen present is roughly similar to that of Wu Huanzhi. They are all foreign businessmen who have not received the invitation and came to participate in the investment promotion meeting on their own. They don't know much about the process arrangement of the investment promotion meeting. .

Although there is no fee to come to Zhoushan Island to participate in the Merchants Fair, but to participate in the Haihan commodity franchise competition at the Merchants Fair, it is necessary to pay a certain amount of deposit to the organizer.This is because the franchise competition uses bids to determine the winners. In order to prevent malicious bids, the organization has just set up this method, and at the same time excludes those who have no intention of participating and intend to make trouble.

In order to prevent some rich and powerful households from monopolizing the franchise rights of multiple projects, the organizer also set an upper limit on the number of franchise rights that each merchant can obtain.Of course, this kind of measure can't completely prevent those who are interested in playing small tricks. For example, there are as many as five or six merchants who came here on behalf of Quyutong, the prefect of Ningbo, and each of them has the strength to compete for the franchise. With care, the end result is definitely above average.

In the evening, some Haihan officials came to the inn to handle the formalities of cash and bank notes for the merchants.The amount of large transactions can range from thousands to tens of thousands of taels. It is really inconvenient to use cash for all transactions, so Haihan Bank has specially prepared a batch of bearer fixed-amount checks for this investment promotion meeting. Promote Haihan's banking business among Jiangsu and Zhejiang businessmen.

Although some people still lack trust in the service provided by Haihan, there are also merchants who have been to the south and tried the convenience and benefits of Haihan check transactions, and immediately went through the cashing procedures, exchanging boxes of silver for thin a few sheets of paper.Anyway, when you leave the island, you can exchange it for real gold and silver, and there is no need to pay additional fees.

Wu Huanzhi also brought 2000 taels of cash to the island this time. After hearing the explanation, he was also a little moved, so he asked his entourage to take half of the cash in exchange for ten checks of 100 taels.Once this thin stack is packed in an envelope, it is very convenient to carry.

The next morning, Zhoushan Merchants Association held an opening ceremony on the square outside Dinghai Fort.This so-called square is actually the area that was forcibly demolished outside the city in order to deploy artillery when the Haihan army attacked Dinghai Fort a few days ago. It is impossible to restore the demolished buildings after the battle. Several people in the headquarters After a discussion, the area was simply cleaned up, imitating the model of the Victory Square outside the Shengli Fort in Sanya, and a small square was also created here.Of course, due to the rush of time, the Dinghai Square can only be paved with loess for the time being, which is completely incomparable with the flat ground paved with marble bricks in Victory Square.

Wu Huanzhi also participated in the opening ceremony, but since he belonged to a group without invitations, he sat relatively far back, at least three or forty meters away from where the Haihan people sat, but he finally met the legendary Haihan people .The two high-ranking Haihan officials who attended the opening ceremony were both soldiers. Wu Huanzhi listened to others' comments, saying that the two men, one surnamed Qian and the other surnamed Shi, were the commanders who defeated the pirate Shibazhi in Fujian the previous year.

The two briefly said a few words, but Wu Huanzhi sat too far away and couldn't hear clearly. On the contrary, the dragon and lion dance that followed was very lively, and the spectators couldn't help but applaud.

After the brief opening ceremony, the two high-ranking Haihan officials left the venue first, and then someone came out with a tin horn to shout out, asking the merchants participating in the first franchise bidding to enter the venue and wait.

The so-called No. 500 site is actually just a bamboo shed surrounded on all sides, and it can be seen that it is also a temporary facility.There are a total of four venues like this, which are divided into categories to hold investment promotion activities for different projects.Although Wu Huanzhi was not very interested in the Haihan glassware franchise in the first competition, in order to be able to understand the process of the franchise, he paid a deposit of [-] taels in advance and changed his admission qualification.

After Wu Huanzhi entered the venue, he found that the venue was rather simple. Each participant only had two rattan chair seats, and the number obtained after paying the deposit was stuck on the back of the chair.The seat numbers are sorted according to the heavenly stems, and Wu Huanzhi's number is "Jiqi", which is already in the sixth row.He took a rough look, and there are eight seats in each row, a total of sixteen seats. There are already more than 40 households at his place, and there are actually two rows of seats in the back. If it is full, there will be more than 60 merchants participating. The competition is really fierce.

(End of this chapter)