I demanded that the secret regarding my wealth be kept, and Elias Sassoon agreed.
“I will never speak of this to anyone else, so you may rest easy.”
+ Interest
A Grand Merchant of his stature does not speak carelessly.
At the very least, this matter would not become a rumor elsewhere.
Afterward, I converted all the promissory notes Lee Geom-min had issued into deposits at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, then headed to Jardine Matheson where Yuli Briner was waiting.
Yuli Briner did not ask what I had discussed with Lee Geom-min.
It seemed he felt there was no reason to interfere, as it was clear that I was a more capable merchant than he was, no matter how one looked at it.
Furthermore, Yuli Briner, as well as Fridolf Gek and my Godfather Mikhail Yankovsky who remained in Russia, all suspected that I was hiding a significant amount of wealth, and they had some inkling that I had liquidated it this time.
However, they likely did not suspect the fact that it was 880kg of gold.
Yuli Briner walked away with 7,500 Chinese Silver Taels as his share from this single transaction.
Now, there was no problem for him to rise again as a merchant.
The shares for the other Joseon and Russian participants were also 7,500 Chinese Silver Taels each, which amounted to approximately 15,000 Russian Rubles. They would likely be truly satisfied with this investment as well.
Yuli spoke.
“If we can make this much profit every time, becoming a millionaire will happen in the blink of an eye.”
“But this profit was only possible because we had Ginseng this time. It would be difficult to expect such returns again.”
Though the profit was massive, Yuli did not suggest going back to Joseon to obtain Ginseng.
Yuli Briner knew well that while one might get away with it once, repeating the same action would surely bring danger.
“For now, we should buy tea and salt to take back to Russia.
However, since salt is too expensive in China, we should buy it somewhere else.”
“Once we get to India, we might see something else worth buying.”
After converting the promissory notes Archie had issued into Pound deposits at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, we boarded a ship bound for Hong Kong that Elias Sassoon had prepared for us.
We did not find any goods particularly worth purchasing in Hong Kong, but we learned that the shipping market there was incredibly active.
“We could actually get a ship here. It’s much more diverse and the prices are better than the Shanghai ship market.”
“What are you going to do with a ship?”
“Wouldn’t it be much better for business if we had a steam cargo ship?”
“Steamships are quite expensive even if they’re used. Do you have that kind of money?”
I replied with a smirk.
“I have my own money, and I also have the investment promised by Ah Rin’s daughter, Lee Geom-min.”
It was true that Lee Geom-min had promised an investment.
Of course, she hadn’t said she would invest enough to buy a steamship, but she seemed quite interested in the trade between Shanghai and Vladivostok.
“That woman promised an investment?”
“Wouldn’t a boy who earned 30,000 Chinese Silver Taels in a single transaction be a fairly reliable investment target?”
Yuli nodded at those words.
Currently, the Russian Far East is suffering from an extreme shortage of merchant vessels.
It would be ideal if private operators could supply the necessary materials to the Russian Far East, but the only proper private operator right now is the German-owned Kunst and Albers, and all other operators lack the capital to be in a position to purchase merchant ships.
Inevitably, the Russian Navy is directly operating merchant ships to supply some materials, but there was no way things would run properly when the military handled such operations.
If purchasing a steamship were possible, the Russian Far East Government would welcome it, and it was certain to yield great profits.
“It’s true that we could make a huge profit if only we could buy a ship, but it’s no easy task.
We would need to find a reliable crew and a captain immediately.”
“Couldn’t the Skipper take the role of captain?”
“The Skipper is good with sailing vessels like a Schooner, but a steamship might not be his specialty. I’ve seen him handle a large 800-ton ship if it’s a Schooner, but I’m not sure about a steamship.”
Indeed, the two types of ships were quite different.
In this era, there are many wooden ships.
There are sailing vessels like Schooners, and there are cases where steam engines are attached to Schooners for use in windless areas.
These are still active all over the world because they are cheap and have low maintenance costs.
However, after experiencing the winter seas of Vladivostok last winter, I was not at all fond of wooden ships.
The same applied to wooden ships with steam engines attached.
I simply did not feel safe on a wooden ship in those harsh winter seas of Vladivostok.
“We have plenty of time until we visit Bombay, so let’s think about it slowly.”
With that, we left Hong Kong and headed for Singapore, only to face an embarrassment upon arrival.
“Pardon? You’re saying there are no Rubber Plantations in this region?”
The broker I called for a real estate transaction shook his head and repeated that something called a Rubber Plantation did not exist in this area.
“I know what rubber is, but isn’t that a specialty of Brazil? I don’t know why you’re looking for a Rubber Plantation here.”
I had thought that Rubber Plantations would exist in the Malay Peninsula region in this era and asked the real estate broker to purchase one, but I never expected to hear that such a thing did not exist.
Originally, an Englishman had stolen rubber tree seeds that only existed in Brazil in 1876 and tried to grow seedlings in the United Kingdom.
After that, Rubber Plantations were established in this region, meaning I had mistaken the year quite significantly.
However, if there were no Rubber Plantations, I could simply build one.
they were already growing seedlings in the United Kingdom after stealing the seeds, I could buy the seedlings, and if they wouldn’t sell the seedlings, I could just steal either the seeds or the seedlings from Brazil myself.
Is there anything in this world that is impossible with money?
If so, what I needed to do now was to buy a site suitable for creating a Rubber Plantation.
When I said I was looking for land good for making a Rubber Plantation, the broker brightened up and said,
“That kind of land is scattered all over here in British Malaya.”
Even though the broker was white and I was just a young boy of East Asian descent, the broker consistently used respectful language.
Having lived in this region for a long time, he had the intuition to sense that I was a person of great wealth.
The fact that I was of East Asian race but was wearing completely Western-style clothing instead of traditional attire made it clear that I was the child of a very progressive individual, and since I was fluent in English, he was certain I was the son of a Chinese Grand Merchant.
The broker knew well how wealthy a Chinese Grand Merchant must be to teach his child English.
Was I not even traveling with a somewhat dull-looking white man as an attendant?
“If we head out just a little bit from here, we can see the land immediately.
It doesn’t even take two hours by carriage. Would you like to take a look?”
I looked at Yuli, and Yuli nodded.
We took a carriage with the broker and headed toward a place suitable for a plantation site.
While traveling in the carriage, Yuli Briner asked,
“Even if you learned German from Adolf Dattan and me last time, when on earth did you learn English?”
“There was someone at Kunst and Albers who knew English, so I learned a little. The rest I learned from books.”
Yuli could only shake his head in disbelief.
“Ha, this really makes a man surprised.”
Currently, Singapore was the capital of British Malaya, but it was still a very small city.
Of course, even if it was small, the population exceeded 100,000.
It just meant it was not yet the great metropolis befitting its future status.
Even if it was an important axis for British management of the East, its current status was merely that of an intermediate city one passed through to get to Hong Kong or Shanghai; it had not yet gained the image of a trade hub connecting East Asia and West Asia.
Because of this, land for plantations was available in abundance just by stepping slightly outside the center of Singapore.
The place the broker took us to was one such area, but the journey took about three hours because the roads were rough even for a carriage.
In this era and region, a plantation site simply meant a jungle, and a sigh escaped me as I looked at the jungle and realized that all those trees would have to be cut down to turn this into a Rubber Plantation.
Seeing my sigh, the broker spoke hurriedly.
“Well, you can cultivate the jungle by setting fire to it during the dry season. It’s a method used by the slash-and-burn farmers in this region. First, you set a fire to remove the trees and all the insects and animals living there, and then you clear away what’s left. The remaining ash serves as fertilizer.”
“Can we gather laborers?”
“To be honest, the native Malays living here are not very suitable for this kind of work, so we mainly recruit and hire Chinese people as laborers.”
I said while looking at the map the broker presented.
“The recruitment of laborers and the cultivation can begin after I return. For now, what is the price? I want to purchase all the way to the coastline here.”
The broker said, startled by the area I was pointing to.
“If you do that, it’s nearly 60,000 acres. The area south of this river—roughly 35,000 acres—is quite expensive even though it’s jungle, because it’s so close to Singapore. You’ll have to pay 1 shilling per acre. As for this northern land, if you purchase all of the lower land, it might be possible to grant it for free.”
Hearing that, Yuli Briner shouted. Yuli was not very good at English, but simple communication was possible.
“One shilling per acre for this kind of jungle? Why is this damn piece of crap land where even the natives don’t live so expensive? Shouldn’t land like this naturally be granted for free?”
“If you go just a little further north, there is certainly plenty of land available for free grants, but this is incredibly close to Singapore, isn’t it? So you must pay at least that much for the deal to be struck. If you go just a little south from here, the land is already reserved for city expansion, and the government won’t even sell it.”
I stopped the angry Yuli and said,
“So I can purchase it all for 1,750 pounds?”
“Since I must receive a commission as well, if you pay 1,800 pounds, I will surely make these 60,000 acres yours, Master.”
I nodded and agreed, and the broker, satisfied with the large transaction, withdrew to prepare the contract.
Once the broker had withdrawn, Yuli asked with an expression of disbelief.
“Why are you paying such big money for this crap land? 1,800 pounds is over 15,000 Russian Rubles. You’re dumping half the money you earned in Shanghai into this.”
Out of the money earned in Shanghai, my share was 15,000 Chinese Silver Taels, which was slightly over 30,000 Russian Rubles.
It was no exaggeration to say I was dumping half the money earned from selling Ginseng in Shanghai.
“If it’s not now, the opportunity to purchase this kind of land won’t come again. Within just 20 years, this entire area will be completely covered by Rubber Plantations. At that time, it will be truly difficult for me to buy land like this.”
Because Yuli Briner deeply trusted my economic insight, he did not particularly argue against it.
“Alright. Since there’s probably no one in the world as talented as you when it comes to making money, I’ll think of it that way.”
So Yuli Briner was also convinced, but there was a slight problem in drawing up the contract.
It was the fact that my nationality was not clear.
My nationality was Joseon, but since I had fled from Joseon to Russia, I could not claim Joseon nationality.
In the first place, since Joseon was not open to any foreign countries other than Japan, a Joseon nationality itself wasn’t very helpful.
On the other hand, it wasn’t as if I held Russian nationality either.
Russia was still reluctant to issue citizenship to immigrants from Joseon or China.
When living in the Russian Primorsky Krai, everyone just lived as immigrants since there was nothing they couldn’t do, but once you went abroad, this issue of nationality became quite sensitive.
Then, if someone were to ask how I was traveling through Asia without being able to get a passport or visa, travel itself was possible because these things were not strictly required in this era.
Passports were not required for tourism or commercial travel even within Europe, let alone in places like the Concessions in Asia or places like India.
However, this applied to advanced Western countries; countries like Russia or Turkey strictly required such things. Fortunately, I had immigration certificates for Russia.
In places like Shanghai or Hong Kong, just like in the United Kingdom, such things weren’t necessary, so as long as you had money, you could travel as much as you wanted without such certificates.
In exchange, going into inland China was impossible without a permit from the Chinese government, and they didn’t issue them easily even if requested.
Regardless, because of this nationality issue, the contract for the land purchase was only resolved after lawyers and notaries became involved in a rather complicated manner.
—