Chapter 1856
North Korean Market
Chapter 1856 North Korean Market
As the most prosperous city under the rule of North Korea in this era, Seoul not only served as the political center of the country, but also played the role of an economic and trade center.At least half of the dignitaries in North Korea live in Seoul and nearby areas.After the war between North Korea and the Qing Dynasty, a large number of upper-class people in the northern region fled south to Seoul for refuge, which made this ratio get a new increase.
The direct impact of the influx of a large number of wealthy people into this city is the obvious inflation effect. In addition to the impact on the prices of ordinary living materials, even fixed assets such as real estate have also risen with the tide.Some civilians simply sold their homes to wealthy foreigners at high prices, and moved out of Seoul to settle in places with lower living costs.
For example, the house where Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun stayed was priced at 4000 taels of silver before the war, so no one would be willing to buy it, but if the current owner is willing to sell it for [-] taels of silver, buyers will probably have to line up at the door.Of course, the owner of this house is neither short of real estate nor short of money. He lent the house purely to please the king and win the goodwill of the Haihan people. sell.
However, not all those who have recently snapped up real estate in Seoul are the northern dignitaries who have fled here, and a considerable number of them are businessmen from foreign countries.These people have relatively high requirements for the size, location, and living conditions of the real estate, but they are very generous. As long as they are fancy, they don't care too much about the price. Therefore, the housing prices in Seoul quickly increased.
Of course, the merchants from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area of the Ming Dynasty and Haihan were the main ones, especially the big Haihan merchants who had received the news in advance, and almost all of them managed to purchase real estate in the city for the purpose of opening a business store in the future.
In fact, before that, there were already products from Haihan on the Korean market, but most of them were resold by Ming merchants, and there were only some expensive high-end products that ordinary people could hardly afford.In the future, Haihan merchants will directly enter the North Korean market, and a large number of industrial products will gradually enter the daily life of the Korean people. Seoul will also become one of the main distribution centers for Haihan products in North Korea.
Sungnye Gate in the south of Seoul is the closest city gate to the Han River. Because it is more convenient to transport goods and people from the Han River, this nearby area has become a favorite place for foreign businessmen to settle down.A shop facing the street inside Chongli Gate was originally a cloth shop, but it was sold by a big merchant who was said to be from Haihan some time ago. After more than a month of closed doors for renovation, it is finally going to reopen for business recently.
After the shop was remodeled, it no longer operated in the cloth business, but hung a huge plaque with the words "Haihan Bank" on the front door.For the vast majority of North Koreans, they still don't quite understand what this sign means.Only a few businessmen who have been overseas and well-informed dignitaries know that this institution is not a store in the traditional sense, but a bank and bank engaged in financial services.Different from ordinary financial institutions, this "Haihan Bank" is officially operated by Haihan. It is said that the capital is extremely strong, which is far from comparable to similar non-governmental institutions.
How strong Haihan Bank's funds are, it can be seen from its generous spending of 2 taels of silver to buy this cloth shop in one fell swoop.This price has far exceeded the market price of the store, and it may even seem to be taken advantage of by outsiders, but when Haihan bids, it is not just a simple price issue.
Haihan Bank's establishment of overseas branches is a rather complicated project. The place where it is located is extremely particular, and there are corresponding assessment standards for the location, area, structure, and even the materials used for building houses. , in many places, Haihan Bank will even buy a piece of land and build it by itself because it cannot find a suitable pavement.
In the view of Haihan Bank, it is not easy to find a suitable shop. It is a good deal to spend more money and save precious time.As for the funds invested in the early stage, it is not a large amount compared to the long-term income. Moreover, the Seoul branch is located in the political and economic center of the entire North Korean country, and the number of potential customers is quite considerable.
Although the previous war almost wiped out North Korea's treasury, the wealth of the people has not been greatly affected. A considerable part of the large amount of money brought to Seoul by the dignitaries who fled south from the war zone is in a state of idle funds, and Haihan After the bank’s semi-colon in Seoul opens, it can try to absorb these funds for its own use-the industrial cooperation plan under discussion between Haihan and North Korea needs a lot of funds to promote its implementation. If North Korea’s own private idle funds can be fully utilized, For Haihan, it can also reduce a lot of burden.
Due to the special nature of the banking business, the employees of this institution must undergo professional training and a period of internship before they can work. Therefore, the Seoul branch is basically from Haihan from top to bottom, and only from the local area before opening. The dental shop hired a few smart guys to distribute printed leaflets at the door to attract customers.
Of course, the real big customers will definitely not be brought back from the street temporarily. When the site was still being selected for the semicolon in the early stage, Mei Baiji, who was appointed as the person in charge of the semicolon in Seoul, was already visiting local dignitaries and developing Long time customer.
Mei Baiji came from a Han landlord family in Danzhou. In 1630, Haihan marched into Qiongbei in the name of suppressing bandits, and successfully captured Danzhou City. Ji was sent to Sanya to study abroad.After studying for a period of time, Mei Baiji gradually showed his talent in finance, and was selected and sent to a specialized institution of the Ministry of Finance to receive targeted training.
Mei Baiji was known as a child prodigy when he was in Danzhou, but after he entered the training class of the Ministry of Finance, he realized that there are too many smart people in the world. Some children are younger than him but more intelligent. As for the number of spells, he can only be regarded as an upper-middle talent in it, and he is not a unique existence like in the countryside of Danzhou.So he quickly put away his pride, and honestly learned the knowledge taught by the Haihan people.
After receiving two years of training, Mei Baiji was assigned to work in Haihan Bank. After working as a teller for just over two years, she was favored by Cai Jinmei and promoted to become a private secretary.Maybe it's because of their eyesight, or maybe it's because they both have the word plum in their names. In short, Cai Jinmei has devoted a lot of thought to cultivating this young man.In the following years, Mei Baiji followed Cai Jinmei to travel here and there, but experienced the whole process of several overseas branches of banks from project establishment to implementation to business operation, and learned a lot of real skills.
When Haihan Bank was preparing to establish the North Korean office, Cai Jinmei recommended Mei Baiji to Schneider as the person in charge, and successfully obtained Schneider's approval.So Mei Baiji, who was only 25 years old, was sent to North Korea to be responsible for the establishment of a branch of Haihan Bank in Seoul.
Although it has been five years since he started this business, it is still not easy for Mei Baiji to complete this task alone for the first time.In particular, North Korea is still a relatively unfamiliar country to Haihan. If you want to carry out financial business here, you will inevitably encounter many unknown difficulties.
Fortunately, the special international situation encountered by North Korea created excellent external conditions for Haihan Bank to conduct business. The panic caused by the invasion of the Qing army and the large number of people fleeing south caused the private wealth in North Korea to quickly concentrate in the vicinity of Seoul. So much idle funds, no matter whether they are stored or used, are a great problem for many migrants, and Haihan Bank can just provide them with the most convenient and safe solution, and even generate more income from money. .
The impressive achievements of the Haihan army on the Korean battlefield also greatly improved Haihan's reputation. Coupled with the public opinion propaganda deliberately guided by Haihan, the North Korean people gradually equated Haihan with safety. .Haihan Bank, under the banner of Haihan's official bank, naturally won the trust of some North Koreans, and promised to come to the bank to open an account after opening, and deposit part of the spare money on hand in Haihan Bank.
Before the opening, Meibaiji was busy running up and down for more than a month, meeting hundreds of potential customers, but when it opened, it was still too nervous to sleep at night.This is not because the two military generals Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun arrived in Seoul, but because his old boss Cai Jinmei also rushed over from Zhoushan, Zhejiang.Whether your previous work can be recognized by your superiors probably depends on your results in the first few days after opening.
Cai Jinmei didn’t come here empty-handed this time. Shi Diwen specially sent an expedition-class warship to bring her here. Such a grand treatment is not only because of Cai Jinmei’s prominent position as the president of Haihan Bank, but also Part of the reason is that her trip brought a large amount of funds needed for the operation of the Seoul branch-the operating project of Haihan Bank is not only to absorb savings, but lending is also a very important business.
Considering that Haihan Bank had just arrived, and the gold reserves absorbed from the local area in the early stage might not be sufficient, Cai Jinmei transported a large amount of gold and silver from Zhejiang.In addition to serving as the working capital in the early stage of opening, it is also to show the strength of some big customers who lack confidence in Haihan Bank, so that they can put their money in the bank with peace of mind.
Although there are no taboos for female officials in Haihan, in order to avoid unnecessary troubles, Cai Jinmei did not take the initiative to visit the local dignitaries after arriving in Seoul, but still handed over the social tasks to Mei Baiji.And she herself is sitting in the semicolon, reviewing whether all preparations are in place, and studying the local market research report and work plan written by Mei Baiji.
Cai Jinmei and Mei Baiji are both subordinates and master-students. She took the initiative to recommend Mei Baiji to the executive committee and Schneider. Naturally, she also hoped that the apprentice she brought out could make some achievements in North Korea. , when the time comes, she will also have a bright face.
Cai Jinmei is quite satisfied with the preparatory work of Mei Baiji's organization and command in Seoul, especially this house is located in the most prosperous area of the South Gate of Seoul. The yard with a total of three entrances is quite large, and the foundations of the walls are all made of bluestone. It is very strong and has a pavement facing the street, so it is relatively easy to transform it into a structure required for bank operations.
Mei Baiji spent nearly 3 taels of silver here, including buying a house and renovating it, but in Cai Jinmei's opinion, this is not considered extravagant.Years of work experience made her very clear that the more glamorous and rich the hardware environment of the bank, the more customers can feel at ease to handle various financial businesses here, and only the rich and powerful can attract the real rich.
Of course, the environment alone is far from enough, and this is only part of the bank's operating methods.In order to be able to get off to a good start in Seoul Semicolon, Cai Jinmei has actually done a lot of work in advance, and part of it was handed over to Mei Baiji to complete.
"For the arrangement of the reception work, you must take the people below to go through the process several times, especially those North Korean hired workers. There must be no mistakes. How many people can you invite this time to join us? Are these big shots interested in our business? , it is likely to directly affect our previous operating conditions, and no matter how much effort is spent on preparations, it is not an exaggeration."
While drinking tea, Cai Jinmei told Mei Baiji to pay attention.In fact, she didn't need to emphasize these things again and again, Mei Baiji also understood the importance of it, but she still bowed her head respectfully and listened to her boss's instructions, just like she did in the past few years.
This time the Seoul branch opened, Haihan has already sent invitations to many prominent figures in Seoul through official channels, inviting them to come and watch the ceremony.However, Mei Baiji didn't have an exact estimate for how many people would come.
Most of the invitees accepted the invitation for Hai Han's sake, but they didn't make it clear whether they would show up or not.And this brought a lot of trouble to Mei Baiji's preparations for the reception. He was not even sure how large a reception area would be appropriate to encircle on the adjacent street.And if there are not many guests invited to come and fail to play a role in warming up the scene and attracting attention, then it will be difficult for him as the organizer to do business.
So far, the only North Korean official who has clearly agreed to be present is Jin Shangjiu, who has dealt with Cai Jinmei a few times.But Kim Sang-joo's official position is only the envoy of North Korea in Dinghai Port, Zhoushan. Even in Seoul, he is not considered a prominent figure. As the main guest participating in the ribbon-cutting, his weight is not enough.
Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun, who were originally in Seoul, would definitely come to support them, but if the North Korean government does not have an official of equal status, then the effect of the official endorsement of the bank's reputation will inevitably be lacking.So from Cai Jinmei's point of view, she still hopes to invite officials at the same level as Kim Sang-heon to attend the opening ceremony.If several high-ranking North Korean officials can stand for Haihan Bank, the daily operation and market development after opening will be easier.
(End of this chapter)
As the most prosperous city under the rule of North Korea in this era, Seoul not only served as the political center of the country, but also played the role of an economic and trade center.At least half of the dignitaries in North Korea live in Seoul and nearby areas.After the war between North Korea and the Qing Dynasty, a large number of upper-class people in the northern region fled south to Seoul for refuge, which made this ratio get a new increase.
The direct impact of the influx of a large number of wealthy people into this city is the obvious inflation effect. In addition to the impact on the prices of ordinary living materials, even fixed assets such as real estate have also risen with the tide.Some civilians simply sold their homes to wealthy foreigners at high prices, and moved out of Seoul to settle in places with lower living costs.
For example, the house where Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun stayed was priced at 4000 taels of silver before the war, so no one would be willing to buy it, but if the current owner is willing to sell it for [-] taels of silver, buyers will probably have to line up at the door.Of course, the owner of this house is neither short of real estate nor short of money. He lent the house purely to please the king and win the goodwill of the Haihan people. sell.
However, not all those who have recently snapped up real estate in Seoul are the northern dignitaries who have fled here, and a considerable number of them are businessmen from foreign countries.These people have relatively high requirements for the size, location, and living conditions of the real estate, but they are very generous. As long as they are fancy, they don't care too much about the price. Therefore, the housing prices in Seoul quickly increased.
Of course, the merchants from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area of the Ming Dynasty and Haihan were the main ones, especially the big Haihan merchants who had received the news in advance, and almost all of them managed to purchase real estate in the city for the purpose of opening a business store in the future.
In fact, before that, there were already products from Haihan on the Korean market, but most of them were resold by Ming merchants, and there were only some expensive high-end products that ordinary people could hardly afford.In the future, Haihan merchants will directly enter the North Korean market, and a large number of industrial products will gradually enter the daily life of the Korean people. Seoul will also become one of the main distribution centers for Haihan products in North Korea.
Sungnye Gate in the south of Seoul is the closest city gate to the Han River. Because it is more convenient to transport goods and people from the Han River, this nearby area has become a favorite place for foreign businessmen to settle down.A shop facing the street inside Chongli Gate was originally a cloth shop, but it was sold by a big merchant who was said to be from Haihan some time ago. After more than a month of closed doors for renovation, it is finally going to reopen for business recently.
After the shop was remodeled, it no longer operated in the cloth business, but hung a huge plaque with the words "Haihan Bank" on the front door.For the vast majority of North Koreans, they still don't quite understand what this sign means.Only a few businessmen who have been overseas and well-informed dignitaries know that this institution is not a store in the traditional sense, but a bank and bank engaged in financial services.Different from ordinary financial institutions, this "Haihan Bank" is officially operated by Haihan. It is said that the capital is extremely strong, which is far from comparable to similar non-governmental institutions.
How strong Haihan Bank's funds are, it can be seen from its generous spending of 2 taels of silver to buy this cloth shop in one fell swoop.This price has far exceeded the market price of the store, and it may even seem to be taken advantage of by outsiders, but when Haihan bids, it is not just a simple price issue.
Haihan Bank's establishment of overseas branches is a rather complicated project. The place where it is located is extremely particular, and there are corresponding assessment standards for the location, area, structure, and even the materials used for building houses. , in many places, Haihan Bank will even buy a piece of land and build it by itself because it cannot find a suitable pavement.
In the view of Haihan Bank, it is not easy to find a suitable shop. It is a good deal to spend more money and save precious time.As for the funds invested in the early stage, it is not a large amount compared to the long-term income. Moreover, the Seoul branch is located in the political and economic center of the entire North Korean country, and the number of potential customers is quite considerable.
Although the previous war almost wiped out North Korea's treasury, the wealth of the people has not been greatly affected. A considerable part of the large amount of money brought to Seoul by the dignitaries who fled south from the war zone is in a state of idle funds, and Haihan After the bank’s semi-colon in Seoul opens, it can try to absorb these funds for its own use-the industrial cooperation plan under discussion between Haihan and North Korea needs a lot of funds to promote its implementation. If North Korea’s own private idle funds can be fully utilized, For Haihan, it can also reduce a lot of burden.
Due to the special nature of the banking business, the employees of this institution must undergo professional training and a period of internship before they can work. Therefore, the Seoul branch is basically from Haihan from top to bottom, and only from the local area before opening. The dental shop hired a few smart guys to distribute printed leaflets at the door to attract customers.
Of course, the real big customers will definitely not be brought back from the street temporarily. When the site was still being selected for the semicolon in the early stage, Mei Baiji, who was appointed as the person in charge of the semicolon in Seoul, was already visiting local dignitaries and developing Long time customer.
Mei Baiji came from a Han landlord family in Danzhou. In 1630, Haihan marched into Qiongbei in the name of suppressing bandits, and successfully captured Danzhou City. Ji was sent to Sanya to study abroad.After studying for a period of time, Mei Baiji gradually showed his talent in finance, and was selected and sent to a specialized institution of the Ministry of Finance to receive targeted training.
Mei Baiji was known as a child prodigy when he was in Danzhou, but after he entered the training class of the Ministry of Finance, he realized that there are too many smart people in the world. Some children are younger than him but more intelligent. As for the number of spells, he can only be regarded as an upper-middle talent in it, and he is not a unique existence like in the countryside of Danzhou.So he quickly put away his pride, and honestly learned the knowledge taught by the Haihan people.
After receiving two years of training, Mei Baiji was assigned to work in Haihan Bank. After working as a teller for just over two years, she was favored by Cai Jinmei and promoted to become a private secretary.Maybe it's because of their eyesight, or maybe it's because they both have the word plum in their names. In short, Cai Jinmei has devoted a lot of thought to cultivating this young man.In the following years, Mei Baiji followed Cai Jinmei to travel here and there, but experienced the whole process of several overseas branches of banks from project establishment to implementation to business operation, and learned a lot of real skills.
When Haihan Bank was preparing to establish the North Korean office, Cai Jinmei recommended Mei Baiji to Schneider as the person in charge, and successfully obtained Schneider's approval.So Mei Baiji, who was only 25 years old, was sent to North Korea to be responsible for the establishment of a branch of Haihan Bank in Seoul.
Although it has been five years since he started this business, it is still not easy for Mei Baiji to complete this task alone for the first time.In particular, North Korea is still a relatively unfamiliar country to Haihan. If you want to carry out financial business here, you will inevitably encounter many unknown difficulties.
Fortunately, the special international situation encountered by North Korea created excellent external conditions for Haihan Bank to conduct business. The panic caused by the invasion of the Qing army and the large number of people fleeing south caused the private wealth in North Korea to quickly concentrate in the vicinity of Seoul. So much idle funds, no matter whether they are stored or used, are a great problem for many migrants, and Haihan Bank can just provide them with the most convenient and safe solution, and even generate more income from money. .
The impressive achievements of the Haihan army on the Korean battlefield also greatly improved Haihan's reputation. Coupled with the public opinion propaganda deliberately guided by Haihan, the North Korean people gradually equated Haihan with safety. .Haihan Bank, under the banner of Haihan's official bank, naturally won the trust of some North Koreans, and promised to come to the bank to open an account after opening, and deposit part of the spare money on hand in Haihan Bank.
Before the opening, Meibaiji was busy running up and down for more than a month, meeting hundreds of potential customers, but when it opened, it was still too nervous to sleep at night.This is not because the two military generals Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun arrived in Seoul, but because his old boss Cai Jinmei also rushed over from Zhoushan, Zhejiang.Whether your previous work can be recognized by your superiors probably depends on your results in the first few days after opening.
Cai Jinmei didn’t come here empty-handed this time. Shi Diwen specially sent an expedition-class warship to bring her here. Such a grand treatment is not only because of Cai Jinmei’s prominent position as the president of Haihan Bank, but also Part of the reason is that her trip brought a large amount of funds needed for the operation of the Seoul branch-the operating project of Haihan Bank is not only to absorb savings, but lending is also a very important business.
Considering that Haihan Bank had just arrived, and the gold reserves absorbed from the local area in the early stage might not be sufficient, Cai Jinmei transported a large amount of gold and silver from Zhejiang.In addition to serving as the working capital in the early stage of opening, it is also to show the strength of some big customers who lack confidence in Haihan Bank, so that they can put their money in the bank with peace of mind.
Although there are no taboos for female officials in Haihan, in order to avoid unnecessary troubles, Cai Jinmei did not take the initiative to visit the local dignitaries after arriving in Seoul, but still handed over the social tasks to Mei Baiji.And she herself is sitting in the semicolon, reviewing whether all preparations are in place, and studying the local market research report and work plan written by Mei Baiji.
Cai Jinmei and Mei Baiji are both subordinates and master-students. She took the initiative to recommend Mei Baiji to the executive committee and Schneider. Naturally, she also hoped that the apprentice she brought out could make some achievements in North Korea. , when the time comes, she will also have a bright face.
Cai Jinmei is quite satisfied with the preparatory work of Mei Baiji's organization and command in Seoul, especially this house is located in the most prosperous area of the South Gate of Seoul. The yard with a total of three entrances is quite large, and the foundations of the walls are all made of bluestone. It is very strong and has a pavement facing the street, so it is relatively easy to transform it into a structure required for bank operations.
Mei Baiji spent nearly 3 taels of silver here, including buying a house and renovating it, but in Cai Jinmei's opinion, this is not considered extravagant.Years of work experience made her very clear that the more glamorous and rich the hardware environment of the bank, the more customers can feel at ease to handle various financial businesses here, and only the rich and powerful can attract the real rich.
Of course, the environment alone is far from enough, and this is only part of the bank's operating methods.In order to be able to get off to a good start in Seoul Semicolon, Cai Jinmei has actually done a lot of work in advance, and part of it was handed over to Mei Baiji to complete.
"For the arrangement of the reception work, you must take the people below to go through the process several times, especially those North Korean hired workers. There must be no mistakes. How many people can you invite this time to join us? Are these big shots interested in our business? , it is likely to directly affect our previous operating conditions, and no matter how much effort is spent on preparations, it is not an exaggeration."
While drinking tea, Cai Jinmei told Mei Baiji to pay attention.In fact, she didn't need to emphasize these things again and again, Mei Baiji also understood the importance of it, but she still bowed her head respectfully and listened to her boss's instructions, just like she did in the past few years.
This time the Seoul branch opened, Haihan has already sent invitations to many prominent figures in Seoul through official channels, inviting them to come and watch the ceremony.However, Mei Baiji didn't have an exact estimate for how many people would come.
Most of the invitees accepted the invitation for Hai Han's sake, but they didn't make it clear whether they would show up or not.And this brought a lot of trouble to Mei Baiji's preparations for the reception. He was not even sure how large a reception area would be appropriate to encircle on the adjacent street.And if there are not many guests invited to come and fail to play a role in warming up the scene and attracting attention, then it will be difficult for him as the organizer to do business.
So far, the only North Korean official who has clearly agreed to be present is Jin Shangjiu, who has dealt with Cai Jinmei a few times.But Kim Sang-joo's official position is only the envoy of North Korea in Dinghai Port, Zhoushan. Even in Seoul, he is not considered a prominent figure. As the main guest participating in the ribbon-cutting, his weight is not enough.
Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun, who were originally in Seoul, would definitely come to support them, but if the North Korean government does not have an official of equal status, then the effect of the official endorsement of the bank's reputation will inevitably be lacking.So from Cai Jinmei's point of view, she still hopes to invite officials at the same level as Kim Sang-heon to attend the opening ceremony.If several high-ranking North Korean officials can stand for Haihan Bank, the daily operation and market development after opening will be easier.
(End of this chapter)