New Shun 1730

In the second year of Dashun's large-scale development of Nanyang.

Just after the Dragon Boat Festival, Liu Yu, who had just dealt with a strange foreign trade dispute, washed his face and prepared to go to the dock to welcome Duke Qi and his party who returned from Europe.

The express ship from Nanyang had already returned, notifying the news that Duke Qi and others had arrived in Nanyang and were expected to arrive today.

The first batch of cargo ships from the Western Trade Company also returned with them. They set out the year before Dashun developed Nanyang, arrived in Europe in the winter of the first year of Dashun's development of Nanyang plantations, and returned this year.

How much money was earned, how much profit margin was obtained, the situation of the European war, and the armed neutral alliance initiated by Dashun in the peace talks after the end of the War of Austrian Succession, what were the results of these, this time we should know everything.

The clerk who was recording next to him was still waiting to record the handling opinions of the foreign trade dispute just now, with a half-smile on his face.

Because the trade dispute to be handled was too weird, it made people laugh and cry.

The Andros family of Groen Island commissioned the Prussian Emden Royal Company to make a batch of custom porcelain in Dashun, and they wanted to put the family crest on it, as porcelain for family banquets.

The European coat of arms was messy and the colors were weird. The housekeeper of this family might have a problem with his brain. He could just draw it directly, but he ended up marking "red", "blue", "purple" and so on with letters on the pattern.

In order to save money, he found a porcelain workshop. This porcelain workshop was a new workshop. The craftsmanship of the master was good. He changed jobs and worked alone, but how could he understand foreign languages?

So those words such as "red" and "blue" were used as patterns.

The number was not large, about 600 pieces. But this workshop was a small workshop, newly established, and it was also the first foreign business. These more than 600 pieces of porcelain were related to the survival of this small workshop.

Naturally, the Prussian Emden Company refused to accept it, saying that it was different from the pattern we gave; the porcelain workshop said it was nonsense, it was obviously the same, look at the letters, which one of us drew wrong?

This kind of shit is unprecedented, and there is definitely no Dashun Law. Liu Yu has to take care of it and constantly improve the many regulations on trade and foreign affairs.

In fact, this is not the first time. A similar thing happened more than ten years ago: a batch of porcelain commissioned by the Netherlands was reviewed. When the pattern was reviewed, the reviewer wrote "agree" under the pattern and signed his name.

As a result, when the porcelain was fired, the word "agree" and the reviewer's signature were also burned together.

Now such a thing has happened again, which is naturally laughable. Perhaps this is also a necessary situation for communication between two completely different language systems.

Liu Yu, who had washed his face, said to the clerk casually: "Please remember this and issue a notice. Tell all countries that for pattern issues, they should go to the Trade Office and have a special translator sort it out before outsourcing. Let the Trade Office organize a small department, section level, and recruit six clerks to be responsible for patterns, translation, art, contracts and other issues."

"Tell the Prussian Emden Company that this is their problem. Of course, Chinese porcelain masters don't understand foreign languages, but their eyes are the same and can distinguish red, blue and purple. He didn't just draw the color of the shield emblem, but made up a word. Who can he blame? If they don't agree, just use their company's deposit to enforce it. "

"Also, all future contracts must be in duplicate. One in Latin and one in Chinese. French is also fine. The rest is not allowed."

The clerk repeated what he had recorded, and after confirming that it was correct, he asked again: "Duke, the British East India Company has sent someone to ask if they can lift the surveillance on them?"

This is a monthly routine. Liu Yu calculated the date and said: "Okay, tell the British East India Company, I know. No need to say anything else."

"Yes."

After receiving such an ambiguous answer, the clerk knew that it might take some time, and he hurriedly retreated with a clear mind.

Liu Yu washed and changed his clothes, and asked someone to prepare the ceremonial guard and went to the dock to greet him.

As soon as he arrived, local officials of all sizes and customs officials also arrived.

Behind these officials were the shareholders of the Western Trade Company. In fact, they were more anxious than these officials, even more anxious.

As for whether the Western Trade Company could make money, these investors had no doubts. If it weren't for the huge profits, these Westerners wouldn't have come here every year at such a high mortality rate.

But, how high would the rate of return be? How big is the difference between collecting money on the spot and selling the goods at other people's doorsteps to make money as a middleman?

When thinking about this super high rate of return, everyone couldn't help but feel itchy.

In addition, most of the plantations invested in Southeast Asia will have to wait two or three years before they can really see the return. And many returns are also closely related to trade with the West.

Especially those that grow coffee and cocoa. These things are basically not drunk in Dashun. It can even be said that almost no one drinks them.

Cocoa is a kind of "soothing and tonifying" medicine, plus a bunch of weird ingredients such as fennel, star anise, and anis, pure medicinal taste.

People are not used to drinking coffee at all. Dashun doesn't have coffee shops, but there are tea houses, which also bear some political significance of Western European coffee shops and beer halls.

The crowd had been waiting here since morning, thinking about the silver they had invested one by one. Not to mention that their eyes were sore, even if their necks were stiff, they could wait.

When Liu Yu came over, these merchants hurried to salute. Seeing their expressions, Liu Yu smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. Didn't I say that the news from the express ship from Nanyang was brief but very clear."

"Shangshan!"

"As for the specific profit, we have to wait until the ship arrives at the shore and let the accountant count and calculate. Besides, what is there to worry about in Nanyang?"

"Nowadays, going from Nanyang to Songjiang is as simple as a child finding a way out of his mother's belly."

Liu Yu was not worried about this trade at all. He had a good grasp of the situation in the Netherlands, and since it was Shangshan that was returned, it was obvious that the trade was extremely successful.

The Dutch business channels were there, the soft assets were worth at least 10 million taels of silver, and the smuggling channels were ready. It would be a miracle if they didn't make money.

The merchants were anxious, and seeing Liu Yu calm and composed, they could not feel at ease.

Although it was easy to say, when things came to the point, it was inevitable that all kinds of "not afraid of ten thousand, but afraid of one" thoughts would arise.

For example, the boat capsized in the gutter, and it had traveled all the way from Europe to Nanyang, but it sank on the way back to Nanyang?

This idea of ​​not fearing one thing was getting stronger and stronger as the day approached.

At this time, the person watching in front shouted: "I see the mast of the ship! I see the mast of the ship!"

This shout immediately aroused everyone's emotions. Everyone knew that even if they saw the mast of the ship, it would take a long time for the ship to really dock and settle the accounts, but at least they could feel at ease.

Liu Yu sat there and rested slowly for a while, and waited until the afternoon, when the ship was gradually approaching and the escort fleet on the Nanyang side had begun to fire cannons, he stood up.

The welcoming ceremony also began to get busy. Several major shareholders and board members of the Western Trade Company were also allowed to follow Liu Yu.

Several soldiers carried a huge glass cover with a lock made by a skilled craftsman. The fleet's account book would be sealed in this glass cover and the accounts would be made public when the shareholders' meeting was held.

Of course, as a supervisor, Liu Yu would get a copy in advance. It was convenient for internal audits and advance verification, and there were also some profits from high-grade porcelain from special official kilns in the emperor's small treasury. That was not high-end porcelain that merchants could get.

The cannons on the shore also began to fire to greet them. There was a good dock here, and the ship could dock directly. There was no need for a large number of laborers to pull it over with a small boat like the mission to Ryukyu.

The capstan driven by the steam engine has replaced the manpower of pulling ropes to the shore. The use of Dashun's steam engines was always used in some strange places that had the least impact on the old things in the past.

As the ship got closer and closer, the small boat began to pull the rope of the big ship to the shore. After being hung on the capstan driven by the steam engine, the big ship began to slowly approach the dock.

The first ship must be the ship of the Duke of Qi and other official personnel. There is no doubt that Dashun still has to distinguish the noble and the humble and the officials and merchants.

After the ceremonial guards were ready, the Duke of Qi got off the ship. What was different from before, or what reflected Dashun's emphasis on overseas trade, was the person holding the account book following the Duke of Qi.

The company's people went to check the seal and wax seal on the box. After more than a dozen people testified that there was no problem with the thing, they opened the glass cover held by the soldiers on the shore and put the box containing the account book into the glass cover.

The army escorted the account book away first, placed the account book in the company's headquarters building, and then affixed the seal of the official regulatory committee.

After doing all this, the merchants were truly relieved. What they were most worried about was the account book problem. They had dealt with the British, Dutch and Swedes a lot, and they were very clear about the situation of false accounting there.

As for other things, these big businessmen have seen many storms. It is normal to make profits and losses in business. As long as the accounts are clear and the profits are public, they will feel at ease.

Although it is so grand and formalistic, this deliberate formality is sometimes more important than the substance.

The company's formalities continued in an orderly manner. Liu Yu and other officials of all sizes greeted Duke Qi and went back to the official residence to rest.

Liu Yu was not worried about whether the company was profitable, but he was still anxious and eager to know the situation in Europe.

Duke Qi had been on the boat for a long time, and he was not young anymore, so he was not in a good mood.

Although Liu Yu wanted to ask several times on the way back to rest, he finally held back.

After walking almost halfway, Duke Qi suddenly said, "You are gradually calming down. You can keep your composure. I saw you hesitated several times. I wanted to tell you directly, but I wanted to see how long you could endure. It's gratifying that you can endure until now."

Hearing Duke Qi speak so easily, Liu Yu smiled and said, "It's hard to ride on a ship. Although it's not as hard as being a seaman, it's boring and stormy on the sea. My father-in-law is tired all the way. Even if I have the intention, I feel that things have been decided. Even if I know, there is no way to change it. I wanted to ask several times, but I still have some self-cultivation and hold back."

Duke Qi laughed and gave a thumbs up and said, "Don't worry, the things you care about are basically good news."

"I have lived up to the trust of the emperor and made some remarks at the Aachen Peace Conference. This is the first time that my Celestial Empire has spoken at such a conference. I should say that I have not disgraced the prestige of the country. But the term "neither humble nor overbearing" should not be used. Because it is not that important to us. The Nanyang issue is not within the scope of the War of the Austrian Succession. It is a matter between us and the Netherlands. We don't talk about it, and we don't need them to recognize it. At most, I am just talking nonsense, talking about anti-piracy and anti-privatization."

"It's a bit embarrassing to say, just like a group of eunuchs saying that they want to ban brothels."

This metaphor is quite vulgar. Liu Yu imagined a group of countries without privateering capabilities frantically supporting anti-piracy and anti-privatization at the conference; and the pirate and privateering powers such as the Netherlands, Britain, France, and Spain said nothing, which was also a bit ridiculous.

Perhaps, this is like a group of small non-nuclear countries in later generations suggesting the complete destruction of nuclear weapons.

But from what Duke Qi meant, it should be very smooth.

"By the way, father-in-law, have you done anything about Denmark?"

The Duke of Qi laughed and said, "If you want to accuse someone, you can't find a reason. This is the simplest thing."

Liu Yu laughed and said, "Great! It's the season for purchasing new tea, and I'm going to pinch the Danes. Last year, we banned Britain and Portugal, and this year we're going to ban Denmark. I think the situation is not just good, but great. If you pull one faction and beat another, the trade can be expanded."

He didn't even ask how the Duke of Qi "accused someone", because it was meaningless. If you want a reason, you can always find one. It's just a formality, and this kind of thing is just a formality in Europe. In fact, in Dashun, there is no need for a formality. There is no parliament or congress. You can ban anyone you want, and ban opium if you want.

The main thing is the face of the Celestial Empire, and you need to find a reason. At least when it is recorded in history books, there is a reason.

Liu Yu, who couldn't wait any longer, immediately called the officers of the Customs Corps in the distance.

"Go to the Danish consulate and maintain order. The customs officials should also go there immediately and tell them that a 25% export tariff will be added to all goods. As for the reason, their envoy will convey it to them!"