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Honk......

The steamer's whistle screamed, startling Adrian, who was a little distracted, and the port of Ningbo was bustling with ships shuttling back and forth. The steamer spitting billowing smoke passed by, and the snow-white waves stirred up the bow of the boat, stirring up the waves in the harbor and rushing to the shore, and the small boats in the bay jolted violently. The docks are moored with foreign steamers, the rice flag, the star-striped flag, the French tricolor, and colorful flags, fluttering in the sea breeze, showing the prosperity of the port.

However, in fact, as one of the five treaty ports agreed to be opened up in the "Nanjing Treaty", Ningbo, a port with a very long history, did not regain yesterday's prosperity because of the opening of the treaty port, in fact, under the competition of the five major treaty ports, the port of Ningbo became increasingly depressed.

The reason for this is very simple: among the five major treaty ports, Guangzhou has its history of hundreds of years of treaty ports, as for Fuzhou and Xiamen, there are tea and other local conveniences, and Shanghai is close to the geographical advantages of the Husi production area and the Yangtze River estuary, in contrast, Ningbo, except for a historical port prosperity, there is no other. Moreover, its western part is blocked by the Siming Mountain Range, and there is little contact with other counties and cities in the mainland, and its southern part is blocked by the Tiantai Mountain Range, so the direct hinterland of Ningbo Port is only limited to the area where the port is located, and the connection with the mainland is only connected to the urban and rural areas of the mainland by the Zhedong Canal. However, the transportation conditions of the Zhedong Canal have fallen into disrepair, resulting in narrow rivers and siltation, which seriously hinders the navigation of merchant ships.

It is for this reason that this port, which seems to be a historic port on which foreign merchants had great hopes, has been confined to its hinterland disadvantage, and instead of regaining its prosperity by opening the port, it has become increasingly decaying, to be the simplest example of which was less than £120,000 worth of trade last year.

The opening of the port of Shanghai, which is close at hand, has seriously affected the trade of the port of Ningbo, as well as the merchants here.

"Perhaps, you should leave here and go to Shanghai......"

A few years ago, when he came to China, he did not choose Guangzhou or the emerging Shanghai, but like his ancestors, he chose Ningbo, which in the records of his ancestors was an extremely prosperous city that could bring wealth.

But the result is quite the opposite. He spent tens of thousands of francs on the construction of the French-style two-story building as a base camp for foreign firms in China, but then fell into a tradable situation.

How so?

Because the port of Ningbo did not prosper again as people imagined, its position was completely replaced by Shanghai, which is hundreds of kilometers away, compared to Ningbo, Shanghai has too many advantages. Because of this, many merchants left the place and went to Shanghai, but Adrian could not leave - because he had spent too much capital here, but what if he did not leave?

Maybe it will slowly die out, if you can recoup your investment......

"Mr. Taipan,"

Suddenly, after a knock on the door, Adrian's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of his subordinates.

"Mr. Xi Zhimo of Huayuan Ocean Travel asks to see you!"

Huayuan Ocean Travel?

What kind of foreign company is this? Is it a newly established foreign company? Do they want to open a branch in Ningbo? If you want to buy your own property, if this is the case, your biggest problem will be solved!

"Quick, I want to meet him!"

When the footsteps came, Adrian's eyes were still staring at the door, and then he saw a smiling face, a Chinese, not different from people from other countries, the French who had experienced the influence of the Revolution, there was never any racial discrimination, not to mention that this person would help him solve the problems in front of him.

Of course, this is just his personal opinion.

"Mr. Adrian!"

Entering Adrian's office, Xi Zhimo made a bow, and after raising his head, he saw the expectation in the other party's expression, and the other party's reaction made him laugh secretly in his heart, this foreign devil, I'm afraid I really didn't expect that someone would send him a big business now.

After a moment of distraction, Adrian calmed down again, immediately smiled, and warmly invited Xi Zhimo to sit down, without a trace of European contempt for colored people, let alone any hostility, in fact, his ancestors relied on trade with China to earn the first pot of gold, and he has always had an inexplicable good feeling for the Chinese.

"Mr. Xi, welcome to you, why, are you here to open a branch or an agency here?"

For Adrian, he prefers to believe that the other party is here to open a branch, and only then can he dispose of the property and head to Shanghai, which is full of opportunities.

"No, Mr. Adrian, I'm here to make a deal with you!"

Xi Zhimo's answer made Adrian laugh, and then he stared at Xi Zhimo and asked.

"Mr. Xi, I don't know what kind of business you want to talk about?"

Adrian's heart almost jumped to his throat, in a way, the person in front of him was his lifeline, as long as he seized this opportunity, he could get out of the current predicament, instead of being trapped here to guard the family history.

"That's right, Mr. Adrian!"

After a pause, Xi Zhimo picked up the cup on the table, and the cup was coffee, which was the most commonly used means by foreign businessmen, taking advantage of this bitter black coffee without sugar and milk, taking the opportunity to peek into the hearts of Chinese businessmen, but ...... But he is used to black coffee, and in Europe, coffee is cheaper than tea, and black coffee without sugar and milk is naturally the cheapest coffee.

The bitterness of the black coffee in the mouth had a different taste in Xi Zhimo's heart, he just tasted the strong aroma when it was in the mouth, and then said slowly.

"To tell you the truth, the reason why I came to Ningbo is not to open an office or branch here, this time I brought back a lot of silk goods on the ship, although it is not spring silk, but, Mr. Adrian, you should know that this year's production of raw silk in France and Italy has become a foregone conclusion, so ......"

His brows jumped slightly, what did he say? Isn't he trying to buy his own house, but selling his own raw silk? What does that mean? Raw silk? The supply of raw silk in Ningbo is very limited, and although France needs raw silk, it can never be purchased here.

"Is it Tusi, or?"

Although he was very disappointed, Adrian would never refuse to deliver business to his door, so he asked tentatively,

"Tusi! Finest raw silk! ”

Sent a sample of a bunch of raw silk to Adrian, and then Xi Zhimo sipped his coffee and stopped talking.

Almost as soon as he arrived at the wharf, he used the contacts "borrowed" from Liu Yixuan to inquire about the local raw silk market in Ningbo, although Ningbo is not close to the raw silk production area, but the commercial houses here can always buy some raw silk, and the price he heard made him extremely satisfied, and the price is much higher than the current price in Shanghai.

However, because of the strength of foreign companies in Ningbo, it is obviously impossible to sell thousands of bags of raw silk at a time, although these raw silk only need two or three large foreign companies to eat, but there are no foreign companies with this strength in Ningbo.

After some choices, he chose Adrian's foreign company, the reason why he chose this foreign company is not only because it has a certain strength, but more importantly, he has been trapped in Ningbo and is eager to leave this place, and this batch of raw silk is an opportunity for him to leave Ningbo.

Of course, there is also the fact that Adrian comes from a French business family, and his family has a trading seat on the Raw Silk Exchange in Lyon, which means that he does not need to worry about the pressure of other foreign companies in China, and he values the interests more than the pressure of other foreign houses.

As long as there are enough interests, it is bound to be able to help Zhu Yifeng overcome this current difficulty - to buy his raw silk that has accumulated in the warehouse.

"Can I know how much raw silk there is?"

"Five hundred quintals!"

"What!"

Eyes wide in surprise, Adrian could hardly believe his ears, five hundred quintals! Even last year, Ningbo Port did not export so much raw silk.

"Are there really that many?"

"Of course!"

In the face of the other party's doubts, Xi Zhimo deliberately emphasized.

"If you have enough funds, maybe more, say 1000 pieces, or even more, it's possible, my friend! Of course, the premise is that you can come up with enough funds. ”

Taking a deep breath, Adrian looked at the sample in front of him, although the quality of these white silk is slightly inferior to that of lake silk, it can still be called a first-class product, and if it is shipped back to Europe to make "re-reeling silk", its quality is in no way inferior to that of lake silk.

"Well, in that case, let's talk about the payment method!"