At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 508: Balanced Trade and the Return of the Global Fleet
On February 25th, the 22nd year of the Han calendar, at Wuxian Wharf, Kuaiji County.

Outside the Wuxian Port, thousands of ships are racing on the sea, and cargo ships are connected to the sky and the sea, forming a maritime trade route.

When Hu Hai's fleet was approaching Wu County Wharf, an official on a small steamship ordered Hu Hai's fleet to temporarily dock overseas and wait until there was a vacant space at the wharf before entering.

Hu Hai looked at the densely packed ships docked at the Wuxian wharf. The towering masts looked like a forest full of trees.

"There are more sea vessels in Wu County!" Hu Hai exclaimed.

Over the past decade or so, the Han Dynasty's maritime trade has become increasingly difficult as the number of ships at sea has increased, the competitive pressure has become greater, the profits have become lower and lower, and maritime trade has gradually become a blue ocean market of stock competition.

But three years ago, India was discovered, and a huge red ocean market completely aroused the enthusiasm of the Han Dynasty's maritime merchants. India's unique spices, gems, and even gold and silver treasures once again allowed the Han Dynasty's maritime merchants to gain more than ten times the wealth. Especially in Southeast Asia, after the India-Southeast Asia triangular trade was formed, it became very easy to make ten times the profit by going out to sea.

Affected by this, the shipbuilding business in Kuaiji County once again became in short supply, and shipbuilding orders were scheduled for three years later. In particular, this batch of maritime merchants had more sufficient financial resources, and the ocean trade to India required larger warehouses. At this time, the minimum order at sea was for ships with more than 5000 tons of toll, and there were also many ships with or tons of toll.

The manufacturing industry in Kuaiji County was activated. At the same time, the massive wealth of Tianzhu poured into Kuaiji County, which made Kuaiji County enter a period of rapid development again. Because of the huge new market of Tianzhu, the textile, shipbuilding and steel industries in Kuaiji County expanded rapidly.

As a result, Kuaiji County has surpassed Chen County to become the second richest county in the Han Dynasty. The salaries of local craftsmen have been increasing by 10% to 20% every year, without even requiring the court to issue a minimum salary standard.

Because those handicrafts mainly compete with sea merchants for people, and sea merchants have already offered a monthly salary of 5000 coins in order to recruit sailors. If the handicraft factory owners are not willing to pay even two or three thousand coins, then no one will be willing to work for them.

Faced with this situation, local craftsmen, on the one hand, increased the salaries of their craftsmen, and on the other hand, played the emotional and safety cards. Although the sailors' salaries were high, it was also dangerous, as they were risking their lives to make money, and how boring it would be to drift on the sea for half a year. But it was different in Kuaiji County, as they had everything from eating, drinking, and having fun.

In short, they tried every possible means and managed to reduce the craftsmen's salary to about 30% to 50% of that of the sailors.

Zhu Pei smiled and said, "These people are all thanks to the boss. After the discovery of Tianzhu, Kuaiji County has added hundreds of seagoing ships every year. Han cloth also has a market in Tianzhu. The wages of Kuaiji County's workers have increased by 5%, and the wages of sailors have doubled. The number of ships docked at Wuxian Pier has also doubled. These people are all sailing on the Tianzhu route. They all have the boss to thank."

But Zhu Pei's words were not good news for Hu Hai. Those who sailed on the Tianzhu route were stealing his food.

At the same time, Hu Hai was extremely disappointed with India. Although the population of India was not as large as that of the Han Dynasty, it was not much different, about 1000 to million people, but the wealth of the Indians was more than an order of magnitude less than that of the Han Dynasty. He only sold more than million pieces of cloth, and more than a dozen countries in India could not bear it. They were afraid of being plundered and actually hid their gold and silver and used cloth as money.

In three years, India could not collect much wealth. The damn caste system made 90% of the population in India have no consumption power. This forced him to engage in human trade, which ruined his reputation. No one can completely ignore his reputation. Even a tyrant wants to be a wise ruler. What made Hu Hai most indignant was, why should I use my reputation to exchange for your profit?
Wu County, Commodity Exchange.

All shareholder representatives of Tianzhu Trading Company attended the meeting.

Hu Hai said: "The Indians are much poorer than we thought. There is not much oil left to squeeze from them. The current trade model is unsustainable. If we continue like this, I am worried that India will be in flames."

Ji Yu smiled and said, "This is just right. We are kindly transporting those Indians who can't make a living to Southeast Asia and finding them a job that can support themselves. It's better than having them be slaves in India."

Wang Fen even laughed and said, "How can you say that India has no money? Aren't those tens of millions of Indians the most precious wealth?"

Wang Zhong smiled and said, "Our Tianzhu Trading Company has made nearly 1 billion from this deal alone. Brother Zhao, don't be too strict with yourself. Our Tianzhu Trading Company can make more than 2 billion a year, which is already the most profitable trading company in the world."

The other shareholders also laughed. Just as Wang Zhong said, Tianzhu Trading Company was making too much money. You have to know that the British fiscal revenue was only half of this figure.

The wealth created by their dozens of ships and tens of thousands of employees of the Indian merchants is equivalent to that of the vassal states of India with a population of one million. This is enough to make them proud.

But you are trading my reputation for money, Hu Hai cursed inwardly.

Hu Hai did not say this after all, but said: "Trade can only be considered as both import and export. The current situation is unsustainable. This year alone, the Han Dynasty's sea merchants have transported more than 100,000 Indian laborers. How many more will there be next year? How many more will there be the year after?
The labor trade will end because of the saturation of the population of the princes, and the labor trade does not sound good. Although I don't care about the reputation, if the reputation of the Indian merchants is ruined, it will be difficult to do this business in the future.

If we want to maintain the triangular trade route between Tianzhu and Nanyang, we must have a sustainable cargo in Tianzhu so that our ships can always be fully loaded. "

Ji Yu and the others figured out that Hu Hai was not happy with the Tianzhu Trading Company using his reputation to make money. Of course, his worries were reasonable.

He asked: "But the special products of India are only those gems and spices, and these goods are not very heavy. And these goods are not very heavy."

Wang Fen said: "Whether it is food, cloth, or various iron tools and farm implements, none of them are cheaper than in the Han Dynasty. In order to find the special products of India, I once visited India for a month, but except for spices and gems, I couldn't find a single commodity that could be imported into the Han Dynasty."

Wang Zhong said: "It's because the Indians are not good enough. We want to do business with them, but they don't have much to sell to us, the Han people."

This is also the biggest problem for all merchants coming to Tianzhu. Although Tianzhu, which is still in the slave era, has developed handicraft industry, it is only relative to other civilizations. The Han Dynasty, which has been industrialized by Xu Fan, is a complete crusher for Tianzhu. Take the cheapest linen cloth as an example. The linen cloth in the Han Dynasty is worth 200 coins per piece. During the economic crisis, the price is even cheaper, reaching 150 coins. If these linens are transported to Tianzhu, even if the freight is included, they can still make a profit for 300 coins, because the price of linen cloth in Tianzhu is as high as 600 coins.

India also has good iron ore. Historically, they are famous for forging Burmese iron knives, which are also priceless swords.

But now that the Han Dynasty's blast furnaces are getting bigger and bigger, the price of iron is being pushed down lower and lower. Now each pound of iron is worth 5 cents, and there is still room for further decline.

The price of Indian iron varies, but it is generally around 30 to 50 cents, nearly ten times higher than that of the Han Dynasty. In this situation, what do you want the Han Dynasty's maritime merchants to do?
Their biggest impression when they went to India was the high prices. It was a country so poor that people could not even afford cloth, but the prices were generally several times higher than those in the Han Dynasty.

For India, which opened its doors to the outside world, the situation they faced was even more miserable than that of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty at that time had three specialties: silk, tea, and porcelain. Relying on the craftsmanship spirit formed over thousands of years, it actually achieved the defeat of primary industries by handicrafts. Niu Niu opened its doors to the outside world through the Opium War, but what they found was that they had opened their own door to the outside world, and a large amount of their own gold and silver flowed into the Qing Dynasty. This made them speechless, and they could only cheat and fight against the opium, and at the same time use opium, a poison, to balance the trade.

Now the Han Dynasty has everything that India has, and the local spices and gems are not enough to achieve the trade balance, so the only way to maintain this fragile balance is through labor trade.

Hu Hai said, "I have thought of a way. Although the cotton fields of the Han Dynasty have been expanding over the years, the speed of expansion has not kept up with the increase in the number of textile machines, which has led to the continuous rise in the price of cotton over the years. According to my investigation, cotton is a specialty of the native land of India. They have thousands of years of experience in planting and weaving. In the beginning, cotton cloth was a top-notch cloth comparable to the silk of the Han Dynasty."

"Tianzhu is a vast country with abundant resources. We will plant cotton fields in Tianzhu and then transport the cotton back to Han for weaving. Tianzhu will become the cotton field base of our Tianzhu Trading Company. In this way, we don't have to worry about not having enough goods when we return from Tianzhu." Hu Hai's proposal made everyone a little excited. Cotton cloth is sweat-absorbent, breathable, wear-resistant and warm. Its various properties are completely superior to linen. In recent years, Han has expanded cotton fields on a large scale and replaced linen fields on a large scale. Cotton cloth has replaced linen on a large scale and has become the main raw material for ordinary people in Han to make clothes. The status of linen has declined again and is used for various sails, bags and other purposes.

Of course, cotton cloth can surpass linen cloth in all aspects, but it has only one flaw, that is, the unit production capacity of cotton is far lower than that of linen.

An acre of the best cotton field produces about two stone of cotton per year, half of which is the weight of seeds. The yield of hemp per acre is generally 2000 catties. After removing various impurities, the yield that can be used for textiles is over a thousand catties.

Therefore, in the cotton cloth market of the Han Dynasty, cotton, a raw material, has always been in short supply. In order to ensure grain production capacity, the imperial court has always restricted the expansion of cotton fields. The amount of economic crops such as silk, hemp, cotton, and sugarcane planted cannot exceed 30% of the county.

After all, the population of the Han Dynasty has doubled in the past 20 years. If the population of the major vassal states is included, the population of the entire Han Dynasty is close to 20 million. Such a large population consumes billion dan of grain every year. According to the current yield of three dan per mu in the Han Dynasty, it requires million mu of land to grow grain to ensure that no one will starve to death within the sphere of influence of the Han Dynasty.

Seeing that everyone was a little excited, Hu Hai continued, "As long as we plant 300 million mu of cotton cloth in Tianzhu, we can make Tianzhu the most stable point in the triangular trade."

Hu Hai thought for a while and said, "The climate in India is hot, with only two seasons, rainy and dry. Cotton can be planted twice a year. So 150 million mu would be enough."

Ji Yu said: "150 million acres is not enough. Considering the market of our Han Dynasty, even 300 million acres is not enough."

The three most valuable cash crops in the Han Dynasty are sugarcane, cotton, and mulberry trees (here we are only talking about cash crops that occupy agricultural land). Among them, cotton has the greatest potential. Sugar is a luxury. Even ordinary people in the Han Dynasty now only eat a little during the New Year and other festivals.

Silk is also a luxury item. Although in recent years, as the Han people have become richer, silk has been increasingly available to the public. Many middle-class households in the Han Dynasty own some silk clothes, but their wealth comes from their own labor, and silk clothes are obviously not suitable for their labor.

Only cotton cloth is suitable for ordinary people in the Han Dynasty, for their daily life and work, so the annual consumption is naturally large. Cotton cloth has only been promoted in the Han Dynasty for more than ten years, but its current production capacity is ten times better than that of silk.

Wang Fen laughed and said, "We are so confused that we have forgotten that the Han people have always been rich through hard work. Tianzhu should become the cotton field of the Han people."

Hu Hai continued, "And this trade model has another great advantage, which is that we can set up various specialties at various trade points. If we can complete a transaction at all the bases on the trade route of Dahan, Nanyang, and Tianzhu, then we can make not only 10 times the wealth in one go, but even a hundred times."

After hearing Hu Hai's words, Ji Yu and others were pleasantly surprised and said, "Brother Zhao, you are a genius in business. This business idea of ​​turning passivity into initiative is unheard of and unseen. I'm afraid that Tao Zhugong back then was not as good as you, Brother Zhao."

Hu Hai said with a hint of pride: "I have discovered that if maritime trade is to be maintained for a long time, it must be in a state of balance. If it is not in a balanced state, even the richest regions will quickly fall into poverty due to the loss of wealth, and eventually the trade point will be destroyed."

"Brother Zhao is so talented!" Ji Yu and others admired him.

And at this moment, "Boom boom boom!" A burst of loud artillery sound came from the sea.

Hu Hai and his companions were so frightened that they immediately hid under the table or in the corners. The people who heard the most artillery in the entire Han Dynasty were the sea merchants like Hu Hai. As soon as they heard the sound, they knew it was the roar of giant naval cannons.

"Are these pirates here?" Hu Hai said in disbelief. With the current military strength of the Han Dynasty, pirates dared to attack Kuaiji County. They were courting death.

"Impossible, the base of the South China Sea Fleet is in Kuaiji County, it is impossible for pirates to rush here." Ji Yu immediately retorted.

Although there are more and more pirates in recent years, and many of them are even equipped with cannons, they are like flies that eat carrion and have no ability to attack the inland of the Han Dynasty.

Zhu Pei and other managers' men quickly rushed to the dock area to check the situation.

But the sound of artillery fire did not decrease, but became more and more intense, as if hundreds of artillery pieces were roaring at the same time.

Now everyone lost confidence. Although they firmly believed in the Han Dynasty's powerful military strength, the scene before them also frightened them. Even if half of them were pirates' artillery, it was still an extremely terrifying number.

You have to know that when they destroyed a country in India, they were only equipped with a few hundred cannons. But now there are so many cannons roaring. If there really are pirates, the number of cannons they possess must be at least two or three hundred.

Wang Fen said angrily: "Is Luan Bu dead? The South China Sea Fleet has been exterminating pirates for the past few years and has seized more and more."

Wang Zhong said, "It shouldn't be the pirate attack we thought it was. You can hear the roar of the cannons, which is extremely uniform. It doesn't sound like a battle at all. There are no shouts of killing at the dock. It should be something else that we know about. We will find out what happened if we wait here."

Half an hour later, Zhu Pei and others came back and said, "Boss, fellow shopkeepers, the expedition team of the North Sea Fleet has returned. The South Sea Fleet is continuously firing salutes to welcome them back from their global expedition."

"The expedition team of the North Sea Fleet is back?" Ji Yu was surprised and asked, "Is the world really a big ball?"

He remembered that the expedition team of the North Sea Fleet set out from the north to the east, and it took more than three years, but they actually returned from the South China Sea. At the same time, he was also shocked by the size of the world. How big is this world? It took more than three years to return.
Wang Fen was pleasantly surprised and said, "We should go and greet these heroes in person. The North Sea Fleet has been sailing for three years. During this time, they will encounter many continents, civilizations, and countries. If there are more than a dozen civilizations like India, then our sea merchants will have a good life for hundreds of years."

After Wang Fen's reminder, they realized the significance of the return of the North Sea Fleet. Tianzhu alone could make them earn more than 200 billion yuan every year. If there were more than a dozen civilized countries like Tianzhu in the world, then each of their caravans could earn more than 20 billion yuan every year, which would be more than billion yuan if divided equally among each family. This was a fortune that could rival a country. Even the richest country in the Han Dynasty, Ji, did not have an annual fiscal revenue exceeding this figure.

"Let's go together. They are heroes of the Han Dynasty. I don't know how many risks they encountered along the way. They finally returned safely. I would be unworthy of being a son if I didn't go to greet them."

So the managers of Tianzhu Trading Company flocked to the dock area.

Zhu Pei said, "Boss, why don't you go to the dock and take a look?"

Hu Hai said: "No, just wait here for news. The court will announce all the news anyway. With the character of the Han emperor, when he knows there are other continents, he will be eager to lead the army to conquer them. It won't be long before we know what this world is like."

(End of this chapter)