Xinshun 1730

Chapter 932 Awakening ([-])

Although these two thanks, in Liu Yu's mouth, the tone was glib, and there was a sense of joking.

But for these businessmen who are trying to open up direct trade with Europe, these two thanks are sincere.

The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants took the shade.

Just like coffee cannot be sold in Dashun.

If it starts from scratch, it may take more than a hundred years for this tea to sell so well in Europe and become popular.

If it is said that the predecessors planted trees, the seeds were planted by the Portuguese.

The most important watering in the follow-up was really watered by the Ostend company, which was short-lived a few years ago.

Not only because of vicious competition, an old Wang Xietang Qianyan was poured into the homes of ordinary people, and the sales volume of tea in Europe rose from hundreds of thousands of catties to 2000 million catties now.

Even more because of the birth of a daughter, Britain has not yet canceled the tea tax.This is the Western Trading Company, or even said to be the cornerstone for Dashun and Sweden to take the first step towards European trade.

The people present knew very well that the Swedes smuggled tea to North America to make money, so they were easily caught by Dashun and had to cooperate with Dashun as a shareholding.These people know the size and population of the Blue Flag country.Such a small population buys so much tea, unless the people of the blue flag country use tea as cabbage and radish.

In fact, the value of cooperation with Sweden is not just to make money.

In addition, the Swedes killed hundreds of people and sank many ships to explore the route. Dashun got it without spending a penny and without killing a single person.

Judging from all these, the businessmen present felt that the two "thanks" that Liu Yu joked about should actually "thank you" the Habsburg family.

After this kind of banter, Liu Yu said again: "Nowadays, the trees planted by the predecessors, we take advantage of the shade. Don't mention anything else, just talk about the tea. In fact, our company is already fully capable of monopolizing it."

"Do you have a monopoly? In most cases, there are no more than two."

"One is free competition, throw money, cut prices, smash the other party to bankruptcy, and then monopolize."

"The other kind is called administrative intervention."

"Our ancestors had a saying, which is to treat others in the same way. Since the United Kingdom can grant monopoly power through administrative intervention, the Netherlands can do it, France can do it, Sweden can do it, Denmark can do it, Prussia can do it, Portugal and Spain can do it, Why can’t the government interfere with the authorized monopoly?”

"Whether you need it or not, that's another story."

"Even if there is no monopoly of administrative intervention, we can still win by spending money and relying on capital to compete for the blood."

"So, assuming we get the monopoly, do you think the price of this tea should continue to drop? Or should the price increase after the monopoly?"

Price cut?

Price hike?

It seems that this is a very simple problem.

However, everyone present knew that this was actually a test.

As a supervisor, Liu Yu actually has the absolute right to make recommendations on the appointment of future board members.Although it is said that the supervision of the imperial court will not last for too long, according to the previous statement, after it is on the right track, there will still be supervision, but it will not be the same as it is now. , How to ship, etc. must be reviewed and managed.

However, once the supervision is not so strict in the future, who will be in charge?

Who will be the chairman?

In theory, the members of the board of directors are elected, but if the court does not nod, it will be very difficult to do.

It seems that whether to increase or decrease the price, you only need to answer whether to increase or decrease.

However, this is not just empty talk.

The merchants thought about what Liu Yu had just said about tea, and wanted to pave the way for a lot. This is to remind us: whether it is rising or falling, we must grasp the truth.

Only by grasping the truth and finding the truth of doing such a large business and from a macro perspective can we determine whether the company will develop well or not in the future.

The people present heard Liu Yu talk about the Dutch East India Company more than once, as a "negative teaching material".

From the quota of spices, to the forced price increase that led to the substitution of Brazilian clove wood, to the crisis of the disorderly expansion of the sugar industry, and to the company’s bond issuance and operation without expanding its share capital, etc., they are all negative teaching materials.

Those who are responsible for these negative teaching materials are the 17-member gentleman group of VOC, who are the real executive directors of the board of directors.

Their decisions have led to difficulties in the company's operations.Although there are multiple factors, there are at least a few problems that cannot be avoided.

Whether the price of tea is rising or falling, once the wrong step is taken, it may seriously affect the profit of Xiyang Trading Company.

After all, this is a big business worth several million taels.

The people at the table buzzed and discussed for a while, and soon disagreed.

There were also people who stood up and stated their opinions. Liu Yu didn't show any joy on his face, and just let everyone comment.

Some say it should go up, some say it should go down, and some say it shouldn't go up or down.

Up or down, that's just a matter of lip service.

What is really meaningful, or "why" should it rise?Or "why" is it falling?
After discussing for a long time, finally a 27-year-old, the second generation of Shang, who is considered young among this group of people, stood up, saluted Liu Yu, and said: "Duke, please forgive me for your stupid words. Answer. I guess the Duke did it on purpose."

"I have also studied geometry. The question of the Duke is like talking about a triangle. One side is 1, and the other side is also 1. So how long is the third side?"

"The conditions given by the Duke are not enough. I feel that I cannot answer."

The businessman next to him was startled, while those in the distance turned their heads to look at the young man.This young man's surname is Xu, his first name is Heng, and his style name is Jiesheng. He is the youngest son in his family.

His father was in Japanese business in the early years. His elder brother went to Xiaocang to smuggle and was bombarded to death by the Japanese. When Dashun attacked Japan, his father followed him to Japan to perform rituals for his son. During this period, he was in charge of logistics in the army.

Now that he is old, he looked at all his sons and chose the younger son who had received the new education to succeed him. He was afraid that the other sons would not accept him and his brothers would not get along with him.

Among this group of businessmen, Xu Heng belongs to the "Japanese trade department". Although he is young, he has relied on the foundation accumulated by his family and embraced Liu Yu's thigh early in the war against Japan. Auxiliary military supplies have made a fortune, and they can be regarded as the latest group of businessmen and courts to leave.

Everyone also knew Liu Yu's temperament and didn't care much about red tape, so seeing Xu Heng saying that Liu Yu's conditions were not enough to answer, they were not worried about him, but they didn't know what to say because of his surprising words?
It's a bit like a teacher giving a lecture on the podium, and some students below say that there are problems with the questions given by the teacher, which will naturally attract the attention of "the whole class".

Soon, these people turned their heads, looked at Liu Yu, and thought to themselves, what does the Duke say?
Liu Yu also just smiled and said, "Tell me, what do you mean by sufficient conditions?"

Although Xu Heng was young, he was brave enough to be selected as the heir by his father against the pressure of the other brothers.At this time, he said calmly, "I have read an article written by Duke Guo when he was in Wendeng. It was about permanent tenancy and mu tax."

"At that time, Master Mubai of Wendeng Prefecture wanted to reform the head tax, so he sent someone to investigate and wrote the "Investigation Report on Land Mu Tax in Wendeng Prefecture."

"It uses detailed figures to write the total number of acres in Wendeng Prefecture, the total tax, the severity of the head tax, and the severity of the tax per mu. The per capita acres of the common people, the number of corvees, the geometry of food prices, the average debt, and so on."

"From this, we can figure out who supports the poll tax reform, who supports it, who opposes it, who benefits, and who suffers."

"After reading it, I know that the truth is only in these numbers. Therefore, the price of tea is going up or down, not by opening your mouth here."

"It's about getting all kinds of figures for the common people in Europe."

"Who are the tea drinkers now? How much money do they make in a month? How much money do they make from tea consumption?"

"How much does a worker in Europe earn a month? How much does a farmer earn a month?"

"How many workers? How many farmers? How many businessmen? How many officials?"

"Do the workers drink tea?"

"If they don't drink it, how far can they drink it?"

"Do farmers drink tea?"

"If you don't drink it, to what extent will the rich among them drink it? And to what extent will the less wealthy buy some during the holidays?"

"To what extent can the price be reduced, and how much can you sell?"

"Is the profit from selling these goods at a lower price higher than before?"

"I don't know anything about these things."

"What's the difference between this and some people talking about Taoism without even knowing how to use a telescope?"

When Xu Heng said this, Liu Yu nodded frequently.

The businessman next to him saw Liu Yu nodding frequently and showing joy, and couldn't help but say alas!

Especially those who specialize in thinking about "something good in the world" are even more enlightened-suddenly enlightened, it is not the same reason.

Instead, they specially bought steam engines, used them like stone lions, and placed them in their gardens as decorations.

Sometimes when Liu Yu is invited to a meal, the steam engine will be boiled and the steam engine will pump water.Some people even rumored that the Duke likes the smell of gunpowder because he has been on the battlefield for a long time. The Duke likes the smell of coal smoke.

In addition to the most wonderful scenery in the world at this time - the best of the beautiful Jiangnan gardens, often standing among the fake mangosteen forests and green waves, with chimneys emitting thick smoke - there are also such things as changing the servants at home to the hired labor system Restoring its original name; setting aside land in the expensive gardens to not grow flowers and plants, but deliberately planting food or exotic plants; going out without sedan chairs and carriages... There are even strange gardens with bluestone roads that have to be paved with rails and left to rust .

Secretly, Liu Yu ridiculed this strange situation as "the strange version of [Westernization Movement] with the king of Chu's thin waist".

These "Westernization Movement" enthusiasts, when they heard Xu Heng talk about reading the pamphlet written by Liu Yu, Liu Yu nodded frequently, how could they not regret it?
Xin Dao, it turned out that not only should I set up a steam engine in Yuanzi Forest to play with smoke, but also read those newly learned books... Moreover, it seems that reading is more important than buying machines.

(End of this chapter)