The price system of Colonia textiles collapsed completely after a small deal between the East Coast and the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce. The merchants of La Plata, who had received the news, were no longer going to buy the high-priced goods of the British, the local merchants who had joined the Rodrigues Chamber of Commerce were anxiously awaiting the allocation of quotas from the Chamber of Commerce, while those from Santa Fe and even further afield Asunción were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next East Coasters. Some of them were even ready to avoid the eyes and ears of the Rodrigues Chamber of Commerce and sneak from the interior to the territory of the East Coast Republic to procure.

The English merchants watched this scene with gloomy faces and were speechless for a long time.

"The selling price of cotton cloth is only 8 shillings (1 pound = 20 shillings ≈ 4 yuan) a horse, and the wool cloth is only 6 pounds and 5 shillings a horse, are these East Coasters crazy?!" George Hampton was a little angry, "Can they make money at this price?" That's impossible! Unless... What they sell is stolen goods! Mr. Sheldon, Mr. Clifford, La Plata is our market, we can't afford to lose it, I paid the entrance fee, this is our market. ”

"Yes, gentlemen." John Hill, a woolen merchant, also shouted, "As you have just heard, these East Coasters will continue to sell cotton cloth and woolen wool in a month's time, and they are ready to compete with us for a long time. If we don't react appropriately, we may lose the market altogether. ”

Peter Sheldon and William Clifford fell silent, apparently unexpectedly unexpected, and things were getting tricky.

"Mr. Clifford, have any ships of the East India Company gone missing lately? I'm talking about the kind of cargo that loads cotton. Peter Sheldon, a middle-ranking merchant and woolen merchant of the merchant Adventure Company, turned to his head and asked, "Perhaps we should try to find out where the cotton cloth sold by these East Coasters came from, whether they produced it themselves or imported it from elsewhere?" ”

"Don't be so complicated, Hawke, you go to the docks, pay some money for those Rio Platans to allow you into their warehouses, take a closer look at the cloth of the East Coasters, and tell me when you come back, go quickly." William Clifford turned to one of his employees, who left.

For a moment, the crowd stood silent, waiting for the return of the East India Company employee. After a while, the employee named Hawke returned from the docks, nodded at William Clifford, and said, "The cotton cloth of the East Coast is light and breathable, silky, and has a good texture, much better quality than the Indian cotton we have on hand." It seems that as they themselves say, these cotton cloths are produced by themselves. ”

"Where's the velvet?" George Hampton asked nervously.

Hawke glanced at him, then affirmed, "Same." Their woolen fleece is tough and wear-resistant, but it feels delicate to the touch. Gentlemen, I think we should keep an eye on the people of the East Coast, for if they are not dumping at low prices, they must have a very low cost of production, that is to say, they can still make some profit at the present price, which we are already unprofitable. ”

Hawke's words, a group of businessmen large and small present felt a chill. The quality is not as good as the other party, and the price is much higher than the other party, how can this compete?

"Maybe we can ask our 'Spanish relatives' (1) for help, after all, losing the market in La Plata will also reduce their own income. Through them, they may be able to put pressure on the officials of La Plata through official channels to try to abolish the trade concessions of the East Coasters. Peter Sheldon asked tentatively to Clifford.

"You can give it a try, but don't expect too much." William Clifford nodded reservedly, "Besides, I am prepared to report this matter to the East India Company as soon as possible. What about you, Mr. Sheldon? When you get back to Hamburg or London, it's a good idea to report back to your senior management about what's going on here. The market in La Plata is unremarkable, but the nature of the matter is serious, and we may have met a great competitor. Textile exports account for more than 60 per cent of the Kingdom's total merchandise exports every year, and we must be careful about this matter. ”

"And what about these goods?" John Hill cautiously asked, "If I can't sell it this time, it will be half a year before I come next time, and oh my God, with such a large amount of goods in my hands, my cash flow will be problematic." ”

"To Rio de Janeiro, to São Paulo, to Bahia, to Cartagena, to Veracruz...... Fuck all the ports where you can sell these damn goods! Anyway, don't stay in Colonia anymore, let's go, John, let's stop grinding. Hurry up and get out of here, I'm fed up with the salty sea breeze here! George Hampton took John Hill's arm and walked towards the docks.

The British merchants were not in a good mood when the goods were not selling well, and soon they left the place and returned to their temporary warehouse. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the British, who had finished packing their goods, boarded their merchant ship, hoisted their sails, and silently left the dock and headed east.

……

After Xu Xin, Xiao Baitu and others saw off Alvaro and his son, they sat in a circle with excited faces, checking the harvest of the trip. 500 sabers were sold to the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce at a preferential price of 2 yuan each, earning 1,000 yuan; In addition, 100,000 red bricks were sold for 200 yuan; The biggest gain of this trip is those textiles, 1,000 cotton cloth and 300 woolen woolen sold at a "high price" of 9,100 yuan, and the gross profit margin exceeded 50%. Although it was expected, it was still a surprise. After removing the tax of 2,575 yuan (25% tax rate) to be paid by the government, the East Coast Company made a net profit of 2,525 yuan, which can be described as a huge profit.

"It's good, it's not good at all, the market in La Plata is still a little narrower after all." Tao Chenxi smacked her mouth, and said with some regret, "We only consume one or two thousand woolen wool wool horses every year, and if we support 10,000 cotton cloths, the profit that can provide us with a year is only about 30,000 yuan." Compared to our annual financial shortfall, this amount of money is of no avail. ”

"The low price of our textiles should bring some ordinary people who could not afford them to join the purchase, and the final annual consumption should be much higher than now, after all, the people in the La Plata region, especially Paraguay, are still quite wealthy, and their purchasing power will not be small. In addition, it is hoped that the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce will be as strong as Álvaro says, so that we can sell goods to Chile and Upper Peru through him. Those areas are densely populated and the people's spending power is also very strong, which should be able to drive the sales of our textiles to a new level. "Moreover, Brazil has a population several times that of La Plata, and the level of affluence is comparable, which is suitable for us to dump products." And our competitors are still these old British, the so-called 'Mercosur' will only be dominated by our Eastern Republic in the future, and the British must get out of the way! ”

"Well said!" Tao Chenxi was a little excited by the prospect described by Xu Xin, "When we go back, we will buy machines, recruit workers, and expand production." Grandma's, just fight with the British this time. I still don't believe it, if our mechanized industrial production can't fight their backward system of combining rural wool spinning and handicraft workshops, then let's just find a piece of tofu and kill it. ”

"It's easy to buy a machine, we can build it ourselves. But what about raw materials? How to fix it? Minghui, who had been silent, interjected at this time, "Industrial production requires sufficient sources of raw materials and a broad dumping ground for commodities, both of which are indispensable. If the problem of raw materials is not solved, we can easily be stuck in the neck. ”

"It has to be planned." Xu Xin thought for a while before he said: "On the one hand, we are trying to find ways to buy, and on the other hand, we must also base ourselves on ourselves. We need to expand our sheep population, and we must raise both long-wool and short-wool sheep on a large scale, and form large-scale grazing as soon as possible. In addition, cotton planting should also be on the agenda. The climate in the northern section of Yahu Lake is barely suitable for planting cotton, okay, I will report to the Ministry of Trade and the Executive Committee when I go back, and this matter should be implemented as soon as possible, and strive to form a certain planting scale within a few years. ”

"Speaking of which, we still have to rely on outsourcing in the short term." Minghui continued to pour cold water and said, "Don't blame me for not reminding me. In this era, textile exports were the lifeblood of British finances and were known as national industries. If the British become angry, I am afraid that they will find us desperately. ”

"You mean the British will wage war against us? This... Can't you? Xiao Baitu said in surprise.

"It is not necessary to go to war directly, after all, the example of the Spaniards is here, and their expedition is a hundred times more difficult than the Spaniards. But they have other tricks, have you forgotten what kind of country Britain is? You're no stranger to the famous Drake, right? That's a pirate nation! When the king gives his subordinates some privateer permits, and then you will find that many British ships are coming like wolves, attacking our transports, destroying our raw material imports, blocking our dumping grounds, and even blocking our coastlines, so that we can afford it? ”

"Don't say it, it's really possible." Xiao Baitu sighed and said, "Damn, let's make some money, who are we provoking whom?" Why is it so hard! ”

"Don't say it's useless." Xu Xin interrupted Xiao Baitu's lament and said, "No matter how difficult things are, we have to do them!" Do you think that even if we give up on textiles, no one will come to trouble us? Hmph, that just shows you're naïve! The Ministry of the Interior had just caught two Spaniards spying on intelligence near the arsenal a few days ago, and it is no wonder that our artillery is far superior to that of the Europeans. This is the first batch, and there will be more in the future, and the French, the Dutch, the British, and so on are coveting our skills. Therefore, we must not be afraid to do things, but must face difficulties. Of course, sometimes you have to pay attention to strategy, and I will report this matter to the Executive Committee for discussion. Alright, pack up your things, let's get out too! ”

(1) "Spanish relatives": At that time, many British merchants in Seville looked for some so-called "Spanish relatives", and these Spaniards without exception had a certain influence in the West Indies or the royal family. After receiving the benefits, they issued entry and exit documents to these British ships, and said that they were their own merchant ships, and took the initiative to report to the Spanish customs and pay the duties, and then the British ships were transformed into Spanish ships, and sailed unhindered to the American colonies for trade. At that time, Spain could only supply 5%~10% of the commodities needed by Spain's American colonies, and the rest needed to be imported, so this disguised smuggling trade was extremely popular for a while.

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