New Shun 1730

For Dashun as a whole, purely rationally, Liu Yu does not think that monopoly is right.

But considering the whole, the so-called whole only exists in theory.

The reality is that in order to get the support of the court, it is necessary to take out enough real money and transfer the court's customs patrol smuggling tasks to the trading company, so that the court can see the silver.

Otherwise, it may not even collect 100,000 taels of tax a year.

Is smuggling for export good or not? If it is not good, smuggling can indeed promote the development of domestic handicrafts; if it is good, the court will not collect money.

The best solution in theory is that everyone abides by the law, competes freely, sells goods to Japan based on their own abilities, never evades taxes and actively pays customs export taxes, and Dashun has no monopoly group.

However, this is a dream.

Therefore, in theory, monopoly is not supported, but in practice, Liu Yu supports it. Others are monopoly companies, and he is a mess. That is talking about free trade and making himself stupid.

He had thought about the Netherlands a long time ago, but he couldn't say it at this time.

Ryukyu and Korea... that's something you can say.

Some things are difficult to say in the court due to political correctness, but you can open up a little in front of these profit-seeking businessmen.

"Since you are all optimistic, I might as well say something. Ryukyu's tribute is fake. This time I went to Ryukyu, and something big happened in Ryukyu. The King of Ryukyu came to the capital to tie himself up and plead guilty. Ryukyu has nothing. The previous tribute was just to transport goods from Satsuma, Japan, to our court for trade."

"But after all, the King of Ryukyu is also a prince, so you still have to give him some face. When issuing additional shares, you can leave him a part of the equity and pay the money. But don't think about tribute. How can the Celestial Empire only have grace but no power?"

Lin Yunwen and others had come to Weihai to wait for Liu Yu to discuss the monopoly and the transportation of grain and supplies after the war with Japan. At this time, they didn't know that the Ryukyu incident was so serious.

Hearing this, one of the three stones hanging in his heart has fallen.

Ryukyu is finished.

After such a big thing, it still pays tribute? What the hell, even if the imperial court wants to save face, it is impossible to kneel down and lick Ryukyu to ask for tribute to maintain the dignity of the Celestial Empire.

"What about Korea? Sir, Korea and Japan have trade in Tsushima, we all know this, and of course you know it too."

"Besides, Korea is a filial son, this is something everyone knows, and tribute is also frequent. We have also inquired that they pay tribute to Beijing and also trade."

Liu Yu smiled when he heard this, shook his head and said: "In the future, tribute is tribute, and trade is trade, which must be separated. Today I might as well tell you that this time the monopoly includes Korea and Japan. The imperial court has sent people to Korea to borrow a few pieces of land. One is for the Whale Sea immigrants to guard the border, and the other is to open the trade there."

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

Merchants including Lin Yunwen were shocked and couldn't believe that there was such a good thing?

This is simply a pie falling from the sky. I thought the pie was big enough, but I didn't expect it to be not only big, but also cut open and stuffed with meat.

After these merchants had calmed down, Liu Yu said, "Nothing comes in vain. The monopoly on the Japanese trade can be achieved with money. But I have put a lot of effort into the Korean issue, and it is not just about money."

"If you want to monopolize, you must agree to two requirements."

"First, if a war breaks out in the future, the court can requisition the ships of the trading company for war preparation if needed. Of course, it is limited to naval battles. If there is a turmoil in the northwest and southwest, you don't have the ability to sail on land."

Several merchants thought it would be a big deal, but when they heard this condition, they laughed.

"Your Excellency scared us, we just thought it was a request. Even if you don't say it, we will do it. We have also asked about the Western trading companies, and it is the same. Moreover, if there is no navy and court, how can we monopolize? If there is no court to go to war, the Japanese will close their country, and our trade will still depend on the Japanese's face and bribe the Nagasaki magistrate."

"But... what is the second one?"

There is nothing to consider about the first condition, and it can be agreed directly. The merchants were not stupid. They all thought that if there was a naval battle, after defeating the Japanese, only the South Seas would be left.

If we conquer the South Seas, wouldn't that benefit us? How could those scattered South Sea merchants compare with us? Regardless of equity, relationships, and power, wouldn't it be easy to crush them and take their food?

They were just afraid of the Dutch.

Anyway, if they wanted the biggest profit, the merchants would have to fight the Dutch sooner or later, so they should agree.

Liu Yu didn't directly say what the second condition was, but kept it a secret.

"There is a word that I need to give you, and you also need to remember it all the time."

"Please speak, sir!"

The merchants all leaned forward slightly, pretending to listen attentively.

Liu Yu gritted his teeth and blurted out four words.

"Full of martial virtue."

After saying that, he laughed and said, "What do you mean by full of martial virtue? Since the court has given you the monopoly, let me ask you, what should you do if you find that someone other than the company is transporting goods to Japan?"

Several merchants understood these four words as soon as they heard them, and laughed and said, "Of course, sink the ship and intercept the goods!"

Liu Yu really didn't need to teach them this, as sea merchants have been like this since ancient times. If they can trade, they trade, and if they can't, they steal.

Originally, the Ryukyu incident more than a decade ago in history was a living example: a riot directly occurred in Naha, forcing the King of Ryukyu to eat up all the accumulated goods.

It's just that the maritime merchants were scattered because they couldn't unite into a company, which led to some bullying and fear of the strong. They dared to smash, smash and rob in Ryukyu, but they were much more timid in front of the Nanyang Dutch.

This is not the fault of the maritime merchants. It is only the fault of the imperial court that it did not have enough navy and its sphere of influence could not reach Southeast Asia.

Things are different now. Liu Yu only needs to mention these four words. Of course these maritime merchants know what to do.

Liu Yu secretly said, you can just rest assured, the emperor still has a lot of nominal shares in it. As long as you dare to grab it, even if I can't bear it, the emperor will still support me.

But it was hard to pull the emperor out at this time, so he had no choice but to say: "When the time comes, just do it. On the one hand, the court has given you the monopoly in black and white, and on the other hand, even if there are people behind the smuggling, I will protect you. What are you afraid of? To put it bluntly, even the rich people in Jiangnan might as well give it a try and see who has thicker thighs."

Lin Yunwen said with a smile: "With the words of an adult, we can feel relieved."

"But if you say no sir, we are actually a little scared. In terms of the salt administration of the court, it can be regarded as a monopoly. In the previous dynasty, the salt quota was often distributed to the feudal princes, which resulted in the merchants who got the salt quota to transport grain for the court to make a lot of money. Not enough money. This happens all the time.”

"It was easy to say before the Japanese state. The Japanese people are in seclusion. No matter how strong your relationship with the Celestial Dynasty is, it will be useless. The sword of the previous dynasty cannot kill the officials of this dynasty; the domestic relations are also of no use to the Japanese state."

"But once the switch is turned on, we are afraid that some people will be jealous. By then we will have a monopoly in name. We will pay the annual monopoly fee to the court, but we will ask some people to trade without paying a penny."

The other businessmen nodded one after another. The words "full of martial virtue" just sounded pleasant to them, but thinking about the intricate relationships in the future, without Liu Yu's words of support, they would not dare to do too much.

Before Japan was locked down, some wealthy families from the south of the Yangtze River had connections in Dashun, but it didn't matter if they went to Japan. They couldn't get to Nagasaki by playing bad temper and building connections.

But if the country is opened, wouldn't it be like a mosquito seeing blood? If they were really sunk, then they would be accused of being "bandits" and a riot would start. Maybe they would transfer the trading company to someone else based on their connections.

Liu Yu wanted to embolden them, so he said: "When the time comes, just catch them. Leave it to me to compete for connections and compete for backstage. Although I don't like competing for connections and backstage, I have to do it. I'm not the only one involved here. The shares include British Duke, Qi Guogong, E Guogong, Xiang Guogong... a lot of people in our circle have a share in it. "

After almost reciting the names of the hereditary dukes and marquises who founded the country, these businessmen finally felt relieved. Liu Yu quoted: "But there is a saying, you have to be strong to make iron. Can you rob them at sea? , it depends on your ability.”

"The coastline is too long and there are too many checkpoints. It is unlikely that the navy will help you patrol smuggling in the future. The gold and silver you handed over to the court bought a legitimate monopoly. If it is legitimate, do you have the ability to keep it? That’s another thing. That’s my second condition.”

After taking a detour and returning to what he really wanted to say, the businessmen all pricked up their ears.

But Liu Yuxian told a story, which was still the story of "carving a boat to find a sword".

"When the Dutch did business in those days, they had to consider toll taxes and customs duties, and the customs duties were collected per ship. Therefore, they built merchant ships with thin skin and large fillings, and the more goods they could carry, the better. This was smart."

"It is said that businessmen seek profit, but if the cleverness of the Dutch is applied to you, it will not be smart."

"The Dutch have to consider tariffs and tolls. Think about it, you have a monopoly and have not passed tariffs and tolls. What do you have to consider?"

With a little inspiration, several businessmen whispered to each other for a while and said with a smile: "Yes, we must consider hijacking ships, intercepting cargo, pirates, and bandits."

"Of course!" Liu Yu praised with his palms: "So this second condition can't be said to be a condition. It should be said that it is also good for you."

"I know that if you just want to trade with Japanese, the lucky ship is the most suitable. The cost is also low, it is convenient to transport goods, and sailors are easy to find. However, the lucky ship is not good for naval battles, and those who can control the lucky ship do not know how to use the soft sails of Western warships. ”

"The second condition is that the cargo ship of the trading company can only be a Western-style soft-sailed voyage ship. There are retired sailors and captains in the navy, and you can also train them yourself. Once the war starts, these sailors will be Recruited for war."

"I also know that Western ships are expensive to build, they are not good at offshore navigation, and it is difficult to recruit sailors who are not familiar with hard sails. It is just for Japanese trade that it is not necessary at all. But, this is the condition."

"Of course, it's also for your own good. The imperial court originally only allowed eight cannons to be carried by pirate ships. You can carry them with you as long as they are not cruisers or above."

"And as long as they threaten your monopoly, you can destroy them... including the Dutch. Allow you to patrol the Japanese ports."