"Don't worry, the group's research institute has determined that during the 25th period, people's demand for porcelain will rise rapidly." Zhao Hao said confidently: "And as long as we don't impact the domestic market, the domestic porcelain price should rise instead of fall."
"Is that so..." Everyone nodded slowly, and Yue Yunpeng suddenly asked sharply: "Sir, do you mean that we should enter the overseas market?"
"Yes, we must use dumping tactics to completely destroy our competitors' ceramic industry!" Zhao Hao nodded heavily and said, "Although this will have a temporary impact on our profits, it is a long-term strategy."
"So that's how it is." Everyone suddenly realized.
Most of these Chaozhou representatives had studied "Elementary Economics" at Jiangnan Polytechnic and knew that dumping refers to the producer of a certain product selling the product to the market at a price lower than the marginal cost in order to gain a monopoly position in an overseas market, and then implementing a monopoly high price after driving competitors out of the market.
"We have three main rivals: Annan's blue and white porcelain, Korean white porcelain, and Japanese pottery. You don't have to worry about the latter two, they will be destroyed by Jiangnan, and you just focus on destroying Annan's blue and white porcelain!" Zhao Hao took a sip of the Fenghuang Dancong they brought and said with a smile: "Of course, you don't have to sell it at a loss, that would be too dogmatic."
The people in Chaozhou put down their chopsticks and listened attentively, and some even took out their notebooks.
Chaozhou porcelain export industry has relied on the group and has been exported for more than a year. In addition, there are countless Chaoshan overseas Chinese, so they can naturally grasp the pulse of the international porcelain market.
What shocked them was that in today's maritime trade, the largest share was not the porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, but the blue and white porcelain produced in Annan!
Obviously, although the Ming Dynasty's strict maritime ban policy was full of loopholes, it still caused a sharp drop in the amount of porcelain exported, resulting in a huge gap in the huge porcelain market.
European countries, Southeast Asian countries, the Muslim world headed by the Ottoman Empire, and even the South American continent all have a strong demand for exquisite Chinese porcelain. Seeing that the Ming Dynasty shipped too little, Annan took the opportunity to vigorously absorb Yuan Dynasty craftsmen and develop the blue and white porcelain industry. It has occupied the market vacated by the Celestial Empire for nearly two hundred years and earned astronomical profits!
Today, Annan is in confrontation between the north and the south, and the Mac Dynasty and the Le Dynasty are fighting fiercely. In order to pay for the high military expenses, the two dynasties have simultaneously increased the production of blue and white porcelain and launched a price war. The price is much cheaper than the Ming Dynasty's export porcelain.
This has no impact on Jingdezhen porcelain, because they have always been high-end products with high quality, high price and small quantity, so there is no competition between the two sides. But it is hard for export porcelain produced in the coastal areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong.
The quality of these export porcelains is not as good as that of Jingdezhen, and the price is more expensive than that of Annan porcelain. How can we compete with others for the market?
Zhao Hao learned from his mistakes and ordered Tang Baolu to conduct a two-year investigation on Annam porcelain, which revealed the fatal flaws of Annam porcelain.
"According to the group's investigation in the trading houses in Thang Long and Thanh Hoa," Mr. Zhao revealed with a smile, "there is no blue material produced in the entire territory of Annan!"
"Is that so?" Everyone gasped. This was the first time they heard this information.
The so-called "blue material", or blue and white material, is the colorant used to make blue and white porcelain. Use a brush to draw a pattern on the raw material, cover it with transparent glaze and fire it in the kiln to make blue and white porcelain. Without blue material, there would be no blue and white porcelain, and because this is basically the only colorant used, the demand for blue material is extremely high.
“Then where do they get the blue material?” The person who asked the question is Gu Tianle, a former peddler who is now the chief raw material purchaser of Chaozhou Ceramics. As an employee who received the Outstanding Contribution Award, he also attended the group meeting.
Originally, he had no right to speak here, but firstly, his professional habit made him particularly sensitive to such issues; secondly, as one of the 711 representatives of the group, he represented the interests and will of all employees of the group and had the right to question or make suggestions to all departments and companies of the group on any matter.
Everyone, including himself, thought he was qualified to ask the question.
"One is the 'Zhu Ming Liao' imported from Yunnan, and the other is the 'Sumali Qing' and 'Wuming Yi' imported from Persia. These three kinds of blue materials." Zhao Hao also answered seriously:
"So we have to try our best to stop them from getting blue material from these two channels." Zhao Hao said slowly: "The group has listed blue material as a banned item and prohibits any ship from transporting it to the Indochina Peninsula. As for Yunnan, the group will take two approaches. One is to persuade the government to ban exports, and the other is to purchase all the Zhuming material mines at a high price. All this work started last year."
"What's the effect?" everyone asked expectantly.
"It is impossible to completely prevent them from obtaining blue materials." Zhao Hao smiled faintly, "But the severe blockade has caused the price of blue materials in Annan to increase several times - only in this way will there be people willing to take risks and smuggle blue materials for them."
"In this case, won't the cost of Annan blue and white porcelain be high?" Yue Yunlang, chairman of Chaozhou Ceramics, asked hurriedly.
"That's right. Moreover, the two dynasties blindly expanded production, which could only significantly reduce the amount of blue pigment used, so the quality also declined greatly." Zhao Hao nodded and said in a deep voice: "So the research institute has determined that our quality is far superior to theirs, and we can also provide customization. As long as we keep the price at the same level as Annan porcelain and then put it on the market in large quantities, we will soon be able to completely squeeze them out of the international market."
As he spoke, he raised his hands and said with longing: "Then there was the total collapse of the Annan porcelain industry, and a market with only Ming porcelain emerged..."
In fact, Master Zhao has more important goals, such as destroying the economies of the Mac and Le dynasties to reduce the difficulty of intervening at that time. But there is no need to tell them.
"Young Master is really far-sighted!" Liu Zixing and others praised him sincerely. "We are far behind."
"Let's do this?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.
"Go! Go! Go!" Everyone nodded hurriedly.
~~
After lunch, Zhao Hao did not leave immediately, but went to the study room at the back to talk with Liu Zixing and his son.
In the study, there were two dark-faced men who had been waiting for a long time.
The two did not expect that the famous young cabinet minister would be so young, and they were stunned for a moment.
"Why don't you two pay your respects to the young master?" Liu Zixing coughed and reminded the two.
"I am Liu Xuesheng, and I am here to meet you, sir." An older man kowtowed to Zhao Hao quickly, and also helped the darker and more reserved man next to him.
"My name is Xu Kezheng, and I'm here to greet you, sir." The man also hurried to greet Zhao Hao.
"Okay, both of you, stand up and talk." Zhao Hao smiled and gave them a fake hand, then he lifted the hem of his robe and sat down, saying, "I'm sorry, I've been busy and I'm only meeting you now."
"Sir, you are too kind. Your name has already spread to Luzon. It would be a great honor for me to meet you once." Liu Xuesheng was very skilled in flattery and was obviously one of the overseas Chinese who had close ties with the mainland.
He was Liu Zixing's cousin. Although his grandfather had gone to Southeast Asia and settled in Luzon for sixty years, the Liu family was very powerful in Chaozhou, so they had always been in close contact.
With the help of their family's influence, Liu Xuesheng's family made a fortune in the Japanese trade, and they thrived in Luzon. They became the vice president of the local Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Liu Zixing handed over the secret mission that Master Zhao had previously assigned to him.
Liu Xuesheng was indeed capable. After much investigation, he actually found the person the young master wanted!
"This brother Xu is the descendant of Xu Chai Lao, the former governor of Luzon, who stayed in Luzon!" he said impatiently.
"Good, that's great, God has eyes, and loyal people will have successors!" Young Master Zhao slapped Liu Zixing's thigh happily, making Old Man Liu grin with joy.
Who is Xu Chai Lao? He is like a child without a mother. It’s a long story…
He was the leader of the local overseas Chinese who entertained the Celestial Fleet when Zheng He visited the Luzon Islands 170 years ago in the third year of the Yongle reign. Later, at the request of Zheng He, Emperor Yongle appointed him as the Governor-General of Luzon, in charge of the military, political, financial and cultural power of the country until his death in the 22nd year of the Yongle reign, having served for 20 years.
It is said that for 20 years, Xu Chai Lao was loyal to the court and the people, and he worked hard to promote the culture and economy of Luzon. Unfortunately, after his death, when his descendants asked for the title again, the emperor had been replaced by Zhu Zhanji. Not only did the request fall on deaf ears, but even Zheng He's fleet disappeared...
The Chinese regime, which lost the support of its motherland, was like a tree without roots, and was soon replaced by the Sultanate of Luzon established by the Brunei Kingdom.
Of course, the Sultanate of Luzon was also very weak and was destroyed by Spanish colonists a few years ago.
Previously, Zhao Hao did not intervene in this matter due to various considerations. He just ordered people to search secretly to see if there were any descendants of Xu Chailao, so as to make a claim of sending troops.
In fact, it is just an excuse, and it is the same as forging a claim. However, it is better to have a real one than a fake one...but it is limited.
Zhao Hao didn't even check Xu Kezheng's identity, and asked him directly: "What is the situation in Luzon now?"
"It's very bad..." Xu Ke looked at Liu Xuesheng and spoke fluently, "The red-haired devils are killing people everywhere, not only the natives, but also us Han people. Now that people are escaping and dying, only one in ten people in Little Luzon is left."
Zhao Hao suppressed his joy upon hearing this, and said indignantly, "What? The people of our Ming Dynasty also suffered casualties?"
"This group of red-haired devils from the east are different from those from the west." Xu Kezheng said with lingering fear: "They are murderous and force people to convert to their religion. Those who don't believe will be killed on the spot."
"Yes." Liu Xuesheng nodded and testified: "Although the forced conversion was mainly aimed at the natives who believed in the Islamic religion, we Han people believe in many gods, not just Jehovah. But they found that killing too many natives, so in order to balance, they found an excuse to kill Han people."
"Didn't we from Jiangnan Group inform them? If they dare to kill my compatriots, not only will our trade be cut off, but they will also pay with blood!" Young Master Zhao was furious.
"Yes, thanks to the support of the young master, they did not dare to carry out a public massacre like they did to the natives. However, they can do it secretly. As long as they want, they can always find an excuse to kill people." Liu Xuesheng sighed:
"Before I came here, I heard that they were going to pass a Chinese Exclusion Act next year to deport all of us overseas Chinese back to our country."
ps. Post first and modify later.