New Shun 1730

Although Hancock did not think highly of some of these people who were equal to him and were like brothers.

However, he had to admit that this group of people was the strongest political force in Boston, Massachusetts, and even New England, which was not related to the government.

It covered the remaining broad forces in Massachusetts except for the extensive self-employed farmers.

For example, there were extreme religious members, such as extreme Congregationalist pastors who wanted to build a city on the hill.

Such as the slave traders of the New England Triangle Trade and even the New England "Bank of Issuance".

Smugglers with large families like him.

Printing books.

Silversmiths, shoemakers, brewers.

Lawyers, especially lawyers.

Doctors, a very respected profession.

There were also thugs, or leaders of bad boys.

These people gathered together, with a total of tens of thousands of people in Boston, and they could completely cover the sky with one hand.

Whoever dared to collect taxes would be killed.

This kind of thing has happened more than once. Didn't Maryland have a similar thing a while ago? A young customs officer actually collected taxes instead of accepting bribes. He died at home soon after, and the murderer could not be found. Since then, customs officers no longer dared to collect taxes and only accepted bribes.

To do this kind of thing, someone needs to pay, someone needs to provide intelligence, someone needs to execute, and someone needs a lawyer to sue if they are caught. The most critical issue is the import and export issues of states such as Maryland and Massachusetts. Who will benefit?

From the perspective of Massachusetts's self-employed farmers, the key issue of the conflict between New England and England lies in the British "Corn Law".

In other words, it is the contradiction between New England's self-employed farmers and farmers and the British landlords' rules. For example, corn in New England is five dollars a pound, while corn in England is six dollars a pound. Of course, British nobles and landlords are opposed to importing corn directly from New England.

Of course, British workers, citizens, and craftsmen are certainly opposed to the high price of corn. The question is, can the self-employed farmers in New England support the citizens, artisans and workers in England when the British citizens were in the "rice riots" after the fall of Minorca?

From the perspective of the self-employed farmers, is this movement in North America an overall struggle of the Anglo-Saxon people to resist the interests of the nobles and landlords, abolish the Corn Law, strive for a unified domestic market for New England's grain, and strive for lower food prices and living costs for England's hired workers and artisans?

Obviously, no.

Just like these people gathered at this time, there is no farmer, even though farmers still account for the majority in North America and are still the main producers in the economic system.

The reality is that Massachusetts had just fought a tariff war with New Hampshire a few years ago that lasted for seven or eight years; New York had just declared a tariff war with the middle states, prohibiting wheat and flour from other states from entering New York, and the middle states also retaliated against New York with other commodities. Of course, the story is always the same. The price of flour in New York State quickly soared and began to be mixed with sprouted wheat and bran; Massachusetts gave a 4-pence subsidy to flax rope and wood, and Connecticut immediately increased the counter-tax by 15% on Massachusetts' wood products and linen canvas products...

This model, which has experienced three large-scale anti-church-theocracy uprisings led by Massachusetts, and the state government can only be selected from the church, is a legacy - it can even be said that it is a strong feudal remnant. The class consciousness of the petty bourgeoisie and small producers of Puritanism, as well as its religious tradition of burning people, was progressive in Europe, where the aristocracy was rampant, the land system, the serf system, the guild system and the Catholic Church were widespread; but in North America, where the land was almost unlimited and every worker could obtain his own means of production, it was a hotbed of reaction, feudalism and religious superstition - not to mention uniting the entire thirteen states to obtain a unified domestic market and then move towards a unified world market, even the tariff wars and protectionist trade issues between the thirteen states could not be resolved.

Therefore, under the current conditions that Massachusetts was fighting a trade war and tariff protectionism with New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut.

Freemasonry is one of the few political forces that can cross the conflicts between states in the entire thirteen states of North America.

It is a "national" organization, not a gentry association between states.

At least, it is at this time.

Grand Master, Deputy Master, Warden, Head of Lodge in Each State, Lower Level Members... Such an organizational structure that spans the entire North America and is the only organization that can connect the various forces in North America and the forces of each state.

Hancock, who was born as a big businessman and followed his uncle to deal with business issues since childhood, can understand this better than most of the craftsmen here.

Especially after meeting the group of people from Dashun in the Bahamas, this more open economic perspective made him vaguely aware of the power of Freemasonry.

At the previous Albany Conference, Franklin proposed that the thirteen states unite and form a common grand council, which was met with a lot of opposition, largely because the interests of the states were completely different.

The contradictions between the states are so great and the conflicts of interest are so many that organizations that can cross states, such as the Puritan Church and Freemasonry, can be regarded as organizations with the potential for political influence in the future.

Because... at least, this organization spans counties, cities, states, and even the Atlantic Ocean. Organizations such as the Boston Bar Association and the Boston Merchants Association cannot cross states and are local organizations.

At this time, the members of the Freemasons asked him many things about the Bahamas. Although Hancock looked down on some of them, although his fantasy of being cool was shattered, the need for more realistic political potential made him still want to stand out in the Freemasons.

Before, he was self-doubting and asked Joseph Warren, hoping that Warren would give him an answer, because he felt that what the Dashun group said made sense.

But the Dashun group was not only pagans, but also superstitious atheists, and they were also warring countries of Britain at that time, and they were anti-Christians.

All of this made Hancock feel that what the Dashun people said was indeed a bit like "devil's bewitching".

But after meeting Warren, Warren gave him the answer...

I can only say that at the beginning, there was a full sense of ritual, and I was really looking forward to it. I thought that at least they had to be figures like the Attorney General and Franklin, and I could make an agreement with them to be brothers after joining the organization.

However, after seeing these familiar people, Hancock's mentality changed a lot.

Thinking about those words that he worried about from a religious perspective were "the devil's temptation", he felt that it made sense.

So, as a new junior brother, he expressed some of the words he heard from the Bahamas, plus his understanding, to these people.

"I can't clearly explain the attitude of the Chinese. But at least, I think some of their words may make sense."

"The group of people in the Chinese Empire said that we need to see something..."

He thought about the words of the Dashun people in the Bahamas. The words translated after the words did not use the words directly translated by the Dashun side.

Instead, it may be unintentional.

Or intentional, an ancient Greek word was used. And, he was sure that this ancient Greek word, at least the silversmiths, shoemakers and others he looked down on, could not understand.

"...essence."

After the shoemakers, brewers and silversmiths showed obvious confusion, Hancock continued to speak with satisfaction.

"They said that the Thirteen States of North America should be divided into the northern, central and southern parts of New England. It cannot be seen as a whole, at least in terms of economy and trade. "

"And now, after the Dashun joined the war and killed the East India Company, it is no longer so easy to pay off the British national debt. Perhaps it is inevitable to increase taxes on North America to pay off the national debt in the future, because Pitt's stupid policy of all-out war has completely exhausted Britain's debt potential..."

"But this is what will happen in the future. At least from their experience, their previous dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, had to increase taxes and sell monopoly franchises to obtain income when it was in financial difficulties. This principle is the same in the East and the West. After the South Sea Bubble and the Mississippi Bubble, because the time that had passed was too short, the method of using John Law to balance the national debt was also It is impossible to use it. No one will believe it or dare to believe it in the next 20 or 30 years. Maybe it will happen in the future, but it is definitely not possible now. Therefore, basically, taxes must be increased. "

"Of course, this may happen in the future. It has not happened yet, it is just a possibility and prediction."

"Then, only consider the present. For the time being, do not mention the problems between the thirteen states. Just take the thirteen states as an abstract whole. The laws of the British government to control the thirteen states are mainly reflected in the "Navigation Act." "

"And the "Navigation Act" must be separated. Split it into the "Navigation Act" and the "Listed Goods Act" for separate discussion. "

Speaking of this, Hancock took a deep breath and said the words that he thought made sense after hearing them in the Bahamas, but he thought they were "devil's temptation" before, in a fair manner without removing himself.

"If the Navigation Act is separated."

"Then the Navigation Act is beneficial to the overall industry and commerce of the abstract thirteen states."

"And the Enumerated Commodities Act, at least twenty years ago, was also beneficial to the overall industry and commerce of the abstract thirteen states. However, at this moment, now, it is absolutely harmful to the overall industry and commerce of the thirteen states."

"The Navigation Act stipulates that all merchant ships going to the colonies and Britain must be manufactured in Britain or North America, and the shipowners must be people with British or colonial nationality, and the crew must be at least 75% English-speaking natives."

"As a businessman, I must say that if there is no Navigation Act. Then, the merchant ships of the Dutch, Swedes, French, Portuguese, and Spanish will give me no chance to become a businessman. Their merchant ships will run rampant in our ports, and we can't even own the first merchant ship."

From the perspective of merchants, or even some craftsmen, this statement... should be correct.

After all, New York was not called New York at the beginning, but New Amsterdam.

Colbert's mercantilism was called "deformed mercantilism" because it overemphasized the standardization of industry, handicrafts and shipping.

The Navigation Acts ensured that North American merchants could control the shipping industry in British colonial trade.

At the same time, due to the nationality requirements of the crew and the requirements of the manufacturing location of the ship itself, it has also created many jobs in North America and greatly promoted the development of the North American wood processing industry and shipbuilding industry.

This cannot be denied.

The death of the sea coachmen was not caused by conservatism or corruption, but precisely because they foolishly believed in free trade. They believed that as long as their ships had lower shipping costs and lower freight charges, they would be able to occupy the Atlantic Ocean with their competitive advantage. Trade shipping.

France and the United Kingdom quickly taught the Netherlands a lesson and told them: Silly, your low shipbuilding costs and low freight charges are not the reasons why you can control the shipping industry. My ships are expensive to build and my freight is high, but my navy and army supported by the May 1st tax and high commercial taxes can completely destroy your shipping industry.

Now Hancock relayed Dashun's view and split the "Navigation Regulations" into two parts, splitting them into the "Navigation and Navigation Act" and the "Enumerated Commodities Act". This is the disgusting part of it.

Obviously, Dashun is trying to disintegrate the resistance in North America and disintegrate independence in an abstract sense into one small problem after another.

Divide a higher-level issue into branch issues that can be discussed, thus collapsing North America's resistance and horizontally dividing North America into different interest groups, rather than the abstract freedom of the American nation.

Once you start to split it up like this, as soon as the first issue starts to be raised from the perspective of "interests", "compromise", and "negotiation", the original passionate spirit of resistance will gradually be disintegrated.

Now, the first question comes up. There are businessmen, lawyers, and craftsmen present... What do you think of this problem?

If this is correct, does it mean that the Navigation Regulations themselves are only flawed and are not to be completely negated?

If we completely deny the entire "Navigation Regulations", deny it legally and deny it ideologically, then any future acts of resistance in North America will have the banner of justice.

As long as the entire "Navigation Regulations" is not completely denied, and it is not denied legally or ideologically, then North America's future acts of resistance will become very difficult to explain in terms of justice.

Dashun dismantled the "Navigation Regulations" disgustingly, and its sinister intentions were extremely hidden.

Now, this sinister poison has penetrated. After Hancock relayed the unpacked "Navigation and Navigation Act", everyone can only think that this is right.

Samuel Adams was the true master of classics in North America. He was the first person to discover how to write the scriptures of resistance in North America. He also discovered that the problem must be abstracted and the details could not be discussed.

It was he who gave North America the righteous explanation of "I have heard of the execution of a single husband, Zhou, but never heard of regicide." Of course, he would not use classical Chinese, but would use "When the citizens have no other way to protect themselves except to resist the supreme monarch, "Whether it is legal to do so", in fact, the discussion is still the "horse liver debate".

However, because Samuel Adams was a Unitarian, that is, a heretic who denied the Trinity, he did not appear in the Masonic gathering here.

The importance of theory is reflected in this gathering of Freemasons.

Without sufficiently high-level theories or scriptures, they can easily be fooled by the Dashun group who have argued for almost two thousand years: "If you eat meat but not horse liver, it is not because you don't know the taste; if scholars don't talk about soup and martial arts, it is not because they are stupid." people were taken to the ditch.

Since these people agreed, Hancock went on to say: "The real problem is the Commodity Enumeration Act - those people call this law 'one port for trade'."

"In accordance with the list of goods under the Enumerated Goods Act."

“Cotton, indigo, cane sugar, tobacco, cedar, speckled wood, turmeric, dyewood, rice, molasses, naval supplies, beaver skins, rum, and other listed commodities must be shipped to the British mainland and taxed. Foreign trade at designated ports.”

"Imported goods, such as tea, silk, cotton, molasses, porcelain, metal products, etc., must be re-exported in the UK and can only be shipped to North America after paying tariffs."

This issue was what North America began to discuss at this time, and its origin was the Molasses Act.

Although, in fact, this tax cannot be collected at all, it is precisely because of this 33-year-old molasses law that aroused the resentment of some people in North America, and began to discuss whether the mother country had begun to hinder their development.

Of course, it's also because the time has come. In the past, trade protection and industrial support led to the development of North American industries and the increase in goods. The industrial revolution in Britain has not yet broken out, so Britain can no longer eat so many North American raw materials, and the voice of opposition is naturally getting louder.

However, Hancock did not say whether the issue of Britain's "one port for trade" was right or wrong.

Instead, he relayed something else that Dashun’s group said in the Bahamas.

"In the trading system, the Enumerated Goods Act is the essence of the current backward trading system in the UK."

"And Pitt was a supporter of this backward trading system, a pious man, and the heir of Cromwell."

"The reason why Britain attacked the northern Canadian region and tried to go to war with Spain to seize the southwest was precisely because Pitt inherited Cromwell's backward trade thinking and practiced it religiously."

"The attack on the north was to expand the colony; the attempt to start a war with Spain was also to expand the colony."

"The purpose of expanding colonies is to continue the backward trade system hidden by the Enumerated Commodities Act."

"By obtaining raw materials through larger colonies and dumping commodities to the colonies, gold and silver can be accumulated and flowed to the mother country."

"And Dashun is here to correct this wrong trade thinking!"

As soon as this was said, the people present immediately expressed their agreement.

According to their understanding, Dashun is here to correct this wrong trade thinking, which obviously means that Dashun is here to help North America get rid of the Enumerated Commodities Act and tariffs.

To be the "liberator" of the North American colonies?

At least, normal people should understand it this way.

However, amid the applause and cheers, Hancock said with a wry smile: "Brothers, please don't be too happy."

"The Chinese said that since seizing Canada and going to war with Spain to seize colonies are all extensions of this wrong trade thinking...it is to maintain the existing mercantilism system and then pull Canada and Louisiana into this system."

"So...they think that the way to correct this mistake..."

"is to send troops to help France recapture Louisburg, to help the Indians recapture their own territory, and to help the Spanish repel the British attack."

"Don't let Britain continue to expand its mistakes and pull Canada and other places into the wrong trade system."

"They have decided to send troops to Canada, support the Indians with 10,000 muskets, and are seizing Gibraltar."

"In this way, Britain can be prevented from expanding its mistakes."

After speaking, everyone present was dumbfounded. Many people also invested in speculation on western and northern lands. Isn't this bullshit?