I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 605: Rapidly Developing Anglo-French Trade (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

Seven or eight carriages slowly arrived at the dock.

Several people immediately jumped off the "Leisure" and shouted loudly, asking the crew to load the things on the car onto the boat.

Demville and dozens of sailors rushed forward, unloading boxes of cargo from the carriages and loading them onto the ship.

Demville weighed the two wooden boxes on his shoulders, which were not heavy. He looked at his distant relative Madno beside him - the latter was an old sailor, serving as a second-class sailor on the Leisure - and whispered: "What's in it? It won't put us in danger of being hanged, right?"

No matter how dumb he was, he could have figured out that paying so much money, loading goods near dark, and not going to those big ports, this was definitely not a legitimate business.

"It's silk." Maderno said with a relaxed look, "You can earn 300 francs by shipping the two boxes in your hand to England. This business is not dangerous. I have sailed with the ship four times and everything went well."

"Silk?" Demville looked at the carriages. "Is that all the stuff?"

"That's about right. There's also some high-end wine."

"Oh my god, how much is that worth?!"

"I don't know; but it must be sixty thousand francs at least."

"It seems our boss is very rich..."

"That's not necessarily true," Maderno smiled mysteriously. "I heard that as long as you can get in touch with the 'Pools Gang', you can get goods on credit from France, and you only need to pay a small deposit."

He gestured at the Leisure with his chin, saying, "Even this ship was borrowed from the Pools Gang. It is said that if you successfully make 12 trips, you can buy this ship at a very low price."

"Really?!" Demville's eyes widened. "Is the Pools Gang so powerful?"

"Of course it's true." Madno whispered, "There are big shots behind the Pools Gang.

"I'm telling you, when I have enough money saved up, I plan to borrow a ship and sell some goods on credit to do 'business'. By then, you will be my boatswain, if you are qualified."

Demville's eyes flashed with joy, but then he asked nervously, "After all this talk, what exactly is this 'business'?"

"It's going to sail tomorrow anyway, so it doesn't matter if you tell me. This ship will secretly transport these silks, wines, and cosmetics to England. Well, the kind that doesn't require customs duties."

"You mean... smuggling?!"

"Don't be so serious. We call this 'private transactions'. If you take these things to the UK, you can easily make a 30% profit!"

"But if we get caught..."

"Don't worry, you won't be caught. Pulse has a lot of connections," Maderno said, patting him on the shoulder. "And even if the worst happens, your sister will get 4 francs in insurance. Someone will work to get you out later."

All night long, horse-drawn carriages came from Brujas continuously, loading cartloads of goods onto several ships parked at the simple pier.

All activities were suspended during the day until dusk fell again, when the Leisure and the two schooners next to it raised half sail and began to slowly leave the shore.

The three ships were about 2 nautical miles apart and headed northwest. After a few hours, they arrived near Norfolk, England.

The sea conditions in the English Channel are very good, and due to years of trade, the navigator has already memorized the route by heart, and will not deviate as long as there is a little light.

The "Leisure" was the first to retract its sails and stop. After waiting for about an hour, it saw a few flashes of light on the sea in the distance.

Maderno and the third mate rowed the boat towards the light and returned soon. The third mate handed a note to the captain. The captain immediately issued an order: "Head due west and set sail in 25 minutes. Drop the sail 4 nautical miles from the coast at 20:10. Maintain strict blackout."

Demville stopped a distant relative who was passing by and asked in a low voice: "What were you doing just now?"

"Take the 'pass'." Madno winked proudly, "There are British anti-smuggling ships everywhere around here, and you will be hit if you are not careful.

"So, the Pools Gang arranged for legitimate merchant ships to constantly monitor their movements nearby and find routes that could avoid them completely."

Demvir's mouth opened in surprise.

Little did he know that the powerful Pools Gang was actually one of the several "vests" of the "Special Trade Association".

These "vests" include gangs, smuggling organizations, and even chambers of commerce. They recruit a large number of smuggling ships in the southern Netherlands and northern France, and are provided with supplies by the Industrial Development Fund and cover by the French Intelligence Agency.

In recent months, the scale of "special trade" has expanded 12 times, with an average monthly trade volume of 500 million francs, and is still increasing rapidly.

At the same time, thanks to the strict organization and unified management, no smuggling ship has been caught by the British anti-smuggling fleet so far.

This is the power of state action!

As expected, the Leisure easily avoided all British anti-smuggling ships and successfully docked on a deserted beach in Norfolk.

In fact, it can't be considered a deserted beach - there is a simple dock built with wooden boards, and there is a broken road passing through the weeds and bushes, leading directly to a church 8 miles away.

All the priests in the church would even help move the goods during busy times after receiving a monthly benefit of 5 to 20 pounds.

The church's cellar has been expanded more than ten times to temporarily store goods.

At the simple dock, more than a hundred "workers" skillfully unloaded the goods from the ship and loaded them onto trucks for transport to the chapel.

Every Monday and Thursday, British caravans would carry large quantities of goods from farmhouses near the church and sell them in markets in Norfolk, Essex and even London.

You know, right now excise duty is a core tax in the UK.

From the birth and baptism of children to marriage and housing supplies, taxes were levied on windows, saddles, cosmetic powder, dried fruits, oil, etc. As for tobacco, alcohol, tea, sugar and the like, the tax rate was even higher.

Therefore, when these "duty-free" goods shipped from the Southern Netherlands entered the British market, all goods coming from legitimate channels were immediately hit and had no power to fight back.

Smuggled goods are almost always sold at 80% to 90% of the market price, and the quality is absolutely guaranteed. Even so, these goods can still make a 30% profit. This shows how high the consumption tax and tariffs in the UK are.

Starting from Norfolk, legitimate shops continued to go bankrupt.

However, savvy businessmen soon discovered the "trick" and began to purchase goods through special channels.

The British people have been very happy during this period - their daily expenses have dropped significantly.

British merchants were also happy - especially those who "did not follow the beaten path" - they easily beat their competitors with their price advantages and their sales soared.

The only unhappy ones are the tax officials in several cities in the UK - their tax revenue has dropped by 3% in the past three months!

(End of this chapter)