Chapter 105: The Management of Maritime Merchants (VI)
It was almost noon and lunch was ready. Huo Chong returned to the conference room and saw that the windows had been opened. It seemed that the group of smokers in the room couldn't stand the strong secondhand smoke.
As we walked into the conference room, we smelled a pungent and choking smell. Even more pungent than the smell was Liu Tianxiang's direct question, "Master Huo, are you looking down on us? Are you leaving us here to starve?"
Huo Chong was too lazy to engage in verbal conflict with this group of people. "Who in this world still looks down on others? I have prepared wine and food. If you don't mind, go and eat."
Immediately, other sea merchants said unhappily: "Master Huo, you are so careless, do you think we have offended you?"
"This brother's words are not clear. I don't know the Shanghai dialect. Everyone speaks in Shanghai dialect, and I really don't understand. Since no one teaches me , I will do what I can for everyone. When you come to my place, everyone is a guest. I can't do anything else, but at least I can prepare meals for everyone."
After saying that, Huo Chong waited for these guys with rebellious faces to react. At this time, Huo Chong had already decided to break up. Looking at Feng Yukuan, Huo Chong actually wanted to say a few more words, although he treated these guys politely for Feng Yukuan's sake. If these guys still don't know how to be shameless, there is no reason to continue to pamper them.
Before Huo Chong could speak, Feng Yukuan said, "Master Huo is a righteous man, let us brothers speak our minds out first. We have said what we need to say, and there is nothing more to say. Master Huo, your cook is good, let's have the feast. I can't control whether they eat or not. I am hungry, and I want to eat."
Huo Chong glanced at the others and saw that they were still rebellious, but no one openly expressed opposition. Since the merchants were not yet shameless, Huo Chong did not want to tear their faces apart immediately, so he turned to Yang Wangfu and said, "Let's start the meal."
Yang Wangfu went out with a dark face. Not long after, two revolving tables were brought in. Then, each person had a wash basin. Feng Yukuan was the oldest, so Huo Chong asked him to wash his hands and then sit in the upper seat. Then he asked the sea merchants to sit down. Then he ordered Yang Wangfu to arrange for the sea merchants' personal assistants to sit at another table. Huo Chong himself sat down in the main seat.
The dishes were served one by one, piping hot and fragrant . Everyone must be hungry, so Huo Chong said, "Brother Feng, you are the oldest here, so you can have the first bite."
Feng Yukuan was polite and took a chopstick first. Perhaps because they were from Shandong, although these sea merchants looked unruly, at least they knew the rules at the table. As the turntable turned, Feng Yukuan took a chopstick from the second dish. The sea merchants who got to the first dish started to pick up their chopsticks.
As the rounds went by, Huo Chong was always the last one to eat. Everyone didn't need to stand up, they just picked up the dishes in front of them and ate. After the first round was over, Feng Yukuan said, "Brother Huo, you made the table like this so that everyone can eat as they please, right?"
"Of course. We have already gone through the formalities, everyone can do as they please." Huo Chong replied with satisfaction.
When everyone heard this, they all took up their chopsticks and started eating. I don't know if this tool is easy to use, or if the Shandong brothers' adherence to rules is a bit ingrained in their bones.
The sea merchants were already able to turn the turntable naturally and only pick up the dish in front of them. Just as Huo Chong was lamenting that even if formalism was a bit rigid, as long as there was a convenient and easy-to-use tool, it would save a lot of trouble. Tian Laosi spoke up, "Master Huo, you seem to follow the rules. Why do you act differently when it comes to us brothers?"
Huo Chong decisively responded with equal courtesy, "What nonsense. What's wrong with me?"
Tian Laosi immediately listed Huo Chong's crimes, "We can't do business anymore, why do you want to steal our business?"
"What do you mean? I don't even have a boat, how can I steal your business!"
In this straightforward and straightforward question-and-answer session, Tian Laosi began to criticize Huo Chong. After listening for a while, Huo Chong was amused. He waved his hand to let Tian Laosi stop, "Let me laugh for a while before you continue! If you continue, I can't listen anymore."
"Are you making fun of me?!" Tian Laosi was angry. The other merchants were also angry. Only Feng Yukuan grinned bitterly. After all, he had worked with Huo Chong for some time, and his understanding of Huo Chong was far better than what these merchants had guessed.
"I thought that since you all have boats that can go out to sea, I wanted to let you take my goods and sell them overseas. Now you see, you have the wrong idea. I don't want to build a boat to go out to sea, nor do I want to steal your boat. I just want to ask if you can take my goods. If this is considered stealing your business, then I will not admit it!"
After hearing what Huo Chong said, the merchants either looked rebellious and indifferent, or suspicious. Huo Chong couldn't help but look at Feng Yukuan, thinking that Feng Yukuan would explain Huo Chong's idea to the merchants. However, judging from the expressions of the merchants, Feng Yukuan obviously didn't mean that.
Just as he was wondering if Feng Yukuan had really done what he thought, he heard Tian Laosi say, "If Master Huo wants us to bring goods, then we have to take advantage of you. I heard that Master Huo's business is not bad, how about letting the brothers follow Master Huo?"
Feng Yukuan's face finally became a little serious. It was obvious that Tian Laosi's vague words had made him unhappy. Huo Chong didn't know how Feng Yukuan had done it, but it seemed that Feng Yukuan didn't want these sea merchants to get involved in Huo Chong's business.
Huo Chong didn't trust these people either, so he called Yang Wangfu, who was wondering what those words meant, and asked him to get the platform investment cooperation regulations.
Yang Wangfu looked at Huo Chong in confusion, but finally obeyed his orders and left. Huo Chong continued to listen to the sea merchants' nonsense. When they got tired of talking, Huo Chong asked, "I always thought that you brothers were shipping goods directly to Korea and Japan. Why do you say that this business can't be done?"
"Mr. Huo, haha, who did you hear that from?" Liu Tianxiang asked with a sneer.
"I run my own business, and I think that's how business is done, isn't it?" Pretending to be silly and innocent, Huo Chong was actually sure that he had overestimated these sea merchants. They didn't have the ability to complete such a business channel, and it was possible that these guys didn't even have a business channel.
After casually looking at the expressions of the sea merchants, Huo Chong looked at Feng Yukuan. Feng Yukuan tried to pretend that he didn't care, but this evasion actually proved something. Feng Yukuan himself didn't want others to know the route he was in control of.
The sea merchants continued to talk nonsense. Huo Chong soon heard some clues. It turned out that the sea business of these merchants was just connected to a certain line, rather than establishing a channel. Just like Feng Yukuan connected with the Spanish merchant Oda Hideyoshi and sold some goods through his ship. At most, he was a second-hand dealer, or even a third-hand dealer.
Huo Chong was very helpless when he felt the helplessness of the sea merchants. Even the sea merchants have fallen. It was only a few decades ago that Zheng Chenggong's father, Zheng Zhilong, was a powerful man in Japan. Some people in Japan even called him a pirate. Even the Tokugawa shogunate could not eliminate Zheng Zhilong's power in Japan. He foolishly thought that even if these Shandong sea merchants did not have the power of Zheng Zhilong, they could at least sell goods directly to Japan. Now it seems that Huo Chong was just wishful thinking.
As he was sighing, Yang Wangfu had already brought the charter over. Huo Chong handed the charter to the merchants. The merchants pretended to take it and read it for a while, but their expressions betrayed them. The puzzled look on their faces and the irritation caused by the puzzlement proved that these guys had no ability to read modern contracts.
Liu Tianxiang simply said, "Master Huo, just tell me what you want."
"I want to make money and share it. I wrote so much because I don't want to wait until everyone is unhappy to say anything. Let's be frank. If anyone here doesn't want to make more money, please stand up."
Haha, hehe, haha. The sea merchants expressed their attitudes.
"Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to eat. A business may make money this year, but it may lose money next year. If you want to make money with me, you can either pay money or work hard. If you pay money, you will get dividends in the end. If you work hard, you have to work according to the rules I set, and I will pay you every month. What are the rules? They are written clearly here. I know it's not fun to work like this, but when the time comes, we will follow the rules. If something goes wrong, don't make a fuss. Who should bear how much, follow the rules."
After hearing what Huo Chong said, the sea merchants reluctantly picked up the document again. But after reading it for a while, they couldn't read it anymore. Finally, Tian Lao Si couldn't stand the torture of the text anymore. He slammed the document on the table and said, "Master Huo, just tell me. How much money I pay will determine how much you will get."
"I don't lend money, so how do I know how much I can get? There is a minimum guaranteed dividend here, which is 5 wen for every 100 wen a year. Those who give copper coins will pay copper coins, and those who give silver coins will pay silver."
Tian Laosi was furious, "That's all? No way!"
"No, no, no. That's all the money I can get from someone who just gives up and doesn't care about anything." Although it looked like bargaining, Huo Chong was actually still recommending his own financing plan.
It's just that these sea merchants are all making a lot of noise, as if they want to suppress Huo Chong. Yang Wangfu's face is getting uglier and uglier.
Huo Chong felt that the situation had reached the limit of Yang Wangfu's patience. If the kid didn't understand what Huo Chong was trying to do, he would probably be triggered by the natural human reaction. Huo Chong stopped arguing with the merchants and asked Yang Wangfu to call in Sun Bage from outside.
In terms of martial arts, Sun Bage, as a guard, is better than Yang Wangfu. Huo Chong replaced Sun Bage, firstly to prevent Yang Wangfu from exploding, and secondly because he was worried that if these sea merchants said something stupid that Huo Chong had to criticize, Sun Bage would be able to help.
As soon as Sun Ba Ge stood behind Huo Chong, he heard Liu Tianxiang say loudly: "I heard that Master Huo is very rich. I didn't expect that Master Huo is just like those rich people. The richer you are, the more evil your heart is. I'm leaving!"
Huo Chong watched Liu Tianxiang really stand up and leave with his entourage. He called his men who had already finished their meal outside, and Liu Tianxiang really left.
At least this guy is genuine. Huo Chong's opinion of Liu Tianxiang is not low. Turning to look at the group that did not leave, Huo Chong asked: "Do you have any other questions?" If this group of people can't choose to cooperate readily, Huo Chong will kick them out.
A group of guys who make money entirely by smuggling goods, even if they are not worthless, are not worth Huo Chong's continued wasting time on them.
Seeing these people hesitating with greed in their eyes, Huo Chong thought of the poem his Chinese teacher taught him when he was in school. I advise the God to shake himself up and send down talents in all kinds of ways.
The teacher said that the Qing official who wrote this poem lamented that the era had come to a point where there were no big thieves, only petty thieves. The country really had no one left. So "talents are recruited regardless of their background."
Huo Chong thought it was a bit exaggerated at the time. If they can't do good things, can they also do bad things? Seeing that these Shandong pirates didn't have the strength of their predecessors decades or hundreds of years ago, Huo Chong felt that this sigh should be true. Because Huo Chong really expected there to be a big pirate who could travel across East Asia. If such a person existed, Huo Chong's business would be much easier.
