Sir, you have to pay more

Chapter 957 Great Qing, a New Lighthouse

The reason John trembled was because he didn't know what the Chinese official on the other side said.

Because, he is French.

To be precise, it was a representative sent by the French East India Company to start trade negotiations with the court of the Tatar Empire.

The French East India Company was a trading company founded by the Frenchman Colbert in the early years of Kangxi. It mainly supervised the trade between France mainland and India, East Africa, the East Indies and other French territories in the Indian Ocean.

In the 37th year of Kangxi, the French East India Company began to trade with China. Its merchant ship Amphitrite arrived in Guangzhou and sailed all the way to Yangzhou, where it met Kangxi who was on a southern tour.

Kangxi decreed to exempt French merchant ships from taxes and money, allowing French merchants to set up shop in Guangzhou.

It's just that the trade between China and the West is mainly controlled by the Dutch, and the Guangdong Thirteen Bank is doing exclusive business with the Dutch East India Company.

Then the French East India Company's desire to directly trade with Chinese merchants obviously violated the interests of the Dutch, so French merchant ships have been harassed by the Dutch for a long time.

Serious problems occurred in the country's economy again, which led to the decline of the French East India Company. Now it can only act as a second-hand dealer to eat some residue from the Dutch.

Therefore, after hearing that the actual power holders in the north of the Tatar Empire sent representatives to Macau, inviting merchants from various countries to go directly north to the confidant of the Tatar Empire to conduct trade, and the central government of the Tatar Empire was also willing to provide armed protection to merchant ships from various countries, France The East India Company saw an opportunity to get rid of the shadow of the Dutch, and immediately sent John to lead a delegation to the north, hoping to develop long-term trade cooperation with the central government of the Tatar Empire, which would surely continue the life of the already weak company.

In addition to bringing the sincerity of the French East India Company's trade with the Tatar Empire, John, as a business representative, also brought a whole shipment of American ginseng.

This thing is worth more than gold.

And the price of gold can only be sold in China.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it was forbidden for folks to gather ginseng outside the customs, but the market's thirst for ginseng never diminished. Under the premise that the supply of ginseng from Liaodong was unavailable, large quantities of Korean ginseng and American ginseng were smuggled into China, and the prices were quite high.

In the 57th year of Kangxi, the French transported American ginseng to China for the first time. This kind of ginseng, which looks exactly like Chinese ginseng, was immediately favored by Chinese officials, gentry and wealthy households, and they gave unanimous praise.

The price has also risen, from 1.44 taels per catty in the early days to 155 taels per catty today.

That is to say, the legal annual salary of first-rank officials in the Qing Dynasty (excluding Yanglian silver and others) was only enough to buy about a catty.

Although John couldn't understand what the young Chinese official in front of him said, and didn't know whether the other party represented the Tatar emperor or the legendary person in power, he immediately offered three high-quality American ginseng to the young official.

"No, look, who said that the Qing Dynasty and Westerners have no common language, isn't that right?"

Jia Liu accepted the meeting gift without hesitation, thinking that this thing might be the legendary American ginseng.

We must know that American ginseng played an important role in the early history of the old watch in the United States. The price is comparable to gold, and it is a great weapon for harvesting Chinese silver.

But, trade is something that is mutual.

You can't stop people from selling their goods just because they are super expensive in China.

Market supply and demand will always determine commercial value.

So Jia Liu smiled and stretched out her thumb: "Enough! Enough!"

But the old English cousin on the opposite side didn't seem to understand what he meant.

This made Jia Liu face a difficult situation, how could he communicate deeply if he could not communicate.

You must know that for this historic meeting, Jia Liu even asked the priest to revisit Li Lei and Han Meimei, so that he could have fun with the old cousins ​​from the other side of the ocean.

John, the representative of the French East India Company, struggled for a long time to understand what "enough" meant. He hurriedly pulled James, a British businessman who disembarked with him, from the crowd and asked him to translate from it.

I don’t know if it’s because of the times, or if Jia Liu’s English is too advanced, or maybe James is from a country in England with a too strong accent, so the communication is still not smooth.

For example, if people from Zhejiang and Cantonese want to speak in their respective dialects, they must have the wrong lips.

But they all speak Chinese.

Helpless, Jia Liu had to wait for Zhu Dawen, the prefect of Tianjin, who had not yet landed, to bring the translator.

At this time, that James mustered up the courage to ask, "Cut the oil and tear up Kechanis?"

"Well?"

Jia Liu excitedly said: "Yes! Akashi Kechanis!"

The next communication was very pleasant, and the whole conversation was in Chinese.

Jia Liu also quickly figured out that John was not British, but French, and represented the French East India Company.

Although this James is not a member of the British East India Company, he has been engaged in trade with China for 20 years and belongs to the predecessors of this industry.

Hong Renhui, the Englishman who went to the capital to sue for impeachment, was still James' teacher.

More and more Western businessmen disembarked, and the pier was bustling with activity.

Seeing that the time was right, Xu Ji, the accompanying Tianjin governor, immediately sent a message to his subordinates. Immediately, there was a rumbling gun salute above the port, and then the gong and drum teams, waist drum teams, and stilt teams that had been prepared in advance were all active.

"Valken, Valken Daqing!"

"Porcelain, silk, tea, big ones!"

When he said this, Jia Liu actually felt uncomfortable, because apart from porcelain, silk, and tea, what else could the huge Qing Dynasty produce to participate in international trade competition?
There is no technological content at all.

After the Western countries complete the initial stage of the industrial revolution, the three major items that the Chinese are proud of will become history, and the existence of street stalls will exist.

China will also become a dumping ground for the industrial achievements of Western countries.

Large sums of silver and gold flowed out.

Therefore, industrial development is urgent.

After all the merchants disembarked, Jia Liu immediately called Zhu Dawen, the prefect of Tianjin, and asked him to lead the business group to the commercial hall near the customs office.

It is a three-story building covering an area of ​​[-] mu. It is planned to be rented out to businessmen from various countries to open business offices.

It was only after Zhu Dawen went ashore that he realized that the governor had transformed into His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. It felt like being raped by happiness for a few rounds.

Because, Zhu Zhifu understands that his spring has really come.

There is a world of difference between a person whom the Governor-General trusts and a person who is highly regarded by His Majesty the Emperor.

After reacting, he must report the results of this investment promotion to His Majesty the Emperor, and introduce His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty to businessmen from all over the world.

"Let's talk about this later, you first take the people to the guild hall to settle down, eat and drink well, and take a rest, then take them to visit the industrial and commercial achievements of our country, and then you talk to them with Mr. Xu, the Ministry of Households, and the customs. Finally, I will talk to them again. Remember, this Beiyang trade, trade is of course important, but the exchanges between our Qing Dynasty and other countries are equally important, and we need to learn from foreigners."

While talking, a hundred Coster luxury carriages parked at the pier drove over and picked up the guests from foreign countries one by one.

The moment the convoy set off, firecrackers were fired, and there were welcome crowds along the way.

The unique weather of a big country.

Businessmen from [-] countries including France, Britain, Portugal, Belgium, and Italy were eye-opening, feeling that the current Tatar Empire is no longer the conservative and old empire, but a vibrant and open country.

It seems that this time, they are expected to make a lot of money in the north of the Tatar Empire.

"This Beiyang trade, all relevant departments must pay attention to it. At the same time, they must attract investment. While selling things to them, they must also keep their good things."

Jia Liu's face is also full of expectations, looking at the Coster team going away and those Western businessmen who are very curious and looking outside in the car.

The lighthouse in the port behind it also looks very tall under the sunlight.

(End of this chapter)