Rebirth: the fiery age of Mori Gong's children

Chapter 493 The era of huge profits

Border trade between the two countries has a long history.

In the late Qing Dynasty, people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait had frequent exchanges. Merchants from Heihe and Aihui could set up shops in Blavishensk to do business.

At around ten o'clock in the morning in summer, merchants gather on the river bank with the sound of gongs as a signal, and then take boats to the other side, where they randomly set off firecrackers to attract Russians to their stores to make purchases.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the gong was sounded, and the merchants locked their doors and closed their shops and returned by boat. At night, the wooden house was guarded by Russian soldiers, and items were never lost.

The Russians also went to Aihui and Heihe, or went to Bukui (Qiqihar) via Heihe and Mergen (Nenjiang River) for business.

Nine years after the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the gold mining industry on both sides of the Longjiang River rose, and the population increased dramatically, which promoted the development of cross-strait trade.

At that time, Aihui and Heihe were quite prosperous, but the Russian farmers and workers were not as diligent as the Chinese, so all daily necessities were purchased in Hua'an.

At the end of the 19th century, there were more than 500 Chinese shops doing business in Blavishensk.

After the Gengzi tragedy in Russia, the lives and property of the Chinese people were wiped out, and non-governmental trade between China and Russia was temporarily interrupted.

In the eleventh year of the Republic of China, the Soviet Union implemented a planned economy and prohibited trade between border residents. The Republic of China government also sealed the border in response, but barter trade between the border residents of the two countries was still secretly carried out.

The red sausage was ordered at the Bingcheng Food Factory, and it was frozen and hard in the warehouse. The ones we brought to the island today were specially moved to the house last night to slow them down.

Sure enough, several people took the red sausage, immediately put it in their mouths, chewed it and swallowed it, and then gestured their thumbs to Sheng Xiping and others, "Master Hala."

In 1957, the State Council approved the opening of the Heihe Port.

Sixty years later, as Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, trade volume shrank. By January 1970, border trade passed for the last time and then ceased.

"Desheng, pour them two more drinks. It doesn't matter. This is the first time we meet. We are all friends."

The non-governmental trade between the two countries has been interrupted for too long, and neither side knows what the other needs, let alone what they need in terms of currency exchange.

Sheng Xiping and others quickly walked to the riverside, where people from the border guard station would conduct a preliminary inspection.

Sun Jinggang and others have been in Heihe for more than half a year. They have contacts with all parties and have acquaintances on the border defense side.

As several people were talking, their eyes were fixed on the white wine. It was obvious that the greedy man had been lured out.

Fortunately, these people who checked were also familiar with Sun Jinggang and others. They only made a cursory check and let them pass in a few minutes.

Therefore, the other party did not embarrass them and passed the inspection quickly.

Sheng Xiping made an agreement with the other party in advance. He would exchange various daily necessities and light industrial products with the other party for wood, steel, fertilizer, machinery, etc.

Sun Jinggang and others had learned Russian in advance. Although they did not know much, they only knew some daily vocabulary, which was enough for this time.

In 1933, after the Japanese invaders occupied Heihe, non-governmental trade on the Sino-Soviet border was banned.

At the beginning, both parties had little experience, and the trading room was a mess, with no stalls or shelves.

Establish the principles of small-scale border trade of "equality and mutual benefit, exchange of what is needed, barter, no foreign exchange, living within one's means, balanced imports and exports, and no mutual arrears".

Pan Desheng also poured a few glasses of white wine with great discernment and handed it to the other party to taste.

Today's Maozi is already in decline. All kinds of daily necessities are in short supply, not to mention wine, which is definitely a scarce item.

So this time when border trade started, it still adopted the method of barter.

This sign was a signal that Sheng Xiping had agreed with others before. When the other party saw the sign, they would take the initiative to contact him.

The people opposite took a sip of the liquor and drank it. After finishing the drink, they kept smacking their mouths with a look of enjoyment on their faces.

When doing business, the initial promotion is the most difficult. As long as you can attract a large number of customers, it's just a few bottles of wine. It's a piece of cake.

This kind of red sausage was originally learned from Maozi. The taste is very similar to theirs and is easier to accept.

Someone nearby cut a few slices of red sausage and handed them to the people opposite.

When they saw someone coming, Sun Jinggang, Zhang Zhiqiang and others even said hello with gestures.

Previously, Sheng Xiping had contacted Mao Zi through Chen Ruiqing's channel.

Sheng Xiping also had worries in his heart, fearing that the news would be leaked in advance, and if others intercepted him, then he had stocked up so many goods in advance and pointed to sporadic trade, and wanted to switch to the Year of the Monkey and the Moon of the Horse?

The people on the other side also had concerns. No matter how good both sides said in the letter, they didn't dare to believe that Sheng Xiping had such strength before meeting him in person.

There is a simple trading hall on the island, which is similar to an open-air shed. It is no better than going to the big market in the countryside.

There were goods on display here, and a few people came over from the other end. When they saw the white wine and red sausage in the box, their eyes lit up.

After walking a little further along the river, we reached the island. At this time, there was a second inspection.

Sheng Xiping was not an official. Before border trade started, he had to go through the city to contact the other party.

In August, delegations from the Heihe region and the Amur region met in Blagoveshchensk.

Coincidentally, one of them really lives in the Far East, and he is very powerful, and he is very capable in both the military and political fields.

Opposite, a group of tall and tall people, wrapped like black bears, were looking this way curiously.

Next to it, there is a sign with the name of Teng Yue Trading Company written in Chinese and Russian.

The inspection here is stricter. Everyone has to open the packages they bring and check them one by one to make sure there are no prohibited items.

It's freezing cold in Maozi, and both men and women like to drink, especially hard liquor. For example, the vodka produced in Maozi is a high-strength liquor.

When Pan Desheng and the others heard this, they immediately poured more wine, still one glass for each person.

Sheng Xiping winked at Pan Desheng and others, indicating that they would be poured a few more drinks.

Sheng Xiping led his people to find an open space, spread the canvas they had prepared in advance, and then put the goods they brought on the canvas.

Therefore, the two parties agreed that they would meet on the big island on the first day of the border trade, and all matters would be discussed in person.

The people across from them were so happy that they took the wine glass and took another sip. Then they nodded to Sheng Xiping and the others and mumbled.

Then, several people opened the packages they had brought, and inside were some woolen coats, leather boots, binoculars, etc.

Then, the two sides talked and gestured there.

"Mr. Sheng, they said they would exchange a woolen coat for a bottle of wine."

"The man said he would exchange a pair of leather boots for a bottle of wine."

Sheng Xiping came here this time with a translator. At this moment, the translator opened his mouth and said to Sheng Xiping in disbelief.

Sheng Xiping laughed when he heard this, "Qiangzi, Desheng, just exchange according to this standard."

A bottle of liquor costs almost one yuan, and a woolen coat can be sold for more than twenty yuan. This business can earn more than ten times the profit, which is already very good.

In this way, those few people quickly completed the transaction with Zhang Zhiqiang and others.

Those tall and muscular men cheered happily and gave Zhang Zhiqiang and others a big bear hug with great enthusiasm. People all have a herd mentality. A group of people here were gesticulating and bargaining, which attracted more attention, and many people came over.

Pan Desheng and the others still followed the previous method, first pouring everyone a glass of wine, and then giving them slices of red sausage.

With this method, many idiots became interested and used the things they brought to call Pan Desheng and others for the supplies they needed.

Among them, liquor, red sausage, canned food, etc. are the best-selling products, followed by various daily necessities.

Zhang Zhiqiang, Sun Jinggang and others have slowly adapted to the rhythm, talking and bargaining with each other in Russian that is not yet fluent, and soon, a lot of things were exchanged.

Sheng Xiping didn't care about these sporadic trades. What he wanted to wait for were big customers.

Sure enough, not long after, several people walked over from a distance. These people were neatly dressed and looked different from those people just now.

Sheng Xiping thought, maybe this is the person he is looking for.

Sure enough, those people came closer, saw the words on the sign, and then asked loudly in this direction.

"Mr. Sheng, they are looking for you." The translator heard this and immediately said to Sheng Xiping.

Sheng Xiping nodded and walked to those people.

"Comrades, I am Sheng Xiping, the general manager of Tengyue Trading Company. Who is Mr. Andre?"

Sheng Xiping said, and the translator next to him immediately relayed it to those people.

Then, a tall man with blond hair and gray-blue eyes across from him stretched out his right hand towards Sheng Xiping and mumbled something.

"Mr. Sheng, he said that he is Andre who had corresponded with you before and agreed to meet here." The translator immediately told Sheng Xiping what he said.

Sheng Xiping hurriedly stretched out his right hand and shook it, "Comrade Andre, I'm glad to see you. Desheng, pour the wine, these are our friends."

Pan Desheng had already noticed what was going on here. As soon as he heard Sheng Xiping's words, he immediately opened two bottles of wine and took out a stack of wine glasses.

Sheng Xiping, Wu Yucheng, and a few people on the opposite side were all poured wine.

Wine is the best language for men. At this moment, there is no need to say anything.

Sheng Xiping held the cup, clinked it with Andre, then raised his head and drank the wine.

Andre and others did the same and drank the wine in one gulp. After drinking this glass of wine, everyone looked at each other and smiled, feeling much closer.

Just like that, Sheng Xiping and Andre drank three glasses of wine without talking about anything.

Then, under the translator's narration, the two sides began to talk about cooperation.

Andrei's status should be quite high. He had already contacted a large amount of wood, steel, fertilizer and other materials in Bravishensk and Amur Komsomolsk.

After meeting with Sheng Xiping and the two parties reached an agreement, we can contact him for delivery.

As a result, the two parties negotiated on the method of exchanging goods, and finally reached a consensus.

A box of liquor is replaced with two cubic meters of good wood, or a ton of scrap steel, or a ton of fertilizer, and other materials are also converted according to this ratio.

When Sheng Xiping was bargaining with Andre, the translator was almost stupid and felt that his brain was not strong enough.

How much does a box of liquor cost? At most ten yuan can be exchanged for a ton of scrap steel? Nowadays, the price of one ton of scrap steel is almost a thousand yuan.

God, how many times the profit is this? It feels like this is faster than robbing money, and robbing money is also dangerous, but there is no such thing.

Fortunately, the professionalism of the translator was still there. Although I was extremely shocked, I still smoothly explained it to both parties.

Sheng Xiping and Andre were both satisfied with the final result. Andre promised to use GAZ cars to transport goods here starting tomorrow.

When Sheng Xiping heard this, he suddenly had an idea, "Comrade Andre, I wonder if you can get a car, the GAZ you mentioned, more than a dozen of them.

If you have a Lada car, you can also buy some. I will pay you accordingly and I will definitely not treat you badly. "

With so many supplies needing to be transported back and forth, we have to find some means of transportation, right?

Mao Zi’s cars are pretty good. How about getting a dozen Gas cars, just for the wood processing factory?

As for the Lada sedan, I believe there are many people in China who want to buy it.

Andre was stunned for a moment after hearing what the translator said, "Well, I need to go back and contact you.

GAZ cars should be available, but I guess new ones from Lada are not available, and we have a quota here, but old ones are probably about the same.

I can find someone at a repair shop to repair it and add some accessories. Comrade Sheng, do you think this is okay? "

Okay, that's great. Anyway, there are so many supplies stored in the warehouse. No matter what you exchange for, you will still make money.

Lada couldn't get a new car, so it would be fine to get a few old ones for Chen Weiguo and the others to drive.

In this way, both parties reach a consensus, and there is no need to sign any contract. The verbal agreement counts.

Afterwards, Sheng Xiping motioned to Pan Desheng and the others to move two boxes of wine, half a box of red sausages, and half a box of cans, as a meeting gift for Andre and the others.

Andre and his friends were very happy when they saw it. Before leaving, Andre gave Sheng Xiping a big hug.

"Oh, Sheng, we are best friends. When I get back, I will send you an invitation and invite you to be a guest there."

The biggest deal was concluded, and Sheng Xiping was somewhat relieved. After watching Andre and others leave, he stood aside and watched Pan Desheng and others busy selling goods.

On the first day of trading, no one knew what was going on, so they didn’t bring too many things.

Before the afternoon, most of the things I brought had been replaced. So, everyone carried their things in large and small packages and walked back.

I carried it with the straps when I came here, but when I came back I had many times more stuff than when I came here.

Sheng Xiping and his group of about twenty people, carrying something like a hill on their backs, managed to get out of the island with great difficulty, their faces turned red and their heads pouted.

It saves a lot of effort when you go to the river. You can put things on the ice and push them around.

As soon as we arrived at the riverside, we saw a large group of people cheering and surrounding us.

These are merchants who have no money to pay a deposit, so they can only wait by the river and work as second-rate traders.

"Brother, do you want to sell these goods? Why don't you sell them to us so that you don't have to carry them back?" Someone came up and asked loudly.

"Wait a minute, don't worry, our warehouse is nearby, let's get over there first. We can't block the road here, there will be people coming back later."

You can't sell goods by the river, so Sheng Xiping shouted to remind his brothers.

As soon as the group of second-rate dealers heard that there was a way, they immediately came forward to help carry the goods to the other end of the warehouse.

(End of this chapter)