Xinshun 1730

Chapter 465
After Xu Tao finished his ritual, Liu Yu took him and some sea merchants to find the owners of the "Beiqian Ship" near Xiaocang and Shimonoseki, and talked about future trade together.

The ship owners on the Japanese side did not show their incomparable hatred for the "aggressors", but were very concerned about the future trade situation.

Liu Yu is very concerned about the existence of the shogunate, which originated from the unification of the shogunate, which led to the prosperity of the Kitamae ship trade.

The few places he chose to open ports are almost all around the Kitamae ship trade on the Japanese side.

At this time in previous years, Japanese businessmen who do trade are already busy.However, because of the war last year, many ship owners who ran north to the former ship trade were recruited to Shimonoseki to participate in the war to block the strait.

Although they are all merchant ships, considering the strange topography of the Xiaguan Strait, it does have an effect.The Dashun Navy didn't have steam engines, and faced with the narrow strait, they really didn't dare to enter it, for fear of being surrounded by the tactics of attacking ships with fire.

In the end, Dashun and the Japanese naval forces looked at each other for a few days across Shimonoseki, but they didn't start fighting, so they went to bombard Ogura and Fukuoka.

The ships of these merchant ship owners were not damaged, but this year's trade was indeed over.

When the wind direction changes in March, the sailors need to hurry to Osaka, Shimonoseki, Nagasaki and other places after celebrating the new year.Depart from Osaka, cross the Shimonoseki Strait, take advantage of the Tsushima Warm Current, and go north along the way to Sakata and Ezo.

They stopped at various places along the way to sell goods, and when they arrived in Ezo, Sakata and other places, the goods were sold out.Loaded with salted fish and tamari from Ezo, they went down the Tsushima Warm Current with the wind, crossed the Shimonoseki Strait, walked the Seto Inland Sea, and returned to Osaka for the New Year.

The prosperity of this route can be understood in terms of the water transport trade of Dashun.

The reason why this route was opened at the beginning was also because of the shortage of rice in Edo and Osaka, and the rice directly under the shogunate in the northeast had to be transported to Osaka and Edo, so this route was opened.

If there is no unified shogunate, there will be no such rice route, which is the benefit of a unified market.

Now that it is almost March, Japanese maritime merchants don’t care who wins or who loses, what they care about is whether the first batch of goods from Dashun can reach Kobe, Nagasaki, Yonago and other places before May.

Dashun is only responsible for delivering the goods to these treaty ports, and these maritime merchants who are going north to the front ship need to divide their respective interests as soon as possible.

Also consider that Yonago has also opened a port. Is the goods to be resold enough to carry from Osaka to Yonago?Or is it enough to carry from Osaka to Sakata at one time?

Another one, Ezo was ceded to Dashun, will Dashun open up the old trade of Ezo?Are the specialties of Ezo, kelp, kelp, and salted fish, still on sale?
And, on the issue of gold and silver exchange, what kind of gold and silver exchange price are Dashun merchants willing to offer?

As the saying goes, those who are close to the water first get the moon.Or, it is a blessing in disguise.

These maritime merchants who were recruited to defend Xiaguan originally thought that they would lose all their ships, but they didn't expect that not only did they not lose their ships, but they might have first-hand commercial information, they were ecstatic.

A few well-known big ship owners who went to Beiqian, heard that Liu Yu wanted to introduce the maritime merchants from Dashun to get to know each other, and immediately found a good cook, saying that if they were in Xiaguan or Xiaocang, they would not eat fugu. It can be said to be a waste of time, asking someone to cook delicacies such as puffer fish, waiting for Liu Yu and others to come.

After the meeting, Liu Yu was asked to sit first, Xu Tao and other maritime merchants from Dashun side sat down one by one.

Among the sea merchants in Japan, there is a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old. He can sit here at such a young age. It is conceivable that his family must be rich somewhere.

The young man's name is Honma Kosaku, and his hometown is Sakata in Dewa country.Before the war between China and Japan, Honma Kosaku went to Edo to learn about it, and then went to Osaka.

Ten years ago, that is, two years before Liu Yu went to Edo to deliver sweet potatoes, Dojima in Osaka opened a rice futures market. The Manchu and Qing merchants in history also played like this.

As long as there is such a thing, there must be speculation.

In the year before the Xiangbao famine, there were only 30 shi of real goods in total, and these merchants sold 100 million shi of futures.Naturally, some people committed suicide during the period, and some people won the slam.

Honma has heard about the ancient works for a long time, and when he gained more knowledge in Edo and Osaka, he suddenly felt that his father was really an idiot, and he was still doing business honestly?

Doing business honestly, how can you make a fortune?
He should use all the family property in rice speculation. According to his thinking, within three to five years, his family will definitely become the number one wealthy businessman in Northeast China, and it will not be a problem to double or even ten times the property.

Historically, Honma's ancient works have done it.At that time, there was a saying in Japan: It is easy to be a feudal lord, but difficult to be rich like Honma.It was called "Izuba's Tengu" at that time.

But at this time, Honma Kosaku hadn't had time to display his ambitions. Not long after he arrived in Osaka, his ship was conscripted to Shimonoseki.

His family is a big businessman over there, and the owners of the boats that went north all know his father, because of this face, he also has a part in the meal this time.

Honma Kosaku, who originally wanted to go back and persuade his father to stop serious business and speculate in rice, was keenly aware of this after experiencing the Sino-Japanese War, learning about the peace talks between Dashun and Japan, and the opening of a commercial port. huge business opportunity.

The important affairs of the country are planned by the meat eaters.

He is just a businessman, the lowest level of the scholar, farmer, businessman, and he doesn't care about humiliation at all. What he cares about is whether he can seize the opportunity after the opening of the peace talks and soar into the sky.

Dashun's goods are all in short supply.In the past, when doing business in Nagasaki, it was all under the direct control of the shogunate, and most of the profits were made by the people of the shogunate.

Now that the port has been opened, it is different.

During the interlude, these wealthy merchants who ran north to the former ship were mainly concerned about the pricing of Dashun goods. Someone asked: "After the arrival of Chinese goods, they are the same in Nagasaki, Yonago, and Hyogojin. The price? And who sets the price?"

Liu Yu was just being an adhesive, and he doesn't care about the business of the trading company now, so he said with a smile: "I have an official position, and I don't care about the business. I'm here today to taste the deliciousness of puffer fish and to be an adhesive." Isinglass on ship boards, business matters, you merchants can talk about it. Although the language is different, you can understand gold and silver. Not to mention the communication between China and Japan, even if you go to the West, the merchants there can also recognize gold and silver. light."

He drank and ate vegetables on his own, but listened to the opinions of all parties with his ears open, and looked at the coping ability of the trading company.

Xu Tao then replied: "Everything follows the model of the Dutch in the Hirado trading house back then. The branch trading houses in various places have uniform pricing, which is the same. The prices in Nagasaki, Yonago, and Osaka Hyogotsu are the same. "

Several luxury merchants who run the boat discussed among themselves. If the prices are the same everywhere, then they can choose not to carry too much goods on the way north, and can replenish them in Yonago.

After asking this, I asked again: "How about the trade in the Ezo land? Now the Ezo land belongs to China, and under the lock-up order, we are not allowed to trade in the Ezo land. Are the seafood and other products of the Ezo land still for sale? ?”

Xu Tao thought to himself that I can't answer this, and everyone at the banquet looked at Liu Yu.

"Well... Ezo's goods are of course still for sale. But... the shogunate is still the same. In the future, there will be patrol boats from the shogunate in the Tsugaru Strait. The Celestial Dynasty respects the shogunate's shogunate order. The three emperors still have different rituals, and the five emperors And it’s different from the customs, what’s more, it’s between the Celestial Dynasty and the vassals?”

"However, the seafood of Ezo will be traded in Yonago. The development of Ezo will not stop, and your Kitamae ship trade can still continue. But the profit in the north of Yonago may not be great. You used to What's the way back?"

The guarantee that Ezo will continue to develop made these wealthy businessmen breathe a sigh of relief.

They don't care who owns Ezo, as long as they continue to develop, the profits of the northbound route can be guaranteed.

Moreover, in Ezo, the shogunate has not invested too much energy. In the past few years, the Matsumae Fukuyama Domain has engaged in some development, contracted out with the tax system, and is thriving, but also faces resistance from the Ezo people, which often affects it. .

If Dashun can guarantee the development of Ezo, use force to ensure the stability of Ezo, and these goods can be sent to Yonago for sale, these people think that they can save a lot of trouble-they don’t need to go half a distance from Yonago to Japan. I went to Ezo.

Seeing Liu Yu asking about the route, the rich merchants also gave a rough overview of their own route.

"Our ship can't resist the big wind and waves, so we need to stop constantly. Usually we wait until August to set off from Ezo, stay in Sakata in Dewa, and then go to Sado Island. Go around the sea to Etsu in Iwami, to Shimonoseki, and Zase Touchi goes to Osaka."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Exactly. In this way, you only need to maintain the air route from Edo to Osaka, from Osaka to Shimonoseki, and then from Shimonoseki to Yonago. Our businessmen will transport the special products of Ezo to Yonago. .By the way, there is also ginseng from North Korea. After the Busan transaction, it is no longer the exclusive delivery of the Tsushima domain, but it is also shipped to Yonago."

If you want Whale Sea to prosper, you must have a port facing the three-sided trade of Japan, North Korea, and Whale Sea.Liu Yu chose Yonago for this place. In order to attract enough merchants, North Korean ginseng will also be sold here, and even future American ginseng transactions may also be placed here, just for the sake of sufficient and complete goods, so that this place can develop as soon as possible. stand up.

Ezo is a treasure land, much easier to develop than Vladivostok.

Not only has the warm climate of the Tsushima Warm Current, but also because of the confluence of the Thousand Island Cold Current and the Tsushima Warm Current, it is considered one of the top three fishing grounds in the world.

Japan does not eat meat and eats more fish.As long as businessmen can make money, they will naturally invest in Ezo under the guidance.

With more people, immigration will become more and more convenient, and more and more people will be farming.

Liu Yu is determined to enclose land in Jinghai.Fill up the population of the coastal areas first. After all, I don’t know when the train will appear. As long as the land is enclosed first, the technical level will improve in the future. The best swamp black soil plain in the center is naturally China’s. up.

In addition to seafood, land reclamation is also necessary, and he still has to consider the issue of growing food around the Whale Sea.After all, the food prices around Vladivostok are too low. If the food prices in Ezo and other places are also so low in the future, it is really impossible to lure businessmen to spend money to invest in cultivation.

Those colonies in North America made their fortunes by growing tobacco leaves.But in Hokkaido, a good place for grain production, if you can't sell it for money, it will be difficult.He had thought about introducing sugar beets, but the sugar output from beets is too low now, and after the opening of Japan, if Dashun succeeds in going to Nanyang, the quality and price of sucrose can directly bankrupt the beet sugar in the north.

After all, there must be money to be made in order to promote private investment.Only relying on the Dashun imperial household government to provide money, through the process, withholding, and drifting away, it is really impossible to move a few people.

He had been to Yongning Temple back then, and he had really experienced the living conditions of the soldiers of the northern frontier army... On the one hand, they passed through the capital and went south, and there were disasters every year; Food is either fed to pigs or dogs. Pigs and dogs may eat better than people in the flooded areas of the Yellow River and Huaihe River. The food cannot be shipped out, so that people are looking forward to war with Rakshasa. If there is a war, the court will spend money. Money to raise food.

So he asked: "Are you people who ran north to the front boat, are you doing food business?"

(End of this chapter)