Chapter 122: Profit Point

When Nuyts first saw the price of 250 taels of silver per head on the list, he was thoroughly dismissive; the Dutchman, still trapped in habitual thinking, naturally didn't believe that price could buy "foreign laborers." You have to understand, that wasn't even a 300% profit, and the exorbitant costs hadn't decreased at all: coming from West Africa to East Asia, crew mortality under normal conditions was on par with the Americas route — slaves, naturally, were the same.

But once he grasped the implication behind Cai Feiming's words, he instantly saw a massive profit growth point: yes, Javanese, Malays, Andamanese, Sundanese, Makassarese... these countless South Asian natives, these short, lazy, indolent locals — in this moment, they all transformed into gold coins.

Batavia spent an enormous sum every year suppressing the local Javanese; moreover, in the Company's process of seizing control of the Spice Islands, the major native tribes casually wiped out were truly beyond counting — there were so many that only incidents involving the one-time killing of over ten thousand natives ever got recorded — the Bandanese, for example.

Did the "boarding price" of South Asian natives reach 390 guilders? Certainly not. For these South Seas Dwarves cramming Batavia's prisons and slums, 100 guilders (roughly 25 taels of silver) would probably suffice — maybe 50 guilders?

Was the transport mortality rate for South Sea natives high? Certainly not very high, because the sea voyage from Batavia to Dayuan was very short — no scenario where two out of three ships would sink — and you could stuff as many people as possible into the hold. In that case...

Nuyts's brain was calculating furiously in that moment: the list said 250 taels of silver per head "CIF price." The total cost of one "foreign laborer" would never exceed 30 taels of silver per person no matter what. In that case, safely loading 350 people on board, even if 50 died en route, the net profit on 300 heads would be over 20,000 taels of silver. Oh, my God... if they ran several voyages a year... Oh, Jesus Christ!

"Patent rights — we need a slave trade patent certificate issued by Dayuan!" Nuyts no longer concealed anything at this moment, his eyes bloodshot as he shouted at Cai Feiming.

"There is a permit, but no patent certificate." Cai Feiming explained: "The VOC is the first power to establish formal diplomatic relations with us. Spain and Portugal have not yet established formal diplomatic relations with Dayuan, so as things currently stand, you have the first-mover advantage... My personal estimate is that, at least for the next fiscal year, the VOC holds a de facto monopoly."

Nuyts used every ounce of his strength to force his gaze down to the next item on the list: "Oh, rice. Unlimited quantities of rice."

Batavia had stock of this commodity — it was no major issue. "If demand is high going forward, we can have the Ming people open up more paddy fields outside Batavia. Anyway, those dwarves outside the city will all be sold off sooner or later, and the land will be vacated," Nuyts thought.

Ever since occupying Batavia, the Dutch had for years been enticing and capturing Ming people to settle in Batavia, appointing Han people as "Kapitan" — to handle administration. Because Ming people were industrious and hardy, capable of anything, a completely different species from the local natives; the Dutch could extract taxes and commodities from them.

"What? You actually levy a tax on spices?!" Nuyts couldn't help shouting again when he saw the next item.

"How novel. You thought Dayuan was a duty-free port like Nagasaki?" Cai Feiming gave a scornful laugh, then drummed his fingers on the tabletop, raising an eyebrow at Nuyts: "Rice is the only tax-exempt item. Not only tax-exempt, but from now on you must ship us a stipulated quantity every year. All other commodities are subject to tax, though the rates vary. Look — the tax rates on leather and nitre are very low; you can actually make a profit."

Nuyts lowered his head and studied the long string of commodities at the bottom of the list, discovering they were almost all raw materials: wool, leather, various tropical hardwoods, as well as cotton, pig iron and wrought iron, copper, and nitre.

Cai Feiming began explaining item by item: Dayuan needed all kinds of leather — buffalo hide, crocodile skin, sheepskin, deerskin, pigskin, donkey hide, all accepted without exception. For these bulk goods, including hardwood and cotton, if Batavia's local supply was insufficient, neighboring India had abundant sources.

As for the various metals, the Transmigrators weren't insistent — having them or not was fine.

Nitre was the priority: among all commodities, nitre had the lowest tax rate, and the purchase price was very high. Cai Feiming, spraying spittle, told the Dutchman: simply along the Bengal coast, you could purchase top-quality nitre from the local princely states — there was a reason the Mughal Empire kept getting humiliated in that region. Additionally, the British had already begun establishing a trading post in Madras (Chennai); there should be supply sources there as well.

Seeing this enthusiastic gentleman from the Ming nation start giving a lecture on how to acquire South Asian products, the sense of incongruity among the Dutchmen across the negotiating table instantly crashed to the floor. Only Comrade Van der Hagen, who understood the Transmigrators best, maintained a relatively composed expression: he knew this band of restorationists controlled certain black markets and thieves' guilds within Ming territory; having some South Asian intelligence was understandable.

In summary, this Transmigrator-Dutch bilateral negotiation, which lasted into the second day, despite a few bumps along the way, ultimately reached an agreement. Pauw Nuyts, through vigorous argument and haggling over every penny, ultimately secured for the East India Company a document he had no authority to decide on — and a shipload of goods.

The agreement was divided into two documents.

The first document was a ceasefire agreement: both sides agreed to define the recent exchange of fire at Dayuan as a "conflict," and decided that from the date of signing, they would mutually return prisoners, end the conflict, and restore normal trade relations.

Additionally, the VOC announced it would abandon all claims of ownership over Dayuan Island and its surrounding areas, and simultaneously announced it would abandon the right of recourse over the Shang Hall's stored silver and the Shang Hall itself. The speedboat formerly named "Welden," now renamed "Chengfeng," would be treated in the same manner.

This document was initialed by Cai Feiming, representative of the "West Kunlun Trade and Development General Corporation," and Pauw Nuyts, representative of the "United East India Company." Later that evening, CEO Xia Xianze signed the document on behalf of the company's board of directors. Now, the agreement would only formally take effect once Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Batavia added his signature.

The second document was a trade agreement: the Transmigrator side agreed to advance to the VOC a portion of goods, including raw silk, with the Sloten — of which Nuyts was temporarily serving as captain — responsible for transporting the cargo back to Batavia. The Dutch side guaranteed that in the 1628 fiscal year, it would import to Dayuan the commodities on the demand list to offset the payment for goods and interest; any shortfall would be settled by the Dutch side in cash.

The Transmigrator side pledged: effective immediately, Dayuan Port would permit Dutch trade vessels to dock and trade, and would henceforth, within the scope of its capabilities, guarantee timely and sufficient supply of Ming goods, including raw silk and porcelain, from Dayuan to the VOC.

The Dutch side pledged: it would likewise open the ports under VOC control in Southeast Asia, and within the scope of its capabilities, guarantee the supply of commodities required by Dayuan.

Both sides agreed to establish Shang Halls in each other's territory.

The numerical details of the above articles are specified in the appendix.