Chapter 254 A bustling crowd

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Wang Qin opened the curtain of the sedan chair and urged the bearer: "If you go late, you will have to wait for a while!"

When the four bearers heard this, they had to speed up their pace. Fortunately, the road leading out from the east city gate was smooth and walking was quite brisk. After walking about a mile from the east gate, you could see ahead.

The mansion with green tiles and high walls. After the sedan stopped at the gate, Wang Qin hurriedly got out of the sedan and saw several sedans parked outside the door. A group of sedan bearers were sitting under the wall, drinking water and chatting, knowing that he

Still came a little late.

Wang Qin walked to the gate and saw two young men in black short clothes standing on the left and right of the gate. He stepped forward and handed over a post saying: "I represent the Haifeng of Huizhou Prefecture and come to visit you."

Mansion."

One of the young men signed a greeting card and said, "Please wait a moment." After saying this, he took the greeting card and returned to the courtyard. After a while, he came out and asked Wang Qin to follow him in.

Wang Qin breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still not completely relieved because he had been here once yesterday, but in the end he left because it was too late and he was worried that he would not be able to return to the city. As a result, he could not see the owner of this place. But today

Wang Qin, however, has already made up his mind to wait until he meets the other party no matter what.

Sure enough, after being brought into the hospital, Wang Qin did not see the real owner immediately. Instead, he was taken to a side room to wait, where he saw several familiar faces.

"Boss Gao? Nice to meet you!" "Isn't this shopkeeper Zhang? Are you here too?"

After some greetings, everyone sat down again. A servant brought Wang Qin tea and snacks, and then asked him to wait patiently.

Wang Qin was not surprised to see several colleagues here. Ever since Haihan goods began to appear on the Guangzhou market a few months ago, merchants all over the city have been looking for where these exquisite things come from.

Trafficking, Wang Qin, as the person in charge of the Hai Feng in Guangzhou, is no exception. However, the "Fu Ruifeng" trading house that sells Hai Feng's goods has done an excellent job of keeping it secret, so many people have inquired about one or two

For a long time, I only knew that this batch of goods came from the direction of Qiongzhou, but no one could tell clearly where it came from.

It wasn't until the "Haihan Bookstore" opened in Guangzhou a few days ago that the businessmen knew that the original owner had arrived in Guangzhou quietly, so many people began to take the initiative to visit the Guangdong Office in an attempt to buy some of the most popular books on the market.

Haihan products are in short supply. However, the visits of these people to buy do not seem to be going well. The Guangdong Office of the People's Republic of China has announced that "Furuifeng" is the only local agent for Haihan products and they do not intend to sell them in Guangzhou.

Merchants who intend to trade with Haihan can go to a port on Qiongzhou Island to purchase the same goods.

Most of the businessmen who heard the news felt that the Haihan people had taken the wrong medicine. We are now coming to buy with money in hand. If you don't sell, just forget it, and let us go to a remote place like Qiongzhou Island to buy goods? Who doesn't know Qiongzhou Island?

The place was so poor. Most of the residents on the island were Li barbarians. How could they make such fine glassware? These Haihan people must have some conspiracy! Maybe their place was just a pirate den, waiting for Guangzhou.

The merchants loaded their ships with silver and threw themselves into a trap!

Regarding this matter, "Fu Ruifeng", which has always maintained a close relationship with the Haihan people, responded silently and did not express its position on various speculations in the market. It is indeed a bit embarrassing to evaluate this matter from the perspective of "Fu Ruifeng"

, on the one hand, they do not want other merchants to become Haihan's distributors to profit from the market they currently dominate; on the other hand, they also know very well that Haihan people will never allow the current situation of one company to dominate.

If it continues in the long run, Haihan people's distribution strategy will definitely bring prosperity to Shengli Port, which actually has many benefits for "Furuifeng" - otherwise they would not be rushing to invest in the Shengli Port enclosure.

Already.

However, the silence of "Fu Ruifeng" was regarded by the outside world as a sign of guilty conscience. Therefore, except for a few bold companies who decided to go to the South China Sea to find out what was going on, the vast majority of trading houses still maintained their views on the Haihan people.

He adopted a wait-and-see attitude and waited for the situation to develop.

It was not until a few days ago that this batch of merchant ships returned from Qiongzhou Island that it suddenly set off the business situation in the Guangzhou market. The merchants who formed a group to go south this time all purchased some Haihan goods to a greater or lesser extent, which is known as the "annual

"Out-of-print" limited edition glass stationery set, its value doubled to a thousand taels as soon as it appeared. So everyone knew that there really was such an undiscovered treasure on Qiongzhou Island.

Those who were hesitant beat their chests and regretted that they should not have been so timid and missed the market.

Then these businessmen heading south broke the news, claiming that the local ports were exempt from all taxes and that maritime merchants did not need to pay additional "travel money" in various forms to obtain the qualifications to enter the port.

As soon as this news came out, the merchants at sea could not sit still. The tax they paid to the Shipping Department every year ranged from a few thousand taels to tens of thousands of taels. Now, suddenly, a port that does not collect taxes suddenly appeared.

, this kind of temptation is simply irresistible. Although this port is a little far from Guangzhou, even including freight, it is more cost-effective than paying taxes to the Municipal Shipping Department. What's more, the Haihan people also have many supplies to purchase from the mainland, so they can be shipped directly to them.

It was a very cost-effective deal to sell the necessary supplies in the past.

As a result, the Office in Guangzhou immediately became the focus of the Guangzhou business community again. Businessmen from all walks of life came to visit, either to inquire about the specific location of Victory Port, or to hope to join the next fleet going south. Wang Qin's "sea business"

"Fenghao" is also one of them.

As a foreign company, it is difficult for merchants like "Haifenghao" to grab the hot-selling products in the Guangzhou market at the first time. The quantity of Haihan goods for sale has always been extremely limited. Wang Qin has been able to get it in the past few months.

Haihan products are not even as numerous as the displays displayed in the "Furuifeng" store. Several large families in Huizhou Prefecture have already said hello to "Haifenghao": as long as they can get them, they will be hot in the Guangzhou market.

For Haihan products, the price is not a problem.

Of course Wang Qin wanted to, but he had been struggling to find the source of goods. After coming to Guangzhou this time, he happened to hear about the Haihan Port, so he felt that this was a great opportunity, so he hurriedly took the time to visit. He heard that this

Haihan people have a habit of doing business. They often only find one merchant as an agent in a region. For this reason, they will not even directly sell the products sold by "Furuifeng" in Guangzhou. If this time they were sold by other Huizhou merchants because of their slowness,

If your colleagues in the government are ahead of the game, then it will be too late.

Wang Qin felt a little calmer when he saw that these people here were all local merchants in Guangzhou, and he took the initiative to say: "I thought I could be at the front of the queue when I waited for the city gate to open this morning, but I didn't expect that all the bearers would be there."

The journey was so fast, we actually arrived early."

Boss Gao said: "Shopkeeper Zhang and I rested at Zhuangzi outside the city last night. We came here as soon as it got dark today. Although it was earlier than you, there were others earlier than us."

Wang Qin said in surprise: "Don't you know that you have already arrived before dawn? I wonder which shopkeeper is so eager?"

"Not just one, but two." Shopkeeper Zhang took over and said, "Have you heard of Chenghai Bank in Chaozhou Prefecture? It is said that Shopkeeper Liu Da of Chenghai Bank came from Chaozhou in person and rested here last night. He stayed here early this morning.

Let’s start talking about business.”

"So it's Chenghai Bank!" Wang Qin nodded silently. This trading firm is also one of the largest trading firms in Guangdong Province. It is based in Chaozhou Prefecture, and its scale is comparable to the local "Fu Ruifeng" in Guangzhou.

"I wonder if there is another one?" Seeing that shopkeeper Zhang didn't continue, Wang Qin couldn't help but ask.

"There is another family..." Shopkeeper Zhang lowered his voice and said: "It is said that they are people from the government office, most likely here to ask for this..."

Shopkeeper Zhang made a circle with his index finger and thumb after speaking. Wang Qin understood that this gesture referred to copper coins, and nodded understandingly without further questioning. With the popularity of Haihan products in the market, the local government will naturally not ignore the Guangdong Office's request.

Exist. However, the Haihan people have no other direct sales channels except a bookstore in the local area. All goods are handed over to other merchants for sale. The local government cannot even collect taxes from the Haihan people. This phenomenon

It must be unreasonable - Wang Qin suddenly thought that the Haihan people insisted on letting mainland merchants go to their ports to purchase goods. Could it be that they also wanted to avoid tax collection by the local government?

But regardless of whether the Haihan people pay taxes or not, everyone knows that they have money in their pockets, and the only people who can take money out of the Haihan people's pockets without any effort are probably the local government. Even if there are no taxes, there will still be

"Voluntary" donations in various categories, such as building bridges and roads, digging rivers and embankments, suppressing bandits, and providing disaster relief. The government will always have many reasons for local gentry to donate money. This is already normal for merchants. As long as they recognize

Donate, then it's all good for you, me, and everyone. If anyone doesn't obey, the government will naturally have a hundred ways to slowly repair the thorn.

Wang Qin sat down and drank a cup of tea before he could finish it. Representatives from three trading firms came one after another, both from Guangzhou and from other places like Wang Qin. The merchants were waiting for nothing to do and began to communicate.

Business conditions in various places. Of course, the theme is still the Haihan products that everyone is most concerned about.

Nowadays, Haihan products have a certain reputation in Guangzhou Province, and a very small amount of glass stationery and silver mirrors have flowed into Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Since the supply of Haihan products has always been very small, these in-demand products are

Prices in other places are far beyond Guangzhou. The further away from Guangzhou, the higher the price. For example, the lowest-end white glass Haihan brush can be bought in Guangzhou for only one or two to one or two and five yuan, but when you go to the nearby

In Huizhou Prefecture, the price has doubled, while in Lianzhou Prefecture, which is far away from Guangzhou, it has been sold for five taels of silver each, which is a sky-high price compared to Guangzhou. As for the Haihan Silver Mirror with a lower output, the regional price gap

The disparity is even more disparate than stationery. Several merchants who bought silver mirrors in Port Victory last time did not sell the goods locally in Guangzhou, but directly transferred them to other state capitals in order to seek higher prices.

It was almost noon, when Wang Qin's stomach was almost filled with tea and snacks, and it was finally his turn to meet. However, it was not difficult for Wang Qin to get along during this period. Not only did he get to know the locals through the introductions of other merchants,

I also had a look at the "sanitary ware" system that Haihan people are promoting. I have to say that this set of household items is very popular with Wang Qin. If the price was not too expensive, Wang Qin would have the urge to buy a set immediately.

Under the leadership of the servant, Wang Qin came to the reception room located in the second entrance courtyard, where he finally met the owners of the place - Schneider and He Xi, the first and second leaders of the General Office of the People's Republic of China.

These two people have been very busy these days. They have to meet visitors from all walks of life from dawn to dusk every day, and they can't even talk about it so many times. Moreover, these visitors are also of all kinds, and their purpose of visiting is all kinds of strange.

It often made the two of them laugh and cry. It was easy to deal with the people sent by the state government to fight against the autumn breeze. They just wanted to get some money to buy some peace and quiet. For example, those who came to learn glass manufacturing technology came to discuss with them the relationship between Shengli Port and Guangzhou Port.

Comparing the pros and cons, selling rural fields to them, all kinds of things are messed up. What's more, a Taoist priest in disguise came yesterday. When he entered the door, he said that the two of them were in trouble, and something bad would happen in the near future. Before he could wait,

After he reported his family background, he was kicked out by Yu Yao and Xiao Liang who happened to be watching.

If we follow the early operation mode of the General Office of the People's Republic of China, this kind of meeting and discussion can usually be handled by one person. When there are many people, Schneider and He Xi can even receive visitors separately. But after the second echelon arrived, the General Office of the People's Republic of China

Daily operations have also begun to be standardized. One of them is that two or more people must be present when meeting visitors. In principle, individual meetings are not allowed - only He Xi in the Guangdong Office can do so under special circumstances due to the nature of its work.

It is not necessary to comply with this rule.

The Executive Committee has added such a rule for units stationed abroad to prevent the units stationed abroad from changing their hearts when they are far away from the base camp. All resources here in the base camp are under the control of the Executive Committee, and everyone can use as much as they want.

It's all planned. Even if someone is corrupt, there are actually no extra benefits that can be enjoyed - even the brothel opened by "Fu Ruifeng" in Shengli Port is entered with a special ticket issued by the executive committee plan

In terms of consumption, it is just a dream to go to whoring as many times as you want with the many circulation coupons you have.

Victory Port can implement a strict planned economy, but it is definitely not possible for the overseas units, especially the Guangdong Office, which is far away from the base camp and in the colorful world of Guangzhou in the 17th century. In addition, it has a lot of interests with all walks of life in the local area.

In fact, it is easy for uncontrollable situations to occur when traveling. You must know that these time-travelers are not determined revolutionaries. Under various external temptations, I am afraid that a considerable number of people may not be able to maintain their integrity. Therefore, persistence

The committee has just added a number of management regulations for units stationed abroad to ensure that the possibility of personnel stationed abroad being corrupted and bribed by the outside world is minimized.

Although it is troublesome to implement, the rules are the rules. Yu Yao and Xiao Liang in the second echelon, in addition to responsible for the security mission of the Guangdong Office personnel, they also have a part of the internal task, that is, supervision

The implementation status of the regulations governing units stationed abroad. Those who are unwilling to comply will certainly not be sent to a labor camp, but they will definitely be transferred back to the base camp and will be recorded in the executive committee’s blacklist from then on. I know it well.

Among them, Schneider and He Xi, the most powerful ones, also changed their past free-spirited behavior and began to set an example of obeying the law.

However, as a result, the speed of receiving visitors was much slower, so the Guangdong Office in Guangzhou has been bustling with people in recent days. Schneider took the time to take a sip of water and quickly started a meeting with Wang Qin.

Although this was the first time for Wang Qin to deal face-to-face with the Haihan people, he had heard many rumors about the Haihan people before. He also knew that they like to get straight to the point when discussing things, so he directly stated his purpose: First, he wanted to

I asked the Liaison Office in Guangdong to buy Haihan products, and secondly I wanted to send a ship to Yazhou Victory Port.

Schneider said: "Boss Wang doesn't know something. Our Guangdong Office only talks about business and does not sell goods directly. If Boss Wang has any goods he wants to buy, he can place an order with us and then go to the Port of Victory for shipment by himself.

.”
To be continued...