"This Grey Khan really gave me a problem." Gao Wen had just taken a sip of coffee imported from New China and sighed: "In recent years, the local government has demanded that the introduction of immigrants from the Old Mainland should be gradually reduced, especially those male non-nationals. Now that Grey Khan has come to us, things are very troublesome. Should we collect these tens of thousands of people or not? If we collect them, we will not mention them in violation of local policies. Including transportation and food expenses, we must be mentally prepared to support more than 1.5 million yuan; if we don't collect them, then Grey Khan will inevitably take our anger. I heard that he is a person of temperament. He is very generous when he likes you, and hates you everywhere when he doesn't like you. The consequences of offending Khan are unpredictable. If we don't mention anything else, we may be greatly frustrated."

The so-called Black Sea trade is roughly to increase the shipment of goods on the east coast along the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov. These places are densely populated and have low industrial levels, so the competition for goods on the east coast is not very fierce. As long as local powers and agents are settled, they can basically be sold to various places without any obstacles. Not to mention the Black Sea is the back garden and granary of the Ottoman Empire, with great influence. Many countries along the coast, such as Moldavia, Wallachia, Crimea, and even the inland Transylvania, Ukraine, and Georgia, are all under the direct or indirect control of the Ottoman Empire, which undoubtedly provides convenience for the East Coast people to expand their commercial power here.

Moreover, these areas are not without purchasing power. Not to mention Moldavia, Ukraine and Transylvania, which have been destroyed by war for several years. Taking the Crimean Khanate, which has a stable domestic situation, as an example, the country used a large number of slaves to establish countless farms on both sides of the lower Dnieper River, the lower Don River and the coastal areas of the northern coast of the Azov Sea, and widely planted crops such as wheat, barley, barley wheat, oats, peas, sunflowers, and cannabis, together with animal fat and leather.

Exporting large quantities of Ottoman Empire has made considerable profits, and this is actually one of the reasons for its strong feudal power in China. Of course, the management and management of these farms seem very rough and backward to the East Coast people - after all, they are from grasslands - and even worse than the manors set up by the Poles next door. But this is ultimately a more advanced form of agricultural production than extensive animal husbandry. Otherwise, how do you think the Crimean Khanate has supported the 500,000 people (excluding slaves)?

In the planning of Gao Wengang and others, the three Dnieper, Don and Danube, the rivers of the Sea of ​​Azov are the main ways to expand goods on the east bank. Through these rivers with good shipping conditions and their tributaries, they will import various commodities at low prices to various places, while obtaining economic benefits, and subtly expanding the influence on the east bank. This is the ultimate goal pursued by Gao Wengang and others.

Among these three rivers, the Dnepr River has temporarily declined due to the turbulent situation in the region, and only the terminals of Mogilev, Orel, Shklov, Smolensk, Kiev, Zaporoze and other wharfs. The economy in the basin is much worse than before due to war destruction. In previous years, a large amount of wood, stone, salt, animal fat, resin, honey was transported from the upstream to the downstream, and then a large amount of grain, leather, hemp fiber, tobacco, fruit, iron, wool and other commodities were transported from the downstream. However, in the past ten years of the Cossack Uprising and the outbreak of the Russian-Polish War, the entire middle and upper reaches of the Dnepr River were completely destroyed, and this trade route was basically abandoned.

However, Gao Wengang and others did not intend to give up completely. They insisted that after opening up the joints of the Crimean Khanate and the Ukrainian Cossack Emirates, they used local agents to transport cloth, tobacco, cane sugar, alcohol, iron products, arms, dyed leather goods, high-end candles, soap, porcelain, soda ash, rubber products, high-end flour, carriages and their parts from the east bank to the coast of the Dnieper River and its tributaries, and then import slaves, honey, lead-tin ore, graphite, sulfur, willow bark and other goods needed on the east bank. I believe that once the trade is launched, the local primitive natural economy will have no resistance, because the people on the east bank sell most of their unique or highly competitive goods - the premise is to find a powerful agent, otherwise everything will be left to discuss.

Compared with the Dnieper River, the conditions of the Don River are much worse - perhaps the worst of the three rivers - the river is more difficult to navigate, the main reason is that the river is shallow, with more shallows, and it is often easy to divert. However, this river also has its own advantages. The upper reaches are the Russian black soil area, which has high grain output and is relatively developed; although the middle and lower reaches are grassland areas and are not very rich in population, livestock, wool, leather, and animal fat trade is also frequent, and the people do not have purchasing power, and they can also communicate with the Caspian Sea.

The Astrakhan area in the area further radiates to Persia and Central Asia, and its potential is still great. After Russia controlled the entire region in the early 19th century, the shipping of the Don River achieved great development. The total value of flat-bottomed wooden ships, barges and rafts passing through the river surface every year was nearly 1,000, and the total value of cargo transported exceeded 8 million rubles. Even if this era cannot be compared with more than a hundred years later, the commercial potential cannot be ignored. If you do it well, it should not be a problem to earn 300,000 or 400,000 yuan a year.

What's more advantageous is that Boris, a businessman who represents the will of the Russian authorities, has come to Kafa Port many times to visit the East Coast people. They are eager to trade with the Black Sea - the Sea of ​​Azov. Unfortunately, the Volga River is an inland river, and the mouth of the Don River is in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. The trade is intermittent, which is very unpleasant. However, perhaps this embarrassing state will be alleviated after the two countries end their hostilities. In any case, the Russians have a strong willingness to trade, which is more important than anything else.

Among the three great rivers, the Danube, which is controlled downstream by the Ottoman and its servants, is probably the most commercial potential in the short term. This great river that runs through the entire Ottoman Rumili region, one of the richest areas in the country, has excellent shipping conditions, with a large population on both sides of the straits and rich products, and is mostly controlled by the Ottoman Empire with good relations with the East Coast. For the East Coast people, as long as they find the right relationship and choose a good agent, this is definitely a "golden waterway" that can see benefits in the short term.

In fact, people on the east coast have been importing goods through the Danube River to the upstream area for a long time. This can be seen from the annual shipment volume of Burgas Merchant Station. A large number of agricultural tools, cloth, wine, leather goods, soap, and carriages were sent to the upstream towns through this river, earning back a lot of money for buying slaves, which is of great significance. The so-called Black Sea trade strategy proposed this time is just to fix, systematize and deepen the existing trade route.

"Forget it, I'll go to Beckiczale to discuss with Grey Khan in the past two days. There are tens of thousands of slaves, and it's definitely not enough to buy them at all, because they will be punished by Grey Khan. But if they really eat them all, even if the price is low, we can't afford it in the short term. You know, we have owed Jewish merchants, Greek merchants, and Armenian merchants many loans, and the total principal and interest is almost over 250,000 yuan. We can't buy people without restraint. Besides, this

It is also inconsistent with the local major policies." Gao Wengang quickly made a compromise decision and planned to tell it out in detail when meeting Grey Khan. As for the effect, let's talk about it later. After all, even if you are afraid of committing Grey Khan, the Crimean Khanate has a place that relies on the east coast. At worst, everyone can bargain - well, maybe you can select some exquisite gifts from the warehouse of the store to bring to Bekchisale. I believe this can soften the attitude of Khan.

"The High Commissioner, there is another problem. Recently, many English merchants came to Istanbul. I heard that the Sultan of Mohammed and Copruluo Vizi gave them certain courtesy and planned to expand the trade concessions of these British merchants. At the beginning of this month (December), two British ships were shipped to Smyrna Port. I heard that the sales were pretty good. When these merchant ships returned, they took away a lot of raisins, wool, and raw silk, and I believe that these wool and raw silk will soon become various textiles and sold to the Ottomans. Specialist, although the wool accounts for a very low share of Chinese textiles, I think this matter must be obtained

Pay attention, because this is a sign of the accelerated expansion of the English textile industry, and it may also compete with our country in the future. Now Patagonia's sheep farming industry is booming, with wool production increasing day by day. Sooner or later, the domestic and overseas territorial markets will not be able to digest all the wool fabrics and will inevitably be exported in large quantities. This will compete with the British and even the Dutch. We should pay attention to it in advance." Because Gao Wengang had been staying at the Florence trading station in Tuscany a while ago to deal with the backlog of affairs and had just returned to the Ottoman Empire, so Malati felt that it was necessary to remind him again that as for how to make an idea, it was not his own business.

"Very good, Malati, your information is very valuable and thoughtful." Gao Wengang immediately said with praise, and asked his servant to bring Marla a cup of fragrant coffee, and then said: "The British are not busy with things. Copruluo Davizi is a smart man. Since he gives British merchants the trade franchise, there must be a reason. Perhaps, he doesn't want to see the Ottoman market monopolized by a few countries. To introduce more foreign merchants, there is no Ottoman.
Chapter completed!