Chapter 1124: Super Smuggling Trade Route

  Chapter 1103 – Super Smuggling Trade Route
Along with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the inconspicuous west entrance once again lively, every day in and out of the caravan that is endless.

Do not need someone special organization, interest is the best driving agent, will be all over the world merchant gangs converge here.

Although the Russians open pockets to buy food, livestock, coal, arms and ammunition and other strategic materials, but there are always people who want to earn some more, the contradiction appeared.

Especially after the bureaucrats and local snakes joined, it made the situation even more complicated. Merchant gangs with weak strength and no background background were the first to be eliminated from the game.

In front of them there are three ways, either to be integrated, and follow the big merchant gangs to pick up some scraps; or let go of the fight, dry over these guys on their own.

Capital is the most realistic, and capitalists are the most easily compromised. Against all odds, only exists in the novel.

In real life, the major business gangs have long been entrenched, forming a large net.

In this chain of interests, there are too many big shots sharing the benefits, and it is simply not allowed to be interrupted.

To change this situation, unless the superstructure changes and power is redistributed.

Large-scale power reshuffles usually took hundreds of years to occur, while small-scale reshuffles occurred once every few years or decades.

So the merchant gangs are still merchant gangs, only the leaders are replaced, and it is all done internally.

There is nothing to say, if you can’t beat them, join them. Pick up some scraps, that is also better than starving.

As for the third way, giving up the profiteering west exit merchant road, that is never acceptable.

As capitalism says: “Fifty percent profit, it’s desperate.

For one hundred percent profit, it dares to trample on all earthly laws.

For more than three hundred percent profit, it dares to commit any crime, even at the risk of hanging.”

Although the profit of the bulk commodities of the West Exit Trade was less than three hundred percent, but with hard work, there was still a good chance of getting one hundred percent profit.

No more, that would be a fifty percent profit. If the profit wasn’t lucrative enough, people wouldn’t risk their lives to cross the prairie that stretched for thousands of miles.

As the largest merchant group in the north, this kind of lucrative business, Jin merchants naturally will not be absent.

However, at this moment, the atmosphere in the Jin Merchants’ Hall was a bit tense. Those who were familiar with it knew that it was time to make decisions again.

In order to combat the enemy’s transportation lines, as well as obtaining materials to meet their own logistical needs, as a snake in the ground, Jin merchants naturally became the object of Japan and Russia’s competition.

Initially, the Japanese and Russians did not push too hard, and we could still make a lot of money out of it.

However, along with the war into a state of anxiety, the two countries of the dish outside the trick is more and more, the space is also more and more small.

The Russians pulled on the Shinra, the Japanese looking for Britain, the original game between Japan and Russia, turned into a four-country battlefield.

An old man in a robe and waistcoat sighed: “The court continues to remain neutral, the situation is more and more difficult.

Now Japan and Russia and step by step, behind the British and Austrian backing, the future of the business is afraid that it is not good to do.”

Give up the west mouth trade, that is impossible. Head can be broken, blood can flow, business can never stop.

Not to mention the pressure of the Japanese, even if the Far East Imperial Government ordered to prohibit, the business is still to do.

But this is the small and medium-sized businessmen below, the people sitting here are different. Everyone is a big business owners, industry is not limited to a place, not to mention not limited to one industry.

Although the western trade is profitable, but because of the special nature of the war, it is doomed to this business can not be long.

Continuing to send supplies to the Russians would undoubtedly offend the British and Japanese, especially the Japanese.

If Japan lost the war, it would be just a matter of time, according to the Russians’ shitty nature, it would definitely make them half dead.

But once the Japanese win, the situation will be very different. Those of them who are on the wrong side are bound to be liquidated in the future.

Of course, the people sitting here are not idle. On their own home turf, the Japanese can’t do anything about them. But in the Japanese sphere of influence of the business, most likely to do not continue.

Hearing the words of the old man, the next head of a middle-aged man smoking a dry cigarette slowly stood up, walked to the door after swallowing some clouds, said fiercely: “Not good to do, but also must be done.

We do not do, there are others to do. Once the market let out, and then want to get back will be difficult.

What’s more, the Siberian Railway is about to open. With the Holy Roman Empire behind it, the Russians have a significantly better chance of winning.”

A man across the street who was about forty years old with an obese figure concurred, “Elder Wang, what Elder Liu said is very true. Don’t look at the Japanese who are now clamoring, but in reality, they are also strong on the outside.

The Russians have invested at most one-fifth of their forces in the Far East, and even this Japanese can’t hold them back. Once the Siberian Railway is open to traffic, it is only a matter of time before the Japanese fail.

Once defeated, it’s an unknown whether they can keep their mainland, where can they still afford to retaliate against us.

Don’t look at the fact that they have the support of the British, but now that the situation in Europe is tense, the British themselves are still preoccupied with their own affairs, so how can they possibly stand up for them.”

As in the original time period, no one could believe that the Russian Empire would actually lose to the Japanese until the end of the war.

Including the gold masters who supported the Japanese government, they were prepared to lose their investment beforehand, and everyone’s highest expectation was to hit the Russians hard.

It was not the British, nor the Americans, nor the Japanese army and navy that really helped the Japanese government win the war, but rather the seemingly unrelated Russian Revolutionary Party.

Had it not been for the civil unrest, with the headstrong attributes of the Tsarist government, it would have been a problem if the war hadn’t been dragged back a few years.

Just look at the Russo-Turkish War, which lasted 10 or 8 years, that was a common occurrence.

There was no money in the pockets, so let’s wait for the funds to be raised and then continue the war.

Anyway, the Russian Far East is a blank slate, so no matter how much woe to the Tsarist government, it won’t hurt.

Icy weather is the greatest ally, but whenever the Japanese army dares to go deeper, it will not want to come back in one piece.

Now it is even more so, Franz prepared the backhand has not yet been launched, the bright side of the Vienna government is still in strong support of the tsarist government.

Britain and Japan had limited power in Russia, and even if they wanted to plan a revolution, they did not have the ability to carry it out.

The Russian Empire itself was not in chaos, before the opening of the Siberian Railway, the Far East battlefield was in a state of anxiety, and normal people were optimistic that the Tsarist government would win.

Wang Lao waved his hand and said: ”All right, I just exclaimed, look at you guys in a hurry, young people are indolent.

Even if you want to go to the west, then you have to negotiate the conditions first. Although it is profitable to carry supplies for the Russians, this is not a long term deal.

The opening of the Siberian Railway is imminent, if we can reach an agreement with the Russians to open up the commercial route to Europe, the benefits contained therein can be much greater than transporting arms.”

The representative of the Zhang Clan on the left objected, “President Wang, as great as the benefits are, so great are the risks.

The Russians are not good at meeting, they don’t have much credibility, even if an agreement has been reached, they can break it when they say so.

Even if we take the contract to a lawsuit, when we get to someone else’s territory, there is no room for us to speak.

In the past years, we, the big guys sitting here, haven’t suffered many losses in this regard.”

What’s the most profitable business?

Naturally, it’s monopolization.

The biggest reason why Jin merchants were able to rise in the barren north was that they monopolized the trade with Guanwai.

Along with the arrival of the maritime era, everyone’s monopoly on trade in Korea and Liaodong generation has been broken.

The Mongolian steppe alone could not support so many chambers of commerce. Part of the Jin merchants chose to go south, and part of the Jin merchants chose to continue to go north.

The people sitting here are basically representatives of the northward faction. In order to open up trade routes to the Russian Empire, everyone had gone to great lengths.

The results are naturally there, but the interests of the big head were swallowed up by the Russian bureaucrats, capital, we are busy outside can only fall a few hard-earned money.

Pay and return is not proportional to the long time who can not stand. So much so that by now, everyone simply dry up the transit business.

The goods of the Far East Empire were transported to the border and peddled to the Russian merchants; then they purchased specialties from the Russian merchants and shipped them back to the country for sale.

The money earned was less, but the risk was also less, and there was no need to worry about being halfway across the border and having the goods swallowed by the Russian groundlings.

In the eyes of ordinary people, it is acceptable to be able to earn some stable money. But in the eyes of businessmen, not being able to maximize profits is a failure.

President Wang smiled slightly and said: “Xingbai, you are still so straightforward.

However, you are right, with only our strength, we are naturally unable to open up the land trading lines to Europe.

But if our strength is not enough, we can still find someone to cooperate with!”

“Straightforward”, for a businessman, this was not a compliment, it could even be called ironic.

It could be seen that the old man was very dissatisfied with Zhang Xingbai who questioned him, and his words were full of molestation.

Regarding all of this, the crowd was oblivious, as if nothing had happened. Including Zhang Xingbai himself, he didn’t say anything.

Where there are people, there is a jianghu, outside is a big jianghu, the Chamber of Commerce is a small jianghu inside.

Because of the interests of everyone to embrace together, usually business competition, no one has ever been soft, long-term accumulation of contradictions are definitely not a few.

The middle-aged man surnamed Liu opened his mouth and said: ”Elder Wang, brother Zhang also just a momentary slip of the tongue, you old prime minister can hold the boat in his belly, so more tolerance.

It’s just that this finding someone to cooperate with, we are really puzzled. In the past years, it’s not like we didn’t have partners, but at the end of the day, they all parted on bad terms.

The foreigners have no sense of propriety, justice, honesty and shame, the Russians are even more foreigners in the foreigners in the foreigners, completely regarded as credibility in nothing.

Even the government can default and go bankrupt to avoid debts. If we cooperate with them deeply, I’m afraid we’ll be screwed to death.”

The Russians at the beginning of the 20th century were already infamous. Along with the tsarist government defaulting on its debts over and over again, the world had become deeply skeptical of the Russians’ credibility.

Not to mention the people present, many of whom had suffered losses in their cooperation. In the face of a partner who didn’t play by the rules, no perfect contract would be of any use.

After scanning the crowd and seeing that everyone’s interest was not high, President Wang didn’t dare to continue to sell his story. Without the cooperation of the crowd, his family alone would have to be choked to death.

“I can understand everyone’s misgivings. I won’t hide it from you all, in the past decades of trade with Russia, I haven’t stepped on potholes either.

Our advantage is that we have connections and funds in the country, our disadvantage is that we lack a network of contacts in the Russian Empire to deter jackals and tigers.

Even when we cooperate with the powerful Russians, those people see us as pigs and sheep. They will kill us once we are fattened up, and there is no semblance of credibility to speak of.

In the final analysis, there is still an imbalance of power between the two sides. In cooperation, our voice is almost non-existent.

After painful reflection, I realized that the key to solving this problem is to find a partner who is not too strong.

It’s best to be able to deter the wolves and tigers along the way, yet lack local roots and have to rely on us for specific business.”

With this explanation, everyone understood. And we usually bribe officials about the same, send a dry shares as a protection fee, specific business or by their own domination.

Native network, naturally can play so. To the Russian Empire will not work, the Russian bureaucrats to the aristocrats are mainly able to collude with all the collusion, there is no space for them to show these outsiders.

The man surnamed Liu shook his head in disappointment: ”Elder Wang, theoretically it’s true. But in practice, we simply can’t find that kind of partner, and may even be implicated in the political struggle.”

No wonder he was nervous, opening the trade line to Russia in recent decades, they were the ones who had put in the most effort.

The Liu family’s merchant fleet even traveled from the Far East through Siberia all the way to the middle of Europe.

As impressive as it may sound, it actually made a lonesome. Not only is the traffic in Siberia crushing, but the layers of exploitation by Russian bureaucrats are even more alarming to them.

President Wang did not change his face and said, “Rusong, you are right. Under normal circumstances, we really can’t find a partner like that.

But now it’s different, the partners are coming to us by themselves. Compared to some days ago, everyone has been in contact with the Austrians.

Don’t look at them as arms dealers on the surface, their real identities are definitely not simple. Anyway, I have never seen arms dealers escorted by warships.

Especially the one in the lead is actually a nobleman, and not just any nobleman.

I sent someone to inquire, that Sir Louis is a member of the royal family of the Holy Roman Empire, although it is only a distant branch of the collateral line, but it is enough to act as a leader.

He came to the Far East this time to expand his family’s business, and this arms trade is only incidental.

How is the credibility of the Habsburg family, I think everyone has heard about it. Whether it was in politics or economy, basically everything related to them was positively evaluated.

If we can cooperate with them, we can directly open up the trade line with Europe, both on land and sea.

The only uncertainty is Shinra’s hegemony struggle with Britain, but that won’t hurt.

The Royal Navy can’t go ashore, and even if it loses the hegemony battle, the Holy Roman Empire is still one of the world’s great powers.

It’s a rare opportunity, and I’m afraid that if they didn’t need us to carry strategic supplies for the Russians, we wouldn’t even be in a position to make contact.”

There was also no difference between cooperation and collaboration. The most ordinary business cooperation, that was simply buying and selling, without any human relationship between the two sides.

Deep level cooperation was different, it was not just a matter of money, but more also needed to consider complementary resources.

Facing the Shen Luo royal family, the resources in the hands of the Jin merchants were simply too few. Even the network of contacts they were proud of was worthless in the eyes of the other side.

After the shock, everyone quickly reacted. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and as long as they hooked up with this line, opening up the Russian business route would not be a problem at all.

With the involvement of the Shen Luo royal family, and then cooperating with the Russian powerbrokers, it would only be according to the rules. All play within the rules, the crowd or not wimpy.

The man surnamed Liu asked, “Elder Wang and Sir Louis have talked?”

The old man smiled awkwardly and said, “It’s just a preliminary contact, not an in-depth detailed discussion. After all, Sir Louis not only wants us to transport arms for the Russians, but also to help the Russians raise strategic materials.

Without everyone’s participation, the Wang family alone would not be able to raise enough supplies for the Russians.

But you can rest assured, Sir Louis assured: the price will not let you lose, all according to the market price of the trading area, he will urge the Russians to pay on time.

Because of the raising of strategic materials, resulting in official trouble, they will be responsible for dealing with, will not leave hidden dangers for everyone.”

Interest is always the best bond, as long as the money is given enough, raising strategic materials is not a matter at all.

Before this, although everyone was also traveling to the west, the supplies transported each time were not much. In addition to the fear of mountain bandits and bandits, more than anything else, they were afraid of being hacked by the Russians.

(End of chapter)