Taxation has always been a matter of great importance to merchants, and although most of the municipal shipping divisions in the late Ming Dynasty have adopted the tax package system of dental agents, the taxes to be paid by maritime merchants have not been reduced. For example, the fabrics transported from Jiangsu, Zhejiang or Fujian by the "Yongfeng Cloth Company" to Guangzhou must be paid to the Guangzhou City Shipping Department at a ratio of ten taels of silver per square foot, according to the width of the ship, and generally the tax required to be paid for a shipload of goods is more than two hundred taels. A large cloth merchant like "Yongfeng Cloth Company" only pays about 10,000 taels of silver every year, which is really a large number.

According to the commercial tax regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the "Yongfeng Cloth Company" sold these goods in Guangzhou, and must pay the commercial tax according to the ratio of 30 taxes. In this way, the tax burden of transporting a shipload of textiles from other provinces to Guangzhou is considerable.

For cloth merchants, this part of the tax loss must be passed on to the price of the goods sold, and the ultimate bearer is the people or consumer groups such as the crossing group. As a group with a great demand for textiles, it is naturally not willing to pay money to transfuse blood to the treasury of the Ming Dynasty in disguise, if it can manage to attract cloth merchants to Shengli Port, then it will be very affordable for both sides.

Schneider seized the opportunity to explain to the shopkeeper that the cloth merchants did not need to pay any water and land salaries to transport the cloth to Shengli Port, and because these textiles were collectively purchased by the Haihan Executive Committee, there would be no transaction tax. Of course, this kind of preferential treatment is not enjoyed in vain, and the price at which these textiles are sold to Haihan after arriving at Shengli Port should also be appropriately reduced by cloth merchants.

The shopkeeper blinked his eyes and asked, "If you can really save taxes, then the price can be negotiated." But what if there's too much cloth to be shipped to your port and you can't buy it all?"

Schneider said: "This is easy to do, we first agree on an approximate transaction volume, how much cloth, how much yarn, how much silk, how much per month, set the upper and lower limits of the transaction volume, as long as you provide us with goods within this trading volume, then we will accept all the orders." ”

The shopkeeper thought for a while, and felt that Schneider was reasonable, so he asked again: "Then I don't know what fabrics you need every month, and how much is the amount?"

Schneider smiled and said: "This is not in a hurry, because there are a few special fabrics that we need, and I want to ask the shopkeeper to see if I can make them later." ”

Because there were still technical details to be discussed in the follow-up, Schneider and He Xi did not deliberately attack the shopkeeper at the wine table. Full of wine and food, the three of them moved to the study, and the rows of all kinds of Haihan glass stationery here almost blinded the eyes of the horse shopkeeper, there are many kinds of never seen on the market This is the latest batch of samples sent from Shengli Port, because to abide by the exclusive agency agreement with "Fu Ruifeng", so the technical department has specially designed some new models, ready to promote to businessmen outside Guangdong.

Looking at the somewhat sluggish expression of the shopkeeper, He Xi presented a set of Haihan glass carved stationery that had been prepared in a timely manner. Such a set of things is worth at least a hundred taels of silver in the current market market, and it can be regarded as a lot of weight as a gift.

For the Guangzhou Office, using glass products as a gift is undoubtedly an excellent means of public relations, this thing has a low cost and a high selling price, and it is not distressing to send it out, and the other party is also happy, and by the way, it promotes the culture of Haihan. The Guangzhou Office has proposed to the base camp to build a series of gifts made of glass, the output does not need to be large, but there must be a unique shape, because only non-quantity products can have higher value, more suitable for gift recipients to take back to collect or pretend.

Schneider clapped his hands, asked his subordinates to serve tea, and brought in fabric samples by the way.

The first sample that the shopkeeper saw was gauze, this kind of fabric with sparse warp and weft did not have any difficulties in making the technology, the shopkeeper just took it in his hand and looked at it, and determined the width required for this gauze with Schneider, and then said that it could be customized. Schneider also subdivided the gauze into several different types according to the technical standards proposed by the executive committee, and each of them set orders ranging from 10 to 100 horses per month to the horse shopkeeper.

The gauze customized by the group is mainly used in three aspects, one is medical gauze, mainly bandages. Although there is still some stock of this thing, its shelf life is limited, generally two to three years, and the relevant departments do not want to wait until they need to use a large number of items in the future to find out that the inventory is expired, and it is always not wrong to start making relevant preparations in advance. However, what "Yongfeng Cloth Company" can provide to the crossing group is only ordinary cotton gauze, and absorbent gauze must not be counted on in the short term, and that thing must be imported from the mainland to make it by itself. However, the local kapok produced in Hainan cannot be used in this aspect because of its short and soft fibers, poor spinnability, and not easy to be soaked in water.

The second use is in the making of masks. Now, due to the gradual commissioning of various industrial projects, the physical protection of industrial workers is slowly attracting the attention of the Executive Committee. The last time Tao Dong came to Heitu Port to inspect, Gu Kai proposed to him that labor insurance measures for workers need to be strengthened to prevent large-scale occupational diseases in the future. At that time, Tao Donglai did not agree to Gu Kai's request, one of the reasons was that the crossing group itself did not have the ability to manufacture fabrics, and even simple labor protection equipment such as masks and gloves could not be manufactured by itself. However, with the increasing number of local industrial projects that need to be protected in Shengli Port, the requirements for labor protection tools have also been put on the agenda of the Executive Committee, and the procurement of raw materials has been handed over to the Guangzhou Office.

The last use is for making zuò mosquito nets. Due to the high temperature and high humidity climate in Sanya, there are many mosquitoes, which is a very fatal source of infection. In addition to stepping up efforts to prevent insects and other diseases, the medical and health authorities have also requested the Executive Committee that it is necessary to purchase mosquito nets and gauze on a large scale, and to install screen doors and windows on the doors and windows of houses, so as to isolate mosquitoes as much as possible, and if possible, it is best for local residents to use mosquito nets. After studying the matter, the executive committee believes that although the amount of work is relatively large, but fortunately, the raw materials are cheap, and in the current good economic situation, it is still no problem to spend a sum of money as a health guarantee for local residents, as long as it can effectively reduce the incidence caused by mosquito bites, then this cost can actually save a considerable part of the daily medical expenses.

Although the shopkeeper doesn't understand too much why Haihan people order so much gauze, and it is every month, but at present, he will definitely not refuse this kind of door-to-door business. As for where these gauze will be used, since the Haihan people are unwilling to take the initiative to say, the shopkeeper will naturally not ask more. Although the price of gauze is very cheap, it can sell hundreds of horses a month, and the total amount in a year is still quite considerable, at least from the current order volume, the amount of gauze required by the Haihan people has even exceeded the local gauze sales in Guangzhou.

The second fabric sample seen by the shopkeeper is the canvas that is most urgently needed by the group at present. Canvas is a fabric that has been around in the West for a long time, and has been widely used in the making of sails and tents since ancient Rome. In the 13th century, the art of making Western-style canvas was introduced to China, but unlike in the West, this thick, wear-resistant cloth was not widely used in China, and it was hardly sold in the market. However, the shopkeeper is also a professional who has been in the industry for many years, and he explained his origin as soon as he saw the fabric sample.

Schneider was not interested in listening to the shopkeeper's slow analysis of the current situation of the domestic textile market in Daming, and he was only concerned about one thing: "Can you weave the same fabric?"

"Yes!" the shopkeeper swore in response, and then said: "But this kind of fabric requires a lot of materials and man-hours, and the price is probably more than twice as expensive as ordinary Songjiang cotton cloth." ”

"The price is not a problem, as long as you can take out the finished product as much as possible, and the material can basically meet the specifications of such a product. Schneider heard the answer of the shopkeeper and immediately decided to finalize the matter, the price is not the primary consideration for the crossing group, the current situation is that you can't buy the goods with cash, and it is not the time to bargain at all.

When the shopkeeper heard this, he picked up the sample and looked at it: "Just these two, right?

Schneider showed him two samples of canvas, the first being the thick canvas used in sailboats, which could also be used to make zuò coverings and tents. The second slightly thinner is used to make zuò labor protection clothing, backpacks, shoes and other items, which can be used directly as denim by dyeing a color.

Schneider explains: "The yarn count, weight and width are the criteria. We will not set a trading ceiling for this kind of canvas for the time being, as long as your finished product is qualified in these standards, we will buy as much as it can be shipped to Shengli Harbor!"

After hearing this, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up and said, "Do you need to dye these fabrics?"

"No, we'll take care of the dyeing ourselves, and you'll get cash right away as long as you ship the finished product to Victory Harbor!" Schneider said with certainty. The chemical department has already produced a variety of dye formulas, and the cost of dyeing cloth on its own scale is definitely much lower than that of these mainland cloth merchants, so there is really no need to pay this unjust money.

The shopkeeper has already calculated in his heart, and sent the news back to Hangzhou, it will take about ten days, and it will take about five days to adjust the loom to make fabrics, and the gauze is good to say, but the latter kind of cloth is too thick, and the time required for ordinary weavers to weave a horse is probably three times that of Songjiang cloth, and the first ship of finished fabrics will come out of Hangzhou, about a month later.

After reading the fabric samples prepared by the Guangzhou Office, the shopkeeper also instructed his entourage to present the fabric samples he brought. The shopkeeper did not come empty-handed, he also worked hard to inquire about the news of the Haihan people before this, only to find out that this group of people in Guangzhou has purchased a lot of bulk goods, no matter what they buy is a large number of purchases, even the four hundred materials of the sea ship also with the new and old ordered six or seven ships, the shot can be regarded as extremely generous, this time I was fortunate to be able to come to the door to sell, the shopkeeper is naturally fully prepared, let the entourage pick a whole two large wooden box of samples. However, he didn't expect that the Haihan people would place an order for custom-made fabrics before he showed the samples, and the quantity was huge.

The two boxes of samples brought by the horse shopkeeper, one box is cotton fabrics, and the other box is silk fabrics. Cotton fabrics are mainly cotton cloth produced in Songjiang Prefecture, which is not only ordinary homespun cloth, but is divided into standard cloth, buckle cloth, rare cloth, fan cloth, Rongban cloth, medium machine, small cloth, three shuttle cloth, Longdun cloth, cloud cloth, flying flower cloth, gauze cloth and so on. The imperial clothes worn by the emperor were made of three-shuttle cloth produced in Songjiang Prefecture, and its price exceeded that of ordinary cotton cloth by nearly ten times, and the unit price of each horse reached about three taels of silver. During the Ming Dynasty, this kind of three-shuttle cloth could even be folded into 30 stones, which was once used by the imperial court to fold the grain of officials.

The samples of silk fabrics are also rich and colorful, with all kinds of brocades, lenoes, velvets, silk satins, makeup flowers, etc., and in a short time the floor of the study is covered. Although Schneider and He Xi have been to the cloth shop several times, they have never seen so many samples listed one by one, and they are dazzled for a while.

The current treatment of naturalized people is that the treatment of naturalized people is all-inclusive, and there has always been a big gap in the fabrics needed, but it seems that there is a strong hope that this gap will be closed in the near future. If the quantity of thin canvas provided by the "Yongfeng Cloth Company" is large enough in the future, then the civil affairs department can even use this kind of cloth to make all the clothes issued to naturalized people, and directly unify the living clothes and labor protection clothing.

As for the dazzling silk fabrics, Schneider and He Xi did not have much interest, but asked the shopkeeper to leave a small number of samples of each silk fabric, and then decide the type and quantity to order after their own research. For the current crossing group, silk fabrics do not have much practical effect, and the purpose of asking the shopkeeper to leave samples is only to let the military police department use the samples to do a combustion test later, to see which variety of silk fabrics burns the most fully and has the least residue, and is most suitable for use as a wrapping for artillery powder packs.

At this time, it was dark, the city gate was closed, and the shopkeeper would definitely not be able to return to the city, so Schneider took the opportunity to stay overnight, and asked Yu Xiaobao to take him to the guest room to rest, and by the way, the entourage of the shopkeeper was also placed. Of course, Yu Xiaobao, who has already been trained, will enthusiastically show the high-tech Haihan bathroom equipment to the shopkeeper, so that he knows that Haihan people's attention to the quality of life is not only on the dining table and in the study.

After sending the shopkeeper to rest, Schneider asked several other travelers from the Guangzhou Office to be called to the study and informed them of the results of today's negotiations with the "Yongfeng Cloth Company". Everyone was very excited about this unexpected joy, especially You Yihan of the Ministry of Shipping, once the supply problem of canvas is solved, then the long-standing seagoing ship construction plan of the Ministry of Shipping can finally be implemented. Chen Tianqi recorded the agreements reached between the two sides one by one, and then took the briefing to the confidential room for archiving, and by the way, sent a telegram to inform the base camp of the good news.

Xiao Liang and Yu Yao took the fabrics of those silk fabrics and were about to go to the courtyard to find a place to burn them to see the effect, but they were stopped by Sister Ma Yuma: "You are not in a hurry at this moment, let me pick one first!"

There is no way to refute Ma Yu's love for beauty, after all, she is the only female member of the Guangzhou Office, and she is also the oldest in the Guangzhou Office, so she has to be accommodating in any aspect. So the two had to hand over all the samples of silk fabrics to her, and let her take them and compare them on her body, and I don't know what kind of clothing she made up in her brain.

Sha Xi, who had never opened his mouth, suddenly spoke at this time: "Since this 'Yongfeng Cloth Company' can transport fabrics from Songjiang Mansion and Hangzhou Mansion to Guangzhou for sale for many years, it means that they have a way to ship by sea?"

"Eighty percent of the people in Fujian waters have paid protection fees to 'Eighteen Zhi'. Xiao Liang guessed: "At this time, most of the ships that can pass safely from the Taiwan Strait have paid the money to buy the road, otherwise they will be caught by the people of the 'Eighteen Zhi', and they will be served with the goods on the ship." ”

Sha Xi shook his head and said: "Whether they paid the money to 'Eighteen Zhi' is not the point I want to say, the key is this channel, do you understand?"

"You mean, a safe sea passage from Guangzhou to Jiangsu and Zhejiang?" You Yihan keenly grasped the meaning of Sha Xi's words.

"According to what we know now, the safe route of 'Fu Ruifeng' only goes to Quanzhou Mansion, and further north, they have no safety guarantee at all. Now this cloth line has emerged, which can just supplement a voyage north of Quanzhou. Sha Xi explained succinctly: "When they return, they can take our goods with them and sell them to the north." ”

Schneider nodded and said, "Your idea is good, but at present, it will not be of much practical use to us." ”

Sha Xi glared and said, "Why?"

"We don't have that many items to sell. Schneider shrugged: "The problem we face now is not sales, but capacity. Whether it is munitions, glass, or other chemical products or agricultural products, all of them have insufficient production capacity, and the market in Guangdong Province alone is no longer enough to sell, and it has no practical effect on us to stretch the front too long now. ”

"But you can sell it for a higher price if you sell it to the north!" Shaxi insisted.

Schneider glanced at Sha Xi like an idiot: "Now we can't ship it to the north to sell it ourselves, how high can the price be for the agent? The most we can do now is to explore this path first, and when the time comes, we will send our own boat to the north!"