Chapter 94

After chatting for a while with Alvaro's father and son, Lieutenant Leo, and others, Xiaobaitu turned and mounted his warhorse, slowly heading towards Colonia.

Colonia, a city born from trade, was not very large. A thin wooden fence encircled a piece of land by the sea, which then became the trading point agreed upon in the Treaty of Rocha. The governor Gutiérrez and Baron Bravo, who had agreed to sign the treaty, certainly did not expect that the trade gap of the Río de la Plata, forcibly opened by the East Shore people with guns and cannons, would grow larger and larger, eventually leading to the collapse of the entire Río de la Plata region's trade, and possibly affecting neighboring Chile and the Charcas Audiencia.

Driven by profit, the criollo group and the East Shore people were highly aligned. They also pulled a large number of mid-to-lower-level officials from the Río de la Plata colonies into their scheme. Thus, the bustling smuggling trade in Colonia became semi-public and fixed. According to the agreement signed between the East Shore Republic of China and the Spanish, only 500 tons of goods were allowed to be traded annually. However, in practice, such a small quota could be easily exceeded in just two or three months. The Spanish representatives in Colonia, fattened by silver, turned a blind eye to this, as the higher the trade volume, the higher their additional income. In these times, who would go against their own money bag?

Besides the East Shore people, many Portuguese, British, French, and even Dutch people, who were well-informed, also rushed in like sharks smelling blood. They brought all kinds of goods from the Old World that could be sold at a high price in the New World and came to Colonia to sell them. The criollos of the Río de la Plata welcomed this, while the representatives of the East Shore Republic were often unhappy. They used their power to heavily tax these goods while secretly increasing production, aiming to outcompete these European merchants in the market and make them think twice about selling goods that competed with the East Shore people.

As Xiaobaitu arrived at the city gate of Colonia, he saw a ship flying the red flag with a double-sword eagle emblem dock at the pier. It was the East Shore Republic of China's frigate, the "Red Trout."

"Who could it be?" Just as this question arose in Xiaobaitu's mind, he saw three people leading the way up the gangplank to the port.

"Hey, Xiaobaitu, ha ha, it's been a few days, you look good. How is it here, a place to nurture people?" The leading deputy minister of trade, Xu Xin, waved and greeted him.

"Heh, a place to nurture people? I'm about to rust from idleness here!" Xiaobaitu sneered, saying. He recognized the two people behind Xu Xin, Tao Chenxi from the textile factory and Ming Hui from the brickyard. They had a bit of a connection back when they were in the logging team.

"Isn't that good?" Ming Hui walked up and punched Xiaobaitu, saying, "Here it's both leisurely and lucrative. Why don't we switch places? Look at us, busy all day, exhausted, and no one says a good word about us."

"Alright, alright, I'll treat you to drinks later," Xiaobaitu said casually, "Colonia may not be great in other aspects, but it has a couple of taverns. Let's not talk about this now. What brings you here this time? To buy gunpowder and wool? No, it's not the right time, are you here to sell something?"

"You got it right!" Xu Xin snapped his fingers and said, "Look, they're unloading the cargo now. 1000 bolts of cotton fabric, 300 bolts of wool, 100,000 bricks, and 500 military knives. Pay attention, this time the cotton fabric is our key export product."

"Cotton fabric?" Xiaobaitu, who had a general idea of the committee's plan to develop the textile industry, quickly reacted and asked, "Where is it? Let me see. Do you know how popular the Indian cotton fabric resold by the British is here? Those unscrupulous merchants have the nerve to sell a bolt for 4 pesos, and it's still in high demand, making a fortune. Of course, their wool is also good, at least in quality. We need to think of ways to compete."

"The quality is certainly much more stable than the British handcrafted products. Although it may not match their top-quality goods, it is superior in average quality. Moreover, our yarn is already much better than theirs," Tao Chenxi said confidently, "Look, they're starting to unload. If you're interested, go take a look."

Xiaobaitu walked to the pier and opened a pine wood box. Inside were neatly stacked cotton fabrics. He reached out and gently touched the white cotton fabric, finding it relatively smooth and soft, with good breathability. This should be considered high-quality fine cotton fabric.

"Great! Not worse than the Indian goods, and even better in terms of feel!" Xiaobaitu said excitedly, "Why aren't they dyed? No patterned fabrics? Ah, too few varieties! What a pity!"

"Uh... this... take it step by step," Tao Chenxi said somewhat awkwardly, "We haven't gotten into dyeing yet. More importantly, we don't have any dyes. We have to take it one step at a time. The market for plain white fabric is the broadest, and people will dye and process it themselves after buying it."

They chatted for a while, and the sailors on the ship had already unloaded 1000 bolts of cotton fabric and 300 bolts of wool. They were now unloading the bricks. Xiaobaitu called over a few Italian security guards to escort the goods to the warehouse in the city. The warehouse set up by the East Shore Republic of China here was just a few simple brick and wood structures, with some miscellaneous goods piled inside, not worth much. Four internal affairs police officers were idly playing cards inside.

Xiaobaitu asked them to help quickly, carefully stacking the cotton fabric and wool. The Italian porters hired at the pier began to bring in boxes of sharp military knives, which were also carefully placed. As for the 100,000 bricks on the ship, Ming Hui decided to start selling them at the pier. Don't underestimate these bricks; they were still in high demand in the Río de la Plata region and Brazil. The trade department priced these bricks at 1 yuan for every 500 bricks, and it wouldn't take long for someone to buy them all.

After all the goods were moved in, Ming Hui and Xu Xin also came in, chatting and laughing. Indeed, Ming Hui's 100,000 bricks had already been bought out, and he was holding a jingling money bag, grinning at everyone.

"Wait here. I'll go find Alvaro. He's the one who makes the decisions here. If we want to open up the market for our East Shore textiles in the Río de la Plata and other places, we still need his help," Xiaobaitu said and disappeared in a flash.

"I just did some research. The Indian cotton fabric resold by British merchants at the pier generally sells for more than 4 pesos (about 3.2 yuan), mostly white cotton fabric, with only a small portion being patterned. Our 'East Shore fabric' has no reputation yet. To open up the market, we still need to go the low-price route," Tao Chenxi rubbed his bald chin thoughtfully and said.

"What is your average cost for weaving a bolt of fabric now?" Xu Xin asked.

"For cotton fabric, it's about 0.9 to 1 yuan per bolt, and the cost can be further reduced with large-scale production. As for wool, the cost is much higher, around 12 to 13 yuan per bolt. The British wool currently sells for about 35 yuan in the market, and I estimate their cost from the domestic market is around 24 to 25 yuan, almost twice as expensive as ours," Tao Chenxi said almost without hesitation, clearly having gone over these figures countless times in his mind.

"I remember the British import cotton fabric from Gujarat, Bengal, and Orissa for about 7 shillings (about 1.4 yuan) and have to transport it across the sea. Hey, let's set the price of our East Shore fabric at 2 pesos (about 1.6 yuan) per bolt. For wool, let's set it at 25 yuan per bolt. In short, we'll price it below their cost, making it impossible for those British to sell a single bolt," Xu Xin excitedly slapped his thigh and said loudly.

"Haha, you've set a good price," Xiaobaitu stepped in from outside, laughing. Following him was a young man around twenty years old—Alvaro's son, Alvarez. "The British won't waste time here in a price war with you; they're here to make money, not to be do-gooders. If they can't make money here, they'll pack up and go elsewhere. Of course, the costs will be much higher there, as the territories are already divided. But it's better than not making money or even losing money here. Let me introduce you, this is the eldest son of the local chamber of commerce president, Alvaro, Alvarez Rodriguez. Alvarez, these are our deputy minister of trade, Mr. Xu Xin, deputy factory manager of the textile factory, Mr. Tao Chenxi, and the manager of the building materials company, Mr. Ming Hui."

Alvarez shyly shook hands with everyone and then eagerly inspected the cotton fabric and wool. He was very thorough, carefully examining or feeling each bolt. Xiaobaitu and the others waited quietly, not urging him.

After a long time, Alvarez sighed softly and turned to the group with a shy smile, "All top-quality goods, although the variety is very limited, they are indeed of top-quality. Give me a price, and our chamber of commerce will buy them all."

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