In December 1634, with the installation of the last 20 machines, the workers began to carry out trial production, so far the first phase of the entire Ping An Machine Weaving Factory was completed, and the factory entered an intense production process. By the end of the month, the factory produced more than 5,000 pieces of cotton cloth, plus more than 3,000 horses produced in November, which were stored in the warehouse, announcing the official operation of Ping An Machine Weaving Factory.

At the same time, the machine weaving mill of the East Bank Company on the banks of the Big Fish River is also producing in an orderly manner, with a monthly output of 250 woolen woolen and 1,000 cotton cloths completely occupying the market in La Plata. The cheap East Coast textiles have greatly boosted consumption in the La Plata region, and the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce has been urging the goods again and again, because the current production can only meet the needs of La Plata, and the neighboring regions of Upper Peru and Chile are also in great demand, waiting for goods to occupy the market. To this end, the East Coast Company is also now considering a small-scale expansion in the extrusion area on the banks of the Big Fish River.

The whole country is showing a thriving prosperity.

At the beginning of January 1635, just after New Year's Day, all five warships that had been reorganized into the First Fleet of the Republic of East China on the East Coast: "August 10th", "East Coast Eagle", "Red Trout", "Beagle" and "Sea Writer" slowly sailed out of the military dock of Dongfang Port after replenishing a large amount of ammunition, drinking water and food, spare ship materials and canvas. In the next few months, the fleet of more than 1,000 men and 164 large-caliber naval guns will go to the Caribbean for "trade" and "sea trials". Of course, this is just an official statement, in fact, everyone knows what this powerful fleet is going to do, and the thirst for money in this new country is too strong!

The battleship "10 August" was the first time that it had made such a long voyage since it was put into active service, and the longest voyage before that was to deliver a batch of supplies to the Falklands. On this trip to the Caribbean Sea, Rear Admiral Lu Ming, commander of the fleet, still used the purpose of replacing training with battle, so that the newcomers on the "10 August" could complete the run-in and form combat effectiveness as soon as possible.

Before the fleet set off, the Minister of Trade, Xu Xin and Sun Bo, were temporarily joined by order of the Executive Committee, carrying about 5,000 horses of cotton cloth and 300 tons of potatoes, and when the fleet arrived in the Caribbean, Lu Ming would arrange for ships to take them to Bordeaux, where it was time to reopen the trading station.

In mid-March, the ships of the Navy of the Republic of the East Coast arrived again at the port of Cap-de-France in Santo Domingo, France, after a gap of more than half a year. The inhabitants of Cap-de-France warmly welcomed the naval officers of the Eastern Republic of the Republic of the East Coast, as they bought large quantities of vegetables, fruits, cereals, dairy products and meat during each of their stops, as well as sold some of the goods needed by the local population, and the mutual benefit between the two sides was quite harmonious.

Two days of rest in the sunny city of Cap-de-France. Two days later, Xu Xin and the laden "East Coast Falcon" and "Maritime Writer" joined a French merchant ship and left Cap-de-France for Bordeaux. Before they left, the piercing battleship "August 10th" had already left with two other gunboats and headed for the north. It is said that they were preparing to wander around the British colony. The British merchant ships laden with tobacco, indigo, and cotton came and went between the colony and the mainland, and as a captain who was interested in privateering at sea, Lu Ming had no reason to let them go.

On 1 May, the Eagle of the East Coast and the Writer of the Seas, which were passing through the Canary Islands of Spain, arrived in Bordeaux under the guidance of the Pasquier family's ships and docked at the quay on the banks of the Gironde. Julien of the Pasquier family came to the docks with his servants to meet Xu Xin and the others, and Julian bought 300 tons of potatoes on the spot for 12 francs (60 yuan) per ton.

Today, the food famine in Europe shows no signs of abating, and food prices continue to rise. Since the beginning of 32, Poland, a traditional grain exporter, and Russia have fought a large-scale war for Smolensk, and grain exports have been interrupted for a time, which has led to a new round of grain prices in Central and Western Europe. In 1598, England imported 18,000 tonnes of grain from Poland at a cost of about £250,000, which at that time was less than £14 per tonne, but today, the price of wheat has climbed to nearly £50 (about 200 yuan) per tonne at its peak.

Although potatoes in the East Coast Republic of China were not the mainstream food on the table of Europeans at this time, in order to fill their stomachs, I believe that ordinary people can still make the right choice between expensive wheat and cheap potatoes. Although the price of each ton of potatoes is only 60 yuan, Xu Xin is still quite satisfied with this, which means that it can bring more than 100,000 yuan of income to the national treasury every year, and the ability to make money is almost on par with the textile industry.

No sooner had he hired someone to transport 5,000 pieces of cotton cloth to the house he had bought last year to serve as a trading post and warehouse, and Julian came to his door with a handful of skilled workers from the family's textile factory, who could not wait to inspect the goods.

"Julian, you can't wait, haha." Xu Xin smiled and said, "Don't worry, my friend, there is no flaw in the quality of 'East Coast Cloth'. This time, I brought 5,000 pieces of cotton cloth as the first fund to open a trading station, and the era of beauty is coming. Don't you need a drink? ”

Julian smiled and said, "Okay, let's have a drink." ”

"Wine or distilled brandy?" Xu Xin opened the wine cabinet and asked.

"Brandy, thank you."

Xu Xin poured a glass of wine for each of them, then clinked glasses and said, "Cheers to our upcoming era." ”

"Cheers." Julian took a sip of his wine and said, "My ship has already departed for the port of Orient at the beginning of January, can you provide enough cargo?" I need to double-check that my family and I have made a big bet on this. You know, there is no room for failure. ”

"Your ship will arrive at the port of Vostochny at the beginning of April, rest assured, if nothing else, we have produced more than 20,000 pieces of cotton cloth by that time, if not more. Think about it, more than 20,000 horses of cotton cloth were brought into Bordeaux, and then each horse was ...... Uh, by the way, what is the price you set for cotton? Xu Xin asked.

"10-11 su per horse (about 2.5-2.75 yuan)."

"Why are you setting such a high price?" Xu Xin frowned, and asked a little unpleasantly: "For many years, the price of cotton cloth in the Bordeaux market has been hovering between 12 and 14 su, and in recent years, the cotton production in the West Indies has been stable, and the price of cotton cloth has stabilized at about 12 su. My friend, this is the time when we should quickly break down our opponents with an impressive price and then dominate the market. But you have set an unsuitable price for the East Coast cloth, and tell me, Julian, can the price of 11 sous-ths per horse do that? ”

"Perhaps." Julian said with some embarrassment, "Now the raw materials, taxes, and transportation costs of the craftsmen add up to about 11 sousels per horse, and they make a little hard-earned money. At this price point, they are not competitive at all, and they have only one way to bankruptcy. ”

"You're targeting the craftsmen of Kuhaha?" Xu Xin looked at Julian with hatred and said, "Tell me!" Does the textile workshop cost only 10 sus per piece of cloth? Tell me! Wouldn't that only encourage them to band together and scale up to reduce costs? Tell me! Did the bankrupt handicraft weavers provide them with an abundance of cheap labor and skilled workers? Tell me! Wouldn't their costs be cheaper in this way? ”

Julian refused to speak.

Xu Xin drank the wine in the cup in one gulp, and then kept walking around the room before asking, "Who set this price?" ”

"It was Mr. Flores and Baron Loris of the Textile Guild who set the price together, and of course, if we insisted, they would have given our opinion to careful consideration." "In fact, my father's opinion is the same as theirs, they think that we can keep this price up front, and then adjust the price as the situation is necessary, so that we can make the most profit." ”

"Stupid!" Xu Xin said inwardly, "These guys probably don't think much about doing business for a long time, they are all short-sighted ghosts who are ready to get a ticket as soon as possible." They don't know how big this emerging cloth market is, and it can be said that Britain basically lived on this in the early stage of the industrial revolution. Short-sighted, short-sighted! ”

"Prices have to be adjusted." Xu Xin insisted, "The maximum price of each cotton cloth should not exceed 10 su. At this price, the cost of the artisans is too high, and they are the first to be eliminated. Next, the products of those manual workshops will also fall into the dilemma of unsalable, their quality is not as good as ours, and if they want to recover some of the cost, they will have to make a big price reduction. If they're clever enough, they should quickly dispose of what they have before we fill the market in large quantities. If they are slow to react, when tens of thousands of cotton pieces of our cotton cloth enter the market, the nightmare of loss will accompany them through every bleak night. ”

Julian nodded, but did not speak. After a while, several technical workers he brought with him finished sampling and inspecting the cotton cloth that Xu Xin had brought, and whispered a few words to Julian.

Julian breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and said with a smile: "The quality is very good, and it can be compared to the best products in my father's workshop." ”

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