Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1230 Start of War ([-])
So, what does Dashun want?
This in itself is a very difficult problem, whether it is for most officials in Dashun or high-level officials in France, it is the same problem.

In fact, how much Dashun will spend for this war is hard to calculate.

In other words, it is difficult to calculate because of different statistical calibers.

For example, if the purpose of Dashun is to close its doors in Malacca, open up trade, and digest all of Nanyang as its goal, then Dashun's naval policy is a policy formulated by a person with a problematic mind.

If Dashun's goal is India, and it wants to digest all of India, then, in fact, Dashun's naval strength at this time is seriously overstretched.

Even, in order to dominate the whole of India, in fact, Dashun only needs a maximum of five battleships and [-] cruisers, and the naval strength of this scale was achieved when Dashun went to Nanyang more than ten years ago.

At this time, Dashun's somewhat distorted naval strength was prepared for the war in Europe.

Because, if it is only for trade, Dashun actually has a very low price-performance ratio for building a navy. In Malacca, the rate of return is actually higher, and much higher.

That being the case, then, does the money spent on building these battleships count as the money spent on this war?

Is the training of excess sailors and naval officers for more than 20 years counted as the money spent for this war?
Maintaining a severely overstaffed navy, the military pay, military uniforms, firearms, rewards, food, cloth, and supplies spent for this, count as the money spent for this war?
If these are not counted, then the money Dashun spent on this war is not too much.

If it is counted, then the money spent is too much, and one billion livres may not be enough.

Dashun needs to seek sufficient benefits in Europe in order to recoup its capital.

And this sufficient benefit is... countries, including France, must dissolve their East India Company, or must form a joint venture with Dashun, with Dashun leading.

All countries should open up trade with Dashun, open customs, and give Dashun a customs tax rate that is not too favorable, but they must ensure that Dashun's goods can sell well after paying taxes at the customs.

Even, on Dashun's side, they can directly cover taxes and cover the monopoly and franchise fees of the East India Companies of various countries.

And Dashun will strengthen patrols in Cape, and seize merchant ships from various countries that cross the line.

Here, the two biggest problems are Britain and France.

Naturally, these two countries have different coping strategies.

For Britain, Dashun's strategy was to unite with France, destroy its navy, force it to cancel the navigation regulations, and cooperate with the West India Chamber of Commerce.

For France, it needs an in-depth, detailed treaty that must be clearly stated in black and white.

Because Dashun, or Liu Yu's strategy, is to destroy India's traditional handicraft industry.

India's traditional handicraft industry will be a serious threat to Dashun's trade with Europe.

How to stop this threat?

If it can’t be sold for the time being, it can’t be sold—this will take at least ten years.

Then, we must find a way to prevent buying or allow buying.

This is a systemic problem.

As long as the East India Companies of various countries are disintegrated first, then Dashun's rule in India will be smooth, because all countries are powerless and have no organized capital to make trouble for Dashun in India.

And the princes and nobles of India could not complete any strategy of "using barbarians to control barbarians".

For example, Indian maharajas don’t buy Dashun wool, cotton cloth, hemp rope, silk, or pottery; while merchants in European countries such as Britain and France buy cotton cloth and silk...as long as there are improper With the choice of compradors, it is inevitable that a few people will stand up and try to obtain fiscal revenue through export tariffs and export control.

The original East-West trade, the East, refers to India, Persia, Southeast Asia, the Moluccas, China, and Japan.

In the future, the East-West trade, the East, can only be Dashun itself.

Since as a manufacturer, Dashun wants to have a monopoly and monopolize the concept of "Oriental trade goods".Then, it is necessary to strictly prevent the remaining "producers" from colluding with European commercial capital.

With Britain, normal negotiations are useless. Negotiations will not kill the British naval fleet, so we have to fight.

With France, then we need to truly cooperate with France, let France set an example, first disband the East India Company, and properly liberalize French import tariffs.

It's not that France can't charge tariffs.

Dashun welcomes the tariffs imposed by France very much, and welcomes the direct control of tariffs by the French government.

But the premise is that France will abolish those messy administrative orders, such as cotton cloth issues, porcelain issues, and so on.

Normal tariffs can allow France to charge 10% or 15%, which is no problem. It can also be regarded as Dashun’s contribution and help to France, an ally, in the financial repayment crisis after the war.

Liu Yu doesn't like the pursuit of zero import tariffs in foreign policies, especially in Europe, which is out of reach.

Zero tariffs, Dashun only has the support of one interest group, that is comprador businessmen from various countries.

With a 5% tariff, Dashun is in the courts of European countries, and its trade policy has mixed reputation.

And if there is a 10% tariff, Dashun will find a strong and powerful ally in the French court, such as the French king who is suffering from financial problems.

The composition of the French Indian company is quite complicated, and it involves too many interests of the French.

Voltaire owned shares in the French East India Company, and in France, it was considered "the best investment except land".

Of course, this is not simply the interests of France in India, but involves the previous reforms of John Law.

In the Mississippi bubble, the New India Company formed by John Law actually pinched together companies such as the French Mississippi Company, the French Senegal Company, the French India Company, and the French China Company.

Although it was subsequently split due to the bubble explosion, the company's own business coverage overlapped.This also involves France's mercantilism policy, that is, the colonies only allow French merchants to sell goods, relying on monopoly to obtain high profits, thereby maintaining the company's income.

For example, for merchants going to Senegal, buying and selling slaves is one direction.And the businessmen going to Senegal must be company businessmen, but it is not known whether the goods sold are French, Chinese, or Indian.

In addition, it involves conflicts of interest between East India and West India.

Here I have to mention that the Duke of Choiseul himself was influenced by the Enlightenment, and his strategic awareness believed that Eastern trade was not as valuable to France as the Caribbean West India.

And the Enlightenmentists of the Enlightenment were definitely against franchise trade.

After the French Revolution, on the issue of trade, the Enlightenmentists were very clear: the trade rights east of the Cape of Good Hope belonged to all French people and should not be exclusive to a certain company.

Of course, excluding these ideological things and only talking about practical interests, the Duke of Choiseul, the French Minister of State, also strategically supports the abandonment of India and Eastern trade, and more support for the Caribbean and North American affairs.

The reason is actually quite vulgar.

His father-in-law's father was the richest banker in France, and he worked with John Law back then and made a lot of money.The main industries of the family are in the Caribbean and North America.

Of course, he married his wife for the support of his wife's family, because his wife was the only child of his father-in-law's family, and his father-in-law was the eldest son of his father-in-law's father, who inherited the title and main property.

As for the relationship between husband and wife... it may not be a secret in the circle of French aristocrats.

What he likes is his own sister. At the beginning, he tried his best to prevent his sister from marrying far away. Afterwards, he allowed her to be rich and respectable in the court circle. It even made Mrs. Pompadour very unhappy because she was too popular.And many of his sister's industries are also in the Caribbean and North America.

And her sister should be very rich. During the Falcon era, it was said that the East India Company had been abolished at that time, but his sister still had a lot of money.So much money that he could continue to send money to the French nobles in exile in Prussia, and was finally hanged for treason.

Therefore, whether it is his father-in-law's side or the side of the people he really cares about, the industry has little to do with the East India side, mainly in the Caribbean and North America.

Historically, as soon as the Seven Years War ended, Choiseul directly banned the franchise of the East India Company and opened up Eastern trade to a large number of retail merchants.

Although there are elements influenced by Enlightenment, his personal reasons are also very important.

Of course, the people in the Dashun Mission didn't know about these things, but they knew very well that Choiseul supported France's strategy of actually abandoning India.And Choiseul also supports a certain degree of open mercantilism.

After all, he was the Minister of State of France at this time, and France's strategy in the Caribbean and North America, as well as the subsequent large-scale investment in Santo Domingo and other Caribbean regions during his tenure, must be consistent with his strategic thinking .

As for Dashun, it is precisely in the Caribbean region that it has no interests.

(End of this chapter)