New Shun 1730

Soon after returning from Huai'an to Suzhou where the Jiedushi Yamen was located, Tan Zhen went to Songjiang again.

This year is the first time to transport rice by sea, and it was his suggestion. This time, he needs to come forward to show his attention.

When they arrived at Songjiang, the fleet led by Chen Qinghai also arrived at Songjiang. After a show of force against Western merchants, Chen Qinghai took Liu Yu's gift and visited Jiangsu Jiedushi Tan Zhen.

Tan Zhen is from Xiangyang and Chen Qinghai is from Gyeonggi, but their origins and identities are still very close.

They are both from good families, the only reason is that Chen Qinghai was not admitted to the Wude Palace, while Tan Zhen was admitted to the Wude Palace.

There is always a layer of separation between people with formal imperial examination backgrounds, and people with similar backgrounds are naturally close to each other. This is also a feature of the Dashun officialdom system. There is a natural gap between those who came from Wude Palace and those who came from imperial examinations.

Chen Qinghai presented the gifts sent by Liu Yu, which were all exquisite Western toys, as well as some glass windows and glass screens that were once expensive but are no longer new to the local market. The most expensive one was a bottle with French pocket watch with crystal lens.

"Master Jiedushi, I have been ordered by Ying Suobo to greet you. I am Chen Qinghai. I am sent by Ying Suobo to escort the Caomi fleet."

Although both of them came from good families, after all, Chen Qinghai followed a "crooked path" and his behavior and conversation were far different from those in the officialdom.

When he was in school on Liugong Island, he squatted on the island all day long. He had difficulty getting on the boat, but he only had the chance to get off the boat a few times a year.

When he speaks, he has a very stiff temperament in official circles.

Fortunately, Tan Zhen has also dealt with people from Weihai in the past few years. Knowing that people from Weihai have this attitude, it is not surprising.

For Liu Yu's sake, he asked Chen Qinghai to sit down and asked, "Does Uncle Ying Suo have anything else to offer?"

"Returning to your lord, Ying Suobo said that this time you don't have to worry at all. The people from the grain transportation company have prepared several percent more grain. Even if there is any loss, not even a grain of rice will be missing and transported to Tianjin."

"Moreover, many people have walked through Heishuiyang countless times, not to mention selling beans to Liaodong in the past. This time our navy led the way and escorted it, and all kinds of navigation equipment were available. In addition, lighthouses have been built in Liugong Island and other places. No problem. Just don’t worry, sir.”

"Ying Suo Boyan, although we have never met, we can be considered close friends. This time, we will transport rice to Beijing via black water. It is not only my business, but also his business. No matter what, we must look good."

After repeating Liu Yu's instructions, Tan Zhen didn't quite understand how the companies and insurance companies newly established in Songjiang in the past two years worked, and he didn't bother to understand. Since he could trust the things Liu Yu created, or trust Liu Yu's ability to make things out of thin air, he didn't care at all.

As long as taxes are paid on time and no trouble is caused, why not? Moreover, the Songjiang side is more complicated than Huai'an with its river governor. There is also a Western customs house, stamp duty silver, etc. that belong to the emperor's family. Tan Zhen also knows the depth here, and it is not like stretching his hand too long here.

Considering Liu Yu's relationship in the capital, it would be impossible to say that Xungui doesn't have shares in these new industries. It’s hard to say whether there are even shares of the emperor.

"Since Uncle Ying Suo has prepared everything, I can rest assured. After all, the sea is not as good as the canal. If you want to really abolish the canal and transform it into the sea, you must not only be fast, but also stable, and you must save money. To sum up, it is It is fast, stable and economical. If you can do these three things, you will be able to straighten your back when it comes to court discussions.”

Chen Qinghai and Liu Yu had been together for a long time and had little impression of the attitude of speaking in official circles. When he heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said: "We people have studied astronomy, geography, and mathematics alone for five years. Let alone going to Tianjin from Songjiang, our navy has already begun exploring America and going as far away as Sweden. There is no need for you to be so worried about just going to Tianjin. "

"Ying Suobo often said that Westerners can travel from the West to Southeast Asia and travel tens of thousands of miles by sea. If our country is still timid from Songjiang to Tianjin, how can we compare ourselves to the Han and Tang Dynasties? The Huns and Turks during the Han and Tang Dynasties What level is it? What kind of bullshit strength is the current Mongolia and the Quasi Division? Only when the time comes, can we compare with the Han and Tang Dynasties by going out on the sea."

The extreme confidence he talks about does not come from anything else, but from the professional knowledge he has learned over the years. Knowledge makes people confident and powerful.

In Chen Qinghai's view, many people in the court did not support maritime transportation and were worried about this and that, but they just lacked knowledge and didn't understand anything.

Tan Zhen is more confident on weekdays, but speaking at this time will inevitably make Tan Zhen feel a little frivolous. Fortunately, most of the people Tan Zhen, who was born in Weihai, had met had this kind of virtue. They all wanted to cross their eyes on the top of their foreheads. Although he felt a little unhappy, he didn't say anything for Liu Yu's sake.

Chen Qinghai, however, was still unfinished. In his opinion, the DPRK and the Central Government were so worried about the matter of going from Songjiang to Tianjin, with the Jiedu envoy coming personally and the navy escorting, so people who didn't know it thought it was going to be a war with Japan.

He thought to himself that this was the only way to start a war with Japan.

A thing that could move around in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, almost four hundred years later, is now like a big girl getting into a sedan chair, which is really boring.

I have followed Liu Yu for so long, and the last time I felt Liu Yu attached great importance to a voyage was when Michael led a merchant ship to Sweden; and this time again.

But the problem is that this is not a difficulty at all. I really don’t understand what there is to worry about? Japanese trade has been running for so many years. Is this sea route, which was very slippery four hundred years ago, worth being so cautious?

Tan Zhen saw that Chen Qinghai still had the same look with his eyes above his head, and said with a smile: "Since you are confident, I don't worry about this anymore. If there is something, please tell Uncle Ying Suo."

"Sir, please speak."

"Just say that when the Jiedu Envoy comes to Beijing this year, I will report the matter of abolishing the canal and reforming the sea. Don't mention it to Ying Suobo, lest it seems like we are connecting with each other. There will be no letters on this matter, only oral transmission, and it will be upright and fair. explain."

Chen Qinghai didn't understand the meaning, but he still remembered it.

"Just in time, you come with me and go to the place where rice is transported."

At this time, the rice had not yet been completely collected and shipped, but the company established to transport the rice was already in place. The previous method of individual ship owners was abandoned. Instead, it was borne by a joint-stock company with strong capital, which also reduced the number of intermediate links. , it is even easier to manage.

Most of the newly built government offices in Songjiang are near trading companies. Whether they are for tax payment, exchange, or rice transportation, they are all in one building complex.

Chen Qinghai accompanied Tan Zhen there. The people in the company didn't care much about rice, but were busy sorting out the goods they would bring to the north this year.

The court saved money and the merchants benefited. These tax-free goods were extremely profitable.

When several company managers and decision-makers saw Tan Zhen, they quickly knelt down and knelt down. After kneeling down, they flattered Tan Zhen fiercely.

"We, the merchants, are all grateful to you, Your Excellency. If it had not been for Your Excellency's proposal to trial shipping rice from Songjiang and Suzhou, how would we have had the opportunity to do our best for the country?"

This was said beautifully, and Tan Zhen knew in her heart that it was just a scene. Isn’t it profitable to do your best for the country?

But this is indeed a win-win situation.

The court saved a lot of money.

In Songjiang and Suzhou, there are nearly one million dan of grain and rice. If you go through the canal, you will have to pay twice the original loss. There are real sinkings, fake sinkings, deductions, accidents, and the consumption of the people. All of these are necessary. money.

People also save the trouble of transporting food.

It is impossible for grain to walk to the canal by itself, and it is impossible to travel from the canal to the capital. Although the imperial court theoretically continued and inherited the whipping method and developed it to some extent. In theory, money was required to build river embankments and transport grain, but the money given was really not enough. If you have three taels of silver a month, people will definitely flock to you, but...but if you don't have money, don't talk about benevolent policies.

Businessmen can take advantage of this opportunity to profit.

It is indeed a win-win situation. If businessmen say that they are "doing their best for the country", then it is hard to say that they are wrong. Even if I win, I also want to save face.

Several stewards added: "Your Excellency, you don't know something. In the past, goods transported to the capital were transported through canals. Although the court stipulated that there were only a few customs clearance points, merchants like us were really unable to bear the food and drink along the way."

"Nowadays, when transporting rice, you can carry one-tenth of the goods tax-free, which saves a lot of money. When you come back, you can transport soybeans from Liaodong. Every time you come back, you make a lot of profits, and the shareholders are also happy. Happy."

"My lord, it's not that we are talking nonsense here. It's just that the rice harvested in Songjiang and Suzhou is really not worth mentioning. If we want to transport all the rice by sea, as long as we say it in advance, people who want to invest in it will flock to it. ”

"The shipyards in Weihai are even more capable of building large ships. Even if the newly built ships in Weihai are not used, there are still many sand ship owners who want to take shares in the ships. If the imperial court transports all the rice by sea in the future, the threshold of our company will be trampled. "

Seeing the excitement of such participants, Tan Zhen also relaxed and seemed to understand why Chen Qinghai was so frivolous before.

Businessmen seek profit, and if the ship sinks, the businessmen will suffer losses. Whether it works or not, businessmen know best.

If the risk is really as great as some people in the court say, how can these businessmen get into it if they are so smart?

The businessman's attitude reassured Tan Zhen more than Chen Qinghai's confidence.

Chen Qinghai's confidence in this shipping may also be attributed to the consistent virtue of the navy in Weihai; the same is true for the merchants, so there is really nothing to worry about.

Businessmen naturally have various reasons for their confidence.

In addition to the shipowners who have often traveled to Liaodong to sell soybeans, some shipowners from Guangdong and Fujian who have invested in the ship often travel to Southeast Asia, including Luzon, Batavia and other places.

Of course, there is also the risk sharing of joint-stock systems and the establishment of insurance companies. Pay a certain insurance premium, and if something happens, the marine insurance company in this new city will pay for it.

In the past, it would have taken a long time for this new thing to be accepted.

But this newly established marine insurance company has Liu Yu as its platform. With this reputation and his reputation in the business circle over the years, it is naturally trustworthy enough.

The trading company next door also had the business of selling rice from Nanyang. If something happened to the rice, it could be replenished at any time, so there was no need to worry at all.

One person may not be able to bear the risk when transporting the goods. In this current format, risks are shared evenly, which makes it much easier to accept.

The imperial court is also confident that this group of people can afford it, and this group of people is also convinced that they will make money without losing money... Someone has long calculated that the canal's customs duties and taxes will be too much, and this batch of shipping used to have one-tenth of its capacity. It only takes a year or two for duty-free goods to become so popular that those who carry them along the canal will not even recognize them.

At that time, it will be time for the shipping and river shipping groups to go head-to-head.

It's a pity that Dashun's businessmen compete not for capital, technology, or cost, but for who has deep connections in the officialdom, whose spokesperson in the court has a loud voice, and whose backstage person kneels diligently in front of the emperor. There is nothing to do but nothing to change.