Chapter 4008
Chapter 4008
Chapter 4008
If the intelligence gathered by the spies is accurate, and Arif's true passion is indeed alcohol, then catering to his tastes will be relatively easy.
Haihan's brewing industry is extremely developed. In addition to a wide variety of traditional grain wines from different regions, the fruit wines made from sugarcane, represented by "Sanya Special Brew" in the south, have become one of the flagship products exported overseas in recent years.
Haihan's brewing technology was far superior to that of its contemporaries in terms of fermentation, distillation, and blending. The state-run distillery had almost achieved quasi-industrialized production, and the standardized operation resulted in very stable quality, which was difficult for ordinary brewing workshops to achieve. This meant that there were basically no equally strong competitors in the market.
Meanwhile, European colonies in the Caribbean were also producing sugarcane liquor, the prototype of later rum and the inspiration for "Sanya Special Brew". However, after Wang Tom went to North America, he managed to buy some locally and found that its quality was far inferior to Sanya Special Brew, and the production capacity was even more different, making it difficult to even meet local demand. Therefore, Haihan did not need to worry about Europeans competing with them in this field.
The most famous drink in the Ottoman Empire was called raq, made from grapes or dates, with anise added during the process to enhance male virility. It was said that men who drank it would become as virile as lions. This drink was extremely strong, and water had to be added to reduce the alcohol content before drinking. The color of the drink would then change from transparent to milky white, hence the name "Lion's Milk".
It is said that there was another reason for giving it this name: because the religious doctrines of some people in the Ottoman Empire did not encourage drinking alcohol, so they gave raq a nickname, calling it "drinking milk" instead of "drinking alcohol," so they could enjoy it without feeling guilty.
Of course, true connoisseurs of fine wine don't have so many reservations. People in the Arabian Peninsula and Persia, who share the same religion, also produce their own wines.
Qian Tiandun and Gao Qiaonan had tried this local specialty drink when they last came to Basra, but even though they had traveled around and seen a lot, they still found this foreign drink hard to swallow. It had an extremely strong anise flavor, as if they were drinking freshly made braising broth. They really couldn't understand why the locals would like to drink this.
Qian Tiandun's assessment at the time was blunt: "The Ottomans have never tasted truly good wine!"
Takahashi Minami also believes that this wine's taste is far inferior to the white wines produced in the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. He thinks that as long as they import the fine wines from China, they shouldn't have to worry about selling them here.
However, at that time, Fubo Port had not yet been built, and supplies were extremely scarce. There were not many goods available for sale in the Ottoman Empire, and alcohol was not among them. The small amount of alcohol shipped from China to the Persian Gulf was mostly consumed internally by the special operations division.
However, now that the sea route to Fubo Port is open, more and more goods are arriving in the Persian Gulf. The sugarcane plantations in Hambantota and Phuket are also in the harvest season. In a few months, the supply of alcoholic beverages will be able to reduce its dependence on the domestic market to some extent, and there will even be surplus capacity for export. If we can seize this opportunity to promote our products to Arif, it would be a win-win situation.
When Qian Tiandun led his delegation on this trip to Basra, the ship was loaded with a considerable amount of fine wine. However, due to religious reasons, this stuff couldn't be openly given away or sold, and Qian Tiandun had no intention of unloading it until a suitable distributor was found. Now, however, learning about Arif's hobby has brought a turning point to the matter.
Qian Tiandun quickly made a decision: "Send two of the gift boxes we prepared to the Governor's Mansion. If the rumors are true, Arif will definitely open the bottle and taste it as soon as he receives it. If he is not interested after drinking it, then we don't need to think about selling wine here."
Takahashi Minami laughed and said, "Selling wine to connoisseurs is such an easy job." Without further ado, Takahashi Minami immediately gave orders to have gift boxes prepared and sent to the Governor's Mansion.
This gift box was made by the Sanya Special Brewery in Hainan Island, specifically for showcasing products and expanding into overseas markets. Despite its name, it's actually a rather large sandalwood box containing one bottle each of eight different flavors of Sanya Special Brewery liquor, four exquisitely crafted carved glass cups, and related text descriptions.
The bottles of wine in the gift box were of course carefully selected vintages, whose quality was praised even by high-ranking officials of the Executive Committee. They were usually given as gifts to people of high status in the country. Previously, the King of Kandy on the island of Ceylon and the retired Emperor Abdullah of the Kingdom of Shihu had both received this gift.
Arif's status was barely enough to qualify, but as for Basra Governor Galler, he was probably a little short. Fortunately, Qian Tiandun wouldn't mind giving away an extra favor.
The governor's office reacted much faster than they had expected. Early the next morning, someone from the governor's office came to them, saying that Lord Arif was very satisfied with the gift presented by Qian Tiandun, and that the two sides could arrange the next meeting as soon as possible.
"Looks like he really did open the bottle and taste it as soon as he got it." Qian Tiandun dismissed the governor's envoy and commented with a smile, "All that talk we put in was less useful than sending a few bottles of good wine. If we had known this would happen, we should have invited Arif over for a drink."
Takahashi Minami said, "Then when we go to the Governor's Mansion again, should we bring some souvenirs?"
Qian Tiandun said, "As long as Arif can do things for us, sending him some wine is nothing, we'd even send him a whole tub to soak in!"
This was, of course, just a joke, but the shipping capacity of Fubo Port was more than enough to supply Arif with his drinks. Putting Suez aside for now, if Arif could really secure the distribution channels for Haihan liquor in the Ottoman Empire, then even sending him several thousand kilograms of liquor every year would be incredibly worthwhile.
When the two met again, the atmosphere was indeed much more amicable than the first time. Arif showed great interest in the Sanya special brew that Qian Tiandun had presented him with, and took the initiative to inquire about the brewing process and sales of this wine.
This suited Qian Tiandun's intentions perfectly; he naturally wanted to take this opportunity to promote his family's specialty products. If he could secure a deal first and give Arif a taste of success, the subsequent negotiations regarding Suez should be a little easier.
Qian Tiandun proposed that Arif recommend an Ottoman trading company to act as the sole distributor of Sanya Special Brew in the Ottoman Empire, with Haihan directly supplying goods to this company and not participating in sales activities in the Ottoman Empire.
This was tantamount to handing over all the channel profits to the Ottoman Empire, or more accurately, to the main distributor. As for how much of these profits would end up in Arif's pocket, Qian Tiandun didn't intend to inquire.
The more you sell, the more you earn—it's a simple principle. As for whether this Haihan wine could open up a market in the Ottoman Empire and achieve considerable sales, Arif, as an expert who has tasted countless wines, would naturally have a general idea.