Chapter 1720 Pass the test

What did Shopkeeper Cheng mean? Duan Xuan's words made Qin Huacheng understand instantly. The farmers' request to increase grain prices was not just their own wish, but more likely a secret instruction from Cheng Dapeng. Therefore, these two farms

Qin Huacheng couldn't figure out the key to it for a while. As for the reason for this arrangement, whether Cheng Dapeng wanted to make more money from this year's grain trade or had other purposes, Qin Huacheng couldn't figure out the key for the moment. But it was clear that Cheng Dapeng

Dapeng did not want the outside world to realize that the change in food prices was his intention, and even Qin Huacheng, who was in charge of the matter, was temporarily kept in the dark.

But why Duan Xuan told him this inside story is what Qin Huacheng wants to understand most at the moment. If Cheng Dapeng wanted him to know, he would have asked shopkeeper Wang to tell him when arranging the matter, instead of going through

Duan Xuanzhi only informed him when the matter reached an impasse. If Cheng Dapeng had no intention of letting him know, Duan Xuan would probably not be able to escape punishment afterwards if he had such talk now.

"You don't have to guess." As if he expected that Qin Huacheng would inevitably think wildly after hearing this, Duan Xuan took the initiative to announce the answer to him: "If you agreed to receive benefits from Chu Huo's place or from me, then

No one will tell you the answer to this mystery. But since you have decisively rejected our conditions in both places, then according to the instructions of shopkeeper Cheng, I will tell you the inside story of this matter."

Now Qin Huacheng really understood and said in shock: "So I didn't fail in this errand, right?"

"Of course it's not a failure, the performance is acceptable, it's considered a pass." Duan Xuan gave his evaluation with a smile.

Qin Huacheng finally put a big stone back into his heart. Only now did he really sort out the cause and effect of this errand. It turned out that there were two lines of light and dark going on at the same time. The light line was when he visited the farmer with a grain purchase contract, and the dark line was when he visited the farmer with a grain purchase contract.

The farmer put forward conditions for him to try to bribe him. If Qin Huacheng could not withstand the pressure and temptation and accepted the farmer's conditions, even if the contract content was successfully passed, it would still be judged as a failure of the mission. The real test was not whether he could successfully complete it.

The contract negotiation is about whether the farmer can refuse the benefits offered by the farmer without leaving any room.

Cheng Dapeng asked Shopkeeper Wang of Mihang to arrange this job for him. The main purpose was to test whether he had enough self-control to deal with external temptations. Qin Huacheng couldn't help but feel a little scared when he thought about it. If he hadn't persisted before,

The new life that has just begun will probably end here. Thanks to the bloody execution scene that I saw the day before yesterday, I had to restrain myself with lingering fear, otherwise it is hard to say what the outcome will be.

Qin Huacheng swallowed with difficulty and continued to ask: "I wonder what will happen to this contract after passing the test?"

Duan Xuan laughed and said: "The price on this contract was originally set by shopkeeper Cheng. In previous years, it was all done after signing. If it wasn't to test you this time, there would be no need to send someone to confirm the contract again."

Qin Huacheng finally relaxed a little after hearing this answer, and said with a smile: "That's because I caused trouble for Boss Duan and Boss Chu!"

Duan Xuan shook his head and said: "We are all doing things for shopkeeper Cheng. It's no trouble. But I was rude before. I hope Brother Qin won't blame me."

Qin Huacheng even said he didn't dare. Duan Xuan and Chu Huo were obviously trusted more than Cheng Dapeng, otherwise they wouldn't have received such a secret mission. In front of these two people, Qin Huacheng didn't dare to trust him.

Big, otherwise God knows how they would describe their performance in the report to Cheng Dapeng afterwards.

Now that the task is over, Qin Huacheng is happy and relaxed. However, he still has a grain supply agreement signed between Dacheng Rice Company and the East India Company. He wanted to take it out and ask Duan Xuan, but he felt that the business of Dacheng Rice Company was...

It seemed inappropriate to bring it up to ask a former employee for advice, so I suppressed the idea at the moment.

After Qin Huacheng said goodbye to Duan Xuan, he planned to return to the city for business. On the way, he also visited Chu Huo's farm and took the initiative to confess to him. Chu Huo heard that he had completed this task with Duan Xuan, and his attitude was now more serious.

He was much kinder before: "Chu's attitude was a little rough before, but it was due to the situation. Don't blame me, brother!"

Qin Huacheng said that his acting skills were very good. He had really thought that Chu Huo had fallen out because he couldn't agree on the price. He didn't expect that this guy was acting. He had brought in the emotions quite well.

Back at the Mihang Store in the city, Qin Huacheng found Shopkeeper Wang and confessed to him the results of his talks at the two farms. Shopkeeper Wang nodded after listening and said: "Since Duan Xuan and Chu Huo have told you the truth,

So what do you think?"

Qin Huacheng said sternly: "Thanks to the care of the big shopkeeper, I have the opportunity to come to Batavia to make a living. I should do my best to serve the big shopkeeper. As for receiving benefits privately, whether it is now or

From now on, I will never dare to do it, and I hope the shopkeeper will take notice."

Shopkeeper Wang twirled his beard and said: "It would be best if you really think so. Although the boss employs people in an eclectic way, he also attaches great importance to whether people can be clean and honest. If they are lustful and greedy, let alone re-employ them.

Don’t even think about getting ordinary errands. So after joining the company, most situations will be arranged to test the newcomers. Don’t worry too much, it’s just a routine assessment.”

Qin Huacheng responded: "The little one has always fulfilled his duties and has never acted beyond the rules. The big shopkeeper will ask questions to test, so the little one is not afraid. But what should we do with the remaining contract?"

Shopkeeper Wang did not answer his question immediately, but asked: "Do you now have a more intuitive understanding of the local food production situation?"

Qin Huacheng nodded and said: "With the guidance of Chu and Duan, I have a general understanding of the operation of this type of private farm."

"Then you should also understand the position and role of rice banks in the grain trade system. Rice is purchased from the fields and then exclusively sold to the official warehouse of the East India Company. You can count the price changes during this process.

?" Shopkeeper Wang continued to ask.

Qin Huacheng responded bravely: "The villain knows."

"Okay, then you go to the East India Company and ask their official in charge of grain procurement to sign the contract." Shopkeeper Wang waved his hand and said: "Go quickly and try to get this matter done before dark today. Don't do it again."

Delayed."

It would be fine to hold talks with Chu Huo and Duan Xuan, two Chinese farmers. After all, Qin Huacheng can also speak Chinese, so there is no barrier to communication. But he has never dealt with Dutch officials before, so it may be difficult to communicate.

There was some trouble. He was about to explain this problem to Shopkeeper Wang, but the other party had already mentioned the matter: "Don't worry, the official in charge of this matter over there can speak Chinese, so communication should be no problem."

In this case, Qin Huacheng had nothing to refuse. He immediately took the remaining sales contract and rushed to the city where the official offices of the East India Company were located.

In the war a few years ago, the central fortress built in the city of Batavia became the last stronghold of the Dutch to save their lives. After the war, the Dutch further strengthened and repaired this core area, and at the same time arranged the official institutions.

Improvements were also made. The offices of some non-key departments were moved out of the fortress area to free up enough space as a place to store food and weapons. For example, the logistics department responsible for purchasing food was moved to a building in the city after the war.

The two-story building is crowded with the medical and health, culture, education, religion, transportation and other administrative departments in the same building.

Naturally, Qin Huacheng had to get guidance from Mihang to find this kind of place. After announcing his identity and purpose at the door, guards took him to one of the rooms, where he met Welbeck, the official in charge of local farming.

Just as Shopkeeper Wang said, this Welbeck can actually speak relatively fluent Chinese, but he obviously has a Lingnan accent. It seems that the people he originally learned Chinese from were people of Han descent from Lingnan.

After Qin Huacheng expressed his intention to come, he presented the prepared contract to the other party for review. Welbeck did not read the content at all. After taking it, he asked Qin Huacheng to dictate it to him. Qin Huacheng thought that although the Dutchman could speak Chinese

, but may not be able to read the contract written in Chinese characters, and immediately explained: "My lord, this contract is written in bilingual, you can compare it."

"I know." Welbeck raised his hand impatiently: "You say what you want."

Only then did Qin Huacheng realize that he had taken it for granted. Since the Dutchman signed a grain sales agreement with Dacheng Rice Shop every year and even learned Chinese, how could he fail to consider the issue of contract language? Fortunately, that contract

He has read it through several times to ensure that there are no loopholes that are detrimental to Mi Xing. He is already very familiar with the content and can fully recite the terms even if it is unscripted. Qin Huacheng explained the contract to Welbeck while recalling it.

content.

According to the cooperation habit between Dacheng Rice Company and the East India Company, a pre-purchase contract for grain trade will be signed in late spring and early summer every year. Considering that the harvest time of summer grain in various farmlands may be skewed, and the purchase volume of the East India Company is very large,

If it is large, it is likely that the delivery cannot be completed at one time, so this purchase contract is not one, but divided into several parts, and the delivery quantity and time will be different each time.

The contract that Qin Huacheng brought was the first batch of grain orders to be delivered to the East India Company this summer. The quantity was fifteen thousand bushels of newly produced local rice, which weighed about 180,000 kilograms. According to the previous agreement between the two parties,

According to the negotiated price, the total price of this batch of rice was 15,000 silver coins, and the unit price was one silver coin per bucket of rice. The East India Company first paid 3,000 silver coins as a deposit, and the remaining balance was settled when the grain was delivered.

Of course, this price is not the final transaction price until the contract is signed and takes effect, and Qin Huacheng's task is to make Welbeck accept the conditions of this contract, at least in terms of price and transaction conditions, and no longer make any disadvantages to Dacheng.

Changes in rice rows.

Regarding the conditions listed in the contract, shopkeeper Wang did not make any more arrangements for Qin Huacheng, so for him, there was little room for flexibility in this negotiation. If Welbeck was not satisfied with the transaction conditions, Qin Huacheng did not make any further arrangements.

He has room to make concessions.

After hearing this, Welbeck yawned and said impatiently: "Is this gone?"

Qin Huacheng responded: "Your Excellency, it is clear that this is the content of the contract."

Welbeck said: "What about the content outside the contract?"

Qin Huacheng remembered that shopkeeper Wang had mentioned when giving him this job that if the Dutch asked about anything other than the contract, they would say everything was business as usual. As for what the extra content was, shopkeeper Wang didn't say it, but Qin Huacheng could.

Guessing a few points, it must be a kickback to Dutch officials in the grain trade. If these specific figures were leaked, many people would be unlucky, so Qin Huacheng could only respond with the instructions of shopkeeper Wang.

"Still the same? Same as last year?" Welbeck was still dissatisfied after hearing Qin Huacheng's response and continued to ask.

Qin Hua thought to himself: "I don't know when this was based on the past, so he had to force a smile and reply: "It should be what adults understand."

"The amount your boss gave me last year was too small. If it weren't for the fact that he gave me 20 acres of vineyards last year, I wouldn't have considered your family for this year's food purchase." Welbeck's face was gloomy. Regarding Dacheng,

The conditions given by Mihang seem to be unsatisfactory.

Qin Huacheng smiled apologetically and said, "Sir, this condition was set by the shopkeeper of Chengda. He must have considered all aspects of the situation, so I won't treat you badly."

Welbeck said: "When Cheng Dapeng came to me to discuss this deal, he agreed to increase the service fee year by year. How come it's still the same this year? Is this because he is trying to burn bridges?"

Qin Huacheng thought that this ghost had a deep understanding of Chinese, and actually knew the idiom of burning bridges across rivers. However, he was not in the mood to lament the other party's Chinese proficiency at the moment, and just continued to persuade: "There may be a misunderstanding here, don't think about it, sir."

It’s off.”

Welbeck threw the contract in his hand on the table and said: "If it is a misunderstanding, let Cheng Dapeng explain it."

Qin Hua Cheng thought that if he went back in despair to invite the big shopkeeper, he would inevitably appear useless. Mi Xing sent him here to negotiate with the Dutch, probably not to bump into this problem. Since it was a negotiation, it had to be done again.

Let's talk about the conditions.

Thinking of this, Qin Huacheng took the initiative to suggest: "Sir, why don't you tell me what kind of conditions are suitable, so that I can have a clear explanation when I go back and report to the boss."

"What kind of conditions are appropriate?" Welbeck repeated Qin Huacheng's words, then pointed to the contract on the table and said: "The service fee will be increased by 20% from last year's standard!"

Yes, there is another one who wants to add 20%. Qin Huacheng thought that he would do it with 20% today. When he visited the two farms before, they also asked for an increase of 20% on the purchase price. Although the conditions were arranged there,

But it was a coincidence that the Dutch encountered the same situation.
Chapter completed!