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Chapter 996 Good Products Don't Worry About Sales

"Governor Coen, I suggest you think carefully about the situation you will face in the future. After this war, except for the Dutch East India Company, all European countries' trading posts and colonies in Asia will be eliminated by the Empire.

This is both an opportunity and a challenge for you and your company. Most of the goods from Asia will then be transshipped by your company's ships to various European countries for sale, which will bring huge profits.

But there is an idiom in Chinese that goes, "It is a crime to possess a treasure." When a person's wealth exceeds his ability, it is no longer happiness, but may turn into a disaster.

The royal families of all Europe, including the church, would regard the United Provinces as a piece of fat meat and would be eager to swallow it up. How to form alliances among them to protect themselves is a very thorny and critical issue.

If you and your company cannot give me a satisfactory answer, the cooperation between the Empire and the East India Company will come to an end. All good things must come to an end. For the long-term interests of the Empire, I have to choose another European ally with better self-protection capabilities. "

After learning the details of the royal families of various European countries and combining the intelligence obtained over the years, Hong Tao was more certain that the fleet that attacked Enniao Port was closely related to Britain and Spain. But at this time, he was not paying much attention to the enemy, but issued an ultimatum to Cohen.

As soon as the war started, the Portuguese forces had to withdraw from Asia. No matter how much the Portuguese disliked the Spanish, they had to accept the rule of the King of Spain after all. When there were only two options left, the Ming Empire and Spain, the answer was obvious.

Would the Spanish and British be allowed to use the large number of ports and colonies occupied by the Portuguese in Asia to play a cat-and-mouse game with the Ming navy? Absolutely not. At this time, the Ming Empire would become the embodiment of justice, use force to drive out the colonists, and fight for freedom and independence for the people of all Asia.

Of course, in some strategically important places with prominent economic benefits, it is better for the Ming Empire to manage them. After all, the embodiment of justice also needs to eat, and there are a large number of people at home who are hungry for food, so please understand.

However, doing so would face a major change, that is, what would happen to the East India Company of the United Provinces. Would the Dutch continue to cooperate with the Ming Empire because of the huge profits, or would they turn against it out of fear of becoming the target of public criticism?

You might ask why not take the opportunity to expel the Dutch and the Portuguese from Asia, dominate the Eurasian shipping routes and become the sole supplier, wouldn't that allow for higher profits?
Those who think this way are definitely not qualified to be politicians. At best, they are at the level of the Duke of Buckingham. The benefits are not the more the better, nor are they a simple addition and subtraction that can be taken by oneself. Instead, costs and sustainability must be considered first.

The Ming Empire and Europe had no direct contact, and the two sides did not understand each other in terms of culture, beliefs and ideology. If Ming merchants were suddenly allowed to sail to Europe to do business, the most likely result would be that neither the people nor the ships would return.

Send a fleet to sweep across Europe first and completely eliminate all dangers? It's easier said than done, but it will probably take decades or even centuries to see results.

The Ming Empire does not have such strength at present, and there is no need to fight so hard. Business is about win-win. At most, one side can make more while the other side can make less. If all the profits are taken by one side, then this business is doomed to fail.

What the Ming Empire needs right now is not a winner-takes-all strategy and global domination, but to export products to Europe, Arabia and Africa, among which European countries have the strongest purchasing power.

Destroying them all would not necessarily be a good thing. The market would shrink, and domestic goods would not sell well, which would be even more difficult for domestic merchants. If merchants were not happy, the imperial tax revenue would also decline, and the train of the new policy would not be able to move. "…If your Majesty allows, I am willing to go as an envoy to talk to the commander of the fleet and try to avoid war. If your Majesty expels the Portuguese, and the governor of the United Provinces does not allow the East India Company to continue to represent imperial goods, it will not be good for both sides."

The sudden question made Cohen's thin face turn visibly pale. He knew that the emperor was not joking and he also knew the weight of every word. However, he was not mentally prepared and had no authorization in this regard, so he could not give a clear answer.

From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want the company to be forced to choose sides, and it was best to maintain the status quo. For this purpose, he had to remind the emperor that it would not benefit anyone to tear his face off, so think twice!

"Europe also had a spice trade before the Portuguese arrived. Even if all European countries do not accept Ming Empire's merchant ships, I can still connect the trade routes to Europe through the Arabs and the Ottoman Empire.

But by then you and your company may not be qualified to interfere in the business of spices, sugar, tea, cocoa powder, silk, cotton, dyes and porcelain, and there will be no East India Company trading posts and ports in Asia.

Well, that's all I want to say. You don't need to persuade me anymore. Go back to the cabin and think about how to make appropriate suggestions to the head office. When it gets light tomorrow morning, if you want, you can come to the deck and see how I send the ships of that fleet to the bottom of the sea one by one.

Asia is the sphere of influence of the Ming Empire. No matter what the rules were before, from now on, you can only follow my rules. This time I am reminding the Europeans that if they still don't wake up, Lisbon, Rome, Venice, London, Paris, Oslo, and Copenhagen may all become like Banda Aceh!"

Hong Tao resolutely counterattacked Cohen's half-persuasion and half-threat attitude. Don't think that the trade route between Asia and Europe will be cut off without Europeans. Before the Portuguese arrived in Asia, the goods on both sides were still circulated through the diligent transportation of Arabs and the resale of Venetian profiteers.

When that time comes, traitors will appear among the Europeans, such as the Venetians. They will not care whether it is strategically beneficial to Europeans or Asians, as long as they can make money, they must be the first to rush in.

By then, the already declining Mediterranean will regain its second spring and once again become the trade center of Europe, while the Dutch, far away from the Mediterranean, can only shed tears while watching over tens of thousands of merchant ships.

The two Silk Roads, one on land and the other on sea, were Hong Tao's confidence in backing up each other. Otherwise, he would not have hastily launched a war of annihilation against the Yarkand Khanate without being fully confident of the situation.

If the sea route is open, it would of course be more cost-effective to vigorously develop maritime trade, with the land trade routes serving as auxiliary, with more emphasis on Persia and Russia.

If the Europeans were determined to compete with the Ming Empire for control of the sea routes, the balance of power would have to change, with the trade routes on the sea being the main force and the Arab middlemen being the auxiliary.

The war at sea continued as usual, the products had to be sold, and the Europeans had to buy. They earned gold and silver from the Europeans while fighting the European fleet, and then used the wealth earned from Europe to continue building ships. Hey, it depends on how long the Europeans can hold out!
(End of this chapter)