Chapter 57: Sweet Harbor Storm - Rice Price and Sugar Price

“Not right now,” Chang Shide said. “It would take too much time to explain. Let’s first print them something like a passbook, record the amount, so the farmers have something to hold on to. It will be easier to call them for a meeting later.”

Wen Tong smiled. “Good idea. How did you come up with it?”

“Look at those who sell health products. They use free medical check-ups to attract people. If you don’t give them some small favors, who will come to listen to your nonsense?”

“But how should we print this passbook? It needs to be reusable and able to be written on,” Wen Tong hesitated. “Should we ask Lingao for help?”

Liao Daxing said, “This is not difficult. We can get it done at a paper shop.”

All the transmigrators looked at him. “Are there passbooks here?” Chang Shide asked.

Liao Daxing was a bit confused. “Yes, every shop has a passbook,” he said, taking one out from his sleeve. Wen Tong opened it. It was recorded with the date and amount of the transaction in small regular script, stamped with the private seals of both parties. “This is the passbook from the grain store that delivers grain to us.”

“Good, let’s use this kind,” Wen Tong said happily. “Let’s order three thousand copies first.”

Liao Daxing was shocked. Three thousand copies? Even if they turned all the paper shops in Leizhou upside down, they wouldn’t have that many. “We don’t have that many in stock,” he said quickly. “In my opinion, this kind of passbook is too big. It’s better to have some custom-made ones with smaller dimensions. It will be faster to make and the price will be lower.”

And so the matter was settled. They then discussed the arrangements for the opening day. Wen Tong’s biggest headache was raising silver. The annual export of sugar from here was over two hundred thousand dan. He estimated that most would still be purchased by the Haiyitang merchants. He could probably buy about twenty thousand dan, which would require about fifty thousand taels of silver. The Guangzhou station had deposited ten thousand taels locally, and Wen Tong had brought another three thousand. But this money was almost all spent on infrastructure, settling immigrants, and cultivating relationships with the government. The only thing he could use was the ten thousand taels from Guangzhou.

The difference was too great. The Guangzhou station was willing to give their full support and said they could allocate one hundred thousand taels of silver at any time. But the Ming Dynasty had no remittance agencies. The silver had to be transported over a long distance, which felt very unsafe.

They thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a solution. That day, Chang Shide took Liao Daxing to the county town for a walk. This was his only hobby besides training the female slaves: wearing a silk robe and striding proudly down the dusty streets. His unusual height, physique, and fair skin made people step aside in awe—it felt good to be a big shot. While strolling, he quickly discovered a phenomenon—the prices in Xuwen were very high.

Liao Dahua had reported the price of grain as two taels per dan. Chang Shide had suspected he was making a profit, but after a few months, he found that although the price fluctuated, it never fell below two taels and was showing a gradual upward trend. Though only separated from Lingao by the Qiongzhou Strait, the grain price in Lingao never exceeded one tael and five qian.

Besides grain, everything here was more expensive than in Lingao. Moreover, copper coins were rarely circulated. Silver was used in large quantities, and for small payments, a kind of specially minted silver bean was used. This phenomenon aroused his great interest. Though not an economist, he understood the basic principles of economics—silver was clearly devalued here compared to Lingao.

“Manager Liao,” he asked Liao Daxing, “why is the price of rice in Xuwen so high?”

“You’ve asked the right person,” this topic hit Liao Daxing’s sweet spot. “I used to work in a grain store. Not just in Xuwen, but also in Haikang, the price of rice is frighteningly high! The reason is simple: growing sugarcane is very profitable. Everyone destroys their paddy fields to grow sugarcane. When there’s not enough grain, it has to be transported from other places, so the price naturally goes up.”

“So that’s how it is,” Chang Shide nodded.

“Isn’t it!” Liao Daxing said. “Sugarcane is a crop that consumes a lot of water, fertilizer, and labor. Once you plant sugarcane, no one has the ability to plant paddy fields anymore.”

“Where does the grain from other places come from?”

“It’s transported by sea, mostly from the north. But things at sea are uncertain. If you encounter pirates or a storm, the loss can be huge. Since it’s not easy to transport, it’s naturally expensive.”

Liao Daxing saw that Chang Shide didn’t say anything, so he licked his lips and smiled. “Actually, I have another idea, but I don’t know if it’s right.”

“Go on, tell me.”

“I think the key is that there’s too much silver in Leizhou.”

Chang Shide stopped and looked at him, quite surprised. He thought that ancient people didn’t understand this principle and would equate precious metals directly with wealth itself.

“That makes sense!” He immediately looked at this former grain store assistant in a new light.

“Yes,” Liao Daxing, seeing the owner’s approving expression, quickly added, “Leizhou exports over two hundred thousand dan of sugar every year, and the inflow of silver is at least four or five hundred thousand taels. With so much silver, all goods are naturally expensive.”

“Yes, the prices of things are high, but sugar is something everyone needs,” Chang Shide pondered. He seemed to see a solution in the distance. “Manager Liao, what do you think of the cane farmers’ income?”

“It’s not bad. In any case, it’s much better than growing rice!”

“Hmm.” He asked another question, “Have any ships from here been to Champa?”

“Why go to Champa?” Liao Daxing was puzzled. “No one here does maritime trade.”

The outline of a plan gradually became clear in Chang Shide’s mind. He patted Liao Daxing’s shoulder excitedly. “Let’s go, back.”

That night, unable to wait for the carrier pigeons, he wrote a secret letter and instructed the Qiwei Escort Agency to take a boat to Lingao the next morning. This matter required the cooperation of the Foreign Affairs Department.

His plan was simple: since silver was not valuable in Leizhou, it was not a worthwhile business practice to purchase raw sugar with ready cash. Because there was too much silver, all goods were expensive. It was a very profitable business to exchange a commodity that everyone needed and was expensive for raw sugar. This commodity was rice.

If rice was transported from the north of Guangdong, the sea route was too long, and the risk factors were great. So his idea was to transport sugar from Leizhou to Vietnam for sale. Vietnam did not grow sugarcane, so the price of sugar would be very high. The price of rice in Vietnam had always been cheap. The rice exchanged for raw sugar would then be paid to the cane farmers as the purchase price at the rice price of Leizhou. This was equivalent to making a double profit.

But this involved trade with Vietnam. He was not clear about the trade rules of Vietnam, nor did he know the sea conditions off its coast, let alone the local rice and sugar prices. It was obviously risky to rashly organize ships to go there.

The Foreign Affairs Department did not dare to neglect this letter. They quickly reported it to the Executive Committee, and all departments immediately went into action. The Intelligence Committee quickly announced that this plan was feasible. The Portuguese used to sell Chinese raw sugar in Vietnam for eight taels per dan! This was twice as high as the purchase price of the British in Guangzhou! The huge profits of maritime trade made everyone unable to restrain themselves. They demanded that the Executive Committee immediately open the door to trade with Vietnam.

“It’s time. The rich resources of Vietnam can no longer lie dormant,” a fanatic incited at the enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee. “Let’s turn it into our raw material base and market!”

“Military expedition!”

“Where the cannons go, trade opens the way!”

“Let us set up a few cannons on the coast of Vietnam and thus completely enslave a country!”

“The trade route to Vietnam should be established as soon as possible,” Ma Qianzhu was not very interested in the trade between sugar and rice, but he had long coveted the coal of Hon Gai.

And so the plan to open up trade with Vietnam was settled. Considering that the political situation in Vietnam at this time was rather chaotic, with the north and south dynasties confronting each other, and the Dutch and Portuguese also involved, as well as the Jesuits, there were many interests involved. In the end, it was decided to enter in a relatively low-key manner.

The trade situation with the north and south dynasties of Vietnam was: to enter the ports of the northern dynasty, an annual fee of one thousand taels had to be paid. The southern dynasty had opened a city specifically for Chinese trade. The transmigrator group chose to enter the northern Le dynasty. Not only was there rice here, but also coal. Relatively speaking, it was closer to Hainan and the Leizhou Peninsula.

The ship sent by the Executive Committee to Vietnam was the “Great Whale,” a transport ship that had been to Leizhou before. Though the attempt to use it as a container ship had failed, its wide body and large cargo capacity were obvious advantages. Its shallow draft was also suitable for the generally shallow waters and lack of port facilities of the time. As for its slightly slower speed, it was not a big problem—the voyage to the Hon Gai area of Vietnam would not exceed two days by sailboat.

The “Great Whale” arrived in Leizhou and was loaded with one thousand dan of raw sugar at Haian Port. To ensure the safety of the ship, four 12-pounder howitzers and an infantry platoon were temporarily embarked—serving as both bodyguards and laborers. The person in command of this operation was Chang Shide himself.

As for the necessary translator, neither Lingao nor Leizhou could provide one. Guo Yi had originally tried to find one among the sea merchants in Guangzhou, but the familial and closed nature of the sea merchant groups made such recruitment efforts completely ineffective. In the end, they thought of the Jesuits in Macau. This organization had many tentacles and went everywhere. Zhang Xin rushed to Macau and found Lourenço.

With Lourenço’s help, Zhang Xin recruited a down-and-out pirate chieftain in Macau named Zhang Dabala. This man was a dark, fat man with a large scar on his face, hence the nickname. He himself was not even sure of his real name. He used to be under Yang Liu and Yang Qi. After their defeat, Zhang Dabala, who had accumulated a considerable fortune, fled to Macau. Having suffered many serious injuries, the old pirate, whose scars ached on rainy days, began to feel that he was no longer up to the task and wanted to retire in comfort. Unexpectedly, he was swindled in Macau, and all his money was taken. He had been a pirate for many years and knew nothing about making a living. He soon became a street urchin, living on the charity of the Jesuits. Later, for the sake of two bowls of thin porridge a day, he was baptized and became a member of the church.

Though Zhang Dabala was no longer good at fighting, he was an old sea dog who had been around for many years. He was very familiar with the sea routes of Southeast Asia and spoke several languages, including Vietnamese and Malay.

Zhang Xin thought he was a suitable candidate and hired him on the spot, making it clear that he was not needed for fighting, just for translation, at a monthly salary of twelve Spanish silver dollars. Zhang Dabala, who was tired of drinking thin porridge, immediately boarded their pirate ship.

When the Great Whale was about to leave the Haian Street pier, Chang Shide told Wen Tong, “Old Wen, I’ll be gone for at least ten days. The house is almost finished now, so don’t wait any longer. You can arrange for the purchase of raw sugar locally first. We have ten thousand taels of silver to use, which should be enough to last until I get back.”

“Alright,” Wen Tong shook his hand tightly. What a good comrade. Not only did he come up with such a good idea, but he also volunteered to go to a strange country, Vietnam, to engage in trade and open up a new situation. He turned his head and saw A’Xiu waiting to board the ship with a basket on her back. He thought to himself, this man is truly incorrigible.

Chang Shide shamelessly occupied a separate cabin and had A’Xiu turn it into a small love nest. Then he comfortably waited for the ship to arrive in Ha Long.

The ship sailed at sea for two days, and finally—

They got lost!

“Where are we?”

“We should be in Ha Long Bay,” Le Lin said, holding a sextant and stammering—he was the temporary captain of the ship.

“What do you mean ‘should be’?!” Bei Kai finally exploded in the agony of seasickness. This person had been selected for the trade delegation to Vietnam purely because he looked Vietnamese. The Great Whale had entered a relatively calm bay since yesterday. There were many small islands in the bay, which was quite picturesque. But they just didn’t know which way to go to get to Hon Gai.

Le Lin’s latitude and longitude calculations had been wildly fluctuating, and the error was so large that his measurements were unbelievable. Someone had already been grumbling that they should have hired a local helmsman instead of letting this amateur command the ship.

“You take the helm,” Chang Shide finally kicked Le Lin aside and called Zhang Dabala to steer the ship.