New Shun 1730

It is a good thing that officials are afraid of getting involved and afraid of death. At the very least, it proves that the court still has the power to intimidate and control the local area.

However, Liu Yu still didn't believe Lin Yunwen's words. Such a big temptation is in front of us. Japan's special trade policy under the national lock-up can risk hanging for 300% of the profits. What's more, the inducement of a trade letter?

"Do you really not know? Or do you say you know but don't dare to say it? Are you afraid of being retaliated against?"

"Sir, I really don't know."

Lin Yunwen lowered his head and did not dare to look at Liu Yu. He thought to himself that of course he knew. It was all a matter of the circle. Is there such a thing as an airtight wall in the world?

But the so-called Qin Hui still has three or five good friends. Lin Yunwen has several friends in his business circle, and there is a consensus within the circle that it is best not to involve the government.

Once the government is involved, it is very likely that everyone's jobs will be ruined.

The imperial policy has always been one-size-fits-all.

Even if the policy from above is not one-size-fits-all, when the governors and governors below implement it, they will choose one-size-fits-all policy out of laziness and unwillingness to take responsibility.

The above probably means strict inspection of prohibited items. When we get down there, it may become no longer allowed to go to sea, so there won’t be any contraband smuggling, right?

By then, although the smuggling of contraband will no longer be a problem, normal trade will probably stop.

Lin Yunwen said it with awe-inspiring righteousness. Even if he had read a book, he would never do such a thing. But in fact, he failed to do it, or in other words, he didn't have the ability to do it.

He has no ability, but there are people who have the ability to find ways to bypass inspections and transport some prohibited items to Japan.

If anyone can get through, everyone in the circle will give them a thumbs up, praise him for his ability, and be full of envy. They just regret that they are not very capable and can't secretly get it out.

But no one in the circle would point their nose at him and call him a traitor.

Of course Liu Yu didn't believe Lin Yunwen's words. In fact, he was not very clear about the situation in Japan, but there were some truths that were common to all people.

As for Japan's current trade policy, it is obvious that power is rent-seeking. As long as power is rent-seeking, from Ningbo to London, it is actually the same.

So he asked: "Then the Japanese country trades like this, and the amount of trade letters issued is limited. Although there are regulations... But they say they are not afraid of the county magistrate, but are afraid of the current administration. I think if you want to get the trade letters, you have to give money as a bribe, right?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, you are aware of this. You have to give money as a bribe. This bribe also has to have connections and find people in the scene. Let's have a drink first. The broker in the scene also clearly marked the price and took one-eighth of the bribe. It was called a passing hand. It's worth a thousand taels of silver for a letter card."

Liu Yu laughed when he heard this and said, "Then if we get war horses, military books, etc., then we don't need bribes?"

Lin Yunwen thought that Liu Yu was deceiving him again, but for a while he couldn't tell how much Liu Yu knew, and he was afraid that Liu Yu would see through his pretense of ignorance and think he was cheating, so he made up his mind: naturally he would say what he should say, as long as he If I don't say anything specific, it won't be a big deal.

Otherwise, if you take responsibility for others, you will get yourself into trouble. What's the point?

"That's what your Excellency said. Not only are there no bribes, but the Japanese are rewarded with silver and an extra letter card."

"Um……"

I verified my inference that this kind of officialdom matter is similar all over the world.

If Dashun here also closes itself off and issues trade licenses, whoever is responsible for issuing them will be as rich as the enemy. This is obvious. The same principle applies to all approvals.

If there is a requirement from above that something must be obtained, naturally they will not ask for a bribe, but will offer a reward or even pay for it themselves.

As long as we get what we want from above, won't we still have the job of being in charge of trade letters in the future?

A long stream of water flows slowly, how can anyone in the officialdom not understand this principle?

After thinking for a while, he asked: "What kind of goods do you usually sell? How much profit? Let's talk about bulk."

Speaking of this, Lin Yunwen knew all the treasures.

"My lord, if you talk about things that are large and profitable, one is mercury. You can buy it in Ningbo for 40 taels per load, and you can sell it for 120 liang per load in Nagasaki. Although the Dutch also trade, it is difficult to get mercury. That’s why all the mercury is in the hands of our merchants.”

"Mercury? Yeah. Okay."

The biggest use of mercury is probably to refine precious metals such as silver and gold.

With mercury selling so well, it seems that Japan's silver mines are still early to be exhausted, and the potential of Japan's precious metals is still huge. Otherwise, this mercury would not sell so well.

Lin Yunwen didn't know what Liu Yu meant, so he just thought that Liu Yu wanted to ask for some information. Thinking that if he didn't say these things, others would tell them, and it wouldn't hurt others, so he said a few more things.

"Besides mercury, there are...well, the banned zinc rods and iron rods. Zinc rods are unique to our country, and the Dutch compete with us for iron rods. They are also twice as profitable, but ordinary people can't get them. The Japanese have not been at war in recent years. If the wars were going on again, the iron rod would be more useful. "

"One and a half taels of white sugar can be sold for more than four taels per load in Nagasaki. It is mainly sugar from Taiwan. There were uprisings in Taiwan a few years ago, so this sugar is much more expensive. Raw silk is also twice as profitable."

Liu Yu roughly knows these bulk goods, and when it comes to mercury, it is actually enough.

Raw silk, white sugar, iron bars, etc. are all well-known goods in short supply in trade with Japan, but what he is paying attention to is something else.

He interrupted Lin Yunwen and asked, "Where's the porcelain?"

Speaking of porcelain, Lin Yunwen looked a little ugly, shook his head and said: "Porcelain cannot be sold."

"The villain's family has shipped a batch of porcelain before, but after arriving in Nagasaki, the Japanese issued an order not to allow foreign porcelain and pottery to enter the port in the future. I had no choice but to ship it back."

"The Japanese also make porcelain now. The Dutch also buy more porcelain from the Japanese. In the past, when there was war in the south of the Yangtze River, it was difficult for Westerners to buy porcelain from our country, so the Japanese took the opportunity to make porcelain and developed rapidly. Although the quality is not as good as that of Jiangxi porcelain, it is better than that of Jiangxi porcelain. It’s cheap. Nowadays, some people buy porcelain in Japan and sell it back, or resell it to the Dutch.”

After hearing this, Liu Yu pinched his teeth, tapped the back of his hand and said: "What the hell, you said such a good trade, why did the Japanese get a share of the pie? Since the Dutch are also allowed to trade, what is their relationship with you?"

"Sir... I have an exclusive letter plate for merchants in the court, and the Dutch have an exclusive letter plate for the Dutch. Ordinarily, the two will not affect each other. We also have agreements privately. For example, the copper shipped back from Japan cannot be sent to Batavia. Give it away. But if you don’t do anything beneficial, others will do it. The brave will be starved to death and the timid will be starved to death.”

"The agreement was finalized, but there were still people transporting copper to Batavia. The Dutch merchant house sold it at a higher price, so they sold it to local smugglers at a price that was three cents higher than the Dutch merchant house. The Dutch said we wouldn't If you keep your promise, there will be many conflicts in your daily life.”

Speaking of the Dutch, Lin Yunwen's face became ugly.

He doesn't understand the general trend, but he knows that the big business of Pao Hai is getting harder and harder to do now.

The previous dynasty was fine.

Under seclusion, the Dutch were not allowed to trade, so they not only invited merchants to Batavia, but also gave them extra rewards.

Now that the trade war has been opened, the Dutch also have business offices in Guangdong. The Dutch are much more tempered and tough-minded than before.

People's joys and sorrows are not the same.

Those big traders who were sitting on the ground and selling goods on the shore were all making a lot of money.

As for those who traveled to sea and exchanged their lives for money, they were not as good as the Dutch in terms of navigation, and they were not as good as the Dutch in terms of South Sea routes.

The Dutch bought goods directly from the merchant houses, and their attitude toward Chinese maritime merchants changed drastically. There were restrictions everywhere, making it impossible to do big business.

I heard from the elders that during the previous dynasty, a ship of raw silk and porcelain was shipped to Batavia. The Dutch wanted to provide for them like their ancestors did. After receiving the goods, they also treated them to meals and gave gifts. Please be sure to come back next time.

Now, it is said that if you go to Batavia, you can't even enter the port. If you are stuck for ten or eight days, if there is a typhoon, you will die.

Dutch ships loaded goods directly in Guangdong, and Chinese maritime merchants also loaded goods in Guangdong.

The Dutch can push the whole of Europe to restrict the Netherlands when it comes to freight costs. Chinese maritime merchants really can't compete with freight costs at all.

If we really engage in free trade, who would dare to compare freight costs with sea coachmen?

The East India Company itself still wanted to make money, and even a little operation at the port would result in huge losses.

The market share of Western Europe is only that big. Ships of porcelain and raw silk cannot be sold to the Southeast Asian natives. They can't afford it, and they can't use so much.

In terms of trade with Japan, maritime merchants like Lin Yunwen suffered a lot.

It turns out that if the Dutch want to sell raw silk to Japan, they need to go through the hands of Fujian merchants, and the price is a bit higher.

Ningbo merchants set sail directly to Japan. The price of raw silk was still lower than that of the Dutch, so the Dutch could not compete with the Ningbo merchants.

Now that the merchant shop is open, the raw silk that the Dutch get and the raw silk that Ningbo people get are the same price.

When they arrived in Japan, the original price advantage of Ningbo merchants was gone, and the Dutch took away a huge share.

The Netherlands was a monopoly of the East India Company. As long as there was a monopoly, there would be people who survived outside the monopoly. Of course there were private traders in Batavia.

Some maritime merchants secretly transported Japanese copper and Chinese silk to Batavia. They only wanted to let the Dutch East India Company eat meat, drink some soup themselves, and trade privately with those Dutch private traders to give them a lower price.

As a result, the Dutch East India Company caught them and took the opportunity to accuse Chinese merchants of breaking their promises, and took advantage of the situation to increase restrictions on Chinese merchants traveling to Southeast Asia.

There was no agreement with the outside world. The merchants who traveled to Southeast Asia and the maritime merchants who traveled to East Asia started fighting among themselves.

The Nanyang Maritime Merchant accused the Dongyang Maritime Merchant of violating the agreement with the Dutch, causing the Dutch to now have a chokehold on the Nanyang Maritime Merchant.

The Oriental Maritime Merchant called the Nanyang Maritime Merchant a waste, saying that there was no need to accuse the Nanyang Maritime Merchant. He couldn't compete with the Dutch's freight costs, but he thought it was the Oriental Maritime Merchant who was responsible. Isn't that just the Dutch looking for an excuse?

After listening to Lin Yunwen's complaint, Liu Yu couldn't help laughing and said: "Who gives Nanyang maritime merchants the confidence to compare shipping costs with the Dutch? If they can compete, then the sun has risen from the west. The small country of the Netherlands depends on it. It’s just that freight costs rule the roost for a while, so it’s just like paying tuition.”

How can there be true free trade in this world?

It was a good thing that Dashun was treating everyone equally. The big businessmen and landowners on the shore made money, but these maritime merchants suffered.

When the gap is not big, you can still catch up with each other, stimulate competition and make progress together.

If the gap is too big, it won't be a case of chasing each other, but a one-sided massacre.

It’s actually easy to get the best of both worlds.

Increase export tariffs for foreign businessmen.

Dashun does not have the worries of Western European mercantilism that only focuses on export rather than advancement. Money... isn't that all delivered to your doorstep on your own initiative?

Western Europe should reduce export taxes and increase import taxes; Dashun should reduce or even exempt import taxes, impose heavier export taxes on direct purchases by Westerners, and light taxes on domestic maritime merchants.

Liu Yu thought about what Dashun could import now, such as Vietnamese Siamese rice, arms, and mechanical products... It seemed that there were no more. These should be tax-free items. How much money is this compared to what is sold? If European cloth wants to defeat Songjiang cloth, it may not be enough even if they are given another fifty years.

The freight cost of truly free competition cannot be compared, so they treat each other differently and impose tariffs.

At that time, the Dutch will definitely return to the attitude of the Ming Dynasty: they must first treat the Nanyang merchants to a meal and give gifts to them when they go to Batavia.

The switch has been turned on for a few years, making the Dutch forget their own limitations, and now they are shaking like this.

They really regarded East Asia as a paradise for free trade, and forgot how they got into Europe and were being manipulated by others. It is time to cry that free trade and high seas navigation should be international law.

The Dutch themselves are also schizophrenic. They established the East India Company, which had an absolute monopoly, but they shouted free trade... Then you should dismantle the East India Company, which had soldiers, cannons, and organizations, and go for free trade.

Liu Yu felt that the Dutch had to wake up and realize that the world is not so beautiful. Real free trade only exists in dreams. Besides, if I want to make money in Japan, but the trade volume is robbed by the Dutch, is that okay? If I don't take advantage of the official standard to make some money, wouldn't it be a waste of my position as such a high official?