Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 811 Difficulties and Hope ([-])

Mo San is indeed encountering a lot of financial difficulties now.

Since the French issued an order to increase tariffs on foreign goods in the second half of last year, the sales of goods on the east coast in France have plummeted. The agents of local goods on the east coast, Pasquale, the Loris family and the Baron family of Toulouse, are the largest Significantly reduced the import volume of east coast calico.Not only that, the import volume of textile products such as cloaks, burqas, tablecloths, curtains, towels, scarves, socks, etc. has also dropped sharply, and the sales of mid-to-high-end commodities such as dyed cloth, printed cloth, and knitwear have also fallen sharply; In addition, sales of goods on the rest of the east coast also generally encountered Waterloo.

After these unfavorable factors interacted together, the result was that the profits of the Bordeaux Commercial Station, the most profitable commercial station of the East Coast Republic in Europe, dropped sharply.Although the decree was issued only in the second half of last year, the profit for the whole year of 1649 could not be affected too much, but this year (1650) is definitely over. If you can get back the profit of 30 to 90 for the whole year Not bad, it is really incomparable with the annual net profit of [-] million yuan in previous years.

The Bordeaux trading station is like this, and the business of the East Coaster's trading station in Florence is even more sluggish.In the past two years, the annual profit of the people on the East Coast has been only tens of thousands of yuan, which is very pitiful.At the end of last year, Mo San personally went to Florence to check the accounts, and found that the annual profit was about 2 yuan.This made him once have the urge to close the business station and divert the personnel to other places, but after all, he was reluctant to leave the only foothold of the East Coaster in the north-central region of Italy-after withdrawing, he would not be able to collect local intelligence and recruit Immigrants and skilled workers-so it was finally decided to temporarily keep the Florence Merchant Station until the end of 1650, and then we will see the situation.

However, judging from today's harsh business environment (at the end of 1649, the Grand Duke of Tuscany also issued a decree raising import duties on foreign goods), it is hard to say whether this trading station will be profitable this year.Mo San has already made up his mind. If the business site has a small profit or the loss is not very large (within 1 yuan), then he will continue to keep the business site for one year; of course, if the loss is large, then he must be resolute. When it is closed, the personnel are either transferred back to the mainland, or are diverted to other profitable business stations to help.

The two commercial stations in Bordeaux and Florence were in a dilemma, but the Ze Commercial Station was forced to close due to political reasons, and the last commercial station in Europe (excluding the Ottoman Empire) on the east bank—the Riga Commercial Station’s operating conditions were unexpected. There was a turning point.In this business station directly led by Zheng Yong, last year the Dong'an people made a total of about [-] to [-] yuan in net profit.Although the data is not much different from previous years, it should be known that the trading station purchased an old ship in Amsterdam last year and recruited some sailors; The Arkhangelsk Merchant Station supported a considerable amount of start-up costs.After removing these major expenses, you can still get hundreds of thousands of cash, which is enough to show that the business station is running well.

The reason why the Riga Merchant Station has sprung up amidst the gloom is that they have successfully opened up markets in other regions of Livonia, such as the Principality of Courland and the Principality of Prussia.In addition, although the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania ordered the people on the east bank to close the trading station in Danzig, there are still some Polish or Dutch merchants (Dutch wholesalers who specialize in Polish business) who sell the east bank to Poland through Livonia. Commodities, these have brought a lot of profits, so that people from the east coast can continue to develop in Riga, the pearl city of the Baltic Sea.

After taking stock of these three trading stations, the rest is naturally the Ottoman market that the East Coast Republic focuses on.Compared with other places, people from the east coast have set up a total of five trading stations in the Ottoman Empire: Smyrna, Thessaloniki, Burgas, Kaffa, and Suez. The richness, the huge turnover, the in-depth degree of participation in commercial operations, and the number of additional tasks undertaken are all unmatched by other European business stations.

To be honest, the Ottoman Empire is actually the biggest benefactor of the people on the east coast!

Among these five commercial stations, Suez Commercial Station needless to say, it is a policy commercial station, and it has been undertaking the important task of transshipment of materials and population. On the verge of profit and loss, Mo San never thought of closing it; the port of Smyrna was the largest commercial port in the Ottoman Empire at this time, and the commercial station opened by the people from the east coast was also one of the five commercial stations. The most profitable one can bring nearly 60 yuan in net profit to people on the east coast every year, far exceeding the two commercial stations in Thessaloniki and Burgas with profits of only 30 yuan and 25 yuan respectively; in addition, The business station opened by people from the east coast in Kaffa is quite special. The main target here is not the Ottomans (Kaffa is the regional center of the Ottoman Empire’s enclave north of the Black Sea, with a small population), but the Crimean The business of the Khanate.

As we all know, the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate have always been a nomadic people who only know how to plunder but not how to build—although under the influence of the Ottomans, their habits have changed in recent years. Many Poles, Ukrainians, Romanians and Russians came to work for them, but the Crimean Khanate was still essentially a semi-nomadic and semi-agrarian regime.Their demand, therefore, for daily necessities, and for all other commodities, is exceedingly great.

Moreover, this group of people spend generously and are not very used to bargaining, so the large sums of money plundered every year flow into the pockets of large wholesalers like this.In the past, it was the Jewish merchants in the Ottoman Empire who monopolized this lucrative business. Later, people from the east bank squeezed in, but they were only limited to the arms business under the name of Nasukh Pasha and other powerful figures. , and also buy a large number of slaves from Jewish businessmen every year-this is actually a disguised protection fee-this barely qualified for the establishment of a trading station in Kaffa.

But now the backstage of the Jewish merchants on the northern shore of the Black Sea has collapsed.Whether it is the former Sultan's teacher Xinsi Hauka or the Empress Dowager Kosem Sultan, they are all dead and imprisoned, and have faded out of the political arena.Now the ones calling the shots on the stage are naturally the powerful figures in the army who were suppressed before (the people on the east coast are still a little friendly), the palace eunuch Lala Suleiman Agha, the biological mother of Sultan Muhammad, Turhan who was born as a Russian slave In Sudan, there are also representatives of secular forces and local forces, Nasukh Pasha, Navy Pasha, Aleppo Pasha (Governor of Syria), Egyptian Pasha, and so on.

Among these forces, the people on the east coast and the Aghas of the army—whether it is the Ganishari Army or the Sipahi Army—have always had a good relationship. Mo San wants to come to a project payment that is in arrears for more than half a year, which shows the good relationship between the two parties.In addition, the Azov Sea Chamber of Commerce, which is run by local powerful factions, has been increasingly involved in the slave trade in recent years. At the same time, it also represents the weapons, textiles and other commodities of the people on the east coast, and sells them to Crimea, the Caucasus, etc. And other areas, a lot of profits.And once there is interest, the relationship between the two parties will be more stable, and this is why the Kafa Trading Station of the East Coast people has become more and more prosperous over the years.According to the statistics in 1649, the Kaffa Trading Station contributed about 25 yuan in profits to the people on the east coast throughout the year, ranking third with Thessaloniki Trading Station, but it ranked No. [-] in terms of growth rate. one.

The entire Ottoman market contributes a huge profit of more than 140 million yuan to the people on the east coast every year. This money is the key to maintaining the healthy operation of the economic system, social system and military machinery of the entire east coast.Of course, these huge profits are also the confidence that Mo San relies on for his long-sleeved skills in Europe and his pursuit of business everywhere.For example, the decision to settle 100 Polish female slaves, or the purchase of Polish prisoners of war, all of which cost more than [-] million yuan. Without a large amount of financial support, he could not do such a big thing.

But things have obviously changed now, because the profit from the Bordeaux trading station has dropped by [-] to [-]%, and after deducting the cost of purchasing materials, sending cash to the local area, and the expenses of opening up new markets, Mo San suddenly found that the money in his hand Probably not enough.Although in a short period of time, there is no worry about the depletion of funds, but due to the plan to prepare for a rainy day, there must be no major expenditures this year.Well, the Tatars brought a considerable number of Polish women and prisoners of war to the Azov Sea Chamber of Commerce. The Polish women may be able to eat them. Negotiate the price, but you can only buy part of it, after all, the funds are too tight.

While calculating the expenditure, Mo San gritted his teeth and took out a sum of money, intending to continue to expand the number of commercial stations in the Ottoman Empire and further expand the market share. The potential of this huge market with a population of more than 3000 million It's still far from being fully excavated.In Mo San's plan, in the next three years, he will open three to four new business stations in Ottoman territory, and the locations are almost selected, namely Aleppo, Basra, Alexandria and Tirana.

These places are very important cities in the Ottoman Empire, but their commercial development is relatively primitive. At present, only some Greek and Armenian merchants are operating, which is very suitable for the commercial capital on the east bank to deploy there.A new business station means a new market, but also a new hope, which is what Mo San values ​​most. (Want to know more exciting news about "The Rise of South America through 1630"? Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign on the top right, select Add friends to add a public account, search for "Qidianzhongwenwang", follow the public account, and never miss every update!)

(End of this chapter)