I

   Chapter 944 940 [Rich Car]

   "Awaixi (Hawaii), alias Santoku mast branch (sandwich), commonly known as Honolulu." - Qing Dynasty, "Wuzhou Tukao", author unknown.

  This is the record of Hawaii in the Qing Dynasty. The reason why this place is famous is because of its special sandalwood, which is directly smashed into the price of cabbage in Guangzhou.

  During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a great demand for sandalwood.

  Britain has a trade deficit every year, not only turning its attention to opium, but also sandalwood from Southeast Asia. In order to provide sandalwood to the Chinese market and earn huge profits, the colonists used up all the sandalwood in Southeast Asia.

  So, the British thought of Hawaii, where sandalwood is everywhere!

  The king of Hawaii found that sandalwood was valuable, so he moved his capital directly to Honolulu Island, which has the most sandalwood. By selling sandalwood, the king built a palace, enjoyed a luxurious life, bought firearms and warships, and even dreamed of unifying the Pacific Ocean.

  The king prohibited civilians from mining, and all sandalwood belonged to the royal family, and 40% of the profits were donated to the chiefs of the islands to encourage those chiefs to harvest sandalwood.

  The civilians and slaves on all the Hawaiian islands all joined the tree-cutting team, and those who did not cut down the trees planted saplings. The fields gradually became barren, and finally a great famine was caused. The king felt something was wrong and ordered the people to plant food again, but he died the next year.

  The new king came to the throne, bewitched by the chiefs, and fell sandalwood again. In the end, the sandalwood on the island was cut off, and countless people starved to death. Due to the huge amount of logging, the oversupply caused the price to plummet.

  The British businessman at that time described it like this: "Sandalwood is worthless in Guangzhou. Even if it is given to you for free, don't touch it."

  It’s okay now, with Zhao Han opening the sea, the price of sandalwood is not high or low, and you can make a small profit by shipping it back.

  The most popular in the Chinese market is Guanxiang, also called Tuchenxiang, among which the best one is called Nuuxiang. It is mostly produced in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, especially the one produced in Dongguan. Of course, the price is relatively cheap.

   Agarwood, sandalwood, and musk are even more expensive, at least only those who are rich can afford it.

  The batch of sandalwood brought back by Li Quan, because the purchase cost is extremely low, the profit is only 1000%. The volume of cargo was small, and I didn't make much money, because there were still American goods in the cargo hold.

  The cargo on the ship is mostly fur, and there is a lot of sucrose, and copper ingots are used to ballast the bilge.

  In addition, there is also thirty thousand taels of silver, and American merchants like to pay their bills in silver.

   At this time, China's gold-silver ratio has increased from 1:4 in the early Ming Dynasty to 1:10 year by year. On the other side of the Americas, the gold-silver ratio is 1:15.5, and you can get the difference between the gold and silver prices. There are many businessmen in the Philippines doing this.

  This behavior led to a large inflow of silver, while gold continued to flow out of China.

  The court of Datong had nothing to do about it, because gold was prohibited as currency, and the legal tender was only silver dollars and copper coins. Then China's gold can only be used for luxury goods, and domestic businessmen are willing to exchange gold for silver.

  With the prosperity of sea trade, silver and copper ingots continued to be imported, and more and more merchants no longer buried silver in cellars. Inflation had already appeared in coastal areas, and quickly spread to the inland along the river.

  The price of rice in Nanjing has risen to six cents per catty, which has nothing to do with grain production, it is purely a depreciation of currency.

  The price of rice in Nanjing this year is very likely to rise to seven cents per catty!

  The common people are complaining about this, the factory workers are clamoring for a salary increase, and even the taxi fare for taking the sliders has also increased.

  Some ministers suggested to Zhao Han whether the salaries of officials should be raised accordingly?

  The salary issue of civil servants has not been discussed yet, and it will not be too late to increase it in a few years. The imperial court has made a decision to start issuing gold coins next year. At that time, the legal currency value will be 1 gold dollar = 15 silver dollars, and 1 silver dollar = 800 copper coins. In doing so, it may be possible to reduce the outflow of gold, provided that private private casting is severely cracked down on.

  Li Quan dispersed the goods in Manila, bought Nanyang goods, and shipped them all the way to Shanghai for sale. Even the silver and copper ingots on the ship were sold to the Datong Bank in Manila, in exchange for silver dollar drafts, which could be purchased in Shanghai, and the vacated cabins had to be loaded.

   Arriving in Shanghai, Li Quan discovered that merchant ships were being auctioned here.

  But many maritime merchants couldn't pay the fines, their capital chain was broken, and they were forced to auction by the government.

  Li Quan was overjoyed, and won two ships in one go, increasing the fleet size to eight large ships.

   "Fugui car, take the Fugui car! Where is Xianggong going, do you want to take the Fugui car?"

   "Fugui's car is not good, buttocks are bumped, so my husband should take a slider."

   "The rich car does not bump its butt, it is very comfortable."

   "..."

  Li Quan was about to enter the city, but was surrounded by a group of drivers near the pier.

   "What is a rich car?" Li Quan looked curiously.

  Fugui car is a rickshaw!

  Steam engines have been used more and more widely, and have been used in iron and steel smelting. First use the steam engine to fry steel, and then use the steam engine to forge steel. Although there is no breakthrough in smelting technology, the steel output has doubled and doubled.

   This situation first appeared in Foshan.

   Merchants in Jiangnan used steam engines to weave. Guangdong’s textile industry was underdeveloped, so some people used steam engines to make steel. Manual frying of steel is time-consuming, labor-intensive and labor-intensive. It is comfortable to replace it with a steam engine, and it is infinitely better than manual forging.

  This caused many iron smelting workers to lose their jobs, and some workers simply went to sea to make a living, which stimulated the development of overseas territories.

  With the increase of steel production, the price of steel continues to drop, and many tools are replaced by steel products. For example, the rims, spokes, and wheels of a carriage (the axles are originally made of iron)!

  More and more rich people are replacing the wheels of wagon wheels with steel products, and installing springs for shock absorption.

  As for the tires, many materials have been changed, currently tentatively set to sisal.

  Rubber has not been applied, but the Nanyang species of sisal has been a lot. This thing is corrosion-resistant, friction-resistant, and has a certain degree of elasticity. It can be used to make car tires, and some steam engine conveyor belts are also made of it.

  The replacement of the rich man's carriage, when it was passed to Suzhou, there was another mutation.

  A certain carriage craftsman created and invented the rickshaw, and even drew investment to apply for a patent. Currently, rickshaws are rapidly gaining popularity along the coast, and are named Fuguiche. Investors and inventors are busy litigating lawsuits because their copycat products are everywhere.

   Li Quan felt that this thing was very strange, so he smiled and pointed to one of them: "Then I will take this rich car."

   "Sir, sit down!" The coachman smiled and swept the dust.

  The surface of the seat is covered with a layer of pigskin, and then padded with cotton cloth cushions. As soon as Li Quan sat down, he felt his body sinking, but it was the shock-absorbing spring that was working.

  The coachman asked the location clearly, and started to run in small steps.

  The rest of the coachmen continued to squat there waiting for customers, but the bearer who picked up the sliding pole had an ugly face.

   "This business can't be done, and I can't get a few customers a day."

   "Go to Chen's car dealership to register. When the next batch of Fugui cars arrives, we will also change jobs to be drivers!"

   "I signed up a long time ago, and I don't know when I will be able to sign up."

   "..."

  Li Quan felt that the Fugui car was very comfortable, and it was much faster than a sliding pole, and the price was cheaper than renting a horse-drawn carriage. He asked, "Is this car expensive?"

"It's expensive. We can't afford it. They are all from Chen's car dealership," the driver said while running. "In Shanghai, there are only twenty Fugui cars. Then pay a security deposit. When you get the car to work, you have to pay the car dealership every month."

   Li Quan asked: "Then how much can you earn?"

The coachman smiled and said, "After paying the fare, there is still a lot left. When there are many customers, you can earn seventy or eighty Wen a day, and when there are few customers, you can earn thirty-four Wen a day. Fei Ping’s share of the money. But, you have to pay for the tire change yourself, and a tire costs tens or hundreds of yuan, and it can last for a month or two at most. When there are many customers, one tire will be scrapped every month.”

  Li Quan calculated carefully, one tael of silver and eight hundred Wen. If the cost of the tires is not included, the monthly income of this coachman is between 1 tael and 3 taels, which is almost catching up with the skilled female workers in the textile industry.

  The monthly salary of apprentices for textile workers in Jiangnan is only three or four hundred cash. Skilled workers, the monthly salary can reach one or two taels of silver. Senior workers should at least start in twos and threes, and places with fierce competition should give fours.

  The price of rice in Shanghai is relatively high, and it has risen to ten yuan per catty, but the people at the bottom can eat cheaper coarse grains.

  As for the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian, although commodity prices are also rising, the price of rice is actually falling. That is Taiwan and Hainan continued to develop, and the imperial court took Vietnam into its pocket. The rice from the three places was sold to Fujian and Guangdong provinces at low prices. Guangdong is next to Guangnan Province, and the price of rice in Guangzhou is only 5 Wen per catty.

   In any case, as long as the common people have jobs, they can get by and save money.

The coachman grinned and said, "Now all these rich and expensive cars are produced in Suzhou, and the car dealership is also waiting for new cars to be produced. In the future, more and more cars will be built, and the price will definitely come down. If I save ten years of silver, maybe I You can buy one. At that time, you don’t need to pay the car dealer anymore, and you can earn all your money by yourself, and that’s when you will be able to make money.”

   "There is indeed a rush." ​​Li Quan nodded.

The driver pulled harder and harder: "It's a good time. Twenty years ago, you were exhausted and hungry. These days, as long as you work hard, you can save money every month. My sons , the boss is about to graduate from elementary school. If he can pass the public-funded student exam, let him go to middle school. If he can’t pass the public-funded student exam, he will be an apprentice. If he can make money, his life will be easier."

   "Then you just wait to enjoy the blessing, haha." Li Quan also laughed.

But the coachman said: "I am not blessed with life. If I can be free from illness and disaster, I will be thankful to be able to pull the cart until I am fifty years old. Thanks to the Lord Long Live, we poor people can also work hard to make money. In the past, even if we wanted to work hard, we would not be able to sell well." The price. The neighbors in this neighborhood say that it is good that the Long Live Lord can live for 10,000 years, and it is not good to change it to other emperors, and they are always in fear when they work."

  Li Quan said with emotion: "It's such a reason."

  The better the life of the people, the less willing to travel to America with him. Even if life is difficult, Taiwan and Nanyang are the first choice. Who the **** would go to that **** place in America?

  (end of this chapter)