New Shun 1730

Jiao Laobutu and the officers of the navy understood that Liu Yu was "worried about not having an excuse to mess with their trade competition".

How could he not understand what was said?

He said, "Don't worry, Duke. We will do it right away. Even if there is nothing, can we not 'find' it in the goods during the inspection?"

Liu Yu laughed and said, "That's right. You guys should do these things first. I will go with the governor to interrogate the smugglers. You guys go."

"Yes."

After the three of them saluted, they left.

The governor of Guangdong led Liu Yu to the place where the prisoners were held. The clerk handed over the files. Liu Yu glanced at them and asked someone to bring the person with the most smuggled boxes first.

Not long after, a person covered in blood who needed to be dragged by others to move was brought to Liu Yu.

Liu Yu saw that the man's wound was already inflamed, and was afraid that he would die before he could finish his questioning if he knelt for a while, so he had a kind heart and asked someone to bring a stool so that he didn't have to kneel.

After asking a few questions, Liu Yu asked: "The court has long issued an order prohibiting the sale and smuggling of opium. I see that you used to be a businessman and a local figure, so you must know it, right?"

"Since you know it, you knowingly committed the crime, and you know that if this matter is discovered, the lightest punishment will be hanging, right?"

The smuggler who had been beaten several times was a tough guy. Hearing Liu Yu's question, he sneered and said: "If I sell opium, then the Duke is also somewhat responsible."

He spoke Mandarin well, and his accent didn't sound like a Lingnan person.

Several officials nearby shouted angrily and were about to stop him, but Liu Yu stopped them and couldn't help laughing: "This is novel. What does it have to do with me?"

The smuggler knew that he would die, but he thought of the momentum of being a hero again eighteen years later in the opera, and responded: "Guangzhou Prefecture has been an important trading center since the previous dynasty. Ships from various countries come and go, and how many people rely on this for their livelihood? With just one word from the Duke, the foreign trading houses were moved to Songjiang Prefecture. Have you ever thought about what to do with the compradors in our Guangdong Prefecture?"

"How many people, compradors for foreigners, those who transport goods, distribute foreign goods, supply ships, sell fruits and vegetables at the port, and even brothels, taverns, and hotels, lost their jobs because of the Duke's words that the trading houses must be in Songjiang Prefecture?"

"As for this company and that company run by the court, how can we, small people, take turns Can you get it? First, the noble ministers of the court will be given priority to invest, then the wealthy merchants from all over the country, and finally the individual merchants. "

"When you make money, don't you allow the state officials to set fires and not allow the people to light lamps? Songjiang Prefecture is becoming increasingly prosperous, while Guangzhou Prefecture is depressed and deserted. It is said that anyone can invest in big business, but how can it be our turn? By the time we know, it will be over. "

"In this case, I sell some opium and make some money, but it is just a matter of success or failure. When the sea was banned in previous dynasties, going to sea was also a serious crime. It is a crime today and innocent tomorrow. What is the difference between this and this? "

"I did some business with Westerners before. If the Duke hadn't asked them to move to Songjiang Prefecture, how could I do this kind of business?"

Liu Yu just wanted to laugh after hearing this reason. The local officials next to him were scared and pale, thinking what would they think if this was heard by the court?

But Liu Yu himself was not angry, and these officials also knew what Liu Yu's attitude was. For a while, they were just panicked and dared not say anything.

In fact, Liu Yu chose Songjiang Prefecture as the new overseas trade center of Dashun, in addition to forcing the court to raise a navy, the biggest reason is that the Yangtze River Basin is wider than the Pearl River Basin, and the location is just right to connect the north and the south.

In the original history, in modern times and at the beginning of modern opening, Guangdong was given two opportunities to become a cultural center.

But practice has proved that the Pearl River Basin is still too small. The material foundation determines the superstructure. Even in the 1980s when the material foundation of the Lingnan cultural circle was the strongest, it was only a flash in the pan after it was finally equalized.

Now that Dashun has a navy and can guarantee the safety of the grain, Guangzhou's advantages as a trade center are far inferior to Songjiang Prefecture in terms of various conditions.

Not to mention that the Yangtze River is larger and wider than the Pearl River.

There are no particularly excellent goods near Guangzhou. Everyone knows that Guangzhou also produces silk, but if the local silk, Guangdong satin and Guang yarn, are dull and lack color. Use Wu silk to get glory]

If that's the case, then transporting silk from Wu to Guangdong, and then spinning and exporting it here, isn't that just taking off pants and farting?

With the development of trade in Songjiang Prefecture in recent years, the local demand for raw silk is still insufficient, and Guangzhou's exports have been snatched away by Songjiang Prefecture. The spinning and weaving alone will be greatly affected.

Not to mention other things.

Liu Yu then asked, "What business did you do before?"

The opium smuggler said, "I took the Dayuling trade route. Now the Dayuling trade route is already in decline. Jiangxi porcelain used to go through Xijiang, then pass through Wuling and go to Guangzhou for export. Now Jiangxi porcelain no longer goes through Dayuling, but goes directly north along the Yangtze River to Songjiang Prefecture."

"A strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. I don't know many people there, and I don't have any connections. How can I rob the Wu people? Since the Duke opened Songjiang Prefecture as a port, it has become increasingly difficult."

"The Duke wouldn't know, right?"

Liu Yu nodded calmly and said, "How could I not know?"

The country's policy changes often affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, not only in the canal transport, but also in trade.

The Dayuling trade route originated from the foundation built when the First Emperor conquered the Baiyue Lingnan. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Jiuling repaired and completed it.

It can be said that this trade route is similar to the Grand Canal.

However, the Grand Canal connects the north and Jiangnan.

The Dayuling trade route connects Lingnan and the two lakes.

Whether it is the Grand Canal or the Dayuling trade route, to some extent, they both play an important role in maintaining the unity of the country and preventing centrifugal forces.

However, in recent years, as Liu Yu came to power to preside over foreign trade policies, he actually quietly abolished the Dayuling trade route.

However, because it was not related to the issue of grain transport, unlike the abolition of the Grand Canal, it did not immediately trigger many problems, nor did it cause much impact in the court.

But in fact, the impact was quite large, and it should be said that it affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

It’s just that this is not the Grand Canal for transporting grain, and the "millions of grain transport workers" here are not very concerned by the court.

At the beginning, Guangdong was short of rice, and even if there was a good harvest, it was only enough for half a year.

Therefore, the rice from the two lakes went all the way to Guangdong via the Dayuling trade route.

After Liu Yu came to power and presided over trade, he developed navigation, built a navy, and opened up sea transportation, so that Guangdong now eats Nanyang rice instead of Lianghu rice.

He accidentally abolished the bulk rice trade in Dayuling.

As for the rest, let alone.

Raw silk, tea, rhubarb, porcelain, cotton cloth, etc., no longer need to go to Guangdong via Dayuling trade route, but either go to Songjiang Prefecture nearby or change direction.

Any one of these items affects about 30,000 to 50,000 people.

For example, tea.

The processing center of Wuyi tea, which caused the Boston Tea Party, the North American independence event chain in history, is in Xingcun, Chong'an, northern Fujian.

On the Dashun side, in the early stage, due to the Taiwan issue, the inertia of the times, and the fact that the Netherlands and other countries did not have direct flights before the Ostend Tea Incident, Macau was the most important tea transit point before direct flights from various countries, and countries did not start direct flights for trade until 30 years ago, the export destination of tea has always been Guangzhou.

It has formed historical inertia.

If you want to transport tea from northern Fujian to Guangzhou, you need to pack it in northern Fujian and transport it to Yunhekou Town in Shangrao, Jiangxi by manpower.

Then from Yunhekou Town, it is transported to Poyang Lake.

In fact, Poyang Lake is the tea center of Dashun.

In addition to Wuyi tea from Fujian, tea from the two lakes, Jiangxi and other places is also processed in the Poyang Lake area - in addition to Western European trade, there are also tea bricks needed for domestic trade such as Mongolian Snow Mountain, and tea bricks needed for Russian trade. Moreover, Western Europe does not only drink Wuyi tea, but also needs to match the rest of the tea goods in the two lakes area here.

The processing center here has been around for many years and has technical advantages. It is convenient to go north and south, so it has become a processing center.

Then, the tea going to Western Europe is subcontracted in Poyang Lake, transferred to Ganjiang River, passed Nanchang, and arrived in Ganzhou.

After arriving in Ganzhou, it goes along Zhangshui to Dayu, takes the dry road, and is carried by porters across the Dayuling Commercial Road to Shaozhou, and then via Beijiang to Guangzhou.

There are more than 50,000 porters who make a living from tea exported to Western Europe alone.

These 50,000 people must also support their families. If you convert it slightly, it is equivalent to the livelihood of at least 200,000 people.

With Liu Yu taking office to preside over trade, the trade center moved north to Songjiang Prefecture, and the tea transportation route naturally changed.

Under the leadership of Liu Yu, the Chamber of Commerce and the trade company took the lead in opening up a new trade route in the form of a joint-stock system, building canals and roads, connecting northern Fujian and the Minjiang River, and directly to Fuzhou.

After loading from Fuzhou, they went north to Songjiang Prefecture.

The court would certainly not pay for this money, and merchants could not engage in joint-stock infrastructure without someone taking the lead.

However, this infrastructure investment is profitable.

Tea saves a lot of freight.

Dashun has a semi-monopoly on foreign trade, and there is no situation of internal price reduction for export because of the reduction in freight. The freight saved alone is enough to recover the cost of investment in two years.

Since you can go to Minjiang River by the canal and the new trade route, who would still want to go so far to Guangzhou?

The shift in the route of tea trade alone affected the livelihoods of 100,000 or 200,000 men, women, and children. How many more people would be affected by the rest of the porcelain, raw silk, and grain?

This is certainly not a reason for him to sell opium. When Liu Yu heard him talk about the Dayuling trade route, the only thing he felt in his heart was that "they are all millions of grain workers. After all, the grain workers who are related to the grain transport of the capital and the grain workers in the border of Lingnan are not the same thing."

At least, the court didn't care much about it.

Maybe the court calculated and felt that if these people really started an uprising, suppressing them and killing them would actually save a lot of money than resettling them.

These words of the smuggler did not arouse Liu Yu's sympathy for him, but made Liu Yu realize that the Lingnan issue should also be arranged in advance.

The capital is in North China; the economic center is in Jiangnan. Even if the Grand Canal was abolished, North China and Jiangnan were closely connected.

What should be the positioning of Lingnan? How to ensure close connection between the north and the south? And not to cause it to decline rapidly?

Hong Kong is impossible in this era.

Should we use the power of the court to regulate and intervene, and position Guangzhou as "a transit point between the mainland and Southeast Asia, and a distribution center for the trade of Southeast Asian rice"? At the very least, it can accommodate some landless unemployed people to work.

Or should we keep the original plan unchanged, and still use state intervention to give all the important economic positions to Songjiang Prefecture, including the distribution of Southeast Asian rice and grain futures trade, and still concentrate them in Songjiang Prefecture to create a financial center and industrial center?

After thinking about the court's attitude towards new things such as grain futures and the emperor's mentality of raising pigs in a pigpen, Liu Yu hesitated for a moment and then made up his mind.

He thought: The fate of the people in Lingnan should be to go to Southeast Asia on their own initiative. If they were not in decline and poverty, how could they have the motivation to go to Southeast Asia on their own initiative?