Eight hundred and twentieth chapters Geddes Trading Company
After Guedes commanded the ships to enter the Huangpu River according to the prescribed route, he found that there were many ships in the Huangpu River, most of which were traditional hard sailing ships, but some were Galen or even Carat ships like his ships.
After the opening of Shanghai Port, a large number of ships began to gather here. Among them were merchant ships traveling along the coast of China, and ships from East Asian countries. Naturally, there were also European ships. Of course, more of them were small and medium-sized ones.
Inland rivers, offshore vessels, fishing boats, etc.
The closer we get to the Shanghai port, the more and more ships there are. This makes Gerdes sigh. It has not been long since the port opened here. Although the number of ships coming and going is still not as good as that of Guangzhou Port, the number of ships here is not inferior to Lianzhou.
It is much better than the other two ports that were opened for trade in the second batch: Ningbo and Quanzhou.
The Tang Dynasty had two batches, a total of five trading ports. Basically, each had its own advantages, and they were all carefully selected by the Tang Dynasty.
Counting from south to north, Lianzhou Port, although this place does not have any special products, its geographical location is too advantageous. It is the southernmost trading port in China. Many ships traveling to and from Southeast Asia depart from here, or
Arrive there first.
After all, most of the long-distance voyages these days are along the coastline, and ships often need to call at the port for supplies. Therefore, although Lianzhou Port does not have obvious advantages in its own specialty products, its geographical location is very important.
As a traditional foreign trade port, Guangzhou was originally very important. In addition, the Tang Dynasty promoted the development of industry and commerce. In Guangzhou, not only could you purchase a large number of traditional Chinese specialties, but you could also purchase glass, soap, toilet soap, cheap cloth, etc.
Emerging industrial products.
At the same time, Guangzhou has a huge demand for various materials transported by maritime trade. For example, cotton from India and other regions, spices from Southeast Asian countries, precious wood, sails, saltpeter, sulfur and many other raw materials are all produced in Guangzhou.
needs.
Those maritime merchants were able to obtain generous returns after transporting the goods to Guangzhou for sale, and then purchased large quantities of Chinese export goods.
Quanzhou, a newly opened port, focuses on tea. The tea production in Fujian is very large, and it is also the main export commodity there.
Ningbo has both tea and silk. In northern Zhejiang, it is a traditional raw silk production area with high quality. It is also an important tea production area and has great advantages in specialty products.
As for Shanghai, tea and raw silk resources are equally abundant. At the same time, it is backed by the prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River and has a huge market. At the same time, this port is also the intersection of the north and the south and the starting point of the Yangtze River route. The transportation advantages are quite huge, so Shanghai has become the trade port with the most development potential.
port.
Therefore, among the second batch of trading ports, the development of Shanghai far exceeded that of Ningbo and Quanzhou.
When the Ministry of Commerce planned the Shanghai Business District, the area even exceeded that of the Guangzhou Business District, and it used extremely valuable funds for the Ministry of Commerce to build the business district, level the land, build docks, etc.
Even before a rainy day, railways were laid directly during the construction stage to connect the dock area, warehouse area, and commercial area.
After Gerdes' ship docked at the pier, according to regulations, they could not directly enter the core area of the commercial area, but stayed in the quarantine area first.
These days, people bring a lot of germs with them when they go around, and Westerners don't like to take baths. In order to prevent outsiders from introducing infectious diseases, strict isolation measures have been implemented in every business district.
After landing, they must be cleaned and quarantined for a few days without obvious symptoms before they are allowed to leave the quarantine area and then enter the core area of the business district.
However, many Europeans believe that bathing is not allowed, so there are special arrangements for these people, that is, they are not allowed to enter the core area of the business district, but this will not prevent them from doing business, because in the isolation area, they can directly complete the goods
Sales, purchases and a series of other matters.
They don't even have to get off the ship to complete the transaction.
Gerdes naturally took a shower. After freshening up, he waited for another two days before he was allowed to leave the quarantine area with his entourage and enter the business area.
However, after he entered the business area, he went to sell the goods in person and handed over this task to his deputy. As for himself, he went to the officials of the business area with his entourage.
So this time, like the previous times, he also brought a special kind of goods: craftsmen!
And this is not the first time that Gerdes has done this, but has done it three times. In the first two times, he brought a total of more than a hundred craftsmen to the Tang Dynasty.
But this time, he brought more craftsmen, more than a hundred people.
Originally, he was planning to deliver the goods in Guangzhou, but officials from the Ministry of Commerce in Guangzhou asked him to deliver the goods to Shanghai Port. The Ministry of Industry and Engineering was building a large factory in Jiangnan, and the demand for various technical personnel was huge.
So Gerdes simply came to Shanghai Port directly with the goods and people.
Soon, with his special status, he easily met with the local Ministry of Commerce officials, negotiated a price, and seized this batch of special 'goods' on the spot.
The origin of this batch of goods is relatively complicated. They were all obtained by Gerdes through various means in various parts of Southeast Asia. Some came because of the favorable conditions offered by Gerdes, and some were obtained by Gerdes' subordinates.
The sailors directly threatened and lured them, or even kidnapped them directly.
There are Francois, Spaniards, Dutch, and even Arabs. In short, there are all kinds of random people.
But they all have one thing in common, that is, they are craftsmen who master one or more skills, and many of them are cannon-making craftsmen that the Tang Dynasty is in urgent need of.
In order to get these people on board, Gerdes spent a lot of effort and money. However, although the price sold to the Tang Dynasty was not cheap, if he calculated it carefully, he actually didn't make much money.
.
These days, traveling to sea is risky, the cost is very high, and if the profit is not several times higher, it is hard to say that you are making money.
But Gerdes didn't care. He did this craftsmanship business not to make money, but to get permission to naturalize.
Without these craftsmen, Gerdes would not have become the first naturalized citizen, and he would also be the only foreigner currently naturalized in the Tang Dynasty.
Taking advantage of this status, Gerdes's business has been doing quite well recently. In Guangzhou and Lianzhou, he has opened his own company: Gerdes Trading Company.
His company is said to be trading, but it mainly acts as a middleman. He collects various commodities from the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, and then directly sells them to former compatriots who come to Guangzhou to trade, such as the Franji people or businessmen from other countries, or
Purchase goods directly from foreign merchants and then transport them to various places in Guangdong and Guangxi for sale.
At the same time, his merchant ship is not idle. It travels between Guangzhou and Malacca every year. Because his goods are purchased directly from other areas of Guangdong and Guangxi, it is cheaper than other merchants purchasing in the business zone, so the profits are also higher.
big.
Rather than dealing with local Chinese, those foreigners preferred doing business with him, a foreigner.
This kind of second-hand dealer's business has made him very profitable. He has ordered a third merchant ship this year and is preparing to expand the size of his fleet.
After delivering all the goods and craftsmen on the ship, Gerdes did not rush to purchase the goods immediately to return to Guangzhou. Instead, he asked his men to continue purchasing goods in Shanghai, while he himself prepared to take the goods with him.
Follow him to Jinling City.
He is not an ordinary foreigner, but a foreigner with legal household registration in the Tang Dynasty, a serious citizen of the Tang Dynasty, so naturally he will not be restricted to the business zone and prohibited from entering other areas like other foreigners.
However, he also knew that his appearance was very different from that of the Chinese. In order to avoid being treated as an evil spirit and killed on the road, he specially made connections with the Ministry of Commerce and contacted the Navy, preparing to take a patrol ship of the Navy.
The ship goes from Shanghai Port to Jiangyin. After arriving in Jiangyin, it will also follow the transportation team of the Army Logistics Department to Jinling.
Because the Yangzhou side was occupied by the Ming army, and built forts and deployed a large number of ships, the Yangtze River channel here was basically blocked. Even if the navy's Yangtze River fleet wanted to forcefully pass through, it would take a good time and a certain amount of endurance.
Loss.
However, the Yangtze River Basin east of Yangzhou was under the supervision of the Tang Navy. Many warships were deployed and forts were built in Jiangyin, so the Yangtze River Basin east of Jiangyin was safe for the Tang Navy.
Many transport ships arrived in Jiangyin, unloaded their cargo, and then transported supplies via land routes and dense water networks to Jinling City and other places in the south of the Yangtze River.
Gerdes was able to contact the navy to take him for a ride, naturally not because he gave him money or anything. Even if he gave him a lot of money, the navy would not take him to the warship!
Mainly because the navy saw that he had brought hundreds of craftsmen this time, and this time it was remembered that several of the craftsmen brought by Gerdes were proficient in the technology of manufacturing large-caliber artillery.
For the army and navy, among these craftsmen, gunsmiths are of great value, especially craftsmen who can make large-caliber artillery.
After all, the navy and army did not want to see this businessman who worked hard to recruit cannon makers for the Tang Dynasty being beaten to death on the road by people who did not know the truth because of his strange appearance.
That’s why I took Gerdes with me!
After staying in Shanghai Port for a few days, Gerdes waited until the Navy ship was ready to set off. He was picked up by Navy personnel with several of his entourage, and then went straight to Jinling!