Chapter 1238 Geng Zijuan takes into account both public and private matters
Seeing that his brother was speechless for a while, Baoqin, who was sitting beside him, quickly softened his cheek and said: "Ms. sir, exploring the route is not something that can be done overnight. My brother has just gone to Denglai not long ago and is not familiar with the situation. My little sister thinks that he is like this Caution is the right thing to do, get started first, and then wait until your business becomes bigger in the future, and then consider exploring new routes and expanding the territory, but it is not too late.”
Hearing that Feng Ziying wanted to talk to her brother, Bao Qin wanted to join in without hesitation. Feng Ziying thought about this girl who was still chatting happily on the bed in the morning. She was so sweet and charming. After getting up, she became awe-inspiring and cool. Fortunately, this kind of thing itself cannot be kept secret, and sooner or later it will be known to everyone, so Feng Ziying agreed to Baoqin's observation.
"I didn't say what Brother Tao did was wrong. I should say it was a smart move. It would be foolish to rush to find new routes and open up new trade channels." Feng Ziying shook his head, "Brother Tao, This is appropriate, but I think the pace is still too slow..."
"It's too slow? Brother Feng (Ms. Gong), do you think it's too slow?" Xue Biao and Bao Qin were both a little surprised. Did you hear that right?
There have been four boats in more than a year, plus the three boats ordered. If Denglai Shipyard starts construction in the beginning of the year, all the preliminary materials such as wood, paint, canvas and so on have been prepared. If construction starts at the same time, within ten months It can be completed and launched into the water. Is this too slow?
The Xue family had a fleet in water transportation at the earliest, but it was mainly based on Suzhou and running to Hangzhou, Jinling and Yangzhou. Because there were too many inland river fleets in this area, the competition was too fierce and it was impossible to make money. Later, the Xue family withdrew from this industry.
Even the Xue family's fleet only had eleven or two ships at its largest. They were slowly operated by the Xue family for more than ten years. This Xue family was able to operate seven ships in only two or three years, which is already worthy of the title. Is it fast or too slow?
Feng Ziying nodded, "It's too slow. Brother Tao, I also agree that you should make the transportation business bigger and more mature first, and then consider other things. But to make it big and mature, Denglai's business alone is not enough. Wait until It is not appropriate for Denglai Shipyard to build ships for you. My opinion is that you can go to Ningbo, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou or even Guangzhou to order ships. It is not necessary to wait until Denglai. It is best to expand the fleet to 20 ships this year. There are even thirty or more ships. I even suggest that you can continue the old method and buy a few old ships first, with larger specifications..."
Xue Biao still has great trust in Feng Ziying, but Feng Ziying's suggestion is still difficult for him to accept.
Nowadays, prices are not as low as when prices were low in the early years of the Zhou Dynasty. The price of a large ship with thousands of materials is not cheap. If a new ship is built, the materials are divided into new and old materials, that is, 70% comes from new materials and 30% comes from old materials dismantled from old ships. The materials for this ship alone require more than 800 taels, and prices are so high now. Paint, sails, ropes, iron, plus labor, a large ship with a thousand materials cannot be purchased without more than 1,500 taels.
Even if you buy an old ship, such as a thousand-material ship that can be used for more than five years, you will need about 800 taels.
If it is a large ship with more than 2,000 materials, the price will triple. A large ship with 2,000 materials will cost around 4,000 taels, and even an old ship will cost 2,500 taels.
For example, the old ship Xue Biao bought was originally a medium-sized ship with 400 materials, which was relatively cheap. The last two ships were large ships with 1,000 materials, and they were also customized. If you also add up the cost of recruiting sailors and boatmen, To build a fleet of more than ten ships, with half old and new ships, an investment of at least fifteen thousand taels of silver is required. In addition, the risks at sea are not small. Once there is an unexpected event such as a storm or running aground on the rocks, the risk will be very high. It is possible to lose money or even go bankrupt every second.
Therefore, even for the big shipping merchants in Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang, generally only a dozen or so ships are considered good. There are not many big shipping merchants with more than 20 ships, and there are only a few wealthy maritime merchants with more than 50 ships. It can be counted that most of them are ship owners and merchants of a few ships.
A company like Xue Biao can have seven ships in one or two years, which is considered a rapid development. If it wants to speed up, even if it has sufficient funds, there will be problems in manpower and management.
"Brother Feng, isn't twenty or even thirty ships too radical? Firstly, we don't have such strong capital, and secondly, it is quite difficult to recruit qualified manpower. Now that the maritime ban has been lifted, various places are vigorously building ships and developing maritime trade. Recruiting the right people is not easy,…”
Xue Biao feels that Feng Ziying is a little eager to achieve success, and the key is what is the purpose of such expansion regardless of risks? Isn’t it good to expand steadily like this? Xue Biao feels that as long as he has sufficient financial support, he is relatively confident that he can expand the fleet to thirty to fifty ships within five years, but it will reach thirty ships within one year, and he cannot do it. .
"Brother, the construction of Jinzhou and Niuzhuang in Liaodong will be further accelerated. In the future, the logistics supply of the entire Liaodong town will almost be realized by sea transportation. In other words, Yuguan supports the entire western Liaoning corridor and Eastern Mongolia, and Jinzhou will radiate Throughout southern Liaoning, Niuzhuang will cover the entire Liaodong Town south and east of Liaohetao. I will coordinate with my father and the Ministry of War to hand over these transportation services to your fleet. This means that in the future Shipping rice, wheat, weapons, cloth, and tea from Guangdong and Guangxi, Jiangnan and even Denglai can be directly delivered to Liaodong. In addition, my father is also preparing to contact North Korea, hoping to further strengthen the commercial exchanges between North Korea and Liaodong. This can also be done by your fleet. To open up,…”
These words are half true and half false.
It is an inevitable trend to switch supply to Liaodong by sea. Land transportation is too expensive, and Feng Ziying also intends to promote cement to the western Liaoning corridor and the line from Liaonan to Liaodong.
If this line of cement pavement can be solved, it can be said that Liaodong's logistics support can be transported by sea to Yuguan, Niuzhuang and Jinzhouwei, and then transported by land to various places. This will not only greatly reduce the pressure on logistics supply, Moreover, the transportation cost can be reduced by more than 70%, and the transportation time can be saved by two-thirds. It can even radiate to Dingliao Youwei and the North Korean area east of Jiuliancheng, which will also greatly strengthen Liaodong's influence on North Korea. There are benefits.
"If you can't quickly expand the size of your fleet, then many of my father's things in Liaodong can only be left to others. These people are also well-connected. Once it falls into their hands, they want to get it back. It will be very difficult, so I think we can bear a certain degree of loss now, as long as we take down these businesses first and ensure that they are not taken away by others, so that it will be difficult for others to interfere if they want to covet these businesses."
This reason makes sense. Although Xue Biao was a little confused, he could barely accept it. However, Bao Qin felt that there were still some doubts here. Seeing that her husband was very determined, she stopped saying more and only waited to find out what happened later.
"As for how to expand, I think Brother Tao might as well directly acquire the fleets of some shipping merchants. Although shipping has prospered since the ban was lifted, maritime risks are great, and there are still some shipowners who are not doing well or are afraid of risks. If you are willing to transfer, you might as well entrust some Yaxingya people to help you inquire and search, and don't care too much about the benefits... As for if you lack funds, Baoqin's second house can solve one or two problems, or you can come through Haitong Bank. Loans,…”
Seeing that Feng Ziying had said this, Xue Biao had no choice but to accept it. He also believed that Feng Ziying would not harm him. With Baochai and Baoqin in the Feng family, his interests would naturally be protected.
When Bao Qin sent his brother out, Xue Biao couldn't help but tell Bao Qin: "If my sister can give birth to an heir for the Feng family as soon as possible, then my heart will be more secure."
Bao Qin blushed and glared at her brother angrily: "Why is my brother talking nonsense like the eldest brother? My sister is still in front. Besides, things like this are not something you can just want... "
Xue Biao hesitated for a moment and then said: "My mother also told me that it doesn't matter who has an heir first, you or the eldest sister. It's just fate. There is no need to wait for anyone. It's not my place to say this, but..., Hey, my sister is also an understanding person, so it’s good to know what’s going on.”
Bao Qin naturally knows her mother's thoughts, but who is the first child is also a delicate matter. She has been thinking about this issue for a long time.
The special relationship between myself and my cousin is no different from the ordinary relationship between wives and concubines.
There are some differences between wives and concubines and wives and concubines in the laws of the Zhou Dynasty. Concubines do not have no say in facing their wives.
If you give birth to a son first, but your cousin never gives birth to a son, the relationship between the two will be even more awkward. The relationship between the two will continue to be awkward until either the cousin gives birth to a son, or the cousin loses her fertility as she ages. In order to return to normal, Bao Qin felt that her cousin's mentality was very important.
As his mother said, this kind of thing itself is a matter of fate. Of course, this also has a lot to do with the emotional intimacy of the husband. The more time he rests in whose room, the greater the chance of pregnancy.
"Brother, don't worry and do what you want to do. My husband will definitely not harm my brother. If there is anything, my husband will definitely make it clear to my brother." Baoqin comforted his brother and pondered for a while before speaking out. Opinion: "In my opinion, my husband must have some special purpose for making such an arrangement. Even though it has not been explained, there must be some special reason. Brother, please don't worry too much."
(End of this chapter)