Tianjin is China's second largest commercial city, second only to Beijing, Beijing and the first commercial city in China. Similarly, like Shanghai, Tianjin also has concessions from various countries. In the most prosperous financial district of Tianjin, dozens of banks of various countries are also opened. Among them, nearly ten of them are headquartered in China, and are known as Tianjin in the south as Shanghai and North. 1 (1) Moreover, the geographical location of Tianjin is also very prominent. Tianjin is located at the estuary of the north, with convenient railway transportation and prosperous canal transportation. Large ships can directly enter Haikou to Sanchahekou, and transfer to North Beijing or go directly to Jiangnan. Although the prosperous canal transportation in the late Qing Dynasty has gradually declined, the shipping industry in Tianjin is still developed. Therefore, China Merchants Group occupies an important position in the Tianjin branch, which is also the main reason why Fang Zida came here specially.

After a day off, Fang Zida and his party went to the Investment Merchants Agency with Li Xinkai for a walk, and then went to the dock. When he arrived at the dock, he gradually looked at it all the way, and finally understood what Li Xinkai said to him yesterday.

China Merchants’ business in Tianjin is mainly ship business. The routes are divided into internal branches and near oceans. The internal branch refers to the route from Tianjin to Beijing or to transfer ships to the south of the canal. In addition, it is the route from Li Xinkai to several small ports in the northeast region mentioned. As for near oceans, it is several routes to Japan. Due to the channel restrictions of the inner branch canal, the business of the inner branch line is far less than that of the near ocean lines. Therefore, the transportation route of Tianjin China Merchants is still on the near ocean lines, which is actually on the Japanese route.

But there is a problem with this. China Merchants Group, which takes Japan's route, has been suppressed by Japanese commercial areas, and its ship size, facilities and transportation capacity are far inferior to several Japanese shipping companies. Over the years, the near-economic business of Tianjin China Merchants Group has become increasingly difficult to do, and the transportation of internal branch lines is limited to innate conditions. After a while, China Merchants Group's shipping business in Tianjin has become increasingly depressed, and it can only be said to be barely maintained.

At the dock, at first glance, there are large ships from various countries, including Japanese freighters and passenger ships. Look at the two ships of China Merchants Parking on the other side. The hulls are old, short and backward. Most of the guests up and down are ordinary people carrying cages and boxes, which are far inferior to the well-dressed and handsome passengers of large ships from Japan and other countries.

"How many years have this ship been?" Fang Zida asked with a frown.

"It's been nearly twenty-five years. I just joined the Investment and Merchants Agency and worked on this boat shortly after I joined the investment and promotion. (1_1)" Li Xinkai sighed at the old ship that was loading and dropping passengers.

Shaking his head, Fang Zida no longer had the chance to take a look at it. Just looking at the rusty hull of the cruising team and these refugee-like passengers, he could guess what it would look like on the ship. How could this 1,000-ton passenger ship with old steam engines be compared with the new large ships of various countries? In addition to the Japanese business community's suppression and competition on the China Merchants routes, Fang Zida certainly understood that the business would not be much better.

"Are you still a few big ships? Why didn't you see them?"

"Yes, there are several special large ships. However, they are all cargo ships. Although there are also cabins, the cabins are limited, and they only take off passenger ships during special times. Now these ships are loading in Nagasaki, and it is estimated that they will have to wait a week before they can return to port."

Nodding, Fang Zida expressed his understanding. He roughly knew the basic situation, and as for the word "bad" mentioned by Li Xinkai, he was also deeply impressed.

Compared with Shanghai * Hai, it is indeed much more difficult for Tianjin. Although Shanghai * Hai is also competed by ship companies from various countries. However, Shanghai * Hai, as the estuary of the Yangtze River, has a better geographical location. China Merchants Group is not competitive in the near-ocean and long-ocean lines. However, it can make up for the Yangtze River route, but the increase and decrease of the other is generally quite careless. However, the Tianjin side is different. The transportation capacity of the canal is far from that of the broad Yangtze River. It only relies on the operation of seaships, lacks advantages and is suppressed by Japanese peers, and cannot fight at all.

In fact, when he went to Shanghai, Fang Zida made adjustments to the work of China Merchants and invested funds in the name of the central bank to increase China Merchants' shipping power. But he did not expect that the difficulties in Tianjin would become more serious, and it would be completely impossible to change in a short period of time. Moreover, the war in Europe has broken out now, and the possibility of buying a ship directly from abroad is very slim. The only option is Japan.

But will the Japanese sell ships to China? Of course, this answer is no. Therefore, Fang Zida can only rely on his own manufacturing bureau to solve this problem. Although after the restructuring of the ordnance factory, the shipyard of the Manufacturing Bureau has also begun reforms. According to the news from Shang*hai some time ago, the restructuring of several factories in the Manufacturing Bureau, including the shipyard, went smoothly, but shipbuilding is not a matter of one or two days. Where can I place an order today and a ship can be built tomorrow.

Back at the office of the China Merchants Bureau, Fang Zida invited the main person in charge of Tianjin to hold a meeting to discuss. At the meeting, he first said that he had a general understanding of the situation and hoped that everyone could speak freely about the development of the Tianjin China Merchants Bureau and how to solve the difficulties they are facing now.

Everyone looked at each other, and there was no sound for a while. However, after calming for a while, the manager Li Xinkai spoke first.

"Chairman, the situation in Tianjin now cannot be changed in a short time. If you want to start shipping, add new ships and replace old ships. For example, because our ship is too old and slow, many people who are not able to take it at all, and can only rely on ordinary passenger flow to support it. You also know that the quality of the cabin determines the level of the cabin, and also determines the fare and the profit. Take several Japanese passenger ships for example. The ticket price of a third-class cabin is about ten times more than that of our general ticket, but in this way, the supply is still in short supply. Some customers would rather wait for the next shift than take our boat."

"Yes, this is the case. Not only that, our ships are often troubled after arriving in Japan. When we reach ports, loading ships, etc., we must give priority to other companies' ships. This will not only affect passengers of passenger ships, but also greatly inconvenient for loading and unloading of cargo ships, causing us to lose many customers." After Li Xinkai, Zhang Ze, who was in charge of shipping, frowned and sighed with a bitter sutra.

Fang Zida took the small notebook and remembered it carefully, nodding slightly while listening. Seeing Fang Zida's simple attitude, everyone present was inspired and began to tell them one by one.

The meeting started the whole afternoon and did not end until evening.

"Ruiyuan, what do you think about the situation of Tianjin Investment and Merchants?" When Fang Zida returned to the hotel, he summoned Jiang Zhiqing, asked him to sit down first and then asked.

Today, Jiang Zhiqing accompanied Fang Zida to the China Merchants and the Wharf as a follower. He also participated in the meeting, just as a routine. When Jiang Zhiqing was invited, Fang Zida wanted to ask him about his views and opinions on the China Merchants Company, and on the other hand, he also wanted to touch Jiang Zhiqing's real abilities.

"President, Zhiqing knows nothing about shipping, so there is no need to say that?" Jiang Zhiqing sat upright and replied immediately.

Fang Zida smiled and said, "Of course I know Ruiyuan doesn't understand shipping. To put it bluntly, I don't know much about shipping. It doesn't matter, just talk casually about it as an outsider. It doesn't matter if you say it right or wrong."

After hesitating, Jiang Zhiqing said: "I won't talk about other things, just talk about the ships of China Merchants. Zhiqing has traveled back and forth between China and Japan many times. Every time he boards foreign passenger ships, most of these passenger ships are Japanese. It's not that we don't know that our own China Merchants also takes Japanese routes, but China Merchants' ship conditions are really bad. Not to mention the slow speed, the smell in the cabin is really unbearable. What's even more inconvenient is that after arriving in Japan, the customs checks the customers of China Merchants and releases them, which is not as convenient as foreign and Japanese ships. In order to avoid trouble, we usually spend more money to change to foreign ships unless there is no way..."

Fang Zida nodded. These were similar to what Li Xinkai and the others said, but Jiang Zhiqing looked at the problem from the perspective of a passenger.

"What do you think will be done?"

Jiang Zhiqing smiled bitterly and said, "If you want to talk big, you will change to a new ship. You don't have to be as luxurious as a foreign cruise ship at least you can get through it. But as for the customs, there is nothing you can do. After all, it is someone else's territory. If they deliberately make things difficult for us, it will be useless if we negotiate."

Jiang Zhiqing's words are honest. The country is weak and the powers are making things difficult for them. This cannot be changed in a day or two. So what if they change to a new ship? Could it be that the other party will sell you the account? Fang Zida thought quietly and fell into deep thought for a moment.

After staying in Tianjin for a few days, Fang Zida not only went to China Merchants Group, but also moved around several institutions under China Merchants Group. He was also thinking about the difficulties faced by China Merchants Group. On the last day when he was about to leave Tianjin, he specially recruited everyone and made his decision.

"Chairman, is this... this suitable?" Li Xinkai was shocked and asked in shock.

"This is not a discussion with you, this is my decision!" Fang Zida made a decisive move.

"This..." Several people in charge of Tianjin exchanged their opinions. Li Xinkai said on behalf of them: "Chairman, according to the company's regulations, if such a decision is to be made, the board of directors must be formally informed. I wonder...?"

"Yes!" Fang Zida nodded. After all, China Merchants Group is now a joint-stock company, and everything must be done with rules. He immediately agreed: "I will go to the Shanghai *hai headquarters to hold a board meeting to formally propose this matter, but please prepare first. Once the document is formed, you must follow it!"

"I understand... I understand..." Li Xinkai wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly to agree, but muttered in his heart: "Don't the suspension of all Japanese routes meant to throw all business to the Japanese? How could the chairman look at Jingming and made this decision? This is simply outrageous!" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!