Zhu Benduan, Cheng Bo'an, Feng Xiang, and Ye Li left Zhang's Shipyard, and then continued to conduct inspections at major shipyards in Tianjin and consulted in detail for relevant information.
Other shipyards are similar to Zhang's Shipyard, and some are even worse than Zhang's Shipyard. They are small in scale and can only build fishing boats, not even whaling ships.
There are more than a dozen large and small shipyards, but there are only a few that can build ocean-going ships. The prices of ocean-going ships from each of them are similar, floating around one hundred thousand taels of silver, and the price difference is not big.
The shipbuilding capabilities are also similar. If ten large ships are ordered at one time, they will not be delivered until the spring of next year.
In a private room of a teahouse in Tianjin, four people were discussing while drinking tea.
"Let's quickly come up with an idea about which shipyard to place the order with. More and more people are coming to Tianjin now. If we don't decide to place the order, we may not be able to make it to Huanghuangzhou next year."
Cheng Bo'an looked at the people around him, took a sip of tea and said, this time the business is indeed too big. The one-time investment is conservatively more than two million taels of silver. In addition, it is the first time to enter this field, so
I was unfamiliar with him in all aspects, and a few people felt that it was a big headache.
Just buying a boat is a bit difficult to decide. I don’t know which shipyard to place an order with.
"My suggestion is to buy ships from Tianjin Shipyard. Although Tianjin Shipyard's ships are very expensive, everyone has gone to see them. Tianjin Shipyard is not comparable to other shipyards in all aspects."
"This Golden Continent is thousands of miles away. If we don't have reliable ships, I guess we may lose everything."
Feng Xiang was the first to speak. He still felt that it was more reliable to buy ships from Tianjin Shipyard. After all, most people bought ships from Tianjin Shipyard, and all sailors who went to sea also praised ships from Tianjin Shipyard. Therefore,
It can be seen that the ships produced by Tianjin Shipyard may really have something unique about them.
"But the ships from the Tianjin Shipyard are too expensive. At this price, we can buy two ships and still have some leftover. Moreover, the Tianjin Shipyard has too many orders. If we place an order now, we will probably have to wait in line.
It won’t be until July next year.”
"By then, other fleets have already headed to Golden Continent, but we haven't even gotten the ship yet."
Ye Li shook his head to express his objection.
"I think I'll make my decision with Zhang's Shipbuilding Company. Overall, Zhang's Shipbuilding Company is relatively reliable."
Zhu Benduan thought for a while and said.
"I also think it's Zhang's Shipyard. The price is cheap. For the price of two ships from Tianjin Shipyard, you can buy two and a half ships at Zhang's Shipyard."
"In addition, Zhang's Shipyard built the Dafu Ship. I also asked someone to check it. Du Mingen and the others also used the Fortune Ship to go to Huanghuangzhou. There is no difference."
Chen Bo'an thought for a while and nodded.
"I just feel that these Zhang brothers are not of good character, and I always feel that they are a bit unreliable."
Ye Li thought for a while and said, the names of the Zhang brothers are naturally known to everyone. Everyone inside and outside the court, whether it is the civil servants or the military generals, do not like these two brothers. They are notorious.
"But I heard that the Zhang brothers are very honest when doing business."
Zhu Benduan thought for a while and said.
"I think we shouldn't put our eggs in one basket. Zhang's Shipyard can put a few ships here, Li's Shipyard can also put a few ships here, and it's best if Tianjin Shipyard can also put a few ships here."
"If something goes wrong then, it won't be all in vain. If ten ships go out, a few can come back, and they can bring back millions of taels of silver. We won't lose everything."
Feng Xiang pondered for a while, then thought about it and suggested.
"This is a good idea. We really shouldn't put our eggs in one basket."
When the others heard this, they immediately nodded.
"Then just do as Feng Xiang said. Everyone has no objections, right?"
Cheng Bo'an looked at the other people and asked.
"That's how this matter is settled~"
Ye Li nodded.
"I have no objection~"
Zhu Benduan also nodded.
Just as a few people were discussing the matter of buying a boat, a rough voice sounded from a box next to them. The voice sounded very angry, as if it felt that it had been greatly insulted.
"Are you sending away the beggars?"
When Cheng Bo'an, Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang and Ye Li heard this, they immediately stopped talking and pricked up their ears.
"Mr. Tian, Mr. Tian, we can talk about the conditions again, talk about it~"
A voice sounded from the box next door.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Tian, we can discuss the conditions again. We can also add more to this monthly payment."
Another voice sounded.
"No need, it's not enough to say anything. You think I'm a beggar, so what else is there to talk about? I paid for the tea, it's my treat."
Tian Boyi looked at the people in front of him, with a cold face, he took out a silver dollar from his pocket and put it on the table, then immediately threw up his sleeves and left.
Everyone was extremely angry. These wealthy locals wanted to invite them to lead a team to the Golden Continent, but the salary and benefits offered were too low.
He, Tian Boyi, is an outstanding student who graduated from Tianjin Maritime College. He has served as captain on fishing and whaling ships, and later on ocean-going ships. He has been to Japan and Korea several times and has extremely rich navigation experience.
During this period of time, he has also become a very popular person. People come to visit him every day, all looking for him in the hope that he can lead a team to the Golden Continent, or become the captain of a certain ship in the fleet heading to the Golden Continent.
Logically speaking, this is a good thing. He, Tian Boyi, also wants to go to Huangjinzhou to see and walk around.
When Du Mingen's fleet came back, the detailed route and sailing experience were also published. Those of them who rely on the sea to make a living have naturally done a lot of research on it early on. They feel that it is not a problem to go to the Golden Continent and it is not difficult.
You can earn thousands of taels of silver by going to Golden Continent. This business is actually possible.
But who knew that these people who came to Tian Boyi were all extremely stingy. Many of them didn't even understand the market, and they even offered themselves a monthly offer of a hundred taels of silver. This was no different from asking for food.
.
Now he travels between Japan and North Korea, and he can earn hundreds of taels of silver in just one month. Moreover, it is still close, and there is no risk in traveling. Why take the risk and go to the Golden Continent?
If you want to invite him to Golden Continent, you can, but the price must be sufficient, and the key is to pay dividends, which must be distributed according to a certain ratio.
Du Mingen and others get a 20% dividend, so it is worthwhile for everyone to work hard. It is okay to go out to sea and earn thousands of taels of silver when they come back.
But these people were extremely stingy, did not understand the market, and were unwilling to give up dividends, which made Tian Boyi very angry.
If there is no dividend, how can we hire other crew members?
How can we get to Golden Continent without an excellent crew?
Therefore, Tian Boyi felt that it would be a waste of time to continue talking to them and would only make him angrier.
"Mr. Tian, Mr. Tian~"
When several people in the box saw that Tian Baiyi was leaving, they immediately hurriedly tried to keep Tian Baiyi, but Tian Baiyi was determined to leave and ignored them at all. He turned around and left directly, leaving several people looking at each other.
"Brothers~"
At this time, Cheng Bo'an, Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang, and Ye Li also walked over and took the initiative to greet them with a smile.
"You are?"
When the other party saw it, they immediately said in confusion.
"My name is Chen Bo'an. This is Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang, and Ye Li. We are all from Jiangnan. We used to do some salt and grain business~"
Cheng Boan introduced with a smile.
"Oh, it turns out he is a famous Huizhou merchant, I'm sorry~"
When the people in the box heard this, they understood immediately and quickly motioned for them to take their seats. Then, the waiter in the teahouse brought new tea and new snacks, and then introduced a few of them.
These people are all big gentry, big landowners, and big businessmen from the Huguang area. They are named Chen Chao, Li Hong, and Wang Boxian. After they got to know each other, they quickly became brothers. They are the same as Cheng Boan and others.
, they all came to Tianjin and wanted to go to Huanghuangzhou to make a fortune.
"Brother Shen, was it just now?"
After some polite remarks, Cheng Boan also asked.
"Well, it's hard to say it all. To be honest with you brothers, the three of us have also raised a sum of money and are preparing to form a fleet to go to the Golden Continent."
"But who knew, only after we came to Tianjin did we realize that money in this Golden Continent is not so easy to earn. Just to hire this crew, we had to put in a lot of effort."
"The Tian Boyi who just left is also from Huguang. He used to be just a bitter person who couldn't get enough to eat. Now he is very arrogant."
"We wanted to hire him to lead a team to the Golden Continent, and offered him an astronomical price of one hundred and fifty taels of silver a month, Yue Xiang, but he didn't even show us a good look, and just walked away without saying a word.
To say we are insulting him."
"One hundred and fifty taels of silver a month. That's nearly two thousand taels this year. It's enough to buy a large field. Unexpectedly, I can't even hire a single person."
After hearing Cheng Bo'an's words, Chen Chao said with a slight wry smile.
"Yes, there is no such thing in the world. In Huguang, let alone one hundred and fifty taels of silver a month, someone will work for you if you give them five taels of silver a month. As for ordinary people, if you give them only five taels of silver a month,
One tael of silver is enough, and we also heard that the crew members here in Tianjin all earn very high wages."
"So I offered them a sky-high price of one hundred and fifty taels of silver, even though I knew it would be like this."
Li Hong also shook his head and sighed.
Hearing what the two said, Cheng Bo'an, Zhu Benduan and others were also slightly dumbfounded. They looked at each other and felt their heads grow heavy again.