Xinshun 1730

Chapter 894 Britain Falls into the Trap ([-])
Fazaklei didn't hear that Liu Yu wanted to cut off the trade, and he was really afraid that Liu Yu was holding back something bad, and he would stab him when the time came.

He has been following Liu Yu all these years in Dashun.It turns out that Liu Yu is a terrible "behind-the-scenes minister" who knows how to choose the right time.

Territorial negotiations to intimidate Russia took advantage of the timing of the War of Polish Succession and the Russo-Russian War; the voyage to Southeast Asia took advantage of the timing of Holland's involvement in the War of Austrian Succession.

He was really afraid that Liu Yu was waiting for an opportunity to come to Boda and clean up the company directly.

Just now Liu Yu pointed at his nose and scolded his mother for half an hour, Fazaklei tried his best to pretend to be calm, and asked cautiously: "Your Excellency, as we all know, you are a person who supports trade. I think the London Company and your country are still There are considerable prospects for cooperation. We have learned of our mistake and ask for your forgiveness."

Liu Yu sneered, stared at Fazakle for a while, and then said: "You ask me if I support trade, of course I support it. But trade must also comply with the law. The emperor clearly forbids the opium trade. Don’t say that Dashun’s law can’t control India, and then criticize me, saying that I govern with long arms.”

"Elizabeth Petrovna of the Raksha Kingdom, as the tsar, is a small company like yours. I don't know how much higher she is. The Turghut Department on the Volga River has to ask the Celestial Dynasty Views?"

Fazaklei hurriedly said: "Don't dare, dare not. The company is indeed responsible for the opium issue, and it is true that the supervision is not strict. We will definitely strengthen supervision in the future, so that such a situation will not happen again."

As I spoke, I thought to myself, I have already said that supervision will be strengthened in the future, if you really want to cut off trade, you have to say that there will be no future.

In the end whether to cut off trade, give a happy word.Otherwise, my heart is hanging, it is really uncomfortable.

After waiting for a long time, Liu Yu didn't answer, so he looked up quietly and saw Liu Yu drinking tea slowly, with a relaxed expression on his face.

After a long time, Liu Yu put down the tea bowl and said slowly, "To be honest, I don't really want to deal with you British people. I want you to talk like farting."

"Last time, you told me that you are lobbying the parliament to relax the tea tariff, and the purchase of tea will increase several times in the future."

"Silly wife is like waiting for a man. I have been waiting eagerly for all these years. What am I waiting for? You have been lobbying for a long time, and what is the result?"

Fazaklei was a little guilty, so he could only say: "My lord, you should know that most of the tea sold by the Danes and the Dutch are consumed by us British people. Therefore, you should count the amount of their tea in the British market." .”

He avoided the sensitive China-Swedish United Trading Company. It is hard to say that you are also smuggling, so he had to use these two companies as an issue.

Liu Yu snorted and said, "You're still in business. Is this how the account is calculated? Tea is not a necessity, but a hobby. Do you know how to cut it?"

"Death is expensive and death is expensive. At worst, don't drink it. At worst, drink coffee and cocoa. You must drink tea? Your tariffs are so high. If there is no smuggled tea, our tea export volume will drop significantly. How can this be counted in your market? Woolen cloth?"

"This stuff is not steamed bread and rice. If you don't eat it, you will die. You have to buy it. Don't you have economics in the UK?"

"I'm too lazy to enlighten you today. I just said that you didn't keep your original promise. I have an account in my hand. If you didn't smuggle it, the purchase of tea in the past few years has not increased, but has decreased!"

Fazaklei bowed his head and said nothing, and thought to himself, aren't you making unreasonable words?

Nonsense, Europe is at war, can it not drop?Our ships are always hijacked, and it is normal to reduce the trade volume appropriately.

"My lord, you know our difficulties. Britain has its own national conditions, which are very different from the Celestial Dynasty. Even the king cannot decide tariffs alone. This tariff issue involves a lot. Please give us some time, sir."

Liu Yu shook his head and said: "You guys, nothing will happen. Let me ask you, did the parliament let you buy national debt when the war in Europe was about to start? Why didn't you spend some money and directly promote the tea tariff? There is no vision, What else can I say today?"

"It's fine if you just don't fulfill your promise with this officer. You are still smuggling opium. Don't talk nonsense with me. You know what's going on. There's no need to find some reason to alleviate your guilt."

After finishing speaking, Liu Yu smiled slightly, and read a sentence in the few English words he knew.

"To be, or not to be."

"The survival or destruction of BEIC depends on me, not on you."

"We have an old saying, which is called throwing rats. Mr. Fazaklei, your company has failed so badly that you don't even have the qualifications to let us get rid of it. I can say responsibly that cutting off trade with Britain will have no effect on China. .You are worse than the Danes."

"Why don't you reflect on yourself? Reflect on yourself, why is your company's trade volume not even comparable to that of Denmark?"

"I once had high hopes for the UK. I told others that the UK has great potential. Even though France has a larger population, because of policy and industrial issues, the UK has the greatest potential."

"But you have lived up to my expectations."

"Think about it, you are a Protestant country, France is a Catholic country, one to zero; you have no silk industry, France has a silk industry, two to zero; you drink tea, the French drink coffee, three to zero; you With maritime superiority controlling trade lines, the French navy is hard to say, four to zero."

"With such a big advantage, you have forced me to become a person who hates the UK. You should reflect on it carefully. Where did you go wrong? Why did you have such a result?"

"If you sow melons, you will reap melons, and if you sow beans, you will reap beans. Hey..."

Liu Yu finished speaking in a tone of hatred for iron and steel, and sighed, and Fazaklei also sighed in reflection.

If the beginning of the Sino-French exchange was due to the common enemy of Russia, it would still make sense.

What about after that?

Fazaklei also felt that Britain did something wrong and missed an opportunity for its best ally.

The United Kingdom is an abstract whole. To make this abstract whole concrete, the family has a textile factory, and the family is engaged in the import trade of oriental cotton cloth. Are their attitudes on the textile tariff issue the same?
Many people in the UK are straight-backed, and never think that Dashun and France are getting too close, so that they may sanction the UK, which is the problem of the UK itself.

They didn't think about it either. If Britain had taken the initiative to get closer to Dashun, maybe it wouldn't be threatened by trade sanctions today.

They believed that the development of the British textile industry, ceramics industry, coffee and beer industries would inevitably conflict with Dashun.Unless he demolished all his industries, sooner or later he would have many conflicts with Dashun.

But there are still many people whose waists are not straight, such as Fazaklei and many directors of the East India Company.

When they faced such a problem, they first had to reflect on themselves, did Britain do something wrong that caused Dashun or Liu Yu to be so dissatisfied with Britain's attitude?

And from what he heard, what Liu Yu said was indeed reasonable.

It was agreed at the beginning that the company could lobby the parliament to relax import duties.But in the end, he made a slip of the tongue. Not only did he not succeed in lobbying, but it led to a lot of tariffs on cotton cloth. Can Dashun be happy?
Isn't this the same as planting melons, sowing beans, reaping beans?

In Fazaklei's view, the UK obviously has the opportunity to make money easily and live a better life than it is now, but it has chosen a wrong path.

If customs duties had been lifted in the first place, not only could they monopolize tea, silk, porcelain, and cotton cloth throughout Europe, but they could also take over all European monopoly of spices after Dashun went to Nanyang.

What is the total population of the UK?Isn't it possible to make a fortune by doing this kind of trade?

Thinking of this, he felt a little wrong in his heart, and his anger became weak.

"My lord, please be sure to know that the company's attitude towards tariffs is definitely not the attitude of some people in the British Parliament towards tariffs. And you must also understand that the UK is a vast market, and the UK is also capable of expanding the sales of Dashun trade products. "

"I think we both should agree to make a lot of effort on this issue."

Liu Yu said with a smile: "What about sincerity? Empty words have no basis, I need some sincerity. Instead of drawing a big cake for me like the last time the tea tariff was done."

In fact, Fazaklei was ready to accept the punishment. If Dashun said that he would be fined for the opium problem, he would accept it.As long as the amount is not too large, shareholders will agree.

He doesn't think it's a question of whether to kneel or not, but that if the trade with China is cut off, the loss will be even greater.It's just the trade volume at the end of Ming Dynasty. In order to open the trade license, Japan spent 7 to [-] taels of silver to ask Li Dan and others to clear up the relationship.

The current trade volume has increased tenfold and hundreds of times, and half of the company's profits come from trade with China. It will be beneficial if the company can pay the fine and settle the matter.

Now that Liu Yu asked about sincerity, Fazaklei thought about it and asked, "What does your lord think is sincerity? In other words, what should we do to show our sincerity?"

Liu Yu, who had always had a slumped face, even when he laughed was a sneer, changed his mood in an instant, his eyes were bright and he said a word full of expectation.

"Chronometer"

"I want this kind of timepiece that can withstand the turbulence of the sea, resist the alternation of cold and heat in a humid environment, and still keep accurate time!"

"Go back and use the company's influence to get a watch like this, whether it's a big clock or a pocket watch, it doesn't matter."

"If you can get it, I can ask His Majesty to issue a license for you to continue to operate, as long as you no longer sell opium and other contraband, at least 20 years."

"Money is not a problem. I will pay the reward of [-] pounds."

Fazakle repeated the word in astonishment.

"Chronometer?"

Then shook his head.

"My lord, this is a controlled product, a first-level controlled product. If we get this, the public will be in an uproar, and they will think that we are betraying the interests of the country. This will seriously affect our domestic operations."

It's not about money at all.This is the cornerstone of this era, across the seven seas.Who is qualified to specify which one is the zero-degree meridian, and the whole world must use it as a consensus in the future.

From the perspective of future generations, who can produce watches with accurate travel time at this time is equivalent to the GPS system of later generations.Dashun's moon phase map here is actually a thing that rivals the GPS at this time.

Even if Fazakley hopes to keep the trade with China, it is impossible to make a principled mistake in this matter.Once exposed, the East India Company will become the target of public criticism.

(End of this chapter)