Chapter 400 - What Can We Sell

"I'll ship timber then."

"I can ship lead. And spelter too."

Spelter was zinc—widely used in industry, especially for galvanized thin steel plate, commonly called white iron sheet. It was rust-resistant and corrosion-resistant, useful for roofing, rolling into tubes, and fashioning various containers. Extremely practical.

Xiong Buyou also quickly negotiated with a deerskin trader. From their conversation, he learned that this man frequently traveled to Tayouan Harbor in Taiwan to purchase deerskins from the Dutch, then transported them to Southeast Asia for sale. Besides what he'd paid in salvage fees, the Planning Committee had purchased all of his remaining cargo. Sun Xiao specifically mentioned to Xiong Buyou that it would be best to develop this person as a regular deerskin supplier.

Deerskin was one of the most sought-after animal leathers in the East Asia–Southeast Asia region, and the deerskin trade had become a specialized business. Although the transmigrators didn't know why deerskin was so popular, they likewise needed this leather for manufacturing industrial drive belts.

The enthusiastic atmosphere infected others who had initially shown no interest, and everyone began inquiring about what items were needed here and could be sold for cash. For these small merchants, traveling overseas to places like Batavia could bring windfall profits—but crossing the ocean for years at a time was dangerous and fraught with unknowns. Coming to Lingao was much easier. Though the profits were smaller, they could make several trips a year; the risks were lower, and overall it was more worthwhile.

Their lives had been saved, their property was mostly secure, and there were future opportunities to make money. These small merchants, who just days ago had been fighting madly among themselves, were now in much better spirits. Everyone was eager to go home and began asking whether there were any ships heading to Qiongshan or Guangzhou in the port.

"Gaoguang Shipping is selling tickets to Qiongshan and Guangzhou! Cargo shipping has special discounts—packing service included! Four-hundred-liao big ships with smooth sailing, armed escort by veteran guards from the Qiwei Escort Bureau the whole way—keeping you and your cargo worry-free!"

As Gaoguang Shipping's agents shouted through paper cone megaphones, the merchants who had received their goods rushed to buy tickets and arrange shipping. Having the civilian-colored "Gaoguang Shipping" handle things instead of having the Navy escort survivors home was another part of Ma Jia's maritime system reform. Anyone traveling by ship would now buy their own tickets.

There were also some unlucky souls who had lost all their cargo and had nothing left. Their tickets were paid for by the Civil Affairs Committee. Charity work was, after all, part of the Civil Affairs Department's responsibilities.

Several peddlers who had been completely wiped out simply decided to stay in Lingao. Tang Zheng was one of these small merchants. His capital was meager—he'd been transporting coarse pottery and crocks. Half were destroyed when the ship ran aground. The remaining cargo was smashed by pirates during their raid, as they suspected valuables might be hidden inside.

Tang Zheng, who had invested all his assets in this overseas venture, was utterly devastated. Part of his capital had been borrowed from relatives and neighbors, and now he was ruined. Although the Australians were buying him a ticket and giving him some travel money, he had no face to return home. Hearing that the Australians were hiring everywhere with decent pay, he simply decided to stay.

The sailors who had survived from the five-masted ship attended a mobilization meeting hosted by Li Haiping. Most were eventually persuaded to join the Navy. Those who firmly refused were given tickets home by the Civil Committee. The fire master from the five-masted ship, who had been injured in the pirate attack, received special treatment. After careful treatment at Bairren General Hospital, he had already recovered his health. Besides getting a free trip home to Qiongshan County, he received some small gifts as rewards. Additionally, Xiong Buyou had prepared a four-piece gift set and a letter for him to deliver to the shipowner and cargo owner of the five-masted ship—the gentry member Hai Shuzu of Qiongshan County.

After hearing the results of these proceedings, Wen Desi asked: "Attracting merchants to do business in Lingao—I'm very much in favor of that. But is there any pressure on our payment situation? Ever since we set up the Delong Bank in Guangzhou, silver remittances back have decreased. I'm afraid our reserves may not be sufficient."

Outside merchants certainly wouldn't accept circulation vouchers—payment required real silver, just as with this procurement from the small merchants.

"The pressure isn't great. What these peddlers bring are low-value products. Our current silver reserves are sufficient. For large payments, we can use Delong's bills of exchange, redeemable at Delong Bank in Guangzhou," Yan Ming reported.

"Director Wen, rest assured. Even if we pay out real silver, they won't be able to take it out of Lingao!" Mo Xiao'an said confidently.

"What are you planning to do?" Wen Desi looked at him suspiciously. Mo Xiao'an realized his meaning had been misunderstood and quickly explained:

"I mean—let them exchange their money for goods. That way there's no question of whether we have enough silver. It's essentially barter trade."

"Does the Light Industry Department have that capability now? You might want to sell to them, but they might not want to buy!" Wen Desi expressed doubt. Winning over consumers from the Ming-Qing era was quite difficult. Back then, the only materials that could be exported to China from overseas in large quantities were gold and silver, or dried goods like shark fin, bird's nest, and sea cucumber. Otherwise, it was specialized local products.

Since D-Day, the only major export commodities the transmigrator collective could produce were salt and sugar.

"No problem," Mo Xiao'an said. They had successfully trial-produced multiple products and were now expanding factories and adding equipment. They would soon have batch production capacity for various goods.

"Good—this will depend on you then," Wen Desi said. "Our current commodity exports have a problem of product monotony, over-relying on luxury goods and the 'one sweet, one salty' exports. Such an export situation is unhealthy. Vigorously developing light industrial product exports is the current priority. You need to put more thought into new product development. Consider different market needs—exports to Southeast Asia and Europe should be differentiated from exports to the mainland. Price-wise, it would be best to form high, medium, and low tiers. On this, you should listen more to the opinions of the Guangzhou Station and Foreign Commerce Committee. They understand more about this era's markets."

"I understand," Mo Xiao'an replied, taking notes to show he was treating Director Wen's words seriously.

"Focus on deep processing and high value-added product development. As for things like Liancheng red-heart sweet potato strips—don't bother with those anymore, except for making some to eat yourselves."

"Alright."

Mo Xiao'an returned to his office and looked at the large pile of new product trial and development plans on his desk. He wasn't worried about new products—recently, successful trial products had been as numerous as cow hair. But choosing what to put into production was the troublesome part.

He understood what Director Wen meant, but what were Ming Dynasty people actually interested in? This wasn't like the Industry Committee, which produced things for their own use. The Light Industry Department produced things that "might be needed." Trial production was fine for now—at worst, if it didn't sell, they'd use it themselves. But once batch production began, unsold inventory would mean enormous waste, and as Light Industry People's Committee Chairman, he would be held responsible.

Among the traditional transmigrator artifacts, glass products—including mirrors, glass vessels, and flat glass—were now on track, with steady monthly sales. But aside from mirrors, sales of glass vessels and flat glass were quite limited. Obviously, small merchants coming to Lingao wouldn't have any interest in these luxury goods.

Matches weren't technically complex. After large amounts of guano rock from Dongsha Island arrived, Ji Situi had been organizing people to produce red phosphorus—not for matches, but for the military's smoke bombs, for producing phosphoric acid in chemical production, and for the Metallurgy Department's planned trial production of phosphor bronze. The latter could serve as material for springs, which was a new material priority for the Industry Committee.

In comparison, whether his matches would even make the cut was hard to say. Mo Xiao'an had gone to the countryside several times for research and observed that locals used flint and steel to start fires. Some simply kept a fire burning year-round in their stoves. None of that was particularly difficult—whether matches would have much of a market remained questionable.

"Chief, it's time to eat." The speaker was the Light Industry Department's administrative trainee, who had brought Mo Xiao'an's meal. Originally, according to Xiao Zishan's regulations, native personnel weren't allowed in the transmigrators' cafeteria—not for kitchen help, deliveries, or fetching meals. But over time, this rule had gradually loosened. Now it had been amended to permit a few "reliable" natives to enter the cafeteria.

Mo Xiao'an looked at the dishes in the container and didn't feel much appetite—seafood again. He was going crazy from eating so much of it. Suddenly he noticed scallion-oil fried sea intestine on the plate.

"Sea intestine!" A book he'd read suddenly came to mind. The protagonist didn't make matches or blow glass—instead, he processed sea intestines into powder and sold it as MSG...

"MSG!" Mo Xiao'an felt he'd made a major discovery. At the last red sweet potato comprehensive utilization meeting at the food factory, Huang Dashan had mentioned that red sweet potatoes could be used to make MSG. But after they made kvass, that topic hadn't come up again. Had he actually made MSG or not?

"MSG? Of course I made it. What did you think you've been eating in the cafeteria?!" Huang Dashan said irritably over the phone. "And you call yourself the Light Industry Department's People's Committee Chairman? You've barely shown your face at the food factory!"

"Well... I've been busy... meetings..."

"Stop with the bureaucratic talk. Just come to the food factory yourself and take a look. Discussing export products over the phone—who can figure anything out that way!"

It had been more than ten days since he'd last visited the food factory, and Huang Dashan had been managing it all that time. This was rather inconsiderate of him—Huang Dashan's main job was cultivating bacterial strains, and he also helped out at the pharmaceutical factory. Managing the food factory was beyond his capacity and probably not his top priority either.

Mo Xiao'an reflected on how, as the Light Industry Department's People's Committee Chairman, the food factory was a key subordinate enterprise under his department, closely tied to the transmigrators' daily lives. Achievements there would be visible to everyone; problems would immediately destroy his reputation...

With this in mind, his expression became serious. Since he didn't understand food processing or food factory operations, merely holding a position without contributing wasn't the solution. It would be better to find a dedicated factory director to take charge. Even if they didn't understand food processing technology, it would be fine.

After much thought, he thought of Xun Suji. Because this man had a chef's license, he'd been working in the cafeteria ever since the landing. His official affiliation was the Agricultural Committee, as he also did some vegetable growing on the side. The man was actually quite versatile—Mo Xiao'an recalled that when Xun Suji was at the cafeteria, he'd made his own salted duck eggs and pickled eggs. He'd also made pickles and kimchi, with quite good craftsmanship. Being a chef who also made snacks, taking charge of the food factory wouldn't make him an outsider.

And so Xun Suji received transfer orders assigning him to the food factory. This sudden appointment as Food Factory Director left Xun Suji both surprised and delighted. He was happy because he'd gone from being an ordinary member to a leadership cadre. On the Executive Committee's unofficial ranking system, the food factory director was equivalent to a third-level leader—also a small department head. He was surprised because he was a dull otaku type who had always been managed and represented by others. Now he was supposed to manage and represent others—this seemed rather difficult.

But then he thought: once he became a department head, according to regulations, he could have his own office, his own electricity quota, and with luck, maybe even a secretary. Setting aside everything else, just that personal electricity quota was worth its weight in gold. At least he could use his computer until midnight. Thinking of his full box of personal items finally getting to see the light of day, this otaku Xun Suji beamed until his face blossomed with joy.

(Chapter End)