Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

The atmosphere at the banquet was quite lively.

Everyone's faces were filled with laughter and excitement.

There are quite a lot of people!

After the British agreed to open the Strait of Malacca to the Ming Dynasty and allow Ming merchants to trade in India, Britain and the Ming Dynasty reached a preliminary reconciliation.

Mutual trade soon became large-scale.

Subsequently, more and more British businessmen came to Ming Dynasty.

You know, Britain in this era is the real world hegemon and the controller of maritime hegemony.

The number of British ships has surpassed traditional colonial empires such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

It is undoubtedly the first in the world.

Furthermore, in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty and Britain had been at odds with each other, and trade had been cut off.

However, although trade has been cut off, demand will not disappear.

Not only will the demand not disappear, but it will increase as time goes by.

But now that once trade is reopened, the trade demand that has been pent up for several years will explode.

A large number of British merchants rushed to the Ming Dynasty, transporting shiploads of silk, porcelain, sugar, tea and other commodities, and bringing shiploads of gold, silver and other precious metals, or food and other necessities to the Ming Dynasty.

While doing business, many British businessmen stayed in Daming to buy property.

Although the Ming Dynasty has not yet opened up to allow foreigners to naturalize or settle for a long time, they are still allowed to wander in the Ming Dynasty on the grounds of doing business.

Today, the British ambassador held a banquet, and naturally all the British businessmen who could come came.

Charles put down the wine glass in his hand and saw from the corner of his eye a blonde girl wearing a Western dress with most of her white back exposed. His throat moved, and he was ready to go up and strike up a conversation.

See if you can invite this beautiful lady to spend a wonderful evening together.

At this moment, an embassy attendant came in from outside the banquet hall, walked quickly to Charles, leaned over and said.

"Your Excellency, the latest news is that the Dutch Ambassador went to the French Embassy. The Dutch Ambassador Anthony and the French Ambassador Charles met alone..."

When Charles heard this, he rolled his eyes and immediately spoke.

"There are many people here. Go to my study and speak slowly."

After saying this, he led his attendants to the study room upstairs.

After entering the study, Charles sat down on the sofa without hesitation, unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, and then asked.

"Tell me, what did they talk about?"

The British were gnashing their teeth with hatred for France and the Netherlands, the two damn bastards.

Even in the far East, the British are paying attention to each other's movements all the time.

Because Britain's defeat in the North American War of Independence was ultimately due to the intervention of France and the Netherlands.

Without the involvement of France and the Netherlands, those traitors in North America would have been hanged on the gallows long ago by Great Britain.

Now that he heard that France and the Netherlands were in contact, Charles would inevitably feel wary.

When the attendant heard this, he did not show off and spoke directly.

"Replying to your Excellency the Ambassador, according to our people's investigation, the ambassadors of France and the Netherlands gathered together to discuss purchasing arms from the Ming Dynasty."

"The Netherlands is trying to reverse the decline on the battlefield by purchasing arms from the Ming Dynasty..."

When Charles heard this, he couldn't help curling his lips.

"Haha, Anthony is really whimsical."

"You want to rely on a batch of arms to turn the tide of the war? What, they can buy it, but we can't buy it, right?"

With a cold snort, Charles opened his mouth and gave instructions.

"Send someone to submit an application to Ming Dynasty, requesting to purchase a batch of Ming army arms."

“Whatever the Dutch buy, we buy double!”

The British in this era were relatively wealthy.

When Charles spent money, he didn't feel bad at all.

Well, Britain and the Netherlands had just gone to war, and the British had canceled their national debt to the Netherlands.

If this war is really won, Britain may want to squeeze the Netherlands to death.

Anyway, as long as the war is won, no matter how much Britain spends, the Netherlands will definitely foot the bill in the end. If this is the case, what can Charles be reluctant to part with?
As for whether the war can be won?
Haha, Charles still has a little bit of confidence.

When it comes to land warfare, the British are really weak and are no match for the French and North American coalition forces.

But when it comes to naval battles, it’s not Charles’s fault. Even if the entire naval power of France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and other naval powers is combined, I, the British, will not be afraid.

Do you really think that the title of Great Britain’s Empire on which the Sun Never Sets was given by charging phone bills?

The war between Britain and the Netherlands was dominated by actual naval battles.

Charles really can’t imagine how I, Da Ying, could lose!
The attendant heard the words and nodded in agreement.

I was ready to turn around and submit the application to Daming.

……

The headquarters of the Ming Dynasty Royal Chamber of Commerce.

The headquarters of the Royal Chamber of Commerce of the Ming Dynasty was originally located in Guangzhou, but after the Ming Dynasty regained Nanjing, it was moved to Nanjing.

The purpose is to control and interfere with the development of Jiangnan, an important economic town.

Under the leadership of the Ming Dynasty Royal Chamber of Commerce, Jiangnan's economic development has now reached a new level.

The germs of capitalism began to flourish.

The industry and commerce in Nanjing, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Suzhou and other places have developed to considerable scale.

Several large factories with hundreds or even thousands of workers have appeared.

The most typical example is Songjiang Mansion.

Songjiang Prefecture was originally the center of China's traditional textile industry, and Songjiang cloth was famous in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

After the Ming Dynasty fully promoted the development of industry and commerce, large households in Songjiang Prefecture generally gave up the traditional small workshop production model.

A large number of workers began to be recruited, machinery and equipment were purchased, and large-scale textile factories were built.

Production efficiency has been greatly improved. In Songjiang Prefecture alone, its cloth output increased dozens of times in just a few years.

Coupled with the vast market brought about by the imperial court's opening of the port in Shanghai, even if the output increased so much, the supply of cloth was still in short supply.

Songjiang's textile industry took off like a pig riding on the wind.

Together with the tax revenue that the court can collect every year, it is also rising slowly.

It is worth mentioning that the current tax structure of the Ming Dynasty has changed from focusing on agricultural taxes to paying equal attention to agricultural taxes, commercial taxes, and customs duties.

In addition, there are supplementary items such as salt tax and tea tax.

The biggest contributor to the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue growth was the increase in commercial taxes and customs taxes.

As for agricultural taxes, salt taxes, tea taxes, etc., although they have also increased, they are not worth mentioning compared with the increases in commercial taxes and customs taxes.

In this process, the Ming Royal Chamber of Commerce made outstanding contributions.

For example, the first large-scale textile factory in Songjiang was led by the Royal Chamber of Commerce.

For another example, most of the steam engine manufacturing factories in Ming Dynasty have financial and technical support from the Royal Chamber of Commerce.

This shows the importance of the Ming Dynasty Royal Chamber of Commerce in the development of industry and commerce.

As the helmsman of the Ming Dynasty Royal Chamber of Commerce, Huang Quan's status naturally goes without saying.

Huang Quan looked at the report in his hand, with a hint of worry between his brows.

Because what is recorded in this report are the next investment directions of the Ming Royal Chamber of Commerce.

And he is also worried about this.

As the president of the Royal Chamber of Commerce, Huang Shen is also burdened with corresponding political tasks.

He must allow the Royal Chamber of Commerce to complete the tasks set by the court, and must allow the Royal Chamber of Commerce to take the lead in industrial and commercial development before he can be promoted.

At present, this is not an easy task.

Just as Huang Quan was thinking, there was a knock on his study door.

Then, there was the voice of his personal secretary.

"Your Excellency, Mr. Charles, the French Ambassador, and Anthony, the Dutch Ambassador, please see me."

Upon hearing this, Huang Quan put down his hand and picked up the brush, then raised his head and said.

"Invite people in!"

After the words fell, the secretary immediately clasped his fists and left.

Not long after, the French ambassador Charles was invited in.

Behind Charles was the Dutch ambassador Anthony, and they walked into Huang Quan's study one after another.

When Huang Quan saw Charles approaching, he stood up from his chair and took a few steps forward to greet him.

"Haha, my friend Charles, long time no see."

While talking, the two gently hugged each other to express their closeness.

Although the common etiquette in this era is to bow or shake hands, it is only used between strangers.

If a closer friend treats you like this, it will make people feel alienated.

After the two hugged, Huang Quan turned his head to look at Anthony behind Charles and asked.

"Charles, if I guess correctly, this should be Mr. Anthony, the Ambassador of the Netherlands to China, right?"

A smile appeared on Anthony's face, and he took the initiative to bend down and bow.

"Anthony, the Dutch ambassador to Ming Dynasty, met Huang Shilang."

Although Huang Quan was the president of the Royal Chamber of Commerce of the Ming Dynasty, he also had the false title of Minister of Household Affairs.

It must be okay for Anthony to call him that.

Huang Quan was quite satisfied with this title and nodded.

"The ambassador is polite."

Huang Quan obviously preferred the title of Minister of Household Affairs to the title of President of the Royal Chamber of Commerce.

Without him, in China, an official-based society, the status of businessmen is far inferior to that of officials.

Even if you are an imperial businessman, it will not sound as good as being an official.

After saying that, Huang Quan continued.

"This way, you two, please!"

While he led the two of them to sit down on the sofa in the reception room, he ordered someone to prepare tea.

When the tea and refreshments were served, Huang Quan asked.

"Char, why did you come to see me this time?"

Hearing this, Charles shook his head, pointed to Anthony sitting next to him, and said.

"Anthony has something important to discuss with you this time. I'm just introducing him."

Originally, Charles was going to write a letter of introduction and send Anthony away, but unfortunately, Anthony gave him too much and gave him a thousand Ming silver dollars as a gift.

For the sake of the thousand silver dollars, Charles decided to personally bring Anthony to meet Huang Quan.

Seeing this, Anthony showed a flattering expression on his face at the right time and said.

"Shilang Huang, it is true that I have something to discuss with Mr. Shilang this time."

Seeing this, Huang Quan did not refuse, but nodded slightly.

"Ambassador Anthony, please tell me something."

Hearing this, Anthony raised the issue that the Netherlands wanted to purchase a batch of arms from the Ming Dynasty.

When Huang Quan heard this, his face remained calm, but he was already thinking about it in his heart.

After pondering the gains and losses for a long time, Huang Quan asked.

"The arms trade is a matter of great importance and it is not something I can decide alone."

"This matter still needs to be reported to the imperial court for a decision. However, for the sake of Charles, I will do my best to facilitate this matter." (End of Chapter)