On March 1, 1652, Qingdao Port.

Captain Kuait got up early in the morning. His eldest son had just returned from Amsterdam. The two ships brought back some daily necessities (such as buttons, sewing needles, pins, candlesticks, candles, etc. The production cost of the east coast is too high, so it depends on imports), a little Italian specialty (Florentine ham and cheese, which have a market for Italian immigrants), more than twenty horses and more than four hundred Tuscan farmers.

The goods shipped back were sold at a good price. Even the Florentine ham and Italian cheese that were originally sold in specific groups were sold out, and most of the buyers were not Italian immigrants. However, Captain Cuert's son only felt strange and did not do much association. However, the old captain, who had extremely rich business experience, keenly felt something was wrong, and felt that this was not a normal market fluctuation. Especially after hearing the news that his daughter complained about rising prices, Captain Cuert, who had experienced many storms in his life, immediately understood a lot of things.

Is this someone buying supplies on the market? Is it a war?

"It's really possible to fight, but it shouldn't be the army, it might be the navy." Pei Qin, who is now the commander of Guiyi Fort, said indifferently while picking up the bowl to eat. He had a happy meal and the dishes were also rich. The Xinhua grouper, which is extremely rare on the market, was placed on the Xinhua shrimp city. This tropical seafood that was transported to the local area by refrigerated boats can be imagined, and it can be eaten. It is also evident that the Pei family's wealth is magnificent.

But it is no wonder. Pei Qin was a senior officer of the forward team before. After being ordered to support the East Coast (the Second East-West War), he settled in Guiyi Township, Qingdao County on the spot, and served as the rank of a reserve lieutenant, responsible for the garrison of Guiyi Fort. The job income is not low, and coupled with the money he had accumulated before (spoils), his living standards are naturally much higher than others.

However, due to high income, Pei Qin himself did not like his current job very much. He still remembered the days when he was working as a cobbler at home when he was not in the early years of Chongzhen. He really missed his first career and planned to carry forward it on the East Coast. Unfortunately, people's calculations are not as good as God's calculations. The appreciation of the old commander made him not completely get rid of his military career after he was discharged from the army. Now he still guards the fort and guards the safety of Qingdao Port.

It can be seen that Pei Qin's experience basically revolves around the army, both on Dashun and on the east coast. Therefore, he is more or less a little bit more about the rumors circulating in the army. Especially his current position - Guiyi Fort Guard - is under the management of the Navy, so he is very clear about the internal movements of the Navy.

"The Navy is in action? Hasn't most of the main fleet left the port?" Captain Kuait asked strangely. He came to Guiyi Township from Qingdao Town today to see his daughter who was married here. To be honest, when his daughter insisted on marrying Pei Qin, who was already thirty-six or seven years old, he himself opposed it. However, after a period of contact, he found that his son-in-law not only had a very generous deposit (nearly one thousand yuan). He was also highly appreciated by some military officers, so he gradually accepted this reality. Even now, he took the initiative to bring some gifts to visit relatives.

Pei Qin hesitated for a moment, considering that this was not a secret news, he nodded and said, "The Navy has newly entered the service of two 'August 10' class battleships, four sail guard gunboats, two water supply ships, and there is currently a repair ship, a medical ship, an ammunition supply ship and a coal transport ship. I believe that the sea trials can be completed and put into service within this year. Moreover, I heard that the Navy will hold a large-scale military exercise outside the sea of ​​Yancheng Port. The number of ships participating is very large, and most of the Navy's combat ships and almost all auxiliary ships will be dispatched. Therefore, it is normal for the shortage of materials on the market. Most of the purchasing managers of the Navy are shopping in large quantities, which is normal."

"I understand." Captain Kuait nodded, but began to wonder whether to invest the last pension money in his hand into the convertible bonds of Xinxing Shipyard. The only private shipyard in the East Coast has publicly issued a convertible bond worth 100,000 yuan in the Qingdao Port financial market for the expansion of a ship dock and a new rig manufacturing workshop. The current operating conditions of this new shipyard are very ordinary. Apart from the orders for a few inland steamers and small offshore fishing boats, they can only do some maintenance and repairs of the ship.

Since the factory opened for two years, it has been on the verge of profit and loss. This also lets people know that technology and capital-intensive industries such as shipbuilding are not even allowed to enter. Without strong financial strength and technical strength, they cannot bear huge losses for a period of time and cannot tolerate long-term huge investment. So don’t just enter this industry. Be obediently at home to build some jam products factories, milk powder workshops, oil press workshops, flour mills, and ham workshops. National pillar industries such as shipbuilding and military machinery are not something ordinary people can afford.

Therefore, even though the initial investment of Xinxing Shipyard is huge and the background is very deep (it is said that there are many "noble" investments, and many technicians also come from the three major shipyards), the operation is still stumbling, which itself shows a lot of problems. However, the investors of the factory seem to be impatient with the continuous investment, so they intend to issue a batch of bonds in the financial market to raise funds for the subsequent development of the shipyard. In order to attract investors to generously donate, they also set this batch of bonds with huge amounts as convertible bonds, that is, after maturity, the bond holders can choose to convert the bonds at their hands into the company's equity at a fixed price, which should be some attractive to many investors with extra money.

It is obvious that Captain Kuait is one of these potential investors who are attracted. He still has about 20,000 yuan in funds on hand, which is what he keeps himself in pension money (most of his assets have been handed over to his eldest son). Perhaps it is out of the instinct of a businessman that he always feels that keeping a lot of money at hand is a very loss - especially now when the bank interest rates are not very high - so it is necessary to find a way to "travel" the money, and convertible bonds from emerging shipyards seem to be a good opportunity.

He had observed this small and medium-sized shipyard for a long time. If he had been hesitant at first, now he heard his son-in-law say that the navy might have a big move, and he immediately threw the last hesitation out of the sky. He made up his mind to buy at least 10,000 or 20,000 yuan of convertible bonds of the company after he went back, and might make a big profit.

After lunch, Captain Kuait returned to Qingdao Port in a carriage. At this time, no less than thirty ships had been parked in the dock. In less than two months, Captain Kuait felt that the number of these ships would probably double to reach 60. Because as the influence of Qingdao Spring Trading Expo became greater and greater, more and more foreign ships came to attend the meeting. Last year, 46 ships registered to the port for participation during the trade fair, and this year, this number will only be more.

With the increase in foreign ships entering the port, the transaction volume of East Coast commodities during the fair (all in May) has also increased day by day. Last year, it reached an unprecedented 1.24 million yuan. This year, this figure is probably not going to exceed 1.6 million yuan, effectively making up for the huge losses caused by the loss of the French market.

Among these port-entry ships, Dutch ships ranked first in terms of quantity and tonnage; followed by English ships, which were partly from British North American colonies and partly from British mainland, mainly re-export trade. The ships of these two families accounted for two-thirds of all foreign ships, while the rest were scattered in Portugal, North Germany, Italian states and other regions.

Captain Kuait even found two sea ships from the Principal of Kureland among these ships. The ships brought hundreds of Congolese black slaves and a large number of tobacco leaves to Qingdao Port, and were all sold to the East Coast people, and it is said that they would make a lot of money. However, they probably would not participate in the next commodity fair, because the supplies required by the two ships (daily consumer goods, metal tools, weapons and ammunition and bean cakes) have basically been purchased. It is said that they will now return to the colonial site in New Courland and continue their own colonial cause.

"I don't know if the dispute is together. How many English ships can be left in this Dutch port are left..." Captain Kuait sighed melancholy. Although he has left the Dutch West India Company and has even become naturalized on the East Coast, it does not mean that he knows nothing. The situation between the Netherlands and England is now about to break out, which can be seen by any old sea dog with a little cleverness. Maybe one day the war will start suddenly. The Navy of the East Coast Republic is concentrated in service, and maybe this factor is included.

Thinking of this, Captain Kuait felt a sense of urgency: he had to seize this rare opportunity, invest the remaining money at hand as soon as possible, and let the money travel. Only in this way can he use this east wind to gain greater benefits.
Chapter completed!