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Thursday, January 1, 1626, New Year's Day.

The green belt with a large number of snowflakes is draped in red and green, and the streets and alleys of Manchester are decorated with bright ribbons and colorful lanterns, and another Gregorian New Year's festival is being staged, and almost everyone on the streets is wearing new clothes and hats, and carrying large bags and small bags.

From the Winter Solstice Festival ten days ago, Christmas a week ago, to the current New Year's Day of the Gregorian calendar, to the Laba Festival at the end of the month and the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival next month, this series of festivals will span almost two months, and it is also the most concentrated period of domestic residents' consumption. Shops of all sizes have put up banners with discounted consumption signs, competing for the annual spending boom of the capital's residents as much as possible.

I don't know if it was influenced by the European citizens of Christmas a year ago, but since the day of the Winter Solstice Festival, the City God Temple in the northern district of Manchester City has also been crowded with people every day, with an influx of Chinese from all over the world, and the incense is extremely prosperous. No matter what Xiyi Church Chinese City God Temple is, they all express their inner piety and sustenance in the festive atmosphere where the old and the new intersect.

In the sparse snowflakes, the Hussar Short Shirt-class flying clipping merchant ship slowly approached the civilian dock in the western part of Long Island. According to the relevant regulations of the customs, the wharf where the Hussar docked belongs to the domestic commodity logistics zone, and the wharf tax officer begins to check the list of commodities and conducts warehouse sampling inspections in accordance with the established work process, and then issues a tax bill of "domestic commodity logistics tax".

Because he had listened to the warnings of the crew in advance, Zhao Mingchuan had already changed into a thicker cotton robe before getting off the ship, but even so, when approaching Manchester Bay, Zhao Mingchuan was still a little cold by the rapidly turning temperature.

didn't have time to admire the overlapping bustling and lively urban area in the distance, Zhao Mingchuan just looked nervously at the European tax officer in front of him. It was not until the other party completed the sampling inspection and stamped the discharge list that he breathed a sigh of relief. Now Zhao Mingchuan is already the general manager of the "Bermuda Mingxing Trading Company".

It can be said that Di Zugong has really worked hard to promote the Chinese citizens of Bermuda to engage in commercial trade, not only in the past six months, several trade-oriented Chinese trading companies have been established, and even Di Zugong himself has hidden behind the scenes to support a large number of shares. But on the table, the legal persons of these trading companies are all local Chinese residents of Bermuda. For example, this Mingxing Trading Company was established by Di Zugong who was invited to participate in the Shuangwan City Chinese Business Association on the National Day, with a registered capital of only 5,000 US dollars.

At the time of the injection, Di Zugong added $2,000. In fact, it should have accounted for 40% of the shares, but Di Zugong "lent" 40% of his shares to Zhao Mingchuan, and after persuading Zhao Mingchuan to handle the official settlement right in Shuangwan City, Bermuda, Zhao Mingchuan became the front desk helmsman of the company as a major shareholder, and Di Zugong was only a leisurely chairman behind him. to this result. Zhao Mingchuan has been a little foggy until now.

However, after all, Zhao Mingchuan was full of poetry and books, and he had already experienced the way of business in China and the United States, so in line with the idea of repaying the grace of dripping water, Zhao Mingchuan devoted himself to it after the establishment of Mingxing Company. Now that he came to Manchester, the capital of the United States, for the first time to fulfill the sales contract, Zhao Mingchuan was nervous and excited.

In one of the holds of the chartered State Ocean Shipping Company's Hussar clippers, 20 tons of Bermuda-grown vegetables and fruits were in a hold. In the two days since leaving Shuangwan City, two small Chinese followers of Mingxing Company, who followed Zhao Mingchuan to deliver goods, carried large buckets of fresh water to pour vegetables and fruits almost every few hours. In order to ensure the freshness of the goods. Today, most of these seaborne fruits and vegetables, which are valuable during the winter months, are still fresh.

"Oh, Mr. is Mr. Zhao Boss Zhao of 'Mingxing Company'?" Zhao Mingchuan, who was walking out of the wharf tax office and staring at the contents of the lines on the tax bill in a daze, suddenly found a middle-aged Chinese man with a fat body wrapped in a thick cotton robe and sweating profusely appeared in front of him. also has a strong Cantonese Mandarin.

"It's Zhao Mingchuan below, and it's ...... to be a respectful driver" Zhao Mingchuan hurriedly put away the tax bill and saluted with both hands.

"Polite, polite. Under the 'Qilong Company' Wu Sheng. Haha, ran most of my dock. I've found you! The fat man surnamed Wu smiled and squinted, looking very enthusiastic.

"Mingchuan has eyes but doesn't know Mount Tai, it turns out that you are Boss Wu of the Qilong! I am very ashamed, the ship should have been delivered yesterday, but the fresh goods of vegetables and fruits were slow in the field, and the sea was still a day late, and Mingchuan made amends here! ”

Seeing that the owner of the goods was in front of him, Zhao Mingchuan was flustered again and hurriedly made a move.

"Although it is the first acquaintance, seeing Boss Zhao's words, he is really a person of faith! Just now, Wu was brave and had already boarded the ship to see the goods. Although it was slow for a day, so much fell unexpectedly to Wu! To tell you the truth, since the Winter Solstice Festival, the people of Beijing have been hard to find, but you gave me a big deal! Haha, it's easy to say, it's easy to say! ”

In the normal season of the capital, the daily consumption of vegetables and fruits is about 15 tons, and the average price of a kilogram of vegetables is only 8 cents, but now in winter, even if there are winter greenhouse vegetables from West Point Town and Silver Valley Town, the market supply is still falling rapidly, and the price of vegetables has risen to an average of 15 cents a kilogram, and fruits are even more expensive.

Bermuda, with its warm seasons, is naturally the largest supplier of fresh vegetables and fruits in the capital city of Manchester during this season. Ming Hing Trading Company's main business is to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from fruit and vegetable growers in Double Bay, Bermuda, and then sell them to Manchester, which is now known as Kai Loong Food Trading Company. It is said that Kai Loong Food Trading Company has been supplying many fruit and vegetable stores in the West District of Long Island in Manca for a long time, and the business is very good.

The two talked and chatted, and under the guidance of Wu Sheng, the two went directly to a high-end restaurant in the west side of Long Island. Seeing that the other party attached so much importance to this business, Zhao Mingchuan also secretly pinched his sweat in excitement.

"According to the previous contract, vegetables are 10 cents per kilogram and fresh fruits are 20 cents per kilogram." Wu Sheng didn't know where to conjure up an abacus, so he crackled on the dinner table, but in a few tens of seconds, the result was calculated, "It's a total of 3,200 yuan, do you see it wrong?" ”

After speaking. Wu Sheng took out a stack of fixed checks from his arms, directly counted out the transaction money, and handed it to Zhao Mingchuan's desktop. Then he looked at Zhao Mingchuan's face with a strange smile.

did not classify the types of goods in detail, and simply signed the supply contract with the unified pricing of "vegetables" and "fruits", knowing that the other party must be doing business for the first time, Wu Sheng was secretly proud in his heart.

"Oh...... Accuse, accuse! Zhao Mingchuan was stunned for a few seconds, finally understood what it meant, and quickly took out a stack of fixed amount invoices from his pocket. also counted the corresponding amount and put it in front of the other party.

"Haha, Boss Zhao is cool!" Wu Sheng raised his wine glass in laughter.

Zhao Mingchuan may not be very clear about some details, such as saving these invoices, Wu Sheng can go to receive a corporate tax rebate of 2% of the total invoice amount every six months, especially for a large number of enterprises such as Qilong Food Trading Company. So in China USA. Regardless of size, as long as it is a commodity purchase transaction between enterprises, the purchaser will ask the seller for a fixed amount invoice, which can be regarded as consolidating the current tax system from the side.

Maybe he felt that he had made a lot of money from the other party this time, and after Wu Sheng explained the meaning of the tax stamps very kindly, Zhao Mingchuan smiled stiffly, and it was difficult to adapt to this kind of straightforward business activities. But after a few glasses of wine. Zhao Mingchuan also talked a little more.

As they spoke, the two talked about the topic of Christmas "Cross Day" in China and the United States. Although I have seen the daily beliefs and rituals of European citizens in Shuangwan City, Bermuda, it is so overseas that the former Song Dynasty country is actually popular. It made Zhao Mingchuan feel a little uncomfortable in his heart, and as soon as he drank too much wine, he couldn't help but say how he felt.

“…… For the good to be rewarded in the end, there is a Buddha in the heart. Huayi Tongle. It is also the beautiful scenery of my China and the United States, and Boss Zhao is not used to seeing it in Shuangwan City? Wu Sheng shook his head. It looks very "old-fashioned".

"Respecting ghosts and gods, respecting sages, seeking common ground while reserving differences, abiding by the law and loving the country is the original meaning of the people's ethics...... Mingchuan was taught, which made Boss Wu smile......" Zhao Mingchuan seemed to have some doubts, bowed deeply, and looked sincere.

……

I don't know how much wine he drank, but Zhao Mingchuan finally returned to the hotel under the leadership of his little follower. After closing the door and taking a few sips of sobering tea, Zhao Mingchuan spread out the account book and began to carefully check the income from this first transaction.

The total purchase cost of 20 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables in Shuangwan City, Bermuda, is only $1,800, the total sales price is $3,200, and the gross profit is easily $1,400. However, the difference of $1,400 was not the final profit, and the sum of several tax costs made Zhao Mingchuan frown.

The "domestic commodity import and export logistics tax" paid by the wharf tax office, which is $3 per ton for vegetables and fruits, is a total of $60; A fixed invoice for the sale of goods purchased at the Twin Bay City Revenue Department in Bermuda also paid a 10 per cent domestic sales tax of $320 for the transaction. If you add other miscellaneous social shared tax items, the total tax burden of this transaction is as high as 420 US dollars! After deducting freight, loading and unloading and other miscellaneous expenses, the final profit is only $900.

Even so, from the perspective of Daming, a "simple" "simple" business that lasted more than two days made more than 600 taels of silver, and if you run like this once or twice a month, the income is like this, wouldn't it be nearly 10,000 taels of silver net profit a year? ! The total opening cost of Mingxing Company is only 5,000 US dollars.

At this point, Zhao Mingchuan couldn't help but gasp. Even if he had been mentally prepared before, he really showed it once now, making Zhao Mingchuan stand up and walk back and forth in the room hurriedly.

"Huamei Jingyi is prosperous in terms of goods and colonization, and the people's needs are very prosperous, so the water and land commercial transportation is dense......"

"The heaviness of taxes and miscellaneous taxes is rare in the world. The first acquaintance is like a snake, scorpion, tiger and wolf, and then I heard the words of the beautiful people: the country's tax income is taken from the people and used by the people. Therefore, such a heavy tax is also regarded as the righteousness of businessmen in China and the United States......"

"Although there are many tax items, the calculation is smooth and orderly, and all parties perform their duties, and there is no extortion and apportionment. Mingchuan's trip this time also made a lot of profits, with a rough one-time profit of more than 1,000 ......"

After walking several laps, Zhao Mingchuan hurriedly unfolded his pen and ink and carefully wrote down his experience one by one. Almost every time I write a paragraph, I have to read it several times, and I feel a lot of emotion in my heart.

"My Daming City's foreign merchant tax is close to nothing, and the imperial court adds a little, that is, the heavens are angry and the people are resentful, how can this China and the United States weigh it?" Halfway through writing, thinking of the current situation of Daming, Zhao Mingchuan sighed deeply. It's even more incomprehensible.

Of course, Zhao Mingchuan will not be able to comprehend these things for a while. Although he had asked many times before, that Di Zugong always said that he would let Zhao Mingchuan experience it himself. Therefore, Zhao Mingchuan plans to return to Shuangwan City, Bermuda, after this transaction, and ask Di Zugong for advice.

Thinking of this, Zhao Mingchuan was a little relieved, and planned to continue to enter the city tomorrow, take a look around, and purchase a batch of goods by the way to return to Shuangwan City for sale. Then seize the last business before the Spring Festival and Chinese New Year's Eve, and sell a larger batch of vegetables and fruits to Qilong Company.

……

Early in the morning, Zhao Mingchuan took a company salesman to the port bulk trade logistics area. After a night of tossing and turning, Zhao Mingchuan, who had tasted the benefits of business for the first time, had let go of his hands and feet, and planned to draw a perfect end to this return trip.

He has been living in Double Bay City, Bermuda for almost half a year. Under long-term observation, Zhao Mingchuan has also seen many details of Shuangwan City, and has a grasp of the daily needs of local residents. Since Shuangwan City does not have any local coal resources, and the city government strictly prohibits the cutting of cypress trees for firewood, and the daily fuel consumption on the island is completely dependent on external inputs, Zhao Mingchuan directly chose Huamei honeycomb coal and lamp oil as the key purchase objects this time.

Huamei honeycomb coal, which is composed of raw coal, carbonized sawdust, lime, yellow mud, charcoal powder and other mixed base materials, plus flammable accelerants such as nitrate, burns for up to an hour. It is basically smokeless and tasteless, and the combustion is complete, and the calorific value efficiency of combustion is almost comparable to that of liquefied gas in later generations.

The largest local producer of Huamei honeycomb coal is Li Xiang's father-in-law, Kenraton's Delaware Building Materials Company, which is only in the domestic market. Last year, Huamei spent 10 million pieces of honeycomb coal. When the People's Republic of China was founded, Li Xiang directly purchased the exclusive patent management right of this honeycomb coal from the Ministry of Industry, and then authorized the production. At present, this kind of crude industrial product with low technology content but huge market consumption. Li Xiang's original decision was very far-sighted.

Today, Delaware Building Materials Company not only supplies most of the domestic honeycomb coal market. Even in Virginia, England, and Cuba, Spain, Huamei honeycomb coal is more popular.

The wholesale price of 10 pieces of Huamei honeycomb coal is only 3 cents, but in Shuangwan City, it is 10 cents for redistribution to local shops, and the retail price is as high as 15 cents, which is very profitable. Zhao Ming bought 100,000 pieces of honeycomb coal in one go, but it only cost $300.

When paying the bill, I felt that the company's small business follower was pulling his sleeve vigorously, and Zhao Mingchuan was a little inexplicable. After going out and muttering to the business assistant, Zhao Mingchuan suddenly realized.

It turned out that Zhao Mingchuan only cared about calculating the price difference and ignored the freight. 100,000 pieces of honeycomb coal, with a total weight of 100 tons, according to the freight of 3 US dollars per ton and the port handling fee of 1 US dollar, not counting the various taxes and fees that need to be paid, the total cost reaches 700 US dollars. The gross profit of distributing all of them to shops in Shuangwan City at one time is only $300, which is much less cost-effective than the profits of the vegetable and fruit trade on the road.

This time, Zhao Mingchuan suddenly felt a little regretful, and he couldn't wait to go back in time and choose a more valuable commodity again. However, on the way back to the hotel, Zhao Mingchuan calmed down. If you think about it carefully, there is no such thing as a windfall in the world, and even if you only go back and forth to Shuangwan City once a month to engage in honeycomb coal trade, the cumulative profits in a year are very rich, compared with many small private traders in China and the United States, the total profit in a year is only two or three thousand US dollars. Only by being down-to-earth and accumulating steadily, may be the key to a businessman's success.

It seems that after eating the sweetness of doing business for the first time, it is inevitable that the demon of "people's hearts are not enough to swallow elephants", and he almost fell into it. Under personal experience, the benefits of this business are really tempting demons, and it is no wonder that the Ming businessmen and others are ashamed of the world. When Zhao Mingchuan thought of this, he actually broke out in a cold sweat in winter, and most of the colds were cured.

Subsequently, Zhao Mingchuan rushed to the wholesale lamp oil of Standard Oil Company in North America with his small followers, and purchased 4 tons of Huamei lamp oil, which was popular in the market, at a cost of 300 US dollars per ton. This kind of oil is currently one of the most sought-after commodities in China, and the domestic supply is not abundant, and it can be sold at a price of $400 per ton when it is shipped to Bermuda.

The cost of shale oil refining and processing of the Standard Oil Company of North America is simply a dead business in the later generations, and the exchange rate of the later generations is calculated, and the domestic wholesale price of 300 US dollars (equivalent to more than 45,000 soft sister coins) 1 ton of fuel oil is like the sky-high price of the end of the world, but since the 17th century, the surge in demand for lamp oil in Europe is indeed the earliest commercial driving force for the modern petrochemical industry. Combined with Huamei's characteristic energy-saving fuel lamps, Huamei's high-quality lamp oil's hygiene and lighting efficiency far exceed today's inferior oil in Europe, and most families with slightly better families love to use this "clean" lamp oil.

Another day, after being busy with loading and other affairs, Zhao Mingchuan confidently stepped on the merchant ship on the return journey. Looking back at the bustling and noisy Manchester City Wharf, the young scholar was full of emotion.