New Shun 1730

Swedish radical politicians need a five-year political achievement of pacifying Russia; the directors of the East India Company choose to share part of the profits rather than go bankrupt; Dashun needs to open up the European market to gain a foothold and is willing to pay a certain price.

The three parties talked a little and reached a consensus on a certain bottom line.

The bottom line is acceptable, but Karl cannot give a definite answer immediately.

He is not a minister of state yet. Even if he is very confident that his radicals can take power in the parliament this year, he has not yet done so.

The name is not right, the words are not smooth.

The process should still be followed, and Karl has a bold idea in his mind.

He can set a bottom line for the East India Company.

If everything goes well and his radicals control the parliament this year, then he can recognize Kambir's negotiations in China.

If something unexpected happens, then Kambir's conditions for negotiations in China will not have legal effect, and Sweden can directly refuse to recognize them.

In the eyes of politicians, if Sweden goes back on its word, Dashun has countermeasures, which can cut off trade and increase Sweden's export tariffs.

But that is not important.

On the contrary, if something unexpected happens and the radicals fail in this congress, then all the responsibilities will be borne by the current Secretary of State Arvid.

This is undoubtedly a means of killing two birds with one stone.

Act first and report later, creating a fait accompli, which the Congress can recognize and approve later.

If the change of power is successful, when Cambill returns from China, he, the new radical Secretary of State, can use it as a political achievement to promote himself: Look, it was me who reached an anti-Russian alliance between Sweden, France and China, and it was me who protected the interests of the shareholders of the East India Company.

Since Cambill found this place, it is obvious that a certain common consciousness has been reached within the East India Company.

Unlike the East India Companies of Britain and the Netherlands, the account books of the Swedish East India Company are not public and are directly destroyed when the ship arrives. Therefore, there is no need to face the raging and numerous small shareholders.

As long as the major shareholders agree, the small shareholders will not be able to make any waves - they have no right to know how much profit they have. As long as they ensure that their income is higher than the Dutch or British government bonds, it is worth investing. Otherwise, in Sweden, what other investment directions can be used to increase the value of money? Can't we learn from the king and raise silkworms in Sweden?

This bold idea in Carl Girontborg's mind was like a nettle sprouting in spring, which soon filled his heart and drove away the rest of the weeds with those poisonous thorns.

As for those shipbuilding owners, this can be settled with money. And this money can be used as a condition for negotiation, and the merchants of Dashun can use it as a fund to lobby Congress to amend the monopoly regulations.

After thinking for a while, he determined that Mantou was just conveying a certain intention and was indeed not qualified for the final negotiation.

So he asked Mantou to leave first, leaving only Cambill, the representative of the East India Company, to discuss this private issue.

"Sir Colin, since you are the plenipotentiary representative for negotiations with China, what is the bottom line given to you by the Secretary of State?"

Carl, who was not yet the Secretary of State at this time, asked about it. This should be considered a secret, and some things cannot be discussed publicly.

"The Secretary of State did not give me a specific bottom line. He said that I only need to be responsible to Parliament and abide by the East India Company's monopoly regulations. Such negotiations are bound to be meaningless and will certainly return in vain."

"If I abide by the East India Company's monopoly regulations, it means that: Chinese merchant ships cannot participate in the shares and can only be built in Sweden; the owners of Chinese merchant ships must accept Swedish military positions and be controlled by the Swedish Navy during wartime... Obviously, this is unacceptable to the Shun Empire."

"If they can't accept it, they will inevitably take countermeasures. Increase export tariffs to Sweden, increase Swedish ship entry taxes, and even close Swedish trading houses."

"The Secretary of State's bottom line is ambiguous, and I will bear all the responsibilities."

Cambille is very clear-headed. The current Secretary of State Arvid doesn't want to take the blame, and the bottom lines he gave are pure nonsense.

Not only must he not violate Swedish laws, but he must also ensure the survival of the East India Company. If this is not nonsense, what is it?

No matter what conditions he reached in China, it was wrong in the end.

Allowing Chinese merchants to invest would violate the Congress; not allowing Chinese merchants to invest would cause the company to go bankrupt.

The Secretary of State does not have to bear the responsibility, but can blame him. This is really childish politics.

His title is the plenipotentiary representative for negotiations with China, but what can he negotiate? The rope behind him is so tight, he will die if he goes left or right.

Therefore, Cambill did not expect to get entangled in the current Congress at all. He placed all his hopes on the reorganization of the Congress, supporting the radicals to take power, driving out Arvid, and replacing him with a politician who is closer to the East India Company, that is, Carl Girondtborg in front of him.

The deliberate helplessness was waiting for Carl to express his position.

"It must be said that the foreign policy of our Lord Arvid is weak and stupid. There are too many corrupt people like him in the Congress."

"If I were the Secretary of State, I would agree to many conditions of Shun Empire. It is better to have turnips than to be hungry."

Carl expressed his attitude very obscurely.

"Sir Karl, the East India Company also believes that some of the foreign policies of Congress are too moderate. At least, for the East India, overseas interests cannot be profitable without the support of China. Instead of calling it the East India Company, it is better to call it Sweden Chinese companies. This is reality.”

"As for Britain and the Netherlands, although we owe a lot of debt to the Dutch, you know that the Dutch are very trustworthy in doing business. When the Netherlands was at war with Spain and France, Dutch merchants could transport grain and gunpowder as long as they paid money. To the French castle.”

"Even if our expansion of business will cause dissatisfaction among the British and Dutch, but...but in fact, you also know that the British and Dutch were dissatisfied from the first day of the establishment of the Swedish East India Company. Our diplomatic note to the British, The British sent it back without opening it; the Dutch are almost the same, so there is no problem for us to expand our business."

From the perspective of a businessman, Kambir calmly analyzed the situation of the East India Company at this time. The Dutch's "honesty" is still very tenable in Europe. Even if it doesn't, with the capital of the imperial merchants, it is completely possible to repay the Dutch bonds with interest.

Of course, it's best not to return it. It is the uncle who owes the money. The more debt he owes, the more worried the Dutch will be about taking action. If the principal is repaid, the Dutch will have less worries.

Moreover, the current problems of the East India Company mainly include two points.

There is little capital, few ships, and little cargo to transport.

In China, we were suppressed by the Dutch, British, French, Spanish and Portuguese who were deeply rooted there, and we could not get the best tea and porcelain.

If Dashun merchants can take shares, they can indeed solve both problems. Whether it is Dutch guilders or Spanish silver dollars, the stocks in Guangdong and Fujian are no less than those in Cadiz or Amsterdam.

The merchant ship's order for porcelain firing last year also shows that when doing business in Dashun, if you have an official background, you can live if you are allowed to live, die if you are allowed to die, and get the goods if you are allowed to get the goods. If you can’t get the goods, you can’t get the goods.

He had made these issues clear to the less stupid directors of the East India Company, and now he also needed to make it clear to the man in front of him who was likely to be in charge of the Congress.

This is not for Karl to understand, but for Karl to say when he is questioned in Congress.

"Sir Cowling, your words make sense. The profits from China's trade should not be monopolized by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Sweden should get a share of the pie. Moreover, this is not inconsistent with our radical mercantilism policy. As long as you guarantee, no Will sell Chinese textiles in Sweden, I think this should be the only bottom line granted to you by Congress.”

"As for the rest, as a businessman, the first goal of a businessman is to pursue profits, and you are also the founder and first shareholder of the East India Company. I think you can clearly choose between interests during negotiations."

"Congress should support it, not oppose it."

Having said this, Karl cannot speak too clearly. After all, he is not yet the Minister of State, and his radical faction has not yet controlled Congress.

But he has given Kambier the bottom line: as long as he ensures that textiles are not sold in Sweden, the rest can be discussed.

"However, the interests of some members of Congress may be damaged. This may require a certain degree of compensation. This may also be a condition of negotiation with the Chinese."

Kambir understood it completely. He calculated that if Congress was to meet this year, the radicals would most likely win a big victory, so he didn't need to listen to the ambiguous bottom lines given to him by the old minister of state.

One emperor and one courtier.

The most likely new minister of state in front of him has given himself a new bottom line, and this trip to China will be much easier.

Then, all that's left is bribery. In other words, it’s called lobbying.

After finishing this conversation, Kambier met with Mantou again. After vaguely expressing the conditions, he immediately returned to Gothenburg to resolve the equity distribution of the separation of China business that shareholders were most concerned about.

Mantou could not return to Gothenburg immediately. When he came, he brought some gifts to the King of Sweden.

Since the emperor knew this, as a country of etiquette, it was impossible for them to come empty-handed. Naturally, he gave them a lot of gifts, so he had to wait here for the King of Sweden to return the gift.

The gifts given by the emperor were expensive and heavy.

Noble people must first comply with etiquette. The Celestial Empire does not recognize Sweden as an empire. According to the rituals of the princes, the rosewood lacquerware is used as the top. Some of the white jade and sapphire ritual vessels are single. I guess the Swedes don't understand it, and they may not think it is valuable.

The most important thing is the three-piece set of porcelain, silk, tea, etc. These can be sold at a good price in Sweden, and the Swedish king will definitely return the corresponding gifts.

Fortunately, the king of Sweden is Count Hesse from HRE, and he has a lot of territory, so he won't be unable to provide corresponding gifts.

While waiting for the gift from the King of Sweden, two pairs of exquisite blue and white open-top pots, four pieces of fine Japanese satin, 20 fans from the backlog of trade with Japan, two Japanese knives, a set of red lacquer chrysanthemum petals, six balls Pu'er tea and other gifts were delivered to Karl Girondtberg's mansion.

In addition to these gifts, he also gave a certificate of equity worth two thousand taels, indicating that when buying shares in China in the future, Carl's share will be directly invested in the Swedish East India Company, and the dividends will serve as his annuity after retirement. Interest was collected directly at the Swedish East India Company's Gothenburg Building.

I am not afraid of giving gifts, but I am afraid of not finding the right person for giving them. It seems that this Karl Girontberg is worthy of a gift.