Chapter 1693 The upstart business community

If we were to make a list of the newly wealthy figures who rose up in Manila after the war, the two brothers Ran Tianlu and Ran Tiancheng would definitely be among them. Although Ran Tianlu had maintained a good relationship with the colonial authorities in Manila before the war, he was also influenced by it to a certain extent.

Although it received official protection and support, the business scale of Chaosheng Commercial Store at that time was still significantly different from what it is now. At most, it could be regarded as one of the Ming Dynasty commercial houses with better operating conditions in the local area.

For a long time, since the Ming Dynasty organized immigrants to move across the sea and settle in the Manila area, it has been a lucrative business project for operators, and the dental industry that undertook this has therefore become a very competitive industry. In

Before the war, there were about four or five Ming Dynasty trading houses engaged in immigration business. In normal years, they could send two to three thousand Han immigrants here every year. Some of them would be sent to settle in other colonies in the Philippine Islands, and about 100,000 Han immigrants would stay in Manila.

About half.

After the war, among the local immigration businesses, Chaosheng Merchant Store was suddenly the only one left. This was not due to poor management of other business houses, but because only Chaosheng Merchant Store received the order issued by the new ruler.

The special industry business license has squeezed out all other peers from this industry. This kind of special treatment given by the government has never appeared in the Manila area before. Many people have also noticed Chaosheng Commercial Store and its operations.

They are the Ran brothers.

No one knew why Chaosheng Merchant Store received special treatment, but soon someone discovered that Chaosheng Merchant Store's business projects were not limited to immigration. This store dealt with almost all businesses involving import and export.

They are involved in it, and the trading volume is much higher than that of their local counterparts. Some Chinese medicinal materials produced in the Ming Dynasty, as well as matches, soaps, sugar cane wine and other products produced in the Haihan Kingdom, Chaosheng Commercial Store even supplies them exclusively locally, who knows

How on earth did they contact these sources of goods immediately after the war?

Of course, not everyone will get to the bottom of the source of these in-demand goods. The first thing most people who get the news think of is to make money together with Chaosheng. After all, in post-war Manila, there are

The people who get the in-demand goods are all uncles, and having the supply means making a lot of money. Chaosheng makes a big profit, and those who start the business will also make huge profits. Therefore, after the war, Chaosheng Store quickly became a place in the south of the city.

In order to facilitate the operation of the main goods distribution center, Chaosheng Store even spent money to buy out all the 100-meter-long street-facing shops outside the store. It also bought two yards nearby and converted them into temporary warehouses.

If Qin Huacheng was more sensitive to business news, he might have noticed that many of the goods recently unloaded in the Manila port area were shipped to this business warehouse in the south of the city. Some of these goods would be transported to the store in the south of the city.

Chaosheng Store distributes to some retailers in the Manila area, and the rest is sold by Chaosheng Store itself. Several stores recently opened in the city assume this function.

Of course, even if Qin Huacheng knew this, it would be difficult for him to understand how Chaosheng Commercial Store, in addition to its exclusive supply of goods, defeated its local counterparts and quickly occupied the local business share after the war by virtue of its advantages in logistics efficiency and distribution model. Everyone in the world knows that

Zhi Haihan is good at doing business, but few people can really understand why he is better than his counterparts in other countries.

Qin Huacheng did not rush into Chaosheng Commercial Inn to check out the spots. Instead, he sat down in a small tea shop across the street, intending to wait and see for a while and see if he could get some additional information from here. All the people coming and going here were

Many businessmen and horse dealers would stop at this tea shop to talk about business-related matters. Qin Huacheng drank tea while listening to the conversations around him, and he really learned something from it.

The people sitting at the table on his left were all Han men in their thirties and forties. Each of them had a horsewhip for driving a cart, and it looked like it was a handlebar type. One of them was talking about what he had done at the port yesterday.

What he saw: "...the number of Han Chinese that was shipped in that boat was probably as many as three or four hundred. As soon as they landed on the dock, security police came and surrounded them. Usually, such immigration ships are not handed over to the dock.

Only money can be spent to get people ashore, but yesterday I saw the steward of Chaosheng Commercial Store came forward to call the security police and let them go. It is said that these people will be resettled on the north bank of the Pasig River to open up wasteland and farmland.

Build a farm.”

Qin Huacheng secretly thought that since no immigration ships appeared in his jurisdiction yesterday, what the coachman was talking about probably happened in another neighboring jurisdiction. It is said that the detachment leader there sent a lot of benefits to the police headquarters.

He went to open up the joints and wanted all immigration ships to dock at the wharves in his district. But from what the driver said, it seemed that the local immigrants transported by Chaosheng Merchant Store did not need to pay tribute to the security police. Of course, he also said

There may be other settlement methods, like some wealthy merchants in Qin Huacheng's jurisdiction, who all send him benefits on a regular basis on a monthly basis, so they don't have to negotiate prices individually every time they deal with them.

Sure enough, another coachman next to him questioned his statement: "Guo Laoer, how do you know you didn't pay? Maybe Chaosheng Merchant Store paid the money in advance before the ship even docked!"

The coachman known as Guo Laoer shook his head repeatedly and said: "I had this idea before, but then I realized it was wrong. After the boat of immigrants landed and left, the security police chief kept cursing, saying that he was at Chaosheng Commercial Inn.

There’s no money to be made from me, and if I’ve been given money, I won’t be able to curse out. It seems that the backstage is probably too tough and I can’t afford to mess with it. Otherwise, if the security police want to make things difficult for Chaosheng Commercial Store, can they just watch those immigrants leave?”

Qin Huacheng thought that it was not a question of whether Chaosheng Commercial Store paid according to the rules, but that the security police did not dare to accept the other party's money. This situation is actually not unusual. Everyone should be aware of the problem behind Chaosheng Commercial Store.

I have a backer, but no one knows who the senior official is. But I think that the detachment leader in the next door jurisdiction will know more than I know. I will find time to ask for advice later and see if I can

Dig out some information from him.

Another older coachman at the same table also joined the discussion: "Guo Laoer said this is true. Before I brought goods to Chaosheng Commercial Store, I encountered garrison checkpoints in several places.

You have to inspect each car one by one, but Chaosheng’s goods can be passed directly without inspection. This Chaosheng shopkeeper Ran is really impressive!"

"Speaking of which, Chaosheng's prices are quite good. I think they are 10% higher than others!" A driver facing Qin Huacheng noticed the security police uniform on his body and took the initiative to change the subject.

To avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

"Moreover, you forgot that it rained a few days ago. Chaosheng directly increased the price by 30% and asked us to go to Pasay Town to pick up the goods and send them to the north of the city..."

The drivers talk about these topics just to have fun. What they really care about is whether it is profitable to do business with Chaosheng Store, whether freight arrangements and cargo handovers are convenient, and whether freight settlement is convenient. As for why Chaosheng Store can be officially

Asylum, that's not the question they really want to know the answer to.

Of course, for Qin Huacheng, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, this information had a different meaning. A business inn run by a Ming businessman could receive so much care from the officials in the Haihan colony, and it was not even said that it had privileges.

Why does Ran Tianlu rely on this? There are so many rumors like this that Qin Huacheng no longer needs to doubt their authenticity. The biggest doubt in his mind now is why Haihan officials provide such a source of information to Chaosheng Commercial Store.

Lots of convenience.

Qin Huacheng looked at the gate of Chaosheng Merchant Store across the road, where the flow of people coming in and out seemed to have never been interrupted. Obviously, the government's support for Chaosheng Merchant Store cannot be free, so what is the return? Chaosheng Merchant Store

The business is so good, how much percentage of the income must be paid to the government in exchange for such treatment? Is the relationship between Chaosheng Store and the government really just a pure money relationship?

A lot of questions popped up in Qin Huacheng's mind, but he couldn't find a clue to solve the problem. This was not because his brain was not strong enough, but because the information collected was too little to make more accurate inferences. If it were possible

, he really wanted to meet Ran Tianlu and see what was special about this man, but he was wearing a uniform at the moment, so it would be a bit rash to just ask for a meeting.

At this time, Ran Tianlu didn't know that there was a security policeman across the street who was trying to investigate his background. He had been so busy recently that he didn't even have time to do his own job. Since the end of the war,

After that, he almost quit the security intelligence work and devoted most of his energy to the operation of the store.

This is not that the Ministry of Security no longer needs him, but that the Temporary Management Committee directly issued an order to him, requiring him to let Chaosheng Commercial Store master the main local business resources in the shortest possible time, so as to cooperate with the official

Cleanup of local business establishments.

After Haihan took over Manila, the local commercial institutions originally run by the Spanish were almost wiped out. Most of the assets of these institutions were seized and confiscated by Haihan's army in the name of trophies. This was also intentional by Haihan.

In addition to amassing money, the method is also to gradually eliminate the influence of the Spanish in the local area. The interim management committee will naturally support a group of latecomers to fill in the market share vacated by this.

Haihan's main support targets are still mainly large-scale domestic commercial institutions. Commercial institutions like James Shipping Company do not need to worry about their loyalty. They control an important industry such as shipping, and the officials are more assured. Secondly, it is convenient

It is to support the local pro-Han forces, whether they are Han Chinese, indigenous people or Hispanics, at this stage they all have a certain chance to win official appreciation and support.

However, the situation of Chaosheng Commercial Store is quite special. The official hopes that it will control some key industries related to local people's livelihood, such as immigration from the Ming Dynasty, local people's daily material needs, etc. Even if some industries cannot achieve monopoly operation, at least

It also needs to occupy a share large enough to influence the market direction.

To achieve this goal, it is not just one department that provides support to Chaosheng Commercial Store. Commerce, shipping, civil affairs, public security, and even the garrison troops are all involved in the support. It is precisely because of this

With such all-round care, Chaosheng Commercial Store quickly became the largest commercial institution in the local area in just over a month after the war.

The main reason why the Interim Management Committee chose Chaosheng Commercial Store instead of building a separate commercial organization was because of Ran Tianlu's understanding of the local commercial market, and Chaosheng Commercial Store was still nominally a commercial organization affiliated with the Ming Dynasty.

Even though it has received a lot of support from the government, few people would have thought that this business store was actually an extension of the Haihan government, covered with a layer of Ming Dynasty skin.

Ran Tianlu originally thought that after the war was over, he would be rewarded for his great contributions during this period, and then be transferred back to Sanya to become an official. But he never thought that the use of him by his superiors did not end here, and he had to continue

Play the role of a Ming businessman. Of course, now that there is official support, Ran Tianlu no longer has to live as cautiously as he did during the Western Unification. The official goal now is to turn him into an influential Ming businessman in the local area.

and representatives of the Han people, so they gave him and Chaosheng Merchant Store many privileges in a high profile, in order to package him into the image of a "Manila official businessman."

After a short period of unhappiness, Ran Tianlu quickly adapted to this new role. In fact, he himself knew very well that in terms of personal treatment, it was far better to be a wealthy businessman in Manila with all the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, than back home.

Sanya stays in the cold Security Department as an official who deals with piles of documents every day. Moreover, the order from the Security Department now requires him to temporarily obey the arrangements of the Interim Management Committee, so now he can only work here peacefully.

A rich man.

Of course, Ran Tianlu doesn't have to do anything. In fact, there are many things that need to be dealt with every day. Now that Chaosheng Commercial Store has expanded its business scale, there are many more things that require Ran Tianlu's decision. He spends a lot of money every day.

Time to meet with all kinds of people, listen to their reports and suggestions, and then make the most beneficial decision.

Although many businesses have been taken care of by the authorities, the business process still needs to be completed by Ran Tianlu. At the busiest time, his sleeping time was even reduced to two hours a day, and he could not go to bed until midnight, and the chicken was not ready.

As soon as he called, he was urged to get up and get busy again. Fortunately, his net worth has increased a lot now. He takes ginseng tea and various tonics in rotation every day. Not only is he not tired or thin, but he has gained a lot of weight than before the war.

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Chapter completed!