Chapter 135: The Trade Agreement

The Manchu Qing’s “hunting expeditions” originally had the meaning of “military exercises,” especially before they entered the pass. This time, it was intended to show off the military might of the Eight Banners in front of Huang Hua, so the soldiers were all fully armored, deliberately displaying the army’s combat strength.

Huang Taiji secretly observed Huang Hua’s reaction from a nearby location. He already knew from the dispatches and memorials that the combat strength of the Da Ao people was far superior to that of the Ming army. In the conflict on Duozhi Island, the elite of the Eight Banners in Zhenjiang Fortress were isolated on the island and completely outnumbered by the Da Ao people, who were beaten soundly. The other side not only had very powerful firearms, but their advance and retreat in battle were also well-ordered, and their discipline was strict, making them a rare elite force.

Now, looking at Huang Hua again, although he had a look of shock on his face, there was not a trace of worry or fear. When the Bayara soldiers were shooting on horseback, a slight contemptuous smile even appeared at the corner of this person’s mouth.

Huang Taiji had always prided himself on the strength of the Eight Banners. Especially since those participating in the hunt were all the elite of each banner, many of whom were Bayara soldiers. In field battles, the charge of one or two hundred elite Bayara soldiers could rout a Ming army more than ten times their size. A one-to-ten ratio was not uncommon at all.

Seeing that this Envoy Huang, although somewhat deterred by the momentum displayed by the elite Eight Banners soldiers, seemed completely unconcerned overall.

This is strange. Could it be that they also have a militarily powerful army? Huang Taiji thought to himself. However, the information he had about the Da Ao people was too scarce. He had many spies in Beijing, but their intelligence gathering was focused on military and political affairs, mainly on news from the court. Although Australian goods were very famous in Beijing, the Australians had never appeared at court. Even the disastrous defeat on Hainan Island was only described as “short-haired bandits,” and according to the court circular, although the short-haired bandits had defeated the Ming army, they had been defeated at the gates of Guangzhou and had fled back to the sea. Huang Taiji could not connect the two for a while.

Looking at the twenty personal guards he brought, they looked quite capable, but apart from their sabers, they only had two short muskets, and they didn’t seem to be wearing close-fitting armor. Their horsemanship also didn’t seem very high.

He called over a close attendant and whispered a few words.

Before long, a few horn blasts sounded. A wild boar rushed out of the bushes, followed by dozens of Bayara soldiers who brandished their swords and spurred their horses, shouting as they chased after it.

The wild boar, driven by the hunters, panicked and rushed directly towards where Huang Hua and his group were. This was an old boar, heavy and powerful, with two yellowed tusks and its mane standing on end, a truly terrifying sight.

Although Huang Hua claimed to have “seen it all,” seeing this terrifyingly large wild boar—the pigs he had seen were only meat pigs with a 12-month life cycle—rushing towards him ferociously, he was instantly flustered and couldn’t help but take a step back.

The guards beside him were all strictly trained in protection. Sixteen of them immediately formed two ranks in front of him. The first rank drew their sabers, and the second rank drew their pistols and opened the action, instantly preparing to intercept the wild boar. The other four were prepared to cover the Chief’s escape if the wild boar broke through the blockade.

Huang Taiji did not want to truly frighten or harm this Da Ao envoy. Seeing that the wild boar was already close, the nearby cavalry rushed forward, shooting arrows and thrusting with their spears, and instantly finished off the wild boar.

After the hunt ended, Huang Hua was escorted back to Shenyang by officials from the Ministry of Rites and rested at the post station. The next day, officials from the Ministry of Revenue came to formally negotiate the details of the mutual trade with him.

Regarding the trade with the Manchu Qing, the main point of contention within the Yuanlao Senate was the issue of the Manchu Qing’s creditworthiness.

The Manchu Qing’s trade credit was historically very poor, with a strong tendency to bully the weak and engage in forced buying and selling. Sometimes they would simply “buy on credit.” The Korean Li Dynasty suffered greatly from this. Therefore, how to ensure the safety of the trade and the payment from the other party became an important part of the trade.

Establishing a fortified trade fortress was the most suitable method. This trade fortress could also be used as a workstation for intelligence activities against the Manchu Qing and a forward base for future military offensives.

Lüshun was once a location they had considered, but Lüshun was far from the core area of the Manchu Qing’s rule and was almost in a state of isolation. It was good as a military base, but too remote as a trade port.

Therefore, the final decision was to occupy Zhangzi Island near the mouth of the Yalu River as a fortified trade port. Goods would be transported here by T800 and other cargo ships and then transferred to smaller ships to enter the Yalu River. The population, horses, and materials obtained from the Manchu Qing could also be temporarily stored on the island.

Zhangzi Island was currently under the control of the Dongjiang Army. However, the Dongjiang Army, scattered on the various islands, had not built any fortifications such as walled cities on the islands, mainly relying on the sea as a natural barrier. This was an obstacle for the Eight Banners, which lacked a navy and ships, but not for the Fubo Army. The Expeditionary Force Command estimated that occupying Zhangzi Island would only require dispatching a company of marines to land.

Since the plan was to annex Dongjiang anyway, taking over the various islands in the Liaodong Sea that were originally under the control of Dongjiang was also part of the plan.

After negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement: the location of the mutual trade would be on Duozhi Island in the Yalu River in front of Zhenjiang Fortress. The interval of the mutual trade was temporarily set at once every six months, and the frequency could be increased if needed.

The goods for trade from Lingao were: salt, paper, cotton cloth, Chinese patent medicine, iron farm tools, armor, and bows and arrows produced on Jeju Island. As for the grain and cannons strongly requested by the Manchu Qing, they were temporarily shelved for “further discussion.” Huang Hua estimated that selling siege cannons would not be a big problem, but the possibility of selling grain was extremely low. After all, the cost of transporting grain was too high, and the population they needed to feed was also increasing. Even if a shi of grain could be sold at ten times the profit, it was not worthwhile for the Planning Institute.

Broadly speaking, the goods needed by the Manchu Qing were similar to the estimates of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Commerce, mainly focusing on necessary daily necessities and weapons. Many of the goods listed in the catalog that the commercial department thought might be sold were all excluded, including sugar, chili sauce, and white liquor, which were once considered potential bulk commodities. This inevitably disappointed Huang Hua a little.

Regarding the payment from the Manchu Qing, there were some disputes between the two sides. The qixinlang of the Ministry of Revenue wanted to persuade Huang Hua to mainly accept ginseng and fur as payment. From a trade perspective, ginseng and fur were both high-profit products, with very high prices and considerable profits in the market within the pass. A jin of ginseng, even at the “forced selling price” of the Manchu Qing to the Li Dynasty, was only 16 taels of silver, while in the pass, it was at least 50 taels per jin. However, the export quantity of these things was limited after all. Although the Manchu Qing and Korea could often export more than 1000 jin of ginseng in a single trade, their mutual trade itself was not frequent, and it might take one or two years to accumulate so much dried ginseng. Moreover, the consumer group for this kind of luxury good was very small. Once a large amount was imported, it would inevitably cause a sharp drop in prices, and the so-called profit would not be so great.

As for the Ministry of Health, they expressed concern about the import of fur. The fur of common fur-bearing animals exported from the northeast, such as mink, otter, and fox, was very likely to become a medium for the spread of the plague. Pure deer skin, wild boar skin, and the like were acceptable.

Therefore, Huang Hua’s response to this was: the Manchu Qing side should either pay directly in gold and silver, and if that was not enough, they could pay with other special products. Ginseng and fur could not account for too high a proportion and could only be used as a supplement. He proposed that the Manchu Qing side should mainly pay with population and horses as compensation. They could also use things like honey, mountain products, and wood as supplements.

After the two sides roughly reached an agreement on the types of trade, they began to discuss the prices of the goods. Since the Eight Banners nobles had always regarded the captured live mouths as “rare goods to be hoarded,” they would ask for exorbitant prices from those who intended to ransom them. After the Bingzi invasion, the Li Dynasty was forced to send hostages to Shengjing and set up a Korean legation. The Korean legation often had to ransom the relatives and friends of Li Dynasty officials who had been captured, and the Eight Banners nobles often asked for high prices. It was common for a captive to be ransomed for one hundred or even three to five hundred taels of silver. Sometimes, even if the Korean legation had no intention of ransoming people, the Eight Banners nobles would force the Korean legation to do so, and the price would naturally be ridiculously high.

Now that Huang Hua was here to trade, the other party’s asking price would inevitably affect his own quotation. If the other party sold a captive for 50 taels and a horse for 500 taels, then he would have to sell salt for 10 taels a jin.

After a discussion of haggling, the two sides finalized the price of each commodity one by one. Huang Hua made some concessions on some commodities, but he did not budge an inch on the main export product of Lingao, armor, insisting on selling each full suit of armor for 200 taels and the simplified half-body armor for 150 taels.

The commercial department did not think this price was expensive. In terms of the defensive effect and light load that this armor could achieve, there was no second supplier in this time and space. Although the Manchu Qing could also produce armor of quite good quality, in terms of its cost, establishing a large number of low-tech blacksmith shops to rely on labor-intensive specialized production would consume a lot of man-hours, and the cost would probably not be much cheaper than buying from Lingao, not to mention the huge quality difference. Industrialized mass-produced products often had a dual advantage in cost and quality over handmade products.

In addition to the basic goods exported from Lingao, the Manchu Qing also requested the Lingao side to provide a large number of iron pots and tea, stating that they were willing to buy as many as were available. Huang Hua knew that this was the Manchu Qing’s demand for trade with the Mongols.

The Ming Dynasty had long imposed trade controls on the Mongols, with strict controls on the inflow of ironware. The various Mongol tribes were so miserable that their arrowheads could only be made of bone, and the iron pots that the herdsmen needed for daily use became a rare trade commodity.

As long as there were iron pots and tea, enough horses could be exchanged from the Mongols. Compared to the population that had to be captured through fighting and long-distance expeditions, it was much easier for the Manchu Qing to obtain horses from the Mongol region.