Chapter 82: Journey to Guangzhou (IV)

The future blueprint that Xiao Zishan drew for the Qiwei Escort Agency was actually to reorganize it into an armed freight company—the social order at the end of the Ming Dynasty had begun to gradually collapse, and long-distance transportation was simply impossible without armed escort.

Sun Kecheng was dumbfounded. He thought to himself, this person has such a big tone, wherever the business goes, the escort agency will open there. Not to mention that he doesn’t have so many fellow disciples and apprentices to do the work, he also doesn’t have the ability to befriend the three forces of officials, bandits, and local tyrants everywhere.

“That’s not a problem,” Xiao Zishan didn’t care. “For now, we only need to open a new escort route, from Guangzhou to Haikang and Xuwen.”

“Haikang, Xuwen?” Sun Kecheng was a little puzzled. Haikang was the capital of Leizhou Prefecture, and Xuwen was a subordinate county. Both places were considered poor and remote in Guangdong. In terms of products, only sea salt and sucrose were the main ones. There were not many rich and powerful families. He knew what the Australian sea merchants sold, they were all priceless rare treasures. Wouldn’t it be a loss to do this kind of business in Leizhou?

“That’s right,” Xiao Zishan nodded. There were two main purposes for opening this trade route: one was to open up the land transportation line between Hainan and Guangzhou. Opposite Bopu Port is Denglong Cape in Xuwen, and the two places are separated by the sea. If the sea route was blocked, the transmigrators could cross the sea from Bopu and go to Guangzhou via Leizhou. The second was to obtain local sucrose. The climate and soil of the Leizhou Peninsula were suitable for sugarcane cultivation. There had been earthen sugar mills since the Eastern Han Dynasty. By the Ming Dynasty, the local sugarcane planting and sugar industry were already very developed. Around 1700, the annual output of earthen sugar had reached 10,000 tons, most of which was exported. Sugar was one of the most profitable goods in China’s overseas trade during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and of course the transmigrators could not let it go. Although they were currently unable to directly control the Leizhou Peninsula, it was still possible to set up a purchasing point and strive for sources of goods.

What Xiao Zishan wanted the Qiwei Escort Agency to do was to open a branch in each of Haikang and Xuwen counties within a month, and then gradually open large mule and horse inns or sedan chair agencies in important villages and towns along the way to form a post station-style transportation line. As for the funds needed to open the outer counters everywhere, they would be fully borne by them. In addition, another three thousand taels of silver would be given to Qiwei to recruit personnel, befriend the local government, and pay for all miscellaneous expenses.

“A month is too tight,” Sun Kecheng shook his head repeatedly. “Qiwei has no escort route in Leizhou, so we have to send people to scout the road. This matter can’t be done in two or three months.”

“Two months then, this matter is quite urgent.” Wu Nanhai had already informed him that the sugarcane harvest season was in the autumn and winter of each year. If the escort route could be opened in time, there would still be time to set up a village in Leizhou to collect sugar, and large-scale white sugar could be produced next spring—the transmigrators’ foreign trade goods would also be settled.

“These are easy to say,” Sun Kecheng was not very excited. “Forgive me for being talkative: the shopkeepers have come from afar. Leizhou is a poor and remote place. You should think twice before doing business there…”

Xiao Zishan was still a little moved. In another time and space, he didn’t know how many people were racking their brains to create various pretexts to defraud funds, polishing other people’s things and claiming them as their own, and easily cheating away hundreds of millions of the common people’s hard-earned tax money. This escort agency shopkeeper, whose business was not doing well, actually wanted him to “think twice” about the investment project! The realm of people is really too far apart.

“Don’t worry, we have our own reasons.” Xiao Zishan knew that without a proper reason, it would be difficult to impress a business like an escort agency, which was extremely upright in its dealings, with money alone. Fortunately, the reason for buying sugar was ready-made: “Leizhou produces sugar, and Australia needs sucrose the most. A round trip is a profitable business. We just want to set up a village in Leizhou to collect sugar.”

Only then did Sun Kecheng suddenly realize, and repeatedly praised them for their “foresight,” and immediately agreed. Xiao Zishan then made three requests: first, to recruit people as soon as possible to expand the escort agency’s team; second, to help find old and reliable shopkeepers and clerks locally to be used for opening a business; third, to establish a liaison system between the two parties. Because Gao Di was learning martial arts at the escort agency, he was a more suitable candidate. So it was agreed that the contact between Huifu Street and the escort agency would be once every seven days. In an emergency, they could contact each other on the same day. After the two parties had made their plans, Xiao Zishan handed the silver note he had taken from Gao Ju to Chief Escort Sun. The cooperation between the two parties was thus established.

In the following days, Xiao Zishan was constantly running between the Qiwei Escort Agency and the Gao residence. He had too many things that needed the help of these locals. And Xiao Zishan also saw the huge influence of a merchant like Gao Ju in Guangzhou. Many things could be done just by him sending a steward with a name card, which was more convenient than leaders in modern society approving documents and making phone calls.

Soon, the baojia for Guo Yi and others was completed, which was considered a formal registration of their household registration. In fact, things like household registration yellow books were no longer needed in Guangzhou at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Baojia was mainly a security measure. As for their place of origin, of course they could not say that they were Australian sea merchants, but that they were from the same hometown as the Gao family. With the Gao family’s steward coming forward, the local paijia in charge did not dare to be negligent and immediately handled the matter. Xiao Zishan knew that this kind of half-official and half-civilian “little ghost” was the most difficult character to deal with, both in the past and now, and it was also easy to cause trouble at critical moments. He immediately took out a generous five-tael reward package. Sure enough, the other party’s face lit up with a smile and became even more respectful.

Except for a few people who were left to watch the boat, the members of the procurement delegation all moved into the house on Huifu Street. After resting for two days, they all clamored to go out for a walk and see what this 17th-century southeastern metropolis looked like.

Xiao Zishan knew that if he obstructed them, it would only attract everyone’s opinions, but it would be strange if they went out in a swarm and didn’t cause trouble. After all, these people were too well-nourished, and their behavior was not in harmony with the surrounding environment. He immediately divided the people into groups of five or six, and each group invited two escorts from the Qiwei Escort Agency to accompany them to ensure safety. Each person was also given one tael of silver and one thousand copper coins as pocket money.

The profession of an escort, because of its dealings with both the underworld and the authorities, has given rise to a unique guarantee relationship. Generally, people from the underworld who have “made friends” with the escort agency and want to enter the city for medical treatment, sightseeing, or shopping are usually accompanied and taken care of by people sent by the escort agency. They are treated to good food, good drinks, and good fun, and are finally sent out of the city with courtesy—but there is one rule: those who enter the city cannot cause trouble in the city. Not to mention committing crimes and violence, even if they go to prostitutes or gamble, the escorts will not accompany them as a rule, and friends from the underworld also abide by this rule. Over time, the yamen runners and spies in the city who were responsible for arrests would not question or interrogate bandits who were accompanied by escorts. Xiao Zishan knew that the transmigrators were too conspicuous. If they went out in groups, they would immediately be targeted by the spies in the yamen. It was safer to ask the escorts to accompany them.

Everyone went happily. Bei Wei brought a few of his students and also went out with the escorts. However, they were not going for a tour, but to conduct a field survey of the terrain of Guangzhou and draw an accurate map of the city’s roads, yamen, granaries, city gates, and other important facilities. Xiao Zi, Guo Yi, and their party were led by Liu Gang and strolled around the streets, mainly to explore the future business development model.

After changing their clothes, the group came out of Huifu Street, walked through a few small streets, and came to the bustling market. The shops here were lined up, extremely prosperous, and gathered merchants from all over the country. There were goods from the northern and southern capitals, various provinces, and foreign countries. In terms of age and scope, there were various antiques from the three dynasties, as well as fashionable brocades, silks, embroidery, cloth, and household utensils, as well as self-ringing clocks and rare toys from the West. The shops were classified by industry, each occupying a section of the street. After breakfast, the large and small streets were crowded with people, and after the si hour, it became extremely crowded. People were buying things, watching the excitement, seeing rare things to broaden their horizons, and some were just there to see people. They crowded and pushed, and there was laughter and talking. It was really more beautiful than the scenes in many movies and TV series. The few of them couldn’t help but be stunned—thinking that in less than twenty years, in the chaos of the Ming and Qing transition, the accumulated wealth of this prosperous city in the southeast, accumulated over three hundred years, would either be burned to the ground or plundered, and how many of the people who lived and sightseeing here would turn into dry bones, they couldn’t help but feel emotional.

The more they walked, the more crowded it became, and the more lively the business was. Everyone didn’t know what to see. Liu Gang was very familiar with the roads. When it was too crowded to pass, he would lead them through small alleys to bypass it. As they were walking, Yan Maoda saw a large jewelry store on the side of the street. He gestured, indicating that he wanted to go in and have a look. Everyone was curious and went in together to browse. The Cantonese owner of the shop was showing a mirror to a customer—the pink plastic frame made Xiao Zishan think of it at once: isn’t this the Wenzhou mirror he wholesaled from the small commodity market? It was actually being sold in a jewelry store.

“This mirror has to be sold for one hundred and fifty taels? Can’t it be a little lower?”

The merchant replied very respectfully: “It really can’t be any less. You can’t even find such a crystal rosy jade mirror in Gao’s shop now. If you want an ordinary black jade mirror, I only need one hundred taels. Let me tell you, even Mr. Gao doesn’t know when this kind of crystal colored jade mirror will be available again! A rare pink one like this will probably sell for two hundred taels in ten days or half a month.”

Obviously, the Gao family was not only retailing, but also wholesaling. Gao Ju was quite smart in this regard. As long as the Australian sea merchants could continue to supply goods, controlling the source of the general wholesale channel would have a much larger coverage than just relying on their own shops to sell goods. Although they earned a little less on a single price, the total sales volume went up.

The customer looked at the mirror again and said, “Alright, I’ll take it. This mirror is really amazing, it reflects people so clearly!”