Chapter 3013
Chapter 3013
Chapter 3013
The straight-line distance between Padang Port and Xingdao is less than a thousand miles, but the entire Sumatra Island and the Strait of Malacca lie in the middle. In fact, the two places can only be connected by sea routes that go around half of Sumatra Island, and the distance is quite long.
If starting from Xingdao, one channel is to go through the Strait of Malacca, bypass the northern tip of Sumatra Island, and go south, and the other channel is to go to the southern tip of Sumatra Island, cross the Sunda Strait, and then go north along the coastline to Padang Port.
But no matter which way you choose, the voyage is three or four times as long as the straight-line distance.Even the Navy's clippers, traveling at full speed day and night, would take at least a week to complete the voyage.If it is an ordinary sailboat, it will take at least half a month or more.
Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh, located at the northern tip of Sumatra Island, is also [-] miles away from Padang Port, and there is no continuous road between the two places.In addition, this place is not on the main trade route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, so it is conceivable that the geographical location here is actually quite remote.
For Aceh, this place is really out of reach, which is one of the reasons why Aceh can conquer this place, but it is difficult to achieve a stable rule.
Even though the Minangkabau people built a port a hundred years ago to start trade with the outside world, this place is too remote, and few businessmen from the outside world will take the initiative to engage in trade activities here.It wasn't until the spice resources here were developed that the situation began to improve.
If the area near Padang Port is not suitable for the growth of a variety of spices, neither Aceh nor the Western colonists would have much interest in it.But even so, the level of prosperity here is far less than those ports on the trade lanes.
However, compared with Aceh’s own merchants, or those Western merchant ships surreptitiously moored in the waters near Padang Port, the commodities that can be brought here are extremely limited.However, the arrival of the Xingdao mercenary group opened up a new commodity supply channel intentionally or unintentionally.
However, it is not the traditional maritime merchants who master this special channel, but the mercenary group stationed here.To be precise, it is the senior military officers who have the authority to deploy supplies and ships—of course, the battalion commander Shao Tianhu is among them.
Since the first battalion was stationed in Padang Port, every month, two cargo ships brought in various logistics materials from Xingdao, including food, medicine, tents, weapons and ammunition, and various daily necessities needed by the mercenaries.
Since there is such a "convenient" special channel, of course the officers will not miss the opportunity of smuggling.They jointly contributed funds to purchase a large amount of tobacco, wine, tea, sugar and other commodities in Xingdao, and then shipped them to Padang Port, and then sold them to Minangkabau people.
Before the Haihan people came here, merchants from other countries would also traffic these commodities to Padang Port, but no matter the price or quality, it was difficult to compete with the commodities smuggled by the mercenary group.
After all, what the mercenary regiment provided was authentic good goods obtained in the name of military supplies, and the freight of the goods was directly included in the military expenditure, which was simply unmatched by maritime merchants in terms of cost.
Although the mission of the mercenary group to Padang Port was to fight against the rebel forces of the Minangkabau people, this could not prevent these smuggled goods from flowing into the hands of the Minangkabau people through certain middlemen.
The payment method of the Minangkabau people also has local characteristics. Some people use barter to exchange locally produced spices, livestock, leather and other materials for Haihan products, and some people have learned from the outside world. In the way of trade, they will buy directly with the placer gold they refined and the silver coins paid by Western merchants in the past.
At the beginning, the officers just wanted to make some extra money, but it didn’t take long for them to discover that this is actually a market with huge potential, and the income from engaging in smuggling trade may be more than the garrison remuneration they received from Aceh officials .
There are hundreds of thousands of Minangkabau people living in the entire West Sumatra region, most of whom are natives living in the mountains and forests.They haven't really seen the outside world, and they can't resist the invasion of various Haihan products.Although their consumption level is not high, but the population base is large, the transaction volume is still considerable.
For the mercenary group, there is no shipping cost for this kind of smuggling business, and there is no need to pay taxes to any party, and the entire transaction process is under their own control, which is simply a good thing.
The frequency of military operations of the mercenary group in the Padang Port area is getting lower and lower, which is more or less related to the growing scale of smuggling transactions.
Of course, these small actions must not be hidden from the eyes of the Xingdao authorities. After all, the mercenary group stationed in Padang Port does not need to purchase so many supplies in Xingdao every month.As for how these materials were consumed after they were transported to Padang Port, everyone up and down knew it well.
But as long as the smuggling business of the mercenary group does not involve arms and equipment and other prohibited materials, and don't make the appearance too ugly, the Xingdao Command will keep a blind eye to it.After all, the treatment of the mercenary regiment is quite different from that of the regular army. If they are not allowed to fish for any money, these troops may not be willing to stay in remote areas like Padang Port for a long time.
Of course, the most important reason is that Shao Tianhu did not hide this matter from the Xingdao Command.He even wrote a special secret report to Roger, explaining the situation of the mercenary group's local trade activities, and asking for instructions on whether to introduce more professional business organizations to the local area.
Shao Tianhu's head is very clear, he knows that his troops cannot be stationed in Padang Port all the time, no matter how profitable this smuggling business is, it will be closed sooner or later.But now that he has made a good start, the commercial interests here cannot be taken advantage of by outsiders. It is the wisest choice to hand over the business to the boss.
Such an approach also successfully won Roger's appreciation, and instead of terminating the smuggling business of the mercenary group in Padang Port, it got the acquiescence of Xing Tao again.So during their stay, all the officers who participated in it really made a lot of money.
Although the living conditions in Padang Port are not very good, now that they have a good income guarantee, the officers don't mind staying here for a long time.But I didn't expect that at the end of the year, I suddenly received a transfer order from Xing Tao.
Seeing that everyone was not in a good mood, Shao Tianhu laughed and scolded: "You guys always complain that you can't get decent tasks, you always work for other countries, and you can't get military merits. Now that the military order has arrived, you can see clearly, This is an order directly issued by the Xingdao Command, and it is a top-secret mission, after completing it, you will definitely have military achievements!"
After listening to his explanation, everyone cheered up again.Money is important to them, but if they can get military merit, it will definitely be more beneficial to their future development prospects.Of course, these officers still have the vision to make a name for themselves in the complex mercenary regiment.
What's more, since they joined the army, they have never received a mission of this level, so they are all eager to learn more about the inside story.
(End of this chapter)
The straight-line distance between Padang Port and Xingdao is less than a thousand miles, but the entire Sumatra Island and the Strait of Malacca lie in the middle. In fact, the two places can only be connected by sea routes that go around half of Sumatra Island, and the distance is quite long.
If starting from Xingdao, one channel is to go through the Strait of Malacca, bypass the northern tip of Sumatra Island, and go south, and the other channel is to go to the southern tip of Sumatra Island, cross the Sunda Strait, and then go north along the coastline to Padang Port.
But no matter which way you choose, the voyage is three or four times as long as the straight-line distance.Even the Navy's clippers, traveling at full speed day and night, would take at least a week to complete the voyage.If it is an ordinary sailboat, it will take at least half a month or more.
Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh, located at the northern tip of Sumatra Island, is also [-] miles away from Padang Port, and there is no continuous road between the two places.In addition, this place is not on the main trade route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, so it is conceivable that the geographical location here is actually quite remote.
For Aceh, this place is really out of reach, which is one of the reasons why Aceh can conquer this place, but it is difficult to achieve a stable rule.
Even though the Minangkabau people built a port a hundred years ago to start trade with the outside world, this place is too remote, and few businessmen from the outside world will take the initiative to engage in trade activities here.It wasn't until the spice resources here were developed that the situation began to improve.
If the area near Padang Port is not suitable for the growth of a variety of spices, neither Aceh nor the Western colonists would have much interest in it.But even so, the level of prosperity here is far less than those ports on the trade lanes.
However, compared with Aceh’s own merchants, or those Western merchant ships surreptitiously moored in the waters near Padang Port, the commodities that can be brought here are extremely limited.However, the arrival of the Xingdao mercenary group opened up a new commodity supply channel intentionally or unintentionally.
However, it is not the traditional maritime merchants who master this special channel, but the mercenary group stationed here.To be precise, it is the senior military officers who have the authority to deploy supplies and ships—of course, the battalion commander Shao Tianhu is among them.
Since the first battalion was stationed in Padang Port, every month, two cargo ships brought in various logistics materials from Xingdao, including food, medicine, tents, weapons and ammunition, and various daily necessities needed by the mercenaries.
Since there is such a "convenient" special channel, of course the officers will not miss the opportunity of smuggling.They jointly contributed funds to purchase a large amount of tobacco, wine, tea, sugar and other commodities in Xingdao, and then shipped them to Padang Port, and then sold them to Minangkabau people.
Before the Haihan people came here, merchants from other countries would also traffic these commodities to Padang Port, but no matter the price or quality, it was difficult to compete with the commodities smuggled by the mercenary group.
After all, what the mercenary regiment provided was authentic good goods obtained in the name of military supplies, and the freight of the goods was directly included in the military expenditure, which was simply unmatched by maritime merchants in terms of cost.
Although the mission of the mercenary group to Padang Port was to fight against the rebel forces of the Minangkabau people, this could not prevent these smuggled goods from flowing into the hands of the Minangkabau people through certain middlemen.
The payment method of the Minangkabau people also has local characteristics. Some people use barter to exchange locally produced spices, livestock, leather and other materials for Haihan products, and some people have learned from the outside world. In the way of trade, they will buy directly with the placer gold they refined and the silver coins paid by Western merchants in the past.
At the beginning, the officers just wanted to make some extra money, but it didn’t take long for them to discover that this is actually a market with huge potential, and the income from engaging in smuggling trade may be more than the garrison remuneration they received from Aceh officials .
There are hundreds of thousands of Minangkabau people living in the entire West Sumatra region, most of whom are natives living in the mountains and forests.They haven't really seen the outside world, and they can't resist the invasion of various Haihan products.Although their consumption level is not high, but the population base is large, the transaction volume is still considerable.
For the mercenary group, there is no shipping cost for this kind of smuggling business, and there is no need to pay taxes to any party, and the entire transaction process is under their own control, which is simply a good thing.
The frequency of military operations of the mercenary group in the Padang Port area is getting lower and lower, which is more or less related to the growing scale of smuggling transactions.
Of course, these small actions must not be hidden from the eyes of the Xingdao authorities. After all, the mercenary group stationed in Padang Port does not need to purchase so many supplies in Xingdao every month.As for how these materials were consumed after they were transported to Padang Port, everyone up and down knew it well.
But as long as the smuggling business of the mercenary group does not involve arms and equipment and other prohibited materials, and don't make the appearance too ugly, the Xingdao Command will keep a blind eye to it.After all, the treatment of the mercenary regiment is quite different from that of the regular army. If they are not allowed to fish for any money, these troops may not be willing to stay in remote areas like Padang Port for a long time.
Of course, the most important reason is that Shao Tianhu did not hide this matter from the Xingdao Command.He even wrote a special secret report to Roger, explaining the situation of the mercenary group's local trade activities, and asking for instructions on whether to introduce more professional business organizations to the local area.
Shao Tianhu's head is very clear, he knows that his troops cannot be stationed in Padang Port all the time, no matter how profitable this smuggling business is, it will be closed sooner or later.But now that he has made a good start, the commercial interests here cannot be taken advantage of by outsiders. It is the wisest choice to hand over the business to the boss.
Such an approach also successfully won Roger's appreciation, and instead of terminating the smuggling business of the mercenary group in Padang Port, it got the acquiescence of Xing Tao again.So during their stay, all the officers who participated in it really made a lot of money.
Although the living conditions in Padang Port are not very good, now that they have a good income guarantee, the officers don't mind staying here for a long time.But I didn't expect that at the end of the year, I suddenly received a transfer order from Xing Tao.
Seeing that everyone was not in a good mood, Shao Tianhu laughed and scolded: "You guys always complain that you can't get decent tasks, you always work for other countries, and you can't get military merits. Now that the military order has arrived, you can see clearly, This is an order directly issued by the Xingdao Command, and it is a top-secret mission, after completing it, you will definitely have military achievements!"
After listening to his explanation, everyone cheered up again.Money is important to them, but if they can get military merit, it will definitely be more beneficial to their future development prospects.Of course, these officers still have the vision to make a name for themselves in the complex mercenary regiment.
What's more, since they joined the army, they have never received a mission of this level, so they are all eager to learn more about the inside story.
(End of this chapter)