Chapter 302: Unobstructed Passage

“What? Liu Xiang is finished?!” The man who asked the question was about fifty years old, wearing an octagonal hat and a lake-blue silk long gown, with a jade pendant hanging from his waist, the typical attire of a wealthy merchant. It was Qin Haicheng, the sea merchant who had represented the sea merchants trapped at Huangpu to negotiate with the Australians during the Guangzhou campaign.

“Yes, he’s finished!” The middle-aged man sitting opposite him nodded forcefully. “I received news that just three days ago, Liu Xiang’s entire gang went to Hong Kong Island. Master Liu Hai led his managers ashore to surrender and submit. The scene was said to be spectacular—four hundred ships and thirty thousand people!”

“I remember Master Liu Hai had more men and ships than that…”

“He has been trapped in Chaoshan for the past two years, first by Zheng Zhilong, then by the Australians, besieged and unable to move. With no money to be made, many of his men and ships have probably dispersed.”

“Truly incredible!” Qin Haicheng shook his head and turned his mottled bamboo pipe, letting a bright-eyed young maid light it for him with a paper spill. “Master Liu Hai has the temper of a Chaoshan man, as stubborn as they come. Even when Zheng Zhilong was at the height of his power, he didn’t yield. I never thought he would bow his head to the Australians!”

“The Australians are so strong. Even the Zheng family was utterly defeated. Master Liu Hai’s strength is far less than the Zheng family’s. What else could he do but surrender?”

“Honestly, I never expected Zheng Zhilong to fall so quickly!” Qin Haicheng took a puff and blew out a white smoke ring. “The Zheng family’s wealth: silver like the sea. If they wanted to build ships, they could build as many as they wanted. And with the government backing them, even the Dutch didn’t dare to touch them. And just like that, they were finished, even their lair was sacked!”

“Although the Zheng family isn’t finished yet, from the looks of it, they probably won’t be around for much longer.” The speaker was a middle-aged man named Liu Deshan, a merchant specializing in coastal trade. Although a native of Dongguan, Guangdong, he had the appearance of a northerner, with the build of a man from Shandong. “I hear things are very unstable in Weitou Bay. The various factions of the Zheng family are secretly vying with each other. I’m afraid even if the Australians don’t attack, they will start killing each other first.”

“Although the Australians’ attack on the Zheng family was unexpected, it was also within expectations. The sea is vast, but in the end, it cannot accommodate two dragons.”

The fall of the Zheng clan’s power and Liu Xiang’s surrender to the short-hairs were major changes for the East Asian sea trade. As a sea merchant, he naturally had to carefully analyze the impact on his own business.

It had been a considerable time since the Zheng family’s defeat in Weitou Bay, but Qin Haicheng had always maintained a cautious, wait-and-see attitude. In recent months, he had only cooperated with Liu Deshan, engaging in short-distance trade along the Chinese coast, and had not rashly sent ships to Manila. Before it was clear who truly held maritime power, he was in no hurry to return to the dangerous overseas trade.

“Isn’t that so? The Australians’ offensive can only be described as devastating. That morning, when we heard the sound of cannons from the outer sea at the inn, we immediately withdrew with our men and sailors back to the Dongshanju. Who knew that just as we got on board and before we could even raise the sails, the Zheng clan’s navy had already been defeated and was retreating. The Australians’ ships immediately blockaded the port. In just one day, the Australians’ soldiers had occupied the entire port. I don’t even know when they landed. One day! In just one day, the Zheng family’s painstakingly built lair was taken by the Australians…”

The man standing and speaking was dressed as a scholar in a scholar’s cap and robe, but he looked travel-worn, as if he had just returned from a long journey. Although some time had passed since he recalled the situation, he still savored it. The man in the long gown was named Chen Huamin, Liu Deshan’s cousin. He had earned the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination) at the age of twenty, but after repeatedly failing the higher examinations, and seeing that he was almost thirty, with a family but no career, he simply gave up the path of “excelling in studies to become an official” and also became a sea merchant.

His family were natives of Guangzhou and had been sea merchants for three generations. They had been dealing with foreigners since his great-grandfather’s generation. Unlike the ordinary merchants who sat and waited for the Franks to come to them to trade, his family were traveling merchants who had their own ships and personally transported goods. The family had an old-style Guangdong junk that was over a decade old. Since he was a child, Chen Huamin had followed his father and uncle, sailing on the old junk north to Japan and south to the South China Sea, transporting all kinds of goods. He had been to Tayouan, Nagasaki, Champa, Batavia, and other places, spending more than half of the year at sea. It was because of this background that Chen Huamin understood the world outside of China better than most people of the Ming Dynasty, even other merchants, and this had also cultivated a unique business vision. Because he was still young, his father was not at ease letting him go on long-distance voyages alone, so he asked Liu Deshan to take his cousin along to practice with coastal trade first. As it happened, the family had just built a new ship, so the old Guangdong junk was considered Chen Huamin’s capital for doing business.

Liu Deshan had no ships and usually rented cargo space on other people’s merchant ships to do business. The business was not large, and the expenses were also high. His cousin had his own ship, so the two immediately hit it off and went into business together.

Liu Deshan and Qin Haicheng had a long-standing business relationship. Many of the goods Qin Haicheng exported were supplied by Liu Deshan, so Chen Huamin also came to Qin’s trading house.

“At that time, we all thought that this time the ship and cargo would be lost for sure, all swallowed up by the Australians. Who knew that the Australians who came to the port to confiscate the goods saw our Lingao sailing flag, checked the registration plate issued by the Australian yamen in Bopu, and said that we belonged to the Guangzhou… what was it… ‘individual household,’ not members of the ‘Fujian Zheng clan,’ so we were free to leave.”

“You just left Xiamen like that, without being detained?”

“Yes, the Australian leader of the team also said that as long as we flew the Australian sailing flag, the Australian warships patrolling the port would not stop our ship from leaving. After that, I sailed to Tayouan to trade on my own. This business trip went very smoothly.”

Liu Deshan smiled. “I told you not to worry. The Australians are always the most disciplined in their actions and are reasonable, unlike the unreasonable officials. Back then, during the chaos in Sanliang Town, they set up cannons in my house, and after the fighting was over, they even repaired my house for me. They were truly ‘not taking a single needle or thread from the masses’!”

Qin Haicheng nodded. This was not exactly news. When the Australians attacked Humen, there were over a thousand ships anchored in Huangpu harbor, with cargo worth well over a million taels. The Australians did not touch a single thing. What was an old Guangdong junk worth? Especially one that had bought the Australians’ sailing flag.

After the Guangzhou campaign, Liu Deshan felt that the Australians were good business partners. He also heard that they were in great need of various “cold goods” (goods with low demand), so he boldly transported a shipload of Foshan-produced iron ingots to Bopu to trade with the short-hair rebels. In the following days, he continuously transported various local products along the Chinese coast to Lingao and Kaohsiung according to the “Trade Guide” of the Ministry of Colonization and Trade. Later, he also opened a route to Longkou in Shandong.

The profits from this kind of trade were not large, but the returns were very reliable. There was no need to worry about the market for the goods, and sailing safety was generally guaranteed. As long as one ran the routes diligently, making money was certain.

After accumulating their first pot of gold, Liu Deshan and Chen Huamin discussed that the ship they had was too old, and it would be better to use the money to build a new one. Chen Huamin had noticed that the Australians had a shipyard in Hong Kong that sold new-style large ships. These were civilian versions of sea ships specially designed by the shipyard for sale. This new-style large ship used cloth soft sails, had good seaworthiness, increased cargo capacity, simplified operation, and sailed faster than the old models. The only thing was that the price was high, and it was a new thing, so few shipowners dared to inquire.

At Chen Huamin’s suggestion, the two ordered a new-style large ship from the Hong Kong shipyard.

Chen Huamin was just waiting for the new ship to be completed to set sail for the South China Sea, ambitiously continuing his promising career as a sea merchant.

This trip was originally planned to go to Songjiang to purchase a batch of silk fabrics, then head south to Xiamen to purchase a batch of dried seafood, and then return to Guangzhou to sell them. Since it was just a simple short-distance trip, and Chen Huamin was busy in Guangzhou planning his procurement for the next half of the year, Liu Deshan led the team alone, expecting to return in a month. As it happened, he was in Hong Kong when he received the news of Liu Xiang’s surrender to the short-hairs. Although he didn’t know much about business management, he knew that this merger would have a huge impact, so he didn’t even bother with the procurement and rushed to Huangpu to discuss it with his partner.

“After Liu Xiang surrendered to the Australians, the route from Guangdong to Shandong is now completely unobstructed!” Liu Deshan said excitedly.

Originally, this route had been largely unobstructed since the Battle of Weitou Bay. Especially after the Australians established a coast guard patrol system in the Taiwan Strait, the safety of civilian ships was generally guaranteed. But after all, the various forces were intertwined, and small and medium-sized merchants with small capital and weak strength still had to think twice when sailing.

“There is indeed a great business opportunity to be had.” Chen Huamin calmly reviewed the whole matter, thought it over, and keenly discovered that there was a considerable business opportunity in this event. As long as one was willing to take a little risk, there would be a great return.

“This opportunity is divided into short-term and long-term aspects.” Chen Huamin held up two fingers. “In the short term, due to the internal turmoil of the Zheng family and Liu Xiang’s surrender, the Australians will be busy dealing with and digesting the fruits of their victory. This will inevitably cause other sea merchants to take a wait-and-see attitude and not dare to easily enter this sea area. Therefore, the transportation of goods from Xiamen, Songjiang, and other Jiangnan regions to Tayouan and Kaohsiung is at a standstill. This will definitely cause price fluctuations. Goods from outside cannot get in, so their prices will rise; locally produced goods cannot be sold, so their prices will fall. So now, if we transport goods there to sell, and then purchase local specialties to bring back and sell, with this one trip in and one trip out, we can make at least half as much more profit.”

“One and a half times the profit is not a small amount, but it’s a pity it can’t be done for long! So what is the long-term opportunity?”

“Why do most traveling merchants only run short-distance routes, usually just between adjacent cities? Don’t they know that long-distance transport will earn more?!”