New Shun 1730

At the reception banquet in the evening, Liu Yu naturally took the main seat.

All the businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who invested more than a thousand taels of stock came here. In addition to them, there were also people who missed the last train and now regretted it.

There were dozens of tables sitting in a dark place, but it was quite quiet.

Everyone knew that Liu Yu's visit this time was definitely not as simple as sending money. There must be other things.

At the beginning of the banquet, several maritime business leaders with large stockholdings toasted Liu Yu a glass of wine on behalf of the rest of the party.

"Uncle Ying Suo has brought us wealth this time, and has squeezed out those Fujian guys and Zhangzhou gangs in the Japanese country. We can't thank you enough!"

Liu Yu held the wine and said with a smile: "That's wrong. I didn't squeeze those people away. It was actually the Japanese shogunate who only gave so many trade tokens. If I took more, others would take less. All I can say is, I just have some skills in the Japanese country. But if the Japanese country opens up the trade letter, it will depend on who has more capital, more stable supply of goods, and more ships among the Jiangzhe Gang, Fuzhou Gang, and Zhangzhou Gang."

"Besides, the so-called brothers fight against each other outside the wall to resist their humiliation. The Zhangzhou Gang and the Fuzhou Gang are still citizens of the Celestial Dynasty, and they are also our own people. If Japan opens trade in the future, I think it will be good for you and me, and good for everyone. ”

This short sentence shocked everyone in the audience.

The people present were all human beings, and they could vaguely hear something different from these words.

What if the Japanese country liberalized trade?

Is this a casual comment? Or does Ying Suobo have some means?

How did Liu Yu get so many trade letters in Japan? No one knew, and no one asked. Even if I ask, I can't find out.

Coupled with Liu Yu's official status, many people felt that there was something in his words.

If the Japanese country really liberalizes trade... Let's not talk about anything else, but the bills in my hand have now increased to 1.81 shares, then it will have to more than double.

Even if the Zhangzhou Gang and Fuzhou Gang are still powerful and the locals still have money, after all, Liu Yu has taken away too many trade letters in recent years, and many Fujian maritime merchants have been seriously damaged.

In addition, in the past few years, trading companies have been relying on the method of transporting rice and goods to engage in smuggling in Japan. It can be said that they are familiar with it from top to bottom. The trade network has been spread, and it will be very difficult for others to compete in the future.

They know very well what Japan's liberalization of trade means.

Before Shiraishi Arai restricted the Nagasaki trade, even if Japan had a national lockdown, it was still possible to make huge profits through loopholes and smuggling, and they even considered smuggling through Shimonoseki to the Seto Inland Sea.

The biggest difference from the British, Dutch and other colonists was that they did not have a company with an army. When the Japanese fired artillery at Xiaguan to bombard smuggling ships, no one fired a gun to force Japan to found a country.

Although Arai Shiraishi died, the government was still in power, and the policy of restricting trade still remained.

This is a complete set of policies, including limited trade, the credit card system, copper is not allowed to be exchanged for raw silk with gold and silver, porcelain and silk are prohibited from entering Hong Kong, and some figurines that are not easy to sell and have low profits must be forced to be carried, etc.

Several people who have done trade in Nagasaki before are well aware of this change.

At this time, Liu Yu mentioned this matter at the wine table. Of course, these people hoped that Liu Yu meant something, but they couldn't ask directly.

After a long while, the brave one said: "What Ying Suobo said makes sense. When Arai Shiraishi didn't do this, there was no conflict between our Jiangsu and Zhejiang gangs and the Fuzhou and Zhangzhou gangs. Every year when collecting copper, We all work together to lower the price.”

"Japanese merchants all sell their copper to us at a loss. But they can sell our raw silk at the price of the copper. If we delay for one month, they will have to charge one more month of interest and turnover. Then Times were really easy.”

"Even if policies restricting trade were introduced later, we not only cooperated with the Fuzhou Gang and Zhangzhou Gang, but also cooperated with the Dutch to smuggle raw silk."

"It's just that Arai Shiraishi did something like this later. There are more wolves and less meat, so why don't we fight? We can't defeat the Japanese, so we have to fight ourselves first. In Nagasaki, we and the Fuzhou Gang and Zhangzhou Gang, but There’s no shortage of conflict.”

Liu Yuxin said, what is involution? This is a living example of external war alliance turning into internal competition.

After the businessman finished speaking, Liu Yu asked with a smile: "I have invested in a lot of shares, but I was born late. It seems that when I went to Yongning Temple, Arai Shiraishi died. It's a pity that I didn't catch up with him back then. Good times. From what you say, business was better back then than it is now?”

As soon as he said this, the originally quiet hall suddenly became chaotic.

Many people have worked as maritime merchants and have experienced those good days, although they have not caught up with the better days before the country was locked down.

But compared to now, those days are enough to be missed.

"Uncle Ying Suo doesn't know something. Life was more than easy at that time?"

"At that time, there was not much copper in Yunnan, and the price of copper was extremely high. The copper in Japan was also cheap. Every time I came back, even if I was unlucky, my profit would double."

In recent years, due to copper mining in Yunnan, increased copper prices in Japan, and Japanese official controls that have transferred pricing power from Chinese maritime traders to Japanese businessmen, profits have been much lower than before.

In addition to copper, there are other things.

In the past, raw silk was not available for porcelain, but shipping two shiploads of porcelain to Japan was equally profitable. But now in Nagasaki, as long as porcelain is found, the ship will be seized and not allowed to enter the port. No one dares to take risks now.

Silk, cotton... which one is not profitable?

Moreover, the most important thing is that there were no mandatory barter regulations at that time, and gold and silver could be used for large-scale transactions. Trading in bulk gold and silver is very different from the current exchange of copper and figurines.

The old people miss the good old days, and the young people listen to the complaints of the old people, and all their chat boxes are open.

Some people also ridiculed them, saying that they were just like a piece of sand and a worm outside. But in fact, thirty years ago, this was not the case at all. The Jiangsu-Zhejiang Gang, the Fuzhou Gang, and the Zhangzhou Gang could cooperate. When Arai Shiraishi started smuggling before the New Deal, three families tried to go to Ogura together, but were kicked back, which led to internal fighting.

Seeing that the emotions in the hall were aroused, Liu Yu stood up, coughed lightly, and asked everyone to quiet down.

"I was young and didn't know that such a thing existed back then. I was thinking, if one day Japan switches to allow trade and the imperial court gives us the privilege of trading with Japan, I would like to ask everyone how much money they are willing to pay per year to buy this Monopoly?"

These maritime merchants have all heard of monopoly power. The Western merchants trading here are basically from the East India Company. They have never eaten pork, but they have seen pigs running away, so they naturally understand what monopoly power means.

Liu Yu added: "That's what I'm saying. But, you think, if you give me a monopoly, you have to spend money to buy it, right? How much do you think you can give?"

That's all he said, but Liu Yu had an official status after all. Since he said this in front of so many people, it's okay to say it as nonsense, but it's okay to have something to say.

Several former sea merchants murmured for a while and asked: "If Ying Suobo wants to say this, then what should we look at? For example, will the Japanese country completely liberalize trade? Will it be the same as before? Or will it even include porcelain, silk and the like? All can be sold, not limited to gold and silver?”

Liu Yu smiled and said: "It's just nonsense anyway, let's just treat it as a dream. There is everything in the dream. Just treat it as a switch of the Japanese country, trade at will, gold and silver are not allowed, porcelain and silk are not allowed. Of course, tariffs still have to be paid, just pay them according to the value. Take three out of a hundred and count.”

Tariffs and everything else are just small amounts of money. Not to mention taking three out of a hundred, even if it is doubled, as long as the conditions mentioned above can be met, it will be a big profit.

That means that cotton, silk, porcelain, and porcelain can be shipped to Japan. It also means that grain, rice, ironware, etc. can also be transported, as well as Japanese sulfur, etc....

Even the oldest people have never experienced such a good thing.

The good days they experienced were just trade with Japan before Arai Shiraishi's reforms, so that was already considered a good day.

If you can really do what Liu Yu said... pay the money to the court? Of course, they have to hand it over. Everyone knows that it is safer to have the court standing behind them, and why would the court hand over such a good thing to them for no reason?

"If this is really possible, five hundred thousand taels this year should be enough."

"I think eight hundred thousand should be fine."

It is difficult to imagine accurately what one has not experienced, and one has to take into account Dutch trade. These people have not only been to the East, but also to the South. They know that the Dutch have strong ships and powerful guns, and they know the gap between the navies of various countries and the Dutch. Naturally, they dare not imagine trade with Japan without the Netherlands, and it is difficult to imagine it. Out of Japan completely switched.

The monopoly right of 800,000 taels per year is basically close to Liu Yu's bottom line. For the imperial court, 800,000 taels a year was a considerable amount of income, and the total customs tax revenue was not much.

The key point is that Japan's handicraft industry level and poor resources make it impossible for these people to become compradors even if they have monopoly rights.

There was nothing to sell back, except precious metals, sulfur, rice, etc. Liu Yu couldn't think of anything in Japan that could have an impact on Dashun's handicraft industry.

At this time, everyone didn't understand why Liu Yu said this. Of course, they didn't know that Liu Yu's confidence lay in the 1.2 million taels of naval construction fees allocated by the national treasury every year, which allowed him to straighten his back a little and no longer needed to be extreme. Be careful to prevent Japan from noticing.

Everyone was arguing at this time. Liu Yu naturally believed that the businessmen were not far behind, and the businessmen in Dashun were no worse than European businessmen.

After all, there are countless legends about "treacherous Chinese businessmen" circulating in Mongolia and Southeast Asia, and some of them can even become part of the call for national tragedy and false enemies to shape the national community.

He never thought about occupying Japan. It was different from controlling Mongolia. He only regarded Japan as a primitive accumulation and dumping ground for the first pot of gold.

Once this step has been taken, if you are willing to awaken the nation, then awaken, if you are willing to work hard, then work hard, but it will definitely be too late, and it will be of no use.

All the negative problems brought about by monopoly power are long-term. This is an effective choice under the trade-off of not pursuing a long-term plan and requiring support from the court.

"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment. I will treat this matter as a dream. But today's incident also reminded me of one thing. If our trading company wants to develop in the future, we must set all the rules. . In the past, thanks to everyone's trust, many things were decided by me, but there is a saying that if you pay a penny, you will have a share; if you have a share, you can say a word... Of course, if I take on the responsibility in the future, I will also Each one shall bear his own burden.”

"Brothers, let's settle the accounts. Today I will help you make a fortune. You open your mouth like a hawk and shut up, Mr. Liu. You are so close. If I make a wrong decision in the future and lose a lot of money, then you can't curse me? I think , we have to select a few people to speak out."

“In business, there are gains and losses, and you have to accept the loss if you are willing to gamble. If the person elected to be in charge really makes a mistake, it is also elected by everyone. I also want to get out of it as soon as possible to avoid trouble in the future.”