The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 115 Deploying Overseas Commercial Branches
After hearing Feng Guohui's words, Chen Bolun's eyes immediately lit up, and he keenly sensed the great opportunity to make meritorious deeds. He stepped forward and answered;

"Sir, I understand. There must be someone keeping an eye on the British. If you want to raise such a large amount of money, you can't keep the news at bay."

Chen Bolun was one of the merchant families who joined the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce in Yuanyan Wangcheng. He was a younger activist among them and performed better, so he was reused.

When preparing for the Singapore branch, Chen Bolun naturally came into Feng Guohui's sight.

This person has rich business experience and a flexible mind. If he is satisfactory in managing Singapore business, he can become one of the potential assistants in civil administration in the future.

Feng Guohui withdrew his gaze towards the Governor's Mansion and responded, "As long as you understand, let's go."

After saying that, he strode forward, followed closely by a few people around him.

Although Singapore is a small port city, leaving the two main streets is a large area of ​​shacks. But the business atmosphere is strong and there is a kind of vigorous vitality.

Large Chinese signboards can be seen everywhere along the street. Salesmen carrying burdens pass through the street, and the sound of hawking can be heard along the street.

The clerk from the foreign cloth store put half a piece of gingham cloth on his shoulders and stood at the door of the store shouting loudly, and the familiar local accent and slang came out in waves;
"Fellows and fellow villagers... come and take a look at the newly arrived English foreign cloth. The stitching is tight and the price is affordable. It only sells for 26 big pieces per foot. The cloth shop boss is selling it at a low price..."

Feng Guohui and others wandered along the street for a long time, and finally came to a busy commercial street. There was a two-story building facing the street. The four-room front was already quite large.

Of course, there are many lines of cloth and many lines of rice.

The grain trade and transportation line from Singapore to Guangzhou is an important part of it.

Few businessmen who are engaged in daily necessities and transportation business do not know about this firm with a profound background.

What kind of shops are there in the streets and alleys of Singapore?

In this alone, the annual trade reaches hundreds of thousands of tons.

"Yuan Yuntong Trading Company" in Singapore is a branch of Nanyang Trading Company. The reason why it is not called Nanyang Trading Company is to avoid suspicion and save a lot of trouble.

The high-quality rice from the Kingdom of Siam is almost the necessary ballast cargo for cargo ships on the trade route from the mainland coast to the Nanyang region when they return. Combined with some other specialties of the Nanyang region, it can make the return trip fully loaded.

Seeing the owner and others arriving, the clerk in the store greeted them enthusiastically.

The guys are tidying up the shop, and a huge plaque wrapped in red cloth has just been hung up, with the five characters "Yuan Yun Tong Trading Company" written on it. It looks quite impressive.

The former is Britain's largest light industrial product. Almost every week, 1 to 2 British cargo ships loaded with cloth arrive in Singapore. Then use it as a transit to sell to important commercial ports such as Saigon, Batavia, Surabaya, Manila, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai, and Nagasaki.

After all, Nanyang Commercial Bank's current reputation is well known in various regions of Nanyang.

Everything has pros and cons.

The Nanyang Commercial Bank and the Nanyang Army were too closely connected, like two sides of the same object. This was not a good thing in the Nanyang region controlled by Western white colonists.

The whole shipload of food from the Surabaya area was immediately divided up when it arrived at the port, and it would be on the tables of local people the next day. The demand was quite large.

After coming to the shop and sitting down, Feng Guohui took a few sips of the tea brought by the waiter. Feng Guohui looked around at Wang Fugui, Lu Zhengchao, Chen Bolun, Philadelphia and others, and asked casually in a chatting tone;
"I have been here for two or three days. What do you think of Singapore's business environment? Is it conducive to the next step of carrying out trade?"

Every day, seven to eight to a dozen cargo ships arrive at the port carrying grain, oil, flour and other agricultural and sideline products.

In Singapore's large and small warehouses, piles of cloth are the largest cargo.

The second most numerous are rice shops and grain and oil shops. Singapore, an important port city in Malacca, does not produce grain itself. All the grain, oil and other agricultural and sideline products needed are imported from Penang, Malaya and other surrounding areas.

"Master, after we got to know each other, we all feel that this British territory is really a treasure land for doing business, much better than Java Island."

Because Singapore not only meets the needs of the local urban population, but also serves as a food trade distribution center, radiating to a large area around it.

"Boss Wang is right. It is said that seeing is worth hearing a hundred times. The geographical location here in Singapore is less important. The key is that the British foreigners have strict rules and strict governance. No one dares to mess around. Including Gui Lao himself, this is It’s commendable.”

"Nothing can be accomplished without rules. The practices of the British and foreigners in many aspects are worth learning from!"

"We Chinese businessmen are not afraid of competition, but we are afraid of ghost guys taking advantage of their privileges to buy and sell by force and bully the market. It is rare to see this here. Everyone abides by the rules, which is rare."

After hearing the unanimous praise from several people, Feng Guohui said with emotion;
“Now that we have seen these benefits, while we are doing business, we can also carefully collect the laws, regulations, trade policies and other practices of the British people.

The jade from other mountains can be used to attack rocks!

Especially Brother Buren, you will be in charge of the operation of the business here in the future. So what is the actual application effect of these English people's practices, rules, policies and decrees?
Are there any disadvantages?
Is there anything that can be improved?
In the future, we must formulate detailed documents and promote them in the territory of our Nanyang Army to standardize urban business behavior and prosper the market.

Yuanyuntong Commercial Bank must not only ensure daily operations, but also absorb beneficial nutrients like a sponge. This is our window to the outside world and an important channel for collecting commercial and military information.

Including Saigon in the future, it will also assume similar responsibilities.

All of you here are talented people who are proficient in business. After absorbing experience in municipal management, they are the powerful help that our Nanyang Chamber of Commerce can rely on. Therefore, listen to as much as possible, read as much as possible, observe as much as possible, and collect as much as possible. Whatever you gain can be sent back to Java Island through letters to learn from its strengths.

There is also another task

That is to establish a translation agency, search for outstanding translation talents, translate and publish a large number of Western laws and books, and carry out long-term tasks.

This translation agency is not for profit and is subsidized by the profits of commercial banks.

I see that many local Chinese are proficient in English and French and can be vigorously recruited to do full-time book translation work, including Western educational books. "

Feng Guohui solemnly ordered, and of course Chen Bolun did not dare to neglect. He left his seat with a respectful expression and answered with fists in his hands: "How dare you disobey the master's instructions? Bolun must work conscientiously and implement all the instructions."

"That's good, Brother Fei, you will do the same when you arrive in Saigon, and I won't repeat it again." Feng Guohui clicked again.

Philadelphia, who was sitting below, quickly stood up and answered with clasped fists, "Master's instructions, Philadelphia will keep them in mind every word. I don't dare to slack off for a moment. Please rest assured, Master."

Considering that this trip will set up branches in Singapore, Saigon and Hong Kong, our colleagues brought many people with them and carefully selected more than a hundred young students who were literate and hyphenated.

Many of them can roughly understand some foreign languages, but not many have a deep understanding of them.

Philadelphia is a talent who is proficient in French. He is the illegitimate son of a French priest. He has received a good education since he was a child and is an extremely rare talent.

According to the plan, he will be arranged to serve as a branch manager in Saigon, which is also one of the external windows of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce.

"Well, everyone, sit down. This is authentic tea from Wuyi Mountain in mainland China. Let's all try it." Feng Guohui waved his hand calmly, feeling quite good.

Several people were sitting in the main hall and talking, when a burst of noise came from outside.

Feng Guohui frowned, and Fan Dali, who was standing next to him, understood. He immediately led a few strong men around him to welcome him out to see what was going on.

not for a while
Fan Dali came in a hurry and replied in a low voice;
“It was some ax guys from the local Huaqing Gang who came to look for trouble, saying that my business was not allowed to open for business because it didn’t pay homage to the wharf.

I highlighted the font size for the leader, but they didn't dare to say anything and walked away in despair.

I guess some prominent figures from local Chinatown will come to visit me soon.

Master, look..."

"I will disappear from these little minions. If they come, you can stop them and send them away without causing any disputes."

"As you command, sir."

After Feng Guohui gave his instructions, he stood up and walked to the back hall, without any intention of dealing with these local figures.

Fan Dali revealed the name of "Nanyang Company" to the Huaqing Gang who came here. This was a typical example of concealing the name from the front, letting the other party know that Yuanyuntong Trading Company was not a soft persimmon.

Think about it, can you afford it?
Yuan Yun Tong Trading Company conducts a large amount of trading business in Singapore, purchasing and selling daily necessities. The final destination is the Surabaya area.

This kind of thing cannot be concealed at all. As long as anyone is aware of it, they will know what force is behind it?
Just give him a warning and make the other person stop.

Feng Guohui kept his itinerary secret and did not want to create too many details.

This trip to Singapore and Saigon has a very tight itinerary. We will take a boat to Saigon tomorrow and will not stay here for long.

There were a lot of things going on at home in Surabaya, so he found some time in his busy schedule to deploy the overseas tentacles of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce.

In the future, branches of the Chamber of Commerce will also be set up in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Mawei, Weihai, Shanghai and other places along the mainland coast, as well as in Manila, Nagasaki, and Bangkok to improve commercial routes in the entire Nanyang region.

By then, he may not be available to deploy himself.

There are no overarching Chinese business families in Singapore's Chinatown. Most of them exist in the form of chambers of commerce. The more powerful ones are the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce and the Fujian Chamber of Commerce, which are also common chambers of commerce in Nanyang.

In Singapore's relatively open business environment, it is difficult for Chinese families like those in Java Island to have the status of urban bosses, and most of them exist in the form of chambers of commerce.

in this regard
The British legal system is obviously more complete, more efficient, fairer and more open than the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Of course, this is only relative.

British businessmen in Singapore are extremely powerful and truly dominate the market. Chinese businessmen, mainly small and medium-sized merchants, work together in this prosperous market.

Therefore, it is of little significance to contact these Chinese chambers of commerce. Naturally, it is better to do less than to do more.

(End of this chapter)