Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1036 Journey to Yi River ([-])

On the morning of July 1654, 7, when the ship that Agnelli and others were on sailed into Xiayihe County, it had to stop at the wharf of Heyang Township for maintenance due to a breakdown.

Helpless, Agnelli had to go ashore again to get some air.Heyang Township was withdrawn a few years ago and established as a township. It is located in the northeast corner of Xiayihe County. It is mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, with a population of more than [-] people. The economy can only be said to be so-so. It is a typical inland agricultural township.Perhaps the only industrial facility in the township is the ship repair workshop on the dock—well, maybe the small distillery next to the dock can barely be considered an "industrial enterprise."

This kind of small distillery Agnelli has been seen a lot, and almost every town that is mainly agricultural (which means relatively abundant food and a lot of idle labor in winter) has one or two such workshops.These workshops do not operate all year round. In fact, they generally only operate during the slack season in winter, because the source of their workers is often the nearby villagers, which can be regarded as a kind of sideline for them.This distillery in Heyang Township is like this. It starts work after harvest and stops work before spring plowing. It usually employs four or five people (mostly a dozen people). It produces about several thousand liters of distilled liquor every year. The sales market is also It is mainly located in the nearby rural areas, a typical self-sufficient small workshop enterprise.

Agnelli once wondered why this small winery, which has been open for half a year and half a year, did not close down in the fierce market competition?You must know that in their machine-made flour industry, a large-scale flour mill has emerged in almost every county, and in some highly competitive areas, such as the South Yazihu ​​area, their rabbit hole flour mill has already dominated Zhenhai and Zhongshan counties, and then penetrated to Fengguo Township, Xiaoxi Township and other places in the south.Why did the fierce competition in the flour industry fail to spread to the shochu industry?It's really strange, could it be that the production cost of these small workshops is extremely low?This seems to be the only explanation.

Of course, what Agnelli has yet to realize is that such small businesses in rural areas (usually remote or commercially underdeveloped areas) are often directly oriented to their final consumers, and their customer groups Also relatively stable.But those big wineries—such as the brewing workshop of Dafeng Food Factory in Xihu County, which uses industrial winemaking methods—are different. They rely on a large number of agents or distributors in the sales process, plus long-distance transportation. Cost, which undoubtedly makes their wine less advantageous in terms of price.This is true, because the operators of these small wineries that only operate in winter generally do not include their own labor into the cost, and their equipment is relatively primitive and simple, so the cost is often surprisingly low , which undoubtedly gave them a strong competitiveness.

The brewing industry is actually just a microcosm. If you generalize it and look at other industries, it is probably the same.The game between small enterprises, small private workshops and large enterprises is an eternal topic. Large enterprises have the benefits of large enterprises, and small workshops have the advantages of small workshops.Of course, perhaps with the progress of the times and the deepening of industrialization and commercialization, such small workshop enterprises will eventually disappear in the tide of history, but at least in the early days of industrialization and now when the market is relatively not broad enough , Now that the transportation and communication conditions are not advanced enough, these small enterprises seem to exist for a long time.

The rabbit hole flour mills of Agnelli and others were developed from small businesses, but there were also some small flour mills that grew up with them at the beginning that failed to withstand the brutal market competition. They gradually fell into trouble for various reasons, and then they were first Controlled by the merchants responsible for distributing their flour (the merchants provided them with loans), and then completely swallowed by these merchants.In this way, the businessman became the new owner of the enterprise, and the original entrepreneur became a migrant worker for the businessman because of the downturn, such as the Linhu Flour Mill in Xihu County.

"It's unbelievable that an agricultural county like Xiayihe County doesn't have a large-scale machine-made flour mill. But I don't think this situation will last long. There are too many rich people in the coastal areas. Someone will definitely come here next time." It’s an investment. If the products of our factory want to enter this place in the future, I’m afraid they will face fierce competition.” Agnelli lit a pipe for herself, thinking with some worry.The "economic colonization" of the inland counties in the west by the developed coastal industrial and commercial areas has existed objectively from the very beginning, and there is nothing that cannot be said to others. There is no one in a county that is mainly agricultural like Xiayihe County. The large-scale mechanical milling plant is not only due to the underdevelopment of commerce, but also the lack of technology and capital accumulation. However, this status quo will obviously not last forever. Sooner or later, someone will come to invest here because of its unique advantages. At that time, the foreign flour may face the situation of being kicked out.

The ship was repaired in the evening. The master craftsman of the ship repair yard held out seven dirty fingers and asked Agnelli for 70 yuan. He was so angry that he almost cursed on the spot.However, the master craftsman of the ship repair yard is obviously very well-mannered. He reported the details of charges to Agnelli one by one, and his "five big and three thick" daughter kept echoing beside him (she usually also makes ship nails part-time) , using simple mechanical tools, can make a thousand pieces a day), which made Agnelli's head so big that he could only pay the bill in the end, and he kept cursing that the industrial and commercial offices in Heyang Township had better come to check more This unscrupulous enterprise may be able to increase its tax amount next year.

"Sooner or later, you will drive all the customers away because of your black hearts, and other ship repairers will also feel worried because of your shameless behavior, because you have destroyed the soil for the survival of the entire industry." Agnelli said angrily .He knew in his heart that these words had no effect on the other party, but he was still furious after being slaughtered.Now domestic private small workshops are full of chaos, and most business owners (generally started by artisans) are like many trees that only grow tall, only caring about growing towards the sun of wealth and respect, and have no scruples about raising them. Life and death in the jungle is simply immoral and heartless!Agnelli never believes that the law can manage everything well, so the necessary morality is the key to maintaining a healthy society. Their rabbit hole flour mills have never been short-changed, but now it seems that they can only represent some people. Far from representative of all business owners.

"Forget it, let's sail." After adding coal and water to the boat, Agnelli waved his hand and ordered the boat to sail. He couldn't delay any longer and had to rush to the port of Xiayi River as soon as possible to deliver the special flour on board on schedule. To the buyer, and then look for an opportunity to buy [-] to [-] tons of wheat to go back. The factory in Zhenhai County is waiting to use it.

And just as they set off, a group of militiamen arrived on the wharf in Heyang Township.Led by two officers on horseback, they lined up on the quay, seemingly awaiting a ship, with banners aloft.

Agnelli didn't know what these people were doing, but he was keenly aware of the unusualness of this militia unit: firstly, they had a large number, about [-] people; secondly, they all carried guns on their backs. The equipment is also very complete, and it does not seem to be going out for training at all-in fact, the militiamen on the east bank have always been training in the local area, and they rarely go out for training; there seem to be many people seeing off behind the third pier. It is even more strange, it is simply the rhythm of sending relatives to the battlefield.When did my Great Eastern Bank declare war on other countries?

A 72-ton inland river steamer (belonging to the state-owned inland water transport company) slowly sailed out of the small river branch behind the pier. The side of the small steamer was pushed down very low, and it seemed that the cabin was fully loaded with cargo.Agnelli stood on the deck of his own ship and looked as far as the eye can see. He felt that there were all kinds of cargo packaging on this small steamer. The things in the cabin should be very miscellaneous. Could it be military supplies?Agnelli's brain started to work instantly, where are they going?Is there a war?Was it an isolated incident or were other towns also mobilized?

The wind on the river is relatively strong, and the speed of the boat is very fast, but Agnelli's heart is full of fire: If the country is really brewing a war (or battle?), then it must be necessary to purchase a large amount of military supplies, and Flour is undoubtedly the most important of them, this is definitely a big business opportunity!

On the evening of July 7, the boats of Agnelli and others met several steamboats on the Yihe River again. some of Agnelli's guesses.

"They must have set off from Xiayihe Town! It must be!" Agnelli clapped her fists excitedly and said in a trembling voice: "The country must be planning a big move! Maybe it's in the Duck Lake Basin in the north! Xiao Li, when you arrive at Xiayihe Township to stop the boat, you should immediately take the nearest boat and return to the county, report this to Lao Gao and the others, and ask them to find the purchasing manager of the army department in the county If the country uses troops in the north, it will definitely purchase supplies in the counties in the north and south of Yazi Lake, so they must seize this opportunity! Damn, I don’t know if there is a cable telegraph in Xiayihe County (Zhenhai County this year In the first half of the year, the cable telegraph to Meilin County has just been connected), it will be much more convenient if it is connected. Sigh, I am so anxious!"

At three o'clock in the morning on July 7th, the ship docked at the Xiayi River Port Wharf.While landing, Agnelli got good news that Xiayihe County had actually received a cable telegram to Meilin County, which made him very happy besides the accident, so he rushed to the telegraph room next to the train station overnight , and waited until the telegraph operator came to work at seven o'clock in the morning.

After spending a lot of money to send a telegram to Zhenhai County, Agnelli relaxed for a while, and then grinned silly.

(End of this chapter)