New Shun 1730

After waiting for Liu Yu to finish reading according to the script, everyone was given half an hour to discuss.

A man next to Xu Heng who had been doing business in Nanyang asked: "Jiesheng, none of us understood what the Duke was talking about yesterday, but you are the only one with outstanding knowledge. You are really better than your master."

"What did you find in the pamphlet today, Duke of Guo?"

When Xu Heng heard Qing Chulan's words, he was secretly happy, but he still said: "You are over-praising me, I am just picking up others' wisdom."

"The pamphlet given by the Duke today seems to be talking about some truths that we can all understand. The Duke has always said that the price reduction today is to make more money tomorrow."

"The Duke has always said that Portugal's Brazil is also suitable for growing spices. Moreover, the Portuguese brought seedlings there before they withdrew from Ceylon in Southeast Asia. So I think what the Duke means is to rely on the company's strong capital. Are you going to reduce profits on spices for a few years and squeeze out Portugal’s spices first?”

"I heard that labor is quite expensive in places like Brazil, and it can't be compared here. If the price is reduced to a certain extent, we can still make money, but we will make less. And the Portuguese spice plantations in Brazil must be I can’t hold it…”

Xu Heng only felt that what he said made sense, but the businessman smiled and said: "Jiesheng, I don't think anyone objects to this price reduction monopoly. Although we old men are old, we also know what it means to be first. Lose and then earn.”

"After reading the Dutch pricing in the Grand Duke's pamphlet, I was not impressed and thought of other things."

"Oh? What did you think of?"

Xu Heng did not expect that the businessman next to him, who was in his 50s or 60s, would completely agree to reduce prices and dumping to ensure a monopoly. He couldn't help but wonder what the old man had in mind.

The old businessman smiled and said: "The Dutchman was worried that the price of cloves would be too high and the British would covet it, so he took the initiative to lower the price to ensure that the British would not covet it."

"But back then, I went to Batavia to sell tea. After I went there, I was detained by the Dutch for half a year, forcing him to sell the tea at a loss."

"The British are thousands of miles away, but the Dutch are still afraid of them; but the Chinese Empire is within thousands of miles of Bacheng, and the Dutch are not worried at all."

"Now that I think about it, Nanyang is in my hands, cargo ships are heading straight to the Netherlands, the emperor is angry, and companies from all over the world are trembling and bowing their heads. It really feels like a world away."

"You young people, how do you know what we have been through?"

"This pamphlet by the Duke really makes me feel sad, as it reminds me of many things in the past."

"When they thought that the British didn't say anything, the Dutch themselves were too scared to set a high price; and when they thought about how close this city was to China, the Dutch were unprepared and didn't care before."

"You know, the feeling of being despised? It's really hard for you to understand that feeling of not even guarding you."

"I have followed the Duke for a long time and became rich because of the Duke. But what really made me follow the Duke's path wholeheartedly was when the Duke said that the Dutch had to move the Tang people from Bacheng to Ceylon. Because he really I’m afraid of you, so I have to consider your feelings and opinions.”

"Think about that time, do you know what we did?"

Of course Xu Heng knew about this and whispered: "I heard that he made a vow to heaven that he would never do business in Batavia again in this life."

The old businessman raised his head with a wry smile, thinking about the past, and said for a long time: "Yes. Do you know why we swore to the sky? Because we never thought that the court would come forward to help us businessmen. We didn't go that way at all. think."

"So we can only swear to the sky and show our incompetence."

"What now? If we are bullied, will we first swear to God? We will definitely say something cruel and then come to the Duke to complain and ask the court to make the decision."

"Back then, I didn't even dare to think about the imperial court, so I could only swear to the sky; now I feel that if something similar happens again, I will be the first to think of going to the imperial court."

"From the time when the Dutch seized our ship, they didn't care that China was right next to them; now we have robbed the Dutch of Nanyang, and they still want to cooperate and trade with us with a smile."

"How have you guys ever experienced that?"

Xu Heng has never experienced it, and he really cannot have the empathy of an old businessman who traveled to Southeast Asia. He really couldn't imagine that these old businessmen who had swore to heaven in Batavia that they would never go to Batavia again would know that Dashun informed the Dutch East India Company to move people to Ceylon and the Dutch would do as they were told. Feel.

These old businessmen lamented that they could only cry and be incompetent and curse.

Instead, he lamented that the British didn't even fart, but the Dutch were actually worried that the price of cloves would be higher and attract covetousness, so they took the initiative to lower their prices.

But China is right on the edge of Nanyang. For so many years, the Dutch have never considered the influence of China, as if China is like a curtain.

Just a real dead thing.

It was difficult for Xu Heng to understand the lamentation of these old businessmen that they felt like they were in a different world.

But something else was on his mind.

That is, motherland, a word that appears in this new study, seems to be really meaningful.

Or perhaps, the things I learned in the new school before were just indoctrination education, and there was not much difference between them and the need for fathers to be kind and sons to be filial, brothers to be friends and brothers to be respectful, and loyalty to the emperor to be righteous.

Probably something like "Why should we be filial to our parents? Because we should be filial to our parents."

Now, after seeing the pricing of Dutch spices, and thinking about the temporary seizure of the East India Company by Dashun and the tax increase on the Danish Asia Company, Xu Heng has a completely different interest-related feeling about the concept of "motherland" from "why should I be filial to my parents, because I should be filial to my parents".

He is not an industrialist, not a textile worker.

And even if he is, it is difficult for Dashun's industrial capitalists to understand the concept of motherland from the perspective of interests, because Dashun really has no chance to protect its own industry by increasing tariffs.

They have no chance to experience this kind of imperialist expansion-style patriotism education that is different from the previous debate between China and barbarians.

Xu Heng's set of learning regards patriotism as a kind of "conscience" that "is known without thinking".

The meaning of conscience at this time is different from that of later generations.

Just as filial piety is taken for granted, patriotism is also a kind of conscience that is taken for granted in the new indoctrination that Xu Heng accepted.

But this kind of conscience needs an opportunity for them to combine this conscience with their own interests, so that this kind of conscience is long-lasting and strong.

Although Xu Heng could not understand the old merchant's feeling of being in another world.

But the seeds planted by the new education in recent years gradually sprouted at this moment.

He gradually had a clear understanding of what a country is.

What is a country?

In his eyes, the country is when the merchants could only smuggle, the country sent troops to open the door of Japan and make smuggling legal.

The country is when the Dutch monopolized spices, the country sent troops to conquer Southeast Asia and let the country's merchants monopolize spices.

The country is when the Western Trading Company wanted to open the European market, the country came forward to deal with the opium case and the disrespect case, closed the British trading house, and imposed high tariffs on the Danish trading house.

The country is best for them to make more profits and ensure their profits. It's a pity that the country is not completely theirs, because the country now does not allow them to buy land in the country during the disaster year, nor does it allow them to lend money at high interest rates.

Today's booklet says that after the Dutch got the monopoly of cloves, they were afraid that the British would covet them, so they took the initiative to reduce the price. This made Xu Heng gradually understand the significance of the country to these big businessmen.

In fact, Liu Yu has always looked down on these sea merchants and thought that they were all potential compradors. He always had prejudice in his heart.

Once foreign goods can make money in China, these people must be the first to become smugglers, compradors, and guides for foreigners.

Not only them, but also the British East India Company, isn't it the same? The British textile industry has been forced to face the suppression of Indian and Chinese cotton cloth for many years, and even created a wave of unemployment.

Dutch merchants forced their own industry to death, and finally destroyed the Netherlands, and patted their butts to London.

However, the reality is so ironic.

In Dashun, the first to awaken the imperial expansionist patriotism were neither handicraftsmen, nor petty bourgeoisie, nor industrial capital, but this group of potential compradors in Liu Yu's eyes.

Dashun's extremely special trade surplus position, extremely developed handicrafts, and extremely unique monopoly products have led this group of people to a different path from the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company.

The British East India Company made money from its own country and sold goods from India and China.

However, these sea merchants of Dashun wanted to be "compradors" but had no chance. They could not even find a few commodities that could make money from their own country.

Even if they could make money, such as American ginseng and mink fur, there was really no substitute for their own country, and there was no conflict with their own handicrafts.

The earliest participants in the awakening of expansionist patriotism in Europe were petty bourgeoisie, guild handicraftsmen, industrial capital, and even aristocrats. Because they faced huge competition from neighboring countries, including the grain grown by the aristocrats and the sheep raised by the aristocrats, they had to compete with other countries.

However, the first to awaken in Dashun were these sea merchant groups that Liu Yu regarded as the reserve army of compradors.

Because... the British aristocrats had to face the wool and grain competition from the Prussian aristocrats, the French aristocrats, and the Polish aristocrats. The British East India Company, on the other hand, had to face the competition from its own industrial capital and wool textile industry.

However, the Dashun sea merchants had to face competition from the British East India Company, the British Navigation Act, and the Danish Asiatic Company. They searched for a long time but could not find foreign goods that could trigger competition between them and their own handicrafts and industries.

They were the first to face this kind of international competition in Dashun, and the first to feel this kind of competition firsthand.

The duck knows first when the spring river water warms.

On the contrary, the industrial capital and handicrafts, which should have been the main force of patriotism, still have not felt this kind of competition.

For them, it makes no difference whether the British East India Company buys their goods or the Dashun Western Ocean Company buys their goods.

Even the days that tea merchants miss the most are the most painful days for sea merchants in Nanyang - the Ostend Company challenged the Dutch-British tea monopoly and the Batavia tea ship seizure incident, which happened in the same year. It was also after that year that the Dutch East India Company officially started direct trade - and that year, tea producers made a lot of money.

The days that the gentry missed the most were precisely the days when the Dashun did not go to Southeast Asia, because the price of rice at that time could make their rent more valuable.

This almost magical order of class awakening, even the magical comprador reserve army became the first to awaken to expansionist patriotism, can be regarded as a kind of humor of the times.

A group of comprador reserve troops were forced by the hardworking people of their own country and the strong handicraft industry accumulated over two thousand years to become the first group of people to awaken patriotic expansionism.

Liu Yu's evaluation of them was absolutely correct. Once foreign goods suppress domestic goods, these people will be the first group of people to lead the way to destroy the country's industry.

The Dutch have proved it, the British have proved it, and even the history of opium for a hundred years in another time and space has proved it.

However, Liu Yu is very good at grasping it. He thinks that these comprador reserve troops have been as ruthless to the country in history. Now the situation is special, and they will be as radical and tough to foreign countries.