Baranov talked about his plan blatantly, and at the same time kept observing Zhao Xin's expression in order to adjust his words in time.
However, compared to He Xiyang, who had a blank look on his face as if he were listening to a book from heaven, Zhao Xin had been leaning on the back of the chair and maintaining a posture from the beginning, with the expression on his face basically unchanged. Only the index finger of his right hand would occasionally tap the armrest. In this way.
The situation made Baranov very uncomfortable. He spent a long time spitting, but he couldn't get any feedback, and he felt really unsure.
Finally, the plan of "Huamei Trading Company" was finished. Baranov, who was thirsty and thirsty, picked up the tea cup and took a sip. As soon as he put the cup down, Zhao Xin spoke.
"How many of you are there on Kodiak Island?"
"34. 28 men, 6 women. In addition, there are two hundred indigenous laborers from the Aleuts."
“How many Native people are there in the Aleutians and Kodiak Islands now?”
Baranov thought for a while and said: "We did a population survey the year before last. The number in the Aleutian Islands was 6,000, and that in Kodiak Island was about 6,500."
Zhao Xinxin said 234 to 6500. If this offended the Indians, they would be wiped out in minutes! So he asked: "How is your relationship with the aborigines?"
Baranov said with confidence: "Very good. We purchase a large amount of furs from them every year. In addition to iron products, we also trade wine and glass beads."
By the way, this guy owns a glass factory, so getting some beads is not easy. Zhao Xin asked again: "How much fur production did you produce last year?"
Baranov took the business data at his fingertips and said without thinking: "There are 61,056 animal skins of various types. Among them, fox skins are the most numerous, more than 48,000 pieces, and sea otter skins are 2,916. In addition, there are also a small amount of walrus tusks and whale baleen.
"
"Most of them are purchased from local people, right?"
"Yes. Mainly Tlingit, but also Athabasca."
“What’s the deal with food?”
"Fishing and hunting, raising some sheep, mainly making cheese. To tell you the truth, we are very short of food. Previously, Mr. Shelikhov led people to cultivate a small amount of cultivated land in Unalashka, Kodiak
We have also cultivated more than ten acres on the island, but we can only grow potatoes, and the yield is very low. Generally speaking, if there is a large-scale immigration, we will need your help. We will regularly purchase food and fruits from Kinmen.
It would be great if you could send a doctor."
"Where are you going to recruit people from?"
Baranov said cautiously: "As long as there are sufficient funds, we will definitely be able to recruit enough people. If you allow me, I would like to recruit some from the prisoners of the Tsarist army."
Zhao Xin didn't expect that this guy would actually come up with his idea. He pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, I allow you to recruit five hundred people first. If the business develops well, we can recruit another five hundred."
It has been exactly four years since the "Battle of Usolye" ended. In two battles with the Russian Empire, the Northern Navy captured more than 20,000 prisoners. One-third of these people joined the "Cossack Emirate".
A small number were released through negotiation, and today there are still just over 10,000 left, organized into four engineering groups, whose main job is to build railways.
The plan of the "Committee of 29" is to let these people go back after the construction of the "Bobei Railway" is completed. After all, the cost of managing them is also a big expense. As for absorbing naturalization, no one is interested. That is, Zhao
Xin had some ideas and asked the Intelligence Bureau to try to develop a few informants.
Baranov was overjoyed when he heard this. He had no choice but to look at Beihai Town's occupation of Siberia and the abolition of serfdom, making all exiled serfs and prisoners free people. But free people would come to America only if they were crazy!
Siberia is certainly desolate, but no one can compare it to anyone else. Alaska is no longer desolate, it is simply a wilderness unsuitable for survival!
In 1784, Shelikhov, the founder of the Northeast North America Company, finally recruited more than 100 people and sent them to settle in Alaska. Ten years later, there were only 34 people left, and almost all of them were alcoholics and ruffians. The number is decreasing.
Most of the people died of illness, so Baranov asked Kinmen to send a doctor.
In the previous correspondence with Shelikhov, he learned about the prisoners of war. After much thought, he had to come up with the idea of those people. He had already thought about it. As long as Zhao Xin nodded, he would deceive them.
They tricked people into coming here, signed contracts, set up debt traps, withheld documents and refused to let them go back... Anyway, it's not over until I work for the last seventy, eighty or ninety years.
Well, in the history of another time and space, Baranov really did this, otherwise the Russians would not be able to hold on in Alaska at all. Therefore, the methods used in the northern Myanmar park are not new. They were already used in the 18th century.
Someone is playing tricks. By the 19th century, the methods by which Chinese workers were "sold as piglets" were similar. It has been like this from ancient times to the present.
Zhao Xin didn't know Baranov's evil plan. At this moment, he was thinking about whether to transport a group of immigrants to Alaska.
Qing army prisoners? Manchu dignitaries? However, he quickly gave up this idea, or did not consider it for the time being.
Siberia is such a big place, and just the ice city of Yakutsk can make people want to die. The problem is that Yakutsk can still travel by water in summer, but Alaska... the daily necessities and medical support are not there
If they go up, they will all die soon, they might as well be shot dead.
If you want to occupy a wild land, you must first solve the problem of food and build a stronghold. The next step is to cultivate farmland. But how to engage in agriculture in Alaska? Not to mention the 18th century, it was not possible in the 20th century.
Historically, after the United States acquired Alaska, no one except gold diggers was willing to settle there. Although some towns were later established, they were all mining cities and food had to be transported from abroad. In 1935, Roosevelt implemented the New Deal to "experimental agriculture in the Mat-Su Valley"
In the name of "Area", 203 families with rich farming experience were recruited from agriculturally developed states such as Minnesota and moved into the river valley. Each family was allocated 16 hectares of permanent land for free. Since then, Alaska has
agriculture.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The total investment in this plan exceeded 5 million US dollars. According to purchasing power at that time, 5 million US dollars was equivalent to 100 million US dollars in 2023. However, no one expected that,
After only five years, half of the new immigrants left, and by 1965, only 20 of the first 203 families remained.
It is a disaster to engage in agricultural development in an area where there are only one hundred frost-free days per year, daytime temperatures in summer are only 13 to 26 degrees, temperatures are below freezing day and night throughout the winter, and there are frequent heavy snowfalls for two to three months!
In another history of time and space, one of the main reasons why it was difficult for Tsarist Russia to operate Alaska in depth was that daily necessities relied heavily on external supplies. Food, salt, beef, and vegetables were all purchased from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Spain.
, making the maintenance cost of the immigration area high.
Therefore, for Beihai Town, if it wants to develop Alaska, it must first establish a foothold in Northern California, develop the Central Valley with all its strength, and create a food base. Then it will go all the way north along the West Coast to include Oregon, Washington and British Columbia in the future.
In the end, it will be integrated with Alaska. As for the gold mine, it is not a matter of urgency. As long as the Americans cannot enter, it will be theirs sooner or later.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xin said to Baranov: "The franchise can be granted, but it must be for a period of ten years. And you can't just do it, there must be competitors."
What?! Baranov's face instantly drooped and became like a bitter gourd.
Zhao Xin smiled lightly and said: "Dear Alexander, as a businessman, I think you should know what monopoly means. Yes, monopoly can bring huge profits, but it can also become a breeding ground for laziness and corrode the company.
The enterprising spirit. Even if the company will be prosperous due to the franchise in the first few years, this prosperity will be destined to be short-lived and false!"
Baranov admitted that what Zhao Xin said made sense, but now the colonial companies in various European countries have long-term monopolies, so why can't they do it here?
He is a businessman, and even more a capitalist. Even though Europe advocated free capitalism during the industrial revolution, it was only an early form, and the next step would be to develop into monopoly capitalism. Who the hell would still compete if there was a chance to achieve monopoly?
Domination by one family is the dream of all capitalists. Otherwise, how would trusts come about?
However, for Zhao Xin, what he wants is competition. What he is most worried about is that one day the Russians in Alaska will secretly collude with the Tsarist Russian government and then engage in mischief in North America. As the old saying goes, do capitalists have a conscience? Especially when
In this era of barbaric growth, if you really need to have a conscience, you can sell Bibles instead of selling opium and furs.
If Baranov doesn't agree, he will go all out to do it himself and let all the Russians go away. A company with a total share capital of one million rubles only has a total of more than 700,000 taels of silver. So, sir, please pay the balance.
!
The reason why he didn't want to die in person was simply because he wanted Baranov to take a group of Russian prisoners, expand territory for him, and rush to the front to fight the British and Americans. If the North Navy had to die in person, that would be a problem.
an act of declaring war.
So Zhao Xin didn't give Baranov a chance to explain, and continued: "Alexander, have you ever thought about this question? Even if we introduce competitors, they are still our own people. We all operate that wilderness for the same goal.
.In the face of the cold winter, it is not the trend to fight alone, but to stay together as a group is the way to go.
Although your Northeast North America Company is the only one in Alaska today, the British, Americans, and Spanish have already stretched their hands in. The British claimed that Vancouver Island is theirs, and signed a treaty with the Spanish to obtain Nucat Sound, haha
The Durson's Bay Company would soon become our greatest competitor, with its annual output of sixty thousand pelts gone.
And Americans, do you know that Captain Gray bought 2,600 acres of land on Vancouver Island? Have you thought about the consequences of this? If nothing else, if I were an American, in order to stand on Vancouver Island
Stand firm, in order to seize the fur resources, I will secretly contact the Tlingit people and purchase their furs at high prices. When they taste the benefits, I will threaten to stop the trade and force them to attack the stronghold on Kodiak Island!"
The more Baranov listened, the uglier his expression became, thinking that it was really possible. By this time, he had already vaguely understood what Zhao Xin wanted him to do. In these days, all the businessmen who dared to leave their homes thousands of miles to come to the wilderness were all
He was not a good person, behind the business there were often bloody killings. What he didn't expect was that the King of the North Sea in front of him actually knew Alaska better than he did, and his little thoughts were really not enough.
"Then what is the second company you are planning to introduce, Your Majesty?"
"Beihai Trading Company."
Ah!! Baranov was very familiar with this name. Not long after Irkutsk was occupied by the Northern Navy, the sign of "Beihai Trading Company" appeared on the most conspicuous business district in the city. This company later completely
It monopolized the tea and rhubarb trade in the entire Far East, and even the five major families at the time had to purchase goods from there.
He suddenly felt a little discouraged, thinking that no matter what he did, he couldn't defeat this huge beast.
Zhao Xin saw Baranov's uneasiness and immediately said: "Don't worry! Their stronghold will be in northern California, near the Columbia River. Alaska is still yours. The main business of Beihai Trading Company is agriculture, and fur is a side business.
, the business dividing line between your two parties is drawn at 50 degrees north latitude."
The dividing point of 50 degrees north latitude is actually Vancouver in another time and space. In this way, Zhao Xin also has an excuse to intervene in Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Of course, there is no "British Columbia" in these years, and currently there are only Nucate Indians
territory. However, with the influx of fur traders, death has hung over the Nucate people, and the raging smallpox will drastically reduce the population in that area.
Zhao Xin is also beyond his reach. Even if he can send a medical team to help, others may not appreciate it. Besides, the current medical capabilities in Kinmen Town are only adequate, so how can he have the energy to care for others.
Huh! Baranov let out a long breath and felt relieved. At this moment, he heard Zhao Xin say: "After you recruit people, your first task is to seize the American territory on Vancouver Island."
Let’s build a second immigration point there!”
“What if the English and Spanish object?”
"Did you see those two ships that came this morning? To tell you the truth..." Zhao Xin briefly talked about the annihilation battle a few months ago.
Baranov suddenly realized. When he was firing the cannon, he was still thinking, why are the Spaniards coming? That’s it!
Zhao Xin decided to add more firewood and continued: "Once every ten years, I will grant you the only fur trading rights in Anping Port, free of import taxes. In addition, Kinmen Town will give you priority in providing daily necessities and supplies in the future.
We only charge the cost price for arms. When you go back this time, you can take away two hundred tons of wheat and twenty barrels of gunpowder as a gift from me."
Baranov's eyes lit up when he heard this. The gifts and the like were certainly nice, but the exclusive trade at Anping Port made him even more excited. Today, the trade prosperity there is comparable to that of Guangzhou, and almost no one knows about it along the entire coast of Northeast Asia.
But he quickly thought of another thing, so he said with a grimace: "Your Majesty, I have a request. If you can agree, I will go and explain to Mr. Shelikhov about the ten-year concession."
"Say it."
"Ship, the company's existing ship is too small. Even if it is fully loaded, it is only 800 tons, and the speed is not high. I know that you have a shipyard under your rule. If you can allow it, I hope to order two ships in the name of the company.
One thousand five hundred tons."
"Okay." Zhao Xin thought for a while and then said: "How about this, I will invest in two new sailboats and some cash, with a shareholding ratio of 30%."
Baranov pondered for a long time and made some inner calculations. Finally, he gritted his teeth and made a decision, stood up and bowed: "Your kind Majesty, it is the greatest honor of my life for you to become a shareholder. I believe Mr. Shelikhov will also be very happy."
happy."
Afterwards, the two discussed many issues such as the company's flag, management processes, and regulatory agencies. They even had lunch together at noon and did not finish the discussion until the afternoon.
Baranov left with satisfaction. He will return to the ship to draft a memorandum of cooperation, which will be delivered by He Xiyang. After Zhao Xin signs it, he can go back to prepare, and then return to Okhotsk by ship.
Rush to Baiboer City.
Zhao Xin was also very tired after talking for a day. He returned to his residence and told the guard that there was no need to call him for dinner, and then fell asleep. The matter in Alaska was finally over. Tomorrow, he would concentrate on dealing with the Spaniards.