New Shun 1730

The 18th century was a century of crazy investment.

Merchants always have a special sense of smell and sensitivity for this kind of speculation or investment, just like a dog can always find out where the toilet is.

Merchants have the same economic foundation and their own class consciousness, and the East and the West are not much different.

Historically, people thought that the first speculative bubble in China was the Changchun Clivia incident in the 1990s, which was almost similar to the Amsterdam tulip incident four hundred years ago.

But in fact, the most famous speculative bubble in China in history was the rubber speculation incident in the late Qing Dynasty, which completely ruined the Qing Dynasty. The starting point of the Railway Protection Movement was also because some people used the funds raised by the Sichuan-Han Railway to speculate on the hottest rubber in 1910, thinking that they could make money by speculating on rubber with the funds raised, and they would take the profits and return the principal. As a result, it exploded, and the Railway Protection Movement eventually blew up the Qing Dynasty.

At that time, rubber was hot, and whether it was cars or steam engines, they could not do without rubber. There was a company that specialized in speculation, claiming that the 20th century was the century of rubber. Some people took the 3 million taels of funds raised and invested in rubber, thinking that 3 million would become 6 million in a few days. They would return the 3 million funds raised, pay a fine of 10,000 silver dollars, and keep 3 million for themselves. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Then...

Nowadays, there are tulip bubbles, South Sea Company bubbles, and Mississippi bubbles in the West. Whether it is the South Sea Company or the Mississippi bubble, the routine is the same: passing the parcel.

The Mississippi Company stock issued at 500 francs rose from 500 livres to 20,000 in one year. The biggest shot in the arm was the "bright future" shown by Liu Yu and these wealthy businessmen.

At that time, in order to show this beautiful future, the French government not only made a human power PPT like Liu Yu, but also hired homeless people in Paris to go around the port every day and enter the city from other places the next day, pretending that the gold mines in Mississippi were so short of people that countless people went there to pan for gold every day.

Liu Yu did not need to do this. The merchants of Dashun always had a contradictory attitude towards the court. They hoped that the court would not care about anything, but they also believed in the things endorsed by the court.

This trust in the unified court saved Liu Yu from learning from the French and hiring a group of vagrants to pretend that there was a shortage of people there every day.

But Liu Yu did not admit that this was a game of passing the parcel. In fact, he was very conservative in economic policy.

Because the real example is there. Once the bubble of the South Sea Company burst, the British were so scared that they did not allow the establishment of joint-stock companies for nearly two hundred years, fearing that this kind of passing the parcel stock that made Newton Pit lose all its money would destroy the British economy.

It is even more imaginable for Dashun.

Once any stock bursts the bubble, the consequence is the court's full reaction and fear, and it is eager to get rid of this new thing.

So Liu Yu did not make a big fuss about the gold mines of Ezo. The Mississippi bubble in France and the South Sea bubble in Britain and the Netherlands were "pearls and jade" before. If it is really a lie, the stock price of France's Mississippi Company can rise 20 times, and Dashun's 10 times is no problem.

But he still came up with a more practical set of plans.

However, this half-liar, half-real statement still has many people in doubt.

"Marquis Jing, according to what you said, this is a sure win. If the court knew it was a sure win, why didn't the household government invest money?"

"We know that the nobles in the capital and the inner treasury have also invested money. But if it is a sure win, why doesn't the court invest?"

The person who asked this question was a middle-aged businessman in his thirties.

This is not just his problem, but also the doubts and suspicions in the hearts of many people present.

The attitude of the merchants towards the court is very contradictory, but in fact they know in their hearts that the court is like a fly seeing blood when it sees money.

This is not to slander the court, but to praise the court. The dynasty that is unable to collect 30 or 40 million taels from the central treasury means that the first tax is light, the second tax is heavy, and the third tax is a bottomless pit.

Just like the previous dynasty, it is similar to Huolu County in Dashun.

In theory, the previous dynasty really had a tax of one in thirty, and theoretically only 0.035 shi of tax was collected for one mu of land.

Just like Huolu County, where Liu Yu was impressed by the mu tax accurate to 17 decimal places, 130,000 mu of land, Dashun had to collect 20,000 taels of silver after adding the population tax.

In the previous dynasty, it was calculated as one tael of silver for one shi of grain. In theory, Huolu County only had to collect 4,000 taels of silver in mu tax, plus 3,000 taels of silver in head tax, which was one-third of Dashun.

But in addition to the regular tax, labor, miscellaneous taxes, and levies... This is an endless number. So it looks really good on the books, a tax of one in thirty, a really benevolent policy.

However, it's like building the Yellow River embankment. Do you want to build it?

If you don't build it, you will rebel.

If you build it, you either arrest the people to do corvée or spend money to hire people. In theory, there is another option, that is, to organize people to be strong and encourage people to fight for their descendants and conquer nature. In this era, the third option is not worth thinking about.

It is precisely because of the understanding of the Dashun court that the merchants asked this key question.

I don’t care about the sky.

I just want to ask one question, is there any silver in the household government’s warehouse?

If there is, it is a sure profit, why doesn’t the household government invest the silver?

After the Song Dynasty, Wang Xianggong implemented the Qingmiao Law and lent the assets of the national treasury and Changping warehouse to foreign countries, but the interest was only 2%.

Now Liu Yu is fooling around and saying that the rate of return is 30%, which is more than what Wang Jinggong earned from the Qingmiao Law.

In this case, the court is not completely denying Wang Jinggong by restoring the Sanshe Law in Liangjiazi, so why doesn't the court invest money from the national treasury?

The Qingmiao Law is said to be a loan from the state, but it is only 2% interest. What is the annual rate of return?

Is the court affirming or denying Wang Jinggong?

The official ideology of the court did not say, and there is no debate.

But judging from the restoration of the Sanshe Law by Liangjiazi, at least it is not negative.

According to Liu Yu's statement, the development of Ezo is easily a 30% return rate. The court can even confirm Wang Anshi, so why not invest money directly to make a profit?

Is the court short of money?

It is short.

Does the court want silver?

It wants.

In this case, the court does not invest money, and Liu Yu's words are so tempting, and some people finally begin to doubt it.

This question is actually quite sophisticated.

Will the money of the nobles and the inner treasury be returned in full after the money is raised in the future, and the remaining money will be divided into 30% and 70%?

Although Liu Yu thought about the contradictory mentality of the merchants of Dashun towards the court, he really didn't expect someone to be so bold as to directly say this key issue.

In fact, there are disputes within the court. Whether to invest the money of the treasury is not just a legal issue to be debated in the court meeting, profit or justice?

It is also a very realistic issue. From the emperor to the officials who are qualified to eat at the banquet a few days ago, they all know that if the court invests money, it will lose money even if it makes money. This has nothing to do with whether it makes money in theory, but only with the administration of officials.

Liu Yu knew that this was what many people were thinking, and he did not remain silent for a moment. He smiled and said, "That is, do not compete with the people for profit."

"The Daode says: The way of heaven is to benefit but not to harm; the way of the sage is to act but not to compete."

"Our dynasty has its own system, which is originally a mixture of the hegemony and the kingly way, not purely using the moral teaching and Zhou politics. It is not all Huang Lao, nor is it all hegemony, and it is not all the moral teaching and Zhou politics."

"You think that the court exists only to collect taxes. In fact, just take the Western Regions as an example. The court has long debated whether to give up the Western Regions?"

"It costs money and there is no profit. Doesn't the court invest money?"

"You are talking about profit, and the court has its own ideas. How can it be just a few silver ounces?"

"The Ezo land belongs to me. If there are more Han people, the Whale Sea will be stable. The Japanese and the Rakshasas will not be able to interfere."

"The Ezo land belongs to him. Whether it is the Rakshasas or the Japanese, there will be no peace around the Whale Sea."

"The ancients said: Etiquette is not for common people."

"In fact, another explanation is that you speak to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghost way. When you meet a gentleman, you talk about righteousness; when you meet a merchant, you talk about profit."

"For the court, what the court got was a country full of Han people, which stood between the Japanese and the Russians, making it impossible for them to connect. As long as the Ezo is in the hands of the court, the area around the Whale Sea belongs to the court."

"You all know that I started from the Yongning Temple in the Whale Sea. The battle against the Russians in the past was just a battle between tens of thousands of people, and it cost the national treasury more than four or five million taels."

"With the Ezo in hand, the court seems to have not made any money, but in the future, it will not spend millions of military expenses. For the court, not losing is making money."

"And etiquette is not for common people. You merchants are just seeking profit. Since you are seeking profit, you must talk about profit."

"I only ask one question, if the court holds the controlling stake and the household government invests, do you really dare to invest money?"