Chapter 63: Re-export Trade

Si Kaide kept this a secret, only stating that as long as the East India Company was willing to sign a long-term trade agreement, the Lingao side could supply them with any Ming goods they needed, including the raw silk and silk goods that the Dutch were most interested in. As for the price, it was lower than the prices of Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang. The best “Nanjing silk” proposed by Si Kaide had an offshore price of 110 taels per picul in Qiongzhou, while the price of Nanjing silk transported by Chinese merchants to Tayouan that the Dutch bought was as high as 145 taels per picul.

This price made Van der Lants very satisfied. If he could load enough raw silk in Lingao, then the ships departing from Batavia would not have to return to Batavia immediately after unloading in Lingao. Some ships could go directly north to Tayouan Port and then be transferred to Japan from Tayouan. The copper and silver exported from Japan that were transported from Tayouan could also be transported to Lingao to pay for the transaction. The arrangement of the trade route was much more flexible than before, and the transport capacity of the ships could also be maximized.

Van der Lants immediately expressed his willingness to sign this trade agreement. The two sides drafted a special trade agreement on the re-export of Ming goods. The Ministry of Colonies and Trade would sell raw silk, silk goods, tea, porcelain, medicinal materials, and miscellaneous goods to the Dutch East India Company. The two sides agreed on the relevant prices, specifically: 2,500 piculs of raw silk at 110 taels per picul; 5,000 piculs of refined white sugar at 4 taels per picul; 10,000 bolts of silk at an average price of 1.2 taels per bolt; and other miscellaneous goods. The Dutch East India Company would prepay 100,000 Spanish reals to ensure that Lingao could provide a stable supply in 1631.

The Dutch were not stingy with advance payments in trade. It was precisely by relying on the method of advance payment of deposits that the East India Company could obtain cheap and sufficient goods under any market environment fluctuations, making it unprofitable for its competitors.

Because the matter was of great importance, Van der Lants had no right to formally sign such an agreement, so the two sides only initialed the agreement. Of course, this agreement alone made Van der Lants so happy that he couldn’t find his bearings. This agreement was much more favorable than the unfulfilled supply agreement signed by Governor Nuyts and Zheng Zhilong in Tayouan a few years ago. Not only was the price reduced, but the supply quantity, which had always been a headache for the East India Company, had also increased.

The signing of this agreement alone could make Van der Lants a sensation in all of Batavia. You should know that this was the direct opening of the door to Chinese trade that the Dutch East India Company had always dreamed of. Now that it was actually done by him, a small junior commercial agent, how could he not be overjoyed.

Of course, whether the agreement could be implemented remained to be seen. But Van der Lants did not doubt that this group of “Australians” had the ability to do it. If the entire agreement could be implemented, his future in the company would be very bright. He might even become a member of the Dutch East India Company’s council in Batavia in the near future.

Van der Lants tried his best to maintain his composure so as not to show his joy at the negotiating table. Then, Si Kaide made several special commodity requests.

Specifically, it was the import of horses.

Throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia, horses were rare. Not only were the breeds poor and the size small, but the quantity was also insufficient. Nick submitted a report to the Planning Institute, requesting that they find a way to expand the number of horse herds to improve breeding efficiency. But he looked down on the Dianma that could be obtained nearby. The small size and tragic pulling power of the Dianma made it of little use in Lingao’s industry, agriculture, and military. Although the Mongolian horse was still usable, it could not be obtained in large numbers, and everyone looked down on it a bit. Both the army and the agricultural department strongly urged that good quality riding horses and draft horses be obtained as soon as possible.

Obviously, relying on Nick, his apprentices, and helpers to carry out artificial insemination in Gaoshanling on their own, even if one stallion could breed 200 mares a year, the base number of horses was there, and it would take many years of self-breeding to supply enough horses. Large-scale purchase of horses from outside was obviously the only way. And their current stallion resources were not optimistic. In addition to a pair of Tieling draft horses, there was also a retired racehorse.

Although almost all the famous horses that the elders coveted were on the other side of the earth, the biological department under the Ministry of Agriculture still confirmed that there were horses that met the needs of the elders in Persia and India: they could be used as the urgently needed riding horses and draft horses.

After research by the biological department under the Agricultural People’s Committee, it was believed that several kinds of horses could be introduced through the Dutch.

One is the Nanbu horse of Japan. This is a small breed in the “Zailaima” system native to Japan, produced in the northern part of Honshu. The adult horse has a shoulder height of about 150cm, which is much taller and stronger than the Mongolian horse with an average shoulder height of 120-130cm. It can be used as a riding horse or a draft horse. This kind of horse was purchased and used by the Allied forces in the Second Opium War and became the horse for the Allied artillery and supply troops. At that time, the Allied forces purchased thousands of horses in Southeast Asia and Japan to supplement their troops, and the evaluation of the Nanbu horse was the highest. This is the horse breed that is closest to Lingao and can provide a large number of horses at one time.

Another is the Marwari horse of India. This horse is said to be a descendant of the crossbreeding of the warhorses used by Alexander’s army. It is said to have the blood of the Turkmen horse and the Arabian horse. It has evolved into a horse breed that can survive well in arid and barren terrain in India and is widely used as a riding horse for the army and nobles on the Indian subcontinent. The biggest advantage is that this horse can be widely used on the Indian subcontinent, and it obviously has an advantage in adapting to the climate of Hainan Island over other horse breeds.

Van der Lants was not very interested in the business of transporting horses. Among the goods transported across the sea, live animals were the most difficult to transport. Horses are very sensitive animals and are easily frightened and injured during sea transportation. They have high requirements for feed and need a lot of drinking water. Horses also occupy a lot of cargo space. Therefore, although horses were expensive in East Asia, the East India Company was still not interested in transporting them.

Of course, since the Dutch were the “sea coachmen,” they would not refuse any goods that their customers needed. The East India Company had even transported elephants in Southeast Asia—of course, not for the Dutch. Now that the Australians, who had promised to open the golden door of trade with China for them, needed horses, the East India Company would not refuse and would go through fire and water to get them. What’s more, Si Kaide had already made it clear that he would “give a good price” for the horses.

“I will do my best to handle this matter for Your Excellency,” Van der Lants said respectfully.

It was temporarily difficult to transport Nanbu horses, as the trading house in Hirado was currently closed. But there was no problem in transporting Indian horses. The company already had a trade route to India and had a trading house in India. In addition, he could also ask the trading house in Persia to purchase some horses. Of course, the prices of horses in these two places were not cheap.

“Of course, of course,” Si Kaide nodded. “Of course, besides these kinds of horses, I know that there are many excellent horse breeds in Europe…”

“It will take a long time,” Van der Lants said. “If you need European horses, I can only deliver them to you in three and a half to four years at the earliest. And with all due respect, I’m afraid the price will be unacceptably high.”

“Indeed,” Si Kaide sighed with regret. “But I still hope to get some good European horses.” With that, he submitted a list of stallions.

Van der Lants took it and looked at it, staring at him in surprise for a few minutes. It listed the common excellent horse breeds in Europe, very complete, from light, medium to heavy; warm-blooded and cold-blooded, many of which Van der Lants himself did not know.

“God!” Van der Lants muttered in a low voice. “You have a lot of research on horses.”

“We like horses very much. Unfortunately, there are not enough good horses here.” Si Kaide laughed. “As long as you can transport the horses to me alive and kicking, the price is negotiable. By the way, I don’t want geldings. All the horses must be young, no more than 2 years old, and have reproductive capacity.”

“I will do my best to serve Your Excellency,” Van der Lants bowed respectfully. “I am your humble servant.”

That night, Si Kaide held a reception to celebrate the trade agreement between the two sides. Si Kaide was all smiles. Reaching a trade agreement with the Dutch was very beneficial to Lingao. First, it effectively alleviated the gap in material supply. Second, the other party would transport the goods themselves and deliver them to their door—this was the best benefit for Lingao, which was seriously lacking in transport capacity. And the re-export trade, he believed, fundamentally solved the “foreign exchange” problem. Not to mention that the Dutch also promised to pay an advance payment of 100,000 reals first. Of course, Si Kaide had many other ideas about re-export trade.

As for the agreement with the Dutch to purchase horses, although it was greatly appreciated by the Ministry of Agriculture and the military, Si Kaide felt that it was insignificant—after all, it was just a small detail to add icing on the cake. The lack of horses would not cause development to stagnate, but the lack of designated catalog goods such as grain and timber would affect the overall situation.

Van der Lants attended the reception in the newly decorated hall of the trading house. The brilliant light emitted by the electric lamps and the large number of exquisite glassware and bone china used at the banquet left him dumbfounded. Although the scale of the banquet was not large, as a junior commercial agent of the East India Company, being invited to a banquet by a high-ranking official who was one of the nine members of the other party’s Senate, this young nobleman from Zeeland still felt extremely honored. You should know that he did not even have the qualification to attend the governor’s small banquet in Batavia. Van der Lants drank a large amount of rum with sugar and fruit juice at the reception and was finally carried out unconscious.