Chapter 1722 Old and New Backstage

Qin Huacheng was still a little surprised by the task that Cheng Dapeng suddenly assigned to him. He did not think that he was already a qualified intelligence officer. The professional training he received after arriving in Batavia had just begun. Now,

He was suddenly sent on a mission to deliver important information, which made him excited but also a little nervous.

"Don't be too nervous. If you do well, you will pass the review in advance after completing this assignment." As if he had read Qin Huacheng's mind, Cheng Dapeng took the initiative to offer him benefits and comforted him: "Wait until your position becomes regular.

, there won’t be so many restrictions during the operation.”

Qin Huacheng, who is in the training and internship period, can roughly understand what a regular position means. As for what the standards for becoming a regular employee are and what the treatment will be like after becoming a regular employee, it is probably Cheng Dapeng’s personal opinion that dominates. But no matter what,

Qin Huacheng's current goal is to obtain a formal employee status in this intelligence agency as soon as possible. Naturally, he will not miss this opportunity offered by Cheng Dapeng.

The next day, Cheng Dapeng indeed called Qin Huacheng to serve as his entourage and went to visit Welbeck. When the other party saw that Cheng Dapeng was visiting in person, his attitude was much more polite than when he was dealing with Qin Huacheng the day before yesterday, and he even specially let his servants spend some time with him.

Bringing a pot of hot tea was a special sign of respect for Cheng Dapeng's identity as a Han Chinese.

"There are no outsiders here, so I'll tell you the truth." Cheng Dapeng said straight to the point: "Why do you need to adjust the food procurement measures this year? Is there any trouble on your side?"

"It's a big trouble." Seeing that Cheng Dapeng did not send Qin Huacheng away, Welbeck asked him to stand aside and listen. After a little hesitation, he frankly informed his situation: "The Batavia Council plans to replace me."

Drop it and revise the grain procurement plan for the past few years."

"Why is this happening? What does the council want? Or have you offended someone?" Cheng Dapeng continued to ask him questions without changing his expression.

"The news just reached the local area five days ago that Mr. Roy Barnett passed away in Amsterdam last autumn. At this time, the Barnett family is quarreling over his inheritance rights and the division of his estate. At this time, no one can

They can take care of my foreign relatives in the Far East, so some people in the council want to take this opportunity to seize the power of food procurement. After all, this is a stable and generous income, isn't it?" After finishing speaking,

Welbeck shrugged helplessly.

The deceased Mr. Barnett mentioned by Welbeck was one of the seventeen major shareholders of the Dutch East India Company. He was able to serve as an official in charge of agriculture and grain procurement in Batavia partly because of

He and Mr. Barnett are distant relatives. In the past, anyone who wanted to take Welbeck's seat would inevitably beat the dog to see the owner, and they had to first consider whether they could offend the great man behind him.

However, what is embarrassing now is that this protective umbrella fell silently. It took several months for the news to reach Batavia via sea, but the reaction here was not to hold a symbolic ceremony for this respected gentleman.

mourning ceremony, but immediately focused on Welbeck, Barnett's spokesperson in the Far East - he has held the position of the well-oiled agricultural official for several years, and it is time for someone else to take the seat. Even if he cannot be replaced

If he were to be removed from this position, he would at least have to change the way the lucrative grain procurement plan is played, so that only a few people can benefit from it every year.

As for Welbeck's backstage in the East India Company, Cheng Dapeng naturally knew about it after having known him for several years. This situation was consistent with his previous guess. Sure enough, there was a change of power among the top brass within the East India Company. As a result,

This affected the stability of Welbeck's position. But no matter how rich Cheng Dapeng was, he was still an outsider to the East India Company, and it was impossible for him to have a seat in the Batavia Council. This was not something he wanted to get involved in.

Those who can intervene.

"Boss Cheng, if you still want to control Batavia's grain market in the future, you cannot lose this battle." Seeing that Cheng Dapeng did not express his position immediately, Welbeck quickly continued to persuade: "If you let them succeed,

When you drive me away, you will also be pushed aside."

Cheng Dapeng smiled and said: "It's not easy to get me to stand aside. Mr. Welbeck, why don't you tell me first what the East India Company plans to do next? How can I help keep you?"

Seeing that Cheng Dapeng was planning to take action, Welbeck showed a hint of joy on his face and said quickly: "There is only one person who was pushed out to grab this seat. As long as he is dealt with, the matter will be settled..."

The name of the person Welbeck was talking about was Gene, and he was actually a person who had been hired into the East India Company by virtue of his backing. Gene was currently holding a sinecure in Batavia, and his job was almost unprofitable, so

When given the opportunity to take over Welbeck's job, Gene was very active. In just a few days, he had already submitted reports to the council twice and three times, requesting changes to the existing grain purchase plan to save the company's annual savings.

A lot of money was spent on this project.

Jean's reasons seem to be quite sufficient. After all, everyone sees the process of the East India Company purchasing grain from the market every year, and they also understand that officials like Welbeck will make considerable profits in the transaction process, but

Because the backers behind it are difficult to offend, people who are not involved can only pretend not to know. Now that someone has taken the initiative to dig out the gray income of relevant officials, a group of people who are watching the excitement and not taking it too seriously will naturally join in.

He lost the crowd of spectators and put heavy pressure on Welbeck.

Nowadays, more and more people in the East India Company are staring at Welbeck, so that he does not dare to be as casual as before. When he met with Qin Huacheng yesterday, he did not dare to make it clear, but hinted that Qin Huacheng would go back and inform Cheng.

Dapeng. Fortunately, Qin Huacheng understood correctly and accurately passed the information to Cheng Dapeng, so Cheng Dapeng took the initiative to come here to meet him today.

After listening to Welbeck's explanation, Cheng Dapeng just shook his head slightly and said: "The person you are talking about is an official of the East India Company, not just any unknown person. If you want to deal with him, it is not that simple.

things."

Vic Baker said: "Boss Cheng, I know you are an energetic person. As long as you are willing to take action, there is the possibility of changing the direction of many things. Moreover, this matter is also related to your vital interests. I miss you."

There is no reason to continue to stand by and watch."

Cheng Dapeng still shook his head and rejected his proposal: "I am just an ordinary businessman who abides by the law. I don't understand what you mean, and I have no intention of going against the Batavia Council."

Welbeck said anxiously: "Boss Cheng, this is about the future of the local grain market. Do you really want to sit back and watch others take away what belongs to you? When that Gene takes my position, do you want to take control again?"

The local grain market is not that easy."

Cheng Dapeng was not affected by him, and responded calmly: "Mr. Welbeck, I just want to know some exact information, rather than going around in circles. If you just want to kill your competitor, then I suggest

Just go to the black market and spend money to hire a few skilled assassins. If you need my help, then please tell me everything you know, and don't miss anything."

This was not the first day that Cheng Dapeng had dealt with Welbeck. His intuition told him that what the Dutchman said was still not entirely true and that there was something deliberately concealed. How could Cheng Dapeng be a person who would be easily incited?

, the more he listened, the more doubtful he became, and naturally he refused to relent and agree to Welbeck's request.

Welbeck's face became more and more gloomy and ugly. Qin Huacheng, who was standing next to him, felt that this guy would stand up and explode in the next second. After all, Cheng Dapeng's attitude did not save him any face at all, but kept hitting him.

Welbeck leaned on the seat and was silent for a long time. Cheng Dapeng just looked at him without saying a word and did not speak to urge him. The silence in the room lasted for a long time. Qin Huacheng almost lost his patience in waiting.

Welbeck finally spoke again.

"Okay, you're right. Since I need your help now, I should be more frank." In the end, Welbeck expressed his resignation: "But please remember, we have common interests. You can help me."

I'm just helping myself."

"You don't need to explain this. I understand it naturally." Cheng Dapeng nodded and said, "Let's get down to business. What exactly are the council going to do?"

"The council is not only planning to change the way grain is purchased, but is also planning to gradually suppress Dacheng Rice Bank's share of the Batavia grain market." After Welbeck put down his burden, he said in surprise: "Boss Cheng, they

I’m becoming more and more worried about you!”

Welbeck claimed that the Batavia Council had criticized the Dacheng Rice Company for its long-term control of the local grain market. This aspect was due to the fact that the East India Company was bound to encounter price disadvantages when purchasing grain from the market every year. The Dacheng Rice Company was in the local market.

The monopoly operation makes the Dutch have no way to bargain if they want to, so they can only clean their necks and wait to be slaughtered.

On the other hand, the council believed that such long-term dependence on one grain merchant to provide more than half of the food on the market was also a big hidden danger to local security. Although Cheng Dapeng had fought with the East Indies in the Batavia War in 1632,

The company has weathered the difficulties, but this does not mean that the Dutch people have completely trusted him.

Since Cheng Dapeng's transnational business had contacts with countries such as Ming Dynasty, Haihan, Annan, Johor, Champa, etc., and even had unclear contacts with countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Matalan, the council believed that it could not

All important resources for maintaining local social stability were placed in the hands of his family. This time Jean's proposal to the council clearly stated that the East India Company should increase the scale of its own food crop planting and pass a long-term purchase contract with favorable conditions.

Support small and medium-sized farmers to grow food, allowing them to gradually get rid of the control of large rice banks and directly provide the East India Company with cheaper food than now.

Of course, these methods may not be effective quickly. After all, Cheng Dapeng has been working hard to monopolize the local grain market in recent years. He still has many countermeasures to these unexpected methods, and Dong Dapeng

For a foreseeable period of time, the Indian Company will still have to rely on the Dacheng Rice Company to provide part of its food supply. But as soon as the momentum of this change picks up, the East India Company will use its position as a ruler to slowly squeeze out the Dacheng Rice Company.

In terms of market share, perhaps in two or three years, we will be able to completely get rid of our dependence on Dacheng Rice Bank in the grain market.

Cheng Dapeng didn't have much emotion after hearing this: "Is this the end? If they just want to compete through normal channels, then I have nothing to say."

Welbeck said: "No, how effective are these measures? In fact, there are several councils, so they will talk to you first and persuade you to voluntarily give up control of the Batavia grain market."

"Giving up voluntarily? How is that possible?" Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said, "You also know the operating conditions of Dacheng Rice Bank. If you voluntarily withdraw from the grain market, what will happen to the local area."

"The supply of food will plummet, the price of food will rise sharply, and there may be a famine, which will cause a series of problems. Maybe it will also attract foreign enemies due to civil strife." Welbeck immediately answered, but he

Still warned Cheng Dapeng: "But the council thinks they have a way to solve the food problem... I heard that under Jean's instigation, Governor Van Diemen has sent an envoy to the Champa Kingdom, trying to get there

Purchase a batch of cheap grain to reduce the amount of grain purchased from Dacheng Rice Bank this year."

"Champa? It's interesting..." Although Cheng Dapeng didn't change his expression, he was already wary in his heart.

Although the Champa State is only a small country on the Indochina Peninsula, with little to show for its military or economy, this country is rich in rice. Champa rice was introduced to the Ming Dynasty as early as the Song Dynasty and is famous for its early maturity, drought tolerance, and strong adaptability.

At the beginning of the founding of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty also relied on the food supplied by the Champa State. The two countries even bartered with the Champa State to trade weapons produced by the Han Dynasty with the Champa State.

As a major grain-producing country, Champa sells a large amount of grain to other countries every year, and if the Dutch want to order grain from it, it can be considered a normal operation. Based on the international grain transaction price controlled by Cheng Dapeng, if you include

In terms of freight, the cost of importing grain from Champa is probably slightly higher than the purchase price provided by Dacheng Rice Bank to the East India Company. But if the East India Company wants to suppress Dacheng Rice Bank and use this method to reduce local purchases, then

We cannot simply consider costs from an economic perspective.
Chapter completed!