Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 910 The Travel of Money ([-])

On March 1652, 3, sunny, Rocha Port, Rocha County.

Sirigu, the foreign (Genoa) manager of the Rocha Textile Factory, changed from his boring and lazy state today. He put on the decent clothes he hadn’t worn for a long time, took care of his beard and hair, and then called an official car. Carriage——As the foreign manager of the joint venture factory, Siligu has the right to use the factory bus at any time—and rushed to the pier to welcome Mario of the Doria family who had just arrived at Rocha Port by boat. One of the backstage bosses.

The simple-decorated official carriage quickly picked up Mario and his entourage who were waiting on the pier, and then drove straight to the most famous Rocha Hotel in the city to stay - the Rocha Textile Factory had already booked the entire hotel there. The room on the top floor (the third floor) is used as the residence of Mario and his entourage. The cost is naturally paid for by the reception cost of the joint venture factory.

Sitting in the spacious and comfortable large carriage, Mario looked at the smooth cinder road outside the window for a while, then turned his head and smiled at the slightly restrained Sirigu, and said, "Every time I come to the east bank, I feel like I have passed dozens of times." The same as last year, the last time I came here, Rocha Port was building trestles, warehouses, roads, breakwaters, lighthouses, freight yards, and forts. Even in Venice and Genoa, the facilities are first-class, but the people on the east coast are still not satisfied! They are still expanding their nests like hardworking bees. Is belief supporting them to do something like crazy?"

"As a large trade port designated by the government of the East Coast Republic, Rocha Port can now berth no less than [-] large sea-going ships at the same time..." As Siligu, who has worked in Rocha Port for many years, he knows everything about this city like the back of his hand, Just listen to him list and analyze one by one: "The ships from the English and the Dutch transported cotton; the ships from the east coast people transported seafood by themselves; Ships; the Portuguese ships carrying cloth, bean cakes, and soybean oil; A dozen or twenty ships are docking at the same time—there may be more than that in the busy months. Yes, this port may not be the best in the Old Continent in terms of scale, but in terms of the exquisite planning of the wharf, complete port facilities, and overall It is truly unrivaled in its solidity of construction. And what is even more surprising is that such a marvelous port is not the only one in this country...”

After hearing this, Mario exchanged glances with his followers, and then fell silent.And their silence didn't last long. Soon, Luocha Hotel arrived, and Luocha Textile Factory specially sent two reception staff to guide them into their respective rooms, and then invited everyone to have a meal in the banquet hall on the first floor of the hotel.

Taking into account the Genoese background of the guests, Italian-style dishes accounted for the majority of the lunch.Thanks to the Florentine Merchant Station on the east coast, they have been purchasing a large number of Italian foods (such as ham, rum, cheese, butter, etc.) over the years-this kind of stuff sells well on the east coast because there are many Italian immigrants. Existence - so this lunch was able to be rich enough.

After lunch, the liaison staff of the textile factory left and returned to the factory, leaving space for the Genoese themselves to talk about what they were interested in without being disturbed.

"...Where should I start?" Mario leaned on the back of the finely crafted hardwood chair, holding a cup of fragrant tea in his hand-this kind of tea is undoubtedly produced in Fenghua County, Ningbo Prefecture. The east coast is very popular——slowly said: "In the past few years since the establishment of Luocha Textile Factory, with the opening of Persian raw silk import channels, the business scale is getting bigger and bigger, and the profit is also rising steadily. Last year's dividends have reached An astonishing 50 bank lire (about 8.2 yuan), the situation this year will only be more optimistic, because more and more Spaniards accept our products, and our silk products rely on a great cost advantage, making the previous Some gentlemen who can't afford it can also enjoy this kind of luxurious clothing, which is wonderful! Mr. Pinardi of St. George's firm told me that it is conservatively estimated that the sales of silk clothing in the entire Greater Spain region this year will be at It has increased by [-]% on the basis of last year, which shows the dividend distribution situation of Luocha Textile Factory this year..."

70 lire!Sirigu couldn't help thinking about the dividends that the Luocha Textile Factory gave to the Doria family this year. God, what a fortune this is!Back then, they didn't invest much money at all, but now they are very likely to receive a stable dividend of more than 100 million lire per year. This kind of return on investment can only appear in New World countries like the East Coast Republic, right?Would such a return on investment be possible in Italy, Spain, or even France (where Italian merchants opened silk textile factories in large numbers)?Apart from other things, the source of raw materials (mainly raw silk) alone worries most people, right?Xili Gu faintly heard that the people on the east coast drove their powerful main warships directly to the gate of the Persians, and then signed a certain amount of raw silk trade agreement, otherwise it would not work.

"The capital in Genoa is becoming more and more surplus, and the annuity yield of St. George Commercial Bank has fallen to around 1%, which also means that this investment has become worthless. But the problem is that the surplus funds are still not found The only way to vent is to pour into the public bond market or invest in annuities, or to lend money to foreign businessmen or even monarchs, but these are all unreliable.” Sure enough, Mario quickly talked about the current situation of the severe excess capital in the Republic of Genoa .

This small country in the Western Mediterranean with a population of only 60 million can't accommodate the surging huge amount of capital. Therefore, businessmen in this country can only keep looking for new investment hotspots.In the past, their eyes might have been limited to the prosperous Amsterdam market, but now, they have another good investment target, which is the East China Republic in the New World.

The Genoese who have already had excess capital to invest in the Kingdom of Morocco actually don’t mind whether their investment targets are the Lord’s people or pagans. They pay more attention to how to increase the value of their capital as soon as possible—of course, how to keep their huge assets is also important. This is a problem. After all, there are too many monarchs in Europe coveting their wealth, so diversification of investment has become inevitable.

As a long-established business family in the Republic of Genoa, the Doria family's previous successful investment in the east coast has aroused the interest of many people, especially other families closely related to their family, who are very interested in investing in the emerging east coast republic.The previous investment in the Southern Railway Company or the preferential loan given to the East Coast Republic was just a small test, and the next investment is the big one. This time Mario represented the interests of many old-fashioned investors. If you visit the East Coast, If the negotiations go well, he is likely to bring a huge investment of more than 500 million bank lire to the East Coast Republic.

The Genoese are really in a hurry now.They lost the power to lend to the Catholic king (Habsburg dynasty), and encountered strong challenges from the Dutch and Jewish merchants in business, and the sunset was very obvious.In order to restore all this, they must obtain new investment channels and new profit growth points as soon as possible, otherwise they will gradually be marginalized in Europe.

The birth of the people on the east bank gave the capital-rich Genoese a chance to dream, and the success of the Rocha Textile Factory encouraged the courage of the Genoese. Therefore, they planned to invest heavily in the East Coast Republic, and the first batch of money It is likely to reach 500 million lire-to be honest, this figure is really not a big figure for the huge amount of Genoese capital idled in various commercial outlets.

"...If you want to invest, I suggest you invest in the East Coast Railway." After chatting with Mario for a long time, the two sides gradually talked about specific investment projects. After thinking for a long time, Sirigu finally proposed this Suggestion: "Although I am not very familiar with this new mode of transportation, because people on the east coast do not want outsiders to know too much about this magical thing. But there is no doubt that its transportation capacity is extremely powerful. If you plan it well, Must be a very good deal, like the Rocha mills."

"Well, I understand what you mean." Mario asked his followers to write down this carefully as the focus of the next discussion with the East Coast government, and then continued to ask: "Is there any other good investment projects? Whether the return is fast or the return is slow, we can talk and listen, and we don’t mind that much.”

"Invest in the Southern Railway Company." Siligou said directly.

"It's no longer possible." Mario shook his head and said, "Our shareholding ratio in this company has reached its peak, and we are not allowed to continue increasing it. Let's talk about something else."

"Then we can only follow the example of the Luocha Textile Factory and set up a new factory in a joint venture with people from the East Coast. We can hire skilled workers from Italy, provide sales channels, and then invest a certain amount of money, supplemented by people from the East Coast. Advanced production technology must be able to obtain satisfactory returns." Siligou said bluntly, "There is nothing more reliable than this method, and it is also easier for both parties to accept, because it is tantamount to combining our respective differences. The advantages of space, mutual benefit, and common profit, the East Coast people will happily accept it.”

"Sounds very good." Mario commented, and then fell into deep thought.He is still thinking about how to get more benefits from the people on the east coast. After all, he also wants to allocate the funds at hand to various industries more effectively, instead of throwing money around aimlessly.

(End of this chapter)