Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1118 The Good Times of Trade ([-])

"There are a little more immigrants coming in this year..." Captain Ventura, a middle-level manager of the courier liner company, said with emotion as he looked at the towering masts of ships in the harbor.

"It is precisely because of the influx of immigrants that our county (Qingdao County) has the opportunity to expand its territory. No, the construction of the second ring road is already in progress. This is a major event. The development of Qingdao in the next few decades will have a solid foundation This is it.” After five years of experience in the Southern Railway Company, on the 1657st of last month (January 1), Xi Weiao (formerly the statistician Silvio of the Mei Agency, worked in the Luocha Customs, Xingnan Customs for many years) was transferred from Xingnan Customs to Qingdao Customs as Deputy Chief.Although this transfer is nominally flat, it has jumped from a remote place like Xingnan Port to one of the powerful figures in Qingdao Customs. Xi Weiao's step is not small, it can be regarded as a promotion in the true sense .

There are eight settlements on the first and second ring roads, thousands of square kilometers of land, a combined population of more than [-], and a sheltered harbor with good conditions. The policy of the executive committee is tilted, and the future of Qingdao County, as the national financial center, will It can be called a bright light.Xi Wei'ao was transferred from Xingnan Customs to work here, and I really don't know how many people he envied.

"With more people, the market will expand accordingly, the country's industrial and agricultural production capacity will also be stronger, and business will finally prosper." Captain Ventura lit a pipe for his old friend Xavio, and then said : "Since the Autumn Commodity Trade Fair was held in Qingdao Port, its reputation in the Old Continent has become more and more famous. Danes and Swedes are everywhere. Perhaps their individual trade volume is not very large (the port of Rocha is a bulk trade settlement center, and large transactions are mostly carried out there), but they are better than the large number of people and the rich variety of products. In terms of trade, its importance is no less important than that of Luocha and the Second Eastern Port, perhaps even more important."

"The estimated value of the high-grade timber shipped from San Vicente is 6218 yuan, and the tax rate is 2%. Please pay the tariff of 124.36 yuan." A customs officer in black uniform stepped onto a Portuguese merchant ship in front of Xivio and Ventura. , after wandering around with the customs declaration list filled out by the Portuguese, he said to the Portuguese captain.Behind him were two guards with sabers on their waists. The two also looked around to see if there was anything suspicious on the boat-of course this was just a routine behavior.

Due to the lack of high-grade high-quality wood on the east coast, the tariff rate for high-grade imported wood from foreign countries or overseas colonies is extremely low (2% for foreign goods, 1% for colonial wood). Wood, guaiac wood, etc. - are completely tax-free, so as to encourage foreign captains to ship more of these goods to the east coast for sale, and promote the prosperity of trade.So you can see now that even though the relationship between the Portuguese Brazilian colonial authorities and the east coast has become more and more cold in the past two years, the economic ties between the two places have never been broken, and the scale of trade is still stubbornly maintained at a high level. to the extend.

However, the tariff rate for high-grade timber is extremely low (the tariff rate for ordinary timber is 10%), but for foreign goods that have serious competition with the east coast, such as shipbuilding, textiles, agriculture, and mining, the tariff rate is very high, such as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce It stipulates that the import tax rate of foreign boats, knitwear (lace, artificial flowers, etc.), and cotton textiles is unified at 25%; the tax rate of agricultural products varies according to the type, but generally ranges from 3% to 15%; alcohol, high-end leather goods The tax rate on other commodities is even higher, generally ranging from 50% to 100%, and this has undoubtedly aroused the criticism of many foreign businessmen. They complain that they cannot drink authentic French or Italian red wine on the east coast, even if they drink When it comes to its price, it is prohibitively high, but this kind of complaint will naturally not play any role.

"Originally, after the end of the Anglo-Dutch war, everyone was worried that the import and export trade would be greatly reduced. At that time, the trade data was not very good for a few months. It made people panic. Fortunately, our diplomats are more capable. Through active negotiations with the Dutch business family and through mediation with the republican government in power in the Netherlands, they finally expanded the market share of our products in the United Provinces, making The total value of exported goods began to rebound and finally hit a record high. In addition, the Southern Railway Company is also determined to forge ahead. I have worked in Xingnan Customs for five years, and the trade data has quadrupled in five years. The number of imported and exported goods There are so many that the single-track Southern Cone and Ocean Railway began to be overwhelmed, and the double-track construction of the railway started many years in advance." Seeing the customs officers collecting customs duties on a small steamer, Xi Weiao immediately said with emotion.

"Yes, I can feel this surging tide of trade. Recently, blacksmiths and craftsmen in the countryside are very popular, and everyone has a lot of apprentices. In addition, factory vocational schools (currently only state-owned enterprises have vocational school training reserve forces ) is also vigorously enrolling students, and students with primary school education or above are the most popular, but they are generally recruited away by machinery processing factories, and they will have a bright future as machine tool operators and repairers." Captain Ventura said, There are more and more craftsmen and apprentices from various countries entering the east coast, but our craftsman gap has not narrowed, but has become bigger and bigger. There is only one explanation for this, that is, the scale of production has also doubled."

Although Captain Ventura is not a high-ranking economic official, he has been engaged in front-line work all year round. He still discovered the economic development trend of the country on the east coast through his own eyes—that is, with the slow expansion of the European market and the opening of new markets (Indian Ocean market), the export trade volume on the east coast began to increase day by day, the gap in domestic demand for industrial talents and handicraftsmen began to enlarge, the income level and social status of artisans rose sharply, the degree of industrialization of the country began to gradually deepen, and the upstream and downstream of many commodities The industrial chain also began to improve after a large number of craftsmen were imported, which allowed more and more profits to stay in the east coast, which in disguise hit the development of foreign industries.

"What ship is that over there? The fleet of the South China Sea Transportation Company?" Captain Ventura suddenly pointed to a row of eight flute-shaped transport ships as if he had discovered a new world, "Eight flute-shaped ships at a time, the draft is still under pressure Is it so deep? Is it food? My God, there are two large clipper ships and two escort gunboats, where is this going? The old continent?"

After hearing the words, Xi Weiao took a look, then nodded, and said: "Oh, that is indeed the ship of the South China Sea Transportation Company, and it is a ship for sending loan materials to the Spaniards—well, it is the goods mortgaged by the South Cone 42 degrees. ——Eight flute-shaped ships loaded nearly 5000 tons of wheat, flour, corn, sorghum, and oatmeal for grain, and the national grain reserve depot almost sold out the old grain stored in the grain depot for many years. Haha, it’s really dry Although this may indeed cause some dissatisfaction among the Spaniards, who really cares? The hungry Spaniards will not refuse this batch of food from afar, knowing that their agricultural production has almost completely collapsed Well, Andalusia, which used to be extremely rich, is now barren, and dry Granada is in the midst of a severe famine. It is not easy for this country to persist until now, so what qualifications do they have to pick and choose? What about four?"

"The other two 1200-ton large clipper cargo ships loaded a large amount of cotton cloth, military water bottles, cowhide ammunition bags, saddles, spears, sabers, rifles, and some steel bars, wrought iron and so on—don't be surprised. Although Spain’s industry and commerce are in decline, it is not completely without industry, and many German and Italian craftsmen are working there—they are all exported to Spain for their war.” Xivio said, and he added One sentence: "Of course, all of them are exempt from export duties. The Executive Committee granted a license. There is no way. And I heard that the Executive Committee not only rented a lot of Dutch ships at high prices to transport goods to the Spaniards, but also ordered the South China Sea Transportation Company. The company borrowed heavily to order new ships to expand the fleet. At present, the number of flute-shaped transport ships (specially for European trade) of the company has increased from 1654 in 52 to 69 this year, and the total transport tonnage of the company has also increased. It has reached a scale of more than 5 tons, which is amazing. Of course, it is no problem to build more flute-shaped ships to travel to Europe. After all, the Baltic Sea is now a pot of porridge. When our ships return, can we bring more refugees back? You don’t know how many lovely girls came here last year. The bachelors in China have been talking about it for a long time. Especially after the Nanhai Shipping Company built a new ship last year, the unmarried adult men in China are looking forward to it. Ha ha, you know of……"

While the two were chatting, a ship flying the flag of the Kingdom of Spain suddenly sailed outside the port, and under the guidance of a small pilot steamer, it entered the special pier on the west side of Qingdao Bay.This pier is newly built, with a small area, but the water depth is generally about 8 meters. The trestle bridge is also a permanent structure of masonry and cement. It is expensive to build. It is currently used as a dedicated official pier.

"It's probably the diplomatic envoy of the Spaniards. I don't know what to do. In my opinion, they are here to urge money or goods. I heard that the situation of the Spaniards in the Old World is relatively tight. Last year, their priceless treasure ship The team was even attacked by the English at their doorstep, which was a huge embarrassment and a considerable loss, probably exceeding a million pesos, which must have made their already difficult financial situation even worse." Xi Weiao gently He exhaled two smoke rings, and said with a relaxed expression: "It must have come to beg us, haha, who would have thought that the mighty Spain would fall to where it is today in just 20 years."

(End of this chapter)