Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 115 Safety Fort ([-])

Negotiations with the French were not as difficult as imagined.

The joint negotiating delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade headed by Gao Mo solemnly stated from the very beginning that the machine textile factory is the "core interest" of the East Coast Republic, and will not allow any outsiders to visit, and will not consider establishing joint ventures with foreign countries, etc. matters.

In fact, this attitude did not surprise the French. After arguing to no avail on this issue, they resolutely gave up continuing to entangle this issue, and began to negotiate with the East Coast Republic delegation on prices, sales of goods, and payment methods. Engage in fierce competition.

According to the opinion of the French, the East Coast Republic sold cotton cloth to them on credit, and the two parties agreed on a price, such as 6 sous (about 1.5 yuan), and the French paid the money to the East Coast Republic after the sale was completed.

Gao Mo and others did not have much objection to the sales method. After all, they had no foundation in France, and everything still depended on the locals.However, they require the French to pay a down payment of one-third of the value of the goods when they pick up the goods, and the balance can be paid after the sale is completed.As for the sales price, the representatives of the Ministry of Trade strongly demanded that it be raised to 8 sous (2 yuan) per piece of cotton cloth, while the French fought against each other and refused to give an inch.

After arguing all afternoon, in the evening, the two sides finally gave in and agreed that the purchase price of cotton cloth would be 7 sous (1.75 yuan) per piece.The two parties renegotiate the price every year. The French guarantee that the cotton plantations on the French Santo Domingo and the French Caribbean islands will supply enough high-quality cotton raw materials to the East Coast Republic on a regular basis, and the East Coast Republic needs to guarantee the first year The output of cotton cloth shall not be less than [-] pieces, and shall increase by [-] pieces every year thereafter.

In addition, the negotiators of the East Coast Republic also specifically requested that the price of all cotton cloth sold in France should not exceed 10 sous (2.5 yuan) per piece.In case of special circumstances, such as a price war between competitors, the French can ask the East Coast Republic to readjust the price of cotton cloth.

Overall, this is a happy agreement.The East Coast Republic has opened up a huge market for its cotton cloth, and these Frenchmen from Gascogne have found a golden job that can stably earn high profits. This cooperative relationship based on interests between the two parties seems to be still pretty solid.

After the agreement was reached, the French did not delay.After they unloaded the goods they brought, they purchased about 5000 high-grade furs from Dongfang Port (remained after being seized in the privateering operation a while ago), a small amount of flintlock rifles, flintlock pistols, sabers and armor, and about 600 tons potatoes.

Thanks to the fertile soil, standardized and efficient agricultural production techniques, and high-yield crops in the east coast region, after two consecutive years of bumper harvests, the East Coast Republic seems to have solved the food problem overnight.The grain inventory has grown exponentially, and the purchase price of grain crops has fallen again and again. At present, the national potato inventory has reached a record 7000 tons, enough to feed everyone in the country for three years.

Correspondingly, at this time, Europe was in the midst of a famine that lasted for many years, and food prices had risen several times in just over ten years.Although the potatoes produced in the east coast do not conform to the eating habits of Europeans, they are not cheap, only 30 yuan per ton, and they are rich in nutrition, so it is not a problem to fill the stomach.So this group of business-minded Frenchmen took the opportunity to acquire 600 tons to be shipped back to France for sale.

After the agreement was reached and the goods were purchased, the French set sail, left the Port of Orient, and returned to Bordeaux. They also needed to go back and make preliminary preparations.

After the French left, under the strong promotion of the Prime Minister of the Government Council "Ma Dapao", the Ministry of Industry and Commerce urgently established a subsidiary Textile Industry Bureau, which is responsible for the development of the textile industry. serve.After the establishment of the Textile Industry Bureau, the first thing to do was to invest in the construction of a large textile factory with 50 spinning machines, 50 looms and some cotton gins.After the equipment is in place and the training of workers is completed, the factory can theoretically produce [-] pieces of cotton cloth per year in normal production, which is enough to meet the agreement with the French for the first year.

Due to the slow flow of the Big Fish River and the many factories nearby, there is not enough space for so many textile machines.Therefore, with the approval of the State Council and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Textile Industry Bureau selected the address of this new factory on both sides of the Gravatai River next to Ping Anbao.A small part of the required workers was seconded by the East Coast Company, and most of the rest were re-recruited nearby.

The production speed of the equipment is very fast. In mid-October, the first batch of 10 machines (10 spinning machines, [-] looms) has been transported to the bank of the original Gravatay River, which has been officially named "Ping An River". , officially started the assembly and debugging of the equipment.At the same time, the walls of Ping'an Fort were expanded again less than two months after construction was completed.The new city wall spans the banks of the Ping'an River and completely covers the textile factory.

The city wall opened two water gates with hanging gates on the river for the passage of ships transporting raw materials and finished cotton cloth.Except for these two water gates and a gate connected to the city wall of the old Ping'an Fort, the entire textile factory area does not have any entrances and exits. The employees and their families live in the factory area uniformly, and centralized closed management is implemented.In addition to the management personnel, employees and family members, a police station with 10 people has been set up in the factory area to deal with general disputes.

With the arrival of a large number of construction workers, except for a few coal ships passing by on weekdays, the generally quiet Pinganbao Wharf suddenly became busy.There was a lot of people on the pier, and a large amount of red bricks, stones, cement, lime and other construction materials almost burst the small pier warehouse.Construction teams from Dongfanggang, Zhenhaibao and other places, as well as hundreds of hard-working men were transferred here to jointly build new city walls, factories and residences.

The villagers of Pinganbao watched in amazement these high-nosed and deep-eyed barbarians were busy on the pier, and some children who had just finished school circled around these strange-looking uncles.

Fabian Klingemann was directing the unloading of cargo from the inland flat-bottomed transport boat, while smiling at the children who surrounded him.His wife Hannah had just given birth to a daughter in the county hospital a few days ago, so he loved these children very much as a new father.Some chocolate candies made of cocoa powder, cane sugar, and nuts in the pockets have been distributed, but these hungry children still refuse to leave. They circle around Fabian, hoping to get another one Such a delicious candy.

"You naughty boys, why don't you go back to review your homework! Do you want me to test you one by one?" A clear voice came, and the little brats who had been naughty just now suddenly looked like rabbits who had encountered their natural enemies. The one ran away without a trace.

"Assistant Xu, good afternoon." Fabian turned his head and saw that it was Xu Wenxuan, the political assistant of the Ping An Fort Pioneering Team.In addition to his job as a political assistant, Xu Wenxuan also works part-time as a language teacher in Ping'anbao Primary School, so he is quite dignified among these urchins, and scares the crap out of these little kids as soon as he shows up.

"Good afternoon, Captain Fa." Xu Wenxuan said with a smile, "It's already spring, and I'm really sorry to ask Captain Fa to lead a team to Ping Anbao to build walls and repair houses. Is anyone taking care of the farmland at home?"

"Fortunately, Mr. Grote is an enthusiastic person. He organized the labor force that was not transferred from the village to form a mutual aid farming society to help us families who have been conscripted to carry out spring sowing work. I have nothing to worry about." Fabian While talking, he handed Xu Wenxuan some cigarette chips.

Xu Wenxuan was not too polite, picked up the cigarette and put it in his mouth to chew, and said while chewing, "I just heard from Mr. Qian that the captain's wife has given birth, and I gave birth to a young lady, congratulations."

Fabian's Chinese skills are good, and he can roughly understand Xu Wenxuan's somewhat literary words.He smiled brightly and said, "Hehe, yes, Hannah just gave birth and hasn't been discharged from the hospital yet. Mr. Grote's younger sister, Miss Adele, happens to live in the county town. Ah, she should be called Liu now." Ma'am, she is married to a noble naval officer. I asked her to take care of Hannah for me before I came out, and she agreed to let me feel at ease."

"That's good." Xu Wenxuan said with a smile, "Ping'an Fort has only a population of more than 200 people, and only more than [-] young and strong people. In addition, the spring sowing is coming soon, so we can't spare time to build a new city, so we have to rely on Captain Fa to worry about it here. .”

"No problem, my task is to come and build." Fabian agreed, "The township government has made it clear to us before we leave, and others will help with farm work at home, and there are two yuan a month for construction here. You can get extra allowances for money, and everyone has nothing to complain about. Moreover, I have also read the documents. This textile factory can produce [-] bolts of cotton cloth every year, creating countless profits. It can be said that it is related to us National luck on the east coast. Don't worry, I will definitely supervise them and strive to complete the project as soon as possible."

Fabian holds a certain position in the government of Dingyuan Township. He usually agrees with the Travelers and the East Coast Republic. In terms of interests, he is also closer to the Travelers. He is an immigration cadre vigorously trained by the Travelers.He usually has access to some low-level government documents, so he has a clear understanding of the significance of this textile factory, and knows that this new textile factory completely represents the future of the East China Republic.

Since Xu Wenxuan was going to Ping'an Coal Mine with a ship transporting supplies later, the two chatted casually for a while and then dispersed.

(End of this chapter)