Chapter 466: The Tender
“What kind of efficiency is this!” Staff Officer Hong grumbled. “You give me a few line drawings to look at, but you don’t tell me how many ships I can use. Are you asking me to use my imagination?”
He glanced at his watch. It was almost one in the morning. He had to get some rest. There were more things waiting for him to do tomorrow. He would eat the fish maw and snow frog stew in the “five-watch chicken” pot and then go to sleep. As for the life-secretary who had already been washed fragrant and changed into a gauze chemise, he would let her cool off for a night. He was too tired to do anything today…
The next morning, he appeared on time in the “negotiation room” of the Great World. Inside sat a man dressed as a small merchant. Although it was already autumn, he was wearing a lined gauze robe, but sweat was still streaming down his face.
The visitor was Liu Deshan. This was not his first time dealing with the Australians. His sweating was not out of fear, but excitement—unparalleled excitement: an Australian chief was going to talk business with him!
All the merchants in Guangdong knew that being able to “do business” directly with the Australians was like inviting the God of Wealth into one’s home. The Australians had a particularly good appetite and a huge demand for all kinds of goods. Most importantly, their credit was extremely high. Whether it was cash on delivery or settling accounts at the three festivals, there was never any delay or difficulty. Everyone flocked to them.
It wasn’t that Liu Deshan hadn’t done business with the Australians before, but it was always with their subordinate trading firms. Now, to be able to talk business face-to-face with a chief—and for a chief to personally come forward to talk, it had to be a “big deal”!
It’s all thanks to Master Qin’s righteousness! Liu Deshan deeply felt the truth of the saying “friends are essential when you’re away from home.” This deal was introduced by Qin Haicheng. Otherwise, how could a small merchant like himself land such a big deal!
At this thought, he once again felt that giving his daughter to Master Qin’s eldest son as a concubine was the right decision. Otherwise, how could a leading figure among the sea merchants like Master Qin look upon him with special favor? He remembered that his cousin, Chen Huamin, had been vehemently opposed to it, saying it was “not respectable.” He didn’t care much. A daughter was a losing proposition anyway. Besides, what respectability did a merchant have? He wondered if the Australian chiefs took concubines. He still had a few unmarried daughters back home…
Just as his thoughts were wandering, Hong Huangnan stepped into the “negotiation room.” Liu Deshan quickly stood up and greeted him respectfully, “Chief…”
Hong Huangnan waved his hand casually, “You must be Liu Deshan? Sit, sit, don’t be so polite.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Liu Deshan sat down cautiously.
Hong Huangnan sized up the small merchant before him. He looked like a sturdy northern man, but he spoke authentic Guangzhou Cantonese. Qin Haicheng had said that this Liu Deshan was a native of Dongguan.
“You were introduced by Master Qin. He said you specialize in the north-south shipping route and are an expert in northern and southern goods.”
“Yes, yes, you flatter me. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert. But I have been traveling the northern and southern seas for many years and know a little about northern and southern goods.” Although he said “a little,” a look of pride appeared on his face.
“On the northern sea route, what’s the furthest you’ve been?”
“For a proper trading port, that would be Tianjin Wei,” Liu Deshan said. “Further north, to Liaodong, is not difficult. But when I was young, the court banned the trade route to Liaodong. The furthest north I’ve been is Shanhaiwei.”
“Let’s not talk about Tianjin. Shanhaiwei is not a trading port. What kind of business can you do there?”
“The business in Shanhaiwei is the business of the garrison troops and their commanders,” Liu Deshan said. “You can buy Mongolian goods.”
“No wonder Master Qin said you could get Mongolian hides. I see!”
“Yes!” Liu Deshan nodded. “As for Mongolian goods, you can also buy them in Tianjin Wei. But that’s the business of the Shanxi merchants; others can’t get a foot in. They sell for whatever price they want. If you want to make big money, you have to buy from the Guanning garrison—almost all the generals there deal in Mongolian goods. But there’s always some risk involved.”
“We want to buy cowhide,” Hong Huangnan said, getting straight to the point.
“Cowhide is not a major Mongolian commodity,” Liu Deshan was surprised. He had thought the chief was interested in Mongolian goods, but he suddenly said he wanted to buy cowhide. “Cowhide, there’s more of it in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to buy Mongolian goods,” Hong Huangnan said. “To be precise, I want cowhide, horsehide, donkey hide, and mule hide…” He listed the hides of large livestock. “As much as you can get.”
“These are all coarse hides, not valuable goods. The shipping cost is what’s valuable.” Liu Deshan was a little puzzled by their demand. The hides of large livestock were coarse and hard, with limited uses. They were not as valuable as sheepskin—and even sheepskin was not very valuable, as the poor in the north often used it to keep warm. Besides being needed for things like making armor for the army, the demand was very small. “There’s a lot of mule and donkey hide in the north, but you’ll have to go to the southwest to find cowhide…”
“That’s your business. Whether you send people to the southwest to buy or to the north to find it, I want as much of these types of leather as you can get.”
“No problem!” Liu Deshan’s whole body trembled with excitement. These hides of large livestock were all cheap, unpopular goods. Acquiring them wouldn’t cost much. If the Australians were buying in bulk, the profit would be considerable once the volume was large enough.
“Go back and think about it, and give me a price,” Hong Huangnan said. “This is the tender document. Fill it out as detailed as possible. I need the first batch of goods in two months. Can you deliver?”
This was a tight schedule. Since he had gone into partnership with Chen Huamin and bought the Dongshanju, their shipping speed had increased several times over. But coarse hide was an unpopular commodity, and few people would stock it in large quantities. It would take a lot of time to buy and transport it from various places.
However, thinking of the rolling profits after the deal was done, Liu Deshan gritted his teeth and said, “I can! I can’t say how much I can deliver, but I will definitely deliver!”
“Good, Manager Liu is indeed a man of his word!” Hong Huangnan nodded. “Then I look forward to your performance.”
“I will go and procure the goods at once and will not disappoint the chief’s expectations!” Liu Deshan said, getting up to leave.
Hong Huangnan thought this was a good sign. He was a very straightforward person, not like some merchants who liked to “sit and talk about principles.” The coarse hide business should be fine in his hands.
The reason he wanted to purchase coarse hide on a large scale was mainly to make shoes for the soldiers. Wearing straw sandals for a long time hurt the feet, and cloth shoes wore out too quickly. Therefore, taking advantage of the Guangdong campaign, he decided to completely replace the soldiers’ shoes. Even if they couldn’t wear all-leather shoes, at least the soles had to be made of leather.
“Let the next one in,” Hong Huangnan said to his secretary after taking a few sips of tea.
Next to enter was Zhu Fusheng, the manager of the Guangzhou head office of Dachang Rice Firm. This Boss Zhu had originally opened a shop in Leizhou. After connecting with the Leizhou Sugar Factory, he had gradually prospered, expanding from a small rice shop to a large one with branches throughout the province and even in Vietnam and Thailand. The head office had also moved to Guangzhou, pushing out the Chaoshan merchants who had originally controlled this business. Boss Zhu was now one of the big merchants in Guangzhou with an “Australian background.” In fact, he was already a naturalized citizen who didn’t have to shave his head, and of the thirteen total shares of Dachang Rice Firm, the Zhu family was only left with half a share.
However, this did not affect Zhu Fusheng’s mood. Although he was now only a “manager” for the Australians, his wealth and status were far beyond what the former small rice shop owner in Xuwen County could have imagined. Not only him personally, but his entire Zhu clan had prospered under the Australians. The worst of them were at least “cadres.”
“Chief…” Zhu Fusheng was very familiar with this Chief Hong. As the Senator in charge of joint logistics, he often had to deal with Dachang Rice Firm.
“Old Zhu, have a seat.” Zhu Fusheng was a naturalized citizen and often “served the Senate and the people,” so Hong Huangnan didn’t bother with pleasantries. “How are the arrangements for the grain procurement I mentioned last time?”
Since Hong Huangnan’s supply policy was mainly “local procurement,” he had to purchase enough grain in advance. He not only decided to purchase in advance but also prepared to store the grain in the various counties that the troops were about to enter.
“I have arranged for warehouses and guards in the dozen or so counties you mentioned,” Zhu Fusheng said. “It’s just that there isn’t enough grain on the market right now—the autumn grain hasn’t come in yet, and the price is a bit high. I plan to start buying after the autumn grain is harvested.”
By the Ming dynasty, Guangdong had become a province that could not be self-sufficient in grain. Although the Pearl River Delta had fertile land and good water and heat conditions, the extensive cultivation of cash crops had squeezed out the land, so that grain had to be imported from neighboring provinces to meet the demand.
“You need to hurry up with this. Each of these dozen or so counties needs to store 30,000 kilograms of grain, whether it’s rice or miscellaneous grains.” This was calculated based on the rations for 1,000 soldiers for thirty days. “If it’s unhusked rice, you need to prepare the milling tools in advance.”
Besides grain, each of these dozen or so counties also needed to pre-store 500 kilograms of salt and 10,000 kilograms of pickled vegetables. The troops could use them directly upon arrival.
“Chief, grain is easy. Once the autumn grain is harvested, it will be easy to store even more. But to store so much grain in different places, if something happens, it would be terrible…”
“You can rest assured about this. The counties where you are asked to store grain will naturally have security guarantees. You just need to have your people watch out for fire and theft,” Hong Huangnan said. “How are the preparations for the autumn grain procurement?”
“The warehouses, baskets, sacks, and personnel are all ready. It’s just that the procurement target you proposed this time is too large. My shop’s working capital is far from enough, and the allocation from Delong hasn’t arrived yet…”
“I will coordinate with Delong. You just need to do the preparatory work well,” Hong Huangnan said. “Have the clerks at the various branches pay more attention to the local grain situation. Any official granaries, charity granaries, or ever-normal granaries, as long as they have large stockpiles of grain, you must collect clear information.”