Xinshun 1730

Chapter 937 The Experience of an Old Smuggler
Ginger is still old and spicy. This old saying may not be correct in this era of old and new.

It's just that an old man like Xu Tao belongs to a special group of Dashun merchants.

I have experienced too many things such as smuggling, smuggling becoming legal, trade, state power administrative intervention in trade, and so on, and it is too easy to understand the reasoning behind it.

The maritime merchants of Dashun who trade with Japan can be regarded as a very special group among the merchants of Dashun, especially the maritime merchants who were engaged in trade with Japan before Liu Yu.

They went to Japan to buy copper at the fixed price of the imperial court when the war ended in the late Ming Dynasty, the economy recovered, and the country was short of currency.I used to be a comprador of the imperial court-this is also impossible. China's economic aggregate is too large, and it is really short of currency.And these ministers in Dashun, although they don’t understand economics, they don’t get mixed up like North Korea. If they want to completely cancel the currency policy, they can only go to Japan to buy copper and mint coins to cope with the recovery of the country’s economy after the war.

Experienced the last afterglow of the golden age of Japanese trade, controlled the pricing power of copper, and held copper ingots that were lower than the mining and smelting prices of Japan, because Japanese merchants could use raw silk to make up for this part of the difference—similar to the historical British The East India Company asked the thirteen compradors of the Qing Dynasty to sell woolen fabrics at a loss price and find them from tea.

After experiencing the impact of Japan’s policy of tightening the export of gold, silver and precious metals overnight, it was not only as simple as Xu Tao’s eldest son being smuggled and killed by the Japanese coastal defense fort, but also the imperial court fixed the price of copper, so that many officials who run copper for the imperial court The tragedy of the compradors going bankrupt after they regained their copper pricing rights in Japan-the imperial court set the copper price according to the time when Japan had no trade letters, and the imperial bureaucrats have always been slow to respond, and they will not say that these compradors will be given more money because of the rise in copper prices.

In the end, Liu Yu turned "smuggling" into "legal" trade.

Their understanding of monopoly, smuggling, administrative intervention, and tariffs is different from other businessmen.

Because to put it nicely, they are maritime merchants.To put it bluntly, it means that smugglers, pirates, and merchants come ashore.

It's really different from those tea dealers who sit at home and collect money.

So Xu Heng said that when the JJVOUT&SONS organization in the Netherlands can sell smuggled goods, the way is wild, and the efficiency is high, Xu Tao does not think it is a long-term solution.

Because he's been through something like that.

There were also special smuggling groups in Japan back then, but soon after those smuggling groups monopolized the shipping channels, they would use the route to ask for prices, lowering the prices of their smuggled goods.

Market channel monopoly is still a kind of monopoly.

Although Xu Tao does not understand professional vocabulary, his early trading experience in Japan made him understand this very clearly.

So he decided that it was impossible for Liu Yu not to see things that he could see clearly.

Based on his understanding of Liu Yu's trading style over the years, he knew that Liu Yu absolutely didn't like being pinched, whether it was supply or sales.

Yes, sooner or later you have to fight.

After experiencing so much, the Xu family hugged Liu Yu early.

Xu Tao can be regarded as the group of people who awakened class consciousness relatively early in the merchant class. In theory, the so-called awakening of class consciousness of the bourgeoisie refers to: as the ruling class, formulating laws that conform to the interests of the bourgeoisie, binding power and money, Power cannot be hereditary, but money can be hereditary. The law must protect the assets of businessmen and allow the greatest degree of capital freedom.

However, Dashun has its own national conditions here.Smart people in the business class, like Xu Tao, are a little bit desperate. Looking at the [-] field elites stationed in Songjiang Mansion, this is obviously unrealistic.

Therefore, the class consciousness of the merchant class with Dashun characteristics can only be awakened to the level of Xu Tao at this time: the larger the scale of overseas trade and the turnover capital, the more stable one's position can be.

It is the kind of awakening with a strong father flavor: the scholar-bureaucrat is his own son, and he seems to have picked it up. As a picked-up son, he has to work hard to prove that he is important to the family, so that his father can recognize, love, and praise him.Of course, if father is the people of the whole country, this is a public servant; the key is now that father is the imperial power, the court.

The high expenditures for external expansion cannot be afforded by the current disabled Dashun central financial system. Only by relying on the joint-stock system to pool the capital of everyone can we pay for the expenses of traveling to Nanyang and expanding business.Otherwise, the turnover of tens of millions of taels a year can worry about the emperor's gray hair.

Once relying on the joint-stock system to gather private capital, the imperial court had to introduce some policies to protect some of the rights of these businessmen.

Including the emperor's southern tour this time, he wanted to build the Huaihe River, and asked for money from salt merchants, but allowed the merchants of Songjiang Prefecture to "scroll" to Nanyang, staggering the time when the emperor was lucky to Nanyang. This is an attitude.

This is what Xu Tao said to his son, "The line with the Duke of the country, one prospers and one loses both".

Of course, there is also a part of Liu Yu's "credit" for smuggling to Japan.

Xu Tao had something to say, "for the sake of the venerable", but he didn't tell his son all of it.

He thought in his heart, what would happen if the port was opened for trade and commerce, there is really a ready-made model.

When the Duke of the State was smuggling to Japan, we didn't dare to touch war horses, weapons, armor, military books, maps, cavalry and archery warriors and so on.

Whoever touches will die.

For other things, the customs always turned a blind eye when they collected the money. This matter is really not good, otherwise Japan would not have set such a high price.Not only can't get it here, even North Korea, which is more corrupt and incompetent than Dashun's previous customs, no one dares to touch.

As soon as the Duke of the state is on the horse, he has an official status, various connections, a map of war horses, riding and shooting warriors and military books, and he dares to do anything. Who dares to ask?

So it's the Duke of the Kingdom who is so capable that he can get nearly three-quarters of the trade letters from Edo?If I can also transport horses, weapons, and books of war without being caught by the customs and beheaded and ransacked, will I not get the three-quarters trade letter card that Nagasaki pursues?

Is this a capacity issue?This is obviously a father's problem.

Such a model is here, so that Xu Tao knows what Dashun will do if he wants to engage in port trade.

So he is the most loyal to Liu Yu's external expansion line and policy.

It's not because he has abundant martial arts virtues and pioneering spirit, but because he simply understands that his father is not the hereditary Duke Hou Bozi.

Xu Tao felt that he was old and would not live long.So he hoped that the youngest son he chose to succeed him could understand where the interests of the family lay.

Either be extremely radical, and strongly support Liu Yu's military expansion, high accumulation and high investment, and an appropriate and relatively low annual interest rate of return.

Either be extremely conservative, cash out all the stock and family property, go to the countryside to buy land, cultivate and study the family, and transform from a businessman to a gentleman.

It is neither extremely conservative to take the road of transforming gentry, nor is it extremely radical to take the road of external expansion, but at the same time thinks that it is best to collect money and reduce costs through port trade at the same time as a businessman, then it is really flooded in the head.

After passing on the knowledge gained from his own life experience to his son, Xu Tao finally asked: "Do you think the Duke knows the approximate profit margin of Western trade? Do you know that the first time before the end of the European war? The Western trade you run will make a lot of money?"

Xu Heng nodded quickly, thinking to himself, do you need to say this?Even the class income survey in the UK has been done, so how can you be sure that you will make money?

Xu Tao asked again: "In this case, with the reputation of the Duke and the enthusiasm for investment over the years, why did he insist on setting a minimum dividend before the establishment of the Western Trading Company? He didn't set the minimum dividend. From the point of view of trade with Japan, Ezo, Southeast Asia, etc., will there be no money to be raised?"

Xu Heng pondered for a long time, and tentatively replied: "Father, does the Duke want everyone to accept his supervision? Make a promise in exchange?"

Xu Tao laughed and said, "Silly son, you really don't know what it was like before, and you take everything in Songjiang Mansion for granted."

"Exchange? Promise?"

"The imperial court really wants to supervise, do you need your consent? If you don't agree, the imperial court will not supervise? Has the imperial court ever been so reasonable to the salt merchants?"

"Who do you think you are? Gentlemen and scholars can stop the exam to protest, they can cry at the temple, they can cry at the mausoleum, and the court has to take a step back. What can a businessman do? Why does the court reason with you?"

Xu Heng was young, and Songjiang Mansion was already different from other places when he grew up and came into contact with business.

Just like the new learning he learned, there is no process of verification, theoretical calculation, and experimental discussion. He just taught them things like gravity, the earth, peas, and molecules and atoms, making them take it for granted since they were young. reason.

The Songjiang mansion he grew up in is such a special situation, as if all kinds of things such as limited liability, shareholding liability, and shareholder rights are taken for granted, it seems that the world works like this, just like he feels The earth revolves around the sun, which is common sense that every child should know.

However, Xu Tao did not grow up in such a natural environment.

Xu Tao knew very well that the imperial court really wanted to supervise the merchants, and there was no need for a promise of a minimum dividend in exchange for the acceptance of the merchants.

It's just a matter of one sentence.

Even, with a single word from the imperial court, the foreign trade of Songjiang Mansion can be completely ended and transferred to Guangzhou, Fujian, and Zhangzhou.

"The reason why Guogong gave the minimum dividend and asked everyone if he could accept it was because he didn't intend to divide all the profits as dividends in his heart, but was prepared to accumulate high and invest heavily. To maintain a dividend that you and I can accept If you eat it, it tastes a little bit but not very tasty, and if you throw it away, it is absolutely a pity not to part with the dividend.”

"Think about it again, what has the Duke been tossing about in Songjiang Mansion all these years?"

"After the national tax was increased and the local apportionment was established, Qingmiao Loan, which imitated the Jinggong system, also existed in Songjiang Prefecture; Small farmers can borrow from young crops; the maximum land rent in Songjiang Mansion should not exceed [-]%; the money that stares at us like bastards is not allowed to flow to buy land..."

"All of this is forcing us to accept the minimum dividend promise he gave. If you don't accept it, if you withdraw the shares, the money will be dead."

"Before Guogong implemented this series of policies, we somewhat accepted the dividend promise he gave out of face. But now, it is not out of face, but we accept it willingly and happily. It is difficult to lend usury , It is difficult to buy land, even if you buy land, the land price is high and the rent has dropped from six to four... This money can either be engaged in Western trade, or go to the South Seas, Seas, Seas, Seas, or invest in iron ore coal mining machinery, otherwise it can go to where?"

"Didn't there be a big case a while ago? Some people on the list didn't believe in evil and insisted on secretly buying land in other provinces, but they were found out. What happened?"

"Is he guilty? Which article of the "Da Shun Law" stipulates that you cannot buy land? But here you say hello, and the local officials over there handle it casually. "

"Don't just look at the trading company, you have to look at the various reforms in Songjiang Prefecture in the past few years. 20 years ago, who told me that the annual interest rate was 12%, I didn't even look at it, and I couldn't afford to lose it. That person has never done business with such a low profit, even if I lend according to the interest rate stipulated in the "Dashun Law", I will pay back 36% a year; now?"

(End of this chapter)