On October 10, businessmen from both Huayang and Huayang started negotiations at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai County. It was finally determined to complete this year's transaction at a 50% premium on last year's price.
China has diverted some of the goods sold domestically this year to meet export needs.
Shanghai Customs also sent people to participate in the negotiation, and held the British and French businessmen accountable for the burning of the customs. In the end, the British and French businessmen shared a compensation of 20,000 yuan. There was no way, if they did not pay compensation, the customs would refuse to go through customs clearance procedures.
In order to avoid the recurrence of such trading conflicts, Dong Shuheng proposed to establish three major futures exchanges in Shanghai: silk, porcelain, and tea. British and French businessmen could send permanent representatives to Shanghai to participate in futures trading and lock in the supply of goods in advance.
Of course, the futures exchange at this time was relatively simple. It was used for trading and transferring goods contracts. There were not so many derivative games. It was not that Dong Shuheng didn't know how to play, but he was worried that he would lose the game.
It didn't take long for the three major exchanges to be established in Shanghai. This further established Shanghai's status as the national goods trade distribution center.
As for Shanghai Customs, after consultation, it was finally decided to set up 5 board seats. Huaihai Haijun, Huaihai Group, and Yangtze River Group each sent a representative. The Zhejiang businessman got one quota, and another quota was reserved for Wu Jianzhang.
In this way, Dong Shuheng had three votes in his complete control, and basically had the say over Shanghai Customs.
The first thing the Customs Board of Directors did after it was established was to establish a specialized Customs anti-smuggling team.
Funds were withdrawn from customs revenue to purchase two steamships and gunboats for anti-smuggling, rescue, salvage, exploration and other functions.
At this point, the trade war has finally come to an end. The real results will not be finalized until the payment is received. However, according to Hu Guangyong's calculations, the trade war has increased the trade income of Chinese businessmen by at least two million silver dollars. This year's
Sino-foreign trade is expected to return to surplus.
In addition, Dong Shuheng's Huaihai Navy Group also strengthened its control over inland trade routes through this incident, especially in the relatively isolated Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan areas. It also successfully launched a "flower planting plan". These planted flowers are always followed by
One day it will bear abundant fruits.
…
In mid-September, in the Pacific, a fleet approached the Hawaiian Islands. This was the Huaihai Company fleet led by Bai Qiwen and Li Kaicheng.
The fleet finally docked at the port of Honolulu, Oahu. Li Kaicheng followed Dong Shuheng's wishes and sent generous gifts to King Kamehameha III of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Kamehameha III liked Li Kaicheng's gift very much. Hawaii Island has a tropical maritime climate, so the people on the island have a special liking for light and breathable silk.
This time Li Kaicheng gave the king many exquisite silks, tea, and porcelain. Li Kaicheng expressed his greetings to the king on behalf of the Qing Dynasty and expressed his willingness to establish friendly relations with His Majesty the King.
Kamehameha III was moved by Li Kaicheng's courteousness. When he learned that Li Kaicheng and the others were going to start a farm on the west coast of the United States, he expressed his willingness to lease land to Li Kaicheng and the others.
The Kingdom of Hawaii is also sparsely populated, and many islands have not been developed.
Li Kaicheng felt that the Hawaiian Islands were an important shipping transit station in the Pacific. If it could gain a foothold here, it would undoubtedly play an important role in the Huai Navy's future strategy in the Americas.
Therefore, Li Kaicheng immediately agreed and agreed with the king that the two parties would directly carry out trade activities.
The reason why Kamehameha III invited Li Kaicheng to invest on the island was not only because of the gift from Li Kaicheng, but mainly to balance the Japanese and Americans on the island.
Yes, although Japan is now in a state of isolation, the Japanese are the largest immigrant group on Hawaii Island. Followed by the Americans, these two countries have always had ambitions for Hawaii.
The young and weak Kingdom of Hawaii can only seek a balance among the big powers. Hawaii has always relied on Britain to maintain its independence, but in recent years, Britain's presence in Hawaii has become weaker and weaker.
Kamehameha III was not a native who knew nothing. On the contrary, the kings of the Hawaiian Kingdom had frequent contact with the outside world and knew the outside world. This was much better than the emperors of the Qing Dynasty.
They know that the Qing Dynasty is also a big country. If the Qing Dynasty's power can be introduced into the country, it will undoubtedly add a weight to the balance of Hawaii, which will be more conducive to the stability of Hawaii.
Finally, when discussing the land location, Li Kaicheng did not choose to lease land on Oahu. This is the political and economic center of Hawaii. Under the eyes of all parties, it is not conducive to the development of the farm.
Therefore, Li Kaicheng chose to lease 50,000 acres of land on Kauai to grow sugar cane.
Kamehameha III was very happy that Li Kaicheng could make such a choice. After all, the land on Oahu was relatively fully developed, and it was really difficult to free up large tracts of land to lease to Li Kaicheng.
Kauai is the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian Islands, with an area of 549 square kilometers and a coastline of 145 kilometers. It is the oldest island among the eight major islands in the Hawaiian Islands. The island is suitable for growing sugar cane and macadamia nuts.
Sugarcane planting is Hawaii's pillar industry. However, China is severely short of sugar. In the future, this place will become an important source of sugar for China.
This also makes the trade between Huaihai Navy and Hawaii a complementary and win-win trade.
Returning to the fleet, Li Kaicheng selected 500 people to follow the officials sent by the king to the island to measure the land.
The Hawaiian Islands are sparsely populated. Except for Oahu, many of the islands are wastelands. There are only a small number of indigenous people living on the islands. These indigenous people basically rely on collecting to make a living and do not cultivate land at all.
This allows the kingdom to avoid the trouble of land acquisition. Just choose a place on the island and insert a landmark on it, and the land will be yours.
Li Kaicheng used part of the silk tea leaves on the ship to pay the first batch of rent, and the Huai Navy officially took root in the Hawaiian Islands.
The name of this farm on Kauai Island is Kaua'i Farm. In addition to land, this farm also includes a beautiful coastline. In the future, a small port can be built here to supply ships of the Huai Navy.
The 500 farm workers left behind will complete the initial construction and development tasks here. They will grow part of the food crops. In addition to meeting their own needs, they can also supply transit ships in the future.
All other land will be planted with sugar cane, and a sugar mill will be built on the farm to complete sugar cane processing, which will make it much more convenient to transport the finished sugar cubes back to the country.
This was Li Kaicheng’s initial plan for the Hawaii farm.
Hawaii is still more than 3,000 kilometers away from the west coast of the United States. Ten days later, the fleet arrived in San Francisco. This is the largest port city in the western United States, although it now only has a population of more than 30,000.
At this time, it was Bai Qiwen's turn. Previously, Li Kaicheng played the leading role when docking in Japan and Hawaii. This was to make the other party think that this was a Qing fleet and make it easier to deal with the locals.
Now that we have arrived on the west coast of the United States, we have to use the identity of Bai Qiwen.
Bai Qiwen now plays a nouveau riche who succeeded in the Qing Dynasty. He now returns to the United States with a lot of money, just to live like a rich man.
What the rich want to do, of course, is to buy land.
To do business in the United States, you first need to find a local lawyer. As long as he is willing to spend money, he can help you handle everything.
Bai Qiwen first registered a company called American West Coast. The company's main business is investing in mines, farms, and railway construction.
On October 1, the American West Coast Company was established.
On October 5, Bai Qiwen purchased three farms in San Francisco with the help of a lawyer. He also went through immigration procedures for the workers who came from afar.
In fact, these procedures are unnecessary. San Francisco has long been accustomed to Chinese laborers brought back from merchant ships.
Many ships can bring people ashore after paying a tax. Anyway, these people will be sent to the railway mines to work.
Next, Li Kaicheng took the remaining more than 1,500 farm workers to settle in new farms. They will rely on these farms to build concentrated Chinese communities.
Bai Qiwen's main task now is to buy land and mines. When the next fleet comes, more employees will come here.
With the diligence of the Chinese, as long as there are enough people, they will soon occupy the economic say in San Francisco and even the entire California.
At that time, they will be able to slowly strive for their own political power. Dong Shuheng's plan is to increase the Chinese population in California to more than 100,000 by 1855.
Some people may ask where these people come from? The Chinese have settled down and relocated. Do you just move when you want?
Here I want to talk about Dong Shuheng’s original intention of setting up a large number of farms.
The farm took in a large number of refugees. After these refugees entered the farm and became employees, they broke away from the control of their original clans.
When they live a stable life on the farm, these workers will gradually rely on Huai Haijun's farm, because they are all proletarians. And through farm management training, they will gradually become accustomed to obeying the farm's arrangements.
For these people, the company is home? Therefore, it is normal for the company to arrange them to other places. As long as they still live within the company system, it will not be too repulsive.
Moreover, if you go to a more remote place, you will be compensated in terms of salary. Just like Lao Yang who went to Nanyang, he directly became a field director from a section chief.
This was the beauty of Dong Shuheng's original design of the farm. He could also distribute the land to the people he gathered under his command, and establish a system similar to the military system, allowing those who received the land to help him fight the war.
But in this case, these people will be bound by the land. In that case, Dong Shuheng can only play in the country, and it will be difficult to get out.
Now that there is a farm, it is different. The farm is dead, and the land and other means of production belong to Huai Haijun. But the employees on the farm are alive. They only work for Huai Haijun, receive wages, and follow Huai Haijun's arrangements.
Some of these workers will be transferred out, and they will soon be replenished from the refugees.
Thanks to the publicity of thoughtful people, the reputation of Huai Haijun Farm as a food source spread far and wide. Jiangbei became the preferred destination for refugees from inland areas to migrate.
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The fleet loaded up the machinery and equipment purchased in the name of West Coast Company in San Francisco and began its return journey.
In the future, after the West Coast Company's farms and mines are built, these returning ships will return with grain and smelted metals.
The fleet will dock in Hawaii again to deliver some construction materials, machinery and equipment to Kauai Island. Then it will go to Honolulu to import a batch of cane sugar. The procurement work has been completed at the Huaihai Company Commercial Agency in Honolulu. The fleet
Just go there and load the ship.
In this way, Huaihai Company's Pacific route was officially established. The company's fleet brought farm workers, silk, tea, porcelain and other commodities via Japan, Hawaii Island, and then to San Francisco. Then it brought back grain, steel, machinery and equipment from San Francisco, and brought back sugar to Hawaii.
, and finally returned to China.
Through this trade route, the Huaihai Navy continuously transported Chinese immigrants to the west coast of North America, subtly changing the population structure there.