Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 112 Cotton Cloth Market ([-])

A few people did what they said, and the next day, Xu Xin and the others approached Julian and directly explained their purpose.

Regarding the cooperation with the East Coast Republic of China, Julian went from being indifferent at the beginning to being a little tempted later, and his change was very natural - the reason was nothing more than the word interest.At the beginning, he took the "Butterfly" to the Oriental Port just to fulfill his sister Mathilde's wishes.It's just that with his on-the-spot investigation, he discovered that there are huge business opportunities in this strange country.

Among other things, the monthly purchase of copper, iron, lead, graphite, gunpowder, wine, dyes, livestock and other materials is a huge amount, and the monthly amount is conservatively estimated to be no less than 1000 francs.If these people from the east coast can hand over the procurement of these materials to the Pasquale family, then the family will not only be able to obtain huge profits through the sale of these materials, but also gain more connections through these large transactions. The future development of oneself and the family has great benefits.

"That is to say, can you provide a certain amount of high-quality cotton cloth stably every month?" Julian also paid a certain amount of attention to the fact that people on the east coast want to sell textiles in Bordeaux.After all, the textile factory run by his father can bring a stable income of more than 500 francs to the family every year.

"Yes, the quality of our east bank cloth is comparable to the best Indian cotton cloth, or even better." Tao Chenxi said confidently to Julian in Spanish, "please rest assured about this, the reputation of our east bank people Always outstanding."

"So how much cotton or woolen cloth do you supply each year?" Julian asked casually.In fact he didn't care much, he had been to the East Coast Republic and stayed there for a while.In his impression, it is a little bit reluctant to call this place a country.Because her population is too small, maybe less than [-].With such a small population, he found it amazing that he could solve his own food problem.They can still produce cotton cloth and import cotton in large quantities?It's incredible.

"Well, maybe you are really favored by God, and you can produce hundreds of thousands of cotton cloths every year, and then want to export to Bordeaux? No, this amount is not enough." Julian continued, " Bordeaux is a large city with a population of more than 10, and she has a large number of citizens with strong spending power. According to my estimation, she can consume about 5 bolts of cotton cloth every year. How much cotton cloth can you produce? 1000 bolts?"

"Yes, 1000 horses." Tao Chenxi nodded and said, "It's just 1000 horses per month. If necessary, we can even expand this production capacity to 2000 or 3000 horses per month..."

"How is this possible?!" Julian sat up straight quickly, and said in surprise: "My father employs 40 people and only produces 120 cotton cloths and some stockings and gloves every month. How can you do that?" of? How many of you are there?”

"Julian, I can assure you about this. There is absolutely no problem with our production capacity. You must trust us on this point, and our cost will be much lower than the market price." Xu Xin and Tao Chenxi looked at each other, Then he said in an affirmative tone, "As you said, Bordeaux is a big city, and Gascogne has a population of 100 million. This is a huge gold mine. For both of you and me, this cannot be given up. temptation."

Julian was stunned for a long time before he realized it, and then he jumped up suddenly, no longer caring about his image, and jumped in front of Xu Xin, and asked excitedly: "Xu, you didn't lie to me, did you? Tell me, How low are your costs?"

Xu Xin endured the powder falling from Julian's face, thought for a while, and then said: "Dear Julian, regarding our cost, I'm sorry, this belongs to the category of commercial secrets, and I have no right to To inform you. All I can say is that our prices are quite competitive for the cotton cloth currently on the market for about 12 su (3 yuan) a bolt.”

Julian had already stood up at this time, pacing up and down in the living room. With a large market of 100 million people, even if the purchasing power of residents in other places is not as good as that of Bordeaux citizens, there is no problem for the entire Gascony region to consume more than 30 bolts of cotton cloth every year, and even this data is quite conservative.So even if a piece of cotton can only earn 2 sous, that year is a huge profit of more than [-] francs.

God, thirty thousand francs!Julian was on the verge of shaking with excitement.

"Julian, you don't have to worry about the source of the goods. The Eastern China Republic can definitely produce enough goods for the market. The only worry now is, how do we sell them?" Xu Xin looked at Julian's restless figure, Slowly said: "As you know, our East Coast Republic does not have a concession to trade in the Bordeaux area. Therefore, we are going to look for some powerful local businessmen as our partners. And you are our friend, our East Coast The purpose of human beings is not to let friends suffer, so you and your family will be our first partners. Now the only question is, can you and your family be able to ensure that you and your family can undertake the important task of selling a large amount of cotton cloth?"

After hearing Xu Xin's question, Julian suddenly fell silent. It took a long time before he replied: "Xu, doing business in Gascogne is a very complicated matter. Many things obviously have a wonderful prospect. , but we often fail to do so. You are right to remind that the Bordeaux textile guild gives my family a sales quota of 1500 cotton cloths each year, just because of my father's aristocratic status. They are simply the best in the industry. The thugs control and monopolize the market and do whatever they want, and they absolutely don't want to see a large amount of high-quality cotton cloth flow into the market."

"Can we cooperate with the textile guild?" Tao Chenxi interrupted and asked.

"No, it's impossible!" Julian shook his head, "The textile guild is a huge organization, which includes a large number of low-level workers such as weavers, spinners, and dyers, as well as traders, textile machine suppliers, and even It is usury merchants, etc. After the influx of a large amount of high-quality and cheap foreign cotton cloth, most of the bottom workers in the textile guild will go bankrupt, which will cause serious social problems, and these people dare not take this responsibility. "

Xu Xin and the others were also speechless.This is a life-and-death industrial competition. The entry of their cheap goods into the Gascony region will inevitably lead to the bankruptcy of a large number of craftsmen in the region.When this wave of bankruptcy intensifies, it is indeed likely to cause serious social problems.Although most of these craftsmen are part-time workers, the income from the textile industry is an important income for them, which often maintains the fragile balance of expenses of their family.

The nature of taking away people's jobs is indeed quite bad.Not many years have passed since the French War of Religion. If this is used by a careerist, the consequences will be serious.Neither the local textile guild nor the local officials in Gascony dared to take this risk.

"Then what should we do? Worry about this and worry about that, how can we do business here! Julian, think about it carefully, what a great opportunity this is." Sun Bo also said at the right time, "Maybe we can do business again. Find more friends to participate together, maybe we can win over the traders in the textile guild. By the way, Julian, aren’t the handicraftsmen in the textile guild all farmers, if they lose their jobs or go bankrupt, it’s good for them It shouldn't have much impact on your life, right?"

"No, it has a big impact. Sun, you don't understand. Most of these craftsmen are non-eldest sons who cannot inherit the family's land. They rent and plant the meager land at home, and at the same time rely on handicrafts to earn living expenses. .If they lose their jobs or go bankrupt, the impact on their own families is huge, and maybe they will starve.” Julian explained aloud, “Also, it is indeed possible for traders to win over. But they are in the textile industry The right to speak in the meeting does not occupy an absolute advantage. The textile machine suppliers may not be worth mentioning, but the influence of those loan sharks is very large. After the low-level handicraftsmen go bankrupt, there is no need for new textile machines in the market. The loan sharks They also lost the object of exploitation, so they are completely against us. Things are still difficult!"

"Julian, after hearing what you said, I think I have a good idea that can partially solve the troubles we are facing." Sun Bo said suddenly, "I think maybe those unemployed or bankrupt craftsmen would like to go to the New World to try their luck and start anew. How about starting a new life, as long as we show enough sincerity, then there will always be people who are moved, right?"

As soon as these words came out, several people present turned their heads to look at Sun Bo at the same time.

Xu Xin pursed his lips and said with a smile: "Your brain is still good, you are worthy of being a diplomat. This idea is indeed good, and it is worth a try. But how to operate it, we still need to be more cautious. There are complicated things in it. Too much."

Julian nodded slowly, as if agreeing with Xu Xin's opinion. "There are more than 5000 handicraftsmen directly or indirectly engaged in the textile industry in the entire Gascony region. As long as we find a way to solve the unemployment problem of these people and attract some large traders, then the adverse effects can be minimized. .As for the remaining textile machinery suppliers and loan sharks, it is not difficult to deal with. Well, let’s see, I still need to discuss this matter with my father, and I will give you an answer tomorrow. Don’t worry, I My friends, no matter how difficult it is, we will surely succeed."

(End of this chapter)