The last stop of Xu Yanliang's trip to Sanya was the trading station of Southeast Asia Company. Southeast Asia Company has very few ships with Sanya as its home port. There is almost no business in winter, so only a dozen staff members stay behind to guard the warehouses, ships and offices.
.Business activities have basically come to a standstill. Most of the staff have been temporarily transferred to other ports.
This Southeast Asian company's expense management is quite strict, Xu Yanliang thought to himself.
The person in charge who stayed at the trading station was named Tang Zheng. He was neither a captain nor a shareholder, but a genuine "cadre" appointed by the Senate. Xu Yanliang knew that the naturalized cadres working in such companies were not just "cadres"
As simple as "one of our own", he is probably also a secret agent of the Political and Security Bureau. He can be completely trusted.
After briefly asking about the company's operations, he asked seemingly casually: "Where is your hometown?"
"My hometown is Gaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong." Tang Zheng said, "That year when I went to Nanyang to do business, I was attacked by pirates in the Qiongzhou Strait. Fortunately, I was rescued by the Senate. But I lost my capital and couldn't do business anymore, so I simply
left behind."
"No wonder you came to work here. It turns out you were also a businessman who went to Southeast Asia."
"The chief is laughing. A businessman like me can only carry a few bags of goods, and the business is extremely small. Going to Nanyang is a small profit but a big profit. As long as nothing happens, one trip can feed the whole family for a year. But
If there is a natural or man-made disaster, the family will be destroyed immediately. This is how I stay in Lingao." Tang Zheng was quite emotional. He originally went to Nanyang with the Hai family's ship, but was robbed by pirates before leaving the Qiongzhou Strait. Although he was rescued in the end and picked up
A small life was saved, but the cargo was flooded and seriously damaged.
"So that's it." Xu Yanliang nodded, "How many times have you been to Nanyang? What kind of goods do you sell? Silk?"
"About five or six times. Silk goods cost a lot of money, so what I sell is food and daily necessities. There is a shortage of everything there, and a penny item can be sold for twenty or thirty pence."
Tang Zheng was a small businessman, so the place he went to was not the big ports in Southeast Asia that Xu Yanliang often heard about, such as Manila and Batavia, but some ports that he was unfamiliar with. Compared with the big ports where merchants gathered,
, the more remote small and medium-sized ports have better business and higher profits. The disadvantage is that they are less safe.
He is a businessman and is very talkative. Xu Yanliang originally knew very little about sea trade and basically got the information from reading books and materials. Now listening to him talk about practical practices and examples is lively and interesting. The conversation lasted for a long time and he talked about the current situation.
Operations of Southeast Asian companies.
Xu Yanliang knew that the operations of Southeast Asia companies were similar to taxi companies in the old time and space. The company did not manage specific operations, but was only responsible for management, taxation, personnel and logistics. The specific operations were all handled by the captain. And this captain was either under the control of shareholders
Either you are employed or you are a shareholder.
He asked about the operation status of Southeast Asia Company's ships and how the operating costs are cost-effective. Tang Zheng said that Southeast Asia Company now adopts a route license system. If the company's subordinate ships are engaged in trade and are not acting as carriers, they need to report to the company.
Apply for a license.
"Is it the command flag from the past?"
"Yes, it is also called that - it is indeed a flag." Tang Zheng said that this kind of license has two calculation methods: annual and voyage. The annual one is more expensive, but it does not limit the number of voyages, so it is suitable for running all year round.
Routes: It is cheaper to buy individual flights and is suitable for routes that are not frequently run.
"I remember that most of the merchant ships going to Nanyang can only make one round trip a year. How many times can they make it?"
"That was the old imperial calendar." Tang Zheng said, "Now there are special navigation charts. The captain only needs to follow the navigation charts and take different routes according to the wind direction and currents in each season. There is no need to wait at the dock for half a year before the monsoon starts.
Let’s set sail. Besides, the sails have also been improved, and you can sail against the wind, but at a slower speed. The problem now is that there are not enough competent navigators, and most captains cannot learn new navigation techniques..."
So that's it, Xu Yanliang thought to himself, the new technologies brought by the Senate have greatly promoted the traditional maritime trade. He has been in the office for a long time and has no idea about these advancements - he is still hanging out in the big sailing club...
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a slight fever on my face. Then I asked:
"Then what's the price of this flag? If it's a yearly subscription."
"It turned out that the big ship to the South Seas was worth 2,000 taels of silver, the medium ship was worth 1,000 taels, and the small ship was worth 500 taels. After the silver coins were changed, they were calculated in circles."
"That's a lot of money!" Xu Yanliang was a little surprised. According to the data provided by Wang You, there are currently forty-three trading ships operating on the Nanyang route. Even if all are calculated according to the median, the "license fee" alone will cost every year
The income is 43,000 yuan. In fact, there are very few small ships running the Southeast Asian trade, most of them are large ships. This Southeast Asian company alone can earn about 60,000 to 70,000 yuan.
With so much money, the net profit is only 27,000, and more than 10,000 are distributed to shareholders. This planning institute is really good.
"The money does not belong to the company." Seeing his surprise, Tang Zheng explained that the income from the shipping license must be turned over to the finance and taxation department, "...our company can withdraw 20% of it."
"So that's it." Xu Yanliang thought that this was enough! Otherwise, his heart would be too dark! He asked: "What about other income?"
"That's a lot, and it's all bits and pieces." Tang Zheng was very familiar with his treasures. In addition to various bits and pieces, another important income is that the captain who is the carrier has to pay the shipping license fee. This is cheap.
Much more, calculated on an annual basis. It also includes the "vehicle and vessel tax" collected on behalf of the company. It is about tens of thousands of yuan a year. The company's commission is 50%.
Xu Yanliang was adding and subtracting in his mind, knowing that the net profit on the Southeast Asian company's report was normal, and there was not much ambush. He felt a little disappointed - he originally planned to fight with the finance and taxation department to see if he could withdraw more.
The money came down. Now it seems that this is no longer possible.
"That's all the income, are there any channels through which we can tap our potential?" Xu Yanliang asked.
Tang Zheng smiled and said: "Chief, when it comes to tapping potential, you can still tap it. Those ship owners can earn tens of millions from a business trip to Nanyang. If you really want to make more money, do something ingenious.
It's just a chargeable item. However, the former department head said that the company was originally used by "Huairouyuanren". As long as they don't lose money in business, don't be so picky that everything costs money - they earn more.
, let the Finance and Taxation Bureau go to them to collect income tax."
"The director of the department is right." Xu Yanliang couldn't laugh or cry. He thought it was easy to say what you said! Indeed, the Finance and Taxation Bureau has 100,000 ways to "regulate income", and he has no doubt that the Senate can gain a lot from these people every year.
A big tax. The problem is that this money cannot reach the pockets of Southeast Asian companies.
However, this also reminded him that there is not much potential to be tapped in the Senate's Nanyang route. It is difficult to make the newly established Nanyang Company prosperous by relying solely on the traditional China-Nanyang trade. It has to find another way. It is not just the route.
, and merchandise.
He thought of bone china. Ever since it was developed, some people have proposed exporting it. However, the export kilns in Fujian and other places have sufficient supply of goods. Both foreign trade companies and the investment promotion bureaus established later lacked sufficient support for this new product.
After all, the production cost of bone china is much higher, and the output is not high enough. Except for a small amount of high-end porcelain exported, it does not account for a large share of exports.
However, Engineer Qi has recently developed a new process for bone china, which should be able to significantly increase production and reduce costs. Nanyang Company can make this product its main product in the future.
Another commodity he thought of was "ice cubes." This business was not unique, but an old business from the past. In the 19th century, European and American merchant ships coming to East Asia for trade had little cargo to transport, so they were often stuffed with sawdust to keep them warm.
Ice cubes from Europe and the United States are shipped to India, East Asia, and Southeast Asia for sale, and they benefit a lot.
In May 1833, the American businessman Tudor sent the "Tuscany" carrying 180 tons of ice from Boston, sailed directly to Calcutta, and crossed the equator twice all the way. The ice carried would not melt for four months.
That's it. The Tuscany has indeed arrived at its destination. People there regard natural ice as a rare thing and a delicacy. Therefore, this first ship of ice made a huge profit, which also made Tudor's reputation rise, and Boston and the Far East
The ice transport business also developed quickly. Based on the experience gained in the Caribbean, Tudor built an ice store in Calcutta and encouraged the local Anglo-Indian people to buy household refrigerators, drink coolers and other items;
He took out the apples, butter, and cheese that had been properly refrigerated on the ship and shared them with everyone in an attempt to influence their eating habits.
Soon, Boston's ice was reaching all directions. In 1846, Boston shipped 65,000 tons of ice. Ten years later, the total amount more than doubled, with 400 ships dispatched.
It is sold to more than fifty places in the United States, the Caribbean, South America, and the East in India, China, the Philippines, and Australia. Ice has become an important commodity and New England's bulk cargo in the world market.
Guangzhou, China's external port at that time, was also an important sales place for European and American ice. Now it is not Nanyang Company's turn to do business in Guangdong, but in places like India and Southeast Asia, the ice business is still completely blank.
Thinking of this, he suddenly seemed to have discovered a new world and asked: "Is there a cold storage here?"
"Yes. How many are there?" Tang Zheng was stunned and wanted to ask the chief what the cold storage was for. This is only used by fishery cooperatives and food processing plants. They only buy some ice in summer to cool down. "If the chief wants ice, I will
Then send someone to buy it..."
"No need, you just need to send someone to each icehouse to ask what their maximum output is and what the local demand is."