Chapter 245 Guangzhou Trade Progress

Compared with the Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian areas, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas further north were the richest places in the Ming Dynasty in this era. The profits of the Yangzhou salt merchants alone in one year had exceeded the Ming Dynasty's treasury revenue at this time.

This area with the most wealthy people is also the market that the Chuan Chuan Group's commercial department is most jealous of. Of course, if it wants to develop this market in the future, the Chuan Chuan Group must first solve the problem of sales channels.

Fuzhou and Guangzhou, including most areas in Zhejiang, are mountainous areas. Land transportation is very poor and is not suitable for long-distance transportation of bulk goods. The sea route has always been the main freight channel from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fuguang. However, as a maritime transportation artery

The Taiwan Strait has never been a stable place. Now Zheng Zhilong and his "Eighteen Zhi" are fighting constantly with the Fujian Ming Army, which has seriously affected the safety and smoothness of this transportation channel. Now I want to pass through the Taiwan Strait safely.

In the sea area, either you have to rely on luck or you have to pay Zheng Zhilong to buy the way.

This kind of "road bully" behavior of "Eighteen Zhi" will definitely be a key target of the Cross-Travel Group in the future. What's more, Zheng Zhilong is historically known for his lack of moral integrity.

, there is absolutely no integrity at all. When the Executive Committee discussed the future policy towards Fujian, it did not even consider cooperating with Zheng Zhilong - this guy fell out of favor faster than turning over a book. What he did was really hard to let go.

People develop a sense of trust.

However, if we want to fight against the most powerful maritime force in East Asia, the Crossing Group still has a long way to go. Whether it is a sufficient number of warships or the sailors who control the warships, it will take a long time to slowly build up

Preparation is required. Due to the influence of the objective environment, maritime combat is far more difficult than land warfare. Although the military technology of the Crossing Group has been greatly ahead of this era, the experience disadvantage of operating at sea is also quite obvious. All existing maritime operations

Almost all military training subjects come from various historical records. Although Luo Shengdong also took the initiative to provide some training experience of the Ming Dynasty Navy, it was not suitable for the requirements of the Military and Police Department - the Military and Police Department's

The goal is not to train a navy with combat effectiveness similar to that of Yazhou Shuizhai, but to truly form a maritime military force that can still be at the leading level in the world.

The current preparatory work of the Crossing Group Navy is to set high goals, but its own foundation is really poor. Most of the reserve sailors are mainly local fishermen and sailors in Hainan, with neither military skills nor any combat experience.

In terms of experience and instructors, they all became monks halfway and were not even real navy officers. You can imagine the progress of the training. A few days ago, Xiao Liang and Yu Yao spent a long time choosing islands at the Pearl River Estuary, but in the end everything was just

It can remain on paper for the time being, because the current maritime power of the Chuang Chuan Group is too weak. Even the small group of pirates who attacked Dangan Island can only plan to be executed by civilian ships-this kind of plan is not to mention being implemented.

After discussion at the committee, even the internal review by the Military and Police Department failed.

Even the small group of pirates at the Pearl River Estuary cannot be dealt with for the time being, let alone entering the Taiwan Strait where the situation is more complicated. Therefore, after Schneider said this, Yu Yao shook his head and said: "President Shi, if there are no warships to escort us,

The Executive Committee will probably not agree to send merchant ships directly into the Taiwan Strait. It will take at least a year and a half before we send our own ships."

Schneider said: "This is not a big problem. As long as we get the reputation of Haihan products out, profit-seeking businessmen will naturally flow to Shengli Port. 'Yongfeng Clothing' can get big orders from us. Others will see

Will we not be tempted? The only disadvantage we have is that we have to bear the high cost of goods sent from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."

"Fortunately, most of the raw materials we need now can be found in Fuzhou and Guangzhou. What really needs to be shipped in large quantities from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are just textiles." Sha Xi responded.

"There is one more thing that needs to be added to the purchase list." Chen Tianqi returned to the study with a piece of paper: "This is the message just sent by the executive committee."

Schneider took it and looked at it, then handed it to He Xi, and then circulated it to everyone in turn. When the Executive Committee heard that the Guangdong Office had reached a trade agreement with the cloth merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it immediately asked them to purchase an additional important material -

-cotton.

"Is the Executive Committee planning to engage in the textile industry?" You Yihan was the last to see the contents of the telegram and asked in surprise.

"I'm afraid it's not about the textile industry." Schneider shook his head and said: "The cost of transporting cotton from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Hainan for processing is too high, and how much cloth can be spun from one ship of cotton? There is no way to industrialize without sufficient supply of raw materials.

Production, if the output is not high, then it is better to just buy the finished product."

"Are we going to get absorbent cotton?" Ma Yu had already picked out the fabric and sat on the Taishi chair and said calmly: "The cotton wool we brought has been used to a great extent in September. If we don't get it,

Order the goods, it will be difficult for our medical department to deal with trauma wounds in the future."

Although the medical department has also prepared a lot of cotton wool, like gauze bandages, these things also have the problem of expiration date. Although these medical supplies are currently exclusive to time travellers, if a war breaks out, they will be consumed at an absolute speed.

Very fast. And the manufacturing process requires the use of industrial-grade lye. There is no finished product to purchase, so you can only buy cotton yourself to make it.

He Xi shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's not just medical absorbent cotton. It should be that the chemical industry department has some new plans."

"Nitrocellulose!" Yu Yao and Xiao Liang responded simultaneously.

Although the triacid and di-alkali production line in Tiandu Industrial Zone is still under construction while researching and developing, industrial-grade concentrated nitric acid can actually be produced in small quantities in chemical laboratories. In the 19th century, Germans discovered

This is how cellulose nitrate was born. This dangerous product, which is several times more explosive than black gunpowder, has been used in the military field since its inception. Later, Nobel, the representative of Big Explosionism, used it.

Guncotton, whose main component is nitrocellulose, was added to nitroglycerine to create explosive glue, a new type of gunpowder that changed history.

These chemical products that can be used for military purposes have naturally been on the list of technology tree plans of relevant departments for a long time, but if you want to actually manufacture things, you still have to do it step by step and achieve it step by step. Although these things are in time travel

It has been invented a long time ago, and the production process is not a secret, but it is not as easy to achieve large-scale manufacturing in this time and space. As of now, the Time Travel Group is still stuck in using saltpeter and concentrated sulfuric acid.

The actual production capacity of nitric acid is simply not suitable for non-industrial production levels of nitric acid.

But since it has this production capacity, the military industry department will naturally not miss it, and immediately lists a series of products such as nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and yellow explosives in the next research and development plan. It happens that the medical department also has a certain need for absorbent cotton.

, and absorbent cotton is one of the raw materials for the production of nitrocellulose, so the Executive Committee combined the two issues into one and sent a message to the General Office of the People's Republic of China to ask them to increase their cotton procurement plan.

Of course, in addition to yellow explosives, the military industry department has not been idle during this period. Among the coal tar provided by Black Earth Port, there is a very important by-product-toluene, and toluene reacts chemically with concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid to form

You can get a very powerful explosive called trinitrotoluene, commonly known as TNT. This light yellow powder explosive is more stable and safer than the yellow gunpowder invented by Nobel. It can only be triggered by a detonator. It is a weapon that the military industry department values ​​​​very much.

However, the output of coal tar is already alarmingly low, and to extract extremely low-content toluene from it, the quantity is even smaller. It is possible to produce a small amount of finished products, but it will not be possible on a large scale for at least two or three years.

Use on a large scale.

The research and development of military technology is always at the forefront. Although the Executive Committee currently has no plans to start a war with the outside world, the sooner these cutting-edge weapons that transcend the times can be produced, the better the Time Travel Group will be when facing enemies in the future.

Be sure to win the battle.

However, the General Affairs Office has no right to interfere with what the military industry department wants to do. Everyone can only make limited assumptions based on the information they know in their minds, and purchase various materials for the needs of the base camp.

This is the proper thing that the Guangdong Office should do.

Early the next morning, shopkeeper Ma, who hadn't figured out what was going on, received Schneider's additional new order at the breakfast table. Although the amount was not large, at least he had an extra few hundred taels of silver to earn. Naturally, shopkeeper Ma

He was happy to accept it. However, this shopkeeper seemed to have a lot of history, so he turned around and ordered three sets of flush toilets from Schneider - the reason why he ordered three sets was because he had a wife and two concubines at home, and one of them was installed in one room.

, no one suffered a loss. As for the boiler equipment that can provide hot water at any time, he did not take a fancy to it for the time being. Schneider readily gave him an "internal discount price", a total of five hundred taels of silver for three sets, and an additional five hundred taels.

The installation fee was only ten taels of silver. In just a few words, the money spent on buying cotton from "Yongfeng Cloth Co., Ltd." was recovered.

And after Shopkeeper Ma came to the Guangdong Office and saw it with his own eyes, he also gained a new understanding of these Haihan people who spend money lavishly - these people not only can spend money, but also know how to spend money. All the decorations of the Guangdong Office, Xiao

The ornaments on the table, the door handles, the design of the courtyard, and the construction of the drainage system all reflect the ingenuity. At first glance, it may not be obvious, but if you think about it carefully, Haihan people

None of these exquisite things can be done without spending money and time. Most of these Haihan people only wear clothes made of cotton, and they don't even show much interest in silk and satin, but the temperament they have is

A very typical person in a superior position. Shopkeeper Ma believes that this is the style of a truly wealthy family.

Schneider just smiled indifferently at Shopkeeper Ma's compliment and said: "We Haihan people believe that low-key luxury can show a person's inner connotation."

Shopkeeper Ma was right. A commode in the bedroom cost hundreds of taels of silver. This kind of luxury was indeed low-key. Before leaving, Shopkeeper Ma said that he would invite colleagues from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce to visit him some other day to experience it.

With the advancement of the "Haihan lifestyle", Schneider smiled and expressed his sincere gratitude to Shopkeeper Ma for not forgetting to drag people into the water after being slaughtered.

In the next few days, merchants from all walks of life continued to visit, and most of them came for the Haihan glass products that are currently in short supply in the Guangzhou market. The Thirty Years' War in Europe has made Western countries

Most of China's maritime transport capacity has been concentrated in the European region. The number of ships and merchants heading to the Far East has been greatly reduced in the past year. Under the market situation where glass products are almost out of stock, the sudden emergence of the Haihan brand has just filled the gap.

There was a gap in supply. In particular, the emergence of Haihan glass stationery satisfied the needs of the literati of the Ming Dynasty or the wealthy class who planned to enter the literati circle. From now on, glass products were no longer just collections for a few wealthy people, but became a

A practical tool that can truly be integrated with Ming Dynasty culture.

Although Chuanchuan Group has supplied a total of hundreds of sets of glass stationery of various grades to the mainland so far, there is still considerable market demand only in the city of Guangzhou, and a small amount of it flows out of Guangzhou to other surrounding cities.

Glass stationery has brought about a wave of buying. Since there are very few stocks on the market, the value of glass stationery that has been sold is also rising. Whether it is for the desire to collect, the need to show off, or even as an investment method, overseas

Han glass stationery is an excellent choice in the current cultural market. As for the orders for high-end customized products with a unit price of more than 500 taels per set, "Furuifeng" has also received a thick pile of orders, and has sold them throughout Guangdong.

We are recruiting skilled carving craftsmen from all over and preparing to send them to Victory Port to speed up the production of these high-end goods.

Among these visiting merchants, there are also merchants from neighboring provinces such as Fujian, Zhejiang, Huguang, and Jiangxi. Most of them are merchants similar to "Yongfeng Clothing Company" who have local branches or merchants who come to Guangzhou specifically to purchase marine goods.

.These people are very interested in the various industrial products displayed by the General Office, and they are also intuitively aware of the huge profits that can be made after these products are trafficked back to their places of origin. But the only thing

The problem is that the Haihan people are too tight-lipped. No matter how you say it, the supply volume is surprisingly small. If one place can negotiate for more than ten sets of Haihan stationery, it is a great victory.

At first, the businessman thought that Schneider was simply taking Joe and wanted to use it to increase the price, but later he discovered that this matter was not directly related to the price - the Haihan people did have limited supply capacity and could ship to Guangzhou every month.

There are not many goods. However, this discovery not only did not dampen the enthusiasm of merchants to buy, but made them feel that the prices of Haihan products will be firm in the future, making them feel more comfortable spending money.

Of course, for those merchants who have their own ships and are willing to go to sea, Schneider will "kindly" give guidance and let them ship some raw materials needed to cross the group to Victory Port for direct transactions - you guard the door of the glass workshop

, it’s better than staying here with me. As soon as the goods are shipped from the workshop, you can buy them and ship them immediately without having to pay additional taxes. It is definitely better than grabbing a few limited goods from others in Guangzhou.

Schneider's rhetoric really moved the hearts of many people. There is no need to pay additional taxes to trade in Victory Port, and it is only a few days' voyage. If you are lucky, you can buy hundreds of pieces from Haihan locally.

If you have something, you will really make a profit. Several brave merchants immediately expressed their willingness to form a fleet and go to Victory Port to have a look.

In early November, after the Shipping Department cargo ship from Victory Port arrived in Guangzhou, Schneider immediately notified those merchants who were willing to go to Victory Port to explore the way and follow the Shipping Department cargo ship south. Of course, he insisted on not letting the ship go empty.

In accordance with the principle, the ship going south from Guangzhou this time also carried a large amount of materials needed to cross the group, ranging from production to daily life. In addition, there were dozens of craftsmen from all walks of life, as well as a large number of materials collected during this period.

A group of immigrants were also transported to Victory Port together. A total of eight ships, large and small, formed a fleet.

With the lead ship leading the fleet, the fleet did not take too many detours on the route. It took only five days after leaving the Pearl River Estuary to reach the area outside Victory Port. Here they happened to encounter a group of ships coming from the west.

The North Vietnamese immigrant fleet that arrived this time, consisting of three large ships, brought back more than 100 tons of coal and nearly 500 North Vietnamese immigrants to Victory Port.

At the same time, more than a dozen ships arrived at Victory Port, and all of them had people and cargo to unload. This was the first time that such a lively situation had occurred in Victory Port. The last time a large-scale fleet arrived here was in October.

We brought ships to help transport people to Tieliang Port, but the ships that came that time were all empty, and the scene was far less lively than this time.

A large number of people in both fleets came here for the first time, so they were full of curiosity about the situation in Victory Port. Only after seeing the size of the port here did the North Vietnamese immigrants believe what they heard before boarding the ship.

The propaganda is not false. It seems that this is indeed a seaport city under construction, not a domestic battlefield in a state of war.

The merchants from Guangzhou paid more attention to the layers of forts built near the shore when entering the port, as well as the huge steel ships moored deep in the harbor. Some merchants who had been to Yazhou already had it in their hearts.

I started to mutter: This Victory Port looks much bigger than the ports outside Yazhou City. Looking at the buildings on the shore, it has become a climate here. When did such a big town appear? How did it come to be in the first two years?

Never heard of it when I was in Yazhou?

However, when the fleet approached the dock, these merchants saw the scene on the shore clearly and finally felt relieved. Next to a straw shed on the shore was a flag with the words "Da Ming Yulin Inspection Department" written on it, and next to it or

There were several people sitting or standing in official uniforms with swords at their waists.

It's still the original recipe, and it still has a familiar taste. Seeing the presence of people like the Inspection Department, the merchants finally don't have to worry about being led into a pirate's den in confusion.
Chapter completed!