March 9, 1652, Sunny, Luoqia Port, Luoqia County.

The foreign (Genoa) manager of the Rocha textile factory, Sirigu, changed his boring and lazy state today, put on the proper clothes that he had not worn for a long time, took care of his beard and hair, and then called an official carriage -- as the foreign manager of the joint venture factory, Sirigu had the right to use the factory's bus at any time -- and hurried to the dock to meet Mario of the Doria family, one of his backstage bosses, who had just arrived in the port of Rocha by boat.

The simply decorated official carriage soon picked up Mario and his entourage, who were waiting on the docks, and then drove straight to the most famous hotel in the city, where the Rocha textile factory had already chartered an entire room on the top floor (third floor) to serve as the residence of Mario and his entourage, and the cost was naturally paid for by the reception fee of the joint venture factory.

Sitting in the spacious and comfortable carriage, Mario looked at the smooth cinder road outside the window for a while, then turned to the slightly reserved Sirigu and smiled, and said: "Every time I come to the East Coast, it feels like decades have passed, the last time I came to the port of Rocha, there were trestles, warehouses, roads, breakwaters, lighthouses, freight yards and forts, and now a few years have passed, and they are still being repaired here." God, as far as I can see, the facilities of Puerto Rocha are first-class even in Venice and Genoa, but the people of the East Coast are not satisfied! They are still expanding their nests like industrious bees, what kind of belief is supporting them to do something like crazy? ”

"As a large trading port designated by the government of the Republic of the East Coast, the port of Rocha is now able to berth no less than twenty large ships at the same time......" As Siligu, who has served in the port of Rocha for many years, knows everything about the city, and only listens to him list and analyze them one by one: "The ships brought by the English and the Dutch to carry cotton; The ships of the people of the East Coast who brought their own seafood; the ships on which the Dutch carried the grain; Ships brought in coal and timber by the people of the East Coast; the ships on which the Portuguese carried cloth, bean cake and soybean oil; I can't count the ships of the Southern Railway Company on the east coast that carry construction materials, and so on. This lively port. In any given month, there are about a dozen or twenty ships docked at the same time - and there may be more than one busy month. Yes, this port is perhaps not the best in the Old Continent in terms of size. But in terms of the subtlety of the wharf planning, the completeness of the port facilities, and the solidity of the overall construction, it is indeed unparalleled. And even more surprisingly. Such an amazing port is not the only ...... in the country"

Mario exchanged glances with his entourage, and then fell silent. And their silence did not last long, soon, Luoqia Hotel arrived, Luoqia Textile Factory specially sent two receptionists to guide them to their respective rooms, and then invited everyone to dine in the banquet hall on the first floor of the hotel.

Considering the Genoese background of the guests, the lunch was dominated by Italian-inspired dishes. Thanks to the fact that the Florence Merchant Post on the East Coast had been purchasing all kinds of Italian food (such as ham, liqueur, cheese, butter, etc.) for many years - this kind of food sold well on the East Coast itself, because of the large number of Italian immigrants - the lunch was able to be rich enough.

After lunch. The liaison staff of the textile factory took their leave and returned to the factory, leaving space for the Genoese themselves, who could talk about what they were interested in without interruption.

“…… Where to start? Reclining on the backs of a finely crafted hardwood chair and holding a cup of fragrant tea, which is undoubtedly produced in Fenghua County, Ningbo Prefecture, and is very popular on today's east coast, Mario said slowly: "In the past few years since the establishment of the Luoqia Textile Factory, with the opening of the Persian raw silk import channel, the business has become larger and larger, and the profit has steadily increased. Last year's dividends already amounted to a staggering half a million bank lira (about 82,000 yuan), and this year's situation will only be more optimistic, as more and more Spaniards accept our products. It's amazing that our silk products are so cost-effective that even gentlemen who couldn't afford them before can enjoy this kind of luxurious clothing! Mr. Pinardi of the St. George's firm sued me. It is conservatively estimated that the sales of silk clothing in the entire Greater Spain region this year will increase by 40% on the basis of last year, which shows that the dividends of Luocha Textile Factory this year are ......"

700,000 lirah! Sirigu couldn't help but make up for the dividends that Luo Qia Textile Factory gave to the Doria family this year, God, what a fortune! Back then, they didn't invest much money at all, but now they are very likely to receive a steady dividend of more than one million lire a year, and such a return on investment can only appear in New World countries like the East Coast Republic, right? Is it possible to have such an ROI in Italy, Spain or even France (where Italian businessmen set up silk weaving factories in large numbers)? Don't say anything else. The source of raw materials (mainly raw silk) alone is worrying most people, right? Sirigu faintly heard that the people on the east coast drove the powerful main warship directly to the gate of the Persians. Only then did a certain amount of raw silk trade agreement was signed, otherwise it would not work.

"Nowadays, Genoa is becoming more and more overcapitalized. St. George's Comptoir's annuity yield has fallen to around 1%, which also means that the investment has become worthless. But the problem is that the excess money still has no outlet and can only pour into the public bond market or invest in annuities, or lend money to foreign merchants or even monarchs, but this is very unreliable. Sure enough, Mario was quick to talk about the current situation of the surplus of capital in the Republic of Genoa.

This small country in the western Mediterranean, with a population of only five or six hundred thousand, could not accommodate the surging capital, so the country's businessmen were constantly looking for new investment hotspots. In the past, they might have limited their sights to the booming Amsterdam market, but now they have another good investment target: the East Coast Republic of China in the New World.

The Genoese who had already invested in the Kingdom of Morocco did not really care whether they were investing in the Lord's people or the infidels, and they were more concerned about how to increase their capital to the fullest extent possible - of course, how to preserve their vast assets was also a problem, after all, there were so many European monarchs who coveted their wealth that diversification was inevitable.

As a veteran business family in the Republic of Genoa, the Doria family's previous successful investments in the East Coast have aroused a lot of interest, especially from other families with close ties to their families, who are interested in investing in the emerging East Coast Republic. The previous investment in the Southern Railway Company or the preferential loans given to the East Coast Republic was just a small test of the waters, and the next investment is the big one - Mario represents the interests of many veteran investors this time, and if the investigation and negotiation on the East Coast go smoothly, he is likely to bring a huge investment of more than 15 million bank lira to the East Bank Republic.

The Genoese are in a hurry now. They lost the power to lend money to the Catholic kings (Habsburgs), and faced strong challenges from the Dutch and Jewish merchants in commerce. And in order to redeem this qiē, they must do their best to obtain new investment channels and new profit growth points, otherwise they will gradually be marginalized in Europe.

The emergence of the East Coast gave the well-capitalized Genoese a chance to reverie, and the success of the Locha Textile Mill encouraged the Genoese to begin investing heavily in the Republic of the East Coast, and the first amount was likely to reach fifteen million lira - a figure that, to be honest, was not a large figure for the huge amount of Genoese capital that was idle in the various commercial outlets.

“…… If you want to invest, I can invest in the East Coast Railway. After chatting with Mario for a long time, the two sides gradually talked about specific investment projects, and after thinking for a long time, Sirigu finally proposed this proposal: "Although I am not very familiar with this new mode of transportation, because the people of 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 strong, and if it is well planned, it must be a very good deal, as is the case with the Luocha Textile Mill. ”

"Well, I see what you mean." Mario asked his entourage to jot down this carefully, making it the focus of his next negotiations with the East Coast government, and then went on to ask, "Are there any other good investment projects?" Whether it's a quick return or a slow return, you can talk about it, and we don't mind much about that. ”

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

"Not anymore." Mario shook his head and said, "Our shareholding ratio in this company has reached its peak, and we are not allowed to continue to increase, so let's talk about something else." ”

"Then the only way to do this is to follow the example of the Luo Cha Textile Factory and set up a new factory in a joint venture with the East Coasters. We can invite skilled workers from Italy, and then provide sales channels, and then invest a certain amount of money, supplemented by the advanced production technology of the East Coast people, we will definitely get a satisfactory return. "There is nothing more reliable than this, and at the same time it is easier for both sides to accept, because it is a combination of our respective strengths, mutual benefit, and mutual benefit, and the people of the East Coast will happily accept it." ”

"Sounds great." Mario commented, and then fell into deep thought. He's still thinking about how he can get more out of the East Coast, after all, he also wants to allocate his money more effectively to various industries, rather than throwing money around aimlessly. (To be continued)