Chapter 1537 Everyone gets what they need

He Li had never thought that there would be such a good thing as pie in the sky. When he first went to compete for the qualification of the northern route carrier, he still managed to find a few partnerships here and there to barely reach the entry threshold. Later, due to financial constraints,

He also had to apply for financial assistance from his brother He Xiao. As for the plantations invested in Liaodong, he did not pay all the funds, and he did not have the extra funds to expand the scale of the shipbuilding business under his name. To put it more seriously, he had no choice but to apply for financial assistance.

, if Haihan now plans to arrange a long-term northern route transportation task for him, he may also need to advance part of the freight to maintain the shipping line's material preparation and personnel expenses.

But He Li also knew that the Haihan people were very purposeful in doing things, and would never be kind-hearted to help him. There must be some hidden secret that he didn't know about. And Shi Diwen would definitely not reveal all his plans. After all, this

It involves the operating status of Zhoushan Shipyard, which is information that needs to be kept confidential.

He Li decided to be a little more cautious and inquire about the situation before making a decision, so he continued to ask: "If we follow the general's arrangement and order a cargo ship from Zhoushan Shipyard, I don't know how long the construction period will be and when will the ship be delivered?"

Shi Diwen asked back: "Have you seen our country's Yugong-class cargo ships in Zhoushan and Liaodong?"

He Li nodded. He was indeed deeply impressed by this kind of heavy-duty cargo ship. At that time, when heading north from Zhoushan to Liaodong, there were several such cargo sailing ships named Yugong class by Haihan in the fleet. This kind of sailing ship is known as

It can transport hundreds of tons of cargo, which far exceeds the sailing ships whose maximum tonnage is only a hundred tons. Moreover, the ship is equipped with a boom and grab, and the efficiency of loading and unloading dry bulk cargo at the dock is far beyond that.

An ordinary cargo ship. The ship uses Haihan's unique sail system. Even if it is fully loaded, it can maintain a speed of more than five knots, and the maximum speed can even reach ten knots. Its transportation efficiency is enough to make any Daming maritime merchant covet.

Of course, the cost of building this kind of heavy-duty cargo sailing ship is much higher than that of the Guangzhou Fu ship commonly used by the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants. If the load capacity is used as a criterion only, the price-performance ratio of the Yugong-class sailing ship is actually not as good as that of the maritime merchants.

However, if the transportation efficiency is taken into account, then the Yugong-class sailing ship naturally has the clear upper hand. And the most important thing is that the cargo ships produced by Haihan do not have much export sales. They are marketable and priceless goods in short supply, and funds are not available.

Rich maritime merchants simply don't dare to spend money to wait for a long shipbuilding period.

Of course, He Li was no exception and wanted to get this kind of ship, but he knew that his own funds were limited, and it would be difficult to maintain the daily operation of the shipyard from time to time. He was temporarily unable to allocate more funds to invest in shipbuilding and expand the scale of operations, so he did not

Too many unrealistic thoughts. But now that Shi Diwen suddenly placed such a big benefit in front of him, He Li's mind that had already settled down couldn't help but start to move again.

Then I heard Shi Diwen continue: "Currently, Zhoushan Shipyard can also build Yugong-class sailboats. If you are willing to accept our help, then the keel can be laid tomorrow at the latest. If everything goes well, you can receive it in forty days."

Arriving at the first ship."

He Li asked out of nowhere: "Then given the villain's situation, how many ships can he order at most at one time?"

As soon as Shi Diwen heard what he said, he knew that the previous persuasion had worked, and immediately responded: "I suggest ordering four to six ships at a time, so that the shipyard can prepare materials uniformly, and it can also save a little bit on construction costs and time.

.If you use these ships to run the northern route, you can get your money back in about a year at most, and the financial pressure will not be too great."

He Li nodded and said: "General Shi is right...but this is specific to the cost of each ship. Please give me a real figure so that the villain can weigh whether it is affordable."

Shi Diwen responded without hesitation: "The civilian version of the Yugong-class sailboat, the ex-factory price of each ship is only 4,800 taels of silver, and comes with three months of marine accident insurance and free maintenance services. We can also train the crew on your behalf.

, teaching and skills are included. Boss He, if you can buy a boat like this at this price, you can’t find another one anywhere else.”

He Lixindao said that only Haihan's shipyard could build such a large sailing ship, and of course he couldn't find another one. The cost of 4,800 taels of silver was indeed not cheap. A sea-going ship built in the Ming Dynasty only cost one tael.

A thousand taels of silver was enough. If He Li had to pay for it out of his own pocket, he would definitely give up, but now that Haihan is willing to advance the shipbuilding costs with a low-interest loan, it seems worth a try.

He Li silently calculated in his mind that if he followed Shi Diwen's five-cent annual interest rate, the annual interest of 4,800 taels of silver would be just over 200 taels. It was not really a big sum, not to mention that the fastest four

The ship can be picked up in ten days, and the interest for these forty days is only more than 20 taels of silver, which is negligible compared to the cost. If you can make five or six round trips on the northern route a year, the surplus in freight will almost cover the purchase price.

The money for the ship was earned back. As for the gifts Shi Diwen said, He Li knew that this was just a commercial promotion method commonly used by the Haihan people, so he didn't particularly care.

After some calculations, He Li thought that this business would definitely be profitable, so he decisively said to Shi Diwen: "General Shi, how about I place an order for six ships first?"

"Boss He is so refreshing!" Shi Diwen greatly appreciated He Li's statement: "I'll call someone to come to Boss He to handle the formalities."

When Shi Diwen entered Ningbo City this time, staff from various relevant departments were brought over. He was immediately ready to get up and notify people from the Shipping Department and the Financial Department to come over for Heli to handle the loan and ship purchase procedures.

Seeing this, He Li hurriedly said: "General Shi, wait a minute. I am ordering six ships at a time. Are there any other discounts?"

Shi Diwen understood that He Li wanted to bargain with him again, and immediately asked: "Then I wonder what kind of discount Boss He wants?"

He Li blinked his eyes, and then said: "On my last trip to Liaodong, I noticed that such cargo ships can also be equipped with weapons such as artillery for self-defense. I wonder if your country can sell a few small cannons for self-defense.

We will defend ourselves at sea from now on."

"I'm afraid this is a bit difficult!" Shi Diwen explained: "The cargo ship that went to Liaodong with your fleet last time was actually a military model, and what we sold was a civilian model. There was no design for deploying artillery on the deck.

The body structure is not reinforced accordingly.”

He Li couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this answer. Of course he hoped that what he spent the money to buy was a sailboat with armed self-defense capabilities, but he didn't expect to get such an answer. He Li still had a trace of luck and asked: "Then

Can I pay more to exchange for a military model?”

"Yes!" Shi Diwen nodded, but before a smile appeared on He Li's face, he continued: "But the military model is half as expensive, and it cannot be purchased with a loan. It only accepts cash transactions. In addition, it will be paid

The shipping date is no longer forty days, but three months."

Upon hearing this, He Li knew that this was too unrealistic for him, so he had to give up the idea. But Shi Diwen sneered secretly in his heart. Although the performance of the military equipment exported by Haihan was reduced compared to the self-use version, how could it be?

Anyone can buy it with money. If a private person wants to make sporadic purchases, he will naturally have to wave a big stick and strike hard. A businessman like He Li who wants to purchase a military transport ship is just for fun, so Shi Diwen will directly sign up.

Forget it because of the relatively harsh price, so as not to have to submit it to the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee for approval, which would take several days just to review the arms sales procedures.

He Li could only settle for the next best thing: "Can the price of these six ship orders be discounted?"

Shi Diwen is well aware of the psychology of people like He Li. Now that he has persuaded the other party, he will not give any extra small favors. He immediately shook his head and said: "To be honest, selling ships with low-interest loans like this, our country's shipyards

I can't make much money. No matter how good the deal is, I can only give it back. The more I sell, the more I'll lose. So why do I need to do this deal? If Boss He feels that such conditions are still unsatisfactory, then it doesn't matter.

It’s not benevolent. But I believe there will always be bosses who know the goods and are willing to accept such trading conditions.”

He Li thought to himself that if I refused, I would be ignorant of the goods. Although he was not very happy with such words, He Li did not dare to show any displeasure on his face, and replied with an apologetic smile: "General Shi is joking, such a generous offer

, How can this villain have any dissatisfaction? It’s just a business habit, I hope General Shi won’t be surprised!”

Shi Diwen smiled and said: "We are all our own people, easy to talk to."

The two of them had their own thoughts, and after going around and around for a while, they finally finalized the shipbuilding order. Shi Diwen immediately called the staff over to handle the formalities for He Li.

Although the verbal agreement has been reached, there are still a lot of formalities to be completed. The various agreements alone are a thick stack of seven or eight copies. Although He Li trusts the Haihan people, he still has to read them one by one.

Only those who dared to sign and pledge the contents had the courage to sign. As for the technical standards and relevant data of the cargo ships ordered, He Li did not understand many aspects, and had to listen to the staff of the Shipping Department explain them to him in detail.

By the time these agreements were finalized, it was already almost midnight. Shi Diwen had already ordered his servants to prepare supper, so the two of them had a makeshift meal in the study room. Only then did Shi Diwen give He Li a gift.

Walk.

Being able to conclude the Ningbo transportation industry talks in one day was a good start that gave Shi Diwen a little more confidence in the mission of the trip. However, starting with the grain industry on the second day, the negotiations did not proceed so smoothly.

As the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, Ningbo's grain output has always been high. More than half of the grain purchased by Haihan in Zhejiang comes from Ningbo. It can be said that all the relatively powerful grain merchants in Ningbo have had one or more relationships with Haihan.

There are very few trade exchanges. In the past period, most of the grain shipped by Haihan from Zhejiang to Shandong and Liaodong was purchased locally, and by the way, it also enriched a group of grain merchants.

But precisely because of this, grain merchants do not agree very much with Haihan's intention to integrate the local grain industry, because Haihan's purpose is obviously to control this industry and then control the pricing power of grain, which will obviously violate the law.

Therefore, the grain merchants all expressed their disapproval of Shi Diwen's proposals such as "unifying grain purchase prices" and "establishing industry alliances". Although due to face and fear, no one dared to

They directly opposed Shi Diwen's proposal, but they refused to agree to this so-called integration plan.

Shi Diwen really couldn't come up with many conditions that could threaten the grain merchants in the negotiations in this industry. After all, even if they didn't sell the grain to Haihan, these grain merchants could still sell the grain to other areas. At most,

The profit is less, but at least the pricing power is in its own hands. If Haihan does not purchase grain from Zhejiang, it can only ship grain from the south to the distant northern colonies, which greatly exceeds the cost of purchasing grain in Zhejiang.

The only strategy that Haihan can adopt is to decentralize procurement, expand the grain purchasing area to the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang grain-producing areas, and reduce the share of grain purchased from Ningbo. However, the result of this is only to reduce the profits of local grain merchants.

, does not prompt them to give up confrontation. The transportation industry that Shi Diwen previously negotiated will bring more benefits to practitioners after integration, which is fundamentally different from the situation in the grain industry.

Shi Diwen failed to reach a consensus after two days of talks with the grain merchants. He also realized that the original plan of the Ministry of Commerce was not comprehensive enough. He did not expect that the reaction of the grain merchants would be so strong. He could only act decisively.

Taiwan has temporarily given up its original plan. To solve the problem of food procurement, the only way left is to increase the supply of food. Fortunately, the agricultural area developed by Haihan on Taiwan Island has begun to harvest.

In addition to meeting the survival needs of local immigrants, there is already a slight surplus in grain production. In time, the farmland on the plains of Taiwan's west coast can be produced and transported by sea to the northern colonies to meet the needs of the local people.

This small setback did not affect Shi Diwen's mood too much. He knew that the next financial industry was Haihan's strength, and it would no longer be as controlled by others as the grain industry. Various private banks in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas are not

There are few, but no matter in terms of financial strength or operational strategies, financial institutions in this era are far from being able to compete with the Haihan financial system led by Schneider. For this meeting, Schneider specially assigned his general Cai Jinmei to

Sent to Zhejiang to assist Shi Diwen in conducting integration talks in the financial industry.

Shi Diwen had dealt with Cai Jinmei, a bank clerk, in the early days of time travel. He knew that this tall and thin woman was very professional in finance, so he had no objection to Schneider transferring her to Zhejiang to take charge of this matter. Facts

He was very grateful for Schneider's arrangement, which freed him from the tedious financial numbers game and only had to be responsible for making decisions and signing.
Chapter completed!