Xinshun 1730

Chapter 925

"What this man said, I think it's probably true. Didn't the court introduce a policy a while ago?"

"Tea trees are not allowed to be planted in Nanyang plantations. Tea seeds are not allowed to go to Nanyang. Local customs and the Malacca Fleet must also strictly investigate the export of tea seeds."

"Someone said at the time that Nanyang plantations were not allowed to grow tea. In fact, it was the worry of 'millions of water workers'. If tea is planted in Nanyang, Ceylon and other places, how will the tea farmers in Fujian and Hubei live?"

"And it's not just about tea farmers. There are also those who issue contracts, deliver goods, and transport them. The court also has to find a way for them to survive, right?"

"That's right, I think someone in Fujian may really be looking for the Duke, hoping to let the British live, so that the people will not have no food and clothing."

Everyone thought of the new customs policy on tea species issued by the imperial court a few days ago, and felt that it made more sense.

If you set up a plantation in Nanyang, it will definitely be easier to make money than it is now.After all, the British drink cheap tea. Large-scale tea gardens and targeted exports save a lot of land transportation costs, which is indeed more profitable.

But after all, the imperial court had to consider who should earn the money.

Get out of the big businessman on the plantation?
Or let the people in Fujian pick tea?

Obviously, the court chose the latter.

Following this line of thought, merchants discussed many possible changes in the subsequent British trade.

Since they are businessmen who pay attention to this kind of thing, they naturally have to pay attention to British policies.Who are the teas from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden sold to?They also need to know this.

They also need to know that if Europe goes to war, the prices of lead and zinc will increase; they also know that if Britain and France go to war in North America, the scarcity of ginseng will skyrocket.

Some Cantonese businessmen will not fail to remember a very special influence, because French ships used ice as ballast, which almost squeezed out some ice cellar industries in Guangzhou City.As a result, because Britain and France went to war in North America and robbed each other's ships, the city of Guangzhou actually lacked ice in summer.

These things, they know it happens, and then someone tells them why it happened.

In this case, even if it is for speculative needs or commercial needs, more and more translations of Western literature and history books have been made.

Naturally, these businessmen also gradually understood to whom the Western Trading Company and the Swedish Company sold so much tea every year.

Naturally, we also saw the essence of the problem.

What mattered to their profits was not whether the British East India Company was allowed to continue trading, but whether the British tea tax would be abolished.

The same merchants in Dashun, maritime merchants, financial speculators, merchants, and producers, had completely different attitudes on the British tea tax issue.

These maritime merchants and speculators supported the high tea tax in Britain.

For them, the high tea tax in Britain created the tea profits of the Western Trading Company.

On the contrary, the UK has released the tea tax, and the UK has navigation regulations. The tea brought by the Western Trading Company cannot compete with the British East India Company-just like the Danish Asia Company, what happened to them in this matter, no matter whether they How to compete with Dashun's merchant group on the issue of getting goods.The strong dragon does not overwhelm the local snake, and in terms of the degree of capital abundance, it is not easy to say whether it is a local snake or a local dragon.

But for Dashun merchants, tea dealers, and processors, they are looking forward to the liberalization of tea tax in Britain.

Britain's release of tea tax is not good for maritime merchants who are just trying to seize the initiative in trade, but it is very beneficial for merchants and tea dealers.

As a tea producer, is there any difference between selling tea to the East India Company and selling tea to Dashun's own Western Trading Company?

There is no difference.

Even, because of the gradual monopoly of the maritime group, it actually lowered the purchase price of tea.Especially in the past few years, with sanctions against Britain and Portugal and investigations against Denmark, the rising maritime group in Dashun almost arrogantly told those tea merchants: at this price, whether you like it or not, keep it for next year. Old tea bar.

For tea merchants, the happiest days were exactly when the market was "full competition" in those years, when the Ostend Company, which suddenly stepped in, took the initiative to provoke a monopoly trade war on tea purchases. , Austria, the four countries competed to increase prices, tear down the stage, give gifts, and stockpile goods.

It's just that this kind of full competition quickly decided the winner. From full competition to monopoly, it took less than ten years.

The same policy, like the ban on tea plantations promulgated by the imperial court not long ago, has some people who are happy with each other, some who are like bereaved concubines, some who resent the court, and some who are grateful to the court.

In the bliss of Dashun’s investigation of the Danish business house and the 25% increase in export tariffs to Denmark, the British business house was allowed to trade, and the worry about whether the UK would liberalize the tea tax became a cloud over the heads of these maritime merchants. a dark cloud.

…………

at the same time.

When the maritime merchants were discussing the policies of European countries, the Danes were anxious, and the British were gloating, Qi Guozheng was there talking to Liu Yu about the process of the trip to Europe.

I have mentioned a few things about Denmark, it is nothing more than that the old Danish king died and the new king came to the throne, Qi Guogong just found something wrong, caused some diplomatic disputes, made some harsh words, turned his face and left.

Qi Guogong is one of the few people who knows that Dashun wants to "collect land tax in India to subsidize domestic use". When talking about the trip to Europe with Liu Yu, he also knows what Liu Yu is most concerned about, which is the United Kingdom that he is most concerned about. question.

"Shoutong, this time the opium incident did not kill the UK. But will the UK really let go of the tea tax? Although I don't understand the truth, I understand the simple truth. If the tea tax is lifted, the tea of ​​our companies will not be easy to sell."

"Now, the Western Trading Company and the Sino-Swiss Raksha United Trading Company have taken a huge profit in tea. Many of them are also sold to the UK."

"Now is the time to strike while the iron is hot, and I have invested a lot of money in it, waiting for the profit. Your Majesty probably put a lot of money in it."

"When I was in Europa, I specifically inquired about the tea tax in Britain. I heard that Britain is also dancing with demons on the issue of tea tax."

"The East India Company hired a lot of people to write editorials all day long, discussing the benefits of abolishing the tea tax; there were also people who refuted point by point, only talking about the disadvantages of abolishing the tea tax."

"In my opinion, it's partisan."

"Everyone is looking for gunmen, and they all speak righteousness. I think the chaos of the British faction is close at hand."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Father-in-law is right, this is the battle between the parties. At the end of the battle, they are all overwhelmed by the fight. Is the egg on the big head or the small head? It's like the battle between the new party and the old party in the Song Dynasty. Whoever wins must be completely negated. Even if some policies of the old party and the new party are not completely evil, they still need to be rejected."

"The British still have the Prince's Party, the King's Party, and the King's Party today. It's normal to fight. As for the tea tax, don't worry about it."

Liu Yu was very confident about this point.

Historically, Britain's support for the bourgeoisie was really paid for by the whole people.

If the tea tax is abolished and the total tax amount remains the same, then there will be gains and losses, and mulberry and elm harvests.

If the term "efficient centralization" can be used, Britain is undoubtedly the most suitable one.

The British government collects money according to the window. When the Ming Dynasty died not long ago, it could collect 400 million taels of silver by relying on the window tax.It is equivalent to two years of Liao's salary, which is unimaginable in Dashun or Daming, and it is impossible to collect this money at all.

This should also be one of the reasons for the different glass styles of 18th-century buildings in Britain and France. Britain taxed according to the number of windows; while France taxed according to the width of the glass.

Therefore, the glass style in France is more slender, while the windows of that era in England are larger.

Historically, in order to support the bourgeoisie of the East India Company, Britain imposed a window tax.

Use the window tax to make up for the abolished tea tax.

In other words, relying on the British middle class to pay the bills to support the East India Company from collapsing.

This kind of support should be said to be beyond the imagination of the businessmen in Dashun. What is the ruling tool of the ruling class?

But, that moment, this moment.

The East India Company that took over India in 1766 and the East India Company that didn’t take over Bengal are both called the East India Company, but they are not the same thing.

After the Seven Years War in 1766, the French colonial system collapsed, and the prestige of the British government; and now it is accused of being a "Shenra prince", attacked by the Patriot Party, pierced by France, and Belgium lost the Netherlands. The British government of the traditional ally is called the British government, but it is not the same thing.

Therefore, Liu Yu can conclude that the British Parliament will never pass the bill to abandon the tea tax.

We have just finished the war and are short of money. Now that we have given up the tea tax, where can we make up for it?
From the middle class, the whole people will pay for the East India Company?

As far as the prestige of the British king, the contradiction between father and son, and the doubts about whether the Germans or the British are concerned, they must not dare.

What's more, the current East India Company has not been valued by the British government to cut the middle-class wool to save it.

How much money you make determines the value of the company.Even Bangladesh has not been won, and the strength of the company's lobby group is not enough.

And there is another problem here, that is, the North American ginseng war provoked by Liu Yu has sharply increased the eccentricity between the wealthy colonial businessmen and the British government.

Smugglers and wealthy businessmen in North America are a highly overlapping class. At this time, they dare to impose tea tax, unless there is not a single person among the millions of people in the UK, and the parliament is full of baboons with unsound minds.

After thinking for a while, Liu Yu smiled and said: "I guess, this matter will eventually be solved in a random way. The British side may let the wind out first and cancel the tea tax. But the thunder is loud and the rain is small, and they will definitely give up in the end. It’s a bargaining chip to buy the hearts of North Americans.”

"Since I forced him to go to India, I wanted to scare them. If I don't scare them, they won't make up their minds. At least in the past few years, there is no need to worry about the smuggling trade."

"In the past few years, it is best to make a fortune silently."

Duke Qi of course supported Mu Sheng's making a fortune, and he himself bought a lot of shares.

After thinking about Liu Yu's inferences about the British policy, Qi Guogong said again: "So, can the Western Trading Company increase the amount of tea this year? At least add the one million taels that the Danish Company has vacated?"

Liu Yu said: "Add, you can add more. You don't have to eat alone, but it's okay to eat big pieces. Anyway, if you go through Sweden or the Netherlands, for us, it's just the difference between the left hand and the right hand."

"Anyway, Britain can't reduce the tea tax now, and the East India Company can only think about India. Let's just sit back and watch. Don't worry. This year, not only will the original volume of Denmark be added, but also some goods will be added. I Add 25% tax to him, and the Danes will lose money when they ship it back. Look, they have to beg me to let me eat the goods they ordered after a while, otherwise they will pay those suppliers to default gold."

"Since we have cooperated with the Netherlands, we should also learn from the methods that the Dutch used to seize the ships of the Guochao maritime merchants in Batavia and force the Guochao maritime merchants to reduce prices and sell at a loss."

Anyway, in dealing with the Dutch in these years, Liu Yu has never seen the Barents spirit of the golden age advocated, but has seen all kinds of dirty methods.

(End of this chapter)