1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 900 Expedition to the North ([-])

The few people who boasted about their great abilities probably didn't expect to be able to do it, so they hurriedly stood by the side and waited for orders.Seeing that there was no hope of getting a job, the rest sighed and dispersed.

"Do you think I've been taken advantage of by doing this?" Chen Yixin asked Amakusa Shiro's disapproval expression, so he took the initiative to ask.

"Subordinates don't dare to speculate on the chief." Amakusa Shiro hurriedly responded, "However, these people's bragging skills may not be effective, and most of them are bluffing."

"Of course I know this. If the officials in charge of Nagasaki Port would bend their waists for such a small amount of silver, it would be too outrageous." Chen Yixin replied with a smile: "This kind of cowhide can be broken without poking it."

"Then why are you..." Amakusa Shiro was a little confused now.Although Hai Han is indeed the one who is not short of money, he shouldn't deliberately squander such unnecessary expenses.It's just that such words smack of accusation. As a subordinate, he dare not use this tone to evaluate his boss.

"This is just to show an attitude to the local people that we have money and are willing to use money as a condition of exchange." Chen Yixin explained: "If we announce that we want to inquire about some information, and you happen to have this relevant information in your hand, when you hear With people like us taking advantage of it, why don’t you come and give it a try?”

"So that's how it is!" Amakusa Shiro suddenly realized, "This is how a thousand dollars buy a horse bone!"

Chen Yixin didn't care about spending such a small amount of money in exchange for the locals to treat him and other outsiders differently, even if this attitude might not be completely well-intentioned.The time the expedition team can stay in Nagasaki is limited, there is no way to play some routines slowly, and they can only collect information in a simple and direct way.Of course, the personnel from the security department will be responsible for the specific operations, and there is no need for the military to intervene too much. Chen Yixin only needs to check and determine the direction of work.

Chen Yixin nodded and said, "There are quite a few businessmen from Daming here, and there should be Han guides as well. Remember to hire one."

Amakusa Shiro quickly agreed. He knew that Chen Yixin was not worried about the language barrier, but that he would not fully trust the locals.People who are not of my race must have different hearts, and he still understands this truth very well.

"Fortunately, I've already become a naturalized citizen, otherwise the chief wouldn't even believe my words." Amakusa Shiro could only comfort himself silently in his heart, at least Chen Yixin still trusts him now.As for his original nationality, Amakusa Shiro didn't really care about it. He is now proud of his Haihan identity, and he doesn't even speak Japanese very much.

Compared with Zhoushan and Haojingao, the scale of Nagasaki Port is obviously larger, and more diverse cultures can be seen on the streets. You can see all kinds of skin colors and races at any time, even more than Sanya Port. The proportion of foreigners is higher.The guide knew that this group of people came from Daming, so he specially introduced them to an inn opened by Han people.

Amakusa Shiro asked the shopkeeper about the number of remaining guest rooms, and when he heard that there were still more than a dozen rooms, he simply filled them up.There are more than 200 people in their fleet. Apart from the dozens of people who take turns on duty on board, there are at least 100 people who will go ashore to live. This is not something that can be packed in a few rooms. A Datong shop that can sleep more than ten people needs to open more than ten rooms.

However, there are quite a lot of fleets coming and going in this place, and such a fleet of 300 or more people often happens. The innkeeper also helped to contact another inn not far away, and booked a few big rooms on his behalf. Let these guests live separately.

Chen Yixin thought that no one would come to visit him in this place, but not long after they lived here, someone actually came to the door.

"I'm Li Zian, a person from Zhenjiang, I heard that a friend from Haihan has arrived, so I'm here to pay a visit!"

After this person met Chen Yixin, he took the initiative to introduce himself.Chen Yixin saw that he was dressed in silk and satin, and there was a piece of pure jade inlaid on his belt, presumably he must be a wealthy businessman or something, so he also went forward to greet him and asked his followers to make tea for him.

"I went to Zhoushan Dinghai Port to participate in the bidding for the franchise during the China Merchants Conference next month, but this is the first time Chief Chen has met, so we are lucky to meet!" It revealed how he got in touch with Hai Han.He met Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen at the Zhoushan Merchants Conference, and when he saw Chen Yixin, they both had the same short hair and a general confident expression, so he knew that he was not an ordinary Haihan naturalized citizen, but They are genuine Haihan people.

"When Zhoushan held the Merchants Conference, I was still in Fujian, and I just came to the north recently. It's normal that Boss Li hasn't seen me." Chen Yixin still couldn't figure out the purpose of the other party's visit, so he could only answer in a tight-knit manner.

"So that's it." Li Zian nodded, and then continued: "When I went to Zhoushan earlier, I heard that you have not opened a trade route with Fusang Kingdom. I saw the Haihan Sailing Ship here in Nagasaki Port."

"Boss Li often travels here?" Chen Yixin asked.

Li Zian replied: "It's just a small business, Chief Chen laughed. If Chief Chen needs to buy goods locally, I can do it for you, and the price may be one or two cents lower than the market."

Hearing what he meant, Chen Yixin was obviously familiar with this place, and immediately said: "Actually, this time I just came to explore the road and see the situation here. If Boss Li is convenient, please tell me about the local situation. What's the matter?" Businesses can be done.”

Li Zian said with a smile: "I don't need any introduction. Haihan products are sold all over the world, and they are popular everywhere. It's the same in Fusang country. If you are dissatisfied, I will ship some in the next time I come here. The goods purchased in Zhoushan came to sell, and all the goods were sold out on the day the ship arrived here, and all the goods did not stay overnight. In a few hours, nearly ten thousand taels of silver were in hand, do you think it is profitable or not?"

Chen Yixin said: "Boss Li told me about this lucrative business, isn't he afraid that I'll bring the goods over to bargain the price?"

Li Zian said disapprovingly: "If Haihan's business vision is so short-sighted, why would he specialize in a business promotion association and find us merchants to sell it on his behalf. The world is so big, and you can't go to many places if you sell it on your own. , even if you do business with Fusang, don’t you still have to find local merchants to sell the goods on your behalf? For you, the business is just left-handed and right-handed, which is completely meaningless.”

"Boss Li sees it thoroughly." Chen Yixin couldn't help but praise.Those who do business with Haihan all come for the huge benefits, but there are not many people who can sort out the relationship between the interests. Li Zian has some skills to see the problem so thoroughly.

"Congratulations." Li Zian clasped his fists as a signal, and then continued: "To tell you the truth, I'm taking the liberty to visit you today because I have something to ask for."

This is where we get to the point!Chen Yixin nodded and said, "Boss Li, please tell me."

It has not been a day or two for Li Zian to run import and export trade in Nagasaki, and he is basically familiar with all kinds of local people.But recently, businessmen from Western countries have united and demanded that Nagasaki officials prohibit Li Zian from trading locally.The reason has something to do with Haihan, because the glass products that Li Zian recently sold in Nagasaki have greatly affected the business of Western merchants. Originally, this business was almost monopolized by them, but after Haihan's goods came in , The best-selling products suddenly became unsalable products, and this change made it difficult for Western businessmen to accept.They were unwilling to reduce the price to deal with the goods in their hands, so they planned to join forces to boycott Li Zian.

Chen Yixin already understood halfway through hearing it. This is because Haihan goods entering the Japanese market had an impact on Western maritime merchants.No matter how good the goods they ship from the West are, their cost cannot be lower than that of Haihan's industrialized production model. In addition to the freight and process development capabilities, they are naturally not very competitive compared with Haihan's goods.Western goods are squeezed out of the market by Haihan goods. This phenomenon has occurred many times in the southeast of Ming Dynasty. After all, the law of the market cannot be stopped by a few merchants uniting.

However, the entry of Haihan products into the Japanese market should be a recent matter, so it inevitably caused dissatisfaction among competitors.Faced with such a situation, Li Zian also lacked countermeasures.Now the government seems to intend to expel him from here, so that the achievements of his local management for many years will be in vain.Li Zian is now also in a hurry to go to the doctor. Today, he happened to see a sailboat with the double-color flag of Haihan on the pier, so he asked all the way to the inn.

To be honest, Chen Yixin didn't want to meddle in such nosy matters. Japan's current closed-door policy is extremely abnormal, and what happened here cannot be judged by common sense.Although Li Zian's experience deserves sympathy, it seems unreasonable to insist that it is related to Haihan. After all, it was his own decision to ship these goods to Japan for sale, not Haihan's instructions to him.At most, Li Zian signed a franchise agreement with Haihan, so he was able to buy Haihan goods in batches from Zhoushan Island, but this franchise does not include content such as armed protection, and the franchise area in the agreement is definitely It is not the port of Nagasaki, Japan, across the sea.

Li Zian transported the goods that were supposed to be sold to a certain place in Daming to Japan to sell at a high price, which was to take advantage of Haihan's loophole in franchise management, but this loophole was originally reserved by Haihan on purpose, otherwise there would be no Haihan in the past. Han goods are sold to places like Jiangsu and Zhejiang.Taking advantage of loopholes is not a problem. After all, profit comes first, and it is normal to want to make more money, but if something happens, you want to seek Haihan's protection, which is a bit beyond Haihan's ability.At present, there are hundreds of merchants who have signed various franchise agreements with Haihan. If something happens and they all come to Haihan for help, it will be really hard to protect.

But the door is a guest, and Chen Yixin can't refuse the other party directly, so he came up with an idea: "Western businessmen are able to blackmail the government, and it is probably a benefit, why don't you spend some money to buy peace?"

Li Zian said: "I'm not a money fan who is reluctant to spend the money, but even if I can temporarily buy off the government, the businessmen from those countries are not willing to let me go. Sooner or later, the same thing will happen again."

Chen Yixin smiled and said, "Could it be that you want to drive them all away from Nagasaki?"

Li Zian said seriously: "If it can be done, I will spend more money, and I am willing. Chief Chen, this Nagasaki port is the only foreign trade port in Fusang country. If you can take over the country's maritime trade, you Think about what will happen?"

Monopolizing a country's foreign trade market, this kind of thing has not been achieved even in the Annan Kingdom supported by Haihan.However, the situation in Japan is indeed quite special. There is only Nagasaki Port, a legal international trade port. Monopolizing here is almost equivalent to monopolizing the whole of Japan, and the benefits that the latter can bring are indeed hard to refuse. .

Chen Yixin smiled and said: "So you actually want to use our force to drive away all the merchants from other countries here, and then integrate the Ming merchants here under the banner of our Haihan, and finally achieve the goal of monopoly?"

The expression on Li Zian's face was a little embarrassed: "Chen Chief's statement is too biased. I just want to protect myself. It's just that these Westerners are too deceptive. If I don't teach them some lessons, I'm afraid I won't remember much. It’s a small matter to suffer a little loss, but these Westerners block the Haihan goods from Fusang country, which is hurting your interests.”

Chen Yixin said: "Whether our goods can enter the Fusang country is our business. If we want to enter, no matter whether it is these western businessmen or the officials of Nagasaki Port, they will not be able to stop us. But if you want to use this I think you can give up the idea that things are using us to wipe out dissidents and competitors. We are just here to see, and we don't intend to deal with anyone."

Li Zian's expression became more and more ugly: "Then what if someone bullies you?"

Chen Yixin replied blankly: "I'll beat anyone who provokes me. That's the reason. But when I do something, I usually beat the person who provoked me."

Chen Yixin has already noticed that this Li Zian who took the initiative to come to the door is not a simple character.In the first place, he used some routines to get closer, and then quickly sold a wave of bitterness and shouted bitterness to win sympathy, and finally lured him to profit, pulling himself to follow his train of thought.If it is a simple-minded person, it is very likely that he will be dizzy by going around here and there, and maybe he will agree to something in the end.Not to mention whether Li Zian's words are true or false, and how credible they are, even if they are all true, Chen Yixin will not change the plan of this trip for a businessman, and carry out some military actions that exceed the needs of self-protection during this trip.

However, Chen Yixin also has to admit that Li Zian's idea is still somewhat tempting. With Haihan's strength, it is indeed possible to expel the foreign businessmen here with peace of mind. Even the monopoly of a country's trade he said is also possible. .However, this is not the mission of the fleet, and Li Zian's credibility has yet to be verified.In Chen Yixin's view, this person is too scheming and not trustworthy.

(End of this chapter)