Schneider continued: "From the current profit margin, glass products are undoubtedly the highest, and the gross profit margin is at least more than 100 times. But there is also a problem with glass products, that is, our current production capacity is still very limited, and it is simply unable to meet the huge consumer market in the mainland. ”

The issue of the production capacity of glass products has long attracted the attention of the Executive Committee, and a large area has been planned in the col between the Shengli Port Barracks and the Farm Commune for the construction of a special glass product base. However, because the glass manufacturing site has been in a state of high temperature and open flame for a long time, flammable bamboo and wood structures must not be used for safety reasons, and the production capacity of building materials such as masonry and cement is far from keeping up with the construction needs of many infrastructure projects, so the construction speed of the glass product base is also very slow. Next, the executive committee will probably give priority to the development plan of the new salt farm, and the building materials must be supplied to the salt farm for the project of expanding the territory outward, just as all the materials were given priority to the Heitu Port project. As a result, it is unlikely that there will be a significant increase in the production capacity of glass products at least this year.

"In the coming period, it is not only glass products that will have limited production capacity, but also soaps. Schneider sees the hidden problems under the current good trade conditions more clearly than these people here: "The problem of soap is mainly raw materials, whether it is animal fat, vegetable oil or soda ash, we have no way to produce it in large quantities now, if we want to increase production capacity at the current level, it is not enough to import raw materials from Guangzhou, we must wait until the soda ash production of the chemical sector increases." ”

"On the trade side, that's the rough picture. Schneider pointed out the potential problems and did not delve into them, after all, these people here are not members of the material production department, and discussing the production capacity of goods with them will not lead to anything.

"Lao He, tell me about the work at hand!" Schneider handed over the topic to He Xi.

After He Xi arrived in Guangzhou, on the one hand, he was responsible for intelligence gathering, and on the other hand, he was also organizing immigration. After the arrival of the second echelon, some of the work at hand will be handed over to his new colleagues, and it is definitely necessary to give a briefing first. He Xi cleared his throat and began to talk about some of the progress of his work after coming to Guangzhou.

First of all, in terms of immigration work, because the subsequent immigration affairs will be handed over to Shaxi to be responsible, so He Xi also said in detail about this information. Immigration affairs have always been the top priority of the group's external work, and Shaxi is not the only one who is interested in this, and everyone here listens very carefully.

After He Xi came to Guangzhou, he first reached an agreement with "Fu Ruifeng" to set up a charity in the name of the Guangzhou Office. Funded by the Guangzhou Office, "Fu Ruifeng" came forward and bought a small courtyard outside Dongcheng to set up an institution called "Yishantang" to adopt homeless orphans. Naturally, there was little resistance to this act of kindness, and it soon took in more than twenty children, from toddlers to fifteen or sixteen-year-olds. The five or six servants currently working in the Guangzhou Office are all selected from the children taken in by the "Yi Shan Tang".

Taking in orphans is only one aspect of the work of setting up such a charity, and in the future, it will be the focus of the work to organize the relocation of migrants in the name of this institution. The local government and secret services of the Ming Dynasty will not pay too much attention to a charity, and with this cover, the immigration work of the Guangzhou Office in Guangzhou will not be particularly conspicuous in the future.

Of course, in addition to this underground method, open employment is still one of the important methods of immigration, but this method is mainly aimed at some craftsmen with special skills or those who are more urgently needed by the Executive Committee, such as sailors and boatmen. As long as the flow of such people is not too large, they generally do not attract special attention. The source of these people is mainly introduced by various local tooth shops or local snakes such as "Fu Ruifeng", and they are generally directly relocated by their families, and some have as many as twenty or thirty people in a large family.

Before the arrival of the second echelon, He Xi had already organized a group of immigrants through various means, mainly carpenters, blacksmiths, papermakers, carving and other craftsmen who were urgently needed in Shengli Port, plus more than 100 orphans collected in the early stage, and these immigrants would set off with the returning fleet.

What He Xi wants to hand over to Shaxi is mainly the various business relationships established in the early stage. Although Sha Xi is not highly educated, he is a ghost when dealing with people, and he quickly understood the meaning of He Xi's words, and patted his chest to take the matter down.

In addition to immigration work, there is also the security work of the Guangzhou Office, which was mainly responsible for He Xizai before. After Xiao Liang, Yu Yao, and others came to the Guangzhou Office, He Xi was able to hand over these affairs to them and concentrate on his own work in the field of intelligence.

With regard to security, the location of the Guangzhou Office itself has already made this work much less difficult, with a reed swing to the east, the Pearl River to the south, the east wall of Guangzhou City to the west, and the road to and from the East Gate to the north to the north of the city. The mansion itself has solid high walls, and ordinary thieves can't get in at all. And in order to make sure that nothing goes wrong, the ship that came this time also brought a batch of glass slag and cement, and turned around and put a row of glass slag on the wall, even if the snitch came here, he would get the way. In addition, a dog was kept in the inverted seat room in the front yard and the back cover room in the back yard for night alarm purposes.

The two new members of the Military Police Department listened very carefully and asked He Xi for the floor plan of the courtyard, planning to further refine the security measures of the Guangzhou Office. He Xi has nothing to do with this, although he is in the military police department, his specialty is intelligence work, security is not his strength, this kind of professional work is better to be done by professional people.

After talking about the handover of work, before I knew it, it was midnight, and everyone was tired all the way, and they drank a lot, and they were also sleepy at this time. Seeing this, Schneider announced that this was the end of the day, and they each went back to their rooms to rest. All the people who crossed lived in the third courtyard, which had five main rooms and three wing rooms in the east and west, which had already been packed out and prepared to stop, and the naturalized people who followed them were placed in two courtyards, the inverted seat room and the back cover room.

Early the next morning, although the Guangzhou Office did not have a loudspeaker wake-up service, the vast majority of people reflexively woke up as soon as the time came. However, at this time, Guangzhou was not as rich as later generations, and because the Guangzhou Office was located outside the city, it was impossible to enter the city so early to purchase early, so there were no good things, only noodles and porridge to choose from.

After breakfast, Schneider led a large group of people out of the Guangzhou Office and rushed to the dock. There are still a lot of materials on the ship that need to be unloaded and transported to the Guangzhou Office, and there are also some goods that need to be shipped by the "Fu Ruifeng" side, and some of them are not very convenient to appear in public, such as arms, illegal salt, and so on.

Hurry up, Schneider and the others were still so late when they arrived at the dock, and the people from the city shipping department were already guarding the shore of the "Haixun 02" ship, waiting to get on the ship to inspect the goods and collect taxes.

There are also several crossers of the shipping department on the ship, who know that the goods in the cabin cannot be seen casually by the people of the city, so the crew does not cooperate with the requirements of the city, and the springboard is removed, and the other party is not allowed to get on the ship, and the two sides are at a stalemate for a while.

Schneider scolded in his heart, and hurriedly stepped forward to pull the person from the city port to the side, took twenty taels of silver and stuffed it over: "It's convenient, and there are no valuables on this ship." ”

I don't want the little official to push the silver back: "It's not convenient or inconvenient, it's just a business here! You are the shipowner? Why don't you hurry up and let the boatman put down the gangplank?"

Schneider couldn't hold whether this guy was at ease to find fault or simply because the bribes were too little, and when he was hesitating, someone shouted and said: "My 'Fu Ruifeng's merchant ships have always been fixed tax packages and paid to the yamen on time, so how can I collect them privately?"

The person who spoke was He Qiang, the manager of "Fu Ruifeng", and he only received a notice from the Guangzhou Office last night to unload the goods at the dock here in the morning. It's better to be in a hurry, just saw the scene of the small officials of the city ship department wanting to check the ship and collect taxes, He Qiang also knew that the goods in this transaction must not be seen by the people of the city ship department, so he hurriedly stepped forward to relieve Schneider.

The little tax collector also recognized He Qiang, and arched his hand and said: "It turned out to be Steward He! ”

"This ship is a ship of the Qiongzhou Branch, and it rarely comes to Guangzhou on weekdays, and it is normal for Your Excellency not to recognize it. He Qiang nodded at Schneider, and Schneider comprehended and stuffed the ingot of silver again: "Your Excellency came out to do things so early, you must have not eaten breakfast, a little heart, not respect!"

This time, the little official did not shirk any more, put the silver in his sleeve, arched his hand and left. Schneider watched him leave before he sighed: "It's so dangerous, fortunately you arrived in time, otherwise this would be a big trouble." ”

"There's no trouble, it's just the city's department, and besides, these small tax collectors are not informal officials, but just hired by the tooth shop. He Qiang looked at the back of the little official leaving, and said with disdain.

Schneider was surprised: "There is such a thing?"

He Qiang explained: "Nowadays, there are frequent arrivals and departures of maritime merchants in Guangzhou, and the city shipping department has limited manpower, so they have contracted a large section of the riverbank wharf to some dental companies, and these dental companies will collect taxes on these sections for the city shipping company. ”

Schneider is such a shrewd person, he understood as soon as he heard it: "Guangzhou's maritime trade business is so prosperous, and the tax money collected is not a small amount, only a part of it needs to be handed over to the city shipping department, and the rest is into the private pocket of the tooth bank!"

"Exactly. He Qiang nodded and said: "There are also a lot of sea vessels in the bank, so they have always paid the tax package in the Yaxing, which can also save some costs." Your ships in Canton will be able to make a name for themselves, and they will save a lot of trouble. ”

Although He Qiang didn't say it very clearly, Schneider had completely understood the trickiness of it. Saying that the city is understaffed should be just an excuse, and most of these tooth banks responsible for collecting tariffs are colluded by officials and businessmen to enrich their own pockets.

And for a big customer like "Fu Ruifeng", the annual tax paid is bound to be not a small amount, so whether it is a city company or an agent, the tooth shop will not take them lightly, and they will not even go up to the ship, let alone inspect the goods on the ship to determine the tax.

Of course, this blatant act of corruption is a good thing for the Crossing Group. Among the commodities sold to the mainland by the Transit Group, the government must not be allowed to discover the two things of smuggling salt, but the attitude of the Guangzhou City Shipping Company that only collects money and does nothing does anything meets the requirements of smuggling activities.

Now that the carriages and horses of "Fu Ruifeng" have arrived, Schneider decided to unload the goods ordered by the other party first. But before that, Schneider had to ask He Qiang's opinion again: "At this time, it won't be a problem to unload the salt and guns on the ship?"

He Qiang twisted his beard and said with a smile: "Although Mr. Shi can rest assured, he is also a little famous on this Pearl River wharf, and no one will come to meddle in many things." ”

With He Qiang's assurance, Schneider was much more relieved, and when Sun Changmi returned to the ship, he immediately commanded the crew to start unloading. In addition to the delivery of the last batch of arquebuses to "Fu Ruifeng", five tons of refined salt totaling 10,000 catties were also transported, as well as a batch of newly ordered glass products.

This has to mention the information advantage of the Guangzhou Office, as long as there is any commodity needs on the "Fu Ruifeng" side, you can directly place an order in the Guangzhou Office, and the delivery method has become more flexible and diverse, if there is a ship coming from Shengli Port in the near future, then the delivery location is in Guangzhou, and the payment can also be completed in Guangzhou, and if "Fu Ruifeng" has a ship to go to Shengli Port, then the delivery and payment location can also be carried out in Shengli Port. With the radio station as a bridge for information communication between the two places, the trouble that "Fu Ruifeng" was worried about would be caused by the lack of information between the two places was easily solved.

While unloading the goods, the two chatted again. Schneider asked: "Most of your trade with Fujian is through the guò sea route, but I heard that there seem to be a lot of pirates between the west of the Pearl River Estuary and Quanzhou Prefecture, I wonder how you deal with it?"

In fact, Schneider had also inquired about this question before, but at that time, the cooperative relationship between the two sides was not as extensive and deep as it is now, so every time Li Nai and He Qiang dealt with the past with haha, and refused to elaborate. According to the inference of the Executive Committee, most of the "Fu Ruifeng" had some dealings with pirates in this sea area, either to help sell the stolen goods, or to pay protection money. The Executive Committee held that in order to establish a military bridgehead at the mouth of the Pearl River in the future, it was necessary to first find out the distribution of maritime forces in the nearby waters, and since the "Fu Ruifeng" had ships running on this route for a long time, they should be more familiar with the sea conditions in this area, so the credibility of the information in their hands should be relatively high.

He Qiang glanced sideways at Schneider, and said with a smile: "Mr. Shi has always been keen to find out the news in this regard, it seems that you are very interested in the business in Fujian!"

Schneider was broken by He Qiang's words, but he didn't even have a trace of shame, nodded and admitted: "Don't talk about Fujian, even Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and even further north, we are also interested in doing business all the way...... It's just that it is said that there are so many pirates along the coast of Fujian that it is not easy to get through guò safely. ”

He Qiang was silent for a long time before he said, "If you go to the north for business, what good will it do to the despicable business?"

As soon as Schneider heard that there was a door, he immediately cheered up and began to start his mouth cannon magic skill: "Steward He, since a merchant like Guixing has been engaged in maritime trade for many years, will he be satisfied with just developing in the territory of Fuguang and Guangzhou? We can work together to do business further north, think about it, as long as you pass through Fujian, Songjiang Mansion, Hangzhou Mansion, Suzhou Mansion, Yingtian Mansion, Yangzhou Mansion, Huai'an Mansion in the north, which is not a rich place?" If your bank can open branches of commercial banks in these places, how much money can you make in that year? As long as your bank is willing to cooperate with us to open up the northern route, I can make a promise to you on behalf of the Haihan Executive Committee, and in the future, 'Fu Ruifeng' will enjoy the most favorable price treatment for Haihan commodities. ”

"The most favorable price treatment?" He Qiang keenly grasped this new word.

"The so-called most favorable price treatment means that the preferential conditions we give to third parties in the future will be unconditionally applied to 'Fu Ruifeng'. Schneider patiently explained to him: "For example, in a northern province in the future, because your bank does not have a local semicolon, so we must find another agent to sell our products, then if we give the local agent a very low price, your bank can automatically get the same price treatment." ”

He Qiang is also an old businessman, and Schneider explained a little, and he understood the role of this treatment. According to the expansion speed of the Haihan people's business, it is probably only a matter of time before they go to the north for their business, even if there is no partner of "Fu Ruifeng", after a long time, the Haihan people will eventually be able to find other forces to cooperate. And in those areas where the tentacles of "Fu Ruifeng" have not yet arrived, it is almost a sure thing for Haihan people to find other agents to distribute goods, and "Fu Ruifeng" will inevitably face competition from other agents in the future.

As the Haihan commodities that do not worry about the market at all, it can be said that the Haihan people have completely mastered the pricing power, and the price given to the agents in each region will not be the same, and the guarantee of the most favorable price treatment is undoubtedly to greatly increase the competitiveness of "Fu Ruifeng", especially in those areas where the business has not yet entered, this treatment ensures that "Fu Ruifeng" has the same market competitiveness as local agents.