"Liu Xiang is finished?!" The person who asked the question in surprise was about fifty years old. He was wearing a square hat, a lake blue silk gown, and an emerald pendant hanging from his waist. He looked like a common wealthy businessman.
.It was Qin Haicheng, the maritime merchant who negotiated with the Australians on behalf of the merchant shipowners trapped in Huangpu during the Battle of Guangzhou.
"Yes, it's over!" The middle-aged man sitting opposite him nodded vigorously, "I received the news that just three days ago, Liu Xiang's gang drove to Hong Kong Island, and Liu Haizhu and his shopkeeper boarded
Please surrender to the island. The scene is said to be extremely spectacular, with 400 ships and a population of 30,000!"
"I remember Liu Haizhu had more than just these people and ships..."
"In the past two years, he has been trapped in Chaoshan. First, Zheng Zhilong, and then the Australians, surrounded him until he could not move. He had no money to make, and many of his men and ships probably dispersed."
"It's incredible!" Qin Haicheng shook his head and turned to Xiang Fei's bamboo chimney, asking a bright-eyed little maid to light the cigarette for him with a paper medium. "The temper of the Chaozhou people is the most stubborn. Zheng Zhilong was so powerful back then.
I don’t buy it either, I didn’t expect that I would bow down to the Australians!”
"The Australians are so strong. Even the Zheng family was completely defeated. Liu Haizhu's physical strength is far inferior to that of the Zheng family. What else can we do if we don't surrender?"
"To be honest, I really didn't expect that Zheng Zhilong would be destroyed so quickly!" Qin Haicheng took a puff and blew out a white smoke ring, "The Zheng family's financial resources and silver are like the sea. If you want to build ships, you can build as many ships as you want.
How much, and they have the support of the government - even the Dutch don't dare to do anything to them, it's over as soon as they say it, even their nest has been raided!"
"Although the Zheng family is not done talking at the moment, but looking at it, it probably won't last long." The middle-aged man who spoke was Liu Deshan, a businessman who specializes in coastal trade. Although he is a native of Dongguan, Guangdong, he is from the south and the north.
He has the appearance of a big man from Shandong. "I heard that there is a lot of unrest in Weitou Bay. The Zheng family members are secretly competing with each other. I'm afraid that if the Australians don't fight, they will kill them themselves first."
"Although it was unexpected that the Australians attacked the Zheng family, it was actually expected. Even though the sea is big, it still can't accommodate two dragons."
The fall of Zheng's power and Liu Xiang's surrender were a big change for East Asian maritime trade. As a maritime merchant, of course, you must carefully analyze the impact on your own business.
It has been a long time since the Zheng family's defeat in Weitou Bay, but Qin Haicheng has always been watching with a cautious attitude - in recent months, he has only cooperated with Liu Deshan to conduct short-distance trade along the coast of China, and has not easily
Ships were sent to Manila. He was in no hurry to return to the dangerous foreign trade until it was clear who really had maritime rights.
"Isn't it? The Australian offensive can be described as devastating. Early that morning we heard the sound of artillery coming from the sea at the inn, so we immediately withdrew the Dongshanju with our crew and sailors. Who knew that we had just boarded the Dongshanju?
Before the ship even set sail, Zheng's navy had already retreated. The Australian ship immediately blocked the port. In just one day, the Australian soldiers had occupied the entire port. I don't know when.
Hou Shang's shore. One day! In just one day, the home that the Zheng family worked so hard to manage was occupied by the Australians..."
The man who was standing and talking was wearing a Confucian robe, but he looked dusty, as if he was a Confucian scholar who had just returned from a long journey. He recalled the situation at that time - although it had been a long time, he still had endless aftertaste. The man in the long robe who spoke was named Chen Huamin
, is Liu Deshan's cousin. He had the reputation of being a scholar when he was twenty years old, but after that he failed in many examinations. Seeing that he was almost thirty, he had already established a family but had not established a career, so he simply gave up the idea of going to school and becoming an official.
On the road, he also started a maritime business. His family is a native of Guangzhou. There are three generations of maritime merchants in the family. They have been dealing with foreigners since their great-grandfather's generation. Unlike other ordinary merchants who just sit and wait for the Flemish people to come to do business, their family
He is a merchant who has his own ship and sells goods in person. His family has an old Guangzhou ship with a history of more than ten years. Chen Huamin has followed his father and uncle since he was a child, taking the old Guangzhou ship to the north to Japan and south to Nanyang to sell all kinds of goods.
.I have been to Damuan, Nagasaki, Champa, Batavia and other places, and spent most of the year drifting on the sea. Because of this kind of growth background, Chen Huamin understands the Ming Dynasty better than most people and even businessmen.
The overseas world has also created a unique business vision. Because he was still young, his father was worried about him embarking on overseas trade alone, so he asked Liu Deshan to take his cousin to practice coastal trade first. It was just right.
The family has a new ship, and the old Guangzhou ship is Chen Huamin's capital for business.
Liu Deshan did not have a ship, so he usually rented space on other people's merchant ships for business. The business was not large and the expenses were high. His cousin owned a ship, and the two hit it off immediately and started a business partnership.
Liu Deshan and Qin Haicheng had a long history of business cooperation. Many of Qin Haicheng's overseas goods were supplied by Liu Deshan, so Chen Huamin followed him to the Qin family's foreign company.
"At that time, we all thought that this time there would be no cargo and all the cargo would be swallowed up by the Australians. Who knew that the Australians who came to the port to collect the cargo saw our Lingao sailing flag and checked the Australian Yamen issued by the Bopu
The registration sign says that we belong to Guangzhou... so-called 'self-employed', and are not considered members of the 'Fujian Zheng Group', so we are free to leave."
"You just left Xiamen and were not detained?"
"Yes, the Australian leader who led the team also said that as long as the Australian sailing flag is flown, the Australian warships patrolling the port will not block our ship from leaving. After that, I sailed on my own to go to Damian Trading. This
Everything went smoothly with this transaction.”
Liu Deshan smiled and said: "I'm telling you, don't worry. Australians have always been the most disciplined and reasonable in doing things. They are not as unreasonable as the government. When Sanliang Town was in chaos, they came to my house to set up artillery. After the shooting
You even repaired my house for me—it’s true that Qiu has done nothing wrong!”
Qin Haicheng nodded, this is not news. When the Australians attacked Humen, there were thousands of ships moored in Huangpu Port, and the cargo was more than one million, but the Australians were not touched at all. What is the value of an old Guangzhou ship?
What's the geometry? Besides, I bought an Australian sailing flag.
After the Battle of Guangzhou, Liu Deshan felt that the Australians were good business partners and found out that they were in great need of various cold goods, so he boldly transported a shipload of iron ingots produced in Foshan to Bopu to trade with the "Kun thieves".
During his days, he continued to traffic various native goods along the coast of China to Lingao and Kaohsiung according to the "Trade Guide" of the Ministry of Colonization and Trade. Later, he also opened a route to Longkou, Shandong.
The profit from engaging in this kind of trade is not large, but the income is very reliable. There is no need to worry about the sales of the goods, and the safety of navigation is generally guaranteed. As long as you work hard and travel frequently, you are sure to make money.
After accumulating the first pot of gold, Liu Deshan and Chen Huamin discussed that the ship on hand was too old, so they might as well use the money to build a new ship. Chen Huamin noticed that the Australians had built a shipyard in Hong Kong and had new large ships for sale -
―It is a civilian sea-going ship specially designed by the shipyard for sale. This new type of large ship uses cloth soft sails, which not only has better seaworthiness, but also increases the cargo capacity, simplifies the maneuvering method, and sails faster.
The old models are fast. But the price is high, and it is a new thing. Few ship owners dare to ask about it.
At Chen Huamin's suggestion, the two ordered a new large ship at the Hong Kong Shipyard. Chen Huamin only waited for the completion of the new ship before preparing to sail to Southeast Asia, ambitiously continuing to work in the promising career of maritime merchants.
The original plan for this trip was to go to Songjiang to purchase a batch of silk cloth, then go south to Xiamen, purchase a batch of dried seafood, and then return to Guangzhou for sale. Since it was just a simple short-distance sales trip, Chen Huamin was busy planning the next six months in Guangzhou.
The purchase plan was planned, so Liu Deshan led the team alone and expected to return in a month. As a result, he got the news of Liu Xiang's investment in Hong Kong Island at the right time. Although he didn't know much about business, he also knew that this annexation would have a huge impact.
, so I didn’t even do the purchasing and rushed to Huangpu to discuss with my partners.
"After Liu Xiang landed in Australia, the route from Guangdong to Shandong has been smoothed all the way!" Liu Deshan said excitedly.
Originally, this route has been generally unobstructed since the Battle of Weitou. Especially after the Australians established a coast guard patrol system in the Taiwan Strait, civilian ship navigation can generally ensure safety. However, after all, the forces of all parties are intertwined, and small and medium-sized enterprises with little power can do so alone.
Merchants still have to think twice before sailing.
"There are indeed great business opportunities." Chen Huamin calmly went through the whole thing, thought it over, and keenly discovered that there were quite a lot of business opportunities in this incident. As long as you are willing to take a risk, you can get big rewards.
"This opportunity is divided into two aspects: short-term and long-term." Chen Huamin stretched out two fingers.
"In the short term, due to the civil strife in the Zheng family and Liu Xiang's surrender, the Australians are busy processing and digesting the fruits of victory, which will inevitably cause other maritime merchants to wait and see and not dare to enter this area easily. Therefore, from Xiamen, Songjiang and other Jiangnan areas to Da
Member, the freight in Kaohsiung is at a standstill, which will definitely cause price fluctuations. If outside goods cannot come in, the selling price will increase; if self-produced goods cannot be sold, the selling price will decrease. So now we are shipping goods there.
Sell it, and then buy local specialties and sell them back, so that between the time you enter and the time you leave, you can make at least half the profit."
"One and a half times the profit is quite a lot, but it's a pity that it can't be done for a long time! So what are the long-term opportunities?"
"Why do most merchants only travel short distances, usually selling goods between neighboring cities? Don't you know that long-distance trafficking will make more money?!" r1152