Fridolf Gek seemed quite surprised by my statement that I had the money to buy a thousand-ton steamer.
“You can get enough investment to buy a thousand-ton steamer? So Yuli wasn’t just bragging; he was telling the truth?”
“There was a bit of exaggeration mixed in, but there were no outright lies.”
“Even so, do you know how expensive a thousand-ton steamer is? Even at the cheapest, it’s over 100,000 Rubles.”
“That’s the price for a new ship. Secondhand ones are much cheaper.”
“Still, one that’s actually usable will cost over 40,000 Rubles, won’t it?”
“I’m saying I have that kind of money. Besides, a significant amount of cash will come in after we deliver the hay this time. And if we have a steamer, wouldn’t we be able to bring the equipment needed for the shipyard from Shanghai, Hong Kong, or even further out from Europe or the United States?”
“It would be better to just rent a ship for that. Who is the fool that buys a whole ship just for one trip?”
“That’s why I’m asking—if we buy a thousand-ton steamer, do you think the Russian Government won’t grant us the status of a First Guild Merchant?”
To operate as a merchant in the Russian Empire, one must obtain status within the merchant guilds.
The guilds are divided into First Guild, Second Guild, and Third Guild, with status awarded based on the scale of assets and activities.
A First Guild Merchant is an international trader who can conduct overseas trade and must have assets of at least 50,000 Rubles.
A Second Guild Merchant can handle domestic trade and must have assets of over 20,000 Rubles.
The Third Guild is for small-scale merchants who must have at least 8,000 Rubles in assets.
These rules applied to merchants of a certain size; small general store owners in the city didn’t need to join these guilds.
Such merchant guilds had long since vanished in the developed countries of Western Europe, making them yet another symbol of Russia’s pre-modernity.
However, speaking of Primorsky Krai, this was a place that desperately needed civilian help, so the government and the military didn’t make trouble even if one didn’t join a guild.
If these merchants weren’t around, daily life in the area would be paralyzed, which is why Primorsky Krai even tolerated foreign firms like Kunst and Albers.
Looking at the current situation in Primorsky Krai, it went without saying that all sorts of supplies needed by the military had to be brought in from Russia, and even the necessities for the people of Primorsky Krai had to be transported by the Russian Navy.
Therefore, they were practically begging private merchants to procure necessary supplies through foreign trade.
Fridolf Gek was well aware of these circumstances.
“Recently, merchants including Mikhail Shevelev pooled their money, and the government also lent funds to operate a 1,200-ton steamer called the Batrak. You’re aware of that, right?”
Mikhail Grigoryevich Shevelev was a trader active in Vladivostok, and I was acquainted with him through Yuli Briner.
Furthermore, since he was a Sinologist who had studied traditional Classical Chinese Studies in China, we had quite a few conversations.
Although I wasn’t deeply knowledgeable in my past life, I had studied Classical Chinese Studies a little, so we communicated well and were quite close.
The Chinese people here in Primorsky Krai were all impoverished immigrants, so not a single one of them knew anything about Classical Chinese Studies.
Shevelev was delighted to find that I, coming from Joseon, knew a bit about Classical Chinese Studies and welcomed me warmly.
“I know Mikhail Grigoryevich is operating a merchant ship. But I heard it’s been suffering continuous losses. Why on earth is that? Honestly, shouldn’t it be guaranteed to make a profit if it travels all the way to Shanghai?”
“It’s not quite like that. If you sell goods bought in Shanghai here, you’ll certainly make a profit. However, there’s nothing suitable to take from Primorsky Krai to sell in Shanghai. At best, it’s kelp, sea cucumbers, or furs. But the kelp here is lower in quality compared to Japanese kelp, the quantity of sea cucumbers is too small, and fur isn’t a particularly popular item in Shanghai. Moreover, the captain and crew are a bigger problem. Because they borrowed money from the government, they had to appoint a man forced upon them by the government as the captain, and because they were told they must use Russian crewmen, truly incompetent fools are sailing that ship. And typical of Russians, they’re all soaked in booze all day long. They’re going to cause a major accident sooner or later.”
My ears perked up at the mention of Russian sailors causing accidents because they were drunk.
I hadn’t even thought of that, but considering the usual behavior of Russian men, this was a serious problem.
If those Russians were like that on land, there was no reason they wouldn’t be the same way on a ship.
“Then we must never receive financial support from the Russian Government.
We have to do it entirely with our own capital and hire a crew from other countries.”
“If you’re going to buy a steamer, that would be the best way.”
“Then, like the ship we chartered last time, we’ll have to find a captain and crew in India or Hong Kong.”
“Crew from over there will be too expensive.”
“The captain and senior officers might be, but it turns out the general crewmen include Indians and Chinese, so it wasn’t really that expensive.”
“Is that so? But the crew isn’t the only issue. You can’t ignore the cost of coal, and the insurance premiums are no joke. No matter how low you estimate it, it will cost 30,000 Rubles a year, and if you aim a bit higher, it might cost close to 50,000 Rubles. So even if you’re feeling ambitious now, it’s better to be patient and focus on farming here. If you really need a ship, you can just charter one like last time; that would be better.”
The reason I wanted to buy a ship wasn’t necessarily to make a huge profit, but rather to spend my gold under the pretense of earning money.
However, according to Fridolf Gek’s opinion, that seemed impossible for now.
In the end, I had no choice but to visit Kunst and Albers again to order the items I needed, and the Manager, Adolf Dattan, gave me a very “warm” welcome.
“Oho, what brings our competitor here?”
“What do you mean, competitor?”
“Who was it that recently bought a large quantity of tea and sugar and spread it all over Vladivostok? Our tea and sugar at Kunst and Albers haven’t been selling at all since then, and I wonder whose fault that is?”
“Then, if I’m chartering a ship from India, should I just bring it back empty without buying tea and sugar?”
“Why did you go all the way to India anyway? To get into the Opium Trade or something?”
“What do you mean, opium? It was just a factory tour. I heard that they were making factory-produced cotton cloth in India, and I thought if it was possible in India, it would be possible here, too. So I went to take a look. And the tea and sugar I brought were mostly sent to the Amur or Khabarovsk, so it doesn’t have much to do with Adi, who does business in Primorsky Krai anyway. Those wholesalers over there don’t get their tea or sugar from Kunst and Albers anyway.”
“Even so, there was so much stock released on market day that business was dead for nearly a month. But a tour? They let you tour just because you went there?”
“I had letters of introduction from Jardine Matheson and the Sassoon Merchant House. I made some connections there this time.”
“Wait, Jardine Matheson and Sassoon? Those are the two giants selling opium to China. Didn’t you really go there for the Opium Trade?”
“Stop associating everything with opium. Jardine Matheson has actually pulled out of the opium business recently.”
“What? Jardine Matheson quit opium? Is that like hearing a Russian quit drinking?”
“They were completely crushed by the Sassoon Merchant House in terms of price competition to the point where they couldn’t do business. So they’ve completely quit opium and are doing other trades now. Cotton cloth and various Western goods.”
“How can those people from the Sassoon Family sell it so cheaply?”
“Sassoon has many connections in India, so they deal directly with the opium production farms. They sign contracts for the fields before the harvest and even lend farming funds. Plus, Jardine Matheson used to be superior when they transported by Schooner, but now that they’re transporting by steamer, Jardine Matheson can’t keep up. Furthermore, as the telegraph was connected, the existing information networks that Jardine Matheson had became useless. On top of that, they’re starting to plant opium in mainland China now, so they have to compete with those prices as well.”
“I’ve been stuck here in Russia and haven’t heard any of that news at all. But I’m sure you didn’t just buy tea and sugar. What did you buy that required you to charter a whole ship?”
“I bought saltpeter, bricks, cement, and construction materials like marble from India. This wasn’t to compete with Kunst and Albers; it was just because we needed the materials. Even including the cost of chartering the ship, it was almost half as cheap. And I also bought some Brazilian rubber.”
“Well, if you’re buying it for your own use, there’s nothing I can do. But what are you going to use that Brazilian rubber for?”
“I have a place for it, but I can’t tell you in advance. More importantly, are you going to take my order or not? If you won’t take it here, I’ll go back to Shanghai or India to buy it.”
“Viktor is our precious customer; of course I should take your order if you have one. So, what would you like to order, sir?”
I showed him the order list I had prepared in advance, and Adolf Dattan exclaimed when he saw it.
“Oho, you even need a drying room? Are you planning to start a proper lumber mill? Is this another attempt to compete with us?”
“We’re trying to build a shipyard. It seems the Skipper is confident in that area.”
“Aha, then all these machines make sense. Well, if it’s Skipper Gek, he could probably build small boats easily. But do you have that kind of manpower in Sidimi?”
“For now, it’s a way to give Koryo-saram work during the winter, and if we need more people, we’ll have to gather them.”
“And you need more horses? Not just more pack horses this time, but war horses as well?”
“Since the war horses needed by the Russian Army aren’t just pack horses, we should try raising war horses too.”
Adolf Dattan nodded, but he seemed quite surprised by the volume of my order.
“An order of this scale will cost a fortune. Let’s see… it’s over 50,000 Russian Rubles. Besides, you know there’s a currency exchange fee for Russian Rubles, right?”
“There’s no need for an exchange fee. I’ll pay you in British Pounds.”
I paid Adolf Dattan the amount he specified in British Pounds.
“You said you went to Shanghai and India; I guess you really made a lot of money there?”
“Goryeo Ginseng sells for quite a high price in China.”
The words ‘Goryeo Ginseng’ made everything understandable.
In East Asia, the words ‘Goryeo Ginseng’ were like a magic spell.
“You sold Goryeo Ginseng? If you can get it again, hand some over to us. We’ll pay as much as they do in China.”
“Why is Kunst and Albers looking for Goryeo Ginseng? Is someone sick?”
Even if people from the West knew how prestigious the term ‘Goryeo Ginseng’ was in East Asia, they didn’t usually seek it out for themselves to eat.
Even if it had the incredible medicinal effects East Asians claimed, it was far too expensive to just consume.
“It’s not for us to eat, but it makes a great gift for indigenous tribal chiefs, and occasionally there are Westerners who look for it.”
“I don’t think I can get it again, but if I do, I’ll bring some to Adi. But don’t count on it. It’s not an item that’s easy to obtain again.”
Adolf Dattan also knew how difficult it was to obtain Goryeo Ginseng, so he nodded.
“If it were easy to get, it wouldn’t be so expensive. I know that well enough, so there’s no need to push yourself to find it.”
After finishing the order, I finally bought a large Western-style cast-iron pot, woodworking tools, and lead ingots.
When I bought the Brazilian rubber, Yuli Briner thought I was planning to make rubber tires like the ones he had seen on rickshaws in Shanghai.
However, what I intend to make is not rubber tires.
Those require well-made molds, and there are no technicians here capable of making such molds.
What I intend to make are diving suits, fins, and goggles.
As can be seen from the fact that Vladivostok’s Chinese name means ‘Sea Cucumber Bay,’ this region produces many sea cucumbers.
However, as Fridolf Gek had mentioned, the quantity was not enough to become a major trade commodity.
The biggest reason was that the sea here was too cold, making it difficult for people to go in and harvest them.
So I thought of rubber diving suits.
I believed that if I made simple diving suits out of rubber and distributed them to the women, the efficiency of sea cucumber harvesting would definitely increase.
Making rubber diving suits won’t be easy, but I have a plan of my own.