Chapter 200 Behind the Scenes Players (First Update, Please Subscribe)

The early morning train whistle for work sounded almost simultaneously with the rising blood-red sun.

When the whistle sounded,

Soon, the spinning machines in the Yuhua Spinning Mill workshop started running again. The roar of thousands of spinning machines driven by the steam engine transmission shaft was like thunder in summer!

The female workers were walking back and forth in front of the spinning machines. They would be busy from six in the morning to six in the evening, working for twelve hours, with only half an hour's rest in between. However, even so, the female workers still cherished this rare job very much. This was especially true for the Western technicians in the factory. After all, most of their colleagues in Europe not only had to work sixteen or seventeen hours a day, but were also unemployed. It was absolutely a very happy thing to be able to find such a job here, and the working hours were reduced by 1/3 compared to the past.

Of course, they didn't know that the establishment of this large textile factory was entirely due to the cotton crisis in Europe. Otherwise, Nanhua would not have been able to buy a large amount of cotton textile equipment at a low price, even at the price of scrap iron, and quickly build a complete cotton textile industry.

When the cotton textile industry in Europe went bankrupt due to cotton shortage, the newly built Nanhua cotton textile factory had sufficient raw materials to start production. This was a miracle in itself. Of course, to the outside world, Nanhua's cotton supply may come from local sources, but only a very few people know that the cotton comes from the United States.

It can even be said that it was American cotton that made all this happen. On the one hand, they exchanged cheap cotton for smuggled arms, and on the other hand, they shipped the cotton out of the United States and sold it at nearly ten times the price. Then they bought machines from Europe at the price of scrap iron, built cotton textile factories, and took the opportunity to produce cotton cloth and other cotton textiles to seize the market.

Inadvertently, Nanhua had created a small virtuous trade cycle. However, it was not an ordinary department of the company that presided over all this, but the little-known Investigation Department.

Like many buildings built in 1863, No. 11 Wing On Plaza is also a reinforced concrete building. The six-story building is neither Western nor Chinese in style, except that the exterior of the building has a slight Chinese decorative style.

This is the Investigation Department of Nanhua Company.

The Investigation Department was originally the Investigation Section, which had only six people. At the beginning, it was responsible for statistics and other work, but in the past two years, it has been expanded from the Investigation Section to the Investigation Department.

By the end of 1863, the Investigation Department had grown into a large department with more than 500 employees, and even more than 100 foreign employees stationed in Britain, France, the United States, Argentina and other places, specializing in collecting business information. In fact, this is also a common organization in enterprises.

Nowadays, many insurance companies and shipping companies have their own investigation agencies that specialize in collecting and investigating business information. Even many foreign employees in the investigation departments are poached from insurance companies, shipping companies and other enterprises.

However, those foreign employees are either based in Europe or the United States, or can only work on the third floor or below of the company building and participate in ordinary business investigations. After all, the company is not just a business investigation agency.

"Last month, the Special Transport Fleet crossed the Union Navy blockade thirteen times and smuggled about 200,000 bales of cotton from Confederate ports. Although this is less than 10% of the cotton exported from Southern ports before the war, as the number of Special Transport Fleet ships increases, by the end of next year, our fleet will be able to bring out basically all the cotton in the South."

Behind the desk, Qian Zizhuang smiled kindly at his subordinate as he listened to his subordinate's channel.

"Martin, on the way back, we have to ship out as much cotton as possible. It is an important source of income for the Southern Confederacy. Only by shipping out the cotton can they have money to buy important war materials and continue fighting. Of course, the most important thing is profit. The Civil War brought cotton production in the southern United States to a standstill. Under the severe contradiction between supply and demand, the global cotton price has risen by about four times. However, in the ports of the South, the cotton price is still the same as before the war, or even lower than before the war. This means survival. As long as we ship the cotton out of the Confederacy, we can get four times the profit! Two hundred thousand bales of cotton... if shipped to London, that would be millions of pounds in profit!"

Qian Zizhuang, the director of the Investigation Department, although he only attended private school for a few years, but as a "gold mine veteran", he has always been trusted by his employer. From the Investigation Section to the Investigation Department, he built the Investigation Department step by step according to his employer's wishes, hiring European and American investigators to learn investigation and collection, and setting up training classes to train his own people.

Now the trade with the South is under the charge of the Third Division of the Investigation Department. The person in charge of the Third Division, Martin Coleman, is not Chinese. He is the earliest naturalized citizen of South China. He is Mr. Diego's confidant and had been in charge of secret operations in Buenos Aires. He fled to South China after his identity was exposed.

Although he has curly black hair and deep-set blue eyes, he speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He was put in charge of the Third Division because of his appearance, which is suitable for overseas operations.

Even in the training classes of the Investigation Department, there are some street children and orphans collected from South America and all over Europe. They receive long-term training so that they can be sent to other countries in the future to engage in investigative intelligence work.

"Yes, Mr. Minister."

Martin nodded.

"That's right. Our trade with the South is a barter trade. Last month, we successfully shipped about 50,000 rifles, 103 cannons, and enough lead and saltpeter to make 10 million rounds of small arms ammunition, as well as enough shoes, uniforms and blankets for the entire army. In addition, about 3 million kilograms of canned meat, salted beef and other supplies have strongly supported the South's fighting. However, the South is now dissatisfied with our offer, thinking that our offer for cotton is too low and the offer for supplies is too high."

"dissatisfied?"

Qian Zizhuang sneered.

"Don't pay attention to them. Now only our ships can continuously transport the materials they need. If they don't accept our offer, they can find someone else."

Under the blockade of the North, trade with the South was a seller's market, and those Southerners in Richmond had no room for bargaining. Qian Zizhuang was too lazy to pay attention to them. At present, the "Special Transport Company" made millions of pounds in profit a month, which was his capital to seek credit in front of his boss.

The so-called special transport company is actually a general term for more than a dozen companies. In the list of companies in the investigation department, there are more than 30 companies engaged in smuggling to the south and cotton trade-related businesses.

It is under the cover of many things that they can make huge profits through smuggling. Of course, these profits will eventually be handed over to the company to buy various machines and develop Nanhua's industry.

Crisis, sometimes other people's crisis is your opportunity. For the South, this war is definitely a good opportunity for development.

The same is true for the Investigation Department. The current expansion of the Investigation Department's staff is also due to the war waged by Americans thousands of miles away and the unprecedented opportunities brought about by that war.

“Yes, that’s what we replied to them.”

This is the advantage of exclusive business. The initiative is completely in your hands. The other party has no bargaining power at all.

"By the way, Minister, they have once again expressed their hope to purchase our ships."

"Don't reject them, and don't agree to them. This needs to be decided by the owner."

Qian Zizhuang waved his hand. He didn't need to make a decision because he knew the answer. He would definitely not sell the boat to them.

"Oh, there's one more thing. I noticed in the briefing that the political situation in Uruguay has been unstable recently. I'd like to learn more about the situation there. Can you see if you can send an investigator from Buenos Aires to collect as much information as possible about the situation there? Do you understand?"

Martin was not surprised by the minister's order. He was an expert in this and it was his job.

"Yes, Mr. Minister, but it will take some time for our people to go there. I know a few Uruguayans who can do this, so why not let them do it..."

In this era, patriotism is not popular, especially in South America. Who knows, those people might have been French, Romans, Sardinians or Prussians a few months ago. Which country do they love?

Just like Martin, he said he was Argentine, but he actually immigrated from Ireland. He almost starved to death in Ireland. Does he love Britain?

Is it possible?

As for Ireland, there is no such country in the world.

"Yes, that's fine. When we set up an intelligence network, we are making use of local connections. However, we need to pay attention to their movements, and it would be best if we have people who can control them. After all, this work still requires caution."

Gazing at the bright sunny day outside the window and watching the passers-by walking back and forth in the square, Nanhua seemed exceptionally quiet at this time, as if the disputes in the world had nothing to do with this place. People were busy working, creating wealth here, and after a busy day, they would get off work at 6 o'clock, and then return home to enjoy a quiet life.

However, how long can such a peaceful life last? Maybe in a few years, or maybe in a dozen years, all this will be broken, and now all they need to do is to prepare before all this is broken.

"All right, Martin,"

Qian Zizhuang said to Martin behind him a little stiffly,

"Go and do your thing. As for the boat you mentioned earlier, don't worry about it. As long as we have the boat, they will definitely be inseparable from us!"

(End of this chapter)