Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 783 Pacific Trade

Araucan Port in October is warmer than Xingnan Port.Except for the still raging west wind, everything is fine here, there is no heavy snow, no dust filling the sky.It's full of trees - well, limited to the coast or the banks of the river, it's thriving here - it's true, you can see it from the constant boats coming in and out of the port, and it's populated - except for a lot of Araucan In addition to people, there are more than [-] residents on the east coast here, and the small port of Araucan already has a population of several thousand.

On the land bought by the people on the east coast, the Southern Railway Company built a two-story brick building as the company's office here.Next to the brick building, there is a stone material warehouse, which is used to store various goods shipped from the country, and also doubles as the company's treasury.At this time, Mo Ming was sitting in the middle office on the second floor, receiving a long-lost guest.

"This is really a gift from God, President Mo. I met the famous Baron Salvador Angel Bravo in Santiago, and he agreed to your company's request for bilateral trade and invited you to Valpa at the right time Leto go to stay for a while, and discuss some details by the way." Manuel Ignacio Rodriguez sat opposite Mo Ming, talking eloquently.

This old guy is the head of the native white elite Rodriguez family in La Plata, and has trade ties with the people on the east coast for more than ten years.Although the trade was interrupted for three years due to the war, as soon as the war ended, his son Alvaro once again connected with the people on the east bank on behalf of the family: they first bought 20 yuan in the Qingdao financial market. RMB 2 ten-year bonds of the Southern Railway Company, and then applied for the acquisition of 20% of the shares of the Southern Railway Company (valued at [-] yuan).

Directly spending a huge sum of 40 yuan to restore the relationship between the two parties is not insignificant.Moreover, under the leadership of the Rodriguez family, some other native white families who fled to Chile and Peru during the war also tentatively invested in the Southern Railway Company as a certificate of resumption of trade ties with the people on the east coast. The credit is not small, so Mo Ming, as the president of the Southern Railway Company, has always had a good impression of this La Plata business family.This time, the Southern Railway Company intends to start private bilateral trade with Chile, Chalkas and other places, and Mo Ming is going to give their family a piece of the pie as a reward.

"I heard that during the war, some of Baron Bravo's manors on both sides of the Maureen River were looted by the Araucan guerrillas, and the losses were not small. Moreover, he himself is a devout Catholic. Prejudice is very deep... So, is there really no problem here?" Mo Ming pondered for a while, and then asked Manuel back.

"Business is business." Manuel smiled disapprovingly, and said: "The peninsula people in the Old World hate the damn Dutch. The war between the two sides has been going on for more than half a century, including a large number of noble children. Countless people were killed on the battlefield, and countless nobles or merchants’ ships were plundered by the Dutch and suffered heavy losses... However, all of the above does not hinder the trade between the two parties. Business is business and has nothing to do with politics. Just as You know that during the long war with the Dutch the kingdom was financed for a considerable part by loans from the Dutch bankers and that between a third and a half of the silver brought back from the New World today goes to Holland To pay the interest on the debt. So, there's nothing wrong with that."

Mo Ming smiled when he heard the words, and then nodded slightly, as if agreeing with Manuel's explanation.The trade between the Southern Railway Company and the Spanish American colonies could only be a shady private trade, because the policy of the Kingdom of Spain did not allow it (the restrictive trade policy of the West Indian House).But if the participants are all real power figures in the colonies, then the problem is not very big. When everyone is tied to the same interest chain, the Spanish vested interests, mainly native whites, will help to make progress. Native cover up.

The Southern Railway Company once made some predictions about the trade prospects between the two parties, and concluded that the market is very broad and the "money future" is very bright.The tropical trees, guano, cinchona bark, and sugar from Peru, the wool, hides, and tallow from Chile, the lead, tin, and sulfur from Chalkas, were all commodities needed on the East Coast.Of course, precious metals, the commodity with the largest output in the Viceroyalty of Peru, are urgently needed by people on the east coast.And what are the export commodities on the east coast? The answer is many!

All daily necessities such as textiles, farm tools, hardware tools, dyed leather goods, soap, grease, building materials and even refined salt, as well as a small amount of production materials, such as canvas, anchor chains, weapons (of course this is subject to discussion) and even fishing boats, etc., are all they need. of.Thanks to the suppressive policy of the Kingdom of Spain on the colonies over the years (only a small amount of industry exists in Mexico), the industry in the Viceroyalty of Peru is almost blank, and almost all the daily necessities of the millions of residents in this area require the annual The treasure fleet was transported from the mainland.It was once recorded that some wealthy people in Peru even needed to import bricks from the old continent in order to build manors, which is unbelievable!

Of course, the daily needs of millions of people are extremely large, and they cannot be transported by dozens of treasure ships a year.And this has led to a prosperous smuggling trade in Peru. French ships, Dutch ships, British ships, Portuguese ships, and even Swedish and Danish smuggling ships from Nordic countries, all of which are in the Peruvian Viceroyalty full of loopholes like a sieve. Amazing smuggling trade.This situation was okay in the 17th century, and it was just beginning. In the 18th century, the goods transported to America by Spain's two treasure fleets every year were only one-tenth of the amount of goods consumed there.As for the other nine-tenths, the smuggling trade will naturally fill the gap, and the most popular smuggling is naturally the British businessman.

The Southern Railway Company is currently in financial difficulties and urgently needs a large sum of money to build the Liangyang Railway and the two large seaport terminals of Araucan Port and Xingnan Port. The right to monopolize the trading of onshore commodities created a foundation for the South Railway Company to carry out entrepot trade in the Pacific Ocean.Anyway, this market seems to be similar to a blank market at present, and it is not occupied.

What's more, smuggling a large amount of goods from the east coast to the vast Viceroyalty of Peru can not only kill the national industry that may appear in the area (although it is unlikely), but also squeeze out goods from other countries that are taking advantage of the loopholes to smuggle.What a joke, the New World market belongs to people from the east coast. The French, British, Dutch, Portuguese and even the Nordic people from far away have all smuggled their goods here. What a shame!

Mo Ming believes that with the low cost of manufacturing goods on the east coast and the lower cost of logistics and transportation, it will certainly be able to gradually drive away smuggled goods from other countries from the Peruvian market—of course, it is limited to the goods that the east coast itself can produce. As for those labor-intensive The East Bank itself has to ask others to import the goods of the new type. This is self-evident for the benefits of the East Bank’s domestic manufacturing industry, and the South Railway Company can also take a free ride from it and obtain a large amount of re-export trade profits. in order to gain the capacity to sustain infrastructure development in the Southern Patagonia region.Otherwise, relying solely on state subsidies and capital market financing, it will take until the Year of the Monkey to raise enough funds.You know, this year in the Far East, there will be 2-3 immigrant ships tentatively heading east from Jinshan Port and arriving at Araucan Port along the northern edge of the westerly belt. All the immigrants have come, but the planned railway has not yet Movement, isn't that nonsense!

However, smuggling goods from the east coast into the Viceroyalty of Peru is not without some hidden dangers.For example, the goods brought in by the Spanish treasure fleet, foreign smuggled goods, etc., which were impacted by the goods from the east coast, etc. Among them, the Genoese suffered a lot (St. As a large smuggler, the Dutch West India Company suffered heavy losses. This requires the local trade departments on the east coast to coordinate interests with the two of them.Of course, this has nothing to do with Mo Ming. He only cares about the interests of the Southern Railway Company. As for the trade disputes that may be caused by this, that is the government's business. The Genoese and the Dutch still have to rely on them to appease the emotions.

Thinking of this, Mo Ming stood up, took a few steps in the room, and then said to Manuel: "I will write a letter now, and you can bring it to Baron Bravo for me. It is an important task to build a smuggling network." This is a very complicated matter, which involves the interests of all parties, and there are too many people to settle, so the pre-preparation work must be done carefully. Well, after you leave, I will organize a negotiating team within a week , They will follow my will to negotiate with you, so I don’t need to come forward, they can represent me. Of course, after everything is negotiated, I may go to Valparaiso, but not yet. "

"I understand." Manuel also stood up, looked at Mo Ming and said, "Baron Bravo will not refuse, and he will not be allowed to refuse. There are too many powerful figures in the three-year They suffered heavy losses in the war, and now they urgently need to pay back their capital, and starting a smuggling trade with you is the fastest way to achieve results. Maybe this does not match their inner feelings, but everyone is an adult, and in the face of real interests, I believe They will make sensible choices."

On October 1649, 10, the fishing boat "Nan Tie Yu 15" carried a five-member negotiating team and left the port of Araucan, heading north along the Humboldt Cold Current. Their destination was Valparaíso—— Santiago's outer port.In addition, this ship was also loaded with a considerable amount of goods from the east coast, and the smuggling trade with the Spaniards was almost on the line.

(End of this chapter)