Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2006 Hue ([-])

January 1688, 1, Hue Port, sunny.

In the renovated Hue Grand Theater, a music performance is going on.This theater is a typical Baroque style, formerly known as the San Martin Theater, built in the Portuguese colonial era, quite a bit of history.After the East Coast people took over Hue, they also took over the theater and renamed it the Hue Grand Theater, which was managed and operated by the regional administration.

About half a year ago, because the theater was in disrepair for a long time and the conditions were not good, He Yuan, commissioner of the Hue District Administrative Office, approved the allocation of 1 yuan for large-scale renovation.Due to the quick allocation of funds, the repair and renovation project of Hue Grand Theater was carried out very quickly, and it was completely completed in four months.Today, in order to test the effect of the renovation project of the Hue Grand Theater, the county government invited a famous music troupe to perform, and by the way, enrich the daily life of the people.

What is currently being performed on stage is the famous song "Jiukuang" from the Three Kingdoms period, performed by Liu Yan, a famous musician on the east coast, using Zhongruan solo.Hue District Administrative Commissioner He Yuan and his wife, Public Savings Bank President Zhou Huimin and his wife and other dignitaries sat in the first row, and there were other local business people who bought tickets to come in behind.There are not many people. After all, there are no microphones and speakers in this era, and you can't hear anything if you are far away, but everyone enjoys it. After all, it is a famous performance.

In this era of the 17th century, high-end entertainment was nothing more than music, dance, drama, folk art and the like, and there were not many types.Take the Hue Grand Theater as an example. As the leading art performance hall in the entire Hue area, it holds some music performances, dance performances, drama performances, etc. every now and then to enrich the local middle class and wealthy people who are gradually growing. People-oriented entertainment consumption market.

Don't underestimate the spending power of people on the east coast.The economic strength of the Hue region, which is dominated by tropical plantation economy (which has gradually evolved into deep processing of tropical products in recent years) and overseas trade, should not be underestimated, because there are very many people who start businesses and trade and become rich. many.Coupled with the emerging middle class attached to them such as business managers and senior technicians, the entire Hue region is enough to support a relatively large entertainment consumption market—such is the music concert held in the Hue Theater today .Tickets were sold out a month in advance, and the anticipation for this concert was truly extraordinary.

Some local representatives of the Dutch West India Company and Italian investors also bought tickets to come in. They came in not only to enjoy the performance, but also to get in touch with a lot of wealthy businessmen and dignitaries.Wine tables, theaters, and teahouses are the main places for East Coast people to discuss business. Generally, matters of principle are settled on these occasions, and the rest of the details are negotiated in serious and formal occasions. .Europeans were very unaccustomed to this at first, but after decades of contact, they gradually accepted it, especially those business representatives stationed on the east coast for a long time, who often shuttled to theaters, teahouses and restaurants, and there was no one else.

Master Liu's Zhongruan solo soon ended, and there was a series of applause from the seats.After He Yuan clapped his hands, he signaled the waiter to bring a cup of tea, then turned to Zhou Huimin, the president of the Public Savings Bank who was sitting next to him, and said, "President Zhou, the matter of your bank's loan of 60 yuan that I mentioned last time has a clue. ?"

He Yuan was transferred from the Niulanshan area to Hue as a commissioner.He had done a good job there before and achieved outstanding results, so he was transferred to Hue, an economically important area, as a commissioner, and it was also the new appointment and cultivation of him by the Executive Committee.He Yuan himself is of course quite satisfied with this arrangement, because it not only fulfilled his wife's and children's wish to live in a developed and prosperous area, but also laid a very good foundation for his future career promotion, so after he took office, I'm going to work hard, and I plan to make some real political achievements and add a lot of color to my resume.

When it comes to political achievements, for the Hue region, there are actually two things that are most likely to shine. One is to expand foreign trade and prosper the local economy; the other is to deeply develop inland areas and expand territory for the country. Increase the actual control area.He Yuan is going to take care of these two things at the same time. The former intends to focus on the development of deep processing of agricultural products—especially tropical agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery products—to turn the Hue area into an important food, timber, and marine industry center on the east coast; the latter It is related to a series of new settlements in the interior. After a long period of silence, the Hue area also has the urge to develop the interior.

According to their plan, they plan to set up ten settlements in the inland area at one go, some of which existed in the Portuguese era, such as Taubate, which has been renamed Guihe Township; some are upgraded from army outposts or post stations. Settlements, such as Dading Township (located near the later city of Sao José dos Campos in Brazil), Wuzhong Township (located near the later city of Cruzeiro), and Yutian Township (located near the later city of Barra Mansa) , Fengrun Township (located near the town of Vasolas in the later generations), Pinggu Township (located near the city of Tres Rios in the later generations), Zunhua Township (located near the city of New Fribourg in the later generations), Sanhe Township (located in the later generations of near the small town of Itaucala), Shangcang Township (located near the later city of Itaperuna), Cuiping Township (located near the later city of Muliae), Bolu Township (located in the later city of Juiz de Fora Nearby), Dachang Township (located near the later town of Barbacena) and Xiantian Township (located near the later town of Ponte Nova), a total of twelve new townships are planned to house about 1 people, one-third It is filled by native-born nationals, and two-thirds are made up of exiled prisoners and regular non-nationals.

There are also some Ming people recruited from Guangdong and other places to adapt to reclamation in hot areas, but the number is not very large, and they can only be used as a small supplement.However, it is said that the Regional Administrative Office has applied to the Immigration Department, and if there are immigrants who can adapt to life in hot areas, they will be assigned here first.Of course, this is somewhat unreliable in He Yuan's view, because the Brazilian region has not been a key area for development in recent years, and the immigration quota is limited, so no one can guarantee how many people will come over in the end.

And if the number of immigrants cannot be guaranteed, then it is even more impossible to expect how much money and food will be allocated from above for the large amount of materials and food required for the establishment of these new settlements.The bulk of these expenditures actually have to be figured out by the district administration and the other three counties under their jurisdiction.And there is another problem here. These three counties were originally developed by the sea, and they lived a pretty good life. Why should the district administration give an order, and I will sell everything to support you in developing the inland?You should know that it is not surprising that this kind of pioneering project has no income in 20 years. Why should I bleed to support the construction of areas that may not belong to my jurisdiction in the future?

He Yuan also came up step by step from the grassroots, so it is naturally impossible not to understand the thoughts of the people below.He did not force these people, which is unrealistic. Instead, through patient persuasion and persuasion, each of the three counties finally got 4 to 10 yuan worth of money and goods. As start-up capital for opening settlements in the outback.

Of course, the above-mentioned money and goods alone are not enough, and it can even be said to be far from enough, so He Yuan must start from other aspects, such as getting a loan from a bank.As for why the target was chosen for a bank that is not as strong as the Popular Savings Bank, the main reason is that they are based in Brazil and focus on developing their business at this point.

The predecessor of Popular Savings Bank is Banco de la Plata and Brazilian Rural Financial Cooperative. After the merger, the main business is international trade settlement and rural microfinance in Brazil. Its headquarter is located in Qingdao Port.However, in the fierce market competition in recent years, they have lost a lot of points in the international clearing business, and their market share has been gradually eroded by Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank.After learning from the pain, after internal discussions, the Public Savings Bank made a difficult decision, that is, to completely abandon the international trade settlement business, relocate the headquarters to the Hue Port in the north, and concentrate on cultivating Brazil to do a good job in the business here.

To be honest, the positioning of the Public Savings Bank is actually quite reliable.The Brazilian region is rich in products and has a superior location, and the economy in the coastal areas is relatively developed.Although it seems that due to the national policy, a large amount of national investment and immigration quotas cannot be obtained, and the economic development speed is relatively slow, but how do you know that the policy will not change in the future?Not to mention, even if there is no change in the future policy, Brazil's own development alone is enough to support their Savings Bank. Therefore, it is very important for Savings Bank to firmly grasp this basic market.

When Liu Houfei was still working in Beining a few years ago, the bank established close ties with the local government, so the business developed extremely rapidly.Not only local government agencies and state-owned enterprises pay wages, purchase materials, sell goods, and invest funds in the public savings bank account, but also a considerable amount of people's money is stored in the bank account, so the amount of funds in a short time Extremely abundant, the business has entered a period of rapid development.

Now the bank wants to replicate the successful experience of Bac Ninh in the Hue area, and develop the Public Savings Bank into the top spot in the Hue financial market. Naturally, it is impossible to bypass the local government.Regarding this point, neither Zhou Huimin nor He Yuan himself was very clear, so the conversation between the two was also very frank, and there was basically no nonsense.

"Commissioner He, the board of directors has agreed to the loan in principle. But they want to change the collateral and add some land in the dock area, because the value of the original collateral seems to be too low. We also want to control the risk. Hope You can understand." Seeing that the staff were moving pianos, zithers and other musical instruments to the stage, and the players were also taking the stage one by one, Zhou Huimin took the time to respond: "Actually, this is not a big problem for you. Our Public Savings Bank I still like to cooperate with your region very much. We are a company that grew up in Brazil, so we naturally want to give back to the Brazilian people. Commissioner He, what do you think?"

"Compared with some other financial companies, our Hue District Administrative Office is naturally more willing to cooperate with local companies. We also take into account the feelings of the Public Savings Bank for Brazil, and we are willing to have some more in-depth cooperation with your bank. Don't worry, President Zhou, as long as the loan is approved, everything will be easy to talk about, and I will let the Finance Bureau of the Administrative Office connect with your bank, and this will not be a problem." After hearing this, He Yuan was overjoyed and said immediately.

In fact, Vivian Chow is right in saying that the Popular Savings Bank is rooted in Brazil, and its development and growth cannot be separated from the support of the regional and county governments in Brazil. Therefore, it is not only responsive to their needs, but at least very supportive.Therefore, He Yuan didn't consider other banks at all at first (those obviously have higher interest rates, and the amount will not be fully satisfied), but directly negotiated with Zhou Huimin, and now he got a good result.

If the source of funds is resolved, then the follow-up construction of those newly established settlements will be settled, and it will not become an unfinished project.He Yuan is absolutely convinced that as long as these settlements are operating normally and the foreign trade volume increases, his performance evaluation will definitely be very good, which is undoubtedly extremely important for the development of his future career.

(End of this chapter)