New Shun 1730

Of course they knew the difference between "Juyi Hall" and "Zhongyi Hall".

"Hehehe..."

After Lin Yunwen and others laughed awkwardly for a few times, Liu Yu said again: "So it's still the example of Wang Jinggong's Qingmiao Law. Some things, if the court turns a blind eye, it's nothing. But some things, if the court does it itself, it's not good."

"How to go to Southeast Asia? You are all wealthy merchants, and you may not know the life of the lower class. Even if the lower class people want to go to Southeast Asia, it's hard to say whether they can collect enough money to walk from the capital to the seaside. After they leave, their parents starve to death at home, and their daughters are sold to the old brothel to raise money?"

"Instead of this, it is better to encourage the recruitment of people and workers. . "

"Since we want to encourage you, we must let you make some money. Merchants only care about money. As long as there is money, they will do it. "

"So don't doubt this or that. This is a good thing for you, the court, and even for the people who have suffered from the three hundred years of canal transportation. The only ones who suffer are the termites along the canal transportation. Don't worry. "

"Why are you still suspicious when I give you money?"

After scolding these merchants, dozens of merchants looked at each other, and there was nothing to say for a while except for laughing awkwardly.

Liu Yu added: "In fact, the manpower in the Huanghuai region is cheaper than that in Fujian and Guangdong. However, it is convenient for Fujian and Guangdong to go to Southeast Asia, but it is impossible for people in the Central Plains to go to Southeast Asia by themselves."

"So there needs to be a transfer, an opportunity. That is you."

"For this kind of thing, I don't need to tell you how to do it specifically. You know it in your heart. As long as you quote the price, there will be brokers to help you get it done. Just pay an agency fee, and the money will be calculated per person."

"But if you are not recruiting them, they are located in the heartland, where can they go? Northeast, Western Regions, Kenmeng , they can't go, it's too far; go to Southeast Asia, do they have to swim along the Yellow River to the sea, and then swim to Southeast Asia? "

"If they don't leave, they will either starve to death, or rebel and be suppressed or slaughtered."

"Going to Southeast Asia will make it easier for the people of Fujian and Guangdong to go to Southeast Asia spontaneously, but it can't solve the problem of the people of Huanghuai seeking survival. This is where you have to step in."

"If you are reluctant to spend money, immigration will be a disaster and it will easily lead to an uprising."

"Willing to spend money... Even if there is no manipulation or deduction, the court can't afford this money?"

Lin Yunwen thought for a while and asked: "We also understand what the Duke means."

" We are businessmen, and our vision is not what the court thinks. So we judge others by ourselves and think that the court also calculates every penny. "

"In fact, it is not the case. "

"For the court, it reduces the burden of grain transport, helps the people of Huanghuai, and allows a large number of people to go to Southeast Asia to reduce the contradiction between people and land. "

"We think that profit is money. "

"The court thinks that profit is the stability of Huanghuai. "

"Is that right? "

"It's like a person who wants to torture a dung beetle and forces it to eat shit. He thinks it is torture, but the dung beetle thinks it is a reward? Our ideas and the court's ideas are like The same idea as the dung beetle, the same idea as people? "

This metaphor that deliberately belittled his group of businessmen made Liu Yu want to laugh but couldn't, so he had to say: "The words are rough but the truth is not rough. If you want to say so, it's not impossible. You guys discuss it. First, tell us whether you are willing to do it, and then we can talk about the details. "

"It just so happens that since the Western Trade Company has been completed, after a while, you people, as well as shareholders of all sizes, who have more than 3,000 taels, will go to Nanyang to have a look. I will prepare the ship and organize you to go. "

It's impossible to avoid Liu Yu when discussing things in such occasions. But since it's business, these people only talk about interests, and there is really no need to avoid Liu Yu.

The news that the land in Nanyang is fertile, especially the fertile land in Java, has been publicized for more than a day or two.

In addition, Taiwan has been gradually developed in recent years. Many people have gone there to recruit people to reclaim wasteland. The newly reclaimed land and the climate make the output really high.

These businessmen are not stupid, and they have always known the court's attitude of suppressing mergers and acquisitions. But when they went out to sea and arrived in Nanyang, the imperial court did not seem to have considered this aspect.

If they were asked to pay for the reclamation of the Western Regions, they would definitely not pay a penny. They did not have the hobby of "collecting land", and land was just a tool for them to make money.

They also invested money in the development of Ezo before, and the rate of return was not bad.

Relying on the Japanese market, some people have really become fat in recent years, and the share income is not low.

The fish and shrimp, grain and soybeans, and the cooperation with the original Japanese sea merchants who specialized in the Northeast Route made a lot of money.

But after all, the development of Ezo is a joint-stock system.

This Nanyang grain is somewhat similar to the "imperial merchants" that these people are most reluctant to touch - there have been similar things before, such as before Liu Yu went to Japan, and before the copper mines in Yunnan were developed, the imperial court was short of copper. Lack of copper means that it is impossible to mint coins, so this comprador method is also used to pay people to buy copper in Japan - but the ending is not very good.

On the one hand, it is Arai Shiraishi who tightened the policy.

On the other hand, with a little trickery, Arai Shiraishi made the Ningbo, Zhangzhou, and Fuzhou gangs roll inwards, leaving the pricing power to the Japanese merchants.

It can be said that this situation was not reversed until Liu Yu came to the rescue and obtained most of the trade licenses in Edo, and the pricing power was regained.

Before this, at the beginning, the comprador fees given by the court must have been profitable. If they didn't make money, who would take the job?

But later, it became less and less profitable.

What to do at this time?

This matter is not a normal business. It is a comprador linked to the court. You say you don't want to do it and then don't do it?

If you don't do it, how can the officials in charge of this matter explain to the court? If you don't do it, many people will be involved.

This is not a joint-stock company. If you think the market is not good, you will sell all the stocks in advance and exchange them for cash.

At that time, either you use money to bribe and ask the court to let them go, and find someone else; or you will lose all the family assets you have earned before.

These businessmen present, under normal circumstances, are unwilling to touch this kind of thing.

Moreover, any comprador authorized by the court has the obligation to donate once the court needs money.

There is a tacit reason in this point: just like salt merchants, the court gives you the opportunity to monopolize and let you make money. But when the court is short of money, it has to take it from you.

Therefore, these merchants in Songjiang Prefecture really don't like to deal with such things. The business atmosphere in Songjiang Prefecture in recent years has also made them prefer the joint-stock cooperation model.

Although the current issue of the imperial rice is different from the copper purchase in the past, it still makes them feel a little uneasy.

Once it is involved, it is easy to get into trouble in the future.

After all, this thing is a little similar to copper.

Copper, at most, can be minted with some coins and used as a makeshift, and if it doesn't work, it can be issued with treasure notes.

The imperial rice is related to the capital and the stability of the court. If there is a problem with the imperial rice, it is not a matter of losing some money like the comprador copper material.

However, the profit here is really envious.

The average price of rice is one tael and two shi, which can make a fortune no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, they can also enclose some land in Nanyang, and earn tens of thousands of acres of land for free in the future.

They know whether the rice price is expensive or not.

They also know what the price of Nanyang rice is and why the rice price is sometimes expensive.

For those who have already started to participate in Western trade, transporting rice from Nanyang to Tianjin Port is not much different from going to Japan, and it is Japan after the direct route to Nagasaki was opened.

Liu Yu said it very thoroughly. The court does not want to give this money to small farmers, nor does it want to adopt a small farmer model because it is troublesome to manage.

Let's say a farmer is given 24 taels of silver and asked to reclaim the land. After deducting the money for buying cattle and farm tools, what is left? Can we see rice this year?

Even if the farmers can jump, they don't have to consider how to go to Nanyang. Let's say they jump directly to Nanyang and grow rice. What is the cost of collection? How many people are needed to manage the collection? How many problems and corruption will arise?

Now the court is just a hands-off shopkeeper, counting the money, as long as they can see the rice in Tianjin Port at that time. If they can't see it, there are only a hundred people in total, and it is easy to manage.

The merchants also understand that the court is using them as a buffer, which is actually tacitly approving their control over immigration.

For example, if someone signed a long-term labor contract and ran away before the contract expired, the court would most likely help catch him back. Just follow the contract.

It was one thing for the court to implement the Qingmiao Law, lend money on its own, and force people to sell their children when they couldn't collect the money.

It was another thing for private lending to the creditors, who couldn't repay the loans and sentenced the houses and cattle to be returned to the creditors.

Of course, if the exploitation was too harsh and a big incident was about to happen, the court would also come forward to appease them.

After all, this was related to the grain.

Overall, the merchants felt that it was still beneficial to them. The most important point was that as long as the navy warships were there, at worst, they could buy rice, even if they made less money, they would not be unable to buy it.

And if the warships were gone, the court would not be so stupid as to abandon the canal and continue to entrust the safety of the grain in Southeast Asia.

After a lot of discussion, everyone came to a basically unanimous opinion.

Go for it, it's very profitable. Earn tens of thousands of acres of land for free.

However, how to do it can still be bargained with Liu Yu.

"Duke, last time we developed Ezo, the Duke mentioned the model of the Virginia Company. We have seen and learned a lot in these years. As the saying goes, there must be a teacher among three people, and we can learn from the skills of the barbarians... Then, why not make Nanyang into the Virginia Company model? Or... can it be a limited liability system?"

Liu Yu, who was drinking tea, spurted out the tea with a puff.

"Limited liability system?"

"You want to make limited liability system for the grain tax? No, you can argue, but can you come up with some opinions from the world of the living?"

"This matter is already a great concession. Don't think that the business environment of Songjiang Prefecture in the past 20 years has been like this."

"Other things are easy to talk about, I can still fight for it. Only this grain tax, do you think the court can allow this?"

"Can the development of Ezo be the same as the grain tax in Nanyang? In Ezo, it's purely a matter of money, and the court will only collect some monopoly Money. Is the grain transport just about money? "

"When it comes to the grain transport, the court can only accept this conservative official-merchant comprador system. Everything else is fine, but this is absolutely impossible. I can even say that the court's acceptance of the official-merchant comprador system for the grain transport is already a huge concession, a concession that goes to the horizon."

"For the safety of the grain transport, the court can acquiesce to the corruption of officials on both sides of the canal. As long as the grain transport is delivered, everything else is fine. Don't act like you are not a Dashun person just because you have been doing overseas trade for a few years."