New Shun 1730

Let’s put it this way, using steam engines to raise brine is the limit of the “progress” of the Shaanxi Salt Merchants Group.

They won’t go even half a step further.

Because it’s meaningless.

Spend a lot of money to invest in metallurgical industry research, research oil wire ropes to replace bamboo ropes for making brine?

Unless the board of directors is crazy.

Spend a lot of money to invest in steam drilling technology?

Let alone steam drilling, even nuclear-powered drilling, can it sell one more pound of salt?

If not, what is the point of spending this money?

Theoretically, if transportation and sales are not separated, the Shaanxi Capital Group can choose to “produce and sell by itself”, completely control the entire industrial chain of salt from production to transportation, sales, offline silver and money exchange, and cooperate with the salt merchants’ pawnshops for usury, which can also allow them to temporarily not buy land but use their capital for this.

But that’s nonsense, Liu Yu will not allow it, and the court will definitely not allow it.

The so-called degeneration and reaction are actually very easy to understand.

Take the example of Sichuan salt in history. Before the steam age, they could build brine pipelines and natural gas pipelines dozens of miles long, and drill mechanical wells 1,000 meters deep. With strong capital and sufficient profits, they created a large industrial and commercial area with a population of 300,000 or 400,000.

Then what?

Then all the unregulated capital flowed to land, usury, and pawnshops.

Is it because there was too much control that it did not develop?

Or is it because the court was incompetent and could not control capital, land mergers, and financial lending, which led to the capital's profit-seeking nature spontaneously flowing to the place with the highest profit rate?

How to control it is a big problem.

It is a bigger problem than supporting a new consortium.

Otherwise, wait for something big to happen.

Before supporting them, we must consider how to control them and how to guide their capital to "places that should promote the development of productivity" instead of "places with high profits".

The logical core of capital is profit, not productivity.

Sometimes, the direction of profit and productivity is consistent, such as the British Clearbank Spinning Mill, which is a combination of high profit and productivity progress, which is higher than the profit of buying a plantation in the Caribbean Islands.

Sometimes, the direction of profit and productivity is inconsistent, such as opening a similar factory in Dashun. With that money, it is better to buy land, hoard land, and lend money at high interest rates.

In theory, it is indeed fine to leave it alone: ​​capital will go to buy land and lend money, and one day the profit of buying land will be lower than that of investing in factories, and the interest of lending will drop. Look, the interest rate in the UK has dropped from 12% to about 4%, right?

But it's like Hume's ironic idea for free trade: buy Chinese goods as much as possible, so that China's per capita silver deposits are consistent with those in Europe, so that British goods will be competitive.

Things that are not wrong in theory cannot be implemented in reality. Hume's deliberately ironic idea, the result is that when that day comes, there will be no concept of British goods.

The same logic applies to the land issue in Dashun. This requires first eliminating all the self-cultivating farmers in Dashun, and every landowner is a big landlord and big capital, and regressing to slavery or feudal serfdom.

In this way, land will not be sold easily. Slaves and serfs need no pawn loans, so won’t the loan interest rate naturally drop?

Then the profit return of buying land will be reduced, and then capital will spontaneously flow to industry.

But the biggest problem is that the nearly 300 million people in Dashun do not want to die, nor do they want to be slaves and serfs.

In the reality of the Sichuan Salt Capital Group, the output problem will reach its limit in three to five years at most.

More is meaningless because it cannot be sold.

Then, after three to five years, the progressiveness of these Sichuan salt producers will be completely gone - they have completed their stage mission, popularized steam engines in southern Sichuan salt wells, and promoted the development of the southern Sichuan coal mining industry.

But because they have made contributions to stage progress, they will be allowed to become reactionary and degenerate in the future to lend money and buy land?

This leads to the issue of capital leaving Sichuan.

Sichuan is right there.

To the north is Shaanxi, to the west are the snow-capped mountains, to the south is Guizhou... Where to go?

Naturally, the two lakes in the east.

The first problem for capital to leave Sichuan is the transportation problem.

Dashun certainly does not have the ability to build the Three Gorges.

But it is more than enough to blow up the reefs in the Three Gorges and build a tow road from Yibin to Chongqing.

The key is, who will pay for it?

The court is to transport copper, lead, and zinc, and it cannot do without repairing the transportation in Guizhou and northern Yunnan, so the court pays.

Will the court pay for the money to break the tow road from Yibin to Chongqing?

This is icing on the cake for the court, but it is not necessary.

The court can use the same money to build ships, repair the Pearl River Estuary, and regulate the Haihe River, but it will not be used for the waterway out of Sichuan, which is enough for the court but not enough for capital development.

After Liu Yu destroyed the capital in Lianghuai, he left a destination for those capitals. Nanyang, reclamation in northern Jiangsu, and overseas trade are all destinations.

After Liu Yu fostered Sichuan Salt Capital, he also had to find a destination for this capital that would be saturated and degenerate in three to five years at most.

He couldn't solve the land problem.

He couldn't solve the usury problem, which was essentially a land problem.

But he could guide the capital, at least to make it bifurcate, so that it wouldn't all go to land and usury.

Even if one-fifth of it was invested in the direction of promoting productivity, it would be a good result.

So, what is the best investment direction for Sichuan capital?

After looking around, there are only two places.

Go to Guizhou to open a mine.

Then, the Jianghan Plain.

There is cotton in the Jianghan Plain, and the cotton yield is not low.

There is a coal mine, right in Huangshi on the Yangtze River.

There are iron mines and copper mines.

There is limestone suitable for the development of heavy industries such as cement, and it is right on the Yangtze River.

Only by strengthening the economic ties between the Jianghan region and Sichuan first can the Sichuan salt capital that has been supported not only stay in Sichuan to hoard land, lend money, and pawn.

Instead, it will gradually extend its sights down the Yangtze River.

Finally, cooperate with the capital of Songjiang Prefecture to jointly complete the industrial start-up along the Yangtze River.

Songjiang and other places will use Hubei's iron, Hubei's coal, and Hubei's lime and cement in the future.

Through this guidance, the salt, the gold-gathering beast, will absorb the silver from Hubei to Sichuan and then spit it back to Hubei.

Otherwise, if it is all stuck in Sichuan, it will be a repetition of the original story. All of them will switch to buying land and lending. Sichuan, which used to be a must for giving birth to a daughter, has become a trend of drowning infants in just a few decades.

Of course, the investment process is slow, but the first step is to strengthen the connection between Sichuan and the two lakes, so that Sichuan people are no longer afraid of the danger of the Three Gorges.

In simple terms, it is to let Shaanxi people who make money in Sichuan not focus on Sichuan and Shaanxi, but on Hubei and Hunan.

Create a sense that Hubei is actually closer to Sichuan than Shaanxi.

However, it is useless to tell these Shaanxi businessmen these truths.

You tell them that hoarding land, buying land, and collecting rent are reactionary and cannot promote the development of productivity. You should invest in industry and commerce. And the first step of investing in industry and commerce is to open up transportation out of Sichuan.

To say this directly is no different from farting.

It’s not about whether you understand it or not, but even if you understand it, even if they can write a paper on this point of view tomorrow, they should hoard land and lend money.

So Liu Yu talked about another truth, which has nothing to do with this, just like fooling the emperor: speaking to people in a human way and speaking to ghosts in a ghost way.

After breaking the defense of the Shaanxi merchants and humiliating their incompetence, Liu Yu asked with his power: "Let me put it this way, if you make money, what will you do?"

"You will definitely buy land in your hometown of Shaanxi and Sichuan and collect rent. Open a pawnshop and lend money at high interest?"

"You won't even invest a sum of money to build roads or rivers. Because you think that now it's official transportation and business sales, you are only responsible for production, why should you build rivers?"

"You may build bridges and do charity in your hometown, but you will never invest a penny in places where you can't make money."

"Let me make it clearer."

"In order to transport copper and lead, the court repaired the transportation lines in Guizhou, southern Sichuan, and northern Yunnan. What does this mean? It not only means that Sichuan's salt can be bought, but also that Sichuan's rice and grain can be sold there."

"It means that buying land and collecting rent in Sichuan is very profitable. Am I right?"

This is also true.

The Shaanxi merchants lowered their heads and dared not look directly.

Liu Yu struck while the iron was hot and said, "There is one more thing, which is to gather forces to revitalize Sichuan salt. It was my idea. So, in the future, you buy land, hoard land, and lend money, which makes Sichuan small farmers ruined. What should I do in the court at that time?"

"The court is not using troops in the southwest for the time being, and you have no chance to work for the court. In addition, you have a monopoly, and someone will be jealous. Will they use this as an excuse to attack me?"

"This is not about exchange or something like that, but to say that you have to do something to let the court give you the monopoly, and give it legitimately, right?"

"Again, this kind of business where whoever the court wants to support will rise, Some people will be jealous. Since everyone is useless and whoever the court supports stands up, then you have to give the court an explanation that "you are different from those useless people", right? "

"Why should I give you that? At least you have to give me a way out, right?"

After making it so clear, Liu Yu continued: "Another thing, now I ask you to do something, you think it is a fair deal with the court."

"Wait until you really do it in the future, and then you pay, and you will think that the court is withholding you and is greedy and insatiable."

"The story of changing one's mind and changing one's mind has been told for two thousand years, and it is still the same now. Don't look at what you say now The Lianghuai merchants are wrong to complain, because you were driven away from Lianghuai, and you are asked to sit there, but you still complain. "

"Some things are different if you do them before or after the fact."

"If you are really given the monopoly, you will have to collect taxes in a regular manner, and there will be no more rewards. You can't open a loophole."

"Before you are given the monopoly, you do something, which is called contributing to the country, and then the court rewards you with the monopoly."

"Do you understand the difference?"

The Shaanxi merchants were very happy and said, "We are willing to contribute to the country, but the court is not fighting in the southwest now, and we have the power to do so. It is difficult to send them."

"In addition, the weather in Shu has been good in recent years, and there has been no major disaster. There is no need to assist the court in providing relief."

Liu Yu laughed and said directly: "From Kuidong to Jianghan, there are dangerous shoals everywhere, and many ships carrying copper and lead from the court have sunk; and there is little cotton in Shu, but there is a lot of cloth in Jianghan, which makes it difficult for ships to pass upstream, and cloth is expensive in Shu."

"Furthermore, if there is a famine, it will be inconvenient to use Shu's grain to help Chu."

"I think, why don't you take this opportunity to fund the repair of the tow road from Kuidong to Jianghan?"

"I will inform the court of your good deeds, and the court will praise you and allow you to monopolize the salt in southern Sichuan to save the high land rent."

"The court is repairing the Huai River. If the Huai River flows into the sea and the Three Gorges are unobstructed, it can be auspicious and prosperous. I offer it to Your Majesty."

"Moreover, you account for 60%, and Sichuan merchants account for 35%. You have contributed to the country and the court has given you the opportunity to monopolize. Sichuan merchants have also benefited. Wouldn't they be grateful and think that you are generous and give them 35%. The old grudges between Sichuan and Shaanxi merchants can be resolved with a smile, and they can work together in the future."

"In this way, the country is safe and the people are happy, Shu and Chu benefit, His Majesty appreciates, and the authorization is famous. Isn't it beautiful?"