Chapter 334: The Guangzhou-Leizhou Alliance

Yan Maoda was currently in charge of the Zizhenzhai jewelry and curio shop at the Guangzhou station. Zizhenzhai’s business was now on the right track. Not only were production and sales booming, but it was also doing very well in attracting deposits. He was gradually becoming idle. As a former jewelry company manager, he obviously did not intend to simply repeat his past profession in this new time and space. Even if it was just for amusement, he had to find a new project for himself.

Meng Xian, on the other hand, had a different line of thinking. The trade between the Guangzhou station and Gao Ju brought a large amount of cash to the Guangzhou station. Most of this cash was reinvested in the market to purchase various materials and labor urgently needed by Lingao. The rest inevitably accumulated, which brought a considerable amount of cash deposits to the Guangzhou branch of the Delong Bank, which Meng Xian was in charge of.

Holding a large amount of cash was of course a good thing, but deposits in the bank would not automatically appreciate. They had to be lent out to earn profits. Meng Xian did not dare to get involved in the traditional Chinese credit industry—the waters were too deep, and the traditional business rules were not something an outsider like him could understand.

So far, only a part of the huge deposits of the Delong Guangzhou branch had been lent out, and the borrowers were basically from Gao Ju’s network. Although there was a certain guarantee for the loans, Meng Xian felt that the scale of lending was still too small. The amount of loans that could be lent out was less than 20% of the cash reserves.

The huge demand for cash shown by the Leizhou station in the “sugar war” turned Meng Xian’s attention to the Leizhou sugar industry market.

The sugar industry’s demand for working capital was astonishing, not only in the acquisition funds during the sugar season, but also in the large amount of funds invested in sugarcane cultivation. In addition to controlling a part of the sugarcane plantations, the Leizhou Sugar Industry Company was gradually promoting sugarcane planting cooperatives. In these cooperatives, small loans to sugarcane farmers were a necessary means to support increased production, and the amount of money each sugarcane farmer needed was much larger than the small loans made by the Heaven and Earth Society in Lingao. Not only was the amount of money large, but the operating procedures were also quite cumbersome. The few people at the Leizhou station all regarded it as a daunting task.

The two sides hit it off on the issue of funds. Meng Xian suggested that the Guangzhou Delong branch set up an office in Leizhou to be specifically responsible for issuing loans to local sugarcane farmers.

“Don’t worry about the personnel. Even if Lingao can’t provide enough people for a while, it’s no problem for me to open a training class in Guangzhou. Small loan officers don’t need much advanced financial knowledge,” Meng Xian patted his chest.

“Will the Finance and Economics Committee approve this?”

“Cheng Dong won’t disapprove. Leizhou is a bit special. The cash flow is explosive, with big ups and downs. There’s not much business to be done. He’s not willing to set up a special bank and send a financial talent there. If our Guangzhou branch sets up an office to do some small business to support production, he will definitely agree.”

For Chang Shide, Guangzhou was the main sales market for Leizhou sugar. Whether it was for domestic sales or export, close cooperation with the Guangzhou station was necessary. Leizhou was a small place after all and needed the support of the Guangzhou station in many aspects. The powerful capital mobilization ability shown by the Guangzhou station in the Leizhou sugar war impressed Chang Shide and Wen Tong.

“How will the personnel be managed?”

“Overall, they will be under your management. Because they are all natives, we need our own people to keep an eye on them,” Meng Xian said. “As for the business, let the native professional talents manage it themselves—this day will come sooner or later.”

“Can they do it?”

“Haha, I think there’s no need to worry about that,” Yan Maoda laughed. “Do you really think we are superior to the natives?” He pointed to himself. “If it weren’t for the support of Lingao’s modern industrial and technological system, we would probably be sold by the natives and still be counting the money for them.”

“I’m just afraid they don’t understand…”

“Don’t worry. The natives are no worse than us in learning and cognitive abilities. They might even be much stronger than some of us.”

The second cooperation item was about doing business in Vietnam. The Leizhou Sugar Industry Company had opened up a sugar-rice trade route, which not only digested a large amount of sugar but also obtained a stable and sufficient supply of rice from Vietnam. The Transmigration Group was thus freed from the danger of insufficient food supply. This laid a solid foundation for large-scale immigration and financial stability—in this regard, Chang Shide’s contribution was among the top among the transmigrators.

The sugar-rice trade in Leizhou aroused great interest in the Guangzhou station, especially Yan Maoda. Since Leizhou’s sugar could find a good market in Vietnam, the ever-increasing variety of goods produced by the light industry department in Lingao and supplied to Guangzhou could also find a market. For example, their traditional flagship product, mirrors—obviously, there were rich people in Vietnam. He had heard about Wu Yujia from Chang Shide. It was impossible for such a large plantation owner not to be able to afford a mirror. Not only could he afford it, but he might even be able to buy a few more.

And the various handicraft products made in Guangzhou should also be able to find a place in this market. As for the means of payment, rice or women would be fine—he had heard that Vietnam had always had a serious imbalance in the male-female ratio. Even if this was unfounded nonsense, after so many years of the North-South Dynasties in Vietnam, the number of young and strong men who had died would not be small, and there would inevitably be many women.

But Guangzhou was a bit too far from Vietnam. In comparison, Leizhou was very close. It was only a one or two-day sea journey, and there were existing commercial channels, which were all advantages that could be utilized.

Therefore, at Yan Maoda’s suggestion, the two sides reached an agreement to jointly establish a trading company for Vietnam, to conduct trade with Vietnam. The company would be based in Leizhou. In addition to sugar and rum, the trade goods and the company’s required working capital would be provided by the Guangzhou station. The Leizhou station would provide the site and basic personnel, and the specific business activities would be handled by Yan Maoda.

“Old Chen! How about you be the general manager of this Vietnam trading company?” Yan Maoda suggested. “I can’t be stationed in Leizhou permanently. The affairs in Leizhou need someone to manage them.”

“I’m in intelligence. Getting involved in trade is a bit beyond my scope,” Chen Tianxiong cautiously expressed his opposition. “Besides, my original profession was not business.”

“I don’t think it matters. It’s a convenient matter for you. As long as you take care of the Vietnam trading company’s affairs, I’ll handle the business,” Yan Maoda encouraged him. “You can also gather some intelligence on Vietnam on the side.”

This suggestion was a bit tempting to him, but he was still very hesitant. “Let me think about it. If I really do this, my cover identity will change. I hope to use a relatively low social status to do intelligence work.”

“If we are to do intelligence work on Vietnam, we’d better add one or two more comrades, otherwise we’ll be short-handed,” Chang Shide said. “You can’t be in Leizhou every day. I also have the affairs of the sugar industry association and the sugar cooperatives. I’m afraid there will be loopholes without a dedicated person.”

“That’s easy. There are still many comrades without specific positions now. They’d be more than happy to be dispatched,” Yan Maoda said with some contempt. “You’ll see. If we release the news, the threshold here will probably be worn down by people who recommend themselves.”

“There are certain risks in being dispatched, not to mention having to trade in Vietnam…”

“Haha, trading in Vietnam means you have the chance to buy Vietnamese girls at will. Do you think these people are willing?” Yan Maoda patted Chang Shide on the shoulder. “The power of example is infinite. How many people criticize you with their mouths, but in their hearts, they are hoping to be the second Chang Shide.”

“Hehehehe,” Chang Shide laughed awkwardly. “If that’s the case, I think Bei Kai would be good. He went to Vietnam with us before, and he’s a good person. Also, there’s Zhang Dabala. This old pirate can speak Vietnamese.”

“If possible, it would be great to set up a base in Vietnam as well,” Yan Maoda said ambitiously. “I heard from Yu E’shui that Vietnam is in the North-South Dynasties period right now, and there is a great demand for arms. The Portuguese and the Dutch are both involved. We should also get involved and try to take advantage of the chaos to sign a few unequal treaties.”

“The first one to be taken down should be Wu Yujia,” Chang Shide was still resentful about the “humiliation of selling sugar.” Wu Yujia had completely shattered his protagonist’s halo, and this revenge had to be taken.

Guo Yi did not express any opinions during the entire meeting, only agreeing when Yan Maoda sought his opinion. In his view, the joint operation of Guangzhou and Leizhou was necessary, but he also had doubts in his heart. Would such a joint operation arouse the suspicion of the Executive Committee? The dispatched stations were already attracting a lot of attention. If they engaged in such a joint operation, even if the Executive Committee could agree, the public opinion within the group would not let it go easily.

“We should do a public relations campaign,” Guo Yi said after some thought. “The image of the dispatched stations is not very good right now.”

“They don’t see that the industrial system of Lingao can operate normally thanks to the efforts of our dispatched stations,” Yan Maoda shared the same sentiment. “Without the continuous supply of manpower and materials from the dispatched stations, the machines here would not be able to operate at all.”

“All people know all day long is how many women we’ve gotten—they keep harping on such a small matter,” Chang Shide cursed. “Is it easy for us? No one mentions the time when hundreds of rioters were outside trying to chop us with knives for the sake of making money for the Transmigration Group!”

“We need to talk to Ding Ding about this,” Meng Xian suggested. “Ask him to do a few special reports to write about the affairs of the dispatched stations, to let everyone see that it’s not easy for us either, and that we don’t just mess with women, drink, and talk nonsense all day to get things done.”

“Lingao Times?” Yan Maoda sneered. “The masses’ attitude towards this newspaper and him personally is not very good right now—I think the main reason is that he has a foreign girlfriend he can sleep with whenever he wants, which has attracted jealousy.” The Guangzhou station had learned about many details of the Maid Revolution through various channels.