Chapter 223: Taking Jobs

The simultaneous arrival of fifteen Dutch galleons left the Port Authority somewhat overwhelmed — this was the largest single influx of ships since Dayuan first opened its port.

Fortunately, the two coal-gas cranes at Chikan Wharf were quite effective, so all the ordinary cargo from these ships was unloaded in just half the usual time.

The sharper outsiders had now begun to notice something: whether it was the dredgers, the pilot ships, or the cranes, all these unsettling machines were fitted with those cylindrical iron furnaces — the only difference being the number and size of the furnaces. So these machines must all be driven by burning firewood; this was some mysterious method of converting power, and the operators were surely Eastern sorcerers...

The cargo the Dutch brought this time was largely procured according to the list the Transmigrators had originally provided. The most important goods among them were, naturally, slaves and nitre. Of the remaining cargo, Indian products made up a very large portion: cotton and animal hides.

As for goods from Batavia itself, apart from people, there were also sappanwood, tin and lead, rice, and various spices.

Through 24-hour continuous operations at Chikan Port, all the above cargo was completely unloaded by noon of the second day, leaving the poor Dutch utterly dumbstruck once again: the port district blazed with light through the night, the Taijiang glittered brilliantly, and thick beams of light guided the pilot ships. Meanwhile, the cranes in the pier district worked without pause all night, operating ceaselessly beneath a lamp as radiant as the sun.

Every Dutchman who witnessed this from Beixianwei Island afterward resolved to go take a look across the Taijiang: the human craving for light is etched into our genes, and people of the 17th century, accustomed to pitch-black nights where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, could not resist this temptation.

However, getting to the other side was not so easy. Everyone on Beixianwei Island first had to remain in quarantine for a full 20 days, and then submit to an infrared body temperature check. Only after passing all of that, and having no criminal record, did one qualify to apply at the police station for a tourist visit to the other shore.

Of course, the above troubles did not apply to the Dutch higher-ups. The next morning, after waking in the newly built red-brick garden-style Shang Hall on Dayuan Island, the hall's new owner, His Excellency Putemansi, and the other Commercial Agents first experienced the marvel of a later-generation bathroom — whether it was the running water, the smooth cement walls, or the toilet with its iron water tank overhead, every feature left the users exclaiming in wonder.

Next came breakfast. Everyone gathered at the long dining table to enjoy a sumptuous meal consisting of fried eggs, venison sausage, smoked fish, rice noodles, and Fujian tangerines. Aside from the slight regret of having no bread, the rest of the food tasted quite excellent, and the seafarers were full of praise.

As for bread... right now the time-travelers were completely helpless. Taiwan's climate was unsuitable for growing wheat, and the small amount of flour shipped from Hangzhou was monopolized by northerners among the time-travelers who loved beef noodle soup and zhajiang noodles, so the Dutch could only eat rice noodle soup for now.

The Agricultural Company had sown some experimental wheat fields, but no one held any hope for a harvest, because the company's attention was focused on barley and rye: the barley varieties were mainly for brewing beer, while the rye was to feed the imported precious Simmental embryo cattle. So the flour shortage could not be resolved in the short term.

... Back to the Dutch.

After breakfast came work time. Once the Dutch party stepped outside, they followed a short, cement-paved "Trading Post Street" on foot to pay a visit to Cai Feiming.

Cai Feiming's new office was in Building No. 1 on this very street. After the Dutch entered, they first expressed their thanks for the Tangqiao: everyone had drunk quite well the previous night. Then came the bathroom science popularization session: Cai Feiming had to laboriously point out the window at the tall red-brick water tower and begin explaining the principles of running water to the Red Hairs.

After explaining the truth that water flows downward, Old Cai further told them: the current bathroom was only a semi-finished product, because the core components of the brick-pressing machine were still queued up waiting for import.

But this problem would soon be solved: at the very least, by the time the Dutch returned to Batavia in a few months, Dayuan would certainly be able to produce smooth, gleaming porcelain tile samples to affix to the Shang Hall walls, and then sell them to the Red Hairs.

After the casual chat concluded, everyone went together to Chikan Wharf.

Accompanied by the Director of Port Affairs, Professor Luo, the major clients spent the entire morning touring Chikan Wharf, Chikan Avenue, the Chikan District Government, and the Taijiang Shipyard. By noon, the warehousing manifests for all 15 ships' cargo had also been promptly calculated.

Now that the manifests were calculated, it naturally meant another round of massive spending for the Transmigrators: the majority of all goods the Dutch brought would be directly purchased by a certain power base, and only a small portion — such as spices — would the Dutch keep to sell themselves.

And so, Putemansi found himself holding another thick stack of land coupons... The Dutch were finally about to go on a shopping spree.

The Industrial Products Exhibition Hall on Chikan Avenue was filled with a dazzling array of industrial goods.

From humble red bricks and cement, to beautiful glass cups and bowls, then on to various raw silk, silk fabrics, and porcelain — in short, every commodity that a certain power base could currently offer in exchange for money was on display and for sale here.

Additionally, with the recent departure of the Yuan Dou oil survey ship, the exhibition hall had also promptly put out the great killer that the Transmigrators would use to make their name: the kerosene lamp.

Only by gathering all seven dragon balls can one summon the divine dragon. And only after arriving in Taiwan over a year ago had the Crossing Faction finally assembled the three essential elements — tinplate, glass, and kerosene — to produce the kerosene lamp, invincible under heaven.

In the dark age of the 17th century, the kerosene lamp — with its bright, blazing flame, impervious to wind, and free of lampblack odor — was a well-deserved great killer. This commodity could circulate unimpeded through the global market, smashing open the money pouches of every provincial magnate. Moreover, the kerosene lamp had one most wonderful feature: kerosene was monopolized by the Crossing Faction.

The Transmigrators' current conditions were infinitely better than what Rockefeller had back in his day: the Transmigrators could make a fortune not just on kerosene — the kerosene lamp itself was equally a hot commodity. One must realize this is the 17th century; humanity is still far, far from the era of getting a free phone with a top-up card. So, how much could an oil lamp consisting of tinplate and a glass chimney sell for?

At the very least, 100 taels of silver?

100 taels? 100 taels is the cost — 200 taels and up! Don't you complain it's expensive, and no discounts either. You have to study the shopping psychology of the gentry and great households: a proprietor willing to pay 100 taels of silver for an oil lamp won't care at all about paying an extra 100. Do you know what a success person is? A success person is someone who, no matter what they buy, buys the most expensive, not the best!

Ahem... the tinplate one described above is the economy edition, and indeed not expensive; in the future, the Crossing Faction will also roll out an all-copper business model, an all-silver luxury model, an all-gold prestige model, an all-glazed VIP model, and so on and so forth.

The Dutch clearly knew their business. After a group of them crowded into a dark room and watched the kerosene lamp's demonstration, the big spender Comrade Putemansi immediately declared this item most exquisite and ordered 300 lamps to start.

300 lamps the Transmigrators did have; if not, the Kiln District could run a few extra shifts and get it done: all the tinplate parts and glass chimneys had ready-made molds, churned out by assembly-line pressing.

The problem now was that there wasn't enough kerosene.

Kerosene was just one of the byproducts of petroleum. Right now, operations over in Miaoli had only just started up, and even the output of petroleum itself was still very meager, so it couldn't supply such a large market. Fortunately, the Red Hairs wouldn't be leaving for a while yet, so Cai Feiming hurriedly explained: this item was sold based on production; the big spender only needed to estimate a quantity for now. Later, before the fleet set sail for the return voyage, they would match the lamps to the actual kerosene stock on hand.

The matter was thus settled. After this, the Dutch also pre-ordered large quantities of raw silk, porcelain, and glass products, along with some cement for ballast.

One traditional cargo was missing from this list: Songjiang cotton.

As the Crossing Faction's industrial production capability grew day by day, importing cloth from Songjiang again became quite uneconomical. Firstly, the Crossing Faction's transport capacity in the Jiangnan region was currently concentrated entirely on shipping refugees, grain, and raw silk; the transport priority for cloth had been repeatedly downgraded.

Secondly, even if there were spare cargo space, importing cotton was more cost-effective: the Textile Factory in the Kiln District could produce high-quality machine canvas for sails and work uniforms, far surpassing the quality of ancient loom-woven fabrics.

This was the hallmark of an industrial nation: importing only raw materials, never finished products.

... The large sum of land coupons the Red Hairs had just gotten their hands on, not even warmed yet, was spent just like that.

This kind of trade between the Dutch and the Crossing Faction was, in fact, a replica of the trade between industrial and agricultural nations in later generations: the industrial nation's products had high added value, hence small volume and high unit price. In this trade structure, the agricultural nation could only balance trade by increasing the quantity of its products.

And so, when the Commercial Agents returned to the Shang Hall that evening and settled accounts, they instantly felt their money was insufficient again...

The Red Hairs made the miserable discovery: even with over a thousand slaves to balance the trade, these queue-jumping, rule-breaking shaven-headed thieves had once again brought out all sorts of high-value, small-volume goodies to tempt people. If everyone were to stock goods according to today's estimated manifest, then on the day the fleet sailed for home, a third of the ships would return empty...

There was no way around it — the total value of slaves, nitre, hides, and rice was far less than the total value of kerosene lamps, raw silk, and porcelain, yet the former's volume was vastly greater.

Thus, the Dutch, who had originally thought they could save some precious metals this time and balance trade through goods alone, could only once again dig out the silver coins stashed at the bottom of their holds to purchase Dayuan's industrial products.

As the saying goes: when the master closes a door, he opens a window somewhere else.

The Lord also said: there's always a road when you get to the mountain.

And so, just when the Dutch had habitually decided to fork over silver and play the sucker, a turn of events occurred.

First, three handsome schooners, fully crewed and fully loaded, surged out of the Taijiang with overwhelming killing intent — this scene was witnessed by the Dutch during their daily stroll.

Not two days later, after the three schooners returned to the Taijiang, Comrade Putemansi soon received an urgent summons from Cai Feiming.

After the two sides met, Cai Feiming's first sentence was: "Taking jobs?"

"Huh?"

"There's a job that requires sending out the fleet as hired muscle — you taking it or not? Pay's high."

"Oh... hit who?"

"Hit pirates."

"Is it Yiguan?"

"Yiguan died yesterday."

"......"