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

Chapter 710, Asia Debt Crisis
Anthony and his companions were originally Roman knights, born into a small noble family, which naturally gave them a sense of responsibility towards Rome. When they came to the Han Dynasty to study, the environment in the school was also very simple. Although these Roman students envied the prosperity of the Han Dynasty, they had a youthful spirit in their hearts, believing that what the Han Dynasty could do, the Romans could also do. They wanted to learn skills in the Han Dynasty, change their own country, and make Rome as rich as the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, after graduation, they did not stay in the Han Dynasty for a wealthy life, but returned to their homeland. However, they could not display their talents in Rome. In the Roman environment, master craftsmen were not respected, and only those factory owners who could make money were sought after. In addition, compared with the Han Dynasty, they could not stand the cruel exploitation of craftsmen by Roman factory owners, and felt that there was no hope for Rome, so they returned to the Han Dynasty again.

But now Claudius, as the consul of Rome, came to invite them to return, and it would be a lie for these international students to say they were not moved.

Anthony thought for a moment and said, "We also have the idea of ​​building a car factory. If Rome's industrial base is as good as you said, it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to return to Rome and start a business."

Chen County strongly supports high-tech masters and artisans to start their own businesses. After all, the Mohist philosophy is to let craftsmen become the masters of the world, and Chen County is the product of their practice of this philosophy. Now factories have become the source of wealth creation, and it is the craftsmen who create this wealth.

But the problem that Mohism encountered was that craftsmen were only producers, and most of the managers who organized production were merchants. With the size of Mohism, it was indeed possible to cultivate some talents to manage factories, but for the hundreds of thousands of factories in the world, the talents cultivated by Mohism were just a drop in the bucket. Therefore, it was difficult for Mohism to promote its ideas to the entire Han Dynasty and even the world.

They support craftsmen who have entrepreneurial ideas. In their view, as long as more and more craftsmen become factory managers, Mohist philosophy will sooner or later become popular throughout the world.

To the Mohists, every craftsman with entrepreneurial ideas is a precious seed for practicing their ideas. They will make angel investments based on the entrepreneurs' business plans. The biggest difference between the Mohists and Xu Fan's world is that they will encourage craftsmen to innovate, not just verbally, but by actually putting out money.

And Mo Jia is not worried about being deceived. After all, the auditors are all highly skilled craftsmen. These craftsmen may not have a clear idea of ​​whether a product can make money, but they know clearly whether the product has technology. Those who are good at making PPTs, on the contrary, find it difficult to get angel investment from Chen Jun.

In Kuaiji County, not far from Chen County, there are more wealthy businessmen. They prefer to invest in new business elites. Those who have good PPT, new stories and market prospects are likely to be favored by them. Of course, there are more people who are suffocating for their dreams.

But the wealthy businessmen in Dahan didn't care. This was part of angel investment. They invested in dozens of projects, and as long as one of them was successful, it would be enough for them to get their money back. At that time, it was a period of great development. The first industrial revolution had not yet been fully launched, and the second industrial revolution was rising. New industries and new machines were born every year. The success rate of angel investors was still enough for them to make money.

For the Han Dynasty, both the Chen County and Kuaiji County models developed well and nurtured many large enterprises. As for the wasted resources, the Han Dynasty did not care at all.

Anthony and his people have been in Chenjun for several years and have witnessed the construction process of Xiayang First Automobile Factory from scratch. These fellow Romans gathered together, had the idea of ​​starting a business, and have begun to prepare to take action.

Claudius was delighted to hear this, but then hesitantly asked, "You started your own business?"

Marcus nodded and said, "We have accumulated a lot of money over the years, probably more than 2000 million. We originally planned to accept investment from the county governor in Chen County, so that we can build a small car factory."

Claudius said, "More than 2000 million, shouldn't that be enough?"

Just for the factory building he saw today, the construction cost is probably more than 2 million. Even as an outsider like him, he knows that 2000 million is probably not enough to open a car factory.

Brutus dipped his finger in a little wine, then drew a pattern on the table and said, "We are not going to make a car like the Chenjun Star, but a simpler and cheaper motorized tricycle. It only needs a simple small motor driven by bearings. It can carry half a ton of cargo and people. It is more maneuverable than the Chenjun Star and easier to operate. The price is only one-third of the Chenjun Star. The production process of the motorized tricycle is simpler, fewer machines are needed, and the quality of the craftsmen does not need to be too high. We designed this car, and the target users are the farmers in the Han Dynasty."

Claudius was overjoyed after hearing this. These conditions were completely met by Rome. He immediately said, "You don't have to ask Chenjun for investment. The Senate will invest for you. This motorized tricycle factory will be built in Rome."

Anthony and the others looked at each other, and then Anthony said, "But we have to discuss a few conditions first. The Senate can invest, but the management authority of the factory is ours."

"No problem. Even if you let us manage it, we don't understand the car factory. Professional things should be done by professionals. Don't forget that I am your senior."

This made everyone laugh. Only then did they remember that the consul in front of them was the first group of international students in Rome.

Anthony continued, "Second, we want to implement the same policy as Chen County. Do you hope the Senate will support us?"

"What is Chen County's policy?" Claudius looked confused.

Anthony said: "It is a four-way profit policy. Both the master craftsman and the artisan should have the right to share in the profits."

Marcus said: "We must also implement the same eight-hour work system as the Han Dynasty, and the Senate must not hinder us."

Claudius smiled bitterly and said, "Analyze specific issues specifically. This is what the Holy Emperor said. The Han Dynasty has a vast territory, rich land, many princes, and advanced technology. These are not comparable to our Rome. If you learn the policies of the Han Dynasty, I am afraid that you will end up like the fable of the Han Dynasty, learning to walk in Handan, and ended up losing your own skills and the car factory will not be able to run."

Brutus said firmly: "If I return to Rome and only open a slave factory, I would rather stay in the Han Dynasty. I can make more money here. We went to Rome to build a factory because we want to rely on industry to change the current situation in Rome."

Antony said angrily, "If you want to make money, you should learn from the Han Dynasty's policies, but if you want to spend money, you don't. There is no such good thing in the world. The senators think that they can make Rome stronger by taking shortcuts, but they don't know that these shortcuts have to be paid for. I'm afraid those Roman factory owners don't even know that there is such a thing as an economic crisis."

"Economic crisis!" Claudius' heart trembled. As one of the first batch of international students to come to the Han Dynasty, he certainly knew the severity of the economic crisis. The Han Dynasty, such a powerful empire, spent decades to resolve this contradiction. Even now, it dare not say that it has been completely resolved. It can only be said that the crisis has been controlled to a certain extent. It has changed to a more neutral term, called overcapacity, and it has taken the initiative to reduce production capacity.

"No, Rome's industrial development has only a history of more than ten years. A crisis will not break out so quickly!" Claudius said.

Marcus sneered, "How could it not be? You said that in the past ten years, Rome has imported a large number of machines from the Han Dynasty. The industry has developed very rapidly. The textile industry has been exported to the Han Dynasty. The larger the industrial scale, the more products will be produced, and these products need consumers. However, the salary of Roman craftsmen can barely support their families. Where is the money to consume? And it is very difficult for me to export my Roman industrial products to the Han Dynasty. It would be strange if there is no crisis if there is only production but no consumption."

Anthony said: "Learning from the Han people, improving the salaries of craftsmen and establishing a comprehensive welfare policy is the best way to alleviate the crisis. We can use this method to slowly change Rome."

Claudius said, "Okay, I agree to that on behalf of the Senate."

Anthony and his car factory can be regarded as a way for Rome to deal with crises. If it succeeds, it will be the best. If it fails, reality will change them.

Moreover, Claudius was a little worried that an economic crisis would break out in Rome. In recent years, the textile industry in Rome has been growing at a rate of 2% to 3%, but the increase in production has not increased revenue. Various textile factories have sold cloth at low prices, which has not only created a reputation for Roman cloth being inferior, but also because the profit is too low, textile factory owners are desperately trying to lower wages. Workers in Rome are complaining, and many citizens would rather go to the cold and remote north to reclaim wasteland than stay in the factory after working in the factory for a year.

The lack of labor has become the main problem faced by these factories. These people often petition the Senate, saying that more stringent laws should be enacted to retain workers. Those vagrants should not be allowed to go to the north to reclaim wasteland, but should be forced to work in factories. Some people even proposed to restore the slavery system and buy slaves from Yanzhou to make up for the shortage of labor.

Such a treasonous proposal naturally did not get the Senate's approval. The Roman Council still had some dignity. They had overthrown the Roman senators for their cruel slavery system, and now they were establishing slavery themselves. Wasn't that a slap in their own face?

After reaching a consensus, Anthony and his friends found the factory manager Tiezhu and told him about their idea of ​​returning home to start a business. Not only did Tiezhu not stop them, he also helped them acquire a dilapidated small car factory.

Although Chenjun's automobile industry is booming, many automobile factories have gone bankrupt. The equipment inside is 2% new, but the price of the equipment is only 3% to % of that of new equipment, which is more suitable for entrepreneurs like Anthony.

While Claudius and his team were busy looking for people to move the equipment, the Global Alliance headquarters in Yuhang was much busier than in previous years. A large number of envoys from Daqinzhou came to Liu Ruyi. When the Greek envoy Titus saw Liu Ruyi, he hugged him and smiled, "It's great to see you in the Han Dynasty."

Behind the Greek envoys were members of the Datong Society from Macedonia, Armenia and other countries. These people had dug trenches with Liu Ruyi and fought against the Huns. The two sides were friends for life and death. Even after the war, they kept in touch through letters. When the Seleucus suffered a great famine, he wrote to these friends to raise a batch of food to tide over the difficulties.

Seeing his old friend in Dahan now, Liu Ruyi was also very happy and said, "Don't live in the embassy anymore, live in my house."

"Okay, I remember you said on the battlefield that you would take me to taste the Han cuisine."

After a few pleasantries, Liu Ruyi began to ask about the ruling situation of the Datong Party in various countries.

The Greek Mautmon Party gained their ruling position by making the king and nobles give in. Therefore, in terms of land policy, they were not as radical as the Han Dynasty, although they also tried to nationalize land and distribute it equally.

But they really found a policy that suited them from the "Record of the Holy Words". When Xu Fan was in Yingchuan County, because the local powerful people offered the city, Xu Fan could not confiscate their land, so he bought their land in the form of IOUs.

Now the Greek Mafia also uses this policy to buy the land of the king and nobles at market price. Since they don't have so much money, they just give an IOU for the land and pay 10% interest every year.

This policy had both advantages and disadvantages. The good thing was that the land was recovered and distributed to the peasants in a bloodless manner. The bad thing was that the Greek Mahajan Party was burdened with heavy debts when it came to power. Sixty percent of the country's annual income had to be paid as interest on the land of the king and nobles.

The Greek king and nobles watched as they lost their land. Although they secretly wanted to kill all of these complicit people, they could not afford to offend the powerful Han people behind them. They had no choice but to transform themselves into industrial nobles. After getting money, these nobles imported a large number of machinery from the Han people, built textile mills, mines, cement and other infrastructure industries, steel industry, shipbuilding industry, and also established several small industrial zones in their own country.

But Greece is a small country with a population of only a few hundred thousand. The market of this country is even smaller. The market is saturated after only a few small industrial zones are established, especially in the textile industry.

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The bottom line of the Greek Pax Romana was higher than that of the Romans. Although their technology was not very advanced, they learned from the Han Dynasty and established an eight-hour work system, work injury insurance, pension system, unemployment insurance, medical insurance and other systems.

To some extent, small countries in Asia such as Greece were the regions that learned the Han Dynasty most thoroughly.

This is also what Liu Ruyi hopes to see. He hopes that all countries in Daqinzhou will enter a modern industrial society under the guidance of the Han Dynasty.

As for whether they would cultivate competitors, Liu Ruyi was not afraid. With the size and resources of the Han Dynasty, there was no need to worry about them competing with the Han Dynasty. This was also the basis of the Han Dynasty's free trade.

Relatively speaking, Liu Ruyi did not like Rome and Carthage. They treated workers too harshly. Although they also enacted laws to protect craftsmen, these laws were only in form and were not enforced by the Roman Senate.

In Rome, being a worker was not a respectable profession, as can be seen from the fact that Roman citizens preferred to be farmers.

This is how things are in the world. Greece and other members of the Pax Romana were good to their craftsmen, but their textile industry was almost bankrupted by the Romans. Other steel mills and machinery factories were also in a state of deficit.

When the members of the Datong Society in these Asian countries built these factories, they spent a lot of money to purchase machinery.

Their original idea was to wait until the factories were operating normally and use the money earned from selling products to repay the debt.

But obviously, because of their birth and experiences, these members of the Datong Society equate the products they produce with wealth, but they are unaware that there is a thrilling step in the process of turning products into wealth.

But not only did they fail to jump over this leap, but they were tripped because of the relationship between the Romans and the Carthaginians, and fell with their heads broken and bleeding.

The financial source they expected became a money-eating beast that devoured their meager fiscal revenue. The debts of Asian countries skyrocketed, and Greece, for example, already owed a debt of 10 billion.

Faced with this situation, members of the Asia Pacific Datong Association helplessly discovered that the only products that their country had some competitiveness in were grains such as wheat, barley, and oats, and cash crops such as soybeans and alfalfa.

This is also due to historical factors. The Asia region is the source of the Qinzhou civilization. Although it is in a fragmented state, its agricultural technology, handicrafts, culture, etc. are higher than those of later comers such as Rome. This area is also one of the richest regions in the Qinzhou and has always been a must-fight region for dominance in the Mediterranean.

The Datong Association of Asian countries greatly increased the enthusiasm of farmers for agricultural production because of the equal distribution of land. In addition, they purchased fertilizers from the Han Dynasty and hired agricultural scholars from the Han Dynasty to provide technical guidance.

The agricultural production capacity of Asian countries has grown rapidly, increasing fivefold in 10 years. The export of food and cash crops has always been the main economic pillar of Asian countries.

But countries like Greece owe too much debt. The little grain that farmers hand over is not only not enough to repay the debt, but now it is even difficult to repay the interest.

Asia and other members of the Datong Society all chose to increase the amount of grain handed over by farmers.

Their idea was simple: grain production had increased fivefold, so even if farmers had to hand over more grain, it would not affect their lives.

But the members of the Datong Society never thought that the poor in Asia used to live as serfs, eating bran and digging wild vegetables to barely survive. Now that these farmers have increased their grain income, they are not thinking about selling grain, but eating it themselves. They eat white bread that they dared not eat before, and they also learn to make steamed buns and meat buns passed down by the Han people. The consumption of grain in rural areas has increased threefold.

As a result, the Datong Society now asked them to increase their grain submission, which caused dissatisfaction among the farmers in Asia. They had just had enough food for a few years, and now they wanted to starve them.

Especially for many farmers who have been hungry for half their lives, they can still endure their current life if they don’t have enough food, but if they are already full and are forced to starve, they are unwilling to work.

For a time, Asia was full of farmers resisting taxes, and many members of the Datong Society who were collecting grain were even beaten to death by these farmers.

Peasant uprisings were everywhere, which made the members of the Datong Society in various countries realize that the countryside was not rich and it was impossible to collect the wealth of the countryside to repay the debts.

So Titus and his men had no choice but to come to the Han Dynasty to file a complaint. They hoped to reach a consensus with the Han Dynasty to limit the endless competition between Rome and Carthage.

The reason why they did not raise tariffs and keep the goods of the Romans and Carthaginians out of the country was mainly because one of the most important conditions for joining the Global Alliance was to implement free trade. Except for a basic 5% tariff, countries were not allowed to impose any additional tariffs, nor were they allowed to raise tariffs without authorization. Violators of the free trade law would be severely punished by the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, these Asian countries did not dare to raise tariffs and could only find Liu Ruyi, hoping that the Han Dynasty could make the decision for them.

(End of this chapter)